Addison climbed out of the plane and kissed the ground, not even worrying about the germs. He looked up to see Dax unplugging engine circuitry.
Sparks shot from the hot engine, followed by a blast of smoke that looked like a nonpurple version of Raj’s smoke balls.
Dax wiped soot from his face with the palms of his hands. “Oops.”
“I thought you were trying to break it,” said Addison.
“Well, I only wanted it to look broken,” said Dax sheepishly. Smoke belched from the engine.
Raj, Eddie, and Mr. Jacobsen peeled themselves out of the Cessna and joined Addison, staring at the wounded plane. The engine heaved and gasped like a wounded creature.
“Dax, can you fix this?” asked Addison. “If we rescue Molly, we might need to make a fast exit.”
“A rapid extraction,” Raj agreed.
“Well, I can’t fix it,” said Dax. “But maybe they can.”
A pair of British Royal Air Force officers jogged to the end of the runway, all polite handshakes and affable grins.
“Terribly good of you to drop in,” said the first.
“And you’re just in time for tea,” said the second. “An awfully good landing,” he added.
Addison had left England only a short while ago. But he realized with a smile just how much he had already missed the British.
* * *
• • • • • •
Addison, Eddie, and Raj left Dax in the capable hands of the Royal Air Force. Telling the RAF they just wanted a bit of exercise, they exited the air force base and hiked north along Queen Elizabeth Street in the dry and dusty afternoon heat.
They soon passed a vast salt lake that Addison was amazed to see was crowded with thousands of pink flamingos. The peculiar birds fished the shallows, balanced on their spindly chopstick legs. Listening to their warbles and chirps, Addison realized he owed Molly an apology. There really was such a thing as flamingo music.
The road overlooked the mild and mesmerizing Mediterranean. The trio followed it north, not far from the ruins of the ancient Roman city of Kourion, with its markets and theater and the houses of the gladiators. Addison was not at all surprised to see that Cyprus was dotted with more than a few cypress trees, like giant, dark green corncobs pointed at the sky. The surrounding fields were heaped with magnificent blue flowers.
“Raj,” said Addison, “what do you call those perfect blue flowers? I can never remember the name.”
“Forget-me-nots.”
“Well, I’m in seventh heaven,” Addison declared. He slapped a mosquito on his chin. “All right, maybe not seventh heaven on account of these mosquitoes. But at least fourth or fifth heaven.”
“We should keep moving,” said Raj.
“You’re right,” Addison sighed. “Molly’s out there somewhere. And if she finds out we wasted time sightseeing instead of helping her, she’ll kill us before the Collective has the chance.”
At last the road wound its way over a hill, and Kolossi Castle inched into view. It was a square stone keep, crumbling around the edges. Out of nowhere, Raj yanked Addison and Eddie into the bushes and flattened them low to the ground. He held one finger to his lips and pointed his other hand at the castle.
Addison craned his neck until he saw that the castle was surrounded by black SUVs. Men in dark glasses were pouring concrete and hauling construction equipment up a network of scaffolding. “Malazar’s rebuilding the castle.”
“I wonder why,” Raj whispered.
“Perhaps he’s making it his stronghold. Like Grand Master Jacques de Molay before him.” Addison looked at guards patrolling the forbidding castle. “Molly’s locked in there. I’m sure of it.”
He sat up in the grass and turned to his team. “All we need to do is unkidnap Molly and unsteal the tablet.”
Raj smiled. “I’ve always wanted to rescue someone from a castle. That and break a Spartan shield wall.”
“Raj, you have the strangest bucket list.”
Addison scanned the landscape. Kolossi Castle was surrounded by open fields dotted with cattle. Any daytime approach to it would be spotted unless his team all grew four legs and udders. They were going to have to wait for nightfall. “Guys, I hope you don’t have any overdue library books,” said Addison. “We may be here a while.”
“Good,” said Raj, pulling out his binoculars. “That gives us time to come up with a plan.”
Addison scratched the back of his head. “I’m guessing the castle door will be locked. So we need a way over that castle wall.”
“We could use a grappling hook,” Eddie offered.
“Great!” said Addison. “Raj, what do you think?”
“Sure. Where’s the grappling hook?”
“It’s in my father’s satchel.”
“Where’s your father’s satchel?” asked Eddie.
“Molly has it.”
“Molly’s in the castle,” said Raj.
“Hmm.” Addison frowned and crossed his arms. They were going to need something better. “We could light a bonfire,” he said. “When they open the front gate to investigate, we rush inside.”
“They’d see us,” said Raj. “We’d have to be ready to fight.”
“True,” said Addison.
“Who’s our best fighter?” asked Eddie.
“Molly is.”
“Molly’s in the castle,” said Raj.
“Hmm.” Addison furrowed his brow. “C’mon,” he said, growing impatient. “We must be capable of doing something without Molly. I want ideas. There are no bad ideas in brainstorming.”
“We just need to take out the guards,” said Eddie. “Knock them unconscious.”
“Good. Raj?”
“We’d need some sort of long-range weapon.”
“You mean like a sling?” asked Addison.
“Exactly.”
“Who’s our best slinger?” asked Eddie.
“Molly is,” said Addison.
“Molly’s in the castle,” said Raj.
“Hmm.”
All three were silent for a moment.
“All right,” said Addison. “We need a great idea that doesn’t involve Molly. There are no bad ideas in brainstorming, except for ideas that require Molly.”
“What if,” said Eddie, his eyes shut with concentration, “instead of lighting a bonfire outside the castle, we light a bonfire inside the castle.”
“That’s a pretty big distraction,” said Addison. “I like what I’m hearing.”
“All the guards run to put out the fire. So the castle gate is unguarded,” Eddie continued. “I pick the lock, and one of us sprints inside while no one is looking.”
“This assumes,” said Addison, “that the gate is not shut with a lock bar. And that we can find a way to light a fire inside the castle.”
“Sure,” said Eddie. “There are a few kinks to work out.”
“Okay,” said Addison. “Raj, what do you think?”
“It could work, but we’d need a fast runner to pull it off.”
“Who’s our fastest runner?” asked Eddie.
“Molly is.”
“Molly’s in the castle,” said Raj.
“Hmm.”
* * *
• • • • • •
Dusk settled upon the land. The castle stood out black against the deepening blue of the evening sky. Addison, Raj, and Eddie grew hungry and divvied up a pile of pistachios Raj had pocketed during their feast in Malazar’s hotel suite. Raj insisted the food was reserved for an emergency, but Eddie insisted that a missed dinnertime constituted an emergency, so they split open all the nuts with Addison’s butterfly knife.
Addison felt bad that he had not thought ahead about bringing more food for dinner. But he explained to Eddie and Raj that he was in the business of r
escuing sisters and stealing tablets, and not in the business of remembering meals.
A bone-chilling wind whipped in off the Mediterranean, stinging their eyes with dust and tousling their hair. The wind howled across the desolate land, shaking the bent trees and scattering leaves across the dried rushes. Addison turned up the collar on his suit jacket and hugged his arms tightly around his knees.
It wasn’t until they were on the last three pistachios that Eddie remembered what day it was. “Merry Christmas, Addison. Happy holidays, Raj.”
“Happy holidays, guys,” said Addison.
The winds blew colder, and the team settled in to wait for absolute dark. Once the night was as black as possible, they began their assault on the castle.
Chapter Thirty
The Break-In
FULL DARK ARRIVED BEFORE they had settled on a complete plan. Addison didn’t love the plan, but he didn’t love sitting around wasting time, either. This was a time for action, no matter how hastily planned or ill-advised.
The plan, in a nutshell, was to sneak into the castle and hope that Malazar and the Collective would have their collective guard down because it was Christmas.
Eddie found the plan preposterous. “What, do you think that Malazar and Ivan are going to be singing carols around a piano? Or maybe you’re picturing them in their pajamas opening up presents around a Christmas tree?”
Raj was similarly skeptical. “More than half the people on earth don’t even celebrate Christmas.”
Addison sighed. “I’m not saying this is our best plan. I’m not even sure it can be called a plan. But we’ve had two hours to brainstorm, and we’ve barely managed a braindrizzle. Molly is in danger, and we can’t wait any longer.”
When clouds shrouded the luminous moon, Addison stole across the dry flats toward the castle. Raj and Eddie loped behind him. He had given them a few pointers from his stealth training with Uncle Jasper. Raj clearly had a talent for it. Eddie was more of a work in progress.
Addison froze when the moonlight broke through the moving clouds. He could see the dark silhouette of a guard in the high tower of Kolossi Castle. If the guard was watching the flats, he would have an easy time spotting their movement.
When passing clouds once more darkened the moon, Addison crept slowly forward. He crouched low, blending with the landscape, sticking close to clumps of stunted olive trees and a screen of waving reeds. When he closed within one hundred paces of the front gate, he slowed to a glacial pace, moving with the silence of a wraith.
Eddie moved with the silence of a rampaging moose. He somehow managed to walk smack into an oak branch, catching the brunt of it with his face. He clawed at the air and fell over backward into a thornbush.
Addison and Raj froze as if turned to stone. It was a full five minutes before Addison allowed anyone to move. Very slowly, he and Raj freed Eddie from the thorns. Pulling Eddie out of a pricker bush proved to be almost as noisy as throwing him in would have been. At last, with sore thumbs and scratched arms, they worked him free.
Addison glared at Eddie in the half-light. “Eddie,” he whispered fiercely. “Did you happen to bring your piano with you?”
Eddie shook his head.
“How about an accordion? Or a tambourine?”
Eddie shook his head again.
“Then how are you making so much noise?”
Eddie lifted his chin indignantly. “Do you want my help or not?”
Addison sighed. “Eddie, I apologize. Just move directly behind me and place your feet where I place mine.”
Eddie nodded and they set off again.
Addison eased through the darkness so slowly that his motion was almost undetectable. Each step was an exercise in patience. He used each foot to clear a space on the ground of any crunching leaves or snapping twigs before placing his weight. It took fifteen minutes to cover the last fifty feet to the castle gate.
They stood protected under the shadow of the high castle wall. They were now invisible from the guard in the high tower. Lights were on inside the bailey, and a few snippets of Russian conversation carried on the wind. Addison knew there were plenty of Collective members collected inside the castle.
Raj began stretching his limbs and limbering up. He tied a length of rope around his waist. Raj’s job was to use his rock-climbing skills to scale the castle wall.
Addison positioned Eddie a few feet away in the cover of a wind-bent cypress tree. From this vantage point, Eddie could spot anyone coming from the main road or attempting to cross the flats. “Eddie, what do you see?”
“Cows,” said Eddie. “Lots of cows.”
Raj stared up at the high wall looming over them. It seemed much taller up close.
Addison patted him on the shoulder. “Can you do it?”
“Maybe.”
“Raj, Molly’s in there.”
Raj took a deep breath, steeling his courage. “Okay.” He patted his hands in the chalky dirt to help his grip.
“The trick is to not get yourself killed,” Addison added helpfully.
Raj found a toehold in the rock wall and began climbing. He wedged his fingers into the uneven stones, wind-worn by centuries, and gradually worked his way higher. Twelve feet up, he paused, searching for a foothold. His arms began shaking from the strain.
Far below, Addison held his breath.
At last, Raj stretched his leg wide and found purchase in a cleft of cracked mortar beneath a large stone. He got his breath back and scaled his way higher.
Addison managed to tear his nervous eyes from Raj and scan the dark horizon for any sign of an intruder. He didn’t want Ivan to return home from a trip to the grocery store and surprise Raj halfway up the castle wall. He thought he spotted movement in the pasture to the south. “Eddie,” he whispered, pointing past an olive grove. “What’s over there?”
Eddie peered at distant shapes moving in the night. “Cows, cows, and more cows,” he whispered, adding, “I’m having déjà moo.”
Raj reached the crenellated bumps of the castle rampart. Against the dark sky, they looked like gapped teeth in a giant’s jaw. He pulled himself over the lip and onto the high stone parapet.
Addison felt his heart start beating again. He wiped sweat from his brow and was thankful for his new sweatproof ballroom dance jacket.
Raj untied the rope from around his waist and looped it around one of the stone merlons in the sawtoothed rampart. He rapidly tied a square knot, a bowline, and two half hitches, as only a Boy Scout can. He leaned over the parapet, gave a thumbs-up, and tossed the free end of the rope down to Addison’s waiting hands.
This was the part Addison dreaded most: the climbing. He didn’t love being chased through London by gun-toting Russian mobsters. He wasn’t thrilled about speedboat races through Paris sewers. But he would take either one in a heartbeat over having to climb a massive stone wall. He reminded himself that he had somehow succeeded in climbing one castle wall already, back at the Fortress in Paris. Castles walls should be old hat to him now. But Raj’s rope did not have foothold knots like Molly’s, and the entire experience seemed altogether less pleasant.
Halfway up, Addison looped the trailing end of the rope around his waist so that if he fell, he wouldn’t fall quite so far. He chanced a glance down at the drop, which, if it didn’t kill him, would not improve his health. He clamped his eyes shut and continued climbing.
Addison felt he had aged ten years by the time Raj grabbed his trembling arms and pulled him over the battlement. He lay down on the parapet, gasping until the world stopped spinning, or at least, stopped spinning in the wrong direction.
By the time Addison felt ready to attempt the long climb to his own feet, Eddie had scaled the wall as well. Addison admired Raj’s square knot and half hitches, tied to textbook perfection. Those knots had held his life in the balance. He shook Raj’s hand. “Thank you,
Raj.”
Raj looked down shyly at the stone floor and shucked his feet.
Addison gripped Raj’s hand more firmly. “I’m serious. Pulling you out of Boy Scouts is like pulling da Vinci out of art class. It’s a crime.”
Raj sighed. “Thanks, Addison.”
Eddie dusted himself off. “Should we take the rope with us?”
“No, leave it,” whispered Addison. “We may need a quick escape.” He made a mental note of the location of the rope: the fifth stone merlon to the left of the main gate. He peered over the inside parapet into the castle courtyard below. It swarmed with activity. Outdoor lights were powered by a generator. Men dug trenches, filling wheelbarrows with dirt. Others sifted the dirt through screens. To Addison’s surprise, he realized he was looking at a full-blown archaeological dig.
He recognized members of the Collective swinging hammers and pulling saws. Addison figured they were building living quarters to house the crew. There was a stacked pyramid of paint cans by the well, where some men were painting the freshly built barracks. The new buildings were black with blood-red trim, giving the castle a sinister air. Addison counted seventeen men in all, but no sign of Ivan or Malazar.
“What are they digging for?” Raj whispered.
Addison shrugged and shook his head. He scanned the castle for any sign of a dungeon or steps leading down to a basement. “If you were keeping Molly prisoner, where would you put her?”
Without a word, Raj pointed to the high tower looming over them, casting them in its ominous shadow.
“You’re not suggesting we go up there,” Eddie said, his whispered voice tremulous in the thin night air.
Addison nodded solemnly. The crooked tower narrowed at the top like a witch’s hat. The group hunched low and followed the parapet to the tower’s grim, crumbling entrance. It was time to find Molly.
Chapter Thirty-One
The Castle Tower
ADDISON LED THE TEAM through a low stone archway and onto a catwalk over the main gate. Raj pointed excitedly. From their high vantage point, they could see the defensive works of the castle. Loop holes for raining arrows down on anyone attacking the gate. Murder holes for pouring boiling hot oil onto any intruders who survived the arrows.
Addison Cooke and the Ring of Destiny Page 16