Kingdom Keepers(44)

“That might explain the pirates,” Willa said, still wondering if Maybeck was somehow a spy.

“Or it might tell us he’s been caught,” Philby suggested.

“What about the teepee?” Charlene asked. “Didn’t we say if we didn’t meet here, we’d meet there?”

“Yes, we did. You’re right,” Finn said.

“I don’t love the idea of going back the way we came,” Philby said. “Those clowns could return.”

Finn moved over to the silver Mickey plate on the wall by the window. “Wayne used the express lane,” he reminded.

“I’m not going first on that thing!” Charlene declared.

Finn said, “Then I will.” He hit the plate.

The floor fell out from under him, and he slid in his damp clothes down a twisting, steep exit tube. It was the best tube he’d ever ridden, including every water park he’d ever been to. It leveled off near the bottom, slowing him down, and he popped through a pair of doors and landed on a patch of grass in a shadowy nook outside the castle walls. He rolled out of the way and waited. A moment later, Willa came through. Then Charlene, and finally Philby.

Together, they made their way toward Frontierland, and the teepee, staying in shadow and hiding often.

They called for Maybeck inside the teepee. No answer. Then, at Philby’s urging, they climbed inside to get out of sight.

Finn said, “We have to find him before we go back.”

“But it’s late,” Charlene protested. “We have to get back. Listen, he’s the one who took off. He broke the rules. Why should we be the ones punished?”

Finn asked, “And if it was you left behind?”

“Shh!” Philby said.

The park suddenly seemed unusually quiet. It felt to Finn as if there were a thousand ears trained in their direction.

A rustle came from the bushes just on the other side of the teepee wall.

They heard footsteps. Someone circling the teepee.

I know you’re in there, said Maleficent in her dry, raspy voice. But Finn heard her in his head, not through his ears. Missing something, are we? She clucked her tongue. What a shame you didn’t listen and obey. I told you to stay away from here. Nasty children. Nasty little children.

The footfalls continued around the teepee and reached the front door. The teepee’s interior grew steadily colder until the kids could see four plumes of their fogged breath emerging clearly from their invisible bodies.

Across from him, Finn heard a brief but sharp clatter of teeth. Charlene’s, no doubt.

The four plumes of fog stopped as all four held their breath. A gangly shadow stretched across the open doorway.

Maleficent’s voice sounded like slowly cracking glass. “You should have stayed away while you had the chance.” The shadow bent. Her oddly beautiful green face appeared in the open doorway.

Charlene screamed, jumped up, and fled the teepee, suddenly visible. She surprised the witch, who reeled back instinctively. Maleficent lunged at Charlene with her skinny arms and bony fingers, but Charlene was much too fast for her. Maleficent got only a piece of the girl’s black T-shirt. The shirt stretched, and Charlene was nearly pulled off her feet. But the shirt tore at the last second, leaving a scrap of cloth in Maleficent’s green hand.

Willa fled right behind Charlene. The witch missed her entirely.

Finn saw that Maleficent’s eyes were eerily bright. She had surprisingly pretty, high cheekbones, with a high forehead, black hair, and a strong chin. She wore a strange headdress, like two twisting horns that rose from the hood of her cape. Her inquisitive face explored the empty teepee.

“Why can’t I see you, you poor simple fools? Hmm? Have you got magic of your own? Do you?” Never taking her eyes off the inside of the teepee, she crouched. Her twisted green fingers with red nails couldn’t keep still. She scooped up a fist of sandy dirt from just outside the doorway.

Finn kept in shadow, remaining invisible. He moved carefully and quietly toward the door.

“Now, Finn Whitman, you shall deal with me,” the witch said, casting an arc of sand inside.

Briefly, a ghostly image of Philby’s left side appeared as the sand struck and stuck to him.

A clever witch at that, Finn thought.

Philby brushed off most of the sand, but not all. His ghostly image remained.

Maleficent stepped over the lip and into the teepee, heading right for Philby.

Finn jumped forward and shoved her to the dirt. It felt like he had rammed into a wall of ice.

“Run!” Finn shouted.

Philby jumped over the witch’s legs and sprang out of the teepee. He landed in the dirt, rolled, and came to his feet.

Finn also tripped over the lower lip of the teepee’s door. He, too, went down face-first into the dirt.