Brass Monkeys

by Terry Caszatt

  “Well, good for you. Maybe we should sing a hymn now,” said Jack. He turned to me. “Listen, kid, I just want to point out two more facts before you go running off with your head in your pocket. First, McGinty won’t be out in the ruins because they’re mostly gone. There’d be no place to hide. Second, the ruins are too close to Mingley’s own school. And because it’s close, Mingley has that area patrolled by Devos. He’s a little hump-backed former principal from Kansas who flies around in a hovercraft and sucks up his victims in some kind of huge, oversized Hoover. If you’re stupid enough to go out there, he’s likely to nail you.”

  I was about to snap back with a cocky reply, but I never got a word out. A rumble of drums sounded just down the street. Jack, Teddy, and I heard them, and Jack quickly signed to Lilah. I craned around with the others trying to see what was going on.

  “Oh, this is sweet,” muttered Jack. He turned to Teddy. “You certainly picked a clever street to park on!”

  “Why?” said Teddy. He looked confused. “Is it a parade?”

  Lilah had turned pale. “Teddy, you parked on the procession route.”

  “What’s that?” I asked. “Are we in trouble?”

  “Big trouble,” said Jack. “Mingley picked this street to march the kids out to her school. The Big Lady and her buddies will be coming right by us.”

  Just as he said that, several squads of Stormies ran past, their weapons at the ready. They were taking positions along the route.

  Jack expelled his breath harshly. “Great. We’re stuck now.”

  I moved quickly to the window at the back of the van and the others crowded around me. The drums had gotten louder, and now I heard the first notes of the “March of the Midnight Scholars.” That caused a surge of panic in me, and to make it worse, I saw a brilliant flash of red. Ming’s hair. She, Strobe, and Fundabore came clearly into view, marching at the head of the Grindsville kids. Behind the kids came Grindsville’s orangutan teachers, then a drone band.

  Lilah glanced over at me. “Billy, I’m so sorry you had to see this.”

  I shook my head, trying to let her know I didn’t blame anyone. I didn’t trust my voice because I had already spotted Harriet. She, Alvin, and Weeser were in the first rank. Their monkey fur gleamed a darkish brown in the bright light.

  Jack and the others moved quickly to the side windows to get a better view, and I followed. I peered out just as Ming, Fundabore, and Strobe marched past. All three looked distinctly unhappy. Ming’s face had a scarlet tinge to it and her mouth was set in a grim line.

  Jack shot me an amused look. “Boy, I wonder why she looks so upset?”

  I shuddered because I knew exactly why. “Are they going to march all the way to the school?” I asked in a hushed voice.

  “Hardly,” said Jack. “Mingley, Fundabore, and Strobe march to the edge of the city, then ride the rest of the way. The band takes over and leads the others on.”

  “How long does it take to march them out there?” I wanted to know.

  “About an hour,” said Lilah. “That’s what we’ve been told.”

  I felt an overwhelming sense of desperation as Harriet, Alvin, and Weeser approached. I only had three days to get them out of here, and they were already on the way to Ming’s terrifying school.

  Fundabore turned now and screeched out a command. In unison, the kids and teachers began keeping time by first scratching their heads, then their armpits.

  All but Harriet. Incredibly, she was still fighting back. She wasn’t scratching anything. And then something really amazing happened. As she passed, Harriet turned and looked directly at us.

  “Jeezo-peezo,” whispered Teddy, “I think she’s looking at you, Billy.”

  I couldn’t help myself, and I instinctively raised my hand in a kind of timid wave. Harriet made no response, but continued to stare in my direction a few more seconds before looking ahead.

  Jack, Lilah, and Teddy turned and gave me a questioning look.

  “Bumpus,” said Jack, “what was that all about? That kid’s not Monkeymind.”

  “You could see she’s fighting them all the way,” said Lilah in an awed voice. “And there was something so powerful and mysterious about that look.”

  I wanted to use Harriet’s word and say there was something like fate in that look, but I didn’t have the nerve to go into it. “That’s Harriet,” I said. “She’s uh, a friend of mine. She’s so smart and …” I started to say something else, but my throat tightened up.

  “Strong,” added Lilah. You could hear the admiration in her voice.

  I struggled to control myself. “I have to get her out,” I said. I almost went on and blurted out the awful truth—how in a cowardly moment I had let her down and brought about the entire kidnapping, but I held it in.

  “Uh-oh,” said Jack. “I think we’ve got trouble.” He signed something to Lilah, then turned and peered back down the street. A knot of Stormies was coming along the line, stopping at various vehicles.

  “What are they doing?” I asked.

  “They’re searching the vans,” Jack replied. “Just the vans.”

  “You mean, they’re looking for us?” My voice shook.

  “Bingo, kid,” said Jack. “My guess is some drone spotted us leaving the music shop and called it in. And now the Stormies got a tip that we might be here.”

  “This is frightening,” Teddy warbled out. “What are we going to do?”

  No one said a word for a few seconds. The last of the procession was passing now and the regular traffic was pulling in behind it.

  “I say we head for Adjana’s ruins,” I piped up. “Just rip it out of here.”

  Lilah said, “I agree,” but then turned nervously to Teddy. “Do we have enough food and water to make it out there and back?”

  Teddy blinked. “I think so. Maybe.”

  Jack gave me a grim look. “If you go out to the ruins, Bumpus, you’re going to die out there. I’m telling you straight ahead, it’s suicidal.

  And I’m not into that.” He yanked out the chalk pistol and popped the cylinder to check the load. “So I think it’s time we went our separate ways.”

  “Jack, listen, please,” I began. “We need you with us. I mean, you’re the only one who’s got the chest hair for this. You’ve got the gun and the guts to go with it. We don’t.” I was blundering on and losing control. “You gotta stick with us or for sure we’re gonna end up looking like … like bloated road-kill!”

  Lilah got all this from Teddy’s nervous signing, and I could tell he muffed some of it because she was giving me a wide-eyed look and muttering, “Floated toads?” Jack jumped in then, clearing it up with some decisive signing.

  Lilah expelled her breath. “Billy’s right. That’s exactly what we’ll look like.”

  “Then don’t go out there,” snapped Jack. “Simple as that.” I could tell he’d made up his mind. His blue eyes had a far-off look. “I’m just going to step along now, guys.” He gave me a grin. “Bumpus, it’s been great being with you and the Wild Bunch here.” He nodded at Teddy. “Thanks for the ride and the sandwich.”

  He turned to say something to Lilah, but there was something smoldering in her dark eyes that bothered him. I couldn’t tell if it was anger or what. Anyway, he couldn’t meet her look. He turned away quickly, then yanked open the back door and jumped out. The door slammed shut and he was gone.

  We sat there for a moment in stunned silence.

  “That was a big mistake,” whispered Lilah. “He should have stayed.”

  I nodded. I felt sick inside.

  “You never, never split up like that,” intoned Teddy. “In the movies what happens when one person splits off like that? Always?”

  “The Stormies are only two vans away from us,” I said in a wobbly voice.

  Lilah snapped a look into her side mirror. “Your call, Billy. We can run like Jack did, or we can go for the ruins.”

  I took a shuddering breath. “I don’t have a choice.�
��

  22

  a pink ear rises from the sand

  “It’s gotta be the ruins,” I said.

  Lilah nodded. “I understand completely. Let’s go east!”

  We scrambled into the cab. Teddy took the wheel, while Lilah sat near the door and I was scrunched in between them.

  “Check the Stormies,” said Lilah. She peered into the side mirror.

  From where I sat I couldn’t see a thing, but it didn’t matter because Teddy made up his own mind.

  “They’re not looking!” he cried. “I’m putting the pedal to the metal!”

  He took us swiftly out into the traffic and we nearly collided with a truck. Then at the very first intersection he swung the wheel hard to the left and we headed down an empty sidestreet, our load in back rattling wildly.

  “Yes!” Teddy yelled. “We’re headed east! Look at my jim dandy little compass on the dash!” A big old-fashioned car compass sat stick-ered to the dash. The needle inside wallowed heavily in some kind of gluey liquid, but now it seemed to be pointing to the ‘E.’ “Never lets me down,” crowed Teddy. “Old stuff—I love it!”

  He drove rapidly through the side streets of Monkeyopolis, and it must have taken a good twenty minutes to get to the eastern edge of the city. Stormie factories and warehouses jammed the area. There was a ton of truck and van traffic around them, so it was easy for us to blend in. We kept going east until we found ourselves in a narrow lane heading past the last factory, a building with a sign on top that read CLOAK AND BELL—DRESS FOR FAILURE!

  “That’s where they make the clothing for the Stormies,” Lilah said. “All those ugly green dresses and plaid sport coats …”

  We continued down the narrow road another hundred yards, then suddenly we came to the empty desert in all its pastel glory. I was amazed that there wasn’t a fence or a wall. It appeared to be totally open. Teddy brought the van to a halt.

  “Where are the guards?” I asked, and Teddy dutifully signed it.

  Lilah smiled grimly. “They say they don’t need any. First, because the desert kills most of the runaways, and second, because Devos gets the rest.”

  Looking around tensely, Lilah and Teddy scanned the sky.

  Teddy cleared his throat and signed and spoke. “He could be anywhere.” He looked at me, his eyes wide. “Billy, he has a machine on board that sucks you up, then grinds you into teensy tiny pieces.”

  “Teddy, that’s enough,” snapped Lilah. “You’re just scaring yourself.”

  “True,” he muttered. He put the van into gear. “Okay, grab onto something. We’re going out!”

  Teddy stepped on the gas and we went clattering and banging past some thorny bushes and out into the open desert. I glanced back at the line of factories behind us. Certainly someone working in them must have seen us. Lilah looked over and caught my eye. She nodded. She knew exactly what I was thinking.

  “Teddy, let’s use a little subterfuge,” she said. “Turn south for a bit.”

  “Why?”

  “Just do it.”

  He shrugged, then turned the wheel, and we watched as the compass swung over to the ‘S.’ We went on like that for several minutes, then we dropped down into a narrow valley and I was pretty sure we couldn’t be seen by anyone in the factories.

  “Now back on the easterly course,” said Lilah. “If any of the drones in the factories saw us, they’ll tell the Stormies we were headed south.”

  “Wow, that was cool,” I said. “That’s sure to throw them off our track.”

  “Yeah, we made the Stormies eat some subtle fudge,” said Teddy. He grinned widely at me. “Huh, Billy? Not subterfuge, but some subtle fudge. Get it?”

  “I got it,” I said. “Pretty clever.”

  Teddy steered with his knee so he could sign. “Lilah, did you get it?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Got it, Teddy.”

  Teddy slapped the steering wheel happily. “Boy, I’m feeling good!”

  Next, he decided Lilah should lead us in singing “I’ve Got Sixpence.” I sang along for a bit, but somehow I couldn’t get into the spirit. Seeing Jack leave had been hard. For me he was still that heroic guy coming down the sidewalk and fighting off the Stormies. Without him, I thought our chances were slim.

  We rattled slowly through the desert, the van shaking like crazy and never hitting more than fifteen miles an hour in the soft sand. We kept scanning the sky, looking for Devos and his hovercraft. We had several false alarms, all set off by Teddy, who mistook a flock of birds, a big rock, and a smudge on the window for potential menaces.

  It got hotter and hotter in the cab. After awhile it seemed like we were on an endless road going nowhere. The terrain consisted of gently rolling hills of sand, with a cactus-like tree now and then. Sometime during this barren stretch, I must have dozed off. The next thing I knew, I was swept into a horrible nightmare.

  I was in a dimly lit gym somewhere and was being pursued by Ming, Fundabore, and Strobe. At first it seemed like a game of tag, but scary tag. Then they began to bombard me with volleyballs, nearly knocking me down with the force of their throws. Then the balls disappeared and they held long-needled syringes! They kept trying to jab them into the Amberlight spot behind my ear. I ran and dodged as hard as I could, but I could feel the needles piercing my neck, my head, and face … That’s when I woke up, yelling bloody murder.

  Teddy and Lilah were trying to hold me down.

  “Billy, what is it?” cried Lilah. “What’s wrong?”

  I took a few gulping breaths and told them about the dream.

  Lilah gave me a sympathetic look. “I think it’s the awful heat,” she said. “Teddy, give him some water, for heaven’s sakes.”

  Teddy brought out a canteen and handed it to me. “Don’t go too hard on it,” he warned. “That’s all we’ve got. I do have some more baloney sandwiches, though.”

  I waved off the food but took a few swallows of water. I had just handed the canteen back to Teddy when a distant explosion echoed out over the desert.

  I tensed. “What the heck was that?”

  Another blast came rolling faintly over the sand hills. I saw Teddy sign something to Lilah and they exchanged a tense look.

  “It’s the fireworks over by Mingley’s school,” Teddy said, speaking and signing.

  Lilah shivered. “It means the kids are getting close to the front entrance.”

  I cleared my throat nervously. “So what happens when they get there?”

  “We’ve never seen any of it,” Lilah replied, “but the drones say she brings them inside for some kind of psychological evaluation. That goes on until noon blink, then they assemble in the gym for something called Kaleidoscope.”

  “Then she gives them some Zorca to keep them calm and in line,” said Teddy.

  “What’s Zorca?” I asked and watched Teddy sign it to Lilah.

  “It’s a tranquilizer,” replied Lilah. “They give it to the kids in little cups just before they leave to come down, then after they get here. The effects of the music and incense begin to wear off, so they need something to keep them in line.”

  “After Zorca,” said Teddy quietly, “Mingley sends them to their first class.”

  “First class?” I could barely get the words out, it frightened me so much.

  Lilah nodded. “It’s the start of the final preparation for the kids. The three days of classes make them so sick and desperate that all their Amberlight finally gathers into one spot, ready for extraction.”

  The thought of Harriet losing her Amberlight made me physically ill. “We’ve got to hurry,” I said.

  Teddy was signing this to Lilah when he stopped abruptly. “What’s the matter?” he asked.

  “Look ahead,” said Lilah. Her even-toned voice rose with tension.

  I turned and looked. In the distance, distorted a bit in the shimmering desert heat, was a strange sight. It looked like a giant pink ear rising from the sand.

  23

  the man
in the four-wed hat

  “It’s the ruins,” Lilah whispered. Her voice shook a little. “I’d always heard there was a pink band shell near Adjana’s school. I just never dreamed I’d see it.”

  The van surged ahead and my stomach muscles tightened.

  “Why did Adjana have a band shell near the school?” I wanted to know.

  Teddy smiled in a happy, distant way. “Because she liked to start each day of school with music. In fact, she used it all through the day.”

  “Really?” I was astounded. “Man, that is too unbelievable. Imagine going to a school like that. Would I be flying or what?” Then I had a horrible thought. “Wait, Ming does that too. She uses music—that stupid ‘March of the Midnight Scholars.’“

  Teddy finished signing that, but Lilah had read my lips and was way ahead.

  “That’s because she also knows the power of music,” she said. “The difference is, Mingley chooses music that depresses and destroys the spirit.”

  As we drew closer, I could see the ruins more clearly. Basically the school was nothing more than a jumble of charred wooden beams. A few broken panes of glass winked forlornly in the light. The band shell lay just a few yards beyond.

  “It’s a little depressing,” I murmured. “How come Adjana built her school way out here—smack in the middle of nowhere? It’s so lonely.”

  “You don’t understand, Billy,” said Lilah. “This used to be green country with lots of pines and grasslands. But it all changed when Mingley took over.”

  “What’d she do,” I said, “breathe on everything and kill it?”

  Teddy laughed and slapped his knee. “That’s a ripper, Billy. She breathed on it and killed the grass!” He signed and repeated this a second time.

  “Teddy, for heaven’s sakes,” said Lilah, “I get the joke.” She gave me a wry look. “What happened was that Mingley destroyed the original source of light down here, which was an ancient set of lenses that brought the rays of the sun down from the surface.”