“Thank you, both,” Andy said. “C’mon, Chetwynde, we’ll drop you at home.”
Courtney pulled herself out of the chair and said, “Well, glad I came by to solve the dilemma.”
“Yeah, you’re swell,” Andy said sarcastically. “Let’s go.”
He ran out. Mark gave his mom and dad a quick hug and said, “See you in Florida. You guys are awesome.” He ran after Andy; Courtney was right behind.
They all headed for Andy’s ancient station wagon. Since Andy used it to transport flowers, the backseat was down. That meant all three had to sit in front on the bench seat. Andy jumped behind the wheel. Courtney looked to Mark and said, “You’re not going to make me sit next to him, are you?”
Mark laughed and jumped in first. Courtney didn’t live far from Mark, so the drive only took a few minutes. Andy pulled the car up to the curb in front of her house, skidding to a stop.
“Okay, out!” he shouted. “We ain’t got a whole lot of time.”
Mark said, “Wait, I gotta use Courtney’s bathroom.”
“What?” Mitchell exclaimed. “We just left your house a minute ago!”
“Wh-What can I say,” Mark said. “When you g-gotta go… “
Mark’s words caught Courtney by surprise. Why was he stuttering? Mark only stuttered when he got nervous. She opened the door, pulled her stiff body out of the car, and headed up the walkway to her house. Mark was right after her.
“Make it quick!” Andy shouted. “We got a plane to catch!”
Mark hurried up behind Courtney, took her by the arm, and hurried her toward the house.
“Geez,” Courtney said. “He’s right. Why didn’t you go back at your house?”
Mark didn’t stop. “Just hurry,” he said.
He pulled her quickly toward the door. Courtney pulled her keys out and could see that Mark was nervously hopping from one foot to the other.
“You gonna make it?” she asked, chuckling.
“Just open the door,” Mark ordered.
Courtney wasn’t used to Mark giving orders like bathroom. When she got the door open, Mark jumped past her and inside.
“Close the door!” he shouted.
She did. “What is wrong with you?” she demanded.
Mark pulled his right hand out of his coat pocket.
“This!” he shouted.
His ring had come to life. Bobby’s next journal was about to arrive.
“You’re not gonna make that plane later tonight,” Courtney said, breathless.
“No,” Mark said. “We’ll fly tomorrow.”
No sooner had Mark finished saying that than the entryway to Courtney’s house came alive with light from the expanding ring. Mark and Courtney already had their eyes shielded.
“Courtney?” came a familiar voice. It was Courtney’s mother.
“Uh-oh,” Mark said. He quickly took off his jacket and threw it over the growing ring just as Mrs. Chetwynde entered.
“Oh, hi, Mark!” she said cheerily. “Congratulations, I heard all about your, uh, your science thing.”
“Thanks, M-Mrs. Chetwynde,” Mark stammered nervously.
Both he and Courtney stepped onto Mark’s coat, pressing the edges down into the rug so no light would shine out.
“What is that strange sound?” Mrs. Chetwynde asked.
Mark and Courtney knew it was the strange music that always accompanied a delivery through the ring.
Courtney said, “That’s part of Mark’s project. They’re experimenting with sound, too.”
Mrs. Chetwynde looked at the jacket they were standing on and frowned. “It’s in the jacket?”
“Uh-huh,” Courtney said.
“The jacket you’re standing on,” Mrs. Chetwynde added. “Uh, yeah, we didn’t want to track dirt onto the rug,” Courtney said, thinking fast.
“Since when?”
Courtney could feel the ring shrinking under her foot. The music ended too.
“Hey! Dimond!” Andy Mitchell called from outside. He was pressing his face against the small window next to the front door.
Mrs. Chetwynde saw him and jumped in surprise. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “Who is that person?”
Mark took the opportunity to scoop up the jacket, along with the ring and the pages that had just arrived.
“He’s my partner in the project,” Mark explained.
Courtney said, “He won’t bite, he only looks scary. You know how those genius types are.”
Mrs. Chetwynde shook her head in dismay and walked out of the room. “If you say so,” she said with confusion. “Good luck, Mark.”
“Thanks, Mrs. Chetwynde!”
“Come on!” Andy Mitchell yelled. “My uncle’s waitin’!”
Mark held up his finger to Andy as if to say, “One second!” He pulled Courtney away from the window, into the living room, out of Andy’s sight. From under his jacket he pulled out a thick brown envelope. Bobby’s latest journal.
“What happened to the yellow pages with the purple ribbon?” Courtney asked.
Mark ripped open the envelope quickly and looked inside. “It’s a journal all right,” he announced. “Maybe he wrote it from another territory.”
“You’re not going with Mitchell now, are you?” Courtney asked. “We’ve gotta read!”
“I can’t blow him off,” he said. “What would I tell him?”
“Who cares! You don’t owe that jerk anything. After all he’s done to you? Mark, it’s a journal from Bobby!”
“He’s not a jerk anymore; he’s my partner,” Mark said seriously.
Courtney backed down, saying, “Yeah, you’re right. I’m sorry. But you’re not gonna take that plane tonight!”
“No,” Mark said. “I’ll help move the flowers, then come back here right after. I’ll just have to make sure it takes long enough so we miss the night flight.”
“Do you realize how hard it’s going to be for me not to read this?” Courtney said.
Mark gave her a stern look. Courtney smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you.”
Mark put his ring back on his finger, pulled on his jacket, and headed for the front door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Put the journal someplace safe.”
He was about to leave, then he turned and walked back to Courtney. He held her by the arms and said, “I am really glad you’re back.”
The two hugged. They had forged such a strong bond over the last few years that if Courtney were asked, she would have to say that as strange as it might seem, her very best friend in the world was Mark Dimond.
Mark felt the same way.
They hugged for a second more, then without another word, he was gone. Courtney looked at the envelope. She hadn’t thought about it until that second, but it was the first time she’d been entrusted with one of Bobby’s journals. Usually that was Mark’s job. Now she was the one who had to have the patience to wait, knowing that the next chapter in Bobby’s adventure was right there. She sat down and felt the paper envelope, wanting to pull the pages out and start reading. She almost did, too. But she stopped herself. It was always Mark who had to wait for her. She now knew just how hard that was.
She took the envelope and brought it up to her room, carefully placing it under her pillow for safekeeping. She had no idea why she did that. It wasn’t like the underside of her pillow was any safer than her desk, or her dresser. But she felt as if she needed to treat the pages with special care. It also helped to get the journal out of her sight, because she feared her willpower would crack and she’d read.
She went downstairs and had dinner with her parents, then did her homework in the dining room. Her mother asked her why she wasn’t working in her room as she usually did. Courtney said it was because she was tired of
