Kingdom Keepers III(105)

“Go!” Finn said.

Maybeck squeezed out of the open grille, and onto the maintenance scaffolding Philby had spotted behind Cranium Command. Finn couldn’t move fast enough: he crawled ahead, pulled himself through the vent, and was helped to his feet by Maybeck.

“Check it out,” Maybeck said softly.

The pavilion, lit only by ambient light coming through the sand-dollar skylights in the roof, was enormous, forty or fifty yards across, its floor filled with colorful marquees announcing attractions, kiosks, red and blue street lamps, and lush green garden beds. At its center was a large carousel. Finn and Maybeck were level with the carousel’s roof, and this was their destination.

Finn didn’t immediately spot the jesters or crash-test dummies, wondering if Philby had somehow distracted them.

Where is he? Finn wondered, glancing toward the open vent and wishing Philby would arrive in time.

“I’m going for it,” Maybeck said. He bent to pick up one end of a narrow aluminum plank from the scaffolding. Finn pitched in, grabbing the opposite end. Together they fed the long, slender piece of metal out toward the tall stepladder, attempting to build a bridge between them and the carousel. On the third try, they managed to land the end of the plank across a step in the ladder. Maybeck tested it and it held his weight. It aimed slightly uphill.

“We’ll need another from there,” he said, removing a second plank from the scaffolding. Together they placed this plank atop the first. Maybeck drew a deep breath and walked across, his arms out at his sides for balance. Finn stood on the planks at the near end to steady them and caught himself holding his breath. Maybeck was anything but steady. He wobbled and dipped and leaned, and several times appeared to be going over the side but managed somehow to reach the stepladder. He grabbed hold of it like a drowning man to a raft, and looked back at Finn as if to say, Whoa.

Maybeck fed the second plank out toward the carousel’s canopy, extending the bridge. He crossed to the carousel and waved Finn forward.

Finn had excellent balance. He crossed easily, being careful to take it slowly, and reached the stepladder without incident.

“Three o’clock!” Maybeck called out.

Finn looked down to see the two jesters running toward him. His eye measured the distance to the carousel as his brain calculated the time required to reach it. Maybeck held the end of the plank.

“Come on!” Maybeck shouted.

Finn stepped out onto the wobbly plank. Two steps toward the carousel the first jester hit the stepladder, trying to tip it over. But the two planks complicated his efforts. The ladder rocked, but did not fall.

Finn, however, did.

He slipped and banged down onto the plank, now halfway between the ladder and carousel.

The second jester arrived and immediately jumped onto the stepladder and climbed with an unnerving confidence: he, too, rocked the ladder side to side, trying to dump Finn.

Maybeck reached out a hand toward Finn, whose knee slid off the plank, dumping him to the right. He stretched out a hand for Maybeck, but their fingers only danced around, unable to touch.

The climbing jester lunged heavily to the left. The stepladder tipped and Finn felt it reach the point of no return: it was going over. He scrambled forward, grabbed Maybeck’s hand, and felt the plank and the whole contraption go down. Maybeck swung Finn strongly like a pendulum. Finn hooked the carousel canopy—metal, not fabric as it appeared—with his knee and, with Maybeck’s help, rolled up and onto it.

The ladder and bridge collapsed with a crash. The boys watched as the jester jumped away from it at the last second, landing effortlessly on his feet.

And there was Philby on the scaffolding. He’d come through the air vent but was now stranded by the fall of the bridge.

Finn saw him, looking for some way to get him over to the carousel.

“Go!” Philby shouted.

“No way!” Finn said.

The silent jesters hopped and ran around frantically. Then one disappeared beneath Finn, who realized with dread that the thing was climbing toward them.

“Go!” Philby repeated.

“We go together,” Maybeck said. “Or it won’t work.”

Finn looked up. Overhead was a large mobile of metal arms and colorful shapes. Above the mobile was a projection room—a booth with lights and projector lenses aimed out of it. Philby’s plan had been to evacuate the pavilion through the small projection room. But now Philby was stuck on the other side—a world away.

“The arms of the mobile are balanced,” Maybeck said. “We have to do this together or we can’t do it at all.”

* * *

Finn saw he was right. If he tried grabbing onto the end of any one of the sculpture’s arms, the arm would simply tilt down to meet him. But if both boys took hold of opposite arms they could balance the structure, keeping it level. With three of them—including Philby—they could include one boy to hold on at the fulcrum in the center of the arc. But if Philby were left to follow, even if he reached the carousel, he wouldn’t be able to climb the mobile alone.