Kingdom Keepers VI(71)
“As in: forever.”
He turned and hurried into the crowd. It wasn’t hard in such an excited group. He just kept his head down and didn’t stop walking until he reached the long corridor outside the District.
Once there, he pushed his back against the paneling, shaking like a baby. Something had happened to him out on the deck during the canal passage. It was like a drain plug had been pulled and some of the bad had drained out. He didn’t know what it meant, or how it worked.
But another part of him knew that whatever these things had planned for Whitless and his gang, it would be much, much worse for him if that green thing came to understand he had warned them.
It’s the last time, he told himself—the two voices inside him battling for control.
If this kept up, he was going to go insane.
A girl with a red tint in her dark hair swept past him. Why did she look so familiar?
* * *
The air-conditioned bus bounced down a dirt road on the last leg of the forty-five-minute drive. Instead of jungle, the Costa Rican landscape on either side was brown, sun-baked grass and shrubs interrupted by the occasional copse of trees and outcropping of rock. A power line hung loosely between concrete poles, looking like it would come down in a strong breeze. The bus slowed and passed through a fence and gate delineating the Mountain Aventura Resort and Campground. The name was painted in black as a subtitle beneath bright green Spanish words.
“I’m in second-year Spanish,” Willa said to her seat mate, “and I have no idea what that says.”
“I still don’t get why he won’t even look at us,” Charlene said. In an effort to ignore Maybeck and Storey, she’d spent the ride fixated on Finn and Philby, who sat two rows from the back of the bus.
“Chill,” Willa said. “By now Terry’s freaking because you’ve barely looked at him once.”
“They’re never like this. And I don’t like it when people change for no reason.”
“You mean: you don’t like it when boys stop looking at you.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry. That came out wrong. That was mean of me.”
“Do you think I’m like that?”
“No.”
“Seriously! Am I?”
“Maybe a little. But…very little!”
Charlene went quiet, her hands pressed between her knees, her head hung.
“I upset you,” said Willa.
“What do you think? I’m a vain, shallow person who needs to be the center of attention—but only just a little.”
“I didn’t say that!”
“Yeah, actually, you did.”
“Well, then, I apologize.”
“Right.”
“They’re boys. Single-minded, socially incompetent creatures. Like me, for saying that to you.”
“Tell me how you really feel.”
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
“These two boys happen to be our friends. Friends don’t ignore friends.”
Willa lowered her voice. “We went over this. It’s their plan. They are sticking to the plan.”
“Yeah? Well, I don’t like the plan.” Charlene snorted. “Not that anyone asked.”
“You didn’t object earlier.”
“I didn’t know it was going to feel like this.”
“Boys don’t have feelings. They have plans. They have teams, schedules, and meals. You’re giving them more credit than they deserve.”
“You are in a funky mood.”
“I get carsick. I want this trip over with.” Willa paused, thinking carefully before she spoke. “Truth is: I used to love being a Keeper. But now? I’m not so sure it’s a bad thing if they replace us.”
“You can’t be serious.”
But Willa’s expression said it all.
The bus’s air brakes hissed and it came to a stop. Heads rocked back and forth.
Charlene used the tinted window as a mirror to check her face. “Vain and shallow.”
“I did not say that!” Willa stomped her foot in frustration. “I am sooooo sorry, Charlene. Can we please just erase the past five minutes?”
Charlene nodded. But she didn’t mean it.
* * *
The zip line training was done in groups of ten. The Dream team was split into two. Willa and Charlene’s half headed up the mountain on a chair lift, followed by a hike to the steeper regions of what was now forest. The trail ended at the first zip line platform and a beautiful view of a long, treed ravine with what looked like power lines stretched across it at odd intervals.
The team leader repeated all the safety instructions, and one by one the adventurers were clipped on to the pulleys that would carry them. The first of the eleven lines was the longest—one thousand feet across—and the fastest: you would fly at speeds approaching twenty-five miles per hour. At the far end the line rose to the distant platform; working against gravity slowed the zip liner. Adventurers were cautioned to remain motionless near the end and to not pull on the brake for fear of coming up short and requiring help to reach the uphill platform. But of course many people did not listen to the instructions. The first few people stopped short of the far platform and had to be hauled in, slowing down the process.