William Wenton and the Lost City

by Bobbie Peers

  “No,” he mumbled in irritation. “That won’t do.” He put it back in his pocket and pulled out a small locomotive.

  “Where did it go?” he said, returning the locomotive to his pocket.

  He tried yet another pocket and pulled out a small black car.

  “There you are,” he said with satisfaction, and set the car down on the grass.

  He took a couple of steps back. “It’d be wise to back up a bit,” he said. “Sometimes they just explode.”

  He pointed the remote at the car and pushed a button.

  With another zap the small black car suddenly became a full-size London taxicab.

  “How do you do that?” William asked.

  “Molecular shrinkology,” Phil said, and stuffed the remote into his pants pocket. He did a little jump, danced over to the cab, and opened one of the back doors. “Get in,” he sang.

  • • •

  William and Iscia clung tightly to the backseat as the cab sped through the streets.

  “Where do you suppose he gets all of his things from?” Iscia asked quietly.

  “Maybe he stole them,” William whispered back.

  Suddenly the cab jumped. William and Iscia flew up off the seat.

  “Sorry,” Phil yelled through the plexiglass that separated the driver’s compartment from the passenger seats.

  He turned the wheel to the side, and the cab swerved around some traffic on the road.

  “Do you think he has a driver’s license?” Iscia sounded worried.

  “Doesn’t seem like it,” William replied.

  “But isn’t it kind of cool? Being picked up by an ancient android and taken on a trip around the world?” Iscia was smiling now.

  William didn’t respond. Benjamin had said that the orbulator code was difficult, and that it would kill anyone who tried but couldn’t solve it completely. And the orbulator code had been difficult, but not that difficult. He had a feeling that the trials weren’t over yet.

  After a breathless trip through the streets of London, Phil finally pulled over and stopped at the curb. He turned off the engine and then swiveled around to face them, sliding open a little window in the plexiglass divider.

  “It was nice to meet you, Iscia,” he said with a smile. “Here’s a little money. You can catch a train from over there. Anywhere you want to go.” Phil pointed to a large train station a short distance away.

  “Huh?” Iscia was afraid.

  “Train?” William couldn’t believe his own ears. “What are you talking about?”

  “I can only bring the one who’s solving the pyramid,” Phil said. “And that’s you, William. That means that she can’t come. It’s too dangerous.”

  William and Iscia exchanged looks.

  “That’s how I’m programmed,” Phil said apologetically. “If I’m not remembering it completely wrong.”

  “You can’t just drop me off here,” Iscia protested, “in the middle of the night.” Fear shone in her eyes.

  “Sorry,” Phil said with a shrug. “Those are the rules.”

  “Do you think this is okay?” Iscia said, fixing her eyes on William. “That I have to get out here?”

  William shook his head. He was so shocked that he didn’t know what to say.

  “We’re going to retrieve the orbulator,” Phil explained. “It’s in a rather risky location. Far riskier than this place.”

  “Risk schmisk.” Iscia snorted dismissively. “I thought we were in this together.”

  “If you force her to get out here,” William said, opening the door on his side of the cab, “then I’m getting out too.”

  “But . . . ,” Phil protested. “You’re the only one who’s solved the pyramid. You have to come with me.”

  “Not if I don’t want to,” William said firmly.

  Phil looked at them. He didn’t seem to quite know what to say. “You know that this is very dangerous?” He watched Iscia.

  “Yes.” She nodded.

  “And you know that there’s a chance you two will never come back?”

  “Yes.” She nodded again. “But I’m willing to take the chance.”

  “And you know that the pyramid is just the first code? And that the last one is much harder?”

  “That we did not know!” William looked at the Orbulator Agent in shock.

  “Oh.” A look of concern came over Phil’s face. “I suppose there are a few things I’ve forgotten to mention to you. I’ve become a little absentminded over the years.”

  He twisted the key in the ignition, turned the steering wheel, and sped away.

  28

  Phil stopped the car on a dark side street near a bridge.

  “Here we are then,” he said. “Let’s get going.”

  William peered out the window. He could just make out the contours of the large Palace of Westminster and Big Ben, towering into the dark night sky.

  Phil nodded to something outside the cab. “Also, we need to be careful.”

  William noticed a police car parked a little way down the street.

  They got out of the cab and shut the door.

  “In here,” Phil whispered. He backed into a dark courtyard behind them.

  William and Iscia did the same. From there, they peered warily out, their eyes watchful. One of the doors on the police car opened, and a policeman came into view. He yawned and stretched.

  “There’s only one,” William said.

  The policeman walked around his car a couple of times before he continued over to the end of the bridge and leaned forward, putting his elbows on the railing. He stood that way with his back to them, staring out at the Thames.

  “Looks like he’s bored,” Iscia said.

  “We have to get over there unnoticed.” Phil pointed at the enormous clock tower on the other side of the street.

  “Now.”

  The three of them darted across the wide street. It was the middle of the night, and there was almost no traffic. A car went by behind them. William and Iscia followed Phil along the railing, climbed over the fence, and kept going until they came to the back of the tower.

  “Now what?” Iscia said.

  “Hold on.” Phil started searching through his pockets. “There you are,” he said, and pulled out something that looked like a small metal door. He lifted the door up toward the stone wall on the clock tower. He was about to place the small door inside a squarish depression in the wall but stopped as the sound of squealing tires pierced the quiet night.

  William turned and saw a black car stop out on the street. He recognized it as one of the Institute’s cars that was capable of going extremely fast.

  The driver’s-side door opened, and a tall figure stepped out. It was Goffman. He stopped and peered around the dark street. Then he fixed his gaze on the huge clock tower. Cornelia’s mechanical hand gleamed in the light from the streetlamps. Even from this distance, William could tell that Goffman’s eyes looked completely crazy. His one eye was darting this way and that, just like Cornelia Strangler’s eye had always done.

  William felt Iscia stiffen beside him.

  “William,” Iscia whispered, “look.” She pointed.

  William followed her finger with his eyes and saw the policeman approaching Goffman.

  “You can’t park there!” the policeman yelled, gesturing at Goffman’s car.

  Goffman raised the mechanical hand. A thick beam shot out of it and bathed the street in blue light before it hit the policeman in the middle of his chest. He collapsed.

  Goffman started walking across the street. A car had to slam on its brakes to avoid hitting him.

  In only a few seconds, Goffman would see them.

  “No time to lose,” Phil said, and placed the metal slab into the rectangular depression in the stone.

  The small metal door started clicking.

  Faster and faster.

  It began to grow. It doubled in size with every click and soon was the size of a normal door.

  Phil g
rabbed the handle and pulled the door open.

  “Get inside,” he said, motioning at William and Iscia.

  Phil jumped in after them and pulled the door shut behind him.

  The last thing William saw before the door closed was Goffman racing toward them with his mechanical hand raised.

  There came another series of clicking noises from the door. William stepped backward without taking his eyes off the door, which began to fold itself up. It got smaller and smaller until it turned into a small metal door again and flopped onto the floor.

  Phil bent down and picked the door up. He stuck it back in one of his large pockets and turned to William.

  There were distant pounding sounds from the other side of the wall. Goffman wanted to enter, but there was no longer any door to go through.

  “Do you think he’s going to get in?” Iscia whispered.

  “It’s going to take him a little while at any rate,” Phil said. “We have to get going.”

  29

  “Could you push that button over there,” Phil said, and pointed at a square stone that protruded from the wall behind William.

  William pushed the button, and it disappeared into the wall with a soft scraping sound.

  Suddenly the floor shook violently. So violently that William had to hold on to the wall to keep from falling over. It rumbled beneath them.

  Then the whole floor started moving downward. There was another scraping sound as the massive stone floor ground against the walls on its way down. William pulled back into the middle, and they steadied one another as the floor beneath them sank deeper and deeper.

  “It’s an elevator,” William said. “A secret elevator inside Big Ben.” Even though he was scared, another part of him found this incredibly cool. Imagine that . . . a secret elevator inside one of the world’s most famous landmarks.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” Phil said with a smile. “I made it myself.”

  William looked up. They’d already traveled some distance.

  And with a jerk and a deep, resounding boom, the floor stopped. William stood there, waiting, but nothing happened.

  “Could you push that one,” Phil said, pointing to a rusty metal bump sticking out of the wall beside Iscia.

  Iscia raised her hand and pushed the button. The moment she did it, a rumbling could be heard from deep within the stone wall in front of them. The wall started slowly moving to the side, revealing profound darkness. A foul-smelling rush of air flowed toward them. The air down here felt like it was hundreds of years old, and the hairs on William’s head stood up.

  Phil hurried into the darkness beyond the door. He disappeared, and everything went eerily silent.

  Then there was a faint click, and a dusty lightbulb in the ceiling flickered to life. It gave off just enough light for them to make out their surroundings. They were in a long tunnel.

  Phil searched through his pockets.

  “I just had it. It used to be right here,” he said woefully.

  He pulled a red phone booth the size of a matchbox out of one pocket and then stuffed it back again in annoyance and continued looking while muttering to himself.

  Finally he found what he was looking for. “Here it is,” he said with a satisfied smile. He leaned over and placed what he’d found on the floor. Then he straightened up again and took a couple of steps back.

  “Cover your eyes,” he instructed.

  William put his hands over his eyes and waited. Right after that there was a loud zap and a series of clicks. Then it was quiet again.

  “Okay,” Phil said. “Come on.”

  When William opened his eyes, there was a golf cart right in front of them. Phil walked over to it and ran his hand over the hood.

  “This will speed things up,” he said, and motioned to William and Iscia. “Climb in.” And with an elegant bow, Phil hopped in behind the wheel.

  William and Iscia sat down in the backseat.

  “Hold on tight,” Phil said, stepping on the gas. “I’m going to have to drive fast.”

  The golf cart sped off across the crumbling floor just as there was an explosion from inside the elevator shaft they had come from.

  “They blasted through the wall?” Iscia shouted.

  “Probably did,” Phil shouted back. “It will still take time to get down here. Hold tight.”

  30

  William clung to a handle while he stared into the seemingly endless tunnel ahead of them. Phil drove like a wild man. Every time the cart almost careened into the wall, he gave a quick laugh, as if he found this unbelievably fun.

  “Who made these tunnels?” William called out.

  “The same person who made Big Ben,” Phil said, and then paused for a moment for dramatic effect. “Me.”

  “You?” William gasped.

  “You made Big Ben?” Iscia exclaimed.

  “Yup. Well, not all by myself, of course. I designed it, and some other people built it. Big Ben is a clever entrance to the tunnels below. And the tunnels are an unbelievably practical way to get around.”

  “Are there more secret entrances up there?” Iscia asked.

  “Yes . . . many,” Phil said slyly. “And all over the world. The Eiffel Tower . . . the pyramids . . . the Great Wall . . . I designed most of them.”

  Phil turned the wheel, and the golf cart veered around a corner. “Oops. I almost forgot that I have to stop somewhere and pick something up.”

  “What?” William asked.

  “Patience, my young code breaker. Every dance begins with the first step,” Phil said.

  A few minutes later the golf cart abruptly stopped in front of an unstable rock wall at the end of the long tunnel.

  Phil jumped out and walked over to a large metal door. After a bit of looking, he pulled a bunch of keys out of a pocket.

  He had to try a number of keys before he found the right one. There was a click, and Phil pulled it open.

  “Wait here,” he said, taking a flashlight out of his pants pocket. “I’ll be back in a jiffy.” He vanished into the darkness beyond.

  “I have to see what’s in there,” William said, getting out of the cart.

  He proceeded over to the door and peered in. All he saw was Phil’s flashlight sweeping through the darkness. He was doing some serious rummaging around in there. The beam of light hit something that looked like a large military tank.

  “Do you see anything?” Iscia asked.

  “I need to get a closer look,” William said, walking into the darkness. “I think we’ve been here before.”

  An icy cold current of air hit him. It was the kind of cold draft that went right through the body and settled deeply into the marrow of one’s bones. And now William was sure: He had been here before. Every nerve in his skin was taut.

  This room was big . . . bigger than big.

  It was gigantic.

  He looked around and spotted a light switch on the wall next to the door. He walked over and turned it on. Electrical crackling sounds could be heard above him, and one by one the aging lights on the ceiling came on.

  Soon the entire enormous hall was bathed in a sparkling yellow light.

  Phil stopped what he was doing and looked over at William.

  “Thanks,” he said. “I’d forgotten there were lights in here.”

  William scanned the tanks and airships strewn over the massive, cavernous hall. It looked like a messy boy’s bedroom, only everything was a thousand times bigger.

  Images of what had happened the last time William was here flashed in front of his eyes. His grandfather finding the cryonic freezer, Abraham Talley almost killing him, the flood that had upended everything in the hall.

  Phil continued in among all the military tanks and battleships.

  “I have to come back another time and do a little tidying in here,” he said, and started emptying things out of his pockets. He collected the items in a long row on the floor, and soon there was a host of little cars, planes, and boats in front of him.
>
  “It’s totally unbelievable how much accumulates when you don’t empty your pockets thoroughly every once in a while.”

  “Is that why we came down here?” William asked. “So you could empty your pockets?”

  “Yes,” Phil said, pointing his remote at all the things on the floor. “Do you have any idea how heavy it is to walk around lugging all this with you?” He pressed a button on the remote, and one by one the cars, planes, and boats grew to their normal size.

  “But we’re also here to pick something up,” Phil continued, looking around.

  “What?” William asked.

  “That, over there.” Phil pointed to an enormous submarine. “I hope it’s survived the careless treatment it’s received in here. It was specially built to tolerate extreme depths.”

  William watched while Phil walked over to the submarine, shrank it, and stuffed it into a coat pocket.

  “Well, we have to move on,” Phil said, quickly walking back over to William. “Emma is waiting.”

  “Who’s Emma?” William said, following Phil.

  “No point trying to explain that now,” Phil said. “Much better for you to see her with your own eyes.”

  31

  The golf cart squealed around a corner and continued down a long corridor.

  “There are many vast reservoirs down here,” Phil said. “Most of them were built in the eighteenth century and hold enormous amounts of water.”

  “Really?” William said, glancing nervously at Iscia.

  “We have to go down to one specific reservoir,” Phil said. “That’s where Emma is. She’ll take us where we’re going.”

  After a few minutes of wild-man driving, the golf cart stopped in front of yet another huge, rusty iron door. In the middle of the door was an old brass sign that said DANGER: DEEP WATER.

  Phil hopped out of the golf cart and went up to the door. William and Iscia followed. William cast one quick glance over his shoulder. He didn’t see any signs of anyone following them. Yet.

  Phil grabbed the large, vaguely nautical-looking handle on the door and pulled it toward himself. They heard the creak of old, rusty metal.

  “This reservoir was built over a natural water source, so it’s impossible to drain it. No one knows how deep it is. A perfect place for Emma. Come on.” Phil proceeded through the doorway and waved for William and Iscia to follow.