The Lost Scroll of Fudo Shin (2 page)

The front doorbell rang downstairs instead.

You see?

He sat up.  Who’d be ringing the doorbell at this hour?

You will find out.  Now get ready to go.

Go?

Jamal sat up.  “Was that the doorbell?”

Jimmy nodded.  “Yeah.  Weird, huh?  You guys know who it is?”

“Definitely strange that someone’s out in that storm.”  Jamal slumped back down with a sigh.  “But I’m willing to bet it’s not for me.”

Derek continued to snore.

Jimmy stared at the door leading out into the hallway and downstairs.  He could hear muffled voices.

A twinge of guilt bit at his stomach.  It was true he hadn't stolen the video game, but he had nabbed that package of gum from old Mr. Johnson’s down the street today on the way home from school.  Had the nearly-blind shopkeeper figured out that Jimmy had left the store with the gum?  Were the police downstairs?  Would they take him to juvenile detention this time?  He'd had quite a few run-ins with the cops, but aside from the gum today, he'd stopped stealing things.

He chewed his lip.  He couldn’t hear what the voices were saying.  But he did know that one of the voices sounded like a woman.

“Fine.”  That was Frankenstein, the night shift guardian who watched the kids and kept the place locked down during the night.  He was obviously upset.  The doorbell had probably interrupted his usual nighttime regimen of cupcakes and coffee.  Frankenstein hated being interrupted while he was busy fueling the internal combustion engine in his stomach.

“This way.”

Jimmy strained to see from his bed.  Shadows started climbing the stairs.  Frankenstein’s was easy to pick out, it lumbered up slowly, one stair at a time, straining under the bulk of all those cupcakes.  

But behind it came another shadow.  Unlike Frankenstein’s, it seemed to glide easily almost as if it was floating.  With its willowy form it definitely could have been made by a woman.  Jimmy didn’t see any other shadows.

He sighed.  Cops never traveled alone.  If he was going to get pinched for the gum, they would have shown up as a pair.

He was safe.

“You sure about this?”

Frankenstein’s voice again.  Jimmy could tell he was surprised about something.

A clap of thunder echoed across the room.  Jimmy jumped and then the next thing he knew, the voices and shadows were practically on top of him.  He flipped over and buried himself under the covers.

The door creaked open wider.

“That him?”  No doubt about it now, that voice was certainly a woman’s; a British- sounding woman to be precise.

“Keep your voice down,” hushed Frankenstein.  “We keep the kids on a very strict schedule for their sleep.”

“He’s awake,” said the woman.  “He hasn’t been sleeping much lately, anyway.  Trust me.”

“How would you know that?”

Her voice cut through the night.  “Get out of bed, Jimmy.”

Jimmy’s stomach hurt.  He turned over, pretending to rub sleep out of his eyes.  “Huh?”

The woman smiled at him.  “There’s no need for the games.  Just get yourself out of bed.  We have to go.”  She wore a black turtleneck sweater and long black stretch pants with a dark overcoat.  The way she smiled looked forced, though.  Like she was trying hard to conceal her impatience.  And the way she stood tall and straight reminded Jimmy of a soldier.  Still, she had nice brown eyes and blonde hair.

Now Jimmy sat up.  “Go where?”

Frankenstein sat down on Jimmy’s bed.  “Jimmy, this woman is your aunt.  Says she’s been trying to find you for years ever since your parents died.  Now that she has, she wants to adopt you.  She’s got all the right paperwork.  The court’s granted her custody of you.  It’s time to go, though she probably could have chosen a better time.”  He shot her a withering look.  “Like maybe during the daytime when people are actually awake.”

Jimmy frowned.  “Since when do the courts work that fast?  I’ve never heard of an adoption being approved so quickly.”  He glanced at Frankenstein.  “You sure this is legit?”

The woman smiled at him some more.  “I have some friends in high places.  They made sure the papers got filed quickly.”

Frankenstein leaned close to Jimmy.  “You’re a good kid, Jimmy.  But it’s time for you to go.  Get packed and meet us back downstairs in five minutes.”

“I’m leaving now?”

The woman checked her watch.  “The sooner the better, actually.  Time is rather pressing.”

“Let’s give him a minute,” said Frankenstein.  “We’ll wait downstairs.”  They left and Jimmy sat there for a moment.

“That was weird.”

Jimmy looked at Derek.  “You heard?”

“Sure.  You’re getting out of here.”

“I guess.”

Jamal threw off his covers.  “Hey, man, that’s good news.  Don’t seem so down about it.  We all want a home.  Now you’ve got one.”

“I don’t even know that woman.”

Derek shook his head.  “Don’t worry about it.  I’m sure she’ll be nice.  Probably nicer than any of those foster homes you were in.  She’s family, man.  That counts for a lot.”

Jamal grinned.  “Pretty good-looking, too.”

Derek snorted but stopped when Jimmy failed to smile.  “I never knew I had relatives in England.”

“There’s probably a lot of things we all don’t know about ourselves,” said Jamal.  “At least you’ve got a chance now to find out some stuff about your life.”

Jimmy crawled out of bed and slid into his jeans.  He figured he could change his shirt in the morning, after they got to wherever it was they were going.

“You need help packing?” asked Jamal.

Jimmy grinned.  “There’s not much.”  He took out the small bag he had and threw some clothes and his sketchpad into it.  “See?  Done.”

Derek and Jamal got out of bed.  They came closer to Jimmy and gave him a hug.  “I guess this is good-bye,” said Jimmy.

Jamal shook his head.  “Don’t say good-bye.  Just say, ‘see ya.’  That doesn’t sound so final.”

“We’re here if you need us, man,” said Derek.  “I don’t know if me and Jamal will have someone come by in the middle of the night and take us home.  So you know where to find us.”

“At the game store or here destroying your latest purchase.”  Jimmy smiled.  “You guys take care.”  He stood there for another moment, looking at his friends, and then turned and hurried downstairs.

Frankenstein and the woman stood by the front desk.  The woman looked concerned and kept checking her watch.  She saw Jimmy and sighed.  “All done then, are you?  Good.  Good.  Well, it’s time for us to be off, then.”

Frankenstein stuck out a meaty paw to Jimmy.  “It was good knowing you, Jimmy.  Don’t forget about us here, okay?”

Jimmy grinned and shook his hand.  “Thanks.  I won’t.”

The woman came up behind him.  “Right, let’s get going.  Thank you for your help, Mr. Griffin.”

“My pleasure.”

The woman’s hand was firm on Jimmy’s back.  He spun away.  “I can walk by myself.”

She smiled.  “Of course you can.  It’s just that the weather is quite awful out there and shows sign of getting worse.  I’d hate for you to get caught in it.  Start our journey off sick, so to speak.”

“I’ll be fine.  I’ve been looking after myself for years, you know.”

They moved toward the front door.  Another flash of lightning made Jimmy slow down.  The woman leaned close to him.  “Why don’t you just let me check outside first, all right?”

“Why?”

“Oh, I’ll just see if we need the umbrella.”  She ducked outside but instead of looking at the sky, Jimmy watched her head sweep in a wide arc that covered the entire parking lot.  She didn’t look the least bit interested in the weather.  In a second she was back.

“All right, it looks as though we’re safe for the moment.”

Jimmy ducked outside and felt the rain hit him.  It quickly soaked his sweatshirt and ran down his back.  The woman’s car sat by the curb.  As they approached, the engine turned over and the door locks popped.  

“Get in.”

Jimmy climbed into the front seat and the woman hurried around to the driver’s side.  She slid in and instead of getting her seatbelt on, she slid the car into drive and they shot away from the orphanage, out onto the city streets.

Jimmy pointed at the street in front of them.  “Some people think turning on their headlights is a good idea when they drive at night.”

The woman smiled.  “Your file says you’ve got quite sarcastic streak in you.  Nice to see the information I paid for is reliable.”

“My file?”

She ignored him.  “I agree that headlights are nice, but I’d rather not advertise our presence at this moment. ”

Jimmy frowned.  “Huh?”

But instead of repeating herself, she looked over at him, here eyes scanning up and down.  “You’re a bit taller than I would have thought for a 13 year-old.”

“I’m almost fourteen.”

“Tomorrow, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, then, allow me to be the first to wish you a happy birthday.”  She extended her hand.  “My name is Vanessa MacPherson.  Most people call me V.”

“Shouldn’t I call you auntie or something like that?”

“You might want to in time, but honestly, I’m not your aunt.”

Jimmy leaned back.  “Who are you?”  He glanced at the car door and thought about making a run for it.  If Vanessa stopped at a red light, he could have the door open and be gone in a flash.

“Car doors are locked by a master control switch.  They won’t open unless I allow it.  And I’m afraid I can’t allow you to escape right now.”

“Lady, I don’t know who you are, but-“

“I just told you who I am.  And the part about you not escaping is for your own good.  Trust me.  We barely found you in time as it was.”

Jimmy frowned.  “What are you talking about?”

Vanessa glanced in the rearview mirror.  She nudged Jimmy.  “Look behind us.”

Jimmy turned in his seat.  He could barely make out the orphanage now.  But he saw two sets of headlights parked out front, where he’d been only moments before.

“More cars?  They’re busy tonight.”

Vanessa’s face looked tight.  “Those cars aren’t there for the other kids.  They’re there looking for Jimmy Matsuda Dolan.”

“Matsuda?”

“It means pine tree in Japanese.”  She grinned.  “Surely you’ve noticed that you’re not exactly the blonde-haired blue-eyed young man that your name suggests?”

“I’ve known I’m part Asian.  But I never knew my parents.”

“Your father was Japanese.  Your mother was American.  You’re a mix of them both.  And that mix has probably helped you more than you realize.  Kept you hidden when we were all looking for you.”

“Me?”

“And it’s not about the gum you stole earlier.”

“How’d you know-?”

“I know a lot of things about you, Jimmy.  Right now, the most important thing for you to know about me is that I’m responsible for your safety.  I won’t let anyone harm you, but you need to trust me.  All right?”
“Harm me?”  Jimmy swallowed.  “Who would want to harm me?”

“I’m afraid that’s a rather long list.  I hate being the bearer of bad news and all, but there are some things you’re going to have to be brought up to speed on rather quickly.  That’s one of them.”

Vanessa’s car sliced through a deep puddle, tossing grimy water up near Jimmy’s window.  He frowned.  “But I don’t know that many people.”

“But they know of you.  At least they do now.  When we found out about you, so did they.  It was a race just to get to you tonight before they did.  As you can see, we only just made it.”

Jimmy looked back.  The headlights hadn’t moved.  “Who are they?”

“The bad guys.”  She wheeled the car onto a winding road that led up a hill.  At the top, Vanessa parked the car and Jimmy could see the orphanage far below them.  The headlights hadn’t moved.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t really understand what’s going on here.”

Vanessa held up her hand.  “Just wait.”

Jimmy peered through the windshield.  The orphanage suddenly looked strange, illuminated somehow from within.  “What’s happening down there?”

Vanessa's voice was quieter.  “By now, they’re erasing any evidence, I’d expect.”

“Evidence?  Of what?”

She looked at him.  “Of you, Jimmy.”

There was a sudden explosion of yellows and reds from inside the walls of the orphanage as flames erupted from the windows.  “They set it on fire?”

Vanessa’s hands were tight on the steering wheel.  “They won’t be pleased that they missed you.  And I’m afraid they won’t be merciful, either.”

“Merciful-“  Jimmy leaned forward.  “Jamal and Derek!”  He started to reach for the door handle, but Vanessa held him back.

“Don’t.”

“Those are my friends down there!  I can’t just sit here and let them die!”

Vanessa’s hand was firm on his chest.  “They’re already dead.  Everyone’s already dead, Jimmy.  I’m sorry.”

Jimmy stared through the windshield.  The flames tore through the orphanage despite the pouring rain.  They must have used an accelerant, he decided.  Something that would make the place burn even with all the water falling from the sky.

The image of the fiery orphanage blurred as Jimmy’s eyes felt hot.  His breathing came out in staccato spurts.  He blinked rapidly, trying to calm himself down.  After several minutes, the building started to crumble and fall apart.  

In the silence of the car, the only sound was the rain pelting the roof.  And Jimmy’s breathing.

“You knew this was going to happen,” he said quietly.

Vanessa eyed him.  “You were the priority, Jimmy.  I’m sorry about your friends.”

He faced her, eyes blazing.  “You could have stopped this.  You could have saved Jamal and Derek if you’d wanted.”

Vanessa shook her head.  “No.  There’s a limit to what even I can do.”

“You could have called the cops as soon as we left.”

“And told them what?  That the orphanage was under attack?  That would have brought us far too much attention.  You need to disappear again, Jimmy.  Now that you’ve seen what they’re capable of.”

Jimmy frowned.  “You showed me this on purpose?”

“I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to this.”  She sighed.  “But once again, I’ve underestimated their capacity for evil.”