Free The School for the Insanely Gifted by Dan Elish Page A

Brilliant.”
    â€œIt’s possible,” Daphna said.
    â€œMount Kilimanjaro is a big place,” Cynthia said. “Even if she and Billy Brilliant are there, how would we find them?”
    It was a good question.
    Just as Daphna set her mind to solving the problem, she had the strange sense that she and her friends were being watched. She looked up from the letter box and back over her shoulder.
    There he was, standing by the edge of the path, no more than thirty feet away. The antelope man.
    â€œI’ll take that,” he said.
    Daphna rose slowly to her feet. Harkin took the yellowed paper and shoved it into his back pocket. Daphna held the letter box.
    â€œWho are you?” she asked, voice shaking.
    The man began to walk toward them. Under other circumstances, Daphna might have been amused. After all, here was a grown man dressed in a costume that would have drawn stares at Halloween. But as the strange man—almost more ghoul than human in the trees’ shadows—seemed to glide toward them, Daphna knew that she had never been more terrified in her life.
    She noticed he was moving with a distinct limp.
    â€œYou hurt your leg,” she said.
    â€œYou pushed me out a window,” the man replied.
    Shaking now, Daphna held the box behind her back.
    â€œGive it here, and you won’t get hurt,” the man said.
    â€œOne hour,” Harkin whispered. “Sheep Meadow.”
    Daphna knew it well, a large field located in the south end of the park.
    â€œYou won’t get away this time,” the man called out. He was no more than ten feet away now. He laughed, a raspy guffaw that filled the woods. “There aren’t any refrigerators out here.”
    But there was a squirrel—the same one that had helped discover the letter box. With a single leap it was back on the bench. With another it was flying through the air, paws outstretched. Then it was scurrying to keep its balance on the antelope man’s head.
    â€œRun!” Harkin called.
    Cynthia and Daphna didn’t need to be told twice. They broke for the cluster of trees behind them, then sprinted back up toward the park exit. Though the animal was still on his head, the man took a few steps in their direction but stopped when the squirrel jumped down and dug its claws firmly into his shoulder.
    â€œArrrgghhh!”
    The man doubled over, grabbing wildly for his shoulder. By that time, the squirrel had leaped to the ground and was barreling for the woods.
    A safe distance up the path, Daphna stopped.
    â€œWhat are you doing?” Cynthia said.
    â€œMaking sure Harkin gets away,” Daphna said.
    Daphna turned to see Harkin take the yellowed sheet of paper out of his pocket and hold it up to the masked man.
    â€œLooking for this?” he said.
    â€œYou’re dead!” the antelope man called, and rushed toward him, arms outstretched. For a split second, Harkin remained perfectly still. He then calmly rolled up his sleeve and pressed a purple button on his wristwatch control pad. Bright orange flames shot out of his sneakers. With a giant whoosh , he shot straight up into the air, his ponytail flapping in the late-afternoon breeze.
    â€œSay hello to my jet-propelled high-tops!” Harkin called.
    The man dove for the boy’s rising feet, missed, and did a somersault into one of the oak trees. Another burst of flames shot from Harkin’s sneakers, rocketing him across the copse of trees toward the playground.
    â€œYes!” Daphna said. “Let’s cruise!”
    Daphna and Cynthia sprinted for the 100th Street exit, arriving just as Harkin touched down.
    â€œCan I have the paper?” Daphna asked.
    Harkin nodded. “Yep! Here. Take it.”
    Daphna shoved it into her mother’s letter box and looked over her shoulder. In the far distance, the antelope man was already back on his feet, hurrying their way.
    â€œWhere to now?” Harkin asked.
    â€œKeep to the