The School for the Insanely Gifted (16 page)

Chapter 30
The Chase

L
ike all students at the Blatt School, Daphna had imagined being invited for a ride in Ignatious's traveling office. But she had never imagined boarding the red helicopter under these circumstances or how extravagant the interior would be. Orange velvet lined the walls. The plush seats were embroidered with fine blue silk. A red curtain separated the backseats from the front. The windows were tinted light green. The rotor—thunderously loud from outside—was entirely muted within.

“Nice, isn't it?”

As the giant machine rocketed upward, Ignatious slipped into the backseat next to her. Gone was Ignatious's customary smooth polish. His smile was chilling. His eyes narrowed menacingly.

“What are you going to do with me?” Daphna asked.

“Don't worry, dear. This will be a short flight.”

A familiar voice came from the front.

“Where to, boss?”

Daphna's eyes widened. Ignatious laughed again.

“An old friend of yours.”

He drew open the curtain. The antelope man without his mask turned from the pilot's seat and smiled, revealing a row of uneven, chipped teeth. Daphna drew in a deep breath, remembering the first night they had met. It seemed years ago that he had broken into her apartment looking for the X-Head.

“There she is,” he said. “The girl who booted me out a window.”

“You broke into my apartment!”

The antelope man didn't respond but repeated his question to Ignatious: “Where to?”

“Yeah, Dad. Where to already?”

Daphna saw the yellow loafers.

“Myron?”

The boy looked back from the front passenger seat with a self-important smirk. “I'm Dad's right-hand man now. Isn't that right, Dad?”

“Take us over the harbor,” Ignatious said to the antelope man.

“Got it.”

“The harbor?” Daphna asked. As hard as she tried, she couldn't keep her voice from shaking. “Why are we going there?”

When Ignatious met her eyes, the old smile was back.

“So sorry, Daphna, dear. But did you really think I'd let you ruin my fun?”

“Fun?”

“Yes, fun.” Ignatious's eyes sparkled. “The X-Head! Didn't you see how everyone was wearing it? Don't forget, Daphna, I know everything that goes on in my school. I know about Mrs. Zoentrope's trance. I even know what happened to your mother when she first heard ‘The Sad Sandbox.' I can't risk having your beautiful music break the spell of my X-Head. I have so many things to do!”

“Things? What things?”

Ignatious brushed a pinkie over his goatee, pushing down an errant hair. “Some little things and some bigger ones too. For instance, I thought it would be nice if everyone in the city addressed me as His All-Powerful Insanely Gifted Blatt.” He chuckled. “And besides that, well, I've always wanted to be mayor, isn't that right, Myron?”

“Right, Dad!”

Daphna could feel the blood rushing through her temples.

“Mayor?” she said. “What about Mayor Fiorello?”

Ignatious waved a hand. “A mere inconvenience, my dear. Yes, he's awfully popular, but he's also up for reelection next fall. You see, in about, oh, four or five hours, I'll have full control of the X-Head. After that, a few words into my little pinkie ring and, presto, everyone lucky enough to be wearing it—which will soon be practically everyone in the world—will obey my every command! So don't you see that becoming mayor of New York City is the least that I can do? Next election day, I'll simply command everyone to write in my name. By the way, do you know what would be really nice? I'd love to have my face carved in the side of Mount Rushmore. Don't you think my profile would look smashing next to Abraham Lincoln's and Teddy Roosevelt's?”

“You'll never get away with it.”

Ignatious smiled, a giant grin that exposed his gums and teeth all the way down to the last molar.

“That's where you're wrong,” he said. “Because I will. And I'm sorry to say that you're the only person standing in my way. Your music, my dear. Played by you. But worry not—once you're gone, nothing will stop me!”

“Once I'm
gone
?”

“Why, yes,” Ignatious said. “Don't tell me you thought this was a joyride?”

Ignatious's copper sideburns and red goatee seemed to glint in the strange helicopter light. The founder of the Blatt School for the Insanely Gifted
looked
insane, capable of anything.

Myron turned from the front seat.

“Wait a second, Dad. . . . You aren't going to . . .” He swallowed hard and nodded at Daphna. “You know . . . ?”

Ignatious collected himself.

“It's one of life's painful lessons, dear boy: Sometimes, in order to succeed at the highest level, one has to have the courage of one's convictions.” He turned to the antelope man. “To the harbor! Double time!”

The antelope man pushed the throttle. Daphna tried to draw in a deep lungful of air but couldn't catch her breath. Ignatious couldn't be about to push her out of the helicopter into the water? He was the Great Blatt. The genius of all geniuses. An educator! A humanitarian!

“Wait!” she said.

“I have waited,” Ignatious replied coolly. “I've been waiting for twelve years for this chance. Waiting time is over.”

And then Daphna saw them. To her right, like a gift from the heavens, the Thunkmobile appeared with Harkin at the wheel and Thelma in the passenger seat, giving a thumbs-up. Looking out from the opposite window, she saw Balloon-Top, with Billy at the controls and Cynthia and Cook-Top at his side.

“That fat, bearded fool!” Ignatious cried, looking at Billy. He leaned forward. “Faster!”

“I'm flooring it,” the antelope man said.

“Wait a second, Dad,” Daphna heard from the front seat. “You can't just—”

“Shut up, Myron!” Ignatious cried. “I can do whatever I want.”

They were now over New York Harbor, headed directly toward the Statue of Liberty. Daphna looked out the window at the water below. Was it just that morning that they had flown back over it from Africa? Was she about to be dumped out the door to her death while her best friends watched, unable to do anything about it?

Ignatious flicked a switch. Daphna's door swung open and a strong gust of wind blew into the helicopter. Daphna gasped and grabbed onto the curtain. It was a long way to the water. To fall would mean certain death.

“It's been a pleasure,” Ignatious shouted above the sound of the screaming wind. “If it's any consolation, you were always one of my favorite students.”

He moved to push her out. But when Ignatious lurched forward, Daphna ducked under his hands, grabbed hold of his thick sideburns, and pulled his face hard to the seat. Ignatious was too strong. With an angry grunt, he sat back up.

“I like your fighting spirit,” he said. “But it's not enough. Say good-bye, Daphna!”

The helicopter swerved violently. Daphna looked up front. Myron had the antelope man in a headlock. No one was flying the helicopter!

“What?” Ignatious said.

Daphna didn't lose her chance. She elbowed Ignatious in the stomach, jumped to the front, and punched the antelope man hard in the nose. Though the antelope man dropped to the copter floor with a loud “Oof!” Ignatious quickly recovered from Daphna's blow and took the controls.

“No one can stop me,” he cried, shoving wildly on the joystick.

Daphna gasped. They were losing altitude, headed straight toward the Statue of Liberty's torch.

“Move it, Dad!”

The boy scurried over Daphna and hip checked his father off the pilot's seat. Ignatious hit the floor with a loud bump.

“You can drive this thing?” Daphna asked.

“A little bit. Hold on!”

Daphna looked out the windows. Her friends were on either side, waiting to see what they could do. Below, the harbor was lined with police boats, giving chase over water. The noise inside the helicopter was deafening.

“Come on,” Daphna said to Myron. “You can do it. Nice and easy!”

Myron Blatt had an insane gift after all: Yes, his charcoal toaster had been a disaster, but he was a natural-born pilot. With the boy at the controls, the helicopter slowed, tilted left, straightened out, then finally touched down.

“Welcome to New York's greatest tourist attraction!” Myron cried. “Lady Liberty's torch!”

Daphna shook with relief.

“We made it!” she said. “Nice!”

An arm closed tightly around her throat.

“Perfect,” Ignatious cried. “I'll be your tour guide!”

Chapter 31
The Truth Is Revealed

I
gnatious dragged Daphna out onto the torch. The wind was blowing hard.

“Let me go!” Daphna shouted.

She was crying but now more out of anger than fear. Struggling hard, she tried to kick and claw her way out of Ignatious's arms, but he held her fast.

“No, no, no, my little lady,” he said. “You're my ticket to freedom!”

“Freedom?” Daphna called. “Are you crazy?”

By that time the Thunkmobile and Balloon-Top hovered on either side.

“You'll never get away!” Harkin yelled.

“There are police boats all over the harbor!” Thelma said.

“And police cars all over the streets,” Billy said.

Ignatious laughed. “Maybe. But I don't see any police planes. Now leave! Let me get back on the helicopter with the girl.”

“So you can kill her?” Billy said. “Not a chance!”

“You'll be thrown in jail for life,” Harkin said.

Ignatious's body once again convulsed in giggles.

“Only if Daphna is able to play her piece! Or have you forgotten that nearly everyone else in the city is under the spell of the X-Head!”

Daphna was enraged. How dare this lunatic hold her hostage?

“You'll never get away with it,” she cried over the howl of the wind. “Then you'll be in jail for not one but two murders!”

That got Ignatious's attention. “Two murders? Who are you talking about?”

Daphna finally let it out. “My mother!” she cried. “I know where she was going when she died—she figured out where Billy was and was on her way to tell him that you were on to the X-Head! She saw its potential for bad and knew she might not come back, which is why she left me the map. Her plane crashed and now she's gone forever!”

It was the first time that Daphna had said it out loud, and somehow, she finally knew that it was true. She had carried a hope on her shoulders for so long that it felt almost good to let it go, to admit that her mother really was gone. Still, with the relief came a crushing wave of sadness. The next thing Daphna knew, she was crying as hard as she ever had in her life. Then she turned and kicked Ignatious in the shins and hit him in the chest before he managed to press her tightly into his arms.

“Now, now,” Ignatious said. Just like that, the old, oily, sweet-talking Ignatious had returned. “Don't fight me. Your mother was a wonderful lady. It's true that I asked her about the X-Head. But you must believe me that I never pressured her. She chose to fly her plane to find Billy. I didn't force her. Not a bit, my dear. I would never do that. Your mother's death is so sad. It still breaks my heart!”

Out of the corner of her eye, Daphna saw Billy jump from Balloon-Top to the torch. The next thing she knew, the burly man was pulling her away from Ignatious. Then—
wham!
—he cocked his right arm and punched Ignatious hard in the nose. The Great Blatt hit the green metal torch with a loud
thwack
.

“How dare you tell those lies to my daughter!” Billy cried.

No one spoke. Daphna looked at her friends in the Thunkmobile and Balloon-Top, stunned, then slowly turned to Billy.

“Did you say . . .
daughter
?”

Billy looked across the harbor, then finally nodded. “I did.”

He got down on one knee and took Daphna's hands. By that time, microphones hung down from TV helicopters. Reporters stood on hastily erected fire ladders, feverishly jotting notes. Though his confession was being watched and recorded by thousands, Billy spoke from the heart.

“I hope you'll forgive me. When you asked if I was your father and I said no, I thought I was telling the truth. You see, your mother and I were involved in college. Boyfriend and girlfriend.”

“More that that,” Ignatious growled from floor. “Why don't you tell her, Billy? Or are you still too much of a coward?”

“Tell me what?” Daphna said.

Billy swallowed hard. “That picture you had of your mother, Iggy, and me. Well, it was taken on your mother's and my wedding day.”

“Right!” Ignatious cried. “And she should have married me! She should have married me!”

Daphna gasped. It was all too much to comprehend. Had Ignatious loved her mother too?

“What? Really?”

“Yes,” Billy said. “It was our wedding day.” He looked at Ignatious. “And I'm sorry, Iggy, but she loved me, not you.” Billy sighed and looked back at Daphna. “We married, but I'm sorry to say I wasn't quite ready for it. I always loved your mother, but then I got this wanderlust—this urge to see the world. Silly, wasn't it? To think I gave up you and your mom for that. But then you mentioned your mother's silly pet name for you.”

Daphna's voice caught in her throat. “Miss Sadie P. Snodgrass?”

Billy smiled. “Yes, that's it. That's the name that your mother and I used to joke we'd name our child, if we ever had one. Believe me, Daphna, if I had known that you were on the way, I never would have left.”

Daphna's eyes filled with tears, out of equal parts confusion and joy. Billy took her hands.

“This is why I came back to New York. Not to stop Ignatious and the X-Head, but to work up the nerve to tell you the truth. I know that Ron and his family already take good care of you. I don't know if you'd want someone else in your life. But when you left, I got thinking about how lucky I was. Imagine! To discover that I'm the father of a wonderful girl.”

After all the years, it was hard to believe that what she had always wanted was staring her in the face. Daphna flung herself into Billy's arms. He held her tight. Daphna had many questions—loads of them—but they could wait. Now it felt good to be held, to be in the arms of a man who, despite everything, she was proud to call her father.

In fact, Daphna was holding Billy so tightly that she didn't even notice what happened next until Ignatious was already falling off the torch into a police net.

“What . . . ?” Daphna asked.

“He was about to push you off,” Harkin called from the Thunkmobile.

Cynthia smiled. She had jumped onto the torch. “So I pushed him first!”

Daphna peered over the edge. Down below, she could see Ignatious in handcuffs being led onto a police boat.

“But we aren't quite through, Daphna,” Billy said.

“Oh?”

“You aren't getting off the hook that easily,” Cynthia said.

“What do you mean?”

“We've been in touch with the mayor,” Thelma said.

“And Cody Meyers,” Harkin added.

“You're scheduled to play your rhapsody on his show in . . .” Billy glanced at his watch. “About ten minutes.”

Daphna blinked. “Ten minutes! Really?”

Billy laughed. “Yes, really. Don't forget. You still have to play. Nothing else will break the power of the X-Head. Now, no arguments!”

“Really?” Daphna blinked. “On national TV?”

Billy laughed. “Remember, I'm your dad now. Come! Play!”

And so she did.