“Okay. Then how about meeting at my place this evening?”
Just like that? He was suggesting it himself? I was suspended somewhere between confusion, relief, and distrust, and the mixture unsettled me so much that I just went on babbling. “Oh yes, that would be great,” I said breathlessly. “Or no, well, of course I mean yes, but I have kung fu this evening, and after that I was going to the movies with Lottie and Mia, we planned it ages ago—you’re welcome to come, too, if you like. Although I bet it’ll be another of those tearjerkers with vampires, because Lottie is going to choose the film. That’s a good thing for me because at least I can get a bit of sleep—see these rings under my eyes? Another few sleepless nights and I’ll look like a panda. Mom must be wondering why her concealer runs out so fast.…” Oh heavens, I sounded just like Persephone. It was with some difficulty that I managed to stop my endless nattering by pretending to have a coughing fit.
Henry waited patiently until I’d finished. “Tomorrow evening, then?”
So he really meant it. I took a deep breath and nodded. “Yes. Yes, tomorrow evening will be perfect.”
I felt so relieved. My distrust and confusion had gone away, and everything between us was all right. Why hadn’t I said all those things earlier? It had been easy, after all.
I took Henry’s hand and drew him behind one of the trolleys for dirty dishes, to kiss him. We didn’t need to have the whole cafeteria watching. Couples making out in school got on my nerves, but I thought we were pretty well hidden. Henry seemed to think so too and held me close. Only when the Arsenal fans began shouting and clapping and Henry carefully moved away from me did I notice that one of the girls who helped out in the kitchen had wheeled our camouflage away.
Embarrassing.
“Just take no notice,” said Henry, smoothing my hair. Unlike me, of course he hadn’t gone scarlet in the face.
“So what have you found out about Senator Tod?” I whispered.
Henry gave me a conspiratorial grin. “I did suspect there was method in his madness, remember?”
“Dona denting the tenor … oh yes.”
“Rotor,” Henry corrected me. “It took me a little while to work it out, but then it all came clear. Anagrams.”
“Like Anna, level, and madam I’m Adam?”
“Sort of, but those are palindromes: they have to read the same backward as forward. In anagrams, the letters can be all over the place. Senator Tod Nord. Rodents at rondo. Stranded on root! Tornado, nerd, sot.” He beamed at me. “I did wonder who he was calling a nerd. But he was just telling us his name, every time!”
His enthusiasm was infectious. “So do we know this character?”
“Not yet,” said Henry. “But Google knows him. His name is…”
“No! No, don’t tell me! I want to work it out myself. I love word puzzles.” I tugged him over to our table. “Does anyone have a pen and a piece of paper? A paper napkin will do.”
“The lunch break ends in exactly one minute,” said Persephone.
Damn it.
16
“AND IF YOU don’t eat them all, there won’t be any sunshine in the Sunshine Family tomorrow.” Mom was looking down on Mia and me with her hands on her hips. I felt afraid of her. Not only because she was covered all over with flour and looked a bit like a zombie, but because her eyes were sparkling in such a nasty, determined way. Muffins towered up all around us, on the working surface, on the shelves, the table, the windowsill, mountains of muffins, and they all looked burned, moldy, and downright unappetizing. When I picked one up, the crust broke open in my hands, and a maggot crawled out.
“I can’t eat that, Mom,” I said miserably.