Page 8 of Her Wonderful Wonder Bell
“Nothing else to say about it. She was wrong. And abitch.” Delia leans back on her elbows, her shirt riding up enough to show a sliver of skin that gets my heart speeding up. “So, anyway, it’s too late to goanywhere tonight. First thing in the morning, though, we need to get to Rosa’s. If anyone knows what to do, it’s her.”
“I’d like to find a way to get some new clothes as well, if possible. I might be made of paper, but I don’t want to be in my uniform forever. Oh, and certainly some new stompers—can’t be seen in ones held together by tape. A little vain, I know.” I brush off my skirt and cross my legs; I can’t help being the way I am.
“I got you. Nothing I love more than taking a pretty girl shopping.” Delia grins.Well, my heart may have skipped a beat.“But for now, I have a question.”
She leans forward and I lean toward her in return.I hope it’s something real exciting.She bites the ring on her lip and wiggles her eyebrows before asking the most confusing thing I’ve ever heard.
“If I can figure out how to get two-player to work on the PC, do you want to play Ultra Baseball MVP VII with me?”
Chapter Three
Pearl
“Hurry up and chew, you’re running out of time.”
The remaining girls from the team and I sit in the locker room with the lights turned off, only a half-hidden flashlight on a bench to see by. We can’t let anyone know we’re here. We speak in whispers and move as little as possible. Many of the girls have already disappeared. I couldn’t tell you who, though—their names are already gone.
“Remember, once the sugar is gone, put the gum back in the wrapper. We need wrapper, gum, card, and letter all in the box,” Valentina says only just loud enough for us all to hear.
“He’ll be here in two hours. I need to get these boxes buried before then. If he catches me—” Ricky says softly to Valentina. Her husband, ahuman contractor at the stadium. He’s laying new brickwork in the halls today.
“He won’t.” She lays a hand on his chest and a kiss on his cheek before turning back to us. “Are you broads finished, or what?”
The sugar is almost gone from my bubblegum, but not quite. I don’t understand how her magic works; gosh, I haven’t even known magic existed for long, but I’m trusting it with my life. It’s either that or give up and let Brigley take it.
“I’m done,” Cheryl says as she frantically wraps her gum in its wrapper. She puts it in the metal candy box Valentina gave each of us next to her baseball card and hands it to the Candy Witch.
“Team captain, of course you’d be first.” Valentina smiles. “You’re a good woman, Cheryl. I’ll make sure your babies are taken care of.”
Cheryl lets out a deep sob as she drops to her knees. She has two little boys with no father to take care of them. They’ll have no one at all in a few moments.
Valentina wipes away a tear and puts one of the identical letters she’s written into the box.Next, she puts on the metal lid and squeezes it closed as tightly as she can.
Cheryl disappears.
I was told it would happen but it’s still a shock. I nearly choke on my gum in surprise but manage to cough it back up. Except I swallow it right back down out of reflex. Damn.
I’m about to ask for another piece, or what else I can do, when I hear muffled cries of terror coming from the girls around me. Another one of us, her name already lost, has disappeared. Not because of Valentina, but because Brigley’s curse took her. My stomach lurches so hard I nearly throw the gum back up. Fuck this.
I shove the gum wrapper under my baseball card and hope Valentina won’t notice it’s empty. Maybe this will work. I mean, the gum is still technically here, right?
“Okay, I’m done. Me next,” I say as I rush toward her.
“Alright, Pearl.” She puts the letter in the box, and I sigh, relieved she didn’t notice the lack of gum. “If anyone can make it back, it’s you. If you end up in the future, take a ride in a flyingcar for me.”
“Oh boy, I’m sure I won’t be in there long. You’ll see me before your hair turns gray.” I give her a wave and my signature Pearl Monroe wink as she picks up the lid.
Here we go. To the future.
I wake up, breathing heavily. It came back—my memory. Everything that happened. All the horrible details. I toss aside the covers and stumble out of bed. I’m so dizzy I only make it a few steps before falling over. A sob breaks free as I curl up, wailing loudly, crying for all I’ve lost.
“Pearl! Pearl, are you okay?” Delia asks as she runs into the room, falls to her knees in front of me. She strokes my cheeks and looks me over for signs of injury. “Baby, are you hurt? What happened?”
“Brigley didn’t just kill them, Delia. He erased them. Like they never existed. They don’t even have names. I can’t tell you anything about them. There are blank spots, and I only know that there was someone there because I watched them as they disappeared. I watched so many girls disappear. Justgone.” I sob so hard I choke, then I sob some more.
Delia strokes my back. She doesn’t tell me it’ll be okay, or any of that nonsense. I appreciate it, because for those girls, it’ll never be okay, and I just want a moment to grieve.
After a long while, I quiet down enough to speak again.
