Chapter Seven
Jillian figured this was what it must feel like to fly. They had bounced off the trampoline and soared through the air. She could feel the wind rush against her face as they got closer and closer to the boys. She didn’t understand why they ran off like that and she felt kind of guilty about it. She wished she could tell herself it wasn’t her fault, but couldn’t.. She did make the truck appear, after all.
Haley focused on the ground, which came at them pretty fast. She hoped she could land them safely. After all, Jillian and Gabby were her responsibility. She didn’t want to make a mistake and get someone hurt.
Haley braced herself for the landing and yelled out for Jillian to do the same. The ground was dusty, kind of like the dirt on a baseball field, and soft. They landed, and didn’t crash. Haley figured she was lucky. So did Jillian. Gabby just kept laughing.
Braden and Jack were only ten feet away when they landed and Uncle Johnny screamed out, “Stop!” It was so loud the sound rang in Haley’s ears. But it worked. The boys stopped.
“We just wanted some ice cream,” Braden said.
“There’s no ice cream in there, just Gorgons,” Uncle Johnny answered.
“What?” Jack asked.
“It’s a trap, that’s all it is. They want you to go there so they can attack you. It’s called divide and conquer. Instead of fighting a whole group, they fight you in smaller numbers so they can win.”
“That’s not very fair,” Braden said.
“Nothing is going to be fair here,” Uncle Johnny said, “and it would be good if you remembered to stick with the group. Running off like that was wrong, the both of you should know better.”
“I’m sorry,” Jack and Braden said at the same time. To Haley, it sounded like they really meant it. She’d seen Jack lie about being sorry before.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it this time, guys,” Uncle Johnny said. No one had ever heard him so angry before. “You put everyone at risk for something you wanted. That’s not right and it won’t be tolerated any more, understand?” “Yes,” the boys answered.
“Are you sure?”
“We’re sure.”
“Then make sure it doesn’t happen again. This is a very serious situation and we need you to get this job done and get it done right.”
“Okay,” everyone answered.
Uncle Johnny explained that the Gorgon stronghold lay just beyond the two buildings. He also told Jillian to wish away the ice cream truck. When she did, it disappeared, along with the Gorgons inside of it. That felt like a small victory.
The kids needed to come up with a plan, something to defeat the Gorgons and save everyone. It sounded like a big task, maybe too big for a group of kids, Haley thought.
Braden stayed positive. He knew there had to be a way they could beat these guys and he put his mind to work at a solution. Jack did the same, trying to pretend this was a video game. He was good at those. If he treated this like a game, maybe he could make everything work out. Playing a game required strategy and he had learned how to plan. Sure, he had struggled with Sly Cooper but he felt he understood how to plan better after what Uncle Johnny had taught them that day. He needed to figure out how his super speed could help, along with the group's other powers.
They all thought hard. Each one tried to figure out a way to beat the Gorgons by using a strategy like the one Uncle Johnny had taught them. Some of them closed their eyes, others looked up at the sky or down at the dusty ground.
No one saw it coming. No one expected it. The Gorgons must have sensed that the kids were busy thinking and not paying attention because they launched a sneak attack. Uncle Johnny never even got a chance to shout out a warning, things happened so fast.
The Gorgons didn’t just have size on their side, they had weapons. One of their weapons was a cannon that shot out blasts of air. Maybe that doesn’t sound so dangerous, but the Gorgons had found a way to harness the power of forced air so well they could knock down huge buildings with it.
They had fired the cannon at the kids. The blast shot through the air silently, smashing into the ground and sending a wave of dust in the air. Thankfully, it wasn’t on the highest setting. Still, it was enough to knock the breath out of all of them and send them flying in the air as if there was a big explosion.
Haley landed on her stomach, totally surprised by the attack. She didn’t know what hit her and the rest of them, but she knew she was hurt and took a while to get up. The first thing she did was look for Gabby. Gabby had landed on her back and seemed to be fine. She was laughing again, though Haley had no idea how she could be.
What scared her was she couldn’t see anyone else.
Jack landed on his side, and his arm hurt. He also didn’t know what hit him. He felt a pain in his neck as well. It felt like he was thrown a hundred feet, maybe more.
He got up slowly, dusted himself off and looked for everyone else. All he saw was a big cloud of dust. No one was around. He felt that feeling in his stomach he got when he was scared or nervous. He tried to control it, but it took over.
Before it got too bad, he heard a voice. It sounded like a boy, but it wasn’t a voice he had ever heard before.
“Everything’s okay,” the boy said, “you just got the wind knocked out of you.”
“Who are you?” Jack asked.
“Now’s not the time for that.” The boy’s voice was forceful, like an adult’s. “You need to act quickly. They will strike again, otherwise.”
“Where’s Uncle Johnny?” Jack asked.
“Don’t worry about him now. Your sister and cousins are to your left. Braden is only ten or so feet in front of you. Run to him, and then get to your sister. You guys have to make a move. Everything will be fine if you do.”
“Okay,” Jack said, not really sure if everything really was okay. He wished Uncle Johnny was there.
“Do it now, and don’t tell anyone you spoke to me,” the boy said. He didn’t yell, and he didn’t sound mean, but he sure sounded like he meant business, so Jack did what he said.
Braden didn’t know where he was. A minute ago, they ran toward the ice cream truck, then all of a sudden, he found himself on his back looking up at the sky through a large cloud of dust. He tried to breathe but his lungs hurt when he did. This wasn’t good at all.
Like Jack, he started to get scared but he tried to control it. His mother always told him he could fight his fear if he wanted to; he just needed to want to.
It wasn’t so easy this time.
Before he really got scared, he saw someone come toward him. He realized it was Jack and he got himself to his feet. No need for anyone to see him lying down like that.
Jack didn’t even stop running before he said, “We gotta move.”
“Where to?” Braden asked. He would have preferred to wait a bit to catch his breath. It didn't seem like he would get the chance.
“They’re gonna strike again, real soon. We have to get to Haley and Jillian and Gabby,” Jack said. He sounded sure of it.
“Where are they?”
Jack pointed in the direction the boy told him.
“How do you know?” Braden asked.
Jack remembered a line the boy said and it seemed like the right time to use it. “Now’s not the time,” he said, copying the forceful tone the boy had used with him.
“Huh?”
“Just follow me,” Jack said. “And trust me. I haven’t messed up yet.”
Braden was a little confused, but Jack seemed to know what he talked about and considering everything else going on, that was fine by him. No one gave them any clear rules of what to do or what not to do, which meant they had to decide on their own. If something went wrong, at least he could blame Jack.
Braden ran as fast as he could, and Jack kept pace with him. Without running at top speed, to Jack it felt like it took forever to get to Gabby and Jillian. Braden tried not to doubt Jack. Jack had been right, he hadn’t done him wrong yet. About halfway there, Brad
en yelled out, “Stop!”
“We can’t stop now, we have to—“ Jack cut off his words when he saw what Braden held in his hand; the head of Baby-Wets-A-Lot.
“Oh, no,” Jack said.
“You got that right. Without Uncle Johnny, what are we going to do?”
“You are going to get to your sister,” the boy said to
Jack, “and you are going to do it fast.” “Did you hear that?” Jack asked.
“What?” Braden asked, looking left and right.
“Nothing. Come on, let’s go. We’ll talk to Haley and see what we have to do.”
They started running again, both of them knowing they were in trouble without the help of Uncle Johnny.