Kingdom Keepers III(13)

“You know? Like when you get in the zone. In a daydream? Like that.”

“You were totally gone,” Amanda said. “Like sleepwalking.”

“Exactly! That’s exactly it. That’s never happened to me before. Nothing like that. I mean, when I’m asleep, sure. In my dreams. But never like that. Never awake.”

Amanda glanced back. Her eyes fell briefly on a woman coming toward them, a woman more put together than ninety percent of the other park guests. She had her hair up in a fancy way, and wore a nice necklace, a pressed white shirt. Amanda knew immediately it was the woman, though she spent no time considering how that might be possible.

“It’s her,” she told Jess. “Follow me.”

She picked up the pace, leading Jess into the enormous, circular pavilion. There was an escalator and stairs ahead. A balcony running around the perimeter looked down into the lower plaza. Miniature hot-air balloons were suspended from the peak of the tent with colorful streamers cascading down on all sides.

She avoided the pileup at the escalator and took the stairs, careful not to run and draw further attention to them.

Below them was a sea of tables, most with colorful umbrellas overhead. The umbrellas did not exactly hide whoever was sitting beneath them. So she plotted a course away from the stairs.

“This way!” she whispered as they reached the plaza. She glanced quickly up. There was the green balloon, now only a few feet behind the woman. Finn was taking a huge risk getting so close to the woman.

Amanda cut quickly to the right and dodged a few tables, now in a location screened from the stairs. For the time being, they’d ditched the woman. She wanted to keep it that way.

“How are we supposed to hide in this place?” she asked Jess. But there was no answer: Jess seemed dazed, like she’d just woken up.

Amanda considered the girls’ room, but they’d only trap themselves.

“Can’t see the forest for the trees,” Jess said. She was pointing at the waiting line for Living with the Land.

Amanda tried to make sense of what Jess had just said. Trees? There were fruit trees inside Living with the Land, but if they tried to jump out of the boat they’d be busted.

“It’s a basketball team, right?” Jess interrupted, sounding much more awake. “Or volleyball, maybe. Come on!”

Jess reversed their roles, taking Amanda by the hand and steering her toward the line.

“I don’t think this is such a good idea,” Amanda said. She spotted a group of tall girls all wearing a team uniform. The forest for the trees, she realized. “We don’t want to get stuck on a ride.”

But Jess ignored her.

“Excuse me,” Jess said, maneuvering the two of them between the team and the far wall, as if keenly interested in the wall’s photographic mural. The athletes continued talking among themselves, not the least bit interested in the two girls.

Jess had effectively put a human screen between herself and Amanda and the mystery woman. There was no way the woman would see them unless she, too, joined the line and pushed forward; but that would be nearly impossible: several families had filed in behind the team. The woman would have to cut the line to have any chance of seeing the girls, and that would only draw attention to her.

The hardest thing for Amanda was not looking. She kept an eye for the green balloon but made no effort to see through the tall girls, for fear of her being seen.

“Good call,” she said to Jess.

“Finn had better be careful,” Jess said.

“Yeah, I know.”

The line surged forward. The sisters stayed with the team, keeping up against the wall and out of sight of the vast hall.

“Oh, no,” Amanda said. The green balloon appeared and stopped about five yards behind them.

Finn was in their line. He had not lowered the balloon, which meant only one thing.

“No more looking,” Jess instructed. “We keep our backs to her. We’ll be on the ride—in the boat—in less than a minute. What’s she going to do then?”

“No idea,” Amanda answered, “but I don’t think I want to find out.”

“We’ve just got to hope—” Jess cut herself off. It was too late: the volleyball team filled up the back of a boat. This forced the two girls into the front of the next set of boats. Behind them, other park visitors took their seats.

Amanda stole one look in that direction. The balloon, still aloft, had moved farther back in line. Finn had stopped, allowing those in line to pass him.

In that fleeting glimpse, Amanda spotted the woman as well. She was boarding the ride on the same set of boats as Amanda and Jess, only a few behind.

“She’s right behind us. Like three rows. What do we do now?” Amanda whispered into Jess’s left ear.