by Lia London
“So?” asked Curry. “What are we doing?” He and Elizabeth scooted closer.
“Nailing Bagler for corruption and saving Magian High. I hope.”
Curry squinted at me and leaned forward so he was more horizontal. “You really think you can stay ahead of her?”
“She’s so smart?” I asked.
“She’s got so much of the town in her pocket,” he said matter-of-factly. “She’s either bought friends or fooled people into thinking everything she does is good. It’ll be hard to get anyone to believe otherwise. You see what they’re trying to do to me. If this goes wrong and any of Bagler’s cops show up, I’ll be locked away for sure.”
“Not with all the witnesses we’ve got. Everybody from last night vouched for you in a recording, Curry. You’ll be fine. We even told The Morning Edition the whole truth this morning at the hospital.”
“Why would you do that?”
I stared at him in the darkness. The streetlamps lit us from underneath. “You’re turning things around,” I said. “Everyone needs help with that.”
“Besides,” said Elizabeth, “we’d rather have you as a friend than an enemy. You’re big.”
He laughed, as I’d hoped he would, and we flew on in silence. At length, we saw the open field and the scattered work lights of the construction site. Even from over a mile away at night time, I could tell the work had progressed rapidly. I slowed down and hovered near the property line, glancing back along the road to where the car approached in the distance.
“What is this place?” asked Elizabeth.
“NMI’s new school,” I said.
“The enemy’s new school?” asked Curry.
I articulated more carefully. “NMI. National Magic Institution. It’s got chapters all over the country, all hoping to better the world for Mages, so they can rule the world.”
Curry snickered. “King Curry, huh?” He dropped down for a closer look. “That thing looks huge. It’s a school?”
“It’s the new Magian High, if Bagler gets her way. Mages only.” I hoped he cared enough, and that he’d understand what I meant. “The land would only be needed if desegregation didn’t work and Mages were forced to leave the district. Technically, it hasn’t even been sold to the NMI yet, but someone is pretty sure the deal will go through, don’t you think?”
Curry’s lips formed a thin line, and he glared at the mammoth cement shape. We landed on the gravel by the roadside and waved down the car. Amity pulled over and the kids got out. A few seconds later, I noted Sheldon driving on by, as if not part of the group. He would be waiting on the site, making sure we were safe to explore.
“Is this trespassing?” asked Elizabeth.
“Don’t ask,” said Curry. “And don’t worry. We’re not gonna do anything illegal. We’re just looking for the best game of Gel Ball ever. If all of us move quickly and get good pictures, we won’t have to stay too long.”
Curry was so good at this.
We moved across the field as a group, and Elizabeth sidled up to Amity. “Shouldn’t Claudio be here? You know, as part of the Unity Team?”
“He couldn’t come,” said Amity.
“You called him?” I asked.
“He’s got a family activity for Halloween. I don’t know that he’s the Gel-Ball type, anyway. Might mess up his hair.” She winked back at me.
“What do we do about the barbed wire?” asked polymer guy when we reached the chain-link fence that kept us several yards back from the building.
“Kincaid and I can fly you over,” said Curry.
“What if we need to make a speedy escape?” teased Kameko.
“Then Max and I can throw ‘em over,” answered Curry, almost smiling at Max. “Quit worrying. Let’s just take some pictures of the place and get out of here.”
Curry, Elizabeth and I tugged everyone up and over the fence easily, and we divided up to get shots of the site. No doubt about it. It would make the most amazing Gel-Ball arena ever. The perimeter had work lights placed about every twenty feet, but not all of them were on. However, enough light shone for us to see pretty well. The shell of the entire basement was in place, complete with rooms and stairs. Pipes for plumbing and natural gas jutted out in places, so we could tell where bathrooms would be. Over half the main floor had been laid down over it, creating a high ceiling, and girders marked where the remaining support would go in. The whole thing was like a concrete maze on two levels with the higher level affording a view of the basement. Teams of Gel-Ballers could have a hey-day working out strategies, and I almost forgot that I was on a more important mission.
“Do you see Sheldon?” I whispered to Amity. Max was busy framing a shot, and Curry was leading Rikki and Elizabeth downstairs. Kameko, Noah and polymer guy had slid around the first corner.
“Is that him, over by the Porto-Potty?”
“Can’t tell,” I said, crouching lower. “Could be the night watchman.” I cupped my hands and hissed, “Stay low!” Max dropped to his stomach and held his cell phone camera out over the basement. The three of us slipped behind the outer wall and jogged along the side until we found a hole meant for a door. Inside was a lot harder to see anything even with the giant holes left for windows. I realized the ruse of taking pictures wouldn’t last long. Following the sound of muffled footsteps, we found all the others downstairs.
“This place is so awesome!” said Rikki, sweeping a flashlight around the hall. “What a great idea.”
“Do you think they’ll ever approve us being here for a game?” asked Noah.
“If we get in soon enough, before they start doing detail work,” said Curry smoothly. He sure lied well. I had mixed emotions about that.
“Is this place going to be one of those mega fitness gyms?” asked polymer guy. “Looks like a pool over there, and—”
He stopped short because we all heard something. In the dimness, we looked around. I could barely make out more than our silhouettes against each empty doorway.
“Someone’s coming,” said Kameko, slinking quickly back towards the stairs. We held our breath and watched her as she moved carefully up and peeked onto the ground floor, careful to keep the beam of her flashlight low. Suddenly she jerked back down and ran over to us. “A man is coming this way,” she whispered into the huddle. “Quick, let’s go…that way!” She darted in the direction of the thing polymer guy had called a pool, and the others followed.
Amity grabbed my wrist. “Flash Jump up there and see if it’s Sheldon.”
“What if it isn’t and the guy sees me?”
“Then Flash Jump until you find Sheldon. We’ll need him. He’s got to be around here somewhere.”
“Do you think we have enough pictures?” I asked, stalling.
“Go!”
Two seconds later, I crouched like a cat on the top step, peering into the shadows. A heavy-duty flashlight beam rounded a corner, sweeping back and forth, and that told me it wasn’t Sheldon. Someone was either doing a routine sweep, or they were searching because they’d heard us. I turned slowly, about to Jump back to the others—
“Kincaid Riley?”
I froze. The voice was familiar, but… “Mr…Whittle?”
“Kincaid, is that you?” He came closer, the beam of his flashlight tilted downward, so as not to shine in my face. “Kincaid, you shouldn’t have come here. You’re trespassing.”
“How did you—”
“Claudio told me you’d be here.”
I straightened. “We mean no harm. We—”
“Where are the others?” he asked.
“Down below,” I said, pointing down the stairs. “I’ll get them and we’ll leave right away. I’m sorry, sir.” I started down and he followed. With his flashlight, we found them all by the “pool”. It was then that I noticed he carried some kind of propane gas tank in one hand.
When the kids saw Mr. Whittle, a moment of confusion followed, and then Amity stepped forward. “We won’t get expelled for this, will we, Mr. Whit
tle? We didn’t do any vandalizing. We—”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about expulsion,” he said calmly, setting the tank down casually. “Claudio said you were looking for a Gel-Ball arena, but you shouldn’t have come. It’s not safe here.”
I went over to Amity and took her hand. The group of us exchanged embarrassed glances and then moved to leave.
“Oh, no. You can’t leave now,” said Mr. Whittle, backing up slightly.
“What?”
Amity squeezed my hand nervously. Through her teeth, she said, “I never told Claudio where we were going—”
Three things happened in rapid succession: I noticed the gassy smell in the concrete room, Mr. Whittle flicked a tiny spark at us and disappeared, and Amity kissed me really hard.
And then everything slowed down like I was having one of those dreams where I’m underwater and can’t move full speed. Amity released my lips and spoke urgently, even though it came to my ears sluggishly. “We have to get everyone out of here before the place blows. The propane tank is leaking, and the spark will ignite a line right into it, like a fuse on a bomb.”
I blinked for what felt like a couple of seconds and turned my head to see the spark—like the world’s smallest ball of fire—hovering in the air where Whittle had been standing. Moving closer, I stood next to it, squinting, and could just make out movement. It reminded me of a tiny comet, hurtling through space towards—
Everyone else stood frozen with varying looks of surprise on their faces.
“What’s with them?” I asked, talking as if I was sleepy, and yet I wasn’t.
“We don’t have much time!” shouted Amity. “Hurry and help me!” She ran—she ran!—and grabbed Elizabeth. Instantly Elizabeth moved, though still with unreal slowness. She shook her head as if to refocus and then stared at us.
“What—?”
“The spark is about to ignite,” said Amity, touching Kameko. “Flash Jump out of here. Fast! As far away as you can get. Take Kameko with you.”
Elizabeth took a second to understand and then grabbed Kameko by the hand and Flash Jumped up the stairs. But I could see her. It looked more like a leaping version of flying, and was only a little faster than I could have run.
“Grab Rikki!” yelled Amity. I practically tackled her in my physical grogginess, heaving her over my shoulder before Flash Jumping upstairs and out into the field.
“Run for the car!” I shouted once I got up there. Rikki, Kameko and Elizabeth stumbled like astronauts, bounding over the grass. As I Flash Jumped back, I wondered at how I could have seen Elizabeth when Flash Jumping usually rendered us nearly invisible. From the top of the stairs, I could see the others. Curry was moving now and picked up Max like a sack of potatoes and Flash Jumped super slowly up the stairs past me. I followed suit with polymer guy, and then Curry went back for Noah.
I had grabbed Amity and reached the bottom step when a bright flash of light from below nearly blinded me. Amity threw her arms around me just as we heard the explosion and saw the rolling wave of flames bloom towards us like thunder clouds in a storm. She held up her hand as if to shield us, and the billowing slowed down. Tugging at me frantically, she turned and ran, and this time, I ran with her, holding her hand, until a surge of energy went through me and I swept her up into my arms. High in the air, I turned and looked back, confused.
“How—?”
“Time,” she said. “It…fractured or something.”
I stared at her. “You changed it.”
Holding me tighter, she said, “You changed me.”
Amity had magic. Time Magic! Because I loved her!
A shadow flitted close to us. “Get back!” Sheldon motioned us towards the car. “Get everyone clear.” In his hand, I saw a hand-held camcorder.
“Are you filming all of this?” I asked.
“We’ve got everything we need to shut down the whole—”
“Whittle!” screamed Amity.
A blur came out of the dark and smacked into Sheldon from the side. The camcorder fell from his hand and the two men grappled in the air—like a bar room brawl from an old western movie.
Amity let go of me and fell before I could stop her, and yet she showed no fear. She sped past the camcorder and then slowed as she landed, just in time to position herself to catch it. Almost as if she’d flown, and yet I got the impression she had used Time Magic again.
Silhouetted against the growing flame cloud, Sheldon and Whittle fought like wild animals.
I joined Amity on the ground and we bolted for the car where the others had gathered and were back to normal in movement and speech. “Go! Go! Get us out of here!” We jammed ourselves inside, hoping the car would provide some protection when the blast reached us. Max had jumped into the driver’s seat and revved the engine, shouting at all of us to move faster and shut the doors. We were sitting on each other’s’ laps, trying not to fall back out. As we screeched away down the road, Amity called the fire department for help, and Elizabeth tried to get the various news stations.
“Get fire trucks here fast!”
“Get cameras here fast!”
Max swore and swerved a little, watching the rear view mirror. The rest of us craned our necks back to see the night sky become a wall of orange and then a massive mushroom cloud of smoke formed.
“Stop and let me out!” shouted Amity, banging on the window. “I have to film this! Hurry!”
Max skidded to a halt on the shoulder of the road—lucky for us it was deserted—and Amity yanked the door open. “Hurry! Someone pick me up! I have to get up there!”
I felt helpless, knowing my magical energy was pretty much tapped out. Before I could say anything, Curry pushed past me and picked her up under his arm like she was a football. They were airborne fast, and I stumbled out to the gravel, watching them go. Hitting the side of the car with my palm, I shouted, “Go, Max! We’ll follow! Keep everyone safe!”
He hesitated for only a second, and then hit the accelerator hard, showering my legs with gravel. I ran towards the commotion in the air, feeling heat waves coming from the now flame-engulfed construction site. Curry and Amity dropped to the ground, barely landing on their feet.
“Maybe we didn’t get Whittle trying to murder us on film,” said Amity, breathless with excitement, “but we’ve sure got him for assaulting an officer.” She held the camcorder up victoriously just as a bolt of fire hit the ground in front of her. We all spun to face the inferno. Another struck, and then something hard caught the side of my head. With my ears ringing, I looked up at someone hovering above us.
“Jack!” yelled Curry. “Don’t even try!”
“Stay out of this, traitor!” growled Jack. “You know Mages should be ruling.”
“You live in the past,” said Curry. “We all need each other.”
“You’re an idiot,” sneered Jack. “The NMI was about to start a new school for us.”
“You mean your mother was about to get richer by stomping on Nomers,” said Curry.
“You better believe it,” said Jack. “But you left us, and now you’ll—”
Curry roared and leapt for Jack’s feet, yanking him to the ground as if he were a body-sized sledgehammer.
Amity scrambled away like a crab, still holding up the camera, filming everything. Was it light enough? With the fire behind us, everything would be black. I raised my hands above me and let them burst with sparks, acting like a flash for her filming.
Just then, Sheldon and Whittle came free-falling until the last second when Sheldon did some kind of flip and got Whittle’s hands cuffed behind him. With both Jack and Whittle downed, Amity and I each threw our bodies over them to help hold them. Sirens and lights flashed—fire trucks—and behind them came the news vans and a police chopper overhead.
“Was this the sting?” asked Amity, her knees on Whittle’s feet and her hand on Sheldon’s shoulder.
He laughed through his exhaustion. “Well, it wasn’t my idea of a Halloween party!�
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***
A little after four o’clock in the morning, Sheldon let me in through his front door. We’d dropped Amity off, after all the report work with the police—good guys—the firefighters, and the news reporters. We even gave The Morning Edition exclusive access to Sheldon’s camcorder recordings. In a few more hours, the whole story would break, and everyone from the night’s adventures would be at the press conference. We’d come back to clean up and to check on Mom and Kelsey, whom we found curled up on the couch with boxes of Snuffles stacked like a house on the coffee table. Sheldon sent me off to shower while he woke Mom and told her what had happened. She didn’t even get mad that Max had driven her car. He didn’t have to parallel park, after all.
As I stood under the steaming water and watched the blood and soot trickle down the drain, I wondered when I’d gotten hurt. I wondered why I hadn’t known Whittle was against us, too. I wondered what would happen to Mrs. Bagler and her Foundation.
But I didn’t wonder what would happen to Magian High anymore. Somehow, enough of us had found courage to endure the fight. We were like those rocks in the stream my Dad had placed so many years ago, underwater at first, barely visible and making little difference. But now we were greater in numbers. We were bonded together, and we were strong enough to slow the currents of hatred and bigotry. We had built something that would last. Something that would keep getting bigger until it became a permanent part of life.
Tears of gratitude mixed with the water and shampoo suds. I closed my eyes and let them fall for a long time.
Epilogue: The Beginning
I’m pretty sure Miss Flinckey purposely scheduled the Unity Team retreat on the weekend after the verdict. It gave us all a sense of closure to be together—those of us who had been part of the sting, those who had been injured or harassed in the various attacks, and the many who had joined us afterwards as the trial progressed and the levels of corruption were revealed. Petercriss and Whittle had been part of Mrs. Bagler’s plans all along, but Petercriss had been sloppy and obvious, so he got caught earlier. Whittle had played it straight until the very end, hoping he’d be appointed the new principal. When Petercriss was appointed anyway, he’d been mad enough to get careless. When Clorenzo had told him about the Gel Ball arena search, he’d grown suspicious and followed us until he saw that we were going to the NMI construction site. Then Whittle waited to see what we were up to, saw us head downstairs...