“Here,” said Tina, pointing off the side of the boardwalk. We were at a scenic point, at the very base of the big mountain carving. Far above, I saw the four famous faces, and I was surprised that tourists weren’t allowed to get any closer. Between us and the giant heads was a sharply rising slope of loose stone chunks.
Tina vaulted over the railing, her feet crunching on the rocks as she picked her way over to a hefty boulder and small outcropping of trees. It was the perfect hiding place, allowing us to be concealed from the park rangers but stay in sight of Roosevelt’s big face.
In a moment, all four of us were hunched among the fallen pieces of stone, waiting for the lights to go out so we could trespass in peace. Tina seemed careful not to sit down while we hid. I was glad she hadn’t forgotten her consequence. Screaming would really blow our cover.
I glanced sideways at Tina and Vale. They were ruining the moment I thought I’d have to ask Ridge about my past. I didn’t dare speak the wish in front of the girls. Learning that secret about myself was far too personal to spill in front of two people I barely knew.
The lights went out. It hadn’t really occurred to me that we were hiding in a forest until it became completely dark. As far as I knew, I’d never been in a forest before. I only knew the orphanage, where they took me after I woke up in the hospital, and then two foster homes before the Lindons’.
There is something eerie about a forest at night. I decided to get a conversation going to distract myself from the rustling sounds that could possibly be bears coming to munch on us.
“What do you think is the best way to reach Roosevelt’s eye?” I asked.
“It makes sense to come down from the top,” said Tina. “We shouldn’t have anyone trying to stop us.”
“Unless Thackary’s here,” muttered Ridge.
“Still, he shouldn’t be too hard to capture,” I answered. “It’s not like he’s a Wishmaker.”
“Hopefully, he’s an ex-Wishmaker,” Tina said, reminding us that she had a quest, too. In some ways it felt like we were working against each other. I was spending all my time thinking about how to stop Thackary. Tina was spending all her time thinking about how to save him.
“Enough talk,” said Vale. “Let’s go.”
The redheaded genie was right. We had waited long enough. I stood up, peering across the slope of loose rocks toward the carved faces. I was about to say something inspiring when the boulder we were hiding behind suddenly attacked us.
Chapter 14
You might be wondering how a rock attacks on its own. I was also unclear on this. But I got a quick and very surprising education.
Several of the smaller rocks around us flew into the air, attaching themselves to the sides of the large boulder like arms. Then the rockman simply reached out and grabbed Ridge around the waist.
Ridge let out a squeal of alarm, as the boulder lifted him right over my head. So I did what any sensible Wishmaker would do.
I kicked the rock.
You’ve kicked a rock before, right? The only thing it does is hurt your toes. I don’t recommend it.
Luckily, Vale responded quickly, leaping up and grabbing Ridge’s ankles. The rockman must not have had a very tight grip on Ridge, because he pulled free and went tumbling to the ground with Vale.
“We’ve got to get to Roosevelt’s eye!” I said, stumbling backward as I helped Ridge to his feet.
“That might not be so easy,” Tina said, pointing toward the presidential faces.
The entire rocky slope seemed to be coming alive! The chunks of stone were fusing together and forming into creatures with legs and arms made of clustered rocks and pebbles. “Let’s split up,” said Tina, ducking as the rockman swiped for her. “Vale and I will go straight up the slope. You and Ridge try to circle around to the top of the mountain.”
I looked up, seeing George Washington’s forehead glimmering in the moonlight. Looping around was a good idea, but I wasn’t sure about splitting up.
“Paradiddle!” Tina suddenly shouted as a second rockman swept down on us. Vale came bounding out of my peripheral vision, but she had somehow transformed into that huge gray wolf, just as she’d been when we first met.
Wolf Vale slammed into the rockman, slowing it down enough for her Wishmaker to hop away. And I mean hop. Like a bunny.
Tina’s hands were tucked up next to her chest, her ankles seemed fused together, and she hopped carefully behind a tree. “Go!” Tina shouted back at us.
I think Ridge was just as surprised as I was. It was the second time I’d seen Vale transform without an official wish.
Another rockman came rumbling in behind me and Ridge. I whirled around, ducking as its stone arm swept over my head.
I looked at Ridge. Then, just to see if anything awesome would happen, I shouted, “Paradiddle!” I really had no idea what it meant; I was simply copying Tina and hoping that my genie turned into a fearsome animal.
He didn’t.
Instead, Ridge screamed like a baby, jumping aside as the rockman pulverized the ground between us.
Wolf Vale was snarling and trying to bite the leg of a nearby rockman that was advancing on Tina. Biting rocks is very bad for your teeth. Don’t try it.
“This way!” I shouted to Ridge. Pulling tight the straps of my new backpack, I leaped over the railing and back onto the boardwalk.
Ridge and I were sprinting along, minding our own business. He was about twenty feet behind me, when the boardwalk splintered into fragments between us.
“Ace!” I heard him call. I screeched to a halt, turning to see a tall pile of rocks looming over Ridge. The creature reared back and pounded its fist against the remaining bits of boardwalk.
“Ridge!” I shouted, dropping to my knees on the broken planks. My backpack slipped off and my hand plunged inside to grab the peanut butter jar. “Get into the jar!”
There was a puff of dark smoke, and he disappeared. A fraction of a second later, the rockman destroyed the bit of the boardwalk where Ridge had been standing.
“Thanks, Ace!” Ridge shouted from inside his peanut butter jar. “I think you should have wished to stop that guy.”
“There wasn’t time,” I said. “I had to get you out of there.” Seriously? He was complaining? I had just saved his life!
“Come on,” Ridge’s voice moaned. “You know how itchy it is in here. Actually, no, you don’t. Maybe if you did, you wouldn’t be so quick to bottle me up.”
The sound of our voices caused the rockman to reel around, two pebbles staring at me like beady eyes.
I didn’t stick around to say hello. At a full sprint, I took off down the boardwalk, running until the pathway began to turn. Then, vaulting over the railing, I cut through the trees, heading up the dark side of Mount Rushmore.
Apparently, the rocks hadn’t come alive on this side of the mountain. I wondered how Tina was faring, taking the brunt of the assault while trying to make her way up the slope.
“Would it be okay if I came out now?” Ridge said. In the heat of my sprint, I had almost forgotten about him.
“Ridge, get out of the jar,” I said, not even slowing down as I darted up the craggy slope. The genie appeared behind me, quickly falling into a sprint when he saw how fast I was moving.
He caught up to me as I ducked under a tree branch. I handed him the peanut butter jar and he dropped it into my unzipped backpack without slowing.
“What are you going to do when we reach the top?” Ridge asked.
“Find Roosevelt’s forehead and look over the edge,” I said. The first task was to poke Roosevelt in the eye. I wasn’t sure how I’d reach it. Probably a wish.
The makeshift trail that I was blazing came to a sudden end far below the side of Abe Lincoln’s head, where the untouched stone had never been carved. At least a hundred feet of vertical rock rose straight away from me.
“You have any experience with rock climbing?” I asked him.
Ridge reached back and rubbed his sho
ulder as if it were suddenly stiff. “I’m not supposed to put too much strain on my deltiscus.”
“Your what?” I asked.
“My . . . deltiscus,” he said. “It’s a muscle in the shoulder. I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it.”
“I haven’t heard of it because you just made it up.” I grabbed a handhold in the rock and started to boost myself up. “Besides,” I continued, “aren’t you a little young to have a shoulder injury?”
“Shoulder injuries can happen at any age,” he defended. “They’re not just for old people.”
I wasn’t getting any higher. The rock face was surprisingly smooth and my arms were surprisingly shaky from the strain of holding myself up for just a few seconds. To add further to the situation, the rock people had sniffed us out. I could hear several of them advancing up the slope toward us.
I let go of the rock and jumped down to land beside Ridge. “I need to wish something,” I said. He nodded encouragingly. Ridge always seemed a little more enthusiastic about wishing than I did. I’m not sure if my wishes gave him a sense of importance, or if he secretly enjoyed watching me pay the consequences.
“I wish I had a jet pack!” Out snapped my white-sand hourglass, thirty seconds spilling fast. Ridge clapped his hands together in excitement.
“Nice! If you want a jet pack,” he said, “then every time you say hello, the sleeves of your shirt will grow an inch.”
I looked down at my T-shirt, the one I’d borrowed from the Anderthons’ trailer. It was a little small anyway.
“Just this shirt?” I asked. “What if I change?”
Ridge shook his head. “Any shirt you wear for the rest of the week.”
“Is it specific to the word hello?” I asked. “What if I say hi, or hey, or ’sup?”
“Just hello,” Ridge said.
I could hear the enemies grating closer. Hello was so formal. I hardly ever said it anyway. And I’d rather have long sleeves than get smashed by rock dudes.
I nodded. “Bazang.”
A sudden weight landed on my shoulders. Glancing behind me, I saw a silver canister glinting in the moonlight. The jet pack was probably smashing all the sandwiches in my backpack, but I didn’t care. I looked awesome!
“Hello, jet pack!” I said. Instantly, I felt my sleeves grow an inch. Seriously? How had I already forgotten that? I had literally accepted that consequence five seconds before!
“Let’s get out of here!” Ridge shouted, drawing my attention back to the approaching rock figures.
“Right!” I reached back and tapped the jet pack. Now, if I could only figure out how to turn the thing on. . . . “Uh, Ridge. Do you see a switch or something back there?”
“I see lots of switches!” he yelled as one of the rockmen hurled a stone. It missed us both, but shattered against the face of the cliff. “You’re telling me you don’t know how to use this?”
“Well, you could have at least given me a user’s manual or a YouTube video or something!” I replied.
“I didn’t pick the jet pack, Ace,” Ridge said.
“I know, I know . . . The Universe did.” I needed to remember to make my wishes more specific. What good was a jet pack if I couldn’t make it work?
The first rockman reached us, swinging a massive fist. I ducked in the nick of time. In this new, hunched position, I saw a cord dangling from the bottom of the pack.
“Aha! Hold on, Ridge!” I shouted, grabbing the cord and giving it a sharp downward tug. The jet pack began to rattle and hum, but it didn’t take off. Ridge had taken my advice and was kneeling on the ground, both arms clutched tightly around my legs.
The rockman circled in for another attack. I tried to lunge backward, but Ridge held me fast, causing me to topple. The jet pack crashed against the face of the cliff, but that seemed to do the trick.
In a flash, Ridge and I were rocketing into the night sky like a pair of out-of-control acrobats. In the takeoff blast, two of the rockmen were blown to bits, and the others jumped after us hopelessly.
The two of us streamed upward, Ridge swinging from my feet like a kite tail. It seemed like our flight had just begun when the jet pack began to sputter. A cloud of smoke puffed out by my left ear, and the whole device seemed to be getting hotter.
I scrambled with the straps. I had to get this thing off! Had we reached the top of the mountain? Just barely, it seemed, as I leaned forward, angling our flight to attempt a landing.
The two of us thumped down on the stone mountaintop, and I managed to slip free of the jet pack. It soared off on its own, some eighty feet higher, before it exploded like a firework.
I was feeling quite patriotic, standing on Mount Rushmore and watching fireworks—especially since we hadn’t just died. We were high up, the dark sky stretching out all around us.
“Well,” Ridge said, dusting himself off. “That could have gone better.”
He was still gasping for breath at our near-death experience. That made me wonder. Could genies die? I’d have to remember to ask him later, when we weren’t so worried about rockmen smashing us to pieces. I could hear their grinding movements far below, but they didn’t seem able to climb the cliff. We’d lost them for the time being.
Ridge and I moved off in the direction of the carved faces. The rock was smooth underfoot, worn by countless years of wind and rain. We’d gone only a few steps when I realized that we’d need to scramble down a sizable boulder.
I sat down, carefully scooting forward. My backpack dragged awkwardly on the rock and I didn’t want it to snag. Sliding the straps off my shoulders, I tossed it to the carved landing below and eased my way down after it.
I landed hard but didn’t fall. I scooped up my bag and checked to see if Ridge needed some help, but he waved me on.
By my estimate, I was now standing on Abe Lincoln’s head. Roosevelt was the next face. I peered over the edge of Lincoln’s stylish hairdo. The slope below was still abuzz with rock figures, and I didn’t see Tina or Vale anywhere.
But I could hear a strange voice. I couldn’t make out exactly what it was saying, but the tone was unlike anything I’d heard before. I knew it didn’t belong to either of the girls. It sounded . . . not quite human.
“Are we there yet?” Ridge asked, warily coming up beside me. If I had to guess, the genie wasn’t as comfortable with heights as I was.
“Close,” I answered, ignoring the unintelligible voice from below.
We picked our way carefully across the carved head, keeping an eye out for Tina and Vale below. In fact, our attention was so focused downward that by the time we reached Roosevelt’s head, we had completely failed to see the people behind us.
“Why are you following us?” asked a voice from behind. I startled, whirling around so sharply that I nearly toppled off the edge.
There was a boy standing in the moonlight. He looked just a year or two younger than me, with slicked blond hair and a black leather jacket. I didn’t know if he was trying to look cool, but the effect was ruined by the fact that he was wearing hugely oversize shoes with yellow smiley faces on them. He held something in one outstretched hand. I squinted to see it clearly in the darkness. A pickle jar?
“Scree,” the boy said. “Get out of the jar.”
There was a sudden puff of dark smoke and a girl appeared beside the boy, poised like she was ready for a fight. She was taller than him, and going by her thick dark hair and tanned face, I guessed she was Polynesian.
Who was I kidding? The girl obviously wasn’t from Polynesia. She was from a jar! And that meant that the boy we were looking at was a Wishmaker!
The pieces fell into place. This was Thackary Anderthon. It had to be! He knew we were following him. Tina had been wrong. He wasn’t an ex-Wishmaker yet. He had a genie, and he was using her to get to the cave and find another jar before his time ran out.
“That’s him,” Ridge whispered at my elbow. We had found the boy we were looking for.
“Hello at last,” I said, an
d promptly felt my sleeves grow another inch. Ah. I forgot about that one again.
“Why are you following us?” the boy asked again, more urgent this time.
“Ridge,” I said, trying to think up some great wish that would put Thackary Anderthon into captivity.
I probably would have said something brilliant if another voice from the cliff’s edge hadn’t distracted me. I whirled back around. All this whirling around was making me dizzy. And you don’t want to get dizzy when you’re on top of a mountain.
“Don’t talk to ’em, son!” This time it was a familiar voice, and it made my blood boil. “Arrg! We done what we came here to do. Now it be time to set sail.”
It was the pirate man from the interstate! As I saw him now, he was just climbing over the edge of Roosevelt’s hairline. He stood, dusting off the knees of his black pants.
“You!” Ridge said, his face turning red.
“We meet again,” said the pirate man.
“You won’t get a hello from me,” I said, and as I did, my sleeves continued to grow. They were now past my elbows.
Before I could react, the man reached out and snatched the backpack from my hand. I lunged for it, but he skirted around me. I was trying to think of something to wish, but now that the crucial moment had arrived, my mind seemed to go blank.
The man peered inside the backpack and gave a satisfactory grunt. “I should have known ye were a Wishmaker,” he said, tossing the backpack to his son for further inspection.
At last, I thought of something useful. “I wish . . .” But I never got to complete that sentence. The moment I opened my mouth to speak, the pirate man reached out and pushed Ridge off the top of Lincoln’s head.
Chapter 15
Ridge screamed. I panicked. And for a split second I had no idea what to do. If I made a wish, what were the chances that Ridge would even be able to explain the deal before he hit the ground? The bad guys had taken my backpack, and with it, the genie jar. There was only one possibility that might save his life.