Finn had trouble finding her in the binoculars. He turned and watched on-screen as Charlene ran past Norway. Philby pointed out another camera view. Charlene, wearing a white nightgown, ducked behind Norway, then cut back through the bakery patio to—another camera view—the Norway courtyard. She hid as the CTDs ran past like something out of The Terminator. Then she turned to her left, scrambled up some rock, and disappeared into a dark cave.
“Maelstrom,” Philby said.
Finn had failed to recognize the cave because there was no water coming from the ride’s waterfall. “Smart! That’s a great place to hide!”
“Let’s go!” Philby said.
“I’ll go,” Finn said, volunteering. “You stay and watch for the CTDs.”
“No,” Philby said. “We stick together.”
Finn wasn’t going to waste time arguing.
A few minutes later, the boys were climbing Maelstrom’s dry waterfall toward the ominous black cave entrance. The lip of the cave was moss-covered and slimy. There was water in the trough just beyond, so they kept to the left where a narrow ledge followed the water course. The deeper they penetrated into the ride, the darker it became. The boys used hand signals to communicate. Philby indicated for Finn to keep his eyes open.
Finn had no problem with that: his heart was about to burst in his chest.
As their eyes adjusted to the limited light, the Maelstrom world enveloped them: lush green bushes and trees, rocks, and stones. Strange things happened inside the rides and attractions in the Parks at night. The only rule was that there were no rules. Trust nothing, Finn reminded himself.
On Philby’s signal, both boys stopped and crouched.
They saw a pair of yellow, glowing eyes, tightly set. Trolls?
Finn pushed past Philby and continued along the ledge. Philby followed him as they pressed deeper into the darkness, the only light coming from the faint glow of their DHIs. Not trolls, he realized, but polar bears.
Two giant white bears, one standing, one down on all fours.
“If those things come alive…” Finn said, his voice shaking.
“We’re hamburger,” Philby said, finishing the thought for him.
“Thanks for that image,” Finn said.
“No charge.”
Morbid humor had a way of sneaking into their conversations at the strangest times.
They moved past the polar bears. There was something large and squarish up ahead to their left. Finn knew where they were.
“The cottage,” he said. “The start of the ride.”
Finn’s eyes had adjusted to where he could now see a life-size Norwegian standing in front of a cottage. Finn hurried over to a rock that was familiar to him from his last visit here as a DHI. He reached down and felt for the three handles he knew to be there.
“There’s an ax missing!” Finn whispered.
Philby stepped forward. Leaning against the rock was an old-fashioned ax and a sword. There should have been two axes.
“It’s her,” Philby said. “That’s why she came in here.”
Finn took up the sword, knowing it well from a previous visit. He handed the remaining ax to Philby.
“What would you have done?” said Charlene’s voice.
They both looked up as she stepped out of the cottage, the ax gripped in her hand.
They hurried over to her. “It is you!” Finn said. They hugged.
“You’re okay!” crowed Philby, also hugging her.
“Not really. Terrified’s more like it.” She addressed Philby. “Why did you send me here without telling me?”
“It wasn’t me,” Philby said. “It wasn’t like that. We can explain—”
“We think,” said Finn.
“But first we’ve got to Return. We’ve got to get you out of here.”
“There are CTDs out there…” she warned.
“We saw,” Finn said.
“We’ll have to be careful,” Philby said. “And if that fails…” He raised his ax.
A whizzing sound sizzled past Finn’s ear. A chopstick lodged in the painted Styrofoam scenery behind them. The next one flew through his shoulder, his pure DHI state preventing it from wounding him.
“Incoming!” he said. He felt his own terror beginning to take hold—his fingers tingling—and understood the mortal danger it presented. “No fear!” he reminded.
“Easier said than done,” Charlene cried out.
Yellow eyes glowed from across the stream. More arrows whizzed past.
“I can feel my hands,” Philby said.
“Me, too!” Charlene said. “And my feet.”
They weren’t in a state of pure DHI, which made them vulnerable to attack.
Philby and Charlene ducked behind the small rocks.