Alex frowned. “I don’t even want to say its name aloud until I have to,” he said.
And with that, the parties dispersed. Before Alex set off, he let Florence and Simber know they were heading out. The rest of Artimé remained for the most part oblivious to the plan that could leave Quill without a leader and change the island forever.
Aaron’s First Lesson
When is this incessant storm going to stop?” Aaron asked Ishibashi. “It’s driving me mad.” He rested on his cot, his head propped up by two pillows.
“Never, thanks to you,” said the old man. Instead of helping Aaron drink his morning tea like he’d done before, he set the cup on a small table about five feet away from the boy.
Aaron frowned. “Thanks to me? You’re saying I caused this storm?”
Ishibashi set up a chair next to the table and sat down. “Do not give yourself so much credit. Arrogance is ugly. What I am saying is that the reason the storm is still here is because of you. There is a difference.”
Aaron eyed the cup of tea. “Please. What in Quill could I have done to cause a storm to rage incessantly?” He pointed at the table. “Bring the tea to me.”
Ishibashi ignored the command. “You are responsible for the storm’s continuance because you killed the man who was trying to end it.”
Aaron struggled and sat up, indignant. “I did no such thing!” he said. And then the realization of truth came over him. He clamped his mouth shut and turned his face away from the man. “Bring me the tea.”
“You did not kill Mr. Marcus Today?” challenged Ishibashi.
Aaron turned his entire body away to face the wall. He pulled the blanket up around his ears and didn’t answer.
Ishibashi studied the boy. “I see. Where there is shame, there is hope.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” Aaron asked. “I am not ashamed of anything! Now bring me my tea, Ancient!”
Ishibashi stood up. Silently he picked up the little table with the cup of tea on top of it and moved it another five feet away from Aaron, set it down, and then left the room.
After a minute, Aaron turned his head slightly, curious as to why Ishibashi wasn’t answering. “My tea,” he said once more, and then, when it still didn’t come, he grew angry enough to roll over.
The former high priest stared, seeing the table with the tea even farther away than it had been before. He sat up shakily, furious at the old man. Who did he think he was, anyway? “Hey, Ishi Mushy, or whatever your name is, get over here! This is not funny.”
But the man didn’t return.
Aaron flounced back in his bed, making his injured shoulder stab with pain. He stared hard at the ceiling while his stomach twisted in hunger for the horrible tea that tasted so awful, yet it was the only thing Aaron had.
Well, today he didn’t have it. It was far away, growing cold.
“This is ridiculous,” Aaron muttered. “I can’t believe this treatment.” His ranting grew louder, and he hoped Ishibashi could hear him. “If we were in Quill,” he shouted, “I would have sent you to the Ancients Sector fifty years ago! Your incompetence and insolence is absolutely astounding!”
Finally, when no one appeared, Aaron, clenching and unclenching his fists, rolled slowly off the cot to his hands and knees. “Are you happy now?” he screamed. “I’m practically fainting from the pain!”
He crawled, head and face pounding, his right arm useless and dragging across the floor as he went the agonizing distance to the table. When he got there, he rested a moment, exhausted. Then he rose slowly and unsteadily to his knees. He reached for the cup, and then, in a moment of panic, wondered if it was all a trick. If Ishibashi was as horribly mean as he seemed, maybe he had put nothing in the teacup.
But that fear soon disappeared, for the cup was full as before. Aaron rolled to a sitting position, trying not to spill the tea, and sipped the horrible drink, which was an unappetizing lukewarm temperature by now. “You’re a horrible person!” he yelled between sips. “And your tea is disgusting!”
He drained the cup, shuddered, and tried to throw it at the wall to show the man how much he hated him, but he had so little strength left to put into the throw that the cup just bounced on the floor and didn’t break. Aaron stared at it. “Even your cups are stupid!” he screamed. His voice echoed through the chamber.
Could they hear him? Aaron had no idea how big this place was. He didn’t even really understand who these people were, or how he’d gotten here, or where he was. Ishibashi hadn’t told him anything.
Aaron could smell something delicious wafting in from another part of the giant maze of caves. He nearly yelled, “Bring me some of that food!” but he stopped himself just in time, remembering what happened when he demanded Ishibashi bring him some tea. Maybe Aaron would just wait and see if they brought him something to eat. But now . . . he looked at the distance to his cot. His arms and legs were shaking from the effort he’d made. The trip back to the bed looked formidable.
Finally, he began to slide across the floor using his left forearm to pull himself along. He made it only a few feet before his arm collapsed and he face-planted on the floor. The pain was blinding, and a wild sob escaped his lips as he waited for the agony to abate. With his eyes closed and his body spread out on the floor halfway between the table and his cot, Aaron rested his cheek on the cool rock and lay there, unable to move.
“Help,” he called a while later. But no one came to help him. He was not surprised. After a miserable hour, Aaron was convinced that no one was coming to his aid in any possible way, so he picked himself up once more, and with a tremendous effort, made it back to the cot. He fell onto it, too weak to put the blanket back on himself.
It was going to be a long road to recovery.
For everyone.
Aaron Grows Desperate
That evening, when Aaron’s stomach cried out in pain from hunger, he could keep silent no longer. Had they forgotten he was there? He could smell various foods cooking throughout the day, but Ishibashi delivered none of them.
“I’m so hungry!” Aaron called, writhing in the bed. “I know you have food out there. Why won’t you feed me?”
This was almost worse than being stuck in that fishing boat, tied to the pirate ship.
Aaron racked his brain, trying to figure out why the men weren’t feeding him. He began to argue with them as if they’d offered reasons for not feeding him. “If it’s because you’re mad about Mr. Today,” he called out, “you should just get over it! I didn’t even mean to kill him. He just . . . he was there . . . so suddenly . . .” Aaron frowned. He still didn’t like thinking about that. It was horrible. And that time seemed so long ago and far away.
He carried on, wailing harder as his hunger intensified. But still no one came. “Did you all fall over dead?” he called. “Are you too deaf to hear me? Or are you just mean and horrible people?”
After a while, Aaron, exhausted, turned to begging. “Look, Ishi-what’s-your-name, I’m sorry, okay? Please, can you just bring me something to eat? Just a little something?” But still no one came, and Aaron finally gave up.
He turned away from the opening to the room as he had before and stared at the wall while the wind howled and thunder crashed around him. Soon it was dark, and finally, after shedding a few tears, he fell asleep and dreamed about starving to death.
Aaron awoke before dawn to find Sato picking up the empty teacup and walking away with it.
“Ishibashi!” Aaron called out. “Anyone! Some food please?”
But Ishibashi did not come back, not even with tea this time.
Plan in Motion
Luckily, all the parties involved in the attack on Gondoleery had brought food and water with them, for Gondoleery didn’t go out at all the first day. In the desolate area of Quill, Sky, Samheed, and Carina took turns keeping watch overnight. Just down the hill from the palace, Alex, Lani, and Charlie spent an uncomfortable night on the rocks, waiting for a sign from Matilda that G
ondoleery was heading out somewhere.
“Are you sure you can drive one of those vehicles?” Alex asked Lani for perhaps the fourth time.
“I’m sure,” Lani said. “My dad told me everything about how to do it. He said they go really slow, so it’s not like anything can happen. The hardest thing will be getting it started.”
“You know how to do that, too?”
“Yes,” Lani said, growing annoyed.
“Glad you’re the one doing the disguise and driving parts, that’s all I can say,” Alex said.
“Me too,” said Lani.
» » « «
It was early the next morning—before dawn—when Charlie tugged Alex’s sleeve, waking the mage from a restless sleep.
“Is it happening?” Alex asked, sitting up and peering through the darkness. “At this hour? She’s going out now?” He wiped his eyes with his sleeve and hopped up.
Charlie nodded emphatically and shook Lani awake.
Lani scrambled to her feet as if she hadn’t just been sound asleep, and unpinned the sleeves and legs of her costume. Quickly she smoothed out the wrinkles. Without a word she faced away from Alex and began to concentrate on becoming the character of Sully the driver, knowing no one else could carry out their tasks until she’d succeeded with hers.
Alex crept up the hill and peered at the drivers, Charlie staying close behind. Alex could tell there were three drivers standing in the usual spot, but he couldn’t tell which one was Sully. He looked over his shoulder. “It’s too dark,” he whispered to Lani. “I can’t see. I think I’m going to have to take them all out.”
“That’s fine,” Lani said calmly, her body still swimming in the driver’s uniform as she worked on getting into character. Her eyes were closed. A moment later her body began to fill out the suit, and her face stretched and completely redesigned into Sully’s. In minutes, her entire shape and size had transformed from a teenage girl into a middle-aged man.
When she was confident she had solidly transformed into the character of Sully, she opened her eyes and took a deep breath, let it out, and whispered, “Ready when you are, Alex.”
Alex waved to let her know he heard her, then snuck to the side of the palace and pulled out Samheed’s stickyclips. He only had one handful, so he sized up his targets, knowing he had to hit the farthest driver just right so that the other two would be caught in his path, thus dragging all three back to Alex at once. He waited until they shuffled a bit, lining up nicely, and then he wound up and sent the handful soaring toward the one farthest from him. With no time to watch the spell work, Alex sank his hands into his pockets once more, pulling out freeze components. He had them just in time, for an instant later the three drivers were standing in front of him, completely shocked.
Alex froze them before they could utter a sound, checked on the guards to make sure they hadn’t noticed, and signaled to Lani that the coast was clear for her to take their place. She, as Sully, walked stiffly to her station just as a guard poked his head out of the door.
“Driver!” barked the guard, looking this way and that.
“Yes, sir,” Lani said in Sully’s voice.
The guard looked at Lani with a sneer. “What are you doing back here?”
Lani froze. “What?” she sputtered, scrambling to understand his meaning.
The guard came over to Lani and put his face in front of hers. “I said, what are you doing back here?” he barked.
“I—I’m back to drive the high priest, of course,” she said, trying hard not to back away, though the guard’s breath was hideous.
Alex watched in dismay. What was happening? Alex tore his eyes from the scene and took a hard look at the three drivers he’d frozen. Close up, with dawn finally on its way, he could see their shadowy faces.
None of them was Sully.
Alex stifled a gasp and gripped the side of the palace, turning his attention back to Lani. Where was the real Sully? And what if he showed up?
The guard frowned. “You left Governor Strang without transportation? What’s wrong with you? I’ll have one of the others drive the high priest.”
Lani shrank back as she supposed Sully would do in a situation like this and risked a glance in Alex’s direction, but he was too far away for her to make out the expression on his face. Try as she might, she couldn’t quite put the pieces together. The only thing that was clear was that Sully was already out with Governor Strang and must not be among the three drivers Alex froze. She didn’t know what to say to the smelly man.
And then she did.
Her fear turned to disdain, and she straightened up a little. “Ain’t you heard? The other drivers was taken sick. I’m all you got for now, so I came back.” She paused, then added, “The governor said it was fine.”
The guard looked to the area where the drivers normally stood, finding no one there. He appeared uncertain, but soon the silence was disturbed by a clatter coming from inside the palace, and the guard scurried to open the door for the high priest.
Lani stepped quickly to the nearest car and opened the door to the backseat. She kept her head down, but occasionally peeked inside the open door to the palace. Gondoleery Rattrapp, her aubergine caftan fluttering, exited the palace and strode to the vehicle. The guard scurried behind her, leaving the palace door standing open. Lani bowed as the high priest got into the vehicle, and while Lani’s head was lowered, a movement at the door caught her eye.
Matilda! Sure enough, Matilda the gargoyle darted outside after the guard and ran to the back of the vehicle, hiding behind it. Once the guard helped Gondoleery into the car and returned to his post, Lani closed Gondoleery’s door. She strode to the back of the jalopy, hoping she could figure out how to open the trunk.
She fumbled with the handle in search of a release button, and finally found the lever she needed. Sweating, she released the catch and swung the hatch open. While Matilda climbed inside, Lani pretended to rearrange something, fearing they were about to be caught at any moment. To Lani’s amazement, no one at the palace noticed the oddity. The guards generally seemed as lifeless as any Quillen, and clearly weren’t as alert at this early hour as they had been the day Lani was invisible.
“Driver!” barked Gondoleery. “What’s taking you so long?”
“Safety check,” Lani called out. She gave Matilda a warm smile, then hastily closed the back of the vehicle, went to the driver’s door, and got in, her eyes searching frantically for a clue to where the ignition was. Her father had told her to look near the right side of the steering wheel, but because of her nerves, she found herself searching the left. Finally she realized her mistake and located the ignition. But there was no key inserted in it.
Lani’s heart dropped. She fought back the panic. For a second she had no idea what to do, but then she quickly patted down her driver’s uniform pockets. Of course there was nothing there.
“I apologize for the delay,” she said. She burst from the vehicle and ran in the direction of Alex, past the guard.
“What’s going on?” the guard shouted at her.
“I’m feeling sick like the others,” Lani called back over her shoulder. “Have to vomit! You know? Back in a moment.” She sped to the back of the palace and rounded the corner.
Alex, who had seen her coming, figured out what the problem was. He was hurriedly searching the drivers’ pockets, pulling out all the keys he could find. He shoved them at Lani.
Her hands were shaking. She closed her hand over the keys. “They think I’m chunking up my breakfast,” she said, and nearly began laughing hysterically.
“So I heard,” Alex said. “Take a breath. It’s going to be fine. Just take your time and find the right key.”
“I think I should try to freeze her while I have her in the backseat, once we’re away from the guards and the palace. Then you can finish her off. Doesn’t that make more sense? I’m worried she’s already suspicious.”
“If you can manage it, that’s fine, but concentrate on
driving.”
Lani nodded. “I’ll only do it if I have a sure shot.”
“Okay.” Alex reached up and gripped Lani’s man shoulders. “I’m going to watch from here until you make it outside the palace grounds, and then Charlie and I will see you at the designated spot. Take it slow. You okay?”
Lani nodded.
“Okay.” Alex patted her on the back. “I think you’re done puking now.”
Lani sucked in a deep breath. “Okay. Yes. Thanks.” She smiled and turned around, ready to hurry back to the vehicle. But as she rounded the corner of the palace, she ran smack into the guard, and with a loud ooof! the two bodies went tumbling to the ground.
A Wild Ride
Alex gasped, then automatically reached for a freeze component and sent it soaring at the guard. He lunged for the guard’s legs and dragged the man behind the palace before anybody else could notice, while Lani got to her feet, scrambled to pick up the keys she’d dropped, and dusted off Sully’s suit.
“Go, Lani!” Alex whispered. “Before the other guard notices!”
Lani needed no further urging. She took long strides to the vehicle, got in the driver’s seat, and shoved the first key in. It didn’t fit.
“What in Quill is going on around here?” Gondoleery barked. “If I had another driver I’d zap you dead right now. Get me to the Commons immediately”
Lani, deep in character once more and feeling as if she were the true Sully, felt a chill spread through her. Her fingers trembled. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. She dropped the first key on the floor of the vehicle and tried the second one.
The second key didn’t fit either.
“Come on,” muttered Gondoleery. She pointed her finger at Lani and shot a tiny fireball, hitting her in the back of her head.
“Oh!” Lani recoiled, her hand automatically going up to the wounded spot and tamping out the smoldering bits of hair. “Ouch! Please don’t do that!” Blindly she shoved the third key into the ignition, praying for it to fit.