Kingdom Keepers(17)

Finn saw a difference between Blackbeard and the other pirates: Blackbeard had a vaguely human sound to him. Most of the others—all but a few—looked and sounded more like machines than real pirates.

Finn sliced and burned right through the peg leg of the older pirate. He too, teetered, leaned, and tumbled over. Two down.

On the captain’s command, his men charged as a unit. Finn aimed for their knees in a brilliant display of gunnery. They staggered. Several fell. The captain ordered a retreat, and Finn held his fire.

Blackbeard, his eyes darting weirdly back and forth, reached for, but then decided against, the sword that hung at his waist. He clucked his tongue in disappointment. “Ye’ve made a terrible mistake, lad. Me advice for ye is, go back from whence you came. And take them there other two with ye. For yer own good.” His mechanical facial expression never changed. He made no more threats—not with Finn still perched behind the laser. He simply turned and walked away. He did not run, did not hurry, Finn noted. He headed down the path and, a moment later, was gone, out of sight. His pirates dragged themselves and their other fallen mates off with them.

Finn released his hold on the laser, his fingers stiff from gripping so tightly. His shirt bore a small charred hole. The burn on his arm was now a blistered scab. He’d hoped he might only have imagined it—but no: it hurt something fierce.

He climbed out of the car.

“Way to go,” Charlene said simply, trying not to sound too impressed.

Philby approached, and Finn thanked him for the diversion.

The two shook hands. It felt to Finn as if that handshake represented a pact between them. They were in this together now.

To celebrate what he called their “first victory,” Wayne offered them ice-cream bars from a food kiosk. He carried a heavy-looking ring with dozens of keys of all shapes and sizes with which he unlocked the kiosk.

Finn sat down on a bench. Wayne handed him his ice-cream sandwich, and Finn tore off the paper and bit into the treat. He tasted it, though it wasn’t nearly as sweet as it should have been. Maybe he was only half human, he thought.

“What about Willa and Maybeck?” Charlene asked, enjoying her ice cream.

Finn devoured the ice-cream sandwich. With his mouth full he said, “No clue.”

Charlene explained, “Me and Philby met here in the park the other night. We haven’t found each other…you know…on the outside yet. Not like the way you found me. But here we are.”

Her mention of “the outside” sent shivers up Finn’s spine.

Philby said, “I don’t seem to remember as much as Charlene when I wake up. I’m not sure why. But you know, I’ve never really remembered my dreams, so maybe that’s part of it.”

“But this isn’t a dream,” Finn reminded him.

“I know that now,” Philby said. “But I didn’t know that earlier.”

“This will all change,” Wayne said. “The more you cross over, the more it will feel familiar to you.”

“Cross over,” Philby repeated.

“Weird, huh?” Finn said.

Wayne’s hand slipped into his pocket.

“No!” Finn called out, knowing the man intended to send him back to his bed. “You owe us an explanation first.”

“I need you all together,” Wayne said.

Finn said, “You have the three of us. That will have to do. When—if—we’re ever all together, then fine, you can explain it again. But I just got burned on my arm by a group of…”

“Pirates,” Philby said. “Mechanical pirates.”

“Mechanical pirates that could talk and take orders,” Charlene added.

“Yes. Pirates,” Finn said. “Pirates you can’t see, as I understand it. And I don’t understand it. And I’ll stay up, dusk to dawn, if I have to, in order to figure this out. And, if you don’t tell us what this is about, you won’t see me again.”

“Or me,” Philby said.

“Or me,” Charlene agreed.

“It’s now or never,” Finn declared.

The old man looked paler by a good deal. Some bird off in the thick of green cooed deeply. Finn felt like they were being watched.

“All right,” Wayne said, smiling. He glanced around suspiciously. “Come with me.”

They followed. After a bit of a walk, Wayne unlocked and admitted them into the auditorium for the Country Bear Jamboree. He placed the three kids in the first row. Then he walked through the dark space and checked all the doors. He returned to the front of the hall and leaned against the stage to address them.

“There’s a fine line between imagination and reality. An inventor dreams something up, and pretty soon, it’s there on the table before him. A science-fiction writer envisions another world, and then some space probe finds it. If you believe in something strongly enough, I think you can make it happen.”