He pulled away from the hug and looked up.
Albert’s dad beamed with pride. “This is all for you, Albert.”
Birdie and Leroy took their places beside Bob Flynn, grinning as they watched Albert’s look of awe.
“I’m getting a new Tile?” Albert asked.
“You can’t be a Balance Keeper without one,” Trey said when Albert stopped before the pool. “You earned it, Albert. Now get in there and pick the very best one.”
Albert reached down to untie his boots. His fingers shook a little as he loosened the knots.
What if the Tile he chose was something he wouldn’t be good at? What if he got something useless, like a Tile that gave him great dancing abilities, or made his hair grow long?
What if . . . he couldn’t find one at all?
“Albert,” Birdie spoke up. “It’s going to be great.”
“We know you’ll get a good one,” Leroy said, with two thumbs up.
Hoyt nodded from the crowd.
The water was cool today, a breath of fresh air. Albert stepped in and took one look back over his shoulder.
Everyone’s eyes were wide, watching and waiting.
“Here goes nothing,” Albert said.
He dove in.
The waterfall pounded over his head, and Albert swam deep and wide, his eyes closed the entire time.
Let it be a good one, Albert thought. Then he changed his mind. Let it be the right one for me.
He didn’t want to look. He wanted to let the Core decide for him. So he swam and swam, his arms spread out before him, and just when Albert began to wonder if he was going to find a Tile at all, his fingers scraped the bottom of the pool.
A single Tile closed in his grip, and Albert swam up.
The crowd was silent as he emerged, dripping wet.
He kept the Tile tucked in his fist until he was completely out of the water, a towel thrown over his shoulders.
“Well?” Birdie asked. “What is it?”
“Come on, dude!” Leroy chimed in.
Albert opened his fist and looked down at his new Tile.
A smile broke onto his face, and he let out a single laugh.
It was perfect, the Master Tile power that had given them the most help in the Realms, and the one Tile his dad used to wear.
“Creature Speak,” Albert said.
He held the Tile high, and everyone cheered. It was a roar of victory, a roar of thanks.
The sound stayed with him the rest of the day and into the next.
Epilogue
THREE MONTHS LATER
Albert Flynn stood at the edge of the woods in Herman, Wyoming. The wind blew gently, but it was full of summer heat.
An old truck whizzed down the street, stopping beside Albert. The window rolled down, and Pap leaned his head out.
“You forgot this,” Pap said. He tossed Albert a duffel bag, which was full of Bob Flynn’s favorite surface-world snacks and a fresh pair of boots. There was also a giant, extra-large-sized bag of catnip for Professor Asante’s giant six-legged Guardian cat, which had long since moved in with Albert’s dad in the Path Hider’s domain. “And be sure to show him this,” Pap said.
He held up a newspaper. On the front page was an ad for a traveling circus. Albert’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
There was a picture of Lucinda, her head wrapped in a big bundle of scarves, beaded necklaces and rings all over her.
“A fortune-teller,” Albert said. “Well, I guess that’s fitting. No news of Festus yet?”
It was still strange, talking about Pap’s other son. But Pap shook his head.
“I’m keeping an eye out. You’ll know as soon as I find anything.”
Albert hoped that Festus was leading a normal life, somewhere in a small, sleepy town. Harmless. He hoped the Memory Wipers had done a good job of removing all traces of the Core.
Pap started to roll the window up. “Give your dad a hug for me. And tell him if he wasn’t so good at hiding those paths, I would have come to see him by now.”
Albert laughed. “He misses you, Pap. I hope you know that. He’s counting down the days until he can come back up.”
“Just twenty-one months left,” Pap said with a nod, and revved the engine. “Go on, then. You’re twelve years old now. No time to dilly-dally.”
Albert waved good-bye.
Farnsworth yipped and circled around his boots.
“You ready, buddy?” Albert asked. “Just one more second.”
Albert looked over his shoulder once at the town of Herman. There was the old, square post office where Pap pulled up his truck and sat with his porch buddies, playing a game of Tiles.
Beyond it, along the winding street, was the small house that Albert’s dad would return to soon enough. Pap still lived there, and Albert had slowly started moving some of his stuff from New York.
He’d spend every break here now, thanks to his mom allowing it, to give Pap some company, and to make it easier for Albert to sneak down to the Core and spend a little time with the new Path Hider.
And someday, when Albert was old enough and graduated from high school, he had hopes of becoming a Professor in the Core.
“See you soon, Herman,” Albert said. Farnsworth’s tail thumped across the tops of Albert’s boots. It wasn’t the same without his dad here, but Herman was still the entrance to the most magical place in Albert’s world.
Birdie and Leroy would be waiting for him at the Troll Tree. Leroy probably had a new hat, and Birdie had probably added new colors to her hair.
Albert smiled. “Lead the way, Farnsworth.”
The little dog let out a howl that reached the heavens. Then he raced off into the trees, a blur of black.
“Wait for me!” Albert shouted. He sprinted after Farnsworth, his white Tile bouncing on its chain.
He didn’t know what adventure awaited him this time.
But he knew it would be good.
Acknowledgments
I don’t quite know how to begin with this part.
Maybe it’s because this is the fifth book I’ve written, not to mention the final book in the Balance Keepers trilogy. Maybe it’s because I’m so attached to these characters that writing this means I’m really, truly letting go.
Maybe it’s because this was the hardest book I’ve ever had to write, and now I am so incredibly attached to it.
What I do know is this:
Everyone below means the world to me.
Everyone below has helped shape a part of me, because you helped shape my writing, and writing is my heart.
Katie Bignell, my fearless editor, who might love Harry Potter just as much as I do: Please know that this is NOT a cheesy, meaningless thanks. Katie, you have taken my writing to new levels. You took a chance on a much younger Lindsay, offering your patience and incredibly thorough edit letters, and now, years later, I am so, SO much better for working with you. Thank you for your time. Your positivity. Your excitement for this series. You have been a complete and total joy to work with (I’m tearing up already, writing these freaking acknowledgments!).
Patrick Carman, my Wise Panda, my Yoda, my Sometimes-Intimidating-But-Only-Because-He-Means-Well Friend: thank you for giving me this gift.
Katherine Tegen: for having an imprint that feels like home.
Louise Fury: your encouragement, and excitement, and pure “fire and fury” agenting skills brought me here. Thank you.
The entire team at HarperCollins, from the cover designers to the copy editors, the marketing team, the people I’m inevitably forgetting: thank you all. SO MUCH.
My family—Mom, Sis, Dad, Grumpy Husband (I love you), extended family, new brothers, and of course, my legion of fur babies: thanks for putting up with my crazy.
Jackson Redmon: thanks for being the biggest Balance Keepers fan in Celina!
My amazing readers (#booknerdigans): thanks for buying my books. Thanks for loving them as much as I do. Thanks for being generally awesome.<
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And finally, to God: it may seem strange that I’m thanking you last, but the truth is, I simply wanted to close this series with your name. It started with you, after all . . . I am so, so blessed.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(It’s not over. Stories never truly are.)
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About the Author
Photo credit Haley B Photography
LINDSAY CUMMINGS is a book blogger and the author of the Balance Keepers series as well as the teen series the Murder Complex. She lives in Texas with two German shepherds, one wolf cub who isn’t very smart, a horse named Dan the Man, and a husband named Josh. She eats too many hot Cheetos and can’t stop dyeing her hair crazy colors. You can visit her online at www.lindsaycummingsbooks.com.
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Books by Lindsay Cummings
Balance Keepers, Book 1: The Fires of Calderon
Balance Keepers, Book 2: The Pillars of Ponderay
Balance Keepers, Book 3: The Traitor of Belltroll
Credits
Cover art © 2016 by Kevin Keele
Logo art © 2016 by Jason Cook/début art
Cover design by Katie Fitch
Copyright
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
BALANCE KEEPERS, BOOK 3: THE TRAITOR OF BELLTROLL.
Copyright © 2016 by PC Studio, Inc.
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The Traitor of Belltroll Page 24
