The School for the Insanely Gifted by Dan Elish

Author:Dan Elish
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins

Chapter 15

Conversation by the Pond

Though it remained hard to accept that Ignatious Peabody Blatt had stolen his product ideas from Billy, the more time Daphna spent with Billy, the more convinced she became that he was telling the truth.

The evidence spoke for itself. Why hadn’t anyone—not even once—ever been invited into Ignatious’s labs? Why hadn’t anyone ever—again, not even once—seen him create anything?

Then there was Billy. His brilliance was on full display. There was Harrison the robot, Cook-Top, Opera-Top, Picasso-Top, and hundreds of other inventions. With talent to burn, Billy B. Brilliant could probably have created Blatt-Global and the Hat-Top computer in his sleep. On top of it all, with every passing hour, Daphna came to see that Billy had truly meant what he said after lunch. Billy didn’t care if Ignatious Peabody Blatt used his ideas to get rich. To his way of thinking, he was the winner, living life on his own terms, spending his days immersed in his own projects, free from the stresses of the modern world. Indeed, Billy was a man who could spend an entire day—perhaps even a week—trying to figure out how to make his Opera-Top sing a high C with more feeling and not feel as though he had wasted a second. “Never underestimate the power of great art,” he told Daphna. “It’s the beauty of creating that makes the work worthwhile.”

Daphna knew that her time with Billy would have to be brief. Along with Monday’s competition for the Insanity Cup, there was the matter of explaining her whereabouts to Ron and Jazmine. Fortunately, Harkin, by carefully manipulating his wristwatch computer, had been able to get online for a few moments before dinner to send reassuring messages home.

With time in the valley limited, Daphna, Harkin, and Cynthia were determined to make good use of every second. That first night, Harkin studied with Billy in his workshop until long past midnight. The following morning, Cynthia rose early, rode on elephant-back to a small grove of coconut trees, and got to work rehearsing her one-woman Macbeth. Daphna discovered a small pond used as a watering hole by zebras and gazelles. There, she opened her book of special music manuscript paper and let the sounds of her symphony fill her head. Totally alone with her thoughts, she sketched out the bare bones of the entire first movement in less than two hours.

The minute she finished, as if to mark the event, Billy stepped out of the underbrush. He wore a pair of purple baggy shorts, a yellow shirt, and black boots. His thick red beard appeared to be freshly washed and combed. A lone monkey was perched on his shoulder, crouched there like a cat.

“Hope I’m not disturbing you,” he said.

Daphna shook her head. “No, no. I’m good.”

Billy nodded and sat down on an adjacent rock. “What’re you working on?”

Daphna’s cheeks flushed. “My first symphony.”

“Very impressive,” he said. “When can I hear some of your music?”

Daphna paused. In truth, she knew the perfect time.

“There’s an assembly back in New York tomorrow.

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