by Morris, Chad
“I usually just say everything I’m thinking,” Carol said.
“I’ve noticed,” Abby said. She took a big bite of salad so she wouldn’t have to talk. Carol shrugged and bit into her hamburger. Somehow she managed to chew off nearly a third of it. Not very ladylike, but impressive. With her mouth full, she might be quiet for a minute. Of course, there was no guarantee.
“Muns sent me a message,” Abby finally mumbled.
Carol stopped chewing. “I knew it,” she said, her mouth half-full. She quickly chomped and swallowed. “I was trying to let you say it first. My geography teacher told me that I need to be more discretionary with what I say. I think she thinks I talk too much, but I’m going to try it anyway. That was pretty good, right?”
“Yes, but how did you know?”
“He sent me one too. I was kind of flattered. It’s the first time any president of multiple companies has ever sent me a personal message. Really, it’s probably the first of many. He told me not to get involved and that things are about to get crazy. Well, I guess he didn’t say crazy, but that’s what he meant. That guy is so creepy—he gives me the creepy creep-a-loos. He really should look into a film career. He could be the bad guy in just about anything. Oh! He’d be a fantastic Iago or Dracula—or Satan!”
“If you reply to him, you ought to tell him that,” Abby said.
“Thanks. I’m usually quite insightful and helpful. I’ll send it with my suggestion that he take a flaming jump in a lake of gasoline.”
Before Abby could ask her friend any more about her message, Derick sat down next to her. “Hey, you two.”
“Hel-lo,” Carol said, twisting to face Derick and wink. “Did you beat Rafa in your big end-of-semester race?”
“No,” Derick answered, raising his overstuffed hamburger to his mouth. “Dumb prodigy.”
“I understand your jealousy,” Carol said. “He’s pretty fantastic, plus his long hair is so shiny. I can never get my hair past the dull glow phase.”
Derick held up a finger to signal that he needed a moment to chew. “You’re not really helping, Carol. Let’s not talk about it.”
“Okay,” Carol said. “We’ll go back to what we were talking about before—how Muns sent us—” Carol cut herself off by slamming her hands over her mouth. “Not discretionary. I shouldn’t have said that. Your hotness kind of confuses my thinker.”
Derick set down his burger. “You too, huh? He didn’t have anything on me other than the fact that Grandpa pulled me up in the assembly. Muns told me to leave this all alone.” Several months before, Grandpa had brought all three of them, plus Rafa and the two gym coaches, on stage in an assembly to thank them for helping save him. It had been televised.
“That’s all he had on me, too.” Carol pointed to herself. “Which was kind of disappointing, because we both did so much more than that. We should get more credit for stopping Sir Evilbritches.”
“I’d better send a message to Rafa,” Derick said. “If the three of us got messages, chances are he got one too.” Derick’s fingers moved quickly.
“Good idea,” Abby said.
“This is intense,” Carol said. “Threatening messages from an evil guy. Me across the table from a really attractive guy. Kids who know a huge secret that could destroy the world. Sitting across the table from a really attractive guy.”
“You said that one twice,” Abby pointed out.
“Maybe it was twice as exciting.” Carol raised her eyebrows.
If Derick heard, he didn’t acknowledge any of it.
“Rafa got one too,” Derick said, apparently reading a message on his rings. “Muns knows about all four of us.”
Abby knew Muns had the most on her. She was the only one he had seen go back in time and save her parents. For the rest, he was banking on the fact that Grandpa had presented them in the assembly. Grandpa had done it as a strategic move to bring attention to them, making it harder for anything to happen to them without the world finding out. Perhaps it had backfired.
“What do you think’s about to happen?” Abby asked.
“I wish I knew,” Derick said.
“All I know,” Carol answered, “is that I really don’t like this. It’s like that moment in the movies when the evil mastermind is so confident in his plan that he actually tips his hand.”
“It seems just like that,” Abby said, a little surprised she was agreeing with one of Carol’s random statements. “And I hate the fact that Muns is so confident.”
4
Little Round Top
Derick rubbed the locket in his hands. He checked over his shoulder before turning down the janitor’s hallway.
Classes were over for the day—for the semester. His history teacher had let them select whatever they wanted to watch using the Bridge. They saw the Wright Brothers’ first flight, Walt Disney drawing his first cartoon, Evel Knievel crashing his motorcycle after jumping the fountains at Caesar’s Palace—ouch!, Muhammad Ali boxing Joe Frazier, and Taylor Swift’s final concert. They played “Name That Tune” in music class, but with a twist. After the music played for twenty seconds, the teacher would show the artist performing it using the Bridge. That helped a lot. Derick had done all right for his team, guessing Beethoven’s “Für Elise,” Duke Ellington’s “Take the A Train,” and John William’s theme music to Star Wars. Of course the other classes had their final tests, presentations, and parties, but he hadn’t thought about them much. He didn’t even allow himself to daydream about what the avatar club might be like. He only thought about Muns’s message and the locket.
As he moved down the empty hall, he surveyed the crown molding. Decorative squares hung evenly spaced along the ridged border. Most had the tower of the Cragbridge insignia carved into them, but Derick knew one was different. Perhaps only one. Last semester he and his sister Abby had discovered a square showing a ship stuck in the ice. There it was. No one would notice the difference if they didn’t know what to look for. With a quick jump, he pressed the square. A slab of the brick wall pivoted as if on hinges, leaving enough room for Derick to slip into a secret hallway unnoticed by anyone in the school. The brick wall closed behind him.
Memories flooded his mind as he walked down the dimly lit corridor and began climbing down the chilly steel rungs of a ladder deep into the basement of Cragbridge Hall. The last time he was here, his parents’ lives were on the line. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, not wanting to remember. He had failed facing this challenge, the final challenge in a series to gain a key that could allow him to enter the past and save his parents. He wanted to spit . . . as if he could taste the lingering defeat. Thankfully, Abby had succeeded.
Derick remembered Muns’s message. He was about to strike again, but this time Derick could have a key. And if Muns tried to alter history, Derick could use that key to fight against the man who had kidnapped his grandpa and endangered his parents. All he had to do was finish where Dr. Mackleprank left off. He had to face the same sort of challenge that stopped him last time.
He could do this. His grandfather trusted him to do it. Dr. Mackleprank believed he could. And most of all, using the final key was the only way to help prevent Muns from changing the past.
Derick shook his head. He didn’t normally have to tell himself that he could do something. Then again, until the last time in the simulator, he couldn’t really remember the last time he had failed. He got into Cragbridge Hall. He made the competition soccer team. He even made his own virtual samurai game. But he had failed when it was most important. And to top it off, he had lost the avatar race to Rafa. He hoped failing wasn’t going to become a habit.
Derick had climbed down for what felt like more than three stories before he finally reached the floor. He had no sooner touched the ground when the image of Grandpa appeared, glowing in the darkness. He walked through the image as his grandfather explained that he had developed a simulator that would allow him to feel what a figure in history felt.
“If you
are to proceed,” Derick heard his grandfather’s recorded voice behind him, “you must complete a challenge that someone through history has passed. The question is, will you? Doing so will take more than curiosity or knowledge. You must have a cause so important that, like these people in history, you absolutely refuse to give up. If not, you will not pass.”
Give up. He hadn’t meant to give up. It was only—he thought of his last time in the simulator—a bear attacking him like it had a famous mountain man in history. It had been too much. He could still feel every blow.
Derick exhaled and approached a large metal door with thick bars and gears that had locked it closed. Secure-looking lockers covered the wall beside it. Today he would not give up. He would survive whatever challenge he faced. He opened the locket that Dr. Mackleprank had given him and removed a small key. It was not the final key that would allow him to change time, but it would open a locker along the wall. Derick retrieved a visor and sensors. They were similar to those from the avatar lab. He knew his life wouldn’t be in any real danger, but he would feel every pain until he came back out again. He had to have the same determination and will, the same character as a great person in history. He had to prove that he deserved the final key.
A lump formed in his gut. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard just thinking about it. “Failing once doesn’t really mean anything,” he whispered to himself. “How many people would last as long as I did against a grizzly?”
• • •
Abby and Carol walked back toward their dorm.
“I can’t believe how free I feel—done with the last day of first semester!” Carol bounced up and down. “It feels so monumental. Like we just climbed Everest, or won the Super Bowl, or successfully made manicotti—that is not an easy pasta dish to throw together, at least for me. But boy is it worth it—heavenly cheesy epic awesomeness!”
“I’m not out of the woods yet,” Abby said. “Plus I still can’t quit thinking about Muns’s message.”
“Sure. Just squash all the fun because the creepy guy threatens us,” Carol said.
“Sorry,” Abby said. “I am glad classes are over.”
“Me too,” Carol agreed. “So what should we do to celebrate?”
“I’ll try not to worry about Muns, but I should still pray that my teachers have mercy on me and that my grades aren’t as bad as they could be.”
“I’m sure you’re fine,” Carol said, waving her off. “Let’s get some of that double chocolate brownie ice cream and log on the Bridge and watch the history of boy bands or basketball back when they wore those short shorts. Or even better, we could start a dance party on our floor. Check out my moves.” Carol started jumping and whirling, twisting and swaying. “I’m feeling the groove. That settles it. Let’s dance, dance, boogie, boogie, dance-a-boogie!”
At one time Abby would probably be embarrassed to be walking with a crazy dancing girl, but not now. Carol had been a friend when no one else would. Abby could endure some pretty crazy stuff for that. She even started to dance a little herself.
Until her rings vibrated.
Not again.
With a touch of her thumb, she turned on her rings. Immediately a small screen lit up in her contact lens. The message scrolled across the screen. This time, it was from her grandpa, not Muns.
Come to the basement immediately. You will need to bring your key to the Bridge, so take every precaution.
Not exactly the way Abby would have liked to celebrate.
• • •
Derick looked at the message and groaned. Why couldn’t Muns leave it all alone? But Grandpa would need help. Derick’s first reaction was to wait for Abby. She had the key to bypass this challenge and lead him further on into the basement where they could stop Muns.
He stopped himself. Why? Why did he need to be there? Abby had one of the final keys. He didn’t. They would do just fine without him. The thought made Derick feel hollow. For most of his life he had been the go-to guy on the team or the smartest one in the class. Not now, apparently.
Then he smiled. All that would change when he earned his own key. Then he would deserve to be there. In fact, if he hurried, maybe he could complete his challenge and meet them there.
He heard footsteps coming down the hall. He had to enter the simulator now before anyone tried to persuade him otherwise.
Derick took the key from the locket, put it into the lock, twisted it, and the thick metal door swung open with a groan. He closed his eyes and stepped in. When he had entered before, his simulation began with a peaceful scene in the mountains. This time there was no peace about it.
He stared at a gun barrel, part of the musket he was apparently holding. He glanced to either side and saw men in blue uniforms with their guns aimed downhill. They formed a line a few soldiers deep along the slope of the mountain. He could sense the tension in their deliberate breaths.
“Look!” It sounded like fifty men said it at once. Down the hill, lines of enemy soldiers moved toward them. A shot fired, then another, and another. The hill filled with sparks and smoke spouting from gun barrels. A musket ball slammed into the rock wall in front of Derick, spraying fragments of lead and rock into the air.
He ducked, still trying to process what was happening. He was obviously in some sort of battle with men in gray uniforms shooting at him. Wait. Blue and Gray. Oh, no. He had to survive a battle in the Civil War.
“Fire!” he heard someone command. “Hold this flank.” Flank? He searched his memory. He knew what that was—the far side of the army. It was important because it kept those attacking from getting behind the rest of the army. If the flank fell, it was likely that the army would lose. Derick was in the middle of an essential position.
He lifted his long musket. He pointed into the mob of gray coming up the mountain, but he hesitated to pull the trigger. It felt different than the war video games he had played. He could hear the men’s cries, see their breath. He didn’t want to shoot anyone even though he knew it was just a simulation.
Derick looked down the barrel of his gun. These men had been real; they had to be willing to fire on another person for their cause. If he was going to complete this task, he had to show the same character, the same determination as the people in history. They were fighting to keep their nation together. Derick bit his lip and pulled the trigger. The musket rammed back against his shoulder. It felt like someone had just hit him with a rock. With his musket kicking back as it had, Derick was sure he had shot well above his enemies’ heads. He hoped none of the other men had noticed what a terrible shot he was. He quickly aimed again and pulled the trigger. Nothing.
Oh. These were old-time muskets that had to be reloaded after every shot. He ducked further behind the rocks and felt them shake as bullets collided into the other side of the wall. What a nightmare.
Derick watched the soldier next to him as he loaded gunpowder, a metal ball, and rammed it down the barrel before shooting again. He found he was carrying the same tools and mimicked as best he could.
He raised up and readied himself to fire again, looking down to see hundreds of men charging up the hill at him and his regiment. Hundreds. It looked as though his enemies had twice as many men. Not fair.
“C’mon,” he heard a soldier next to him say. “I don’t want to die. Not today. Not at Gettysburg. Not anywhere.”
Gettysburg? He was in one of the most important battles of the Civil War. The North needed this victory. It was one of the events that kept the United States of America together, united as a nation. Derick fired, this time holding the gun tighter against his shoulder. It still hurt, but not nearly as much. He didn’t hit anyone.
The smoke and smell of gunshots became stronger and stronger. A scream tore through the air off to his left. Derick wanted out of there.
5
The Basement, Bullets, and Bayonets
Abby walked down the hall as fast as she could without drawing any attention to herself.
Carol wasn’t hel
ping by talking the whole way. “Not only is Muns up to something, but he killed our dance party before it could even get started. Preemptive dance party murderer!” Carol shuddered. “Oh, that man is evil.”
Abby was too nervous to respond. She knew what Muns was capable of and she wasn’t sure if she was ready to find out what he had done this time.
“Do you think he kidnapped someone else and put them in the past to die?” Carol asked.
“I hope not.” Abby knew her parents were safe. Cragbridge Hall was one of the safest places in the world. No one got in or out without passing by guards and through several stations through a thick, guarded wall. Still, her stomach felt like it had turned to stone. She was back in the basement, the place where it had all happened months ago.
The two girls entered the basement and approached two doors. One was to the simulator, which Abby thankfully didn’t have to go through again. One tribe of Native American braves chasing her down with spears was enough for her. She moved toward the other door. It would bypass the simulator, but only with the key she had gained from going through it.
She reached down and gave a distinct pull on the upper rim of her belt buckle. The buckle shifted, revealing a small metal compartment underneath. Abby touched the metal, knowing that it would read her fingerprint and open. Her grandpa had designed it. She could always keep her key with her but keep it secret and protected as well.
As Abby took another step toward the door, something moved out of the shadows. Carol gasped. Abby wanted to shriek but her fear stole the sound. A hulking gorilla stood in front of her, its thick hairy body only feet away.
“All right, I know you’re an avatar,” Carol said, trying to regain her breath. “I’m guessing a real gorilla wouldn’t live down here. At least I’m really hoping. Really really hoping.”
Abby looked at the gorilla. It had to be an avatar. It could be her own brother and she would have no idea. “Can we please pass?” There was no time to talk; they had to move on. Grandpa needed them.