Oh, you mean Caleb’s world collapsing? “Yeah, I felt it.”
Medics kept trying to interrupt the reunion, gesturing toward an ambulance parked on the grass and saying he should get a checkup. But his mom held him tight, and his dad waved them off, saying, “In a minute, in a minute!”
Liam spotted Madison with a grey blanket around her shoulders, her parents leading her toward the same ambulance, Cody ambling by their side. He decided now might, after all, be a good time for a checkup, and he led his parents over, still amazed at how many strangers milled about on the lawn. He noticed a news van in the lane, too. He guessed it was a pretty big story, a house sinking into the ground like that. This would be the second time his family had featured on the local news; the first time had been just a couple of weekends ago when the Ark Lord’s yellow stasis cloud had descended on the house and a plethora of monsters had run amuck and torn the place up.
Now the house was gone, just a huge, gaping hole in the ground. Like it was vaporized, he thought. Ant’s vision came true.
He vowed to pay attention to echoes of the future from now on. The scene had played out exactly as foreseen; only Ant’s interpretation of it had been different.
“Looks like we’ll be pitching tents from now on,” Liam said to Madison as he joined her and the medics at the back of the ambulance. Both sets of parents crowded around.
“You’ll be staying with us,” her mom, Mrs. Parker, said firmly.
“We can’t impose,” Liam’s dad said. “We need to figure out something a bit more permanent. We’ll check into a nearby hotel. I think the insurance will pay for it, at least for a while.”
“What are you going to do with this?” Mr. Parker asked, gesturing toward the lawn. It was as if small-talk and chit-chat had been suspended throughout the entire ordeal, only resuming now that Liam and Madison were back safe and sound. “It’s not like a hole that size can be filled in with a bit of gravel.”
“We’ll worry about it later. I’m just happy both kids are okay. The house . . .” He shrugged. “Maybe I’ll rebuild somewhere else on the lawn and cover the hole somehow.”
Mr. Parker looked doubtful. “If they let you. Inspectors will be out here poking around, checking to see if the area is safe, worrying about more sinkholes . . . Heck, we might be told to vacate the premises as well.” He put his arm around his wife. “Can you face another move?”
Madison’s mom grimaced. “We just got here. Please don’t let them tear our house down.”
“They won’t,” Liam said, thinking of his visit to the future. Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t be sure whether his own house had ever been rebuilt. What he did know was that Madison’s would remained unchanged. It was where the two of them would live until a ripe old age.
He couldn’t reveal any of this, though. He reddened as everyone looked at him.
“Well, as long as you’re sure, Liam,” Mrs. Parker said with a laugh.
The rescue workers who had remained below were now full-fledged explorers. Liam imagined them picking their way through the house, eventually finding the hole in the laundry room floor, then heading down the tunnel. They would walk for some time before coming to a blockage. Would they try to dig through? Maybe eventually, in the days to come . . . and when they did, they’d find a massive, three-mile-wide spherical void.
And if they walked up the tunnel, which they definitely would, they would emerge in the woods as Ant and Caleb must have done by now. The whole place would be a hive of activity for months, perhaps years, as they tried to figure out who had built the tunnel and where the hundreds of gas lamps had come from.
Liam couldn’t help smiling.
Madison nudged Liam and pointed toward the lane. A dozen people loitered there behind the yellow CAUTION tape despite it being just past 4 AM, and some turned to watch as a black limousine slowed to a halt behind them. Ant stepped out of the front and quickly closed the door, then turned back as the window slid down. He leaned in and talked for a moment, then stepped away and waved as the window rolled up.
The limo moved on toward the lake, and Ant watched it go, his shoulders slumped. After a while, he turned toward the lawn, where a police officer politely stopped him from crossing the yellow tape.
“Can someone let him through?” Madison said. She broke free of her mom’s grasp. “Come on, Liam, let’s rescue him.”
****
“My dad’ll buy you a new house,” Ant said, gesturing toward the enormous hole in the ground.
Now that the rescue was over, all the focus was on the so-called sinkhole. What had caused it? What else was down there? More to the point, what would they think of the partially melted mannequin in the upper half of the tunnel?
Ant suddenly looked embarrassed at what he’d said. “When I say my dad’ll buy you a new house, I mean if your dad’s insurance doesn’t cover it, and if he’ll accept a helping hand . . .”
Liam wasn’t worried. “It’ll work out,” he said. “I’m more interested in Caleb. And Barton, too. He’s really gone for good?”
“Didn’t even hand in his notice,” Ant said glumly. “He’s probably already left in that flying saucer. They’re going to England. Let’s hope Caleb behaves himself.”
“So . . . does this mean you won’t have a driver now?” Liam wondered aloud. How would Ant get around without a chauffeur? Pay for a taxi?
“Oh, I’m sure my dad will replace him pretty quick. It’s just that . . . well, Barton was cool. A new driver might not turn a blind eye to all the weird stuff we get involved in. We’ll have to be more careful. We’ll have to watch what we say.”
After a silence, Madison said, “Maybe I just need to stop sleep writing. It used to be harmless fun, watching aliens poke around in fields in the middle of the night. Since meeting you guys, it’s gotten way too dangerous.”
Ant glared at her. “Don’t you dare stop sleep writing.”
“She won’t,” Liam said with a grin. “If there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that we’re gonna have a bunch more dangerous adventures together.”
END OF PART 9
COMING NEXT
Ant circled the bushes, trying to find an opening. At least the mysterious light made it a little easier to see where he was putting his feet. He found a gap in the thicket and ducked low to avoid getting tangled up in thorns. On hands and knees, he crawled through and poked his head out into the clearing, dimly aware of a strong smell of sulfur.
Barely able to believe his eyes, he stared in astonishment.
It wasn’t a wormhole at all. A silver-colored circular spacecraft had parked neatly in the middle of the woods. It was smaller than a house but bigger than a two-car garage, shaped like a cereal bowl upside down on top of another. A wide rim jutted out where the bowls joined, and the ground immediately below was bathed in a dazzling white light. The brightly illuminated metallic hull of the craft was seamless and smooth, with a dull sheen that reflected little of its surroundings.
An alien UFO, he thought in amazement and awe. Not one of Caleb’s toys, but a genuine flying saucer.
The tale continues in The Flying Saucer.
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