"An accident would block the bridge to the mainland," Cassie said slowly.
"Sure, but why?" Sally asked impatiently.
"I don't know. I'm going to find out. Sally, if I need to see you again, will you be in the cafeteria at lunch?"
"Yes, but you can't talk to me there. Portia's been looking at me strangely ever since that night in the clearing - I think she's suspicious. Her brothers went away mad, and she didn't believe a word you said about Brunswick. If she catches me with you, I'm dead."
"You may be dead if I don't talk with you," Cassie said. "Go on, get out of here, I'll leave in a minute."
Cassie reached the old science building at a run. Waiting on the second floor was the rest of the Club - minus Faye and Sean, who hadn't been informed of the meeting. The plan had been to nab Sean right after lunch, even if they hadn't learned anything about Black John's plans by then.
"But we do know something," Cassie said breathlessly, sitting down on a crate. "Listen." She told them what Sally had said.
"Well, that explains it," Deborah put in when Cassie finished. "I just saw him and Faye walk out of the building, and the secretary said they'd be gone all afternoon. So they're going out to wreck a school bus. Cool."
"But why?" Cassie said. "I mean, it looks like he wants to block the bridge, but what's the point?"
It was Adam who answered. He'd been sitting by Doug, with one of the earphones from Doug's Walkman pressed to his ear.
"The point," he said, "is to keep everybody on the island. There's just been an update on the news - anybody remember that hurricane they were talking about the last couple days? The one that they were afraid was going to hit Florida, but then it turned north while it was still out in the Atlantic?"
There was head-shaking around the group - most of them hadn't been too interested in the news lately - but Melanie said, "I thought they downgraded that to a tropical storm."
"Yeah, they figured it was just going to dissipate out in the ocean. Look, I know a little about hurricanes. This one isn't supposed to be a threat, because they're assuming it's going to turn northeast at Cape Hatteras. That's what hurricanes usually do when they hit the low-pressure trough around there. But we all know what happens when they don't." He looked around the group grimly, and this time there were nods from everyone but Cassie.
"When they don't turn at Cape Hatteras, they come barreling straight up here," Adam said to her, then. "Like the one in 1938, and the one a few years ago ... and the one in 1976."
The silence was absolute. Cassie glanced from side to side at the faces in the dim room.
"God," she whispered, feeling dizzy.
"Yes," said Adam. "Winds a hundred and fifty miles an hour, and walls of water, forty feet high. Now, they're still saying this storm is going to turn - they just mentioned on the radio that it's supposed to stay well off the Atlantic seaboard. But" - he looked around again, deliberately - "anybody want to take bets?"
Laurel jumped up. "We've got to stop Black John. If that bridge is blocked, everybody on the island is in danger."
"Too late," Deborah said briefly. "He's already gone. Remember? I saw him leave ten minutes ago."
"And everybody's not just in danger, everybody's dead," Melanie said. "That storm a couple years ago just nicked New Salem, but this one could wipe us out."
Cassie looked at Adam. "How fast is it coming?"
"I don't know. Could be fifty miles an hour, could be seventy. If it doesn't turn at Cape Hatteras, they'll issue a hurricane warning - but it'll be too late by then, especially if the bridge is blocked. It could get to us in maybe seven, eight hours. More or less."
"Around the time of the eclipse?" Cassie asked.
"Maybe. Maybe a little later."
"But before it hits us, it'll hit Cape Cod and Boston," Diana whispered. "It will kill people there." She looked stunned and dazed at the idea.
"Then there's only one thing to do," Cassie said. "We've got to stop it before it hits land at all. We've got to make it dissipate, or turn back out to the ocean, or whatever. Or we've got to make him do it. And before that we've got to warn people on our own - tell them to do whatever you do in a hurricane - "
"Evacuate," Adam said dryly, "which may not be possible, even in boats. Listen to that wind." He paused and Cassie heard not only the wind but a pattering on the boarded-up windows. Rain.
"If they can't get out, they'll have to dig in," Chris said. "Anybody up for a hurricane party?"
"It's not funny," Nick said sharply, and Cassie said, "All right, then - tell people to do that. Do whatever they can. And we'd better get back to Crowhaven Road - "
"With Sean," Adam cut in swiftly. "I'll get him and meet everybody at my house. Let's do it, people."
They left their uneaten lunches - except Suzan, who snagged hers and ran after the others - and headed for the school.
Chapter Fourteen
"So you have to go now," Cassie said, trying to get her breath, speaking not only to Sally but to everyone in the cafeteria. "Forget school, forget everything. Leave. Get out if you can, and if you can't - well, do whatever you can to protect yourselves." She stopped. "Look, it's true. Sally, tell them."
The rusty-haired girl had been staring at Cassie, eyes wary, poised on her chair as if to bolt from this social pariah. Now she stared at Cassie another moment, then nodded once, as if to herself. Taking a deep breath, she stood.