The Hidden Read Free

suddenly changed from nervousness to anger. “I can’t
believe
that someone broke into your house, Abbey. I should have walked you in. Made sure everything was okay before just driving off like that.”
    “It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Caspian said to Ben, even though he knew his words would go unheard. Then he turned to me and said, “There’s no telling what Vincent would have done to him.”
    I nodded solemnly, but spoke to Ben. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have known what was going to happen.”
    “But I feel so bad. And now there’s this crazy guy out therewho hurt you, and if I had just been able to stop him, you wouldn’t be here.”
    “There was nothing you could have done,” I told him. “It’s not your fault. End of story.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “Yes, I’m sure. Now, can we talk about something else? Like what happens if we end up as science fair partners again this year?”
    Ben laughed. “I’m counting on it, Browning. In fact, I think I’m going to slip Mr. Knickerbocker a twenty to make sure it happens. Since you bailed on me last year, you have a lot to make up for.”
    The nurse knocked on the door again, then entered. “Your parents are on their way, dear. You’re being discharged.”
    Ben stood up.
    “I’ll see you at school, right?” I said to him.
    “Yup. Seniors, baby.”
    He left right before Mom came back in, but I could see the gleam in her eye even though I was halfway across the room. “Ben came to visit?” she said.
    I nodded.
    “Well, isn’t that nice of him.”

Chapter Two
S TUCK L IKE G LUE

    … for it is in such little retired Dutch valleys, found here and there embosomed in the great State of New York …
    —“The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”
    D ad drove twenty miles per hour under the speed limit on the way home and constantly kept looking back at me in the rearview mirror. It was making me crazy.
    “It’s okay, Dad,” I called from the backseat. “You actually
can
drive, you know.”
    He gave me a worried look in the mirror again. “I know, honey, but I just want to make sure I don’t jostle you.”
    I sighed. “I’m fine, Dad. Driving at the speed limit so we can get home at a decent hour isn’t going to kill me.”
    His face paled.
    “Sorry,” I said. “Bad choice of words.”
    Caspian was next to me, and I leaned my head back against the seat.
This is going to be worse than when I came home from Dr. Pendleton’s. At least then everyone just thought I was crazy.
Now they were treating me like I was as fragile as glass.
    Dad turned onto a side road, and our house came into view. A giant banner that said WELCOME HOME, ABBEY! was hanging over the front door.
    “Oh, jeez,” I muttered.
    “Party time,” Caspian said. “I hope they have those little blower things that make noise.”
    His comment made me laugh, and I had to cover it with a fake cough. Dad came to a stop, and Mom opened my door for me. “Let me help you,” she insisted. “You could still be woozy and not even know it until you stand up.”
    The doctors had put my arm in a sling because of a sprain. Since I wasn’t used to not being able to use my hand, I put my free arm around her neck, and Caspian slipped out behind me.
    “I’m so glad you’re home,” Mom said, steering me into the house. “I’m taking a few days off work so I can be here with you.”
    I wanted to argue that I was seventeen, not five, but I didn’t have the heart. “I should probably go up to my room and rest for a while,” I said. She nodded, and then escorted me up the stairs. Caspian followed us.
    As soon as we entered my bedroom, I noticed that it was different. Gone were the spilled perfumes and broken glass bottles that Vincent Drake had strewn across the floor, yet a smell still clung faintly to the air. I could tell that Mom had probably sprayed some cleaner, because a lemony scent was there too—the unmistakable odor of wood furniture polish—but it didn’t mask the