Finders Keepers

by Peter Speakman

  Fon-Rahm followed him out, on the lookout for any movement from the enemy. “Be careful, Parker. We do not know who this man is.”

  Parker reached the figure struggling on the lawn. “I know who it is!” The vines covered the man’s face and wrapped him up from head to toe but Parker would have recognized the shoes and the hair anywhere.

  “Just stand still and don’t move,” Parker said. He raised the sword and let it rip, but he checked his swing right before he made contact. “Um, also I wish I knew how to use a samurai sword!” Fon-Rahm made it so, and the wisdom of thousands of hours of intense practice shot into Parker’s brain. He tried the swing again. This time, the razor-sharp blade sliced through the woody green vines and stopped within atoms of making contact with something human. The leafy bonds fell away, revealing a stunned J.T.

  “What…what just happened to me?” J.T. asked.

  Parker cut away more vines creeping out of the ground. “You got caught. What are you doing here, Dad?”

  “I followed you! I knew something was going on, but I never thought…” He stared at the genie in his flowing black robes.

  Fon-Rahm said, “We must get inside the house.”

  J.T. asked, “Why? What’s going on here, Parker? What’s he doing here? What in the heck is he wearing?”

  “We must hurry. Danger approaches.” Fon-Rahm pointed. Duncan was lazily skateboarding down the driveway and toward the house.

  “You know what’s going on, Dad. Stop pretending.”

  “Parker, I…”

  Duncan stopped, popped a bubble with his gum and waved.

  “Who’s that little kid?”

  “Later, Dad. Get inside. Now!”

  Fon-Rahm and the two Quarrys ran full speed for the house. J.T. looked over his shoulder just as Duncan thrust his arms out. Parker pushed his dad through the open door and down to the ground as a deadly cloud of razor-tipped arrows arced over their heads and embedded themselves into the floor of the house.

  Fon-Rahm slammed the door shut. Duncan’s next barrage bounced harmlessly off the house’s exterior.

  “The attack has begun,” said Fon-Rahm.

  Professor Ellison stared icily at the man on the floor. “And we’re lucky these two idiots didn’t give up the whole game.”

  Parker jumped up from the floor. “I had to save him. Vesiroth would have killed him if your vines didn’t!”

  J.T. finally stuck his head up. “Okay, I give up. What in holy heck is a Vesiroth?”

  Duncan skated back to the road where Vesiroth was waiting. “Another five seconds and I would’ve had ’em.”

  The burned skin on Vesiroth’s face constricted as he smiled. “Your arrows would have no effect on the first of the Jinn, and the boy is of no concern to me. This house, though…” He probed the air with his hands. “It’s magnificent. My protégé camouflages its true dimensions with a cloaking spell. It’s very clever. Tarinn hides among the peasants in plain sight.”

  “Whatever. You want me to lob some more blades at it?”

  “That would be a waste of time and energy. We will not breach this house with your paltry gimmicks.”

  “Then what are we supposed to do, wait them out? That could take weeks.”

  “We will not have to. They will bring the Helm to us.”

  “Oh, yeah? Why would they do that?”

  Vesiroth abruptly turned away from the house and began walking toward the black SUVs. “Have your men bring the package. It’s time to see just how seriously Fon-Rahm takes his precious ideals.”

  J.T. stood up and took the house in. “Wow. This place looks a lot smaller from the outside.”

  Reese cleared her throat. “Mr. Quarry, um, this is our friend Professor Ellison. She works at the university with Theo’s dad. And Mr. Rommy is…” Reese trailed off. Fon-Rahm was wearing his robes and floating six inches off the ground. J.T. had been attacked by sentient vines and then barely escaped a stream of arrows shot at them by a homicidal ten-year-old. There was no explaining this.

  “Don’t bother, Reese,” Theo said. “He knows exactly what’s happening.”

  “How would he know?” asked Reese.

  Parker said, “He knows because he’s a spy.”

  Professor Ellison turned from the window. “What’s all this about a spy?”

  Theo turned red. “Well, um, we, Parker and me, we found this thing, the Babel Stone? In the barn? And we think that somebody planted it on one of us, to, you know. Spy on us.”

  “The Babel Stone? And you didn’t think this should be brought to my attention?” The professor’s voice was ice. “The fate of the world is at stake here, Theo, or have you forgotten?”

  “No! I know! It’s just that we didn’t know who the spy was, and you can be a little, you know. Harsh. We thought you would shut us out.”

  “As indeed I would have! You have put three thousand years of work at risk!”

  J.T. said, “Wait. Did she say three thousand years?”

  “Shut up, man.” Professor Ellison glared at J.T. “What exactly did Vesiroth pay you to sell out the entire human race?”

  “Wait. Wait.” Reese said. “Hold on. This can’t be true. He’s Parker’s dad.”

  Theo crossed his arms in anger. “Yeah, and he’s been watching our every move for days, maybe weeks. He’s been lying right to our faces.”

  “It’s what he’s best at,” said Parker.

  Reese, Fon-Rahm, Theo, Ellison, and his own son surrounded J.T. He did not like the look in their eyes.

  “Okay. Okay.” J.T. held his hands up. “I’m not sure what I’ve stumbled into here but I’m not a spy. I swear. I don’t know who this Vesiroth is and I don’t know what he wants and I don’t care. I just wanted to make sure my son was safe. And he’s clearly not.” He puffed up his chest and stood toe to toe with Fon-Rahm. “What have you dragged Parker into, Rommy?”

  “It is not as you believe, Mr. Quarry.”

  “Yeah? Because what I believe is that you’ve put my son’s life in danger. That crazy kid outside is trying to kill him!”

  Parker crossed his arms. “So you didn’t plant the Babel Stone.”

  “I don’t know what a Babel Stone is!”

  “Why should I believe you, Dad? You’ve done nothing but lie to me my whole life!”

  “Parker, I know I…” J.T. stopped. He wished he was alone with his son instead of surrounded by kids and strangers. “I may not have told you a hundred percent of the truth about absolutely everything, okay, but I’m not lying.” He stared at the genie. “I would never do anything to hurt you. You’re my son.”

  “Yeah, I know what that’s worth.”

  “I haven’t been a perfect father. Fine. But whatever else I am, I’m not a spy! You have to believe me!”

  Parker didn’t know what to believe. He loved his father, but someone was spying on them. If it wasn’t J.T., who was it?

  “Fon-Rahm!”

  The voice came from outside. They all rushed to a window and looked out.

  Vesiroth stood on the lawn, alone. His hands were crossed behind his back. If it weren’t for his impeccable black suit and his scarred face, he could have just been a man out enjoying a sunny New Hampshire day.

  “That’s him? That’s Vesiroth?” Reese said.

  Theo said, “He doesn’t look so tough. He’s just a guy with a scarred face.”

  Parker shook his head. “He’s a lot more than that.”

  Vesiroth called again. “I wait, first of the Jinn.”

  “Are you going to answer him?” Reese asked Fon-Rahm.

  “I will if my master commands it.”

  J.T. said, “Your master?”

  Vesiroth turned his face to the sun. “Come now, Fon-Rahm. Is it too much to ask that you have a conversation with your maker?” As he spoke, the vines beneath him shot up to encircle his legs. Vesiroth casually touched the silver spike at his neck. The vines instantly withered and died.

  Parker nodded at his genie.

/>   Fon-Rahm spoke. “I hear you, Vesiroth. What do you propose?”

  “A trade.”

  “And what shall we trade, creator?”

  “You will trade me the third piece of the Helm.”

  Reese shook her head. “Well, that’s never going to happen.”

  Fon-Rahm said, “And what will you give me in return?”

  Vesiroth gestured to someone behind him. A Path member brought a struggling Naomi to his boss, a knife at her throat.

  “How about the life of this human girl?”

  29

  “GO AHEAD AND KILL HER,” Professor Ellison shouted.

  “No!” said Reese. “You can’t let Naomi die!”

  “Why not? She was stupid enough to be taken hostage.”

  “It’s not her fault! This doesn’t have anything to do with her!”

  Out the window they watched as Naomi struggled against the Path member who held her. A knife glinted at her throat.

  “We all know where Tarinn stands, Fon-Rahm,” Vesiroth said. “But you…you are a different proposition altogether. You could destroy her if you wanted to. You could kill her and you could give me what I want.”

  Professor Ellison turned her eyes to Fon-Rahm and huffed. “I’d like to see you try.”

  “Tarinn has lived centuries, enough lifetimes for any fifty people. This girl, though…” Vesiroth ran his hand through Naomi’s hair. Naomi pulled away in revulsion. “She’s so new. Doesn’t she deserve a chance to live a full life?”

  “Please, Fon-Rahm,” Reese pleaded. “Please. Don’t let my friend die!”

  Everything that made Fon-Rahm what he was screamed out to save this innocent girl. But he more than anyone else knew that the wizard Vesiroth would stop at nothing to achieve his aims. In his hands the completed Helm would be an instrument of chaotic destruction. “Parker,” he said, “I cannot give him the Helm, and I cannot let Naomi be destroyed.”

  Parker turned the problem over in his head, the weight of the entire world crushing his seventh-grade frame. Suddenly the riddle in the catacombs seemed like something out of a kids’ book. “Dude, I have no idea what to do.”

  All eyes were on Fon-Rahm as he thought. Finally, the genie spoke. “Vesiroth! I cannot bring you what you ask for. But I offer something else in exchange for this girl’s safe passage.”

  “Oh? And what else do you have that I want?”

  “I will trade myself.”

  Parker felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. “You can’t do that! I won’t let you! I command you to stay!”

  “That is a command I cannot obey, my master.”

  “You’re a fool, Fon-Rahm.” Professor Ellison snorted in disgust. “Vesiroth will kill you, or worse. You’ve played right into his hands.”

  “Perhaps,” Fon-Rahm said. “But I have made my choice.”

  “Look at that,” Vesiroth said to his squirming hostage. “It’s almost as if Fon-Rahm truly cares whether you live or die.”

  “What good is he to us?” Duncan asked. “I thought the whole point was to get the Helm.”

  “He was never going to give us the Helm. I just wanted to see how softhearted he really is.” He shouted to the house. “I am not interested in combat with you, Fon-Rahm. I know what you’re capable of. I built you myself.”

  Fon-Rahm answered. “I will not harm you, creator. You have my word.”

  “You have a deal, Fon-Rahm. If you give yourself to me, I will guarantee this child safe passage.” The scarred wizard cackled to Duncan. “Amazing, isn’t it? My genie is willing to risk extinction to gain this ridiculous girl a few more hours of life.” His eyes turned dark. “And now we get to make him squirm.”

  Parker shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “No. I can’t let you do this. We just have to think of something else, that’s all, some other idea…”

  “You and I both know that there is no other way, Parker,” Fon-Rahm said. “And now I must command you.”

  “What is it, Fon-Rahm?” Parker didn’t want the genie to see he was about to cry.

  “I command you to be brave.” The genie rested his hand on Parker’s shoulder. “What happens to me is of no importance. You must be steadfast and you must place your faith in Professor Ellison. If you remain strong, everything will be all right. Things will be…” He searched for the right words. “Totally tubular.”

  Parker stifled a laugh. As the genie went to the door, Parker wrapped him in a hug. “Be careful, Fon-Rahm. Be careful and come back to us.”

  Fon-Rahm looked deep into Parker’s eyes. “As you wish, master.” Then he opened the door and stepped outside.

  Vesiroth saw the door open. “Let her go.” The Path member released his grip and Naomi ran to Fon-Rahm. She embraced the genie as hard as she could.

  “Mr. Rommy, what’s happening? Who are these psychos? Why are you wearing this…”

  She stopped talking and looked down. Her math teacher was floating six inches above the ground.

  “I am not who you think me to be,” he said. “But know that, in my way, I am your friend.” Fon-Rahm released her. “Go to the house. I have business with my father.”

  Naomi ran to the house and into her best friend’s arms.

  “I’m so sorry, Naomi,” said Reese, close to tears. “I’m so sorry I got you dragged into this.”

  Naomi just stared out the open doorway, watching in awe as Fon-Rahm floated to Vesiroth. “He’s not even scared,” she whispered. “He sacrificed himself for me and he’s not even scared.”

  Fon-Rahm reached the scarred wizard. “My firstborn returns to me at last,” said Vesiroth.

  The genie stared straight ahead. “I am here as you bade me to be here.”

  “Yes, and as helpless as a kitten. It must gall you, Fon-Rahm. The might of ages pulses inside you and yet you must abide by your promise not to harm me.”

  “Do your worst, creator.”

  “Oh, don’t worry,” said Vesiroth with an evil grin. “I intend to.”

  30

  FON-RAHM WAS THE ONE BEING TORTURED, but Parker felt every blow.

  The mighty genie was hovering, helpless, two feet off the ground. Vesiroth’s silver spike concentrated his power and delivered wave after wave of pure pain to Fon-Rahm’s injured left arm while Duncan watched with a gleam in his eye.

  “He should fight back!” Theo said.

  “He promised Vesiroth that he wouldn’t,” said Reese, clasping the hand of her shell-shocked best friend, Naomi. “You know Fon-Rahm would never go back on his word, no matter what.”

  Professor Ellison shook her head. “His weakness put us all in danger. He could end this now with one bolt of lightning.”

  “You would do it, and I would, too.” Parker buried his head in his hands. He couldn’t stand to see Fon-Rahm abused. “But Fon-Rahm wouldn’t kill anyone, even Vesiroth, unless he absolutely had to. He’s better than all of us.”

  J.T. just stood back, as if he was way, way out of their depth. “I knew there was something weird about that math teacher,” he said.

  Vesiroth yelled into the house. “This is your mighty Fon-Rahm, the first of the Jinn. He is supposed to be the most powerful creature on the planet, and to me he is a mere puppet.” The wizard delivered another burst of concentrated agony to the genie. Fon-Rahm contorted in torment. “What chance do the rest of you have against me? No one need die here. Bring me the Helm and stand aside as I fulfill my destiny as mankind’s savior.”

  “Do not…do not listen to him,” said Fon-Rahm through the fog of his own anguish. “Keep the Helm safe. Bow to no man.”

  “Be quiet, Fon-Rahm. This is between Tarinn and me.” Vesiroth raised his hand and cast another salvo of red-hot energy at Fon-Rahm.

  “What are those things?” Theo asked, nodding out to the lawn. Parker got himself together and returned to the window. The Path members were assembling metal staffs of some kind, topped with globes of pure jade.

  “I don’t know,” admitted the p
rofessor. “I’ve never seen anything like them.”

  “Last chance,” shouted Vesiroth. “As much as I do enjoy spending time with family, my patience wears thin. Bring me the Helm or watch Fon-Rahm be destroyed.”

  “Don’t let him kill you!” Reese called out, near tears. “Break your promise! He would never keep his! Fight back, Fon-Rahm! Fight back!”

  Professor Ellison put her hand on Reese’s shoulder. “He made his decision, dear. We might not agree with it, but you have to admit he’s consistent.”

  The Path members held their assembled staffs at the ready.

  “So be it,” said Vesiroth. “This is what it looks like when an immortal dies.” At Vesiroth’s command the jade globes on the elaborate metal rods began to glow green. When the light from the staffs hit Fon-Rahm, the genie writhed in absolute agony. The bruise-colored web that marked the infection in his arm had spread to cover the genie’s shoulders and half of his face. He was being pulled apart.

  “I guess we know what those poles are for.” Theo stared at the floor. “They’re a genie-killing machine.”

  Parker closed his eyes. Fon-Rahm had told him once that it didn’t matter if they were together or not. If Parker wanted something, all he had to do was wish for it. Parker wanted something. He wished for it.

  And Fon-Rahm vanished in a puff of smoke.

  “What…what is this?” stammered Vesiroth. There was empty air where Fon-Rahm once hung. The two Path members looked at the globes of their staffs, as if they had somehow managed to vaporize the genie by accident.

  Parker yelled out, “Fon-Rahm promised not to hurt you, but he never promised he would stick around. I wished he would escape and he did.”

  “The child speaks! This is your doing, then?”

  “Why not? I’m insolent and all that.”

  “You made him teleport?” Theo said, the hope draining from his face. “Parker, Fon-Rahm can’t teleport in his condition! He could wind up in the middle of a volcano!”

  “Anywhere’s better than here.” Parker wanted more than anything to be right. “All we can do is hope he’s okay, wherever he is.”