Chapter 22

Cat was absent for two days. On the day of her expected return, Nick went by her locker, but she wasn’t there. He found her in the gym, dancing with her earphones on. He knew she couldn’t hear him, but he saw her back straighten slightly when he stopped in the doorway. When she finished, she slipped the earphones off and twirled around.

“How did you know I was here?” he asked.

“I felt you.”

“You know you didn’t have to stand up for me like that,” Nick said. “I’m the one who should have been suspended.”

Cat shrugged. “No biggie.”

“Why?”

“I didn’t want you to get in trouble.” She did a quick shrug. “You’re a leader, and I’m a nobody.”

“Don’t say that!”

“I am,” she said. “And I’m okay with that.”

Nick looked at her long and hard and then stepped closer to hug her and whisper, “Thank you.”

“And besides, you took care of my sister.”

Momentarily Nick was frozen and unsure. “Your sister?” Nick scratched his chin. “I didn’t know you had a sister?”

“Before. Not now.”

“Oh.”

****

Later, in World History class, Coach Sullivan passed around a worksheet for the main ideas of their research projects. Nick looked at his sheet and mentally checked through what he knew about Saumur so it coincided with the Gypsies being put in the internment camp. The ant-like words marched into a recognizable form. A line of Nazi soldiers, waiting. Jean Claude with his rifle, while fatigue and worry etched on his young forehead.

Cat was hard at work already and had a couple of paragraphs finished by the time he picked up his pencil.

He watched her hand and pencil move quickly across the page.

Coach Sullivan stopped at their desks. “I see you’re busy, Kate. And you, Nick?”

“Cat,” she corrected.

Nick shook his head. “I’m thinking about what to write.” He tapped his temple with his forefinger before deciding he wanted to make a timeline of the events happening in 1939.

Cat explained, “We’re researching the social and economic conditions that led the Gypsies in France to be interned in Saumur. We’ll start with their migration from India to Romania and the rest of Europe. Examine the nomadic ways of the tribes and loose families they organized,” Cat said as if reciting a poem or recipe she had memorized. “And the social norms of the time and why the Romas were feared and then interned and forgotten.”

Nick jerked his head up.

“Nick?” Coach Sullivan asked.

“I’m looking at other events that were happening in France and Saumur in the autumn of 1939.”

“And,” Cat continued, “how the internments have affected current Roma families in France. And how their treatment has changed.”

Coach Sullivan put a mark on his clipboard and moved to Bryan’s desk.

Nick turned to her. “How do you know this stuff?”

“I’ve been doing research too.”

“I thought you didn’t need to learn about it?” Nick touched his forehead. “All in your head.”

“I was a little angry at first.”

“A little angry?” He remembered the first time he had seen Cat in the cafeteria. “Whoa! If looks could kill…”

“I know. I guess I was upset about moving to Laketon.”

Understandable.

“But when I saw you, I figured I had found Jean Claude again.”

“My eyes, right?” Nick asked.

“Yes, the eyes gave you away.”

“Did you love Jean Claude?” Somehow that was important to him.

She nodded.

“Did he love you?”

“I think so, but I can’t be sure, with the way it turned out.”

“I thought someone helped you remember,” Nick said.

“I did see someone, but we only went so far. And then the memories stopped.”

“Why?” Nick asked.

“I’m not sure. Some of the details are fuzzy. Would you go to a past-life therapist with me if I can find one locally?” Cat asked. She tucked her worksheet into her World History folder.

“Maybe.” He chewed his bottom lip, undecided. “What happened during your appointment?”

Cat looked toward the ceiling. “He talked me through steps to relax my mind and body and began asking questions about what I felt or saw.”

“Were you hypnotized?”

“No. He didn’t suggest I bark like a dog or stop smoking, if that’s what you mean! Would you see someone if you didn’t have to cluck like a chicken?”

“I don’t know. Let me think about it.”

“Some of your questions might be answered,” Cat said.

Nick paused and thought about her words. Did it really matter? Or would he go just to dispel the notion his soul had lived before? Would he be betraying his parents by finding out about something they didn’t believe in? Maybe he wouldn’t have to tell them. And after all, they had him exorcised—another thing the church didn’t believe in.