“I’m almost certain we will,” Hildie replied. “This afternoon, after lunch, Dr. Engersol will give Josh some tests and have a talk with him. From his records, I doubt very much that there will be any reason for us to turn him down. But there’s another question, of course,” she added.
Brenda’s brow furrowed with uncertainty. “Another question?” she repeated.
Hildie smiled thinly. “The question of Josh himself. Does he want to come here?”
Brenda felt the hope that had been building inside her begin to crumble. Should she lie to this woman? But there was something about Hildie Kramer that she found reassuring. Even though she hadn’t met Hildie until less than an hour ago, she felt she could trust her. “I–I’m not sure,” Brenda said. “When I first suggested it to him, he thought — well, he thought it was a place for crazy kids, and that I was trying to punish him for — for what he’d done.”
Hildie nodded thoughtfully. “That’s only to be expected. But you said that’s what he thought at first. Has he changed his mind?”
Brenda thought about it, remembering Josh’s quietness over the last few days, when he’d stayed at home with his sister and Mabel Hardwick while she’d gone to work. As she thought about it, she realized that he’d seemed to be on good behavior since she’d brought him home from the hospital.
As if he was hoping that if he were good enough, she wouldn’t send him to the Academy?
But he’d gone to the library, and apparently read everything he could about not only the Academy, but the man for whom it was named, as well. “I don’t know,” she finally admitted. “He’s been awfully quiet, and I haven’t sent him back to school yet. He really hasn’t said much one way or another. Except he’s always hated school. I don’t have any idea what he might say if we asked him.”
Hildie smiled almost conspiratorially. “In that case, let’s not ask him. Let’s just let him get a feel of the place, and get to know some of the kids. If he’s like most of them, he’ll have slid right into things before he even stops to think about whether he wants to or not.”
Brenda cocked her head, regarding the older woman. “Is that why you left him outside, instead of bringing him in to show him around?”
“Of course,” Hildie said. “The sooner he starts making friends, the more he’s going to want to be here.” She glanced out the window, sizing up the chess game that was still in progress only a few yards away. “From what I can see, it looks like we’re stuck here for about another thirty minutes. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
Brenda eyed the single doughnut that remained on the plate on Hildie’s desk. “Would you mind if I ate that?” she asked timidly. “I’m afraid I didn’t take time for us to stop for breakfast.” She didn’t add that she also hadn’t wanted to spend the money breakfast would have cost. While Hildie passed her the plate with the doughnut, then picked up a phone and asked someone for a pot of coffee and two cups, Brenda looked out the window, trying to follow the chess game in which her son appeared to be totally engrossed. As she watched, Jeff Aldrich moved a piece, capturing one of Josh’s.
“I guess he’s not doing too good,” she observed, hearing her own defensiveness. “But it’s only his first game. I don’t think he ever even saw a chess set before, except on television.”
Hildie stole another peek out the window, then smiled. “Looks to me like he’s doing just fine. Right now, I’d say the odds are about two-to-one that Jeff’s going to have to pay me off.” She chuckled mischievously. “And, oh, how that boy hates it when he loses bets with me!”
Brenda took a bite of the doughnut, then smiled at Hildie. “You really love these kids, don’t you?” she asked.
“Every one of them,” Hildie replied. “There’s nothing as satisfying as watching these children grow up and become everything it’s possible for them to become.”
As Brenda MacCallum and Hildie Kramer stepped out onto the loggia half an hour later, Josh glanced up for a split second, then quickly returned his attention to the board. In his mind, he reviewed once more all the various moves the pieces he still controlled could make, then shifted his point of view to the other side, calculating all the possible countermoves Jeff could make to whatever he might do.
Unless there was something he hadn’t noticed, he could move his castle four spaces ahead, and no matter what Jeff did, he would be able to capture Jeff’s king on his next move.
And then what would happen?
Jeff was the same age as the boys in Josh’s class at Eden School, and he remembered the looks in their eyes on Monday, when he’d been able to answer the questions they had not.
Angry looks, looks that had hurt him almost as much as if they’d hit him.
Would Jeff look at him the same way?
Or had Jeff deliberately lost, making mistakes on purpose?
In his mind he reviewed the whole game, move by move. The image of the board was clear, and as he mentally replayed the long match, he very carefully studied everything Jeff had done.
None of his moves had been stupid, and none of his mistakes — if there had been any — had been obvious.
And the situation now was obvious, too.
So if he didn’t make the move with the castle, Jeff would know that he himself was throwing the game.
Still he hesitated.
And then, next to him, he heard Brad’s voice. “Come on, Josh, do it. He knows you’re going to. Why don’t you just finish him off?”
Josh glanced up to see both boys watching him. Brad looked eager to see the last move, but Jeff looked …
What?
Not mad. In fact, he looked as if he knew what was coming, and was just waiting for it to happen.
Tentatively Josh reached out and shifted the castle.
“Checkmate!” Brad crowed. “He got you! On his very first game, he got you!”
Josh didn’t move, waiting.
A smile — slightly twisted, but nevertheless a smile — appeared on Jeff’s lips. If he was angry, his eyes didn’t show it. Indeed, they barely showed anything. “Pretty good,” Jeff admitted. “Maybe we ought to enter you in the tournament this year.”
“And maybe you ought to pay me my dollar,” Hildie Kramer, appearing at the door, reminded him.
Jeff shrugged. “All my money’s up in my room. How ’bout if I pay you later on?”
“How ’bout if you get my dollar before I forget about it?” Hildie countered.
“Aw, come on, Hildie, gimme a break—”
“A bet’s a bet. If you can’t stand to lose, don’t play the game. Now go on.”
“Aw, Jeez,” Jeff groaned, but got to his feet and signaled to Josh to come with him. “Come on, you might as well see how terrible the rooms are here. Maybe you can talk your mom out of putting you in this jail.” He ducked out of the way as Hildie took a playful swipe at him, and a moment later darted into the house, with Josh following.
As they entered the huge foyer, Josh stopped, gazing around him in wonder. At the foot of the stairs, Jeff grinned at him.
“Cool, huh?” he said.
Josh nodded, his eyes fixed on the brass cage of the elevator. “Does that work?” he breathed.
Jeff’s grin broadened. “Sure. Wanta ride it?”
Josh nodded mutely, already moving toward the ancient contraption. He pulled the door open, watching as the polished brass slats of the barrier folded in on themselves. Stepping inside, he waited for Jeff, then closed the door with a resounding clang. He pressed a worn black button with a faintly visible arrow pointed upward still etched into its surface, and the machine came to life. From somewhere below, gears meshed, and the car jerked into motion, rattling satisfyingly as it rose slowly to the second floor, guided only by its skeletal frame.
“Wait’ll you see my room,” Jeff replied. “It’s the coolest one in school.”
