In no time they arrived at their stop, 125th Street in Manhattan. The train would continue on from there to Grand Central Station, where most of the commuters were headed. But 125th Street was much closer to the Bronx, so with a silent nod Courtney and Mark got off the train.
They had always heard their parents say that this was a bad section of town. They weren’t entirely sure what was meant by bad, but they were nervous just the same. One thing was certain. This wasn’t suburban Connecticut. They were in New York City with all the traffic, noise, and people congestion that New York is famous for. Courtney had a map of the New York City subways and had carefully plotted out a route to get close to Bobby’s abandoned subway station. It was a short walk from the 125th Street commuter trains to the nearest subway stop and they made it with no problem. They descended into the underground station, bought their tokens, and hit the trains.
The subway trip to the Bronx was uneventful. The neighborhoods of New York that they traveled through were filled with people from all different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds and none of them were monsters. They were all just people going to work or going to school and generally living their lives. Under other circumstances, Courtney and Mark might have enjoyed this. But these weren’t other circumstances. They were on a mission.
After changing trains twice, they arrived at the subway stop that was nearest to the abandoned one that Bobby had described. They climbed back up into the sunlight to see a Bronx neighborhood that was just as busy and diverse as the one where they had first gone underground.
According to their map, Bobby’s subway stop was three blocks east from where they were. As they walked those few blocks, neither of them said it but each secretly wished that the subway station where Bobby and Uncle Press had gone, wouldn’t be there. They each held a slim hope that none of this was true and that Bobby was making the whole thing up. Those hopes totally disappeared when they reached the corner of a busy intersection and looked across to the far side.
“Th-That’s it, isn’t it?” asked Mark nervously.
Courtney didn’t have to answer. The station was exactly what Bobby had described. It was a small kiosk covered with cracked green paint. Mark gave a nervous look to Courtney, but Courtney kept her eyes on the building. She didn’t want Mark to see that she was starting to get nervous. Instead, she stepped off the curb and headed for the building. Mark had no choice but to follow. When they got to the kiosk, they looked down to see a cement stairway that was covered in garbage and debris. This was definitely an abandoned station. After a quick glance around to make sure nobody was watching, they ran down the steps. They hit a landing, turned, and were faced with the boarded-up entrance that Bobby had described.
Courtney reached out, grabbed hold of one board, and pulled it aside as easily as Uncle Press had done. She had just opened up a dark doorway into the underground. Before they had the chance to change their minds, Courtney ducked in and disappeared. Mark took a scared breath and was right after her. He had to squeeze through with the pack, but he made it and closed the board up behind him. Everything was playing out exactly as it had for Bobby. But Courtney and Mark were now hoping that this is where the similarity would end. Neither of them wanted to run into Saint Dane or the quigs. They walked down the last few steps into the abandoned station and stood shoulder to shoulder, with every sense on full alert.
“I feel like I’ve already been here,” Mark said in awe. Indeed, everything was just as Bobby had described. It was a lonely station that hadn’t seen passengers in years. Then they heard the distant rumble of an oncoming subway train. In a few seconds the train blasted into the station and thundered through without slowing down. This seemed to kick them back into gear.
“C’mon,” said Courtney, and headed for the far end of the platform.
“Wait,” said Mark and quickly took off the pack. He opened it up and dug deep down inside.
“What are you doing?” asked Courtney.
As he dug through the pack Mark said, “I brought a little insurance.” He found what he was looking for and pulled out a package wrapped in brown paper.
“Was that on the list?” asked Courtney curiously.
“No, it’s a little something I added.” He unwrapped the paper to reveal two huge, succulent steaks. He held them up proudly. “A bribe, just in case we run into some hungry quigs.”
Courtney had to smile. “I don’t care what anybody says, you’re good.” She then grabbed the steaks and walked off. Mark smiled proudly at the compliment, but then the smile dropped when he realized it wasn’t exactly the greatest compliment in the world. He picked up the pack and hurried after her.
They reached the end of the platform and saw the small set of stairs leading down to the dark tracks.
“This looks hairy,” declared Mark. “What if the gate door isn’t there?”
“Everything he described so far has been true,” said Courtney. “I gotta believe this will be too.”
Just then they heard another train approaching. They took a few steps back from the edge of the platform and a few seconds later, the train flashed through, moving fast. The idea of being down on those tracks when a train came through was a frightening one.
“Gulp,” said Mark.
“Don’t think, move!” shouted Courtney. She ran to the edge of the platform and disappeared down onto the tracks. It was kind of like jumping into cold ocean water. The longer you thought about it, the more reasons you’d come up with to wait. It was better just to do it and that’s what she did.
Mark was right behind her. He ran across the platform and hurried down the stairs to find Courtney below, pressing her back against the wall.
“I can’t believe I did that,” she said, panting hard.
“Yeah, me neither, but don’t stop now,” he added.
With Courtney in the lead, the two made their way cautiously along the tunnel. It was dark and they didn’t want to risk wandering out onto the tracks so Courtney kept one hand on the grimy, greasy wall.
“How far did he say the door was?” asked Courtney.
“I don’t remember,” was Mark’s answer. “Just keep-” That’s when he heard it.
“What was that?” he asked.
“What was what?”
“I heard something, like a growl.” Mark grabbed one of the steaks back from Courtney and held it out. “Gooood doggy! Goooood doggy!”
Then Courtney heard it too. It was faint, but unmistakable.
“That’s not a growl,” she said. “That’s a train! Another train is coming!”
A blast from the train’s horn told them she was right. Another train was coming and the two were caught. They didn’t know which way to run.
“I’m going back!” shouted Mark and turned to run back for the platform. But Courtney grabbed him by the pack and held him tight.
“No!” she commanded. “We can’t be far!”
She turned and continued to make her way along the wall as Mark pushed her from behind. It was getting hard to see because the train had just rounded a curve ahead and its headlight was shining right in their eyes. And it was coming fast.
“Hurry!” pleaded Mark.
Courtney desperately felt at the wall, then tripped over a switch and fell to her knees. Mark quickly pulled her to her feet and pushed her forward. The train was now getting dangerously close. The racket from the wheels on the track was deafening. There wasn’t much space between the wall of the tunnel and the track.
“We’re not gonna make it!” Courtney shouted. “Press against the wall!”
Mark pulled off his pack and flattened his back against the wall. The train was only a few yards away. The two held hands tightly. Mark closed his eyes. Courtney pressed against the wall and slid her hand out in one last desperate attempt to find the door. She leaned forward a few more inches…and her hand found something.
“I got it!” she shouted.
The train was right there. Its horn blasted. Courtney held on ti
ght to Mark’s hand and dove for what she hoped was the gate. She pushed against the dark recess and it gave way. Courtney and Mark tumbled inside just as the train flashed by. In seconds it was gone and all was as quiet as it had been only a few moments before. Courtney and Mark lay on the ground, totally out of breath. It took a minute for them to get their heads back together, and when they did they both looked up and saw it at the same time.
“Whoa,” was all Mark could say in awe.
It was the rocky gray tunnel. With their eyes fixed on the craggy portal, they both stood up. Courtney then hurried back to the wooden door they had just come through and poked her head outside.
“It’s here,” she announced. “The star, just like Bobby said.”
She came back inside to join Mark, who kept staring into the tunnel.
“This is it,” he said with growing excitement. “It’s all true. Everything Bobby wrote is true.”
This was as far as Bobby’s instructions took them. In his letter, he wrote for them to come to the gate and wait. But wait for what? They stood there for a few minutes, not exactly sure of what to do next. Finally Courtney looked at Mark with a mischievous smile and said, “I’m gonna try it.”
She took a step toward the mouth of the gray tunnel, but Mark pulled her back.
“Don’t!” he yelled nervously.
“Why not? If Bobby can do it, I can do it,” was her typical Courtney-esque response. She shook Mark off and stepped into the mouth of the flume. Mark backed away and watched nervously as Courtney faced the depths of the endless, dark tunnel. She stood up straight, gave a quick glance to Mark, then turned back toward the darkness and said, “Denduron!”
Nothing happened. Zero. They could hear the word echo back from the tunnel, but besides that, nothing.
“It’s gotta be the same as the ring,” said Mark. “If you’re not a Traveler, you don’t have the power.”
Courtney backed out of the tunnel with a look of definite disappointment. She was psyched to take the magic carpet ride of light that Bobby had described, but it was not meant to be. “So why is it that Bobby has the power?” she asked, a little bit peeved. “What makes him so special that-”
“Shhh!” Mark held his hand up to quiet Courtney.
“What?” asked Courtney.
“Do you hear that?”
Courtney listened and then said, “It must be another train coming.”
“No,” said Mark as he strained to listen harder. “It’s not a train. It sounds like…like…music.”
Courtney listened harder, and soon she heard it too. Itwas music. Far off music. But it wasn’t a tune. It was more like a jumble of sweet, high notes.
“I’ve heard that before,” exclaimed Mark. “When the ring opens up.” He glanced down at the ring on his finger, but the gray stone wasn’t glowing. No, this music wasn’t coming from the ring. Courtney looked into the tunnel, and what she saw made her jaw drop open in surprise.
“Uh, Mark,” she said numbly. “You looking at this?”
Mark was also looking down the tunnel and what he saw made his jaw fall open as well, for there was something coming toward them. It was a pin spot of light, like the headlight on the front of a far-off train. As it drew closer, the light grew larger and the sweet music grew louder.
“D-Do we want to run?” asked Mark with a shaky voice.
“Yeah,” answered Courtney. “But we can’t.”
As the light came nearer, they saw that the gray walls of the tunnel were beginning to change. It was like they were disappearing. The gray, craggy rock walls were transforming into clear crystal, just as the gray stone of the ring had done. Beyond the clear walls was a vast star field. The light grew so bright that Mark and Courtney had to shield their eyes. The music grew louder as well. Without thinking, the two backed away until they hit the far wall. They were trapped. It was too late to find the door and get out of there. All they could do was cover their eyes, crouch down, and hope that it would soon end.
With one final burst of light, the room fell dark and the music stopped. All was quiet and calm. Slowly Mark and Courtney lowered their arms from their faces to see what had happened. What they saw seemed more impossible than anything they had seen so far. Yet there he was, plain as can be.
It was Bobby. He stood at the mouth of the tunnel looking a little dazed. He glanced around to get his bearings, then saw Mark and Courtney cowering against the far wall. Nobody knew what to say. They all just stared at each other for a good long time. Finally Bobby let out a simple, calm, “Yo.”
That broke the ice. Mark and Courtney jumped up, ran to him and all three threw themselves into a tight group hug. They didn’t need to say anything. This one unplanned action said it all. It was a release from all the fear, uncertainty, and sadness that had been building up in them since the adventure began. They stayed this way for some time, until Bobby finally said, “Okay, I’m choking here.”
Reluctantly they all let go and took a step back from each other. They waited a second and then all three ran at each other again for another hug. This time they all started to laugh.
“You guys are the best,” said Bobby, but then something dawned on him and he pulled away from the group. He looked right at Courtney and said, “Wait, what are you doing here?”
“I showed her the journals,” admitted Mark. “I’m sorry. I couldn’t deal on my own.”
Bobby had to think about this. He thought that he was writing to Mark and Mark alone. But it was a big responsibility that he threw at his friend and Bobby realized that maybe sharing it was a good idea. If there was anybody who could help him deal, it was Courtney. So he smiled reassuringly at his friend and said, “It’s cool, Mark. I’m glad you did. Does anybody else know?”
Courtney answered, “No, just us.”
“That’s good,” said Bobby. “At first I was thinking everybody should know, but now I’m not so sure. This is all pretty heavy.”
“That’s what we thought,” said Mark.
Bobby added, “There’s gonna be a time when everybody should know, but not yet, okay?”
Courtney and Mark nodded. There were all on the same page.
“Are my parents freaking out?” Bobby asked.
There it was. The question they didn’t want to answer. Mark and Courtney gave each other a quick glance. They had already decided it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell Bobby that his family had disappeared. He had enough to worry about as it was. But they didn’t want to lie to him. Mark didn’t know what to say, so Courtney jumped in, saying, “Everybody’s real worried about you.”
It wasn’t a lie; people were definitely worried about him. It just wasn’t the whole truth. But it was the right thing to say because Bobby then said, “I hate to keep them in the dark, but I think they’d be more worried if they knew what was really going down. So don’t tell ’em anything, okay?”
Both Courtney and Mark nodded quickly. Whew. They just dodged a bullet. Bobby then spotted the L.L. Bean pack that Mark and Courtney brought.
“Did you get everything?” he asked as he quickly poked through the contents.
“Every bit,” answered Mark.
“Any trouble getting here?” Bobby asked.
Courtney answered, “No sweat.”
Bobby looked back to his friends as if he were seeing them for the first time. What he saw were two people who came through for him in a big way when they really didn’t have to. “I don’t know how to thank you guys,” he said sincerely. “I don’t deserve friends like you.”
Courtney and Mark answered with smiles.
“Bobby,” said Mark sheepishly. “Is it true? I mean, what you’ve been writing about?”
“Yeah,” was Bobby’s answer. “Weird, huh?”
Courtney and Mark started to ask more questions but Bobby cut them off by saying, “Guys, I don’t know any more about what’s going on than what I wrote. I don’t know why I’m a Traveler. I don’t know where Denduron is. I don’t knowwhen Denduron
is. I’ve got a million questions and no answers. And I’m scared as hell.”
Yes, there were many questions but none of them had any answers. Finally Courtney took a step toward Bobby. She hesitated, as if what she was about to say would be difficult. She finally gathered the strength and said, “Don’t go back. That’s not your world back there. It’s not your life. You belong here. All you have to do is walk out that door with us. Nobody would know. Please, Bobby, stay here.”
Bobby looked at Mark. Mark nodded to him as if agreeing with Courtney. “You’re home now, Bobby,” he said. “Stay here.”
Bobby hadn’t thought about the possibility. It would be so easy. All he had to do was walk away. He was home now. He was safe. It was so tempting. He didn’t answer at first because this was the most important decision he ever had to make in his life. He looked around him, looked down into the dark tunnel, and then to the L.L. Bean pack full of stuff his friends had brought him. He had made up his mind.
“There are a ton of things I don’t know,” he said soberly. “But there’s one thing I do know for certain. Uncle Press is going to die unless I do something.”
The others dropped their heads. Bobby was right. If he stayed, Uncle Press was doomed.
“But there’s more,” Bobby added. “I’m not the guy to help those people fight their revolution. I don’t know why they think I am, but I’m not. The guy to help them is Uncle Press. If he dies, they don’t stand a chance. I gotta go back and get Uncle Press for the sake of the Milago, too.”
Bobby picked up the pack and swung it onto his back.
“What’re you gonna do with that stuff?” asked Mark.
“I’m not exactly sure,” answered Bobby, “but I better think of something fast.” He tightened up the straps on the pack and took a step back toward the flume. “I’m no big hero,” he then said. “I’m gonna try to save Uncle Press and then get out of there. I’d just as soon not stick around for the real fireworks.”
The Merchant of Death tpa-1 Page 16