The Secret of Zormna Clendar by Julie Steimle (best ereader for pdf TXT) 📕

on porch steps. Crouched over, with her arms covering her face, leaning on her knees, Zormna’s back was shaking. She was crying. This time for real.

Jennifer slowly went over to her.

Yet, what could she say? That everything would be all right? Jennifer knew now those words were hollow. Besides, it had been a long day already, despite the fact that it still wasn’t lunch yet. Maybe the girl just needed a good cry.

So she waited.

Gazing out into the neighborhood, Jennifer drew in a breath. The sun was warmer, though the air still smelled of the morning. Or maybe it was just the cool breath of spring. It had been a warmer spring than usual. On the news it had said it was because of global warming. Greenhouse gases. But Jennifer suspected it had to do with how they had an early winter, which had been freezing. Of course, with the state she lived in, it could be freezing and wet tomorrow.

“Jennifer?” Zormna asked, her voice breaking into her thoughts.

Blinking, Jennifer looked back to the blonde. The girl was wiping her face, blushing furiously.

“Tell me about your school.” Zormna did not looking the slightest bit happy about it, though. “You said your parents would not let me just stay home. And obviously I am stuck here for the time being so—”

“Stuck?” Jennifer murmured with a chuckle. That old argument was rising up again.

“Fine.” Rolling her eyes, Zormna said with sarcasm, “I am privileged to be here. The point is, I will need your help. This is your territory, and I, unfortunately am not as socially adept as you appear to be.”

It almost sounded like a compliment. Jennifer wasn’t sure. There was always a tone of condescension with Zormna. It was like she was not entirely sure those she spoke to were at the same intellectual level that she was. Weird, coming from a blonde.

“So, you want me to be your tour guide?” Jennifer asked.

Blinking stupidly at her, clearly not comprehending it, Zormna shook her head. “Uh…”

“Because, if you are going to live with us for a while, you are going to need more than a tour guide.” Jennifer then waved for Zormna to get up so they could go back home. “You are going to need a makeover.”

Again, that concept swooped over Zormna’s head. The blonde blinked even more.

“How about a mentor?” Zormna asked.

Mentor. Huh? Jennifer liked the sound of that. It had dignity. And it put her above the blonde at least on a professional level.

“You’ll be my apprentice,” Jennifer said, and draped an arm around Zormna’s shoulders, lifting her to her feet.

Zormna glanced at Jennifer’s hand. It rested on her right shoulder. Jennifer could feel the shudder run through the girl. But the blonde maintained her outward composure. Thinking on that, Jennifer tucked in the back of her mind to one day find out what Zormna was hiding there.

They went to the alley shortcut together. But as they entered the trash-beleaguered passage, Jennifer noticed that boy, Darren Asher, staring out from the broad picture window of that cream-colored house across the street. He had a sandwich in his hands. He chewed slowly, watching them. Probably, he had been lingering there for a while. His dark eyes examined their alley most intently before he leaned out the window to look to where Mr. Earnhardt had driven away. Zormna paid him no notice, stepping deeper into the neighborhood shortcut.

“Darren, you weirdo, spying on your neighbors,” Jennifer murmured and turned her back on him. There were enough nuts in the world. It was best to steer this one away from that.

Zormna didn’t talk much on their way home, which was fine. Jennifer dominated the conversation, mostly explaining about Pennington High. It was, after all, a progressive school that had the option to take classes for college credit, and also an A track or B track schedule if the regular six-hour schedule did not work for the student. It was also a lot of fun, which is what Jennifer wanted to impress on her houseguest the most. Pennington had the best wrestling team in the state, of which her brother was a varsity member and his best friends were also. And though their football team was one of the worst—the spectators, cheerleaders, and the band made up for it by providing crazy hijinks during the games. You had to, if your mascot was the pirate. It demanded it.

As they exited the alley and emerged back onto the street, Jennifer finally asked, “So, with me so far? Any questions?”

She asked it mostly because Zormna’s eyes had glazed over after a while. Clearly, the blonde was still trying to think of a way to get out of going to school.

Zormna exhaled, shaking her head a little before saying, “Is attending all those sporting events required?”

Jennifer shook her head. “No. But they’re fun.”

Zormna nodded. Then sighed again.

“You’re not into sports?” Jennifer peered at her, inspecting the girl’s reaction.

Shaking her head, Zormna replied, “No. I like sports. But the way you talk about them sounds like they are crucial to succeeding at your school.”

Chuckling, Jennifer shrugged. “I guess in a way, they are. If you want to be popular, you have to be out doing stuff. You know, participating.”

“And what if you do not want to be popular?” Zormna asked.

Jennifer stared, almost choking on the idea. “Well, that’s social suicide. High school kills if nobody likes you.”

Zormna rolled her eyes. “I do not mean wanting to be disliked. I mean, rather, wanting to be invisible.”

“To be a nobody?”

That got a headshake from the blonde. “To remain inconspicuous.”

Oh. Jennifer thought. And staring at Zormna, she chuckled, because that was never going to happen. Not with her looks. Everyone was going to stare at her whether she liked it or not.

In the following silence, Jennifer’s mind wandered back to the one thing that had been bothering her this entire time. So, finally, when they were about a block from her home, Jennifer asked, “I know you think this is nosy, but why did you come here?”

At first Zormna looked confused. She replied, “I thought I told you. My high commander sent me here.”

“But why?” Jennifer asked.

Sighing, Zormna closed her eyes. “It is a secret.”

Jennifer moaned. “I’m good at keeping secrets. Seriously.”

“Look,” Zormna’s voice lowered so that it could scarcely be heard. “My parents were murdered. The only reason I am not dead, is that the school’s high commander is a friend of my family.”

Jennifer drew in a breath.

“He hid me within the school,” Zormna breathed. “And I am only here because the school is no longer safe for me.”

Holy cow. A quick nauseous sensation turned Jennifer’s stomach. Her eyes raked over Zormna’s pale face. Basically, her commander had sent her into witness protection. It was no wonder this girl was hardly holding it together. If she were in the same circumstances she would have been scared to death.

 

 

Chapter Three: Frankly Foreign

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as the greatest virtues.” –Descartes

 

As Zormna marched across the street to the McLenna home without any more comment on the subject, Jennifer followed, fighting the urge to scream. The only reason she didn’t was because she spotted her younger brother and sister playing on the front lawn with her brother’s action figures. She didn’t want to frighten them.  

Both redheaded kids lifted their eyes when she and Zormna approached.

“Look, it’s her!” Mindy, the younger one at only ten years, sprang up onto her feet and dashed straight to Zormna, her soft blue eyes eagerly wide. Andrew, who was twelve, jogged up to her with a little more reserve.

Jennifer clenched her teeth.

Mindy almost seized Zormna’s shirt front.

The blonde indulged Mindy like a pet dog used to being pawed and squeezed. She was even smiling.  

“Hey! Are you the girl that is going to stay with us?” Andrew asked, less touchy-feely, thank heaven.

Jennifer elbowed Andrew out of the way. “Don’t crowd.”

Andrew stuck his tongue out, hopping from Jennifer’s reach.

 “Are you going to be my new sister?” Mindy gleefully squeezed around Jennifer. “Because my other one stinks!”

With a crooked smile, Zormna glanced at Jennifer as Jennifer glowered at the both of them. “Do you want one?” her Irish voice lilted.

 Mindy squealed, clapping. “Say something else!”

“Like what?” Zormna stared with that clueless blinking again.

But each accented word on Mindy and Andrew’s ears was like feeding them pure sugar. They went giddy with delight.

And Zormna, to Jennifer’s surprise, went soft. All of her moodiness vanished. And it didn’t look like she was acting either.

Some soldier.

“Are you really from Ireland?” Andrew leaned in, standing almost nose to nose with the blonde. They were around the same height, him a little shorter. “Your hair isn’t red.”

“It’s called strawberry blonde,” Jennifer interjected a few feet away.  

But Zormna shook her head and replied, “Not all people in Ireland have red hair. That is a stereotype.”

Andrew and Mindy shared a look. Both shrugged. “Really?”

“Really.”

Jennifer looked to the house again. There were things she had to tell her parents. Besides, if Zormna was going to play with the ‘kids’, her job was done. It wasn’t like she signed up to be the girl’s bodyguard anyway.

But that casual thought shot a chill up Jennifer’s spine. She glanced to the road. All the things the lawyer had said stroked the inside of her scalp with dread. The FBI had never caught the crazy woman’s killer. It was why they checked in from time to time. A killer was on the loose. And worse, she could not let go of what Zormna had just told her. Looking desperately at Mindy and Andrew who were too young to die, Jennifer stiffened.

“Um,” Jennifer waved to Zormna. “We should get inside. You know…to…tell my parents stuff.”

And to get that girl away from her brother and sister. At least until she was sure things were safe.

Sighing, Zormna nodded. “There is something important I need to discuss with your parents.” She took a step from the two younger ones. She bowed politely to them both. “If you will excuse me.”

Mindy snickered with her hand over her mouth, looking to Andrew. She mimicked Zormna’s bow. “’If you will excuse me.’ She’s so proper.”

Her brother nodded.

Jennifer let Zormna in first. Mindy and Andrew attempted to follow, eager to catch more of Zormna’s peculiar behavior, but Jennifer blocked their way.

“Not you.”

“You aren’t the boss of me!” Andrew snapped.

Mindy nodded her head sharply in agreement.

“This is private,” Jennifer snapped.

Both kids huffed in protest, yet they did step back down to the grass, letting Zormna get away for now.

Zormna stood in the entryway, looking back to see what the fuss was about. Jennifer closed the front door quickly.

Turning, Jennifer immediately asked her, “Why are you so proper?”

Blinking dumbly again—no dryly—Zormna gave her non-verbal reply of: Military school, remember.

“Look—” Jennifer pulled Zormna farther into the living room towards the loveseat, making her sit. “I’m a little stressed out right now. I just realized that killer who bumped off your aunt could still be in the neighborhood. My family could be in danger.”

Zormna wordlessly looked to the carpet. She didn’t deny it, that’s for certain.

“Who knows you are here?” Jennifer asked.

Closing her eyes, Zormna replied in a whisper, “Only two people. The high commander of the…the military school,