Secrets of Valhalla by Jasmine Richards Page A

practice before the match.”
    Prof frowned. “How’s your head? I’m really not sure it’s a sensible idea for you to go and play, and certainly not without eating something first.”
    â€œI feel fine.” Buzz snatched a pancake off Tia’s plate. “And look, now I’ve had something to eat.” He shoved the pancake into his mouth and gulped it down.
    â€œFirstly, oi! And secondly, what happened to your head?” Tia asked.
    â€œProf will fill you in,” Buzz said over his shoulder as he headed for the front door. “See you later.”
    Mist rolled over the ground as Buzz left the house and jogged down the path that wended deeper into the forest. The trees stood as silent sentries, witnesses to many things over the years, but most accomplished as keepers of secrets.
    He pushed through the woods, the thin blanket of autumn leaves crunching underfoot, and headed for Mornings Lake. The tree had been near there.
    Buzz walked along the burbling brook that led toward the lake. The sound of the stream soothed the headache he hadn’t even realized he’d been battling, and he felt at peace.
    I should have come to the woods sooner, he thought.
    It felt so right in this place. His head felt clear, and here, he knew for sure that he had not imagined Eleanor or the dragon.
    And he knew as well that he was not imagining that Saturday was repeating itself on a loop. Something very wrong had happened here on Friday the thirteenth, and the world was not recovering from it.
    He heard the crunch of footsteps behind him, and he whipped around.
    â€œYou,” he said.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Ratatosk
    â€œH i.” Mary’s voice came out at a whisper.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Buzz demanded.
    â€œThe same as you, I’m guessing. I’m looking for that tree.” She tugged on her braids, which had been swept into a long ponytail. “I’ve been searching in these woods for the last two days in a row. Or should I say two Saturdays in a row?” She sounded nervous. “It’s been kinda trippy, right, reliving the same day?”
    â€œReliving the same day?” Buzz concentrated on painting a shocked look on his face. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    â€œYou don’t?” Mary looked dismayed. “You mean it’s just me?” She rubbed at her forehead, and her lips became a worried line.
    Buzz was tempted to keep up the act, but he relented. “No,it’s not just you. And yes, it has been kinda trippy.”
    Mary heaved a sigh of relief. “You’re getting me back, aren’t you? For lying about Sunna and the dragon.” She hugged her arms. “I’m so sorry about what happened at my grandmother’s house.”
    â€œWhy’d you lie?” Buzz asked, his anger flickering to life again. “For the last few days, I actually thought I was going crazy.”
    â€œCrazy?” Mary repeated. “Do you know what it actually means to be crazy? To have your parents spend all the money they have to send you to a special center and be monitored and studied and talked at until all the crazy is gone and you promise not to speak any more about the ghosts that you see? Not to mention that you can read people’s deepest fears in their faces.” Mary’s voice was bitter. “If you knew what it really felt like to be crazy, then maybe you’d lie as well. Maybe you’d do anything you could to stop being sent back.”
    â€œYou should have told me that. You should have told me that you couldn’t tell the truth about the dragon,” Buzz insisted. “I would have understood. Instead, you let me turn up at your grandmother’s house with my uncle Mark and make a complete fool of myself.”
    Mary bit her lip. “I’m sorry. I guess I wanted to be Mary for a bit longer and not Scary Mary the weirdo who sits on her own in the cafeteria.