Kingdom Keepers(19)

“Maybe you should sit down,” Finn suggested.

“It wasn’t until the hurricane that we realized how far this had come.”

“The hurricane,” Finn repeated softly.

“A hurricane changed course while out at sea and then headed directly here to Orlando. I’ll accept that as coincidence, a fluke of nature.” Wayne, clearly growing agitated, collected himself. “But do you know what happened to that storm after it passed over here? Check it out on the Internet. It lost power. Came in here at one strength and left considerably weaker. You think it just rained and blew itself out? We think not. We think that storm was harnessed. Used like a giant battery. Like a vampire sucking blood, the Overtakers used that storm to gain power. Since that storm, we’ve had a lot more unexplained inconveniences. They’re practicing. They’re getting ready for something bigger.”

“Are you listening to yourself? That can’t be,” Finn mumbled. “That’s crazy!”

Philby caught Finn’s look. He shook his head as if to say: It’s not crazy. Then he said aloud, “Some ancient civilizations are thought to have used powerful storms to control their people.”

Wayne said, “That hurricane was downgraded after passing over here.” He sounded frightened.

“I’d really like to go home now,” Charlene said.

Finn thought about it for a moment and said softly, “So, let’s say we accept some of this. What are we supposed to do?” He knew he sounded terrified, but he couldn’t help himself.

“You three, and the others, were carefully chosen for your individual talents. As DHIs you are part of their world; as kids, you’re part of ours. You are our eyes into the other side.”

“Spies,” Philby said.

“If you like,” Wayne said.

“I don’t like,” Philby answered.

Finn sputtered, “I don’t see what we’re supposed to do.”

“Sure you do, or you wouldn’t be afraid. And while you’re at it, think about this,” Wayne said. “Why and how do you think we came up with the concept of the DHIs?”

Charlene said, “Us being hosts…You’re saying that wasn’t the real reason?”

Philby said, “They needed something that could exist in the character world but wasn’t a part of it.”

Wayne grinned at him. “Ah-ha!” he declared. “But the development costs. The time and energy it took to create you. We had to have a use for you to justify you to the rest of the company.” He met eyes with Finn.

“Because no one would believe you if you told them a bunch of witches were going to take over the Magic Kingdom,” Finn said.

Wayne didn’t answer this directly. He said, “And so we dreamed up the idea of the holograms, the interactive hosts.”

Philby suggested, “You needed spies, someone to find out what the Overtakers were up to.”

“Find out if they even existed,” Wayne said, nodding.

“And now that you know they do,” Finn stated, rubbing the burn on his left arm, “now what?”

“We need to lure out their leader, whoever that turns out to be. Whatever that turns out to be. Deprogram it? Redraw it? Lock it up? Who knows?”

“You need us as bait?” Finn complained.

“Walt left us a solution,” Wayne reminded. “We need you to solve the riddle of the Stonecutter’s Quill.” The old guy looked exhausted.

Charlene said, “And if we don’t want to?”

Wayne’s mouth twisted, and his eyes looked stern and serious. “At some point you’re going to have to sleep,” he said. “And from now on, when you do, you’re going to cross over.” He hesitated, then stepped closer to her, his face gentle and kind. “I’m sorry, my dear girl, but there is no skipping this ride.”





9


When Finn awoke, he hurried into the bathroom, tore his shirt off over his head, and studied the pea-size red-and-brown scab with the dime-size scarlet circle of flesh that surrounded it. The burn hurt something fierce. This was no dream. He winced as he cleaned it with soap and water. “Yaaa!” he hollered, his cry echoing in the tiled room.

“Finn, dear?” his mother called from the hallway. She knocked. “Are you all right?”

“Fine!”

“May I come in?”

“Ah…”

She let herself in. She was in her nightgown. Dawn had arrived an hour earlier, the pink of the eastern sky now silver with clouds.

“Finn, dear?”

She studied him in the mirror’s reflection, from behind, no doubt wondering why he was only half dressed, his shirt in a ball on the floor.