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Kingdom Keepers IV(94)



“Now, now, little girl, don’t be foolish,” Cruella said. “Hand that over to me this instant.” She flicked the ash off the burning cigarette at the end of her ebony-and-ivory holder, aiming the ember at Charlene’s face. “You wouldn’t want to see me when I’m mad.”

Maybeck scooped up an office chair, holding it above his head threateningly. “Whoever you are,” he said to Hugo, “you’re new at this. Let me tell you something about being a DHI: the slightest bit of fear and you’re partly human, partly hologram. It’s a glitch in the system that’s never been worked out. So if you think this chair is going to pass through you, you’re mistaken. Now, let go of that switch.”

Charlene matched each advancing step Cruella took, backing away from her.

“Drop the chair!” Hugo shouted, his hand still on the switch. “Do it, or we all go poof! And if Goldilocks there pushes that button, we might just…evaporate.”

Maybeck’s eyes darted. Cruella’s burning cigarette was closing in on Charlene’s face.

“Do it,” Maybeck said. He wanted her to push the Return.

If I push the button, I drop the fob and we’ll lose it again, Charlene was thinking. She banged into the counter behind her. Her hand felt a drawer handle. She hooked a finger into the handle and pulled the drawer open slightly. If she knew where to find the Return, they could come back to get it. She held it in her hand over the open drawer.

Cruella eyed the Queen through the office windows, clearly wanting her powers to throw spells. But the Queen was still struck by her own reflection.

Hugo Montcliff’s hand remained on the oversized switch. “You hit me with that chair, pal, and you’re going to be the one who throws this switch.”

“I suggest we all calm down,” said Cruella. “This is what we call a stalemate.”

* * *

As they crossed Superstition Bridge, Finn and Amanda heard the voices from within Fort Langhorn. They hurried to the left to avoid being seen.

“I can’t believe it!” Finn said.

“It sounds like a convention or something.”

“Of Overtakers.”

“You think?”

“I promise.” Eager to get a look inside, Finn moved toward the fort’s open gate. He sneaked a peek, his heart beating painfully in his chest with what he saw. The Horned King from The Black Cauldron. Gaston. Prince John from Robin Hood. He’d seen all three in a single glance. Milling throughout the center courtyard were pirates and a dozen other characters Finn had seen before but couldn’t name.

He slipped back next to Amanda, breathing hard. “This is it,” he said, winded by nerves. “Their hideout.”

“What now?”

“If the Queen and Cruella are asleep, there’s a good chance they’re in there,” he said.

“We’re going in there?”

In the distance, across the bridge, the pirate was stirring. He’d be on his feet any minute. He’d sound the alarm. The bridge was the only way off the island.

“We’ve got serious problems,” Finn said. “Follow me.”

He led her around the side of the fort so the waking pirate wouldn’t spot them. “They’re all in there,” he told her. “You can’t believe how many.” Then he said somewhat desperately, “There are only five of us. Seven, counting you and Jess.”

“Ariel told Willa there are many, many more. That they’re waiting for a leader.”

Finn skidded to a stop.

“What?” he gasped. “Why didn’t I hear about this?”

She shrugged. “Girl talk,” she said. “She knows…we all know how hung up you are on living up to Wayne’s expectations.”

“That’s not true.”

“Isn’t it?” said Amanda.

“Who said I’m the leader?”

“You see?” she said. “That’s what I’m talking about.”

They continued along the fort wall, sneaking past the door leading to Pappy’s Fishing Pier and kept following the wall as it turned again.

“Don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad,” said Finn.

“You’re stewing.”

“What’s that?”

“That’s what Mrs. Nash calls it when you get so mad you won’t talk. She doesn’t let us stew. Everything gets out in the open.”

“I’m not stewing,” he said.

“If you say so.”

Then he stewed some more, not knowing what to say. They rounded the third corner.

“Are we just going to go around in a full circle, or what?” she asked.

“I remember coming here with my family years ago,” he said. “And maybe I’m mixing it up with the tunnels on the other island, but I’m pretty sure there’s a secret escape tunnel running from the fort.”