Kingdom Keepers(64)

She headed directly to Finn and Dillard. The song playing from the bushes was “Monster Mash.” Jez stepped up to Finn, standing a little too close. They almost touched. Finn felt tempted to take a step back, but held his ground.

Jez spoke softly, privately. “Great minds think alike,” she said. “Our masks,” she added after Finn failed to respond.

“Hey, Jez,” Finn said.

“Look out, Zorro,” she warned, “I might put a spell on you!” She briefly dropped the mask and met eyes with Finn. She smiled.

Dillard coughed. A coughing crab with dancing legs. He cleared an even bigger space for himself in the crowd.

“Maybe you already have,” Finn suggested.

She said, “A good spell, I hope.”

“Are you a good witch?”

“The best,” she said. “Can’t you tell?” She spun, her cape rising. She ended her twirl facing Dillard and said to him, “Aren’t you going to offer to get me something to drink, Sebastian?”

“Hey! She guessed I’m Sebastian!” Dillard said proudly to Finn.

“You’ve got enough hands, don’t you?” she asked, tweaking one claw and sending it bouncing up and down.

Finn said, “He’s not an errand boy, he’s my friend.”

“Hey! I don’t mind,” Dillard said. He raised his oven mitts, made claw motions, and waddled off in search of something for them to drink.

“He’s a good guy,” Finn said, when Jez faced him again. “He’s big, so people make fun of him, but he can’t help it.”

She ignored what he’d said. “Want to do the Haunted Mansion with me?” Jez asked.

Finn felt his throat tighten in panic. The mansion was an attraction that seemed perfect to hide Overtakers. “It’ll be too crowded,” he said.

An awkward moment settled between them.

“Miss Congeniality,” Finn said.

“What?”

“The Sandra Bullock movie?” Finn inquired. He pointed toward the park entrance. “A friend of mine…Charlene. You met her at the sports park,” he said. Charlene also wore makeup and lipstick, which gave her high cheekbones and a thinner face. It was a good disguise. Her blue cocktail dress swished as she paraded straight over to Finn.

Charlene looked Jez up and down. “Adorable,” she said insincerely.

“Imaginative,” Jez said back to her.

Charlene ignored Jez. “Sorry if I’m late” she said.

“No prob.”

“Finn and I are going over to the Haunted Mansion.” Jez announced. “Want to come?”

Charlene complained, “But Finn, you promised me the first ride. Remember, Finn?”

She was giving him the excuse they needed to get over to Pirates and be with the others.

“When you’re right, you’re right!” Finn said, a little awkwardly. He asked Jez if he could catch up to her later for the Haunted Mansion.

She frowned.

Dillard returned, bearing too many drinks to hold. He dropped one.

Jez reached out and caught it as it fell. She not only snagged the cup but somehow managed to catch all the soda as well. Not a drop spilled to the ground. It was an impossible feat.

Finn took a moment to replay it in his mind. “How did you do that?”

Charlene took the third cup from Dillard and thanked him.

“I…ahh…” Jez said.

Dillard had intended one of the three for himself, but didn’t tell that to Charlene. When he moved, his various arms bounced wildly. He mumbled and headed off to get another.

“You didn’t answer me,” Finn reminded Jez. “How did you do that?”

Jez stumbled over her words as she made what was clearly a lame excuse. “My mom doesn’t like me messing up the kitchen. I’ve gotten pretty good at not spilling.”

Catwoman approached. Finn recognized Amanda immediately.

Finn hadn’t spoken to her since their collision behind One Man’s Dream. He couldn’t sort everything out: what she’d been doing there; why the cold hadn’t seemed to affect her. He didn’t feel like hanging out with her tonight. He wasn’t sure how to tell her.

Dillard returned fairly quickly and said hello to Amanda. Her attention remained on Finn.

“Finn?” Amanda said.

Finn turned his back, not sure what to do. Not that, he realized, as she stormed off. He felt rotten.

Finn offered Charlene and Jez another drink and then headed off himself, grateful to get away. The girls hung with Dillard, who struggled to get a paper cup to his mouth. He spilled some soda down his front when one of his own claws banged against him.

Amanda snuck up behind Finn in the soda line.

“I saw her, Finn. Jez. Behind One Man’s Dream. Those monitors are old and fuzzy, but I’m sure it was her, and I came over there to warn you.”