Free Super Freak by Vanessa Barger

the brushes clean and neatly arranged on the lawn. The house was pristine, spotless, and freshly painted.
    “Really? She could have just done that at the beginning and saved us the trouble,” Leo muttered.
    “Ah, but everyone wanted to teach us a lesson,” Diana grumbled, stalking toward the front of the house after Ms. Widdershins. “And what did we learn?”
    “Not to get caught next time,” I whispered back.
    Diana grinned and winked.
    Ms. Widdershins’ head turned slightly, but she didn’t say anything. Based on the frown, I’m pretty sure she heard.
    “You can all come in and wait inside, if you like.” Ms. Widdershins said, opening the front door.
    I wanted to laugh, but instead I forced out a polite “no.” Like I was going to be inside her house after she put a spell on me. Before the door closed, a black cat slid through the door, coming out on the porch with us. We relaxed on the stairs, the feline purring loudly and bumping his head on Leo’s hand. Leo relented, scratching under his chin.
    “You know what this means, don’t you?” Diana asked once Ms. Widdershins was safely inside.
    “She’s gonna be more obnoxious in class from now on?” I asked.
    Diana snorted and leaned forward. “We are onto something.” Excitement lit her eyes. I didn’t intend on giving up, but I felt a little better knowing Diana was right there with me. “She knows more than she’s telling. And I’ll bet my dad does too. So do your parents, Leo.”
    He shrugged. “Probably.”
    “But, Diana, we can’t get to the reference books,” I said. Disappointment fluttered in my gut. “How can we find out what we need now?”
    She waved a hand at me. “I’m going to sneak around my dad’s archives at work. I’ll wait until he’s out on a story, and I’ll slip in. No one will notice. Trust me.”
    “Do you think you can find what we need?” Leo asked, sitting a little straighter. He stopped petting the cat, and it meowed loudly in protest, moving to lick Diana’s arm. She pulled it into her lap, stroking the fur absently.
    “I know I can, because Dad told me to stay out of there on pain of punishment when I got in trouble last night. He wouldn’t have said that unless he knew there was something in there we could use.”
    My smile couldn’t be contained. “Fantastic. Do you need help?”
    Diana thought about it for a minute. “No. It would be better if I went alone. Sneaking me in there isn’t easy, but both of us would be too much. Dad’s secretary might notice.”
    I tried not to let my disappointment show. The cat, who had been purring until now, suddenly hissed at something in the bushes, his claws digging into Diana’s arm and drawing blood. She yelped and shoved him off her lap. He streaked around the porch and into the shrubs.
    “Stupid cat,” she grumbled, wiping at the cuts with her shirt.
    Ms. Widdershins threw open the front door, startling all of us. “Eddie! You ungrateful beast, where are you? I know you slipped out!”
    She pinned us with a hard glare. “Where did he go?”
    I pointed toward the bushes. “Somewhere over there.”
    Stomping to the end of the porch, she leaned over the railing. After a few moments, she stomped back into the house with one last glare at us. As if it were our fault the stupid cat ran off.
    I stared at Diana, then at her arm. The cuts were already closing, but something about it made me uneasy. “Are you all right?”
    She waved a hand. “Yeah. It’s just a scratch. Hey, I meant to ask you–have you found any other pieces of the diary?”
    I couldn’t believe I had forgotten. “I did! I think I figured out where to look now. You have to come and help me search the house though. If I do it myself, it will take all year.”
    Leo and Diana both looked eager.
    “What did you find?” Leo asked.
    “Some more papers and a locket. Nothing interesting in the papers though, and the picture in the locket was damaged.”
    His face fell. “That sucks. But