The Supergirl of Smallville
Chapters 11-16
by Team Acenaut
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Downloaded from the
SuperWomenMania.com StoryBank
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 11
"Don't you see what
this means?" said
"WHAT A GAL!"
proclaimed the banner headline of the Crawford County Courier, above a
photograph of Supergirl standing beside the sodden embers of the old livery
stable. Below the photograph, in smaller
letters, ran the words "SUPERGIRL SAVES CHILDREN, PUTS OUT DEADLY
BLAZE."
"Don't talk with your
mouth full, dear," said Ma.
Ma
"We don't know that,
Pa Kent set down his
coffee cup. "Your mother's got a
point,
"Yes," said
Ma. "Maybe she landed somewhere
hereabouts in a rocket when she was a baby, and some other family took her
in." Her eyes widened. "Why,
"It doesn't
matter," said
"Now,
"I mean, think about
it! Every time some big emergency comes
up, she'll probably stop to fix her hair and put on some lipstick!"
Pa pointed to the
newspaper. "Well, Chief Parker says
she did a swell job saving those young 'uns and putting out that fire."
He tossed his napkin on
the table and stood up abruptly.
"I'll tell you one thing -- if I still had my powers, you wouldn't
see me showing off like that!"
----------
A Cadillac Fleetwood,
long, black, and gleaming in the morning sunlight, pulled up in front of the
Diamond Bar. The rear door opened and
Tony D'Amato stepped out, freshly shaved and dressed in a neat pinstripe
suit. Taking a handkerchief from his
breast pocket, he brushed a speck of dust from the right fin, then nodded
curtly at the driver.
As the car drove off, Tony
lit a cigar and surveyed the front of the tavern. The plate-glass window had been replaced with
a sheet of plywood, and a notice -- "CLOSED FOR RENOVATION" -- had
been pasted across it. Tony dropped the
spent match to the sidewalk and ground it beneath the heel of his polished
Stepping inside, he paused
for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the dim light. A pair of workmen in overalls were sweeping
shattered glass and broken furniture into a big pile in the center of the room,
and thirty or so sullen veterans of yesterday's brawl were standing by the bar,
brooding in silence or talking in low mutters.
They all looked expectantly at Tony as he strode into the room.
"Thank you,
boys," Tony said to the workmen. He
jerked his thumb toward the front door.
"Why don't you take five?"
"Sure thing,
boss."
Tony waited until they had
gone outside. Expressionless, he
surveyed the men standing by the bar.
One of them had a bandaged forehead; another wore his arm in a sling;
otherwise, nobody seemed to be injured.
But Tony could see from their downcast eyes and hangdog expressions what
a battering their egos had suffered.
"Thank you all for
coming," he said. "I have just
a couple things to say. First of all,
remember what we agreed yesterday.
Nobody says nothing about what really happened here." Heads nodded in somber agreement. "Make sure everyone else remembers that
-- especially that loudmouth Stan."
"Don't worry about
Stan, Mr. D'Amato," said one of the men.
"Me and Johnny had a talk with him.
He'll keep his mouth shut if he knows what's good for him."
"Good," said
Tony. "The inspectors from the
insurance company will be here in an hour.
If they ask any of you how this happened, just say it was a fight that
got out of hand."
"Jeez, Tony,"
someone piped up. "That's
practically the truth. Can't you do any
better than that?" There was a
ripple of laughter.
Tony frowned. "You're very comical, Lenny. A regular Milton Berle. You should be on television." He waited for the snickers to die down.
"A fight that got out
of hand," he repeated. "You
don't know who started it, you don't know what it was about. Got it?"
Everyone nodded.
"Good. One last thing -- about this Little Miss
Fancy Pants -- this so-called Supergirl."
Tony's face reddened as he pounded a fist against the palm of his hand. "Dammit," he rasped. "What kind of a world is this where a
snip of a girl can just waltz in here and start tossing my boys around like --
like -- " He stopped and took a
deep breath.
"All right," he
said. "I want to know everything
about Little Red Riding Hood. Who is
she? Where does she live? Does she have parents? A boyfriend?
What does it take to bring her down?
If any of you find out anything about her -- anything at all -- come see
me. I'll pay top dollar for any useful
information you turn up."
He paused to let his words
sink in, then nodded curtly. "That's
all. Thank you again for coming. And remember -- not a wordc about what really
happened here yesterday."
The men began to shuffle
out of the tavern.
"You made a big
mistake, Missy," Tony muttered as the men filed past. "Nobody -- but nobody -- crosses Tony
D'Amato without living to regret it!"
----------
Coach Stevens's whistle
shrilled across the football field.
"Move it,
"Sorry don't get it
done. Now let's run that play
again. Ross, take five."
Pete Ross jogged over to
the sidelines and sat down beside Freddy Muldoon.
"Man, Coach is really
laying into
"Yeah," said
Freddy. 'But wow -- can you imagine
having Supergirl on our team? I wouldn't
mind tackling her!"
"Ha! You'd have better luck tackling a
locomotive."
"Yeah, but a lot less
fun! Hey, you saw her put out that fire
at the orphanage, didn't you? Is she
really as hot as they say?"
"Oh, man, you better
believe it! She is stacked -- and
those legs!"
"For heaven's
sake," muttered Eileen Sheridan.
She and the other cheerleaders were sitting in the bleachers, a few rows
behind Pete and Freddy. "Can't the
boys talk about anything else?"
"I know what you
mean," said Suzy Prentiss.
"But you have to admit -- she is pretty amazing. Wouldn't you love to have powers like
hers?"
"Oh, yeah!" said
Jenny Rollins. "Guys think they're
so great just because they're stronger than we are. Let them be the weaker sex for a
change. What's the saying -- 'Turnabout
is fair play'?"
"Jeez," said
Pete, turning round to look at the cheerleaders. "I wonder what they're laughing
about?"
"Aw, you know what
girls are like," grinned Freddy.
"Always giggling over the silliest things!"
----------
Lex Luthor walked up to
the counter of the Smallville General Store and put down a copy of Popular
Electronics and a bottle of Coca-Cola.
"Let's see,"
said Mr. Henkle, squinting at the price on the cover of the magazine. "That'll be forty-five cents." Lex handed him two dimes and a quarter and
ambled toward the back of the store with the magazine in one hand and the Coke
in the other.
Looking around for a table
where he could sit and read, he spotted Lana sitting in the corner booth. Her elbows were on the table, her chin was
resting in the palms of her hands, and she was gazing at the wall with a vacant
expression on her face.
Lex went up to her. "Hi, Lana. Can I join you?"
Startled, Lana looked
up. She smiled as she pushed her glasses
back. "Sure!"
Lex slid into the seat
facing hers. "You sure had a
faraway look in your eyes," he said.
"What were you thinking about?"
Lana grinned
sheepishly. "Just
daydreaming."
Actually, she'd been using
her super-vision to look around for any emergencies that might call for
Supergirl's assistance. "Faraway
look" -- if only Lex knew!
"So where were you
Thursday morning?" asked Lex.
"I thought I'd see you in the library."
"Oh -- well, when I
heard the alarm, I went to see where the fire was."
"That's what I
figured. But I didn't see you in the
crowd."
"Well, there were a
lot of people there ... "
"I guess." Lex still seemed puzzled. Lana decided she'd better change the
subject. Besides, there was something
she'd been wanting to ask him about.
"So what do you think
of this Supergirl?" she asked.
"Did you see her at the fire?"
Lex shook his head. "No, I got there too late. I just caught a glimpse of her flying
away."
"You're a science
whiz," said Lana. "How do your
explain her powers? I mean, she can do
some pretty amazing things. She's super
strong, she can fly -- "
"I know. It's like something out of a science-fiction
story."
"So how is that
possible?"
Lex took a sip from his
Coke. "Well," he said
thoughtfully, "my guess is that she's using some kind of highly advanced
technology. An anti-gravity device, maybe
-- that would explain the flying, and the strength. And maybe she was using a force field to
protect her from the flames."
"But she doesn't -- I
mean, it didn't look as if she was using any kind of gadget -- "
"Probably because the
devices would be small enough to fit in a bracelet or something. Just like a transistor radio can fit in your
pocket."
"Well ... maybe
you're right. But is it possible that
she can do all those things without gadgets?"
Lex frowned,
considering. "I don't see how. Think how much energy her body would
require. Unless ... hmmm ... unless she
can somehow draw power from electricity or cosmic rays -- or the sun!"
"The sun?"
"Sure." Lex held up the copy of Popular
Electronics. "There's an
article in here that says by the year 2000, we'll be using solar power to run
cars and factories and everything."
"Gosh!"
exclaimed Lana. "So tell me
this. Is there any way an ordinary human
being like -- like you or me -- could gain powers like hers?"
Lana felt her face redden
as Lex regarded her curiously. A corner
of his mouth turned up in a knowing smile.
Golly, she thought nervously.
I hope I haven't said too much ...
"That's an
interesting thought. Offhand, I don't
see how. But remember what Sherlock
Holmes said -- 'It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data.'"
He glanced out the front
window of the store. A white Chevrolet
was pulling into the parking area.
"There's my mom. I've gotta
go." He gulped down the rest of his
Coke and grabbed his magazine.
"Oh, by the way,
Lana," he said, lowering his voice.
"Don't worry -- your secret is safe with me."
"My -- my
secret?" Lana blinked. Goodness! she thought. Does he suspect -- ?
"When you were
sitting here by yourself, with that faraway look in your eyes -- I know
what you were doing."
"You do?"
"Sure." He grinned.
"You were daydreaming about having powers like Supergirl's --
weren't you?"
Lana giggled with
relief. "Oh, Lex," she
laughed. "That's silly. I'm scared to death of heights. And that costume -- why, I'd die of
embarrassment!"
--------------------
CHAPTER 12
OCTOBER ...
A crisp autumn breeze blew
down
A finger suddenly pointed
upward. "There she is!" a
child's voice cried out. A murmur of
excitement ran through the crowd of trick-or-treaters as a dark figure began flying
slowly across the luminous disk of the moon -- a figure clad in streaming
tatters, with a tall pointed hat, sitting astride a broom. The figure paused, then turned, then swooped
down toward the town square, faster and faster ...
Mingled screams of fear
and delight rose into the night air as the figure flew round the square --
once, twice, three times -- just a few feet above the children's heads, its
tatters flapping in the breeze. Hovering
above a stack of logs and kindling in the middle of the square, the figure
gestured dramatically with one cloaked arm -- and instantly the sticks burst
into flame, crackling and popping and sending red sparks up into the darkness.
Slowly the figure
descended. The bonfire cast an orange
glow on its ragged cloak and pointed hat.
It flung out its arms and cackled with eldritch glee. Then it spun round -- and the next moment the
cloak and hat had vanished ... and where the witch had stood, now stood ...
"Supergirl!" the trick-or-treaters cheered.
"Happy Hallowe'en,
everybody!" Supergirl shouted. She
reached into a barrel full of apples and began tossing them into the crowd,
laughing as the children ran to catch them.
"Good night!" she cried, rising into the night sky. "Happy Hallowe'en!" And off she flew, astride her broom.
"Mommy,
Mommy!" A little girl in a Red
Riding Hood costume tugged at her mother's sleeve. "Is Supergirl a witch?"
Her mother smiled down at
her. "Don't worry, sweetie -- she's
a good witch."
Invisible in the darkness,
Supergirl flew behind the town hall and changed into a checkered calico dress
and an old pair of shoes that she'd covered with red glitter-paint. She put on her glasses, adjusted her brown
wig -- now done up in pigtails -- and hurried off to join her mother at the
other end of the square.
Mrs. Lang was standing
behind the refreshment table, handing out donuts and cups of cider to the local
teenagers. A song was drifting from a
record-player, and several of Lana's classmates were slow-dancing in the
moonlight.
"When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see,
Oh, I won't be afraid,
No, I won't be afraid,
Just as long as you stand, stand by me ... "
"Hi,
Lana glanced over at the
table where the record-player and a pair of speakers had been set up. Lex Luthor, wearing a tweed cape and
deerstalker cap, was busy adjusting a connection.
"Excuse me,
Mom," she said. "I want to say
hi to Lex."
Lex looked up and smiled
as Lana approached. "Dorothy Gale,
I presume?" he asked.
Lana grinned. "Amazing, Holmes! How did you know?"
Lex shrugged
modestly. "Elementary. So are you enjoying the party?"
"Oh, I'm having a
great time. Thanks for setting this
up. We never had dancing at Hallowe'en
before."
"Well, it's nothing
fancy. Say, Lana, I was wondering -- I
mean, if you're not busy helping your mom -- " He nodded vaguely toward the dancing couples.
But Lana's super-keen eyes
had spotted something over Lex's shoulder, off in the darkness. "Uh -- I'm sorry Lex. I have to get something. I'll be right back!" And she turned and hurried off across the
square, back toward the town hall.
Lex gazed after her for a
moment; then he sighed and began flipping through a box of record albums on the
table.
"That
Lana." Lex looked up. Mrs. Lang shook her head as she handed him a
cup of cider. "For such a bright
girl, she can be awfully scatter-brained."
Lex took a sip of
cider. "Thanks, Mrs. Lang."
Mrs. Lang laid a hand on
Lex's arm. "I'm glad the two of you
are friends. Why don't you come over for
dinner some night? We'd love to have
you. Give me a call and we'll set up a
date. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to
get back to my table."
"I'll do that, Mrs.
Lang. Thanks!"
MEANWHILE ...
Behind the town hall, Lana
had already changed back into her Supergirl costume. She pulled on her gloves, adjusted her cape,
and was just about to spring into the air when a mischievous smile spread
across her face. She paused,
considering. Why not? she
decided. After all, it's Hallowe'en.
The next moment, she was
putting on her witch's costume. Muffling
the lower half of her face in the cloak, pulling the brim of the hat down over
her forehead, she straddled the broom and flew off toward the Smallville water
tower, a black outline against the moonlit sky.
Darkness and distance were
no impediment to Lana's super-vision. As
clearly as if it were broad daylight, she could see the figure clambering up
the ladder to the walkway surrounding the water tank. It was a teenage boy wearing a blue
The boy had almost reached
the top of the ladder; he was just about to grasp the topmost rung, when Lana
swooped in behind him. Grabbing the
collar of his sweatshirt, she yanked him off the ladder and flew round the
water tank, dangling him over the treetops at the end of her outstretched
arm. Looking down, she could see his
upturned face, white with terror, his eyes wide and pale in the moonlight. Lana sent a long, high-pitched cackle into
the night air and deposited the boy on the roof of the water tank.
He scrambled to his knees,
but as he began sliding down the smooth sloping surface he threw himself face
down on the roof, moaning softly, afraid to look up. His insides were watery with fear, his mind
was a confused jumble. What just
happened?
"This is a funny
place to go trick-or-treating, don't you think?"
It was a girl's
voice. Slowly, the boy raised his
eyes. Standing before him, a tattered
black cloak draped over her outstretched arm, her cape fluttering behind her in
the chilly breeze, was ...
"Supergirl!" he
gasped.
"What's the
matter?" she asked, arching an eyebrow.
"You were going to an awful lot of trouble to get up here, so I
thought I'd give you a lift. But you
weren't going to ask for candy, were you?"
"I -- I -- "
"You were going to
deface the water tank -- isn't that right?
You were going to splash paint all over the mural -- the mural that the
students at Smallville High worked so hard on."
"It -- it was Curt --
and Woody! They dared me -- they
double-dared me!"
Lana shook her head. "And if they'd dared you to jump off
afterward?"
"I'm sorry --
honest! Just get me down from here,
okay?"
"Don't worry about
that. I'm just trying to decide whether to
take you back to your parents or to Chief Parker."
"Aw, c'mon ... "
"Well ... I suppose
we can keep this to ourselves -- on one condition."
"What's that?"
"They're putting up a
new recreation building at the Smallville Orphanage -- to replace the one that
burned down last summer. They need
volunteers to help paint it, and since you seem to be handy with a paintbrush
... "
"Okay, I get
it."
"Good. Be there at
Stooping, Lana took the
boy's wrist and pulled him up on his feet; then she rose several feet into the
air. The boy looked down nervously at
the moonlit landscape two hundred feet below him.
"Let's get you back
down," said Lana. Her tone was
gentler now, and she smiled at the would-be vandal. "There's a Hallowe'en party on the town
square. Why don't you join it? There's dancing, and a nice lady serving
cider and donuts."
--------------------
-------------------
CHAPTER 13
DECEMBER ...
Like ducklings trailing
after their mother, a dozen children followed Mrs. Hart out of the orphanage
dormitory. Chattering excitedly, they
traipsed across the snow-covered lawn toward the new recreation building, their
cheeks rosy in the cold air and their eyes shining with anticipation.
A large envelope was
pinned to the front door, right above the wreath. "Why, what could this be?" said
Mrs. Hart, turning to the children with a look of surprise on her round face.
"Read it, read
it!"
She opened the envelope
and took out a folded sheet of paper.
"It's a note from Santa!" she exclaimed. Her eyes ran back and forth across the paper
as the children jumped up and down, barely able to contain their excitement.
"What does it say,
Mrs. Hart?"
Mrs. Hart looked up from
the paper. "Santa says he had so
many houses to visit last night that he didn't have time to bring your
presents. But," she added
quickly, as the children groaned with disappointment, "he says he asked a
friend of his to come instead."
"What friend?"
piped little Sally.
A voice rang out above
them: "Ho, ho, ho!" But it wasn't Santa's hearty baritone.
"Supergirl!" The
children rushed forward, cheering, as Supergirl descended to the snow-covered
lawn, an enormous, bulging cloth sack slung over one shoulder.
"Merry
Christmas!" she exclaimed. She
laughed as the children swarmed round her.
"Let's all go inside, okay?"
The children turned and ran, shouting, back toward the recreation
building, where the colored lights on the Christmas tree shone cheerily through
the open door.
An hour later, the floor
was a sea of torn and discarded wrapping paper all around the Christmas
tree. Dolls and baseball gloves, yo-yos
and model airplanes, jump-ropes and ice skates had poured steadily from
Supergirl's sack; and as a final surprise she had taken the children outside
and behind the building, where a shiny new toboggan lay waiting.
Mrs. Hart took Lana
aside. "I can't thank you enough,
Supergirl. The children are always so
excited when you come visit."
Lana smiled. "My pleasure. But I'm just the delivery girl. The people of Smallville chipped in to buy
the presents. Now if you'll excuse me,
I've got to be going." She was
eager to get home, to exchange presents with her parents and sit down to the
Christmas dinner her mother was preparing.
One of the boys came
running up. "Mrs. Hart, can we go
to
"Yeah," a girl
chimed in. "And go sliding on the
toboggan?"
"Mr. McKechnie is
home with his family," said Mrs. Hart.
"Maybe he can drive us out there tomorrow."
"Awww ... " The children turned away, crestfallen.
"I've got an
idea," said Lana. "Could I
borrow that snow shovel on the front porch?"
Mrs. Hart's eyebrows rose
in surprise. "Why, yes, of
course. What are you -- ?" But Supergirl had already vanished in a burst
of super-speed.
The next moment, she was
scooping up a shovelful of snow from the front lawn and flinging it up over her
shoulder. The snow flew up in a high arc
and landed with a soft whump! in the middle of the field on the north
side of the orphanage grounds. Another
shovelful followed, then another, and another.
Faster and faster they flew; Supergirl was a blue and red blur as she
plied the shovel; Mrs. Hart and the children stared in amazement as the pile of
snow grew before their very eyes until it rose higher than the dormitory roof.
"There!" said
Lana. "That should do it. Pack it down a little and you've got your own
sliding hill. And for you skaters --
"
She aimed her heat vision
at a level patch of snow-covered ground at the far end of the field. The snow slowly melted into slush, then to a
puddle of water about thirty feet across.
Cupping her hands around her mouth, Lana pursed her lips and blew a
frigid blast of super-breath. There was
a sharp crackling noise, and instantly the puddle froze into a smooth sheet of
ice.
Lana put the snow shovel
back on the porch as the cheering youngsters began putting on their skates and
pulling the toboggan over to the makeshift hill. "And now I really must be on my way --
"
But just as she was about
to fly off, the front door of the orphanage burst open and Emily, the young
assistant matron, came rushing out.
"Supergirl!" she exclaimed.
"Thank goodness you're still here!
I was rinsing some vegetables at the sink and one of my earrings fell
down the drain. It -- it was a present
from my fiance. Could you -- ?"
"Of
course." Lana strode into the
kitchen and knelt by the large stainless-steel sink. There was a drainpipe under the sink, bent in
a double-U. She scanned it quickly with
her X-ray vision, then turned to smile reassuringly at Emily.
"I can see your
earring. You're in luck -- it didn't get
washed away. It's in the bottom of the
U."
Emily nodded, but her brow
was still furrowed with anxiety.
"But how am I going to find a plumber on Christmas Day?"
"Don't worry about
that. Get an old newspaper or something
and put it on the floor here."
While Emily hurried off, Lana turned her attention back to the underside
of the sink. Narrowing her eyes, she
used a razor-thin beam of heat vision to slice through the pipe twice -- once
above the U and once below it. Carefully
removing the cut-off section, she tipped it onto the newspaper that Emily had
spread out on the floor. Out ran a
trickle of rust-colored water -- and the errant earring.
"Oh, thank you,
Supergirl!" said Emily. She wrapped
the earring in a handkerchief and put it carefully in the pocket of her
uniform.
"Glad to
help." Lana had set the cut-off
pipe back in place. "Now for some
spot-welding -- courtesy of my heat vision -- and the pipe's as good as
new."
Moments later, she stepped
out onto the front porch, ready to fly home ... when she saw the town's one
police car parked in front of the orphanage.
Chief Parker was rolling down the window.
"Supergirl!" he
called. "I was hoping I'd find you
here. Do you think you could come over
to my office for a few minutes? I need
you sign those depositions you gave in the Patterson case."
"Gosh, Chief -- it's
Christmas."
Chief Parker's grey eyes
twinkled. "Justice never takes a
holiday -- partner."
Lana grinned. "Okay.
I'll meet you at the station -- partner."
A few minutes later, she
was sitting in the cluttered office that served as Smallville's police station,
signing a batch of papers and passing them to Chief Parker. Glancing at his watch, the Chief picked up
the telephone and dialed a number.
"Hello, dear,"
he said. "I thought you'd be back
by now. Is everything all right? ...
Hmmm ... I see ... All right. Stay where
you are. I'll be there as soon as I can
... Well, if I can't fix it, we'll leave it overnight and get a mechanic to
look at it tomorrow. I'm sure Mrs.
Gorman won't mind ... All right, I'll see you soon. Good-bye."
Lana had finished signing
the papers. "Is something
wrong?" she asked as Chief Parker hung up the phone with a sigh.
"It's my wife. She drove to Crawfordsville to visit a friend
of hers, a shut-in, and now she can't get the car started." He pushed back his chair and stood up.
"That's a long way,
Chief," said Lana. "Why don't
you let me pick her up? I can fly her and
the car back here in ten minutes."
Chief Parker tugged his
white mustache, considering.
"That's awfully kind of you, Supergirl. But like you said, it's Christmas. I'm sure you have family of your own ...
"
"Yes, I do -- and
they'd give me a good scolding if they knew I'd let you drive all the way to
Crawfordsville and back on Christmas Day when I could have saved you the
trouble. Now give me the address and
I'll be right back."
Fifteen minutes later,
Lana was descending slowly toward
Mrs. Parker was rolling
down the window. "Thank you,
Supergirl," she said. "That
was ... quite a ride. I must admit, I
was a little nervous at first, but I knew I was in good hands." She opened the door and got out. "Oh, dear. Speaking of hands -- your gloves are all
grimy. Why don't you let me wash those
for you?"
"Thanks," said
Lana. "But that won't be
necessary." She held up her gloved
hands and evaporated the grease in the beams of her heat vision. "See?
Good as new. Now let's take a
look at your engine."
She raised the hood and
inspected the car's innards. "The
spark plugs look clean. I'm sure you
just flooded the engine. The fuel's had
time to evaporate by now. Why don't you
try starting the car again? Just go easy
on the gas."
"All
right." Mrs. Parker got back in the
car and turned on the ignition. Moments
later, the Buick purred into life.
"It
worked!" She turned off the engine
and got out. "Now where's
Amos? Our son and his family are driving
in from
"Still in his office,
I guess," said Lana. "I'll go
in with you." She'd remembered
something.
Their footsteps echoed in
the quiet building, redolent of wood polish.
The door of Chief Parker's office was open, and his voice was audible in
the corridor.
"Just a couple of
minutes," he was saying.
"Right." He hung up the
telephone as Lana and Mrs. Parker walked in.
"Hello, dear. How was your,
ah, flight?"
"Very
interesting. I've lived in Smallville
most of my life, but I'd never seen it from up in the air."
Chief Parker stood up and
opened the top drawer of his desk.
"Before you go, Supergirl, Mildred and I want to give you
this." He held out a little box
wrapped in shiny red paper and and a white ribbon.
Lana tore the wrapping
from the box and removed the lid.
"Oh, Chief -- Mrs. Parker ... it's beautiful."
Inside the box lay a
five-pointed star made of sterling silver and engraved with the word
"DEPUTY."
"It's not official,
of course," Chief Parker said.
"But, well, you deserve it, partner."
"Thank you. I'm sorry I can't pin it to my costume. The cloth is impenetrable. But I'll always treasure it." She put her present down on the desk and dug
into the pouch of her cape. "And
here -- this is for you."
Chief Parker sat down and
carefully unwrapped the little parcel.
"My goodness," he chuckled.
"Is that really me?"
It was a wooden figurine,
hand-carved and hand-painted, of a man in a blue policeman's uniform -- a man
with wavy snow-white hair, bushy eyebrows, a thick mustache, and a kindly
twinkle in his grey eyes.
"I carved it and
painted it myself," said Lana, blushing.
"I hope you like it."
"Like it? It's beautiful." Chief Parker set it carefully on his
cluttered desktop. "But you've
taken off about ten pounds." He
patted his stomach ruefully. "I
should go on a diet -- after I've done justice to Mildred's Christmas
dinner!"
The telephone rang. Chief Parker picked it up. "Smallville Police Station, Chief Parker
speaking ... Hello, Ben, what's up?"
He listened, frowning. "I'll
be right there."
He hung up. "That was Mayor Tillman," he
explained, reaching for his coat.
"Some sort of disturbance out by the turn-off to Shelbyville. Mildred, I'll see you back at the house. Supergirl -- "
"I'm on my way,"
said Lana.
"No, no," Chief
Parker protested. "I was about to
say, why don't you go on home? I can
handle this, and here I've been keeping you away from your family on Christmas
-- "
"Come on, Chief. What kind of deputy would I be then?"
"Well ... if you say
so -- " But Lana was already out
the door.
All in a day's work for
a Supergirl, she thought ruefully,
flying westward across town. Her eyes
widened as she approached the vacant field at the outskirts of Smallville, by
the fork in the road. Several hundred townfolk
of all ages were gathered on the snow-covered ground; but except for a few
youngsters engaged in a snowball fight, there was no sign of any
disturbance. Lana saw her neighbors, her
classmates; she saw Mrs. Hart, and Emily, and the children from the orphanage,
and her own parents, careful not to make any sign of recognition. The town band was playing "Good King
Wenceslas"; Mrs. Putnam was handing out steaming cups of hot chocolate;
and Mayor Tillman was standing on a makeshift platform with a microphone,
squinting up into the sky. Lana noticed
that the decrepit old billboard facing the road was covered with a large
tarpaulin.
Mayor Tillman had spotted
Supergirl; he was waving his arms, gesturing for her to come down. The band stopped playing and a hush fell over
the crowd as Lana flew down, wondering, to stand beside him on the
platform. She saw the Parkers' Buick
pull over by the side of the road and the Chief and Mrs. Parker get out as the
mayor began tapping at the microphone.
"Supergirl," he
said, "I suppose you're wondering what this is all about. Well, I guess you could say we owe you an
apology. The fact of the matter is -- we
kind of played a trick on you. We got
together and figured out how we could keep you busy for a couple of hours, so's
we could get this ready without you knowing." He waved his arm toward the tarpaulin-covered
billboard. "Now, no fair peeking
with that X-ray vision of yours, okay?"
Dazed, Lana nodded. "Okay."
"I reckon you've got
family, and I know they must be right proud of you, and we sure don't want to
keep you away from them any longer than we have already. So I'll keep this short and sweet."
"That'll be the
day!" someone called out. A ripple
of laughter ran through the crowd.
Mayor Tillman ignored the
witticism. "Supergirl, ever since
that day you showed up to save those young 'uns from that fire at the
orphanage, you've been a kind of guardian angel to the folks of this town. There isn't anyone here you haven't helped
out one way or another, and there's a few of us that owe you our lives. We can't rightly repay you for everything
you've done for us, but we wanted to show you our appreciation. So without further ado -- "
He gestured toward the
billboard. Several pairs of hands were
tugging at the tarpaulin. Lana's mouth
dropped open as the cloth fell away ...
The faded and tattered
advertisement for Camel cigarettes was gone.
In its place was Supergirl, smiling as she flew dramatically against a
sky-blue background, her cape flaring behind her. The fresh paint gleamed in the pale winter
sunlight. "WELCOME TO
SMALLVILLE," the billboard proclaimed, "HOME OF ... SUPERGIRL!"
Cheers and applause rang
out in the cold air as Lana, blushing, stepped up to the microphone. Her voice quavered as she began to
speak. "Um ... This -- this is such
a surprise ... such an honor." She
took a deep breath. "I -- I love
Smallville ... and you're the best friends and the nicest neighbors anyone
could ever ask for ... and, um ... well, I don't know what else to say, except
-- thank you ... oh, and happy Christmas, everybody!"
She stepped back, her eyes
glistening, as the band struck up "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."
----------
The heater wasn't working,
and
There was a big crowd
gathered on the field by the Shelbyville turn-off. Curious,
He stopped and
stared. Up on the billboard was that
show-off Supergirl, flying along without a care in the world. She seemed to be smirking down at him. Gosh,
A car's horn tooted behind
him. Scowling,
His stomach churned with
resentment as he realized that he'd be passing the billboard every time he came
to town.
--------------------
CHAPTER 14
FEBRUARY ...
"Lana!" Mrs.
Lang called up the stairs. "There's
a young man here to see you."
Up in her bedroom, Lana
nervously checked her reflection in the mirror above the dresser. She gave her upswept hair a final pat and
made a tiny adjustment to the sash of her gown.
She took a deep breath. The
moment she'd been waiting for so long had finally arrived. I guess even a super-girl can feel jitters
at a time like this, she thought.
She stepped out into the
hallway and strode to the top of the stairs, her new high-heeled shoes tapping
sharply against the hardwood floor. She
paused for a moment, resisting the temptation to rush down to the living room. Slowly, gracefully, she descended step by
step, holding up the hem of her gown daintily with one hand. As she came sown the stairs, blushing and
smiling, she saw three faces looking up at her -- her mother, blinking away
tears of happiness ... her father, beaming through a wreath of pipe smoke ...
and Clark, staring in open-mouthed wonder.
"G-gosh, Lana!"
he stammered as she reached the foot of the stairs. 'You look -- you look beautiful."
"Why, thank you,
Clark," she murmured. "And you
look very handsome in that tuxedo."
Red-faced,
"It's a
corsage," he explained, taking out a cluster of petals and blossoms, white
as the snow that lay all over the countryside.
"Oh,
Self-consciously,
"I'm fine,
"Well," said
"Have fun, you
two," Professor Lang called after them from the porch. "But
"Daddy!" groaned Lana, rolling her eyes.
The
"That's all right,
"Turn around,
"Lana!" gasped
"Surprised?" she
asked, grinning impishly. She was flying
over the
"Gosh!"
"Admit it,
"Well, kind of. But I was just a kid. What did I know?"
Moments later, they were
standing on a snow-covered hillside overlooking
"It's beautiful,
isn't it?" murmured Lana.
"I've been all over the world, and this is still my favorite place
of all." She felt
"It's beautiful all
right," said
"Oh,
Lips parted, eyes welling
with tears of joy, Lana gazed up at him.
"Oh,
"Oh, Lana -- I lo --
"
B-R-R-R-R-I-N-G-G-G!
Lana's hand reached out
from under the blanket and shut off the alarm clock. Scowling, she sat up in bed and ran her
fingers through her tousled red hair. Why
couldn't the stupid alarm have gone off a few minutes later?
Lana never tired --
physically. But her father insisted that
she get eight hours of sleep every night.
"There's a lot we don't know about sleep," he'd explained,
thumbing the pages of a psychology textbook.
"But sleeping and dreaming seem to be important for our mental
well-being -- and I'm guessing that even applies for a super-girl."
Dreams ... Lana's dreams
had been different ever since she'd gained her super-powers. They were longer, more vivid and coherent --
and they usually involved
"Lana!" Her mother was calling her from the
kitchen. "Breakfast!"
"Coming,
Mom." She threw aside the blanket
and began getting dressed for school.
She pouted at her
reflection as she put on her glasses and adjusted her brunette wig. No wonder
She paused, recalling her
dream. I'll do it! she
thought. I'll tell him I'm
Supergirl. Then he'll drop Suzy and ...
She felt a twinge of
guilt. Suzy's my friend, she thought. But Clark and I -- we're soulmates. We were meant to be together. Besides, Suzy's so pretty -- she can have any
boy she wants ...
"Lana!" Her mother's voice was sharper. "Hurry up -- you don't to miss the
bus."
"I'm
coming!" She grabbed her bookbag
and hurried down the stairs.
----------
The
"All right,
class," said Mr. Bateman, laying down his chalk as the students began
shutting their books. "Your
homework for Monday is exercises one through fifteen. Have a great weekend."
Lana shoved her geometry
book into her bookbag and hurried out of the classroom. She could barely refrain from using her
super-speed as she turned into the main corridor of the school building. Yes!
There was
"H - hi,
"Are you on your way
to the bus?"
"Oh. So ... did you see today's paper? Supergirl saved some skiers from an avalanche
out in
Blushing, Lana pressed
on. "What do you think of
that?"
"
"Flying around in
that fancy costume ... calling herself 'Supergirl,' like she's ... I dunno,
better than the rest of us ... "
"I -- I'm sure she --
she must have good reasons -- "
But
"Hi,
"You bet!"
"Pick you up at
eight?"
"I'll be
waiting. What about you, Lana? Are you going to the dance?"
"Um ... I ... yes,
I'll ... I'll see you there ... "
Lana turned and hurried down the corridor, tears of mortification
brimming in her eyes.
Rushing out the main
entrance, she nearly collided with Lex.
"Oh! I'm sorry, Lex! I'm -- I'm in kind of a hurry."
"That's
okay." Lex caught a glimpse of her
face before she turned away. "Say,
are you all right?"
Surreptitiously wiping
away her tears, Lana forced a smile.
"I'm fine, thanks. Just --
like I said, I'm in a hurry. See you
Monday."
"Yeah --
Monday." Lex opened his mouth, as
if he was about to say something else, but Lana was already running toward her
bus. Sighing, he slung his knapsack over
his shoulder and went back inside the school building. The Chess Club meeting was about to begin.
----------
"Goodness,
Lana," said Mrs. Lang, pouring herself a cup of coffee. "That's your third bowl of ice
cream."
The kitchen table had been
cleared, the dishes had been washed and put away, and Professor Lang had gone
to his study to mark a set of exams.
Lana was poking morosely at a bowl of chocolate ice cream.
"It's all right,
Mom," she said. "I never seem
to gain weight, no matter how much I eat."
"That's one power I
wish I had." Mrs. Lang sat
down across from her daughter. "Is
it about the dance tonight, honey?
Listen, there's no reason you can't go.
All your friends will be there.
I'm sure lots of them aren't going as couples. And we still have time to fix up something
pretty you can wear."
"It's not that,"
Lana sighed. "It's just -- I wonder
if Sir Percy ever got tired of everyone thinking he was a silly fop?" She looked at her mother with glistening
eyes. "I know I have to keep my
Supergirl identity a secret, but if Cla -- if boys think I'm just a frumpy
wallflower ... "
"Oh, honey, I know it
must be hard. But you have to understand
-- boys your age may have big grown-up bodies, but inside ... well, they still
have some catching up to do. Most of
them are just looking for a girl with a pretty face and a nice figure. But they'll grow up. There'll be plenty of young men who'll see
you as you are -- kind and brave and loving ... "
"Do you think
so?"
"I know so. I'm sure there's a wonderful young man out
there waiting for you -- only you haven't met him yet. Or maybe you have, but you don't realize
it. You know, when I was nineteen, I was
working in the registrar's office at the university. Well, I was crazy about a senior named Bob
Benson. He was the star of the track
team -- tall and blond and my, was he handsome!
I was sure he was the only man for me.
And then one day your father came into the office. He was a freshman, and he had a question
about his schedule. Well, we talked for
about twenty minutes, and by the time he left the office, I knew that he was
the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with." She chuckled.
"It took him a little longer to figure it out, but ... well, here
we are."
Lana gazed at her
mother. "Wow."
"So what do you
say? Do you want to go to the
dance?"
Lana stood up. "Thanks, Mom. I feel better. Really, I do." She picked up her empty bowl and rinsed it
out in the sink, then walked over to the cellar door. "But I think I'll just go out on patrol
-- see if there are any jobs for Supergirl."
"All right,
honey. Be careful."
----------
Supergirl sat cross-legged
in the snow, her chin propped on her fists, staring glumly at the blank wall of
the school gymnasium. She'd spent half
an hour flying over
The Valentine Day dance
had just begun. Lana could hear the band
strike up the first song:
"There's a summer place
Where it may rain or storm
Yet I'm safe and warm
In your arms ... "
I'll just take a quick
peek, she told herself as the cast
her X-ray vision through the brick wall.
Inside, the gym was festive with red paper hearts and white
streamers. Boys, uncomfortable in rented
tuxedos, and girls, resplendent in colorful gowns, shuffled about in time to
the music, shyly, awkwardly ... And then Lana spotted Clark and Suzy.
Wrapped in each other's
arms, gazing into each other's eyes, they moved with a natural ease and
unconscious grace round the dance floor, Suzy radiant in a sleveless red gown,
Lana sighed as she brushed
a tear from her cheek. Suddenly she felt
something pressing against her leg -- something cold and soft and wet. She looked down.
"Well, hello, Mr.
White Paw," she said. "What
are you doing all the way out here?"
The cat's eyes glinted
green in the moonlight as he looked up at her, mewing plaintively. Lana ran a gloved hand gently along his
back. "I guess you and I are the
only ones in this whole town who don't have a date for Valentine Day."
She stood up and brushed
the snow off her cape where she'd been sitting on it. Leaning down, she picked up Mr. White Paw and
rubbed him behind the ear with her forefinger.
"Let's get you back to the orphanage, shall we?"
Cradling the cat in one arm,
Lana rose into the air and flew off in the direction of the orphanage. "You know, Mr. White Paw," she
remarked, "my mom says there's a wonderful boy out there somewhere,
waiting for me. I wonder what he's
doing tonight?"
Down below, Lex was
walking up to the front door of the school building. He felt a fluttery sensation in his
stomach. All week, he'd been meaning to
ask Lana to the dance -- but she'd always had to run off, for one reason or
another, before he could get the words out.
Maybe I'll see her inside, he thought. He could hear the band begin the next song:
"Are you lonseome tonight,
Do you miss me tonight?... "
Nervously, he adjusted his
tie and went in.
--------------------
CHAPTER 15
MARCH ...
Professor Lang lit his
after-dinner pipe as he strolled to the window.
Pulling the curtain to one side, he peered into the darkness. A few wind-swept pellets of ice rattled softly
against the glass.
Mrs. Lang was putting on a
pot of coffee. "What's the weather,
dear?" she asked.
"Looks like that
freezing rain is coming in, just like the weatherman predicted." He turned on the radio. "I wonder how our basketball team is
doing against Martindale. Do you know if
Lex is announcing the game, Lana?"
Lana dried the last of the
dinner dishes with her heat vision and put it away in the cupboard. "No, he's in
Lana narrowed her eyes,
casting her super-vision across twenty miles of snow-covered farmland and into
the gymnasium of
"The Crows are
trailing by one with only seconds left on the clock, and
"Thank you,
dear," said Mrs. Lang. "That
was very dramatic."
Professor Lang
smiled. "I wish I had
super-vision. I wouldn't need a
television -- I could sit and watch all the games from my armchair.'
"Yes, Henry. I'm sure that if you had Lana's gifts, that's
exactly what you'd do with them."
Mrs. Lang put her arm around Lana's shoulder. "Fotyunately, Lana puts them to better
use. Speaking of which ... Lana, your
classmates are going to have a long ride back to Smallville through this ice
storm. Don't you think you should be out
looking after them in case something happens?"
Lana grinned
mischievously. "Gosh, Mom, I'd love
to -- but my curfew is
"Now, Lana, we've
discussed this. Not until the end of the
school year."
Pouting, Lana gazed at her
father with wide, imploring eyes.
"Daddy?"
Professor Lang shook his
head. "Sorry, Pumpkin.
Mrs. Lang sighed
resignedly. "I suppose."
Lana jumped up and
down. "Thanks, Daddy! Thanks, Mom!" She hurried up the stairs to her bedroom.
She was back in the
kitchen a heartbeat later, wearing her Supergirl costume.
"Now you be careful,
sweetheart," her father said.
"Are you sure you'll
be warm enough?" her mother asked.
Lana pulled on her gloves
and adjusted her cape. "I'll be
fine. I've flown through thunderstorms
and tornados. I've swum in the
"Lana!" Her mother's jaw dropped. "When did you -- ?"
"Oops! The team's getting on the bus! Gotta go!" She gave her parents a quick kiss. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Daddy!" She rushed down the cellar stairs in a blur
of red and blue. The next moment, the Langs
heard the trapdoor of the secret tunnel slam shut behind her.
----------
The storm had just begun
to move through Smallville, but as Lana flew westward, the freezing rain fell
more heavily and the roads were glazing over.
Fortunately, few drivers were venturing out. Oblivious to the biting wind and the ice
pellets that lashed against her face, Lana turned away from the highway and
took a direct course to Martindale.
Suddenly, however, her
super-hearing picked up the plaintive cries of small children somewhere off to
her left. Directing her super-vision
along the Crawfordsville road, she spotted a car that had pulled off onto the
shoulder. A woman sat behind the
steering wheel, her face taut with anxiety, while two girls, about four and six
years old, were crying in the back seat.
Lana flew down and tapped
on the driver's window. "Can I help
you?" she asked as the window inched down.
"Supergirl!" the
woman exclaimed. A look of relief swept
across her face. "Oh, thank
heaven! I was driving along as carefully
as I could, and then I went through a puddle a little ways back and my engine
just stopped. My girls are getting cold
-- and scared." She turned around. "Debbie, Rachel -- look who's
here!"
The girls had stopped
crying and sat staring at Lana with wide eyes and open mouths. Lana smiled reassuringly at them, then turned
to their mother.
"Ray's Diner is about
two miles up the road," she said, "and there's a Texaco station right
next to it. Why don't you put the car in
neutral and I'll push you there."
"Oh, thank you! That would be wonderful."
The woman rolled up the
window and turned on the headlights as Lana walked round to the back of the
car. Placing her hands against the
trunk, Lana nudged the car gently back onto the road, then took a few running
steps, allowing the car to gather momentum, before she rose into a flying
position. The two little girls were
kneeling on the back seat, gazing in wonder through the rear window as Lana
guided the car through the dark night and the freezing rain.
Several minutes later, the
car rolled up to the awning over the entrance of the diner and the woman and
her daughters got out. "Is there
anything else I can do for you?" Lana asked.
"Oh, no -- you've
done so much for us already. Why, if you
hadn't come along ... Please, take this."
The woman held out two dollar bills.
"Oh, I couldn't
possibly take that. I'm just glad to
know that you and your daughters are safe.
If you want to thank me ... "
Lana took a laminated card from a pouch in her cape. "Here -- just make a donation to one of
these charities."
Lana knelt and gave the
girls a hug. "Good night now. Try the cherry pie -- it's very
good." And with a final wave she
flew up into the stormy night.
Gosh, she thought. I
hope the school bus is okay. She
cast her super-vision through the darkness and the sleet until -- aha! The bus was making its way slowly along
the Martindale road, back toward Smallville.
Lana could see Coach Stevens hunched over the steering wheel, peering
into the patch of illumination that the headlights threw on the icy road.
Invisible in the darkness,
Lana circled round and began flying along behind the bus and several feet above
it. I'll just tag along, she
thought. I'll follow the bus back to
Smallville -- make sure it gets there safe and sound ...
To pass the time, she
peeked inside the bus with her X-ray vision.
There was Doug Wilson, dozing in his seat with his duffel bag for a
pillow ... there was Melissa Cunningham, studying for tomorrow's history test
by the glow of a flashlight ...
Lana grinned when she saw
Pete Ross trying to put his arm around Tami Dodge. Tami was a new student, shy but pretty, and
lots of boys had made advances at her -- without any more success than Pete
seemed to be having right now.
"No, Pete!" Tami pulled away.
"Aw, come on, Tami --
"
"I mean it! If you expect to go out with me tomorrow
night -- "
"But, Tami, everybody
else is doing it."
Tami looked around the
dark interior of the bus. "I guess
-- if by 'everybody' you mean Clark and Suzy.
Well, just because he's got his tongue wrapped around her tonsils
-- "
Lana's heart sank as she
spotted Clark and Suzy necking in one of the back seats. I guess they're still an item, she
thought morosely. Ever since the
Valentine Day dance, Lana had been hoping that Suzy might drop
Lana sighed. She envied Suzy, but she couldn't find it in
her heart to be resentful. Even though
Suzy was one of the most popular girls at Smallville High, she and Lana had remained
close friends. They hung out together
and listened to records and gossiped about their classmates. And Lana could hardly blame Suzy for hanging
on to a dreamboat like
The school bus was
approaching the bridge over Crawford Creek, about a hundred feet behind a black
sedan. Lost in her thoughts, Lana did
not see the sedan suddenly go into a tailspin on the icy road, but she heard
the blast of the bus's horn as Coach Stevens slammed on the brakes. The sedan had already straightened itself and
begun to move forward, but the bus skidded out of control and ran into the
bridge's low concrete wall.
Pandemonium erupted as the
shock of the collision threw everyone forward.
"Stay in your seats!" Coach Stevens barked. "Nobody move!" But his words went unheeded as Lana's
classmates scrambled for the windows, holding their faces close to the glass as
they strained to look out into the darkness.
Coach Stevens's heart froze as the front of the bus suddenly lurched
downward and its headlights illuminated the dark, swiftly-moving current of
Crawford Creek.
The bus was about to
plunge into the river!
Lana had already swooped
down toward the river, then up under the teetering front end of the bus. Reaching up, she pressed the palm of her
gloved hand against the chassis, then continued to fly upward -- slowly now,
taking care not to crumple the steel frame by pushing too hard.
Inside the bus, behind the
steering wheel, Coach Stevens blinked.
Had the bus stopped falling?
Turning round, he saw Tom Bradford standing next to the driver's seat,
pressing his face against the windshield like a kid at a candy-store
window. "Get back in your seat,
"Hey, guys!" he
shouted. "It's Supergirl!"
A murmur of excitement ran
through the bus. Students crowded the
aisle, rushing forward to see for themselves.
With a scowl and a backward sweep of his arm, Coach Stevens sent them
back to their seats; then he leaned forward and peered through the
windshield. Sure enough, Supergirl was
visible in the headlight beams, holding up the bus with one hand, poised and
smiling despite the frozen rain that lashed against her face and the bitter
wind that tousled her hair and tugged at her cape.
Within moments, the bus
was level. Lana continued to fly upward,
raising the front end over the concrete barrier; then she swung the bus round
and slowly descended to the bridge. As
her toes touched the road, she began lowering her arm, letting the bus down
slowly until the front tires bumped gently against the asphalt.
Now that the bus was safe,
Lana noticed that the black sedan had turned round and was coming back over the
bridge. It stopped about thirty feet
from the bus and its driver got out, leaving the headlights on.
"Supergirl!" the
driver shouted, hurrying forward. He was
a short man, muffled in a thick winter coat with a wool cap pulled over his
forehead and a wool scarf wrapped round his chin. His round spectacles glinted owlishly in the
bus's headlights. "I'm Fred
Stoeger. I'm a reporter for the Martindale
Monitor. That was amazing! What a scoop for my paper! Can I ask you a few questions?"
"Just a moment, Mr.
Stoeger." Lana walked round to the
door of the bus.
Inside the bus, Coach
Stevens was trying to restore order.
"Pipe down!" he bellowed hoarsely. "Get back in your seats! Nobody's leaving this bus until I say
so!" Gradually, the din subsided to
an excited murmur.
Lana tapped at the
door. Coach Stevens scowled at the
students. "If I hear so much as a
peep from anyone, nobody's getting off the bus.
I mean it!" The students
fell silent.
Coach Stevens swung open
the door. Supergirl stood smiling up at
him. "Is everyone okay?"
"I -- I think so,
Miss -- uh, Supergirl." Now that
the danger was over, Coach Stevens was beginning to shake a bit. "You saved our lives. How did you happen to -- ?"
"Call it female
intuition. I'd like you to take a look
at the bus -- and there's a reporter here who'd probably like to talk with the
students, if that's okay with you."
The students stirred excitedly in their seats.
Coach Stevens turned
around. "All right, everybody --
you can get off the bus now -- "
Chattering eagerly, boys and girls rushed to the aisle.
" -- in a quiet
and orderly manner!" Coach
Stevens yelled as his passengers streamed past him and out into the raw
weather.
It figures, thought
Several of the girls had
lined up alongside the bus and began leading the boys in an impromptu cheer.
"Who's the
best?" they chanted, hands on hips.
"Supergirl!" the
boys shouted -- all but
The girls raised their
arms. "Say it again!"
"Supergirl!"
The girls leaned forward
in unison, turning their heads to one side and cupping their hands behind their
ears. "We can't hear you!"
"SUPERGIRL!" the boys roaed, and a medley of cheers, whistles, and
applause rose into the night.
Blushing, Lana waved in
acknowledgment; then she turned and walked back toward the front of the bus with
Coach Stevens, the boys and girls following eagerly behind.
A sudden click and
a flash of light made him turn his head.
The reporter from the Martindale paper was taking a picture of the
broken stretch of the barrier. He
lowered his camera and walked up to
"You're the Crows'
center, aren't you? Kent, right? Chuck Kent?"
"
"
"I guess."
"Well, I gave you a terrific
write-up. Handed it in to my editor half
an hour ago. He said he'd make room for
it on the front page."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but this
--" Mr. Stoeger gestured toward
the school bus. "Mr. Henshaw's
gonna give it the full front-page treatment for sure -- assuming I can get it
in before tomorrow's edition goes to bed."
He patted
Mr. Stoeger shrugged and
trotted off to join the boys and girls who had gathered in a semicircle round
the front of the bus.
Supergirl and Coach
Stevens were assessing the damage to the vehicle. "You can see the front is pretty badly
crumpled on this side," Supergirl was saying. "And look at this." Bending over, she placed her hand beneath the
fender, palm up, and lifted her arm. The
spectators murmured in awe as several tons of steel rose smoothly off the
ground and settled with a groan on the rear tires. Mr. Stoeger's camera flashed.
"See that?" She pointed to the chassis with her free
hand. "The front steering is pretty
badly damaged." She lowered the bus
back onto the road. "I could do a
makeshift repair job -- but you'll be home a lot sooner if you'll let me fly
you all back on the bus."
The students were nodding
eagerly. Coach Stevens scratched his
chin. "I don't know," he said
doubtfully. "These kids' parents
all signed permission slips for this trip -- but those slips don't say anything
about flying ... "
"Aw, c'mon,
Coach," pleaded Tom Bradford.
"We'll freeze to death if we stay here much longer."
"Yeah," chimed
in Pete Ross. "And we'll be safer
in the air with Supergirl than on this icy road."
"Please, Mr. Stevens?" begged Melissa Cunningham. "I mean, when will we ever get a chance
like this again?"
Coach Stevens nodded. "All right. Thank you, Supergirl."
Lana smiled. "Happy to help. But first, I'd better make a quick trip to
the police station in Martindale -- let them know about the accident and the
damage to the bridge."
"Wait,
Supergirl!" Mr. Stoeger stepped
forward. "While you're at it, could
you stop at the Monitor office and give a message to my editor? It's right across the street from the
courthouse, on the second floor. Mr.
Henshaw's bound to be there. Tell him --
tell him to stop the presses." He
chuckled. "I've always wanted to
say that."
"Sure thing, Mr.
Stoeger. Tell the students to get back
on the bus, Mr. Stevens. I'll be back in
a few minutes." The Girl of Steel
sprang upward and flew off into the darkness.
"Hey,
Suzy looked up at
him. "Honestly,
"It's -- it's not
that -- "
"Then what's your
problem?" Suzy's tone was
sharper. "Supergirl saved our lives
-- "
"Why,
Two other cheerleaders had
wandered within earshot. "Sounds
like
"Yeah," Jenny
Rollins chimed in. "He doesn't like
it that a girl is so much stronger than he is.
I bet he wishes he had super-powers."
"Omigosh,"
Eileen giggled. "Can you imagine
"When he's not
checking out the girls with his X-ray vision!"
Despite the cold,
"Then why can't you
say anything nice about Supergirl?" Suzy demanded. "Come on -- say something nice about her
right now."
Suzy and her friends
looked at him expectantly. There was an
awkward silence.
"Tell you what,
Great,
"Move it,
The other students were
filing into the bus.
A few moments later, he
was standing in the aisle between the front seats, peering into the dark
interior of the vehicle. Where was
Suzy? I suppose I'd better apologize,
he thought. What a crummy evening
this turned out to be.
"Sit down,
"Are we all
here?" Coach Stevens asked.
"Good. Now listen up. I know you're all excited that Supergirl's
going to fly this bus back to Smallville.
But I don't want anyone -- anyone -- moving around once we're,
uh, airborne. Anyone who leaves his seat
gets ten swats from Mr. Paddle -- and ladies, that goes for you, too. Is that understood?"
There was a murmur of
assent.
"Good. Supergirl flew to Martindale to report the
accident to the police, but as soon as -- "
"I'm back, Mr.
Stevens." Supergirl was standing in
the stairwell. "Fasten your seat
belts, everyone. Next stop -- Smallville!" She turned and stepped back outside.
Coach Stevens sat down in
the driver's seat and shut the door of the bus.
Students stirred excitedly, but mindful of the coach's warning, they
remained in their seats, craning their necks to stare out the windshield as the
front of the bus slowly rose off the ground.
A few moments later, the
bus was level once more, but a slight rocking told the passengers that
Supergirl must be holding it overhead.
Then they could feel the bus rising, very gently, into the air. Peering out the windows, they saw the bridge
recede below then; they saw the roof of Mr. Stoeger's sedan and the tops of the
trees that grew along Crawford Creek; and then they felt the bus move forward,
picking up speed as it flew through the sleet and the darkness.
"Hey,
"What did I tell you,
Kent?" growled Coach Stevens.
"I don't care how many points you scored tonight -- you just earned
yourself a date with Mr. Paddle."
"Tough luck,
buddy," grinned Doug. Coach Stevens's
paddlings were legendary. "Too bad
you're not invulnerable like Supergirl, huh?"
--------------------
CHAPTER 16
APRIL ...
The cafeteria of
"Hey, guys," he
said. "Guess who I saw this
morning?"
"Who?" grunted
Dewey Ericson, dipping a French fry into a pool of catsup on his plate.
"Supergirl -- that's
who."
Six faces looked up. "Get out of here!" said Brian
Corliss.
"It's true. I missed the school bus, so my dad let me
borrow the pick-up. I get to the
turn-off to the main road, and cars are backed up as far as I can see. Turns out a semi had jack-knifed and was
blocking the road in both directions.
I'm thinking, no way am I gonna get to school anytime soon, might as
well turn around and go back home ... then the front end of the semi rises into
the air -- "
"Supergirl?"
"Who else? She's floating, oh, about thirty feet up in
the air, with this sixteen-wheeler dangling from one arm like it's a Tinker
Toy. She sets it down, the semi rolls
off, traffic gets going again, and she flies away."
"Wow! Did you get to see her up close?"
Ted shook his head
regretfully. "Nah. I was too far away. Wish I'd had a pair of binoculars. Have any of you guys seen her up
close?"
"I have," said
Pete Ross. "Last month, when the
bus with the basketball team went over the Crawford Creek bridge. ' Course, it was pretty dark.
"Hey, speak of the
devil!"
"Hi, guys."
"Well?" said
Pete. "Don't keep us in
suspense. What did you get on the math
test?"
Grinning,
The other boys burst into
applause.
"Way to go, big
guy!" said Pete.
"Yup," said
"We were just talking
about Supergirl," said Brian.
"I've been
thinking," said Ted. "Do you
suppose Supergirl is Supergirl all the time?"
"What do you
mean?"
"Well, why does she
wear that fancy outfit and call herself Supergirl instead of ... I don't know,
Jane Smith? Do you see what I'm getting
at? Maybe -- " He lowered his voice. "Maybe she's secretly one of the girls
right here at Smallville High -- pretending to be an ordinary girl until some
emergency comes up and she changes to Supergirl."
The other boys nodded,
considering. "Oh, wow," said
Brian. "So you think one of the
girls in the cafeteria right now might be Supergirl?"
Ted shrugged. "Like I said -- it's just an idea."
"So who do you
suppose it could be?"
"How about Suzy
Prentiss? She's a knockout. And you've seen her cheerleading moves. It's like she can defy gravity."
"But she's a
blonde."
"Well, maybe she
changes her hair color somehow when she switches to Supergirl."
"She's not
Supergirl," said
"Yeah, but in the
dark, with everyone panicking, she could've flown out the emergency exit at
super-speed -- "
"Hey, that would
explain how Supergirl happened to show up so quickly -- "
"Yeah,
"You guys are
nuts," growled
Can she?
Ted was casting his eyes
speculatively around the crowded cafeteria.
"How about Julie Davenport?" he suggested. "Honor roll, editor of the school paper
-- and she's a redhead."
"Don't be
stupid," scoffed Dewey. "She's
practically flat-chested. Supergirl is stacked." He
cupped his hands in front of his chest for emphasis.
"Well, maybe
Supergirl stuffs her bra -- "
"Or maybe she can
make her bazooms grow at will. Now there's
a super-power!"
Lex Luthor was standing at
the other end of the cafeteria, tray in hand.
He seemed to be looking around for someone, but at the sound of Clark's
voice he turned and made his way to the varsity table.
Smiling awkwardly, Lex
craned his neck and scanned the cafeteria one last time, then shrugged and sat
down.
"Listen, we were just
wondering if Supergirl might be one of the girls here at Smallville High,"
Ted told him. "What does a genius
like you think about that?"
Lex frowned,
considering. "I don't know,"
he said thoughtfully. "There are
only a hundred or so girls at this school.
When you eliminate the ones who are too tall or too short, or who
couldn't be Supergirl for some other reason, there wouldn't be many left. If Supergirl does have a -- a secret
identity, it's probably some girl from a larger town -- Crawfordsville, maybe,
or even
"Then why does she
show up in Smallville all the time?"
Lex shrugged. "Maybe to throw people off the track ...
"
"Or maybe she's got a
boy-friend here in Smallville!"
"Okay, I admit
it!" Dewey grinned. "I 'm
Supergirl's boy-friend!"
"Naw," said
Pete. He dug an elbow into Lex's
ribs. "I bet Lex is
Supergirl's boy-friend. You gotta watch
out for the quiet ones."
Lex was barely
listening. He'd just spotted Lana
walking toward an empty table in a corner of the cafeteria. He stood up and waved. "Lana!" he shouted. She turned and smiled at him.
"Hey," said
His teammates burst into
loud, raucous laughter.
"Gee,
"Huh? Aw, lighten up. I was just kidding."
"Yeah, but you really
hurt her feelings. Did you see the look
on her face?"
"So? The hell with her if she can't take a joke."
"No," said Lex,
quietly but firmly. "The hell with you." He rose from his seat and picked up his
tray.
"Hey, where are you
going?" demanded
Lex ignored him. He wove among the crowded tables, making his
way toward the corner where Lana was sitting.
The cafeteria had fallen silent, and Lex was acutely aware that a hundred
pairs of eyes were watching him.
Lana sat staring at the
untouched food on her plate. "Mind
if I sit down?" asked Lex.
Lana looked up, blinking
away tears of humiliation. "Be my
guest," she muttered.
Lex sat, facing her. "I'm really sorry -- "
Lana forced a smile. "It's not your fault. I'm sorry I snapped at you. It was nice of you to -- "
She was about to say
"stick up for me," but Lex might wonder how she had heard him above
the din of the cafeteria.
" -- come over and
sit with me."
Lex waved his hand
dismissively. "Those guys are
jerks. Believe me, I'd much rather be
sitting here with you." He peered
at Lana's face. She still looked
glum. "Are you okay?"
Lana sighed. "Yeah.
I'm used to it. I know I'm not as
pretty as -- a lot of the other girls.
That doesn't bother me, but why does he -- I mean, why do guys have to
keep reminding me of it?"
"Okay, first -- like
I said, they're jerks. Second -- you are
pretty, Lana. I -- I think you're
the prettiest girl I know."
Lana blushed and looked
down at her tray, but a smile flickered at the corners of her mouth. "You don't have to say that."
"I mean
it." Lex took advantage of Lana's
averted eyes to look at her face, noting again what beautiful contours it
had. If she wore her hair differently,
dressed more stylishly, traded her glasses for contact lenses -- why, any one
of those jerks who'd laughed at her would be begging to take her out.
Not that Lex wanted that
...
"I stopped by Mr.
Kastler's room after school yesterday," Lana said, evidently wishing to
change the subject. "But you
weren't there. I thought you never
missed a meeting of the Chess Club."
"Well," said
Lex, smiling mysteriously, "ordinarily I wouldn't. But I've picked up another activity two
afternoons a week."
"Oh? What's that?"
Grinning, Lex lowered his
voice and spoke in the staccato cadences of a radio disc jockey. "You're listening to KROW in Smallville
and this is Cal L, pumping the wattage into your cottage with all the hot hits --
"
Lana's eyes widened. "Omigosh! You're Cal L?"
"Yup. But it's just a try-out. I don't want anyone else to know it's me --
in case it doesn't work out. So don't
tell anyone, okay?"
"I won't. But how did you get a gig like
that?" Lana couldn't help smiling
at the thought of shy, bookish Lex Luthor spinning Top 40 platters on the local
radio station.
"Well, you know Mr.
Hertz, the manager?" Lana
nodded. "He gave me the test when I
applied for my ham radio certificate, and then for my commercial license. Turns out he needed someone to baby-sit the
transmitter a couple of afternoons a week between his regular DJ's shifts, so
he asked me if I'd be interested. I said
sure, but I wanted to try doing my own show.
And if it works out, he'll hire me as a regular DJ!"
"Wow! That's great!" Lana grinned.
"So you've got a secret identity, huh? Just like the Scarlet Pimpernel."
"That's right."
"So why 'Cal
L'?"
"Well, the L is for
Lex, and -- " He lowered his
voice. "Don't tell anyone, but my
middle name is Calvin."
"Really?"
"Yeah. Alexander Calvin Luthor -- it just rolls off
the tongue, doesn't it? Now I've trusted
you with my two biggest secrets. Promise
me -- "
"Oh, my lips are
sealed -- on one condition."
Lex rolled his eyes. "Uh-oh.
What is it?"
"That you'll play '
"Sure. But -- that's kind of a sad song."
"I know. But Ricky Nelson is just dreamy."
"Okay. Tune in tomorrow afternoon at
"Hey." Lana and Lex looked up.
Lana's super-reflexes had
already kicked in. Lex,
"What the --
?"
"Gosh,
----------
THE NEXT AFTERNOON ...
Forty-mile-an-hour winds
lashed the rain into Supergirl's face and churned the surface of
Within the harbor, the
waves were calmer. Supergirl dropped the
chain and flew round to the freighter's stern, nudging it gently toward an open
jetty, then pulling it back slightly to prevent it from colliding with the
pier.
The freighter's crew
scrambled across the deck, tossing cables to the dockhands on the jetty
below. Satisfied that her work was done,
Supergirl flew down to the pier and approached the harbormaster, a red-faced
man wrapped in glistening raingear who was shouting hoarsely above the roar of
wind and waves.
"Can your men take it
from here?" asked Supergirl.
The harbormaster
nodded. "Yes, we're all set. We can't thank you enough. The crew of that freighter probably owe you
their lives. I never saw a storm come up
so quickly."
"Well, I'm glad I
could help."
"My wife and kids
won't believe I actually met you. My
six-year-old especially. You're her
hero. She went trick-or-treating in a
Supergirl costume last Hallowe'en, and now she wants to wear it all the time. Say, can you stick around for a few
minutes? You can get a cup of hot
chocolate in my office. I'm sure the
crew of that freighter would like to thank you in person."
Supergirl used her
super-vision to read the clock on the wall of the harbor office. It was
"Hannah. She'll be thrilled."
"Got it." With a wave and a smile, she flew straight up
toward the dark rolling clouds.
The harbormaster and the
foreman of the dockhands stood in the lashing rain, gazing up after her.
"She's really
something, isn't she?" said the foreman.
"She sure is."
"Where do you suppose
she's off to in such a hurry?"
The harbormaster
shrugged. "Who knows? Some other emergency, I guess."
----------
Lana burst through the
storm clouds and into the bright air above.
She spun round, flinging drops of water from her hair and costume in a
glittering spray, then turned and began flying back toward Smallville. The dense clouds below her gradually thinned
out, dwindling to a few ragged tatters before disappearing altogether over
It was almost
Lex was putting on his
earphones and slipping into the chair behind the console. A 45 of "
Lana smiled. She was just in time. She reached into the pouch of her cape and
pulled out the transistor radio she'd gotten for Christmas. She turned the dial carefully, past crackling
static, until Lex's voice -- deepened slightly by the transmitter -- emerged
from the speaker.
" -- KROW in
Smallville. It's the bottom of the hour
and this is your pal Cal bringing the boom to your room with this week's hot
hits, starting with a special request from a very special gal. Turn up the volume, ladies, 'cause here comes
Ricky Nelson with '
"There's a place where lovers go,
To cry their troubles away,
And they call it
Where the broken hearts stay ... "
Lana closed her eyes and
swayed slightly in time to the music as Ricky Nelson's smooth baritone drifted
from the radio ...
"In the town of broken dreams,
The streets are filled with regret.
Maybe down in
I can learn to forget."
Lana sighed as the song
came to an end. It was a sad song, just
as Lex had said, but it expressed the way she'd been feeling lately. In the town of broken dreams, the streets
are filled with regret ... Her face
burned with mortification as she recalled the heartless joke
Lex was speaking
again. "And now a dedication --
from one double-L to another -- the heavenly harmonies of the Everly Brothers,
in 'All I Have To Do Is Dream' ...
"Dre-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream,
Dre-ea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream,
When I want you in my arms,
When I want you and all your charms,
Whenever I want you, all I have to do is
Drea-ea-ea-eam, dream, dream, dream ... "
Lana smiled as she nodded
her head to the beat. Now why would
Lex dedicate that song to me? she wondered.
Maybe he wanted to play something happy to cheer me up after "
Here came the bridge:
"I can make you mine, taste your lips of wine,
Anytime night or day.
Only trouble is -- gee whiz --
I'm dreamin' my life away ... "
Lana sang along softly
until the last "dream, dream, dream" faded into silence. She turned off the radio and put it back in
the pouch of her cape. Her super-hearing
was picking up the wail of a police siren to the east of Smallville. She'd better investigate -- it might be a job
for Supergirl.
Flying off, she wondered
-- not for the first time -- why
--------------------