“Never?” I asked.
She shook her head sadly. “Pleasantville became a ghost town and eventually all the new houses fell apart. The remains were bulldozed when they started building Fox Hollow.”
“I can’t believe it!” I cried. “They’ve tried this before. Taking over a whole town. I wonder what happened to the people?”
Mrs. Bookbinder bit her lip and looked sadly at the clippings strewn over the table. “I don’t know for sure. But I suspect some of them got away and never spoke of the place to a living soul. Others were never heard from again. And some, no doubt, became werewolves.”
I sat back in my chair, stunned. It all seemed so hopeless.
Mrs. Bookbinder cleared her throat. “There’s more,” she said, eyeing me worriedly. “Remember that woman who claimed her husband was a werewolf?
“Yes,” I said, feeling an odd tickle of excitement. “She disappeared with her baby.”
Mrs. Bookbinder nodded. “That’s right. Into the swamp.” She paused and gave me a sad smile. “That little baby’s name was Gruff.”
Chapter 37
When I emerged from the library it was late afternoon. My mind was spinning with all I’d learned. But mostly I was just totally stunned by the news of who I was.
My real mother was a human! I tried to picture her in my mind but couldn’t. I had one thing from her, though—my name. I’d always thought Gruff was a name I gave myself, made up from the sound Wolfmother made when she called me. But it wasn’t. It really was my name.
Walking along, I stopped short. A name wasn’t the only thing my mother gave me, I realized. She had given me something much more important. My father was a werewolf but my mother was human. That must be why I had resisted killing and becoming a full-blooded werewolf.
Being a werewolf was thrilling and exciting. When I was a werewolf I knew how weak and puny my human self was. But even when the wereing gripped me, the evil of the other werewolves filled me with fear and horror. It was my human side that showed me the hideous werewolves for what they really were. The half of me that was human wouldn’t let me fall under their spell.
As I wandered along, my mind filled with wonder, something tugged at my attention. I tried to shake it off but couldn’t. I sighed, looking around to see what it was that was bothering me. It couldn’t be werewolves—the day still had several hours to go before the moon would come up.
Suddenly I opened my eyes wide. I stopped. I spun around. The streets were deserted! There wasn’t a soul around. Not a car, not another person strolling along, or a kid running to a friend’s house—not anyone.
Where had everyone gone? Had they disappeared like the people of Pleasantville? Had the werewolves completed their plan while I was locked in the library?
I tried to remember how long it had been since I’d seen anyone. Had I seen another person since I came out of the library? A hollow panic spread in my chest.
Maybe it was too late.
Suddenly I jerked my head up. What was that strange music? The sound was distant and I knew I’d never heard it before. What could it mean?
Chapter 38
I ran toward the music through the empty streets. “Hello!” I yelled. “Anyone around?” The windows of the houses stared back at me blankly. No curtains twitched, no one curiously stuck a head out a door.
The air was warm but I felt cold.
The music pounded a beat in my head. It was loud and cheerful but it only chilled me more as I got closer. Something big was happening.
Then I rounded a corner and skidded to a stop, staring in amazement. I’d found the townspeople! All of them, it looked like.
A lot of people were in the middle of the street, banging drums and blowing horns, making the odd music I’d been hearing. Other people in the street were dressed in funny clothes and arranged in lines and columns. They were marching in time to the music, lifting their knees up high and grinning at the rest of the townspeople, who were lining the street on both sides, watching them and clapping.
A girl marched in front, wearing a shiny costume and white boots, throwing a metal stick in the air.
“Hi, Gruff!”
It was Kim, wearing her cheerleader outfit, marching with the other cheerleaders, waving pom-poms. She laughed at the expression on my face. “It’s a parade,” she shouted over the music. “Wolfe Industries is holding a cookout for the whole town to celebrate the opening of the new recreation center. It was a surprise. Didn’t you hear the announcement this morning at school?”
I hadn’t, of course, because I’d been in the library. All day I’d been studying old clippings while the werewolves were putting the finishing touches on their big “surprise.” My heart sank.
Kim waved again as the cheerleaders passed me by. “See you at the rec center,” she called back.
My brain felt numb as I watched the columns of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts go by. Next the town’s two policemen glided by in their cruiser. Then a fire truck all decked out in crepe paper streamers.
A murmur went up from the crowd. “Oooooh.”
I followed their eyes and saw the strangest thing yet. I had no idea what it could be. It looked like a platform decorated with flowers that spelled out WOLFE INDUSTRIES.
“What a lovely float,” said a woman beside me. “Isn’t it marvelous?”
I nodded and tried to smile. Everything certainly looked like harmless fun. But I knew it couldn’t be.
The first float-thing went by. Little girls stood under make-believe trees. The girls wore ruffled dresses and threw paper flowers at the crowd. People shouted with glee and leaped in the air to catch the red, white, and yellow flowers.
Behind that float came another, even bigger. On this one were two large plastic statues. One was a smiling cow, the other
