The Other Side of the Wall by Amy Ephron

Author:Amy Ephron
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2019-10-14T16:00:00+00:00

~ CHAPTER FIFTEEN ~

in which max has no idea what’s happened to him

Tess seemed to be yelling at him, “Max, Max! Are you okay?!” But he had absolutely no idea why she’d be yelling.

“Of course, I am, Tess,” he said. “Why would you think I wasn’t?”

Tess didn’t know how to explain this next part.

He was standing upright now, as if nothing whatsoever had happened to him.

Tess was frightened. She felt a tear run down her cheek.

“Oh, Tess. Don’t get upset. You know I can’t bear it when you’re upset. And we’re on vacation.” He smiled. His face looked softer somehow. As if he’d lost that growl he’d been wearing for the last few days, as if his crankiness had worn off.

Not outside though. It was suddenly gray again, amped up by a huge crack of lightning that lit up the sky, like a jagged streak, above the garden trees. She waited for Max to count which he didn’t. So Tess did, picking it up at two . . . three . . . four . . . five . . . And then finally the sound of thunder although it seemed to be faraway. The rain wasn’t. It was suddenly pouring again, like it had been in the morning.

“Colin,” said Tess. “Are you hiding?” She realized he really had disappeared.

“No,” said Max, “didn’t you hear him? He said he was going to ask his mother if we could take the carriage out which might be lovely, even if it is raining. We could put on galoshes and raincoats.”

Tess started laughing. Max looked at her puzzled. She’d never heard him use the word “galoshes” before. But Max clearly didn’t get the joke.

“I didn’t hear him say he was leaving to go and ask his mother,” said Tess.

“I did. Most definitely,” said Max sounding slightly British when he said it. Tess wondered if he was playing with her. Putting on a British accent.

But in her mind, all she could think was that she hadn’t seen Colin leave. All she’d witnessed was Colin get unbelievably pale, almost translucently pale. She’d seen Max get up from the couch and move away, as if he was oddly frightened and needed to get away. She’d watched as Colin got up and walked towards Max and . . . She had to be imagining things.

“I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night,” Tess said out loud. “My head hurts. I had a strange dream last night.”

“I hate strange dreams,” said Max. “I wish they were something you could wish away. Or rather, wish not to have.” This last sentence was said with a lot of enunciation between the words, spaces between the last four: wish not to have.

Tess looked at him strangely. Max didn’t usually say “Or rather.” That wasn’t one of his expressions. It was that weird British tone again. She’d also never heard Max say he believed if you wished not to have something, it might have an effect. Max believed in more logical things.

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