Something Wikkid This Way Comes Read Online Free PDF Page A

pigeon-toed stride, exacerbated by her heavy boots. I love these women like family, so much so that it hurts sometimes.
    Moo’s voice sounds in my ear, whispering, “Test, test.” I whisper back that I can hear her, loud and clear. Moo’s our techie and, although she’s the first to admit there’s still a lot she has to learn, she does a damned good job for someone who began life as an Egyptian child-goddess, back in the days of the pharaohs.
    Once we’ve walked all the way around the little strip mall, where Moo can no longer see us, I start giving her updates. She is, after all, also our muscle. I can’t camo her, so she can’t come with as there’s absolutely no cover for her. But we still want her to be able to find us if the shit hits the fan.
    “We’re walking toward the park. But all’s clear.”
    It’s a chilly, slightly overcast day in early fall—the kind of day in which you can smell on the wind both the life of summer and the decay of winter. It’s also eerily quiet; the abandoned strip mall behind us and the equally abandoned park in front of us lend a postapocalyptic feel to our adventure.
    There’s also absolutely no sign of Jodi.
    If I get doused in pig’s blood, I’m gonna take it out of that girl’s hide , I think, as I give Moo an update.
    “At the park. No one’s here. But there’s a ribbon tied to one of the beams of the picnic pagoda.”
    We keep walking toward the pagoda, Shar giving no indication she’s being followed.
    “There’s an arrow chalked on the concrete. It’s pointing toward the cornfield,” I tell Moo.
    None of us acts surprised. Shar and I both grew up in Illinois, so we know all about cornfields. Both of us had done our share of youthful partying in hidden rooms made from trampling down interior spaces of cornfields, and we’d dragged Moo along.
    I’m tiptoeing quietly, but even Shar’s Frankenboots are muffled as we step onto the grass and away from the asphalt of the park’s sidewalks. That’s when I see her.
    “I see Jodi,” I whisper. The girl’s wearing her cheerleading costume again, causing me to wonder if she has any other clothes. And if she does, why she never wears them.
    “Hey ya!” Jodi calls out, waving at Shar from across the field. Shar waves back and hurries toward her.
    “Hi there,” Shar says shyly, when we finally get to Jodi. I can’t help but grin.
    “You look gorgeous.” Jodi steps up to Shar, studying her closely before swooping in to give my friend a lingering kiss. I look away until I hear her say, “We’re this way.”
    Jodi takes Shar’s hand and leads her off into the cornfield. There’s a very narrow walkway of trampled stalks of corn, and I’m glad Shar’s walking so loudly, as I’m making a shitload of noise. It’s impossible to be quiet in a cornfield.
    It’s also difficult to keep your footing, and I’m so carefully trying not to get my big feet tangled in the cornstalks that I don’t realize we’ve found the others until a bunch of voices say, “Hi.” They sound like bright, cheerful, high school voices. Not the voices of a Satanic cult.
    I look up to see a small group of girls staring at us. Moving my head carefully, I pan my camera over them so that Moo can make IDs.
    Meanwhile, Jodi plays the good hostess.
    “Everyone, this is Starr. Starr, do you know everyone?”
    Starr murmurs, “No, I’m sorry,” probably for Moo’s benefit. I can picture our Alfar halfling, iPad at the ready, taking notes.
    “Well, that’s Lara, that’s Madison, and that’s Jenny and Ana.”
    Unfortunately, none of these girls match our files of the missing. In fact, these are all current students.
    As the girls make small talk, I use the opportunity to do a careful scan of the area. But I can’t feel anything at all, which is odd. But then I’m distracted by Jodi taking charge of the conversation. What starts out as frivolous chitchat steadily grows more serious, with Jodi asking careful questions. The girls talk