Blair Firespark's Arc

Chapter 5 of 8

Blair walked toward the stone compass with her walkie talkie in one hand and her special book in the other. She needed to find more helpers, kids who wouldn't leave in the middle of the night. Kids who needed a team as much as she did. The morning air felt cool on her face and she could hear voices coming from near the treehouse. But when Blair got closer, she stopped behind a big oak tree. Warren Ashford stood in front of a round hut with yellow grass on top. The wooden walls looked warm and friendly, like someone's cozy house. Six kids sat in a circle on the ground in front of him. Warren held something silver in his hand that looked like Blair's walkie talkie but bigger. He pointed it at a boy with red sneakers and it made a beeping sound. The boy grinned. Warren pointed it at a girl with two ponytails and it beeped again. She clapped her hands. Warren was using his own detector to find special kids first. Blair's chest got hot and tight. She squeezed her walkie talkie hard. Warren looked up and saw her watching. He smiled big and mean and waved at her like they were friends. Then he turned back to his circle of kids and kept testing them one by one. Blair wanted to run over and yell at him to stop stealing her helpers. But she counted six kids already sitting with Warren. She only had Mr. Flamey and an empty headquarters. Warren had gotten there first. Blair backed away from the tree and walked toward the pink cottage instead. Her fire felt small and cold again. She opened her book and drew the round hut on a new page in the back section. She marked it with three big purple Xs. Warren wasn't just a meanie anymore. He was winning. Blair climbed up to her treehouse and sat with her legs hanging over the edge. She watched Warren walk his circle of kids toward a wooden playground with a big yellow slide. He climbed to the top platform and held his arms out wide. The kids below looked up at him with their mouths open. Warren jumped off the platform and Blair gasped, but he didn't fall. He floated down slow like a feather, his feet touching the ground soft and easy. The kids screamed and cheered. Two more kids ran over from the swings to see what happened. Warren pointed his detector at them and it beeped for both. He helped them into the circle and they followed him back to his hut. Blair pressed her walkie talkie against her chest. Warren had a power he could show everyone. He could fly or float or something amazing that made kids want to join him right away. Blair's fire was secret. Mr. Flamey had to pretend to sleep around grown-ups. She couldn't show anyone what made her special without getting in trouble. Warren didn't have that problem. He could recruit kids faster because he had proof. Blair pulled out her special book and turned to a blank page. She drew Warren floating above the playground with kids watching below. Then she drew herself standing alone by her treehouse. She looked at both pictures for a long time. Her hand shook when she picked up her red marker. She wrote the word SHOW in big letters across the top of the page. Blair couldn't make fire appear in front of everyone like Warren could float. But she could show kids other things. She could show them her detector worked. She could show them the pink cottage was safe. She could show them her book with all the friends and meanies marked down so they knew she kept track of what mattered. Warren had his floating, but Blair had her systems. She had her testing place and her headquarters and her way of knowing who to trust. She drew a line down the middle of the page. On Warren's side she wrote POWERS. On her side she wrote PROTECTION. Kids who wanted to float and do tricks would pick Warren. But kids who needed someone to remember when they got hurt, kids who needed a safe place to hide, kids who wanted a leader who wrote everything down so nothing got forgotten—those kids would pick her. Blair closed her book and climbed down from the treehouse. She wasn't winning yet, but she knew what she had to offer now. She walked toward the stone compass to find kids who needed what Warren couldn't give them.