Shadow Jumper

A ghostly white face with darkened eyes peers down at Jack. The figure tells him to stop screaming and grasps his hand. Although his shirt rips, the individual pulls Jack to safety. He cannot believe that the rescue attempt succeeds.

Jack discovers that his savior is a girl his age who wears white face make up with black-accented eyes and lips. Jack realizes this is the closest he’s ever come to dying. The girl tells him that he shouldn’t be running on rooftops, and he feels insulted but then remembers that she saved his life. She introduces herself as Beth.

Jack asks Beth what she is doing on the roof, and she explains that she saw him acting strangely, so she decided to follow him. She is thin and pale and has a large black rucksack. He thinks she looks like a cross between a vampire and a zombie. He is embarrassed that she had to save him. Beth scurries off before Jack has a chance to say anything to defend himself.

He feels his muscles and realizes how sore he is. His skin feels particularly itchy. Something catches his eye: a thick, white piece of paper. He feels as if someone is watching him and looks around but sees no one. 

As Jack puts his key into the lock, his elderly neighbor, Mrs. Roberts, pops out of her apartment. She starts to ask him questions, but it’s hard to have a conversation with her because she is fairly deaf and confuses his words. Jack forgets that his mom is at work, and he feels very lonely in the apartment with just his beans. He takes a shower, but his mind is still restless.

Jack dozes off, but he wakes up when his mom, Maeve, comes home. They make tea, and Maeve asks him about his hand. He tells her that he scratched himself. He asks if his dad called, and she says no. This fact disappoints both of them. They haven’t heard from Tom in three weeks; their last contact was an email that Jack received on his birthday. Jack feels betrayed by his dad’s silence. Maeve says that their decision to separate was mutual. She promises that she will make some phone calls to figure out where Tom is and what he is doing.

Jack listens to his mom making phone calls and feels even more disheartened when she finds no answers.

The next evening, Jack returns to the rooftops. He watches the sunset and is eager for his night to begin. He notices Beth crouched with her rucksack as if she’s waiting for him, then realizes that she is crying. He doesn’t feel like dealing with her problems right now, but he thinks that she looks too upset to ignore. He startles her when he taps her shoulder.

Jack asks if Beth is okay, but she clearly is not. He doesn’t want to be bothered by her emotions, so he turns to go. She tells him that she lost something, then notices the bleeding sore on his hand. Beth helps him clean it. She asks him why he runs around on rooftops and is covered in “gunk.” Jack explains that he is allergic to sunlight and has to wear a special lotion to protect his skin and stop it from burning. Beth remembers reading about photosensitivity in a magazine. Jack is relieved that Beth is able to talk about this with him, since mention of his condition often drives people away. Jack explains that his dad is a research scientist who helped develop the lotion. He tells her that his skin has gotten worse, but his dad left home, and he doesn’t know where he is.

Beth suggests he try to find his dad and offers to help. She says that she doesn’t have anything else to do over the summer. Jack doesn’t think his dad wants to be found. Beth tells him that she just moved here and doesn’t have any friends. Jack recalls that he was complaining about having no friends, and he recognizes that he should be grateful for her offer.

Beth asks Jack to teach her how to shadow jump, but he initially refuses. She argues that she is strong enough to do so and refers to saving him from a fall the day before. He gives in and suggests that Beth remove her rucksack, so it doesn’t weigh her down, but she insists on wearing it. They leap into their first set of jumps, which both find exhilarating. They discover a terrace-like roof space with folding chairs. Beth takes a seat, despite Jack’s misgivings. She suggests that Jack tell his mom that his skin is getting worse.

A large, muscular older boy named Kai appears and demands to know who they are. He questions Jack about his face. Jack finds Kai menacing and takes off, pulling Beth along. Kai pursues Jack and Beth, but they escape him via their agility on the rooftops.

Jack realizes that Beth is the first person who knows about his roof experiences. He invites her to hang out with him. Beth says Cathy wanted to take her shopping for a school uniform, but she will sneak out before that happens. When Jack asks who Cathy is, Beth says there is something she needs to explain.

Beth tells Jack that both of her parents died two years ago in a car crash. She now lives with her parents’ friends Cathy and Pete and their many children, none of whom are Beth’s age. Jack discovers his smashed phone and wonders how to tell his mom about it. They do not have the money to replace it, and he wishes to keep his shadow jumping a secret. Jack invites Beth to hang out at his place and gives her his address. He moves to hand Beth her rucksack, and she snatches it away. She says that she does not like people touching her bag, which Jack finds odd. He wonders what is wrong with her.

Auntie Lil, Jack’s dad’s sister, phones to say that Tom got a new job on a science project, but she still doesn’t know where he is. Maeve tells Jack his dad tried to call Jack’s phone but couldn’t reach him. Jack avoids telling his mom his phone broke. He worries that his dad will not call him in two weeks as promised. Jack’s skin is getting worse: More sores are popping up.

Maeve insists that she and Jack be open and truthful with each other. Despite this, Jack decides not to tell her about his skin, fearing she will insist that he stay inside. As Maeve heads off to work, she tells Jack that their neighbor, Mrs. Roberts, will pop in to check on him. Jack resents this because he is 14 and does not need a babysitter. He suspects Mrs. Roberts spies on him. Maeve says she wishes she could take him on holiday, but Jack reasons that his skin would make a holiday very difficult. He mentions that he has a friend coming over and that his friend is a “she.”

School is a nightmare for Jack because he has to stay cooped up and can’t participate in most activities with other kids. His peers shun him and call him names. They do not understand how his allergy affects his skin, nor do they realize how their intolerance affects others. He laments never holding hands with a girl because he figures no one would want to touch his skin, which is always covered in lotion. Jack wishes that his dad would come back and help him with a better kind of lotion that would provide fewer limitations.

While Jack waits for Beth to come over, he notices Mrs. Roberts watching him. Beth arrives and observes that his flat is very small. He tells Beth that he and his mom will continue renting until his dad returns; then they will buy a house together. Beth asks if he really thinks his parents will get back together, and he says that they definitely will. He asks Beth about the house where she lives; she says it’s huge and has a huge garden. Beth shares a room with Mia, who steals her things, which Beth finds intolerable.

Beth points out a framed photo of Jack’s dad, and he thinks back to happy times when his dad was around more. However, he also acknowledges the many sad and unpredictable times and admits that living with his dad is like being on a roller coaster. Beth thinks that Jack looks like his dad. She liked being told that she looked like her dad. In an effort to soothe Jack, she suggests that his dad doesn’t phone or reach out because he’s so consumed by his new project that he’s forgotten about him. This prospect saddens Jack. He asks Beth to help him track down his dad. Jack tells Beth that his Auntie Lil lives in Colford, near where his dad used to work. Beth wants to leave immediately to interrogate Auntie Lil. Jack wonders if he should tell his mom where he’s going but decides not to because his mom will just worry. He tells Beth that he cannot travel during the day because of the sun. Since they cannot start their journey until after sundown, Beth decides to brainstorm a list of questions to ask Auntie Lil. She points out that there are three possibilities to consider: Tom is too busy to contact Jack; he doesn’t want to see his son; or something bad happened to him. Jack decides that he’d rather go along with Beth’s plan than sit around and do nothing.