“Don’t ask,” Wally said. “Parental orders.”
The girl nodded, understanding (false though it was) dawning in her blue eyes. “Parents. No living with them sometimes.”
“My parents can’t even live with each other,” Wally said.
“I hear you,” the girl replied.
As she rang up the total from the bar-coded tags he’d already pulled from his new purchases, Wally had to swallow a lump in his throat. He felt bad about his parents. He kind of relished the idea of all the people who had teased and bullied him over the years suddenly discovering he was way cooler than they were – because what could be cooler than escaping Saskatchewan all the way to New Zealand and then disappearing under mysterious circumstances? – but he hated the thought of his parents believing him dead. Sure, they had split up, and maybe they’d mostly been too busy and self-involved over the past few years to pay much attention to him, but he was sure they loved him in some fashion. He didn’t like to think of them hurting.
But he and Ariane had talked about it, and they’d agreed there was no safe way to let his parents know he was okay, not without the risk of exposing his whereabouts. Being found by Major’s men here in Gravenhurst (or anywhere else) didn’t really count: if he and Ariane could just meet up, she could whisk them away in an instant and once again Major would have no idea where they were.
He hoped.
He paid in cash, took his change, hefted his backpack, and went to the door of the department store. The rain had slackened, though it hadn’t stopped altogether, and any improvement in visibility was more than countered by the fact it was getting dark.
Wally pulled on his backpack and set off in the rain for the YMCA. Ariane should be arriving there any minute.
Chapter Three
The battle at the YMCA
Ariane emerged into the deep end of an empty pool sparsely lit by silvery circular light fixtures high above in a wooden ceiling, with only night showing beyond the big rain-spattered windows. Above her loomed a high-diving board.
Among the ways in which her magical gift had evolved since she’d first inherited it from the Lady was the ability to sense the contents of the body of water in which she was about to materialize. She’d always been able to do that when she touched a body of water – she knew exactly where the discarded grocery carts and beer bottles lurked in Regina’s Wascana Lake, for instance – but only since she’d had two shards of Excalibur in her possession had she begun to develop the ability to do so in advance.
It had proved helpful several times since she’d begun spiriting Wally to various places to conduct Internet research. She could hold off resuming bodily form until she was certain there was no one else in the pool.
The Gravenhurst YMCA actually had two pools: the lap pool in which she had just materialized, and a leisure pool. On this Friday night, at just after 8 p.m. local time, open adult swimming was going on, but apparently not much of it; she couldn’t hear any voices from the leisure pool, out of sight from the lap pool around a corner.
High above, fluorescent light glimmered behind glass windows overlooking the pool – a program room of some sort. Ariane had no idea what might be going on in there. She just hoped nobody had seen her mysterious appearance. Although, really, how would they react? Clearly she was a very real teenage girl in a swimsuit, just like countless others who must use this pool, so she couldn’t really have simply popped into existence out of nowhere, no matter what it had looked like, no matter how odd the fact she had a backpack in the pool with her. They’d just assume they’d somehow missed her through the reflection of the lights on the water, or if they were old enough, they might think they had suffered a mini-stroke.
Ariane smiled at the thought as she tossed the backpack onto the concrete apron surrounding the pool and clambered out after it. She ordered the water off the backpack, but left her body wet in case she ran into anyone when she –
“Where’d you come from?” said a voice.
Ariane jumped, and turned to see a girl about her own age, wearing a sporty black one-piece, at the corner leading around to the leisure pool.
“Just swimming a few laps,” Ariane said.
The girl laughed. “They must have been awfully quick ones. I just stepped around the corner for a second, and you weren’t here when I left.”
“I’m easy to overlook,” Ariane said. She kept her voice light. No more questions, she thought. “Well, all done here. Have a good swim.”
“Wait,” the other girl said. Ariane tensed. The water in the pool swirled uneasily, responding to her sudden pang of fear.
Stop it! she ordered herself. She’s not a threat. She’s just curious.
The girl glanced at the pool. “Weird,” she said. Then she turned back to Ariane. “But you want to know something even weirder? I don’t know you, but I’ve got a message for you.”
“A message?” The water in the pool swirled again. Could she be one of Rex Major’s...?
“From a boy.” The girl’s face crinkled into a smile. “A skinny red-headed boy with freckles.”
Wally? “My...brother?” she said tentatively, because she didn’t know if that was what Wally had called himself.
“Guess so,” the girl said. “He was hanging around in the rain out on the street. He said to tell you...” She laughed. “This sounds so crazy. I feel like I’m in a bad spy movie.”
“Tell me what?” Ariane said. The water gurgled and heaped itself up in little wavelets, drawing the girl’s attention again.
“I think the pool needs work,” she said, frowning at it.
“What did he say to tell me?”
The girl looked back at her, now appearing a little offended. “No need to get snippy. I’m doing you a favour.”
“Sorry,” Ariane said. The water bubbled. “Sorry. It’s just...I was expecting to meet him here. And I’m late. So I need to hear what he had to say.”
The other girl shrugged. “He said he can’t get in here because RM has men watching the Y. Whatever that means.”
What? Ariane groaned inwardly. And she was two hours late. Two hours! Anything might have happened to him. “How long ago was this?”
“Hmmm...forty-five minutes, maybe?”
“Did he say where he was going?” Surely he’s not still standing out in the rain...
“KFC,” the girl said. “Across the street.” She was frowning down at Ariane’s swimsuit, where the shard of Excalibur strapped to her skin made a noticeable bump. “What’s that thing on your side?”
“Insulin injector,” Ariane said. “Thank you for your help.” She brushed past the girl and headed toward the change rooms.
“You’re welcome!” the girl called after her. Then, “Oh, good, the pool’s back to normal.”
Ariane pulled her black jeans and black T-shirt on over her now bone-dry swimsuit and tugged on white running shoes over her bare feet, but she hesitated before leaving the change room. If “RM” had men watching the “Y,” they were expecting her. How could she evade them?
And then, suddenly, she didn’t care. If they’re watching, she thought grimly, they’re not going to be lurking in the lobby looking to waylay me, not in full view of the front desk staff. They’ll be outside. In the rain. Surrounded by water.
Where I am literally in my element.
She shouldered her backpack and walked out into the long, high-ceilinged corridor that ran the length of the building, striding boldly past the front desk to the glass street doors. She pushed them open and stepped out under the portico that sheltered the entrance.
The first thing she saw was that the rain had turned to snow, big, fluffy flakes spiraling down in the light that spilled out under the portico. Great, she thought. No using the rain.
But plenty of water still puddled the ground, glimmering in the lights from the building and street. Lots to work with if Major’s men tried anything. She squared her shoulders and strode boldly into the darkness. The red-and-white glow of the
KFC outlet shone through the snow to her left, just the other side of a fence and a road. She headed that way.
The black SUV came out of nowhere, lights off. It blocked the opening through the chain-link fence onto the street. She stopped as the driver door opened. A man came around the front of the vehicle, indistinct in the snow and darkness. She tensed, ready to pull water to her and use it to –
A big arm wrapped across her chest from behind. She barely had time to gasp before a dark-skinned hand came up and clamped a cloth over her nose and mouth. A pungent, sweetish smell filled her nostrils. Roaring filled her ears. She tried to reach for the water all around her, but she couldn’t concentrate. The shard strapped to her side blazed with power, but with her brain reeling, she couldn’t draw from it. She sagged, consciousness fading...
“Leave her alone!” The shout seemed to come from far away. Someone cried out, there was the sound of a scuffle, a splashing thud. Whoever had hold of Ariane suddenly released her. She fell to her hands and knees, gasping for air, the world whirling around her, and raised her head to try to see what was going on through eyes that didn’t want to focus.
Wally faced the man who’d grabbed Ariane, a broken tree branch held in one hand like a sword. Behind him a second man lay curled on the ground, hands between his legs, moaning. The one who’d had hold of Ariane, a big black man built like a football player, laughed, the sound deep and scornful. “You going to face me with nothing more than a stick, little boy?”
“It was all I needed for your friend,” Wally panted.
“But I am not my friend,” the black man said. And attacked. Moving faster than Ariane would have thought someone that size could move, he lunged, trying to grab the branch from Wally.
But Wally wasn’t there. Ariane gasped as she sensed power flowing from the shard of Excalibur at her side, not to her, but away from her: to Wally.
And Wally, with contemptuous, fluid ease, ducked under the outstretched hands, spun, and slammed the branch into the back of the big man’s knees. The man slammed to the ground, grunting, as his legs collapsed. Wally spun again and brought the stick down on his attacker’s head. The man groaned, tried to lift himself, and then collapsed. It was hard to be sure in the dim and uncertain light, but Ariane thought she saw blood pooling on the concrete.
Wally threw the branch aside. “What are you wearing?” Ariane said muzzily as he helped her to his feet. “You weren’t wearing that this morning.”
“We can discuss my wardrobe later,” he said. “Get us out of here.”
Ariane reached for the power, reached for the water – and couldn’t connect. “Can’t,” she said. “Not yet.” She coughed. Her throat felt raw. “They tried to knock me out with something...chloroform, I think. My brain’s...not working yet.”
“Hey! What’s going on over there?” A young man had just come out of the YMCA.
“Crap,” Wally muttered under his breath, then shouted, “These men are hurt!” Somehow he made his voice sound younger than it normally did, and it normally sounded pretty young. “Call 911! I think they were fighting!”
“Got it!” the young man shouted back. “Cindy at the desk knows first-aid – I’ll send her out!”
He went back inside. “Run,” Wally said. He grabbed Ariane’s hand.
She staggered after him. They hurried across railroad tracks and the street behind them, and into the trees on the other side. At first her legs felt like rubber, but the surge of adrenaline she felt as a black-and-white police car with “O.P.P.” on its door screamed past, siren wailing, red and blue lights flashing, galvanized them.
“Hold up,” she gasped once they were hidden among the trees. “I think I can get us out of here now.”
Wally nodded. He leaned over, hands on his knees. “I can’t believe I just beat up Emeka,” he said between gasps for air. “And the other guy. How’d I do that?”
“Emeka?”
“The big black guy. Met him when I was living with Rex Major.” Wally’s voice shook. “That’s the second one of Major’s men I’ve clobbered over the head. I didn’t even think about what to do, I just...did it. How?”
“It’s the sword,” Ariane said. “You’re an heir of Arthur.” She heard the tremor in her own voice. “Excalibur just saved us...saved me.”
“Why are you so late?” Wally said then, almost angrily. “I ate KFC and drank a Coke and made them both last as long as possible and I was still getting the evil eye from the girls at the counter. You should have been here two hours ago!”
“Blizzard,” Ariane said. “We were slow getting to Medicine Hat.” She took a deep breath. “Which is where we should be getting back to.”
“We’re fully dressed,” Wally pointed out. “We can’t pop up in the Medicine Hat Lodge pool like this. Not with all those windows looking down on us.”
Ariane nodded. “I know,” she said. She looked up into the swirling snow. “So change fast.”
Wally groaned. “You’re not kidding, are you?”
“Nope.” She gave him a big smile. “Will you go first, or shall I?”
“I will,” Wally said. “Turn your back.”
She did so, staring across the road. There were trees between her and the Y, but some flashing red light made its way through the screen. She wondered what Emeka and the other man would say to the authorities, once they were able to talk. Nothing that involves Rex Major, I’ll bet. They wouldn’t dare mention his name.
“Done,” Wally said. His voice shook again, but this time it sounded as though his teeth were chattering. “Hurry up.”
Ariane turned around. He stood in his swim trunks, body pale and white in the dim light, arms wrapped around his scrawny chest. She unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, and Wally’s eyes widened. He turned away in a hurry. Ariane laughed. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’m wearing my swimsuit under my clothes.”
“Oh,” he said. But he still didn’t turn back as she pulled off her clothes. She found that endearing. So chivalrous...of course, he is a descendant of King Arthur. Or at least we think so.
She stuffed her clothes and shoes into her backpack. “It is c-cold, isn’t it-t?” she said, teeth already chattering, as Wally turned around to face her again.
“I-is it-t?” he chattered back. “I ha-hadn’t no-noticed.”
She reached out and took his hand. “Then let’s g-get out of h-here.”
Holding tight to him, she let the wet ground suck them down and away.
<•>
A sound like thunder grumbled just at the edge of Rex Major’s awareness, explosions or a car chase or overwrought music from some superhero extravaganza playing in the media room. For all they didn’t get along, Felicia Knight and her brother, Wally, seemed to share the same execrable taste in movies.
Major found it irritating – he’d lived alone a long time, and having someone sharing his condo, even though it was a very, very large condo, grated on him – but the irritation was minor. Especially in light of the information he’d just received from Gerald MacKenzie, Emeka’s companion on the long-shot mission to Gravenhurst he’d thought had some minor possibility of netting Wally Knight.
It sounded like the two men had come very close to grabbing, not just the boy, but the girl as well...but not close enough. Emeka lay in hospital, with a concussion and four stitches in his scalp. MacKenzie had apparently suffered a “minor injury,” the details of which he hadn’t seen fit to share with Rex Major. What interested Major about all of that, though, was that the injuries had been inflicted solely by Wally Knight: Ariane’s powers had had nothing to do with them, because she’d been taken out of the picture by Emeka’s chloroform-soaked cloth the moment she’d appeared. Major had told Emeka to be prepared for the possibility she would show up, and it sounded as if his idea of how to capture her had almost worked. Clearly, if they took her by surprise and knocked her out before she could act, they could then spirit her away and imprison her somewhere where her powers would do her no good.
<
br /> Rather like that damned tree Viviane locked me up in for what should have been the best centuries of my life, Major thought sourly.
Wally Knight, true to his surname, had raced to the aid of his damsel in distress, and succeeded in rescuing her from two grown, trained fighting men. Arthur’s blood runs in his veins, for sure and certain, Major thought. He glanced up from the terminal at the open door from his office into the living room. Although he couldn’t see it from there, the media room was just beyond. And he knew Arthur’s blood ran in Flish’s veins, as well. He had proved that when, with both of them holding the second shard of Excalibur, he had had the power to heal the girl’s broken leg. Broken by Ariane.
Felicia Knight had moved out on her own as soon as her parents had separated. That being the case, Rex Major had been under no compulsion to inform her parents of her whereabouts, but he had done so, all the same. Of course, he had infused that conversation with the Voice of Command that was one of his principal remaining magical powers, one that had grown stronger as more and more of the shards of Excalibur were found. Even if he couldn’t draw directly on the power of the shard he had in his possession while Ariane held the other two they had thus far found.
Felicia’s parents – he never called her “Flish” as Wally did, knowing how she hated that nickname – were very pleased that he had “taken her under his wing” and had offered her employment in his offices (not that he had done any such thing), and hoped that with his “guidance and support” she would soon be enrolling in the University of Toronto and studying...something or other. Slightly befuddled by the magic he had used to calm them, they were a bit unclear as to what kind of career she might pursue.
He did have a career in mind for her, though he wasn’t about to share the knowledge with her parents. Warleader of the Armies of Faerie Liberation had a nice ring to it, he thought. He frowned. Or maybe not. WAFL would be bound to be pronounced “waffle,” and what kind of terror would a name like that invoke?
Cave Beneath the Sea Page 3