Free Has Anyone Seen Jessica Jenkins? by Liz Kessler Page A

wandered off to wait on the other side of a tree next to the lake.
    If it hadn’t been for the fact that I was so nervous that I thought I might be sick, it could actually have been kind of fun. In a
hey-look-the-world’s-gone-crazy-and-you’ve-suddenly-got-a-superpower-and-are-about-to-meet-up-with-a-mad-scientist-in-the-park
kind of way.
    I tried to relax, but then I realized I couldn’t let myself. If I calmed my breathing and relaxed my mind too much, I might start accidentally turning invisible! And since I was sitting in the park in broad daylight, about to meet a strange man, that might not be the best thing I could do at that point. So I just sat there with my head down, fighting the urge to be sick and hoping he’d turn up soon.
    “Jessica?”
    A familiar voice startled me out of my thoughts. I looked up. Nancy! What was she doing here? She couldn’t be here! The scientist was due to show up any minute. I had to get rid of her!
    “I . . . er, I . . . hi!” I said. Cool as anything. “I can’t really talk at the moment. Sorry. Nice to see you, but I’m too busy to chat right now.”
    Nancy must not have heard me properly — either that or she was terrible at taking a hint. She sat down next to me.
    I stared at her, mouth open. “This seat is saved!” I blurted out. What a stupid thing to say. You can’t save seats in the park. But what else could I say? Why wasn’t she taking the hint?
    She reached over and took hold of my hand. “It’s good to see you, Jess,” she said softly.
    “Um. Yeah. You too,” I said, trying for a smile, but probably doing that thing with my face that you do when your mom puts on a dress that does
nothing
for her and you tell her how great she looks.
    I pried my hand away from her and stood up. I’d have to hide out somewhere and wait for the man to turn up. I’d spot him when he got here and I’d give him some sort of signal. I’d figure something out. “I’m really sorry,” I said. “I can’t stop. I’ve got things to do.”
    Nancy stood up, too. She looked at me, an unreadable expression on her face. “Sit down, Jess,” she said.
    “I can’t!” I said, starting to panic. “See, I’m going to be late . . .”
    “Jessica,” Nancy said in a tone of voice I’d never heard her use before. “Sit.”
    I stared at her. Like a good dog, I sat.
    I glanced at my watch. Nearly ten past one. He’d probably seen the two of us here and wouldn’t come over till I was on my own. I
had
to get rid of Nancy. “I’m waiting for someone,” I said feebly.
    Nancy took a long, slow breath. Then she turned and looked me straight in the eye. “Jess,” she said, “you’re waiting for me.”

I spent the next minute or two staring blankly at Nancy with my mouth open. I was glad it wasn’t summertime or I’d have swallowed at least half a dozen flies.
    “I’m waiting for you?” I managed eventually. “I don’t understand.” At least, I really, really didn’t
want
to understand.
    “Of course you don’t,” Nancy said softly. “That’s why I’m here. I’ve come to explain.”
    “OK,” I said. “Look, can Izzy join us? She’s here, too. She came for moral support.”
    “Of course she can.” Nancy looked around us.
    “She’s, um, she’s behind that tree over there,” I said, waving Izzy over.
    “OK, ready,” I said as Izzy joined us and I shifted along the bench to make room for her.
    “Sure?” Nancy asked, giving Izzy a quick smile.
    We both nodded.
    Nancy took a breath. “OK. So, some years ago, when I’d just started working as a midwife, one of the doctors at the hospital told me he was starting a research project.”
    Research
. The word made my insides flutter. Research, as in a lab full of books and test tubes and computers and supersonic doors and bright lights and high-tech equipment for experimenting on people like me? I kept quiet and waited for Nancy to continue.
    “He’d won a grant from a new government department and asked me