Chapter 4

Chapter Four IN WHICH the Grace Children Look for a Friend Jared pressed his face up to the car window and tried to pretend that he wasn't crying. The tears fell, hot against his cheeks. He let them run down the cool glass. He hadn't actually hit Mallory. Simon had grabbed his arms while Mallory kept insisting that she hadn't taken the Guide. All the shouting had brought their mother in. She had dragged them out of there, with lots of apologizing to the nurse and even to Aunt Lucy, who had to be sedated. On the

way to the car his mom had told Jared he was lucky the people at the institution didn't lock him up. "Jared," Simon whispered, putting his hand on his twin's back. "What?" Jared mumbled without turning. "Maybe Thimbletack took it?" Jared swiveled around in his seat. His whole body went tense. The moment he heard it, he knew it had to be true. It was Thimbletack's latest prank and his best revenge. His insides felt as though they'd been splashed with ice water. Why couldn't he have figured that out for himself? Sometimes he got so angry that it scared him. It was like his mind went blank and his body took over. When they got home, he slid out of the car and sat down on the back steps instead of going into the house with his mother. Mallory sat down beside him. "I didn't take it," she said. "Remember when we believed you? Now you better believe me."

"I know," Jared replied, looking down. "I think it was Thimbletack. I... I'm sorry." "You think Thimbletack stole the Guide?" she asked. "Simon figured it out," said Jared. "It makes sense. Thimbletack keeps playing pranks on me. This is just the worst one yet." Simon sat down next to Jared on the stairs. "It'll be okay. We'll find it."

"Look," Mallory said, picking at the hem of her sweater where a thread had unraveled. "It's probably for the best." "No, it's not," Jared said. "Even you should see that. We can't give back what we don't have! The faeries didn't believe Aunt Lucinda when she said she didn't have the book—why would they believe us?" Mallory scowled and didn't answer. "I was thinking," Simon said. "Aunt Lucy said that her dad abandoned them, right? But if the field guide was still hidden in the house, maybe he didn't leave on purpose. She said he would never take off without it." "Then how come the book was still hidden?" Jared asked. "If faeries captured him, he'd have told them where it was." "Maybe he split before any faeries could catch him," Mallory said. "Let Lucy catch all the heat. Maybe he knew about the giant thing." "Arthur wouldn't do that," Jared said. As soon as he said it, however, he wondered if it was true.

"Come on," said Simon. "We're never going to figure this out. Let's go visit Byron. He's probably hungry again, and it will get our minds off the Guide." Mallory snorted. "Yeah, visiting a griffin living in our barn will definitely make us forget all about a book of supernatural creatures." Jared smiled vaguely. He couldn't stop thinking about the book, about Aunt Lucy and Arthur, and about himself and Mallory and the anger he didn't know what to do with. Jared looked over at her. "I'm sorry I tried to hit you." Mallory ruffled his hair and stood up. "You hit like a girl anyway." "I do not," Jared said, but he got up and followed her and Simon inside with a grin. An old, yellowed piece of paper was lying on the kitchen table. Jared took a step closer. A poem had been scribbled on it. "Thimbletack," Jared said.

Rash child who thinks he's smart Wondering about your book? Maybe I'm tearing it apart Or hiding it where you won't look. "Wow, he's really mad," said Simon. Jared was torn between relief and horror. The book was with Thimbletack, but what had he done with it? Had it really been destroyed?