The School for the Insanely Gifted (9 page)

“Excuse me,” he said. “I don't know about you, but a big meal always makes me sleepy. I'm good to snooze here, but Harrison'll show you to rooms where you can catch some shut-eye too. We'll meet back here in an hour or so, and I'll show you around the valley.”

Daphna didn't know what to think. Who really was the great genius? Ignatious or Billy? Or both? But questions would have to wait.

Their large host closed his eyes. In seconds, he was quietly snoring.

Chapter 15
Conversation by the Pond

T
hough it remained hard to accept that Ignatious Peabody Blatt had stolen his product ideas from Billy, the more time Daphna spent with Billy, the more convinced she became that he was telling the truth.

The evidence spoke for itself. Why hadn't anyone—not even once—ever been invited into Ignatious's labs? Why hadn't anyone ever—again,
not even once—
seen him create anything?

Then there was Billy. His brilliance was on full display. There was Harrison the robot, Cook-Top, Opera-Top, Picasso-Top, and hundreds of other inventions. With talent to burn, Billy B. Brilliant could probably have created Blatt-Global and the Hat-Top computer in his sleep. On top of it all, with every passing hour, Daphna came to see that Billy had truly meant what he said after lunch. Billy didn't care if Ignatious Peabody Blatt used his ideas to get rich. To his way of thinking, he was the winner, living life on his own terms, spending his days immersed in his own projects, free from the stresses of the modern world. Indeed, Billy was a man who could spend an entire day—perhaps even a week—trying to figure out how to make his Opera-Top sing a high C with more feeling and not feel as though he had wasted a second. “Never underestimate the power of great art,” he told Daphna. “It's the beauty of creating that makes the work worthwhile.”

Daphna knew that her time with Billy would have to be brief. Along with Monday's competition for the Insanity Cup, there was the matter of explaining her whereabouts to Ron and Jazmine. Fortunately, Harkin, by carefully manipulating his wristwatch computer, had been able to get online for a few moments before dinner to send reassuring messages home.

With time in the valley limited, Daphna, Harkin, and Cynthia were determined to make good use of every second. That first night, Harkin studied with Billy in his workshop until long past midnight. The following morning, Cynthia rose early, rode on elephant-back to a small grove of coconut trees, and got to work rehearsing her one-woman
Macbeth
. Daphna discovered a small pond used as a watering hole by zebras and gazelles. There, she opened her book of special music manuscript paper and let the sounds of her symphony fill her head. Totally alone with her thoughts, she sketched out the bare bones of the entire first movement in less than two hours.

The minute she finished, as if to mark the event, Billy stepped out of the underbrush. He wore a pair of purple baggy shorts, a yellow shirt, and black boots. His thick red beard appeared to be freshly washed and combed. A lone monkey was perched on his shoulder, crouched there like a cat.

“Hope I'm not disturbing you,” he said.

Daphna shook her head. “No, no. I'm good.”

Billy nodded and sat down on an adjacent rock. “What're you working on?”

Daphna's cheeks flushed. “My first symphony.”

“Very impressive,” he said. “When can I hear some of your music?”

Daphna paused. In truth, she knew the perfect time.

“There's an assembly back in New York tomorrow. I'm sure I could get you in.”

Billy looked over the pond and sighed. “Wouldn't that be nice?”

Daphna was tempted to ask him to come, but she held her tongue. She knew what the answer would be. Billy would never leave his paradise in the African mountain.

In any case, there was another subject Daphna was eager to get to. Since the moment she had arrived in Billy's valley, questions about her mother had run through her mind incessantly. What was she like in college? Were she and Billy good friends? Were they good friends with Ignatious? Now that Daphna had private time with Billy, she couldn't get the words right.

“You look like a girl with something on her mind,” Billy said.

Daphna gazed across the pond. On the other side, a baby zebra was reaching down for a drink next to its mother. Daphna took it as a sign. If she wanted more info, it was now or never.

“Tell me about my mom.”

Billy nodded as if he had been waiting for the question since her arrival. “What kinds of things do you want to hear?”

“Anything,” Daphna said. “You decide.”

Two other little zebras had joined the mom across the pond. One slipped forward and got its nose wet. As it righted itself back on the shore, Billy turned to Daphna.

“How's this?” Billy said. “Did you know that she would do all her homework in light green pen?”

Daphna smiled, remembering the names on the mysterious picture, as well as the hidden map, all drawn in light green. “She wrote all our grocery lists like that too.”

“I'm not surprised,” Billy said. “I suppose that you know about her bracelets.”

Another nod. “She had a different colored one for each day of the week.”

Billy laughed. “Heather didn't change as she got older, did she? Right, a different color so she always knew what day it was. That's the kind of mind she had, very organized.”

“What else?” Daphna said.

“Seems that you know everything I've got to say.”

“No,” Daphna said. “Keep going.”

Billy stood and stretched. The monkey on his shoulder hopped to the ground. “Well, let's see. . . . She once wrote a paper for an environmental studies class on the prospects of using old bicycle seats and handlebars as an alternative fuel.”

That was the mom Daphna knew. She remembered the day her mom had come home and announced that she was reconstructing a World War I B-2 biplane. She had once lobbied Ron to put a giant windmill on the roof to supply the building with electricity.

“Did it work?” Daphna asked.

Billy shook his head. “Afraid not. I believe that the teacher pointed out that bike seats best preserve energy by staying on the bikes they came with so that people can ride them.” Billy laughed. “That might have been the only bad grade your mom ever got.”

“What else?” Daphna said.

Billy scratched his beard. “There was the time she used herself as a subject in a nutrition class by living only on chicken for a full week.”

“For a full week?”

“Just the dark meat.”

Daphna nodded. That made sense. She and her mom always fought over the legs and thighs.

“And oh, oh!” Billy said. He wagged his head, remembering. “Here's something you may not know. Your mother played the saxophone.”

That news had Daphna up on her feet. Her mother had never mentioned that she played an instrument—not even once.

“The sax? No!”

“She took it up our sophomore year. I was in a jazz band, and your mom thought it'd be fun to join. So she took up the sax. Got pretty good, too, in a short time.”

“Did she ever play in public?”

Billy nodded. “Once.” He looked at Daphna. “It was quite something.”

“Tell me.”

He sat back down on a nearby log. “It was the tail end of finals, junior year. Everyone was burned out. The College for the Extraordinarily Talented was a tough place. There was a local coffee bar where we all hung out. That week no one was smiling. Everyone's mind was on their work. Your mom decided enough was enough. She went to the coffee bar and took out her sax and started to improvise the most amazing tune. She wasn't a great player—she hadn't been playing long enough—but she sounded good and had an innate feel for music. At first, people seemed annoyed. But before long, everyone was mesmerized. And then the strangest thing happened.”

Daphna had a funny feeling that she knew what was coming next.

“Everyone went into a trance?”

Billy looked at Daphna, eyes wide. “You've heard the story?”

Daphna shook her head. “No, but tell me.”

“There's not much to tell. As you said, everyone went into this brief but deep trance. When your mother stopped playing . . .” Billy paused. “It was strange. Everyone came back to their senses feeling wonderful—like they hadn't a care in the world.”

What news! The glimmer of Daphna's musical gift had clearly come from her mom.

“Your mother wasn't a talented, trained musician like you, but she had feeling. Her music snapped everyone out of the funk.” He paused. “She was quite a woman.”

Daphna blinked. A tear rolled down the top of Billy's cheek. His monkey wiped it away with a deft flick of its paw just before it soaked into his beard.

Daphna's next question surprised even her. It hadn't been on her mind at that moment, but something about the obvious fondness Billy felt for her mother made it simply pop out of her mouth.

“Billy, are you my father?”

The shaggy man seemed stunned, then embarrassed. He looked at Daphna with great affection. For a split second, she thought the answer was going to be yes. It made a certain kind of sense, after all. Daphna had to have gotten her coloring from someone. While Daphna's mother was a blonde with brown eyes, she and Billy both had auburn hair and hazel eyes. Why shouldn't Billy take her in his arms and say, “As a matter of fact, I am your dad”?

Instead he shook his head a little bit sadly.

“Your father?” he said. “I'm afraid I'm not that lucky.”

“Yeah,” she said, trying not to let the hurt show. “Oh, well.”

Daphna closed her manuscript. She and Billy exchanged an awkward glance. There was more she wanted to know—about her mother and Ignatious, too—but those questions would have to wait for another time. The news that Billy wasn't her father had made her lose her taste for more conversation.

“I guess we should walk back to the house?” Billy asked.

Daphna nodded. “Yeah.”

There was a rustling in the undergrowth. Harrison and Cook-Top burst into the clearing. Daphna immediately sensed something was wrong—something serious. Harrison looked worried, and Cook-Top was waving a giant spatula.

“What is it?” Billy asked.

“Sorry to interrupt you, sir,” the robot said. “But two scout monkeys detected a group of intruders.”

Billy's eyes narrowed. “Intruders?”

“Yes, sir. Now preparing to parachute into the valley.”

Daphna shuddered. She had thought that she had gotten away too easily.

“The antelope men,” she said.

Billy nodded gravely, then turned to Harrison.

“Summon the troops,” he called.

The robot bowed. “Very good, sir,” and disappeared with Cook-Top back through the underbrush with the monkey hot on their heels.

“Grab your music,” Billy told Daphna. “It looks like we're in for a fight.”

Chapter 16
Calling All Tops!

B
y the time Daphna and Billy reached the cabin, Harkin and Cynthia were waiting on the front steps.

“It's the antelope men, all right,” Harkin said. “We saw them on Billy's video monitors, gathering on the outer edge of the valley.”

“How'd they find us?” Billy asked.

Harkin shook his head in disgust. “Had to be my fault,” he said. “I let them get too close when they were chasing us on their motorcycles. That's probably when they slapped a tracking device on the side of the Thunkmobile.”

He opened his hand. In the middle of his palm was a tiny magnet.

“That's it?” Daphna asked.

Harkin nodded. “I just found it on the left back door.”

“Don't be so hard on yourself,” Cynthia said. “There were five of them, and they were really fast.”

Billy rubbed an open palm through Harkin's thick hair. “Cynthia's right, Thunk. Let it go.”

Cynthia looked up. In the distance a troop of antelope men lined the edge of the upper cliff, about to descend into the valley. “We know how they got here, but how are we going to fight them off?”

The door to Billy's cabin swung open. Harrison stepped out and handed Billy his whip.

“Your weapon, sir,” the robot said, then got busy tying back Billy's shaggy hair with a blue bandanna.

Billy's monkeys fanned out and formed a semi-circle on the outer perimeter of the yard. Whip in hand, Billy winked at Daphna, then turned to the door and roared as loudly as he could. “Tops! Battle stations!”

After a full day in the valley, Daphna had thought she had seen it all. But what happened next made her see that Billy was even
more
brilliant than she had imagined. Nine laptop computers, all on legs, marched triumphantly in the yard and stood at attention in a sharp line.

“Meet my special defense Tops,” Billy said. He strutted up and down the line like a proud general. “Okay, Tops, sound off!”

One by one, each specially designed laptop stepped forward and called out its name in a mechanized but clear voice.

“Javelin-Top! Here!”

“Itch-Top! Present!”

“Octopus-Top! Here! All eight legs!”

“Tickle-Top! Accounted for!”

“Joke-Top! Ha-ha here!”

“Flood-Top! Full!”

“Soap-Top! Slippery and ready for action!”

“Pterodactyl-Top! Wings in working order!”

“Frog-Top!
Ribbit!
”

Stunned, Daphna looked at Harkin and Cynthia. It wasn't hard to imagine the feats each of the computers had been programmed to perform.

“Good work, Tops,” Billy said. “Now power up!”

One of the larger of Billy's monkeys moved down the line of laptops, typing a rapid-fire series of commands on each of their keyboards. Within moments, all nine computers were whirring and humming and beginning to exhibit their unique characteristics. Tickle-Top and Joke-Top doubled over with laughter. A burst of bubbles flew out of Soap-Top's screen. Octopus-Top sprang six arms to go with his two legs while Pterodactyl-Top sprouted ten-foot-long wings and took to the sky to check on the invaders' progress. Then Javelin-Top's arms swelled, Itch-Top began to scratch its monitor, and Flood-Top started leaking. Finally, Frog-Top bounded around the yard on a giant set of frog legs, its tongue flicking out of its screen.

“Dig the lap-dudes,” Harkin said.

There was one more Top that wanted in on the action. As Billy looked around the yard, inspecting his troops, Cook-Top burst out of the cabin, squeaking wildly, waving a spatula in one hand and a bread knife in the other.

“No, no, no,” Billy said. “Your place is in the kitchen.”

Cook-Top hissed and released a plume of stale black smoke, then shot a burned piece of toast Billy's way.

“I said no!” Billy said, swatting aside the toast. “Do you know how many hours it took to make you? You're too valuable at home.”

With a string of loud squeaks and grunts, the computer hurled the knife into a nearby tree, turned on its heel, and stormed back into the house.

“He's always been temperamental,” Billy said with a sigh, then turned to Harrison. “What's the latest report?”

The robot stepped forward. “The intruders are on the edge of the cliff, sir, about to parachute in.”

“Thank you, Harrison,” Billy said. He looked at the children. “Don't worry. My monkeys and Tops will protect us just fine.”

Daphna knew what was coming next. Harkin stepped forward, chest out, fists clenched.

“If you think we're going to sit this out, you're out of your mind.”

Billy took his own step forward, casting a giant shadow over the boy. Harkin came up only to his belly button.

“No fancy ideas, Thunk. In my valley, I'm your legal guardian. I say you stay safe!”

Billy snapped his whip hard against a tree branch. A sea of coconuts rained down onto the yard. One hit Harkin on the shoulder and split open at his feet.

Billy smiled. “This battle'll be over by the time you finish your coconut milk.”

Harkin kicked the broken coconut across the yard. Daphna understood his frustration. She wanted to join the fight as well. But she also had another even more pressing concern. Why in the world were the antelope men so insistent? Why did they keep coming after her? What in the world did they want? A
Flex-Bed
?

Pterodactyl-Top flew back into the yard and settled in front of Billy, lightly flapping its long brown wings.

“Intruders landing in main field!” the flying laptop announced. “Thirty of them.”

Craning his neck, Harkin shook his long blond hair out of his ponytail holder and let loose with what could only be termed a thunderous battle cry. He then leaped onto Pterodactyl-Top's back, shrieking, “Fly, laptop! Fly!” With a loud squawk, the computer bird rose into the air and soared up and over the tall trees that surrounded Billy's cabin, headed toward the battlefield.

“Wait!” Billy called.

Not to be outdone, Cynthia sang out with one of her vintage, ear-piercing high Cs. As Billy, Daphna, the monkeys—even Harrison—held their ears, a giant elephant lumbered into the yard, lifted Cynthia onto its back with its trunk, and rumbled back through the woods.

What could Billy do but give in?

“Okay,” he said to Daphna. “Stick close to me.” He then turned to Cook-Top, who had meandered back outside. “You come too—and bring your spatula.”

Cook-Top bounced up and down, squeaking wildly.

Daphna felt herself being lifted into the air by five monkeys. Suddenly she was moving very quickly through the woods. Billy was at her side, also traveling on monkey-back, while Cook-Top brought up the rear. Branches hit Daphna hard in the face. It was difficult to believe that a few days ago she had been a mild-mannered student, finishing her first rhapsody. Now she was halfway around the world, charging into an epic battle.

The brave warriors burst out the other side into wide-open grassland. Looking up, Daphna saw thirty men floating downward, antelope masked and dressed in black, each with a spear strapped to his back. Moments later, the men touched down.

“On my command!” Billy called.

Obeying orders, the children and the Tops stayed still while the lead antelope—the largest of the crew, a giant man who stood a good six and a half feet—stepped forward.

Frightened, Daphna looked to Billy. If he was worried, he didn't show it. The large man stood still, taking in the antelopes, almost as if they were interesting specimens to be studied rather than fierce warriors to be fought and defeated.

“Hey, Billy?” Harkin called from the back of Pterodactyl-Top. “Are we going to fight or what?”

Billy shot Harkin a sharp glance, then let loose a thundering call to arms:

“Flood-Top!” he cried. “Fire when ready!”