22
USUALLY, RIDING HIS BIKE WOULD HAVE a calming effect on Theo. The cool air would blast past his face as he coasted through town, blowing away whatever had been holding him back. He wasn’t trapped in a car. He wasn’t stuck at home or in school, where there were authority figures up the wazoo.
The bike was freedom.
Today, though, it wasn’t doing the trick. From the minute he got up in the morning Theo had been snapping at everyone and everything in his path. He was mad at his aunt for running out of bacon. He was mad at his uncle for spending all morning in the bathroom. He was mad at Parker for…just about everything.
Then, when Theo’s mom was doing her last-second make-sure-you’ve-got-everything bit she did every morning (with Theo ducking and dodging as she tried to reshape his bedhead), all she could talk about was “is Parker okay” this, “is Parker okay” that. As if Theo wasn’t sick of it already.
So, after school, on his way to his off-campus meeting with Professor Ellison, Theo stood on his pedals. But instead of his pain dissolving into the wind every time he drove his feet down onto the crank and chain, Theo thought about how angry he was and what he wanted to do about it.
Theo dumped his bike and sloughed off his backpack. Professor Ellison was waiting. She didn’t have to be a mind reader to see he was in a foul mood.
“You found the place,” she said, the Givenchy scarf over her hair blowing in the breeze. “I thought a little fresh air might do you some good.”
The professor had chosen the woods near the Merrimack River to see how Theo would respond outside of a controlled environment. The tall, skinny pine trees filtered the light into a mosaic of sunspots on the forest floor and sparse underbrush. The sound of rushing water drowned out any outside noise. It was all very bucolic, with the added bonus of accessible parking.
“Today we’ll be working on holding spells. Simple things you can do without any outside gadgets to help you. Nothing earth-shattering, just a little Magic 101. We know that you have a connection to the Nexus, but it would be nice to know exactly how strong that connection is.” Professor Ellison walked to the water’s edge. “We can test that today. The closer you are to the Nexus, the easier is should be for you to control your environment. Take this river, for example.”
Where they stood, the Merrimack was forty yards across and lined with sharp-looking rocks. The water flowed freely and frothed with white over the stones.
“It’s not exactly Victoria Falls, but it will have to do.” The professor plopped her bag down at her feet and put her hands on her hips. “Now. I myself have a very strong connection to the Nexus. Over the years I have used it to master many forms of magic.” She held her hands with her palms facing the river. “And I never tire of showing Mother Nature who’s boss.”
Her eyes narrowed as she concentrated her thoughts on the rapids. Theo watched openmouthed as the water began to calm. Soon the waterway itself slowed. It was a river, then a stream, and then a creek. Fish flopped on newly exposed rocks. Brownish-green crayfish scuttled for safety.
“I was about your age when Vesiroth administered a similar test to me. I failed, of course. I was too flustered to properly access my own skill. Vesiroth was not pleased. He pushed me aside and with a wave of his hand he stopped the river altogether. It was the greatest show of pure power I had ever seen.”
The professor brought her hands down. The water came rushing back, sweeping the fish and mudbugs away.
“There.” Ellison let out a deep breath and turned to Theo. “And now it’s your turn. Let’s see what you can do.”
Theo walked tentatively to the water’s edge. “You haven’t asked me to study anything like this. All I’ve been doing is shutting doors and starting fires.”
“And now you’re doing this. Magic isn’t a hobby, dear one. Do you really want to be a wizard, or are you just making a show of it to impress your friends?”
Theo frowned and looked out over the rapids. He raised his hands the same way that his mentor had. Nothing happened. He tried again. Still nothing. Ellison could tell the boy was getting frustrated. At this point, she put the odds at seventy-thirty that Theo was going to crack and quit right there. Then he began to talk to himself, under his breath, through clenched teeth. Eighty-twenty. What a waste.
“Theo. Close your eyes and picture the water slowing. Imagine that the current doesn’t exist. There’s nothing making this river run. All you have to do is tell it to slow down. The water will obey you.”
Theo shut his eyes tight and shoved his palms at the river. He was concentrating so hard he was actually shaking but still the water rushed on. Ellison couldn’t understand his mutterings, but Theo looked like he was exorcising some demons (not literally, of course. Ellison had seen that in real life and it was a much more violent proposition entirely).
“Are you even trying, Theo? I’m getting tired of you wasting my time.”
Theo’s eyes popped open. He turned away from the river and stared daggers at Professor Ellison.
“All right, Theo. I suppose that’s enough for…”
The ground shook. It was all Professor Ellison could do to keep her footing. She looked up and saw that the trees were bending down, straining toward Theo. One broke loose from its roots and came crashing to the ground. Dirt exploded all around them.
“Theo! That’s enough!”
Theo spun and jutted his palms at the river. In a matter of seconds the water stopped flowing entirely. Theo cocked his head and the Merrimack became a roiling wall of water that towered above him.
Then Theo stretched his hands out to his sides and the whole river exploded. The wall of water became a roaring cyclone that shot hundreds of feet straight up. The tornado whipped through the air, sucking in wood and rocks and pulling entire trees out of the ground, roots and all.
Professor Ellison hit the dirt and held on tight to avoid being pulled in herself. She grabbed the strap of her Louis Vuitton bag just in time to stop it from flying into the cyclone and being lost forever.
“Theo! Stop!”
The boy turned his head but didn’t respond. His eyes were looking through her and into someplace that didn’t exist. She had seen that look before.
“For God’s sake, Theo! Look at what you’re doing!”
The water funnel bore down on her. Ellison held out her open hand, closed her eyes, and chanted a spell to match the one her student had cast. But when she opened her eyes, the cyclone was just feet away and still coming. After more than three thousand years Professor Ellison was going to die, covered in mud and crushed by a wall of water in the middle of the New Hampshire woods.
She made one last desperate attempt to reach her pupil. “Theo! Please!”
Theo blinked. He looked at the wild cyclone tearing through the air and then down at his own hands. Had he really created this thing himself? He dropped his hands and the waterspout came crashing down. He stared in stunned silence with his mentor as the Merrimack rushed back into its banks.
After a moment, the professor stood and made an unsuccessful effort to brush the mud off of her clothes. “Well,” she said. “I believe that will be all for today.”
“Professor, I—”
“Not now, Theo. There will be plenty of time to discuss this later.”
“But—”
“Ah, there you are!”
Theo and Professor Ellison turned at the sound of the voice and were dumbfounded to see a bloated, unshaven man in a wrinkled suit panting near a tree. He took in the wreckage of the woods around him. “And here I thought it might be hard to find you.”
The man reeked of sweat and vodka and his eyes twinkled with sly mischief. “Come now, Julia,” Maksimilian said. “No kiss for an old friend?”
After Theo had been sent pedaling home, Maks and Professor Ellison walked through the woods, two old friends on a pleasant hike.
“The boy’s coming along nicely. I had no idea he had that much power.”
“Neither
did I.” Theo’s power was greater than she had ever dared believe. If he couldn’t control it, Theo could someday be as big a threat as Vesiroth. “Although I fail to see how Theo’s progress is any of your business.”
“Oh, let’s not bicker. You know you can’t stay mad at me forever.”
“I can try. Why exactly are you here, Maks?”
“The word on the street is that you’re looking for the missing pieces of the Elicuum Helm,” he said casually. “For the right price, I just might be able to tell you where to find one.”
“Oh, really? And where would that be?”
Maksimilian scratched his butt and winked at his old friend. “Right where I hid it.”
23
MAKSIMILIAN SQUARED UP HIS shoulders and let loose a mighty burp. “You might want to roll down the window a tad,” he said. “That one’s been brewing all day.”
Reese said, “Eeeewwwwwww,” and covered her face with her hands while Maks roared with laughter. Theo broke out into a broad smile. He was more than happy to have something to distract him from what had happened with the river in the woods. The big wizard with the bad suit and the five-day beard was gross, sure, and he took up way more than his share of the Camry’s backseat, but you couldn’t help but like the guy. At least he had a sense of humor.
“I can’t believe Professor Ellison wanted to miss all of this,” said Parker from the front passenger seat. They had all been surprised when Professor Ellison had told them she wasn’t going to go with them to get the last piece of the Elicuum Helm. The professor had said that she had complicated preparations to see to at home, but Reese had a sneaking suspicion that she just didn’t want to be cooped up in a flying Toyota with Maks.
“Julia and I have a complicated relationship.” Maks sighed. “That’s what happens when you’ve known someone for a very long time. Resentments build up, slights are amplified.”
“Well, yeah, but you did sell us out to the Path last time,” said Reese.
Maks waved his hand in the air. “Pah. I came to your rescue eventually. Besides, what’s a little betrayal among friends?”
“We approach our final destination,” Fon-Rahm said from the driver’s seat. They were cruising through cloudy skies at over forty thousand feet.
“That’s too bad,” said Maks as he put a meaty arm around each of his backseat companions. “We were just getting to know each other back here.”
Fon-Rahm began their descent. When they broke through the clouds Parker looked out in awe. “Maks, are you absolutely positive this is the place?”
“Of course I’m positive.” Maks unscrewed the top of a silver flask he kept in an inside coat pocket and took a mighty swig. “I’m old, I know, but I’m not senile.”
Reese crawled over Theo to take a look out the side. “Wow,” she said. Then, after she took a moment to collect her thoughts, she said, “Wow,” again.
The first of the Jinn landed the car amidst a swirling storm of ice and wind. The Camry bucked a little in the maelstrom but finally settled with a crunch into the snow, and just like that they were on top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth and one of the most deadly places on the planet.
Fon-Rahm said, “This is a desolate and unforgiving place. The air is too thin for humans to breathe and the cold will freeze your blood solid. I have created a shield to surround you. I remind you to stay within its borders.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice,” said Parker.
The mountain was a freezing nightmare but they were warm inside the shimmering blue force field. The snow that hit Fon-Rahm’s dome melted and slid away.
“How are we supposed to find the piece of the Helm up here?” asked Theo. “We can’t even see anything!”
“The whole point was to hide the thing,” Maksimilian said. “The Helm is serious business. I was foolish enough to try using it once, and it wiped away an entire village. It’s been five hundred years and I’m still not welcome back in Prague.”
“Wait!” said Reese, pointing. “I see something!”
They looked where she was pointing and could just make out the dark gash of a cave opening in the side of the Himalayan mountain.
“I knew it was around here somewhere,” said Maks. “Now all you have to do is go in and get it.”
Theo said, “Wait. Why do we have to go in? You’re the one who stashed the Helm!”
“I got you here, didn’t I? I’ve fulfilled my part of the bargain.” Maks took another sip from his flask. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll just stay here and keep Fon-Rahm company.”
“It must be sixty below out there,” Reese said. “The cold will kill us.”
“It would if we didn’t have a genie!” said Parker. “Fon-Rahm, I wish we had some cold-weather gear. Like, the absolute best cold-weather gear there ever was. Money is not an object.”
“As you command,” said Fon-Rahm. He closed his eyes and a pile of equipment manifested in a swirl of mist in the center of the dome.
“Handy,” said Maks. “All this time I’ve been fooling around with spells and amulets. I should have been opening lamps.”
Fon-Rahm raised an eyebrow. “If you had opened the wrong lamp you would, I am afraid, have been toast.”
“Too true, my friend.”
Parker, Reese, and Theo struggled into their new gear. It was all made of space-age material and included full-body mountaineering suits with zippers and hoods, cumbersome mittens, helmets, goggles, face masks, socks, boots with metal cleats, pickaxes, flashlights, and bottled oxygen. They would need everything if they wanted to survive for even a few minutes at twenty-nine thousand feet above sea level.
When they were suited up, they looked each other over and laughed. The only way you could tell them apart was that Parker’s suit was bright red, Theo’s was neon green, and Reese’s was highlighter yellow.
“We can barely move in these things!” said Reese.
“The cave’s right there,” Parker said. “We’ll go in, grab the thing, and come right back. No problem.”
Reese groaned. Things tended to go very wrong whenever Parker assured her that there was “no problem.”
“We’re ready, Fon-Rahm. Make a hole for us, please.”
“Do be careful. Remember that your safety is my responsibility.” Smoke drifted from the genie’s eyes.
Parker, Reese, and Theo left Fon-Rahm and Maks behind as they stepped through the new gap in the shield and into the reality of life at the summit of Everest. Reese gasped. Even in their state-of-the-art climbing gear the cold was bitter and biting. She had to will herself to move forward with Parker to the mouth of the cave. Breathe, she thought to herself as she took a hit of the oxygen through a mouthpiece that dangled by her neck. You can do it. Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary did it in the 1950s with no oxygen at all. And they were wearing wool pants.
They took labored step after labored step until they were at the mouth of the cave. They yelled to hear each other over the roar of the storm.
“Wait,” Parker said, holding his two friends back. “Take a look around!”
Reese and Theo did. There was nothing to see but swirling snow.
“This is the top of the world!” Parker said. “We’ll remember this for the rest of our lives!”
Reese couldn’t argue with that. She held out her mittened hand.
Theo asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m giving you guys a thumbs-up!” She looked down and realized that with her mittens on, you couldn’t tell. “You’ll just have to take my word for it!”
Parker grinned and stepped into the cave.
And that’s when the yeti attacked.
24
PARKER WAS SO SURPRISED THAT HE stumbled and fell over backward. It was a good thing, too. If the snow beast had connected with his razor-sharp claws Parker would have been ripped to shreds. The yeti cocked its head as he regarded the fallen seventh grader.
“Parker!” Reese took a step toward her f
riend but stopped when the monster whipped its head around to face her. It was nine feet tall and covered with white hair frozen into matted clumps. It had the face of a pale ape, with pink eyes that glared in anger. Reese withdrew and the thing turned its attention again to Parker, who was lying flat on his back in the snow.
“Oh, right, the yeti,” Maks yelled out from Fon-Rahm’s force field. “Forgot all about it. I whipped him up as a little deterrent for anyone who might want to take the Helm.”
Reese was incredulous. “Wait. Are you telling me you invented the abominable snowman?”
“An ancient book, a little vodka, a little more vodka, and voilà.” Maksimilian smiled, a wistful look in his eyes. “I was really something in those days.”
Blue electricity crackled off Fon-Rahm’s arms. “At your command, Parker, I shall match myself in combat with this monster of snow and ice.”
“No!” Parker said, his breath visible in the frigid air. “Stay there! Keeping that shield up is already screwing with your injury, or whatever it is. If you fight, it’ll just get worse!”
Maks looked the genie over. “Injury? Not possible.”
“It is, as they say, a long story.”
Parker held his hands up slowly, showing the thing he meant it no harm. “Easy, fella. It’s okay! We’re your friends!” The yeti seemed to consider this for a moment before it leaned down and let out a bellowing roar that exposed jagged teeth and black gums.
Reese said, “Parker, I think it would be a good idea for you to lie very, very still.”
Parker nodded. “I’m with you on that one.” He could feel the ice ape’s hot breath on his face. The wheels frantically turned in Parker’s brain. He didn’t have much time. “Fon-Rahm!” he yelled. “I wish I knew parkour!”
Smoke misted from the genie’s eyes and Parker felt the knowledge and skill of years of practice and study flood into his mind. He rolled away just as the snowman took a swipe with his claw that sliced through the Everest ice like it was made of paper. Parker popped up, executed a perfect standing front flip, and set himself in a crouch. A smile spread over his face. “Yeah, this’ll do nicely.”
Finders Keepers Page 13
