Fern’s favorite exhibit was the Wright Brothers & the Invention of the Aerial Age. There was something inspiring about the simple plane, the Flyer, which was basically two flat pieces of wood held together with perpendicular sticks, and the story of Orville and Wilbur. Though many people said they could never do it, the brothers used pieces of giant spruce wood and, after several tries, completed the Flyer in 1903. The first flight lasted only twelve seconds, which left Candace unimpressed, but Fern imagined how excited the brothers must have been to be the first in the world to accomplish manned flight. Fern recognized the irony for one who had recently teleported across the country to be so impressed with a twelve-second flight of forty yards.
For her part, Candace wasn’t able to pick a favorite exhibit. She loved the Cessna 150 cockpit—she sat in it and performed flight experiments as if she were actually in control of the plane, hollering with delight as she rolled the plane upside down. Fern had to admit that it did seem realistic. Candace also loved the Albert Einstein Planetarium. The Sky Vision projection system in the planetarium, with accompanying sounds, made both the girls feel like they were floating in space.
There was also a moon rock that visitors could stand in line to touch. Though Fern and Candace both waited in line (a plaque touted the fact that it was the only moon rock that people could actually feel with their bare hands), they were both somewhat disappointed. It felt like any other rock. There was also a vial of moon dust on display, taken directly from the moon’s surface by one of the Apollo astronauts—which by all accounts was pretty cool.
The St. Gregory’s groups had been separated from one another—supposedly because Headmaster Mooney reasoned that if all the students were together, another mutiny like that of the Pentagon City Mall food court was more likely. Eventually, the Lincoln group did wind up running into the Washington group in the gallery. There, Lindsey and Sam were participating in the museum’s paper airplane contest, which was being judged by older kids. Fern casually strolled by Sam and Lindsey.
“Meet up in the gift shop. Third level,” Lindsey said under her breath. Fern kept moving, hoping that Headmaster Mooney’s suspicions had not been aroused. Fern would have to lose Candace, but she knew that with some artful maneuvering, it wouldn’t be that hard to do.
The Air and Space Museum’s amazing gift shop was constructed on three levels, jam-packed with items that certainly could not be found anywhere in San Juan Capistrano. There were model planes and model moons, books of every sort on flight and space exploration, Albert Einstein bobble-heads, and walls and walls of space-related toys. The Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Lincoln groups were all scheduled to conclude their visit to the museum with a half hour at the gift shop, where students could buy souvenirs. Most students went straight for the freeze-dried astronaut food. The line for the cashiers snaked around the entire first level of the shop, and the chaperones gathered outside the exit on a cluster of benches, exhausted from trying to keep track of their student charges all afternoon in the bustling museum.
As Fern and Candace wandered into the gift shop, hundreds of kids were running wildly around the three levels, which were connected by open staircases. Students chased one another down the aisles with toy stun guns, shouted and fought over who would get the last Saturn V Rocket Replica in the store, and modeled the Air Force One bathrobes that were for sale.
“If we want astronaut ice cream, we’d better get in line now,” Candace said, tracing the ever-growing line with her eyes until she finally found its end. “I think it will take at least a half hour before we reach the register.”
“Will you buy some for me?” Fern dug in her pocket and handed Candace her only twenty-dollar bill. It was what the Commander had deemed an acceptable souvenir allowance for the week. Fern knew the sum was nonnegotiable.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to use the bathroom,” Fern said. Without waiting to see if Candace had any follow-up questions, Fern wheeled around and moved toward the first staircase. She felt a twinge of guilt for leaving her new friend without a better explanation, but she’d been waiting all day to talk to Lindsey and Sam, and her thoughts had returned to Miles’s predicament in the last few hours. He was still all alone in that dark, horrible place.
Taking the steps two at a time, Fern quickly reached the second floor, which was even more crowded than the first, then raced to the third floor, as she groped in her jacket pocket for the list she’d made while she was at Aunt Chan’s house. She hoped that Lindsey and Sam hadn’t been delayed.
The third floor was mostly apparel, making it the least popular. Fern wondered if Lindsey had known that—it really was the best place in the entire gift shop to hold a clandestine meeting. Besides a few kids trying on bomber jackets, and a couple of boys deciding whether or not to buy their dads solar system ties, the floor was more or less deserted. Fern crept along the rows of T-shirts, finally spotting Sam’s blond head sticking up above a rack of clothing in the far corner. She ran toward her brother’s head. She looked at the solar system clock on the far wall. She’d have only twenty minutes to confer with Sam and Lindsey.
Deciding she’d have a little fun of her own, Fern stooped and eased into the adjacent row of clothing. She planned on slipping in between two T-shirts and trying to scare Lindsey and Sam by suddenly popping out of the clothing rack. She climbed through a hanging rack until a thick T-shirt forest surrounded her. Separating two of the hanging shirts, she peeked out, then made the gap between the T-shirts bigger, to better see Lindsey and Sam. She also spotted a third person, Lindsey’s height, with Lindsey’s same hair color, but Fern didn’t know who it was. Both Lindsey and the other person had their backs to Fern.
“Fern?” Sam had spotted his sister’s pale green eyes staring out from the rack of T-shirts and sweatshirts. “Is that you?”
Sam stepped forward and moved two hangers as far apart as he could, bunching the T-shirts on each end of the rack. Fern, still crouching, smiled awkwardly.
“What are you doing in there?” Sam asked, looking down at his twin sister.
“I was trying to surprise you.” Normally, Fern thought, Sam would have laughed at Fern’s sad attempt at a joke. But his face was ashen and joyless.
“What’s the matter, Sam?” Fern said, moving out from under the hanging shirts.
Sam stepped aside, revealing Lindsey and the person next to her, who were both now facing Fern.
“Mrs. Lin?”
Lindsey’s mother looked sorrowfully at Fern. Fern’s eyes jumped to Lindsey. Tear trails streaked down her face.
“What’s going on? What’s wrong?”
Fern was now fully in the aisle, with Sam to her left and Lindsey and her mother to her right. She looked around. No one else was within earshot of the foursome, now gathered in the adult men’s clothing aisle.
Mrs. Lin, trying to maintain her composure, wiped her eyes before speaking. Lindsey took one look at Fern and began to cry again. Fern had never seen Lindsey cry before. The sight of her friend in tears and Mrs. Lin close to it was unsettling. It was almost as if by climbing through the clothing racks she’d wandered into an alternate universe that no longer made sense. Panic took hold.
“Sam,” Fern said, realizing that neither Mrs. Lin nor her daughter was capable of communicating clearly then. “What is it?”
“Mrs. Lin has been looking for you,” Sam answered solemnly. “She needs to tell you something.”
Mrs. Lin stepped forward. She was dressed in fashionable jeans and a pink cashmere cardigan. She had on pearl earrings, and the gold locket she always wore was around her neck. Her kind eyes locked on Fern’s. She put a hand on Fern’s shoulder and lowered her head.
“Fern, Mr. Lin . . . has been taken.”
Chapter 15
A Familiar Name
If Fern were to make a list of her favorite adults, Mrs. Lin would be at or near the top. It was true that Lindsey complained about her mother’s strictness sometimes, but Mrs. Lin
was always so friendly and kind. She made the most delicious food with strange names Fern had never heard of, and, perhaps most importantly, she talked to Fern like she was a real person. In fact, she was the only adult besides the Commander who didn’t talk to Fern like there was something wrong with her. Fern’s special talents brought her special responsibilities, and Mrs. Lin seemed to be the only adult who recognized that.
The first time Fern had visited Lindsey’s immaculate house, Fern hadn’t really known the extent of her own powers or that she was an Unusual. Mrs. Lin pulled Fern aside and told her that she was in for some rough times, but that if she ever needed help, the Lins would be there for her. At the time, Fern didn’t know what to make of the earnest declaration, but she appreciated it more and more as her life took unexpected twists and turns. The Lins— Lindsey, Mr. Lin, and Mrs. Lin—had supported her, refusing to turn their backs on Fern, even when the Alliance had turned against her and tried to use her as bait to trap the evil Vlad.
“Taken? Taken where?” Fern asked, unable to comprehend what she was hearing. She recalled the conversation she’d overheard Mrs. and Mr. Lin having that morning. Mr. Lin had said he was going to try to find Miles Zapo. Apparently, the only thing he’d found was someone who’d captured him.
Lindsey stepped forward.
“Last night,” she began, her voice shaking, “when you never called, I got scared . . . and I . . .” Lindsey struggled to find the words. Fern wondered if she should reveal that she knew Mr. Lin had gone in search of Miles, but something stopped her. Though they didn’t have much time, she figured it might be important for Lindsey to get the admission off her chest. She looked at the solar system clock again. She had fifteen minutes left. Candace was probably already searching for her.
“I thought something had happened to you, so I told my parents about Miles and your visit. I told them you were going to a house last night. I told them everything,” Lindsey said. “But I made them swear they wouldn’t tell anyone from the Alliance. I promise, Fern! I know you told me not to tell them, but I thought something might have happened to you!” Lindsey turned to Sam. “Sam, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, either. But I thought I was doing what was best for Fern.”
Fern’s heart ached for Lindsey Lin. Whatever anger she harbored toward her best friend for leaking information to her parents dissipated with one look at the anguish on Lindsey’s face.
“It’s okay, Lindsey,” Fern said, wanting to reach out and wrap her arms around her friend. “I know you were only doing what you thought you needed to do.”
“Yeah, it’s okay,” Sam said, unable to hold a grudge when Lindsey was so worried about her missing father.
“Fern, can you tell me exactly what happened last night?” Mrs. Lin asked. “We will get Mr. Lin and Miles back, but I need to know everything.”
Fern reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the list. There was so much to tell. About the Hope Diamond, and the Golden Spike. About the Howling Quetzals and what Aunt Chan had revealed about the Alliance. There were thirteen minutes left by Fern’s count. So she wasted no time and started at the beginning, with her landing on Aunt Chan’s porch, talking more quickly than she ever had before.
Mrs. Lin, Sam, and Lindsey hung on Fern’s every word. They peppered her with questions about Aunt Chan, the Mayans, Miles’s invisibility powers, Ix Chel, the Popol Vuh, and the potion itself. When she was done talking, Fern realized many questions still remained.
“Do you mind if we back up for a second?” Fern asked timidly. She didn’t want to further upset Mrs. Lin and Lindsey, but after sharing all her own secrets she felt she deserved to know what they knew as well. The clock was near twenty-five past the hour. They had only five minutes left.
“Are you sure that Mr. Lin was taken? Maybe he’s on his way back right now. . . . How can we be sure he’s missing?” Part of Fern was obstinately hopeful simply because she knew if Mr. Lin had been taken, Miles’s situation had gone from bad to worse. Mr. Lin was a powerful Otherworldly and one of the most respected investigators in the entire Alliance. If he had been taken only a few hours into his search for Miles, Fern wondered how she would fare against such powerful forces.
Mrs. Lin reached around the back of her neck and unhooked her locket. She held it out to Fern. Fern thought it had been made of gold, but on closer inspection, she realized that it was made from gold-hued, carved wood. It was the size of a half-dollar coin, and as Mrs. Lin rubbed her thumb on the top, it popped open.
“Do you know what a Sagebrush of Hyperion is?”
“Of course.” Fern had seen Lindsey Lin manipulate such a Sagebrush many times. By coaxing the silvery plant with her hands, Lindsey could conjure an image of something that was happening elsewhere in the world. All she needed was to expose the plant to something connected to the person or thing she wanted to view. The Lins were some of the best Otherworldlies in existence when it came to monitoring people and events oceans away with Sagebrushes.
“When Mike and I were married, he fashioned this locket out of a Sagebrush as a gift to me, mixing it with his own blood so that whenever I opened it, it would reveal exactly where he was.”
Fern peered into the open halves of the locket. There were no floating images like those that normally occurred when an actual Sagebrush was awakened. She saw only plain wood.
“I can’t see anything,” Fern said.
“This afternoon, for the first time since we were married over a century ago,” Mrs. Lin said, swallowing her sadness, “Mike’s image disappeared.”
“What do you mean it disappeared?” Fern asked, looking at Sam and Lindsey to see if they understood Mrs. Lin’s meaning.
After closing the locket, Mrs. Lin put it back around her neck, hooked it, and let it fall to its natural resting point between her collarbones.
“Fern, I am telling you all this because I need your help. I want you to listen to me carefully.” Mrs. Lin’s tone was calm, but her brown eyes had desperation in them that Fern had never seen before. “Mike . . . Mr. Lin . . . ,” she began. “Mr. Lin was at the zoo. I saw him there in my locket. I was monitoring him to make sure he was all right. He had just proceeded down a dark corridor in the Employees Only section of the zoo. . . . I think he was trying to find out if there was some kind of entrance to the underground area where Miles is being kept. Then I saw two strange beasts emerge from the shadows of the corridor. I could hear them emit this horrible sound, and Mr. Lin dropped to the ground almost instantly. Soon after that, the image in the locket disappeared. I opened it and closed it several times more, but there’s been nothing.”
“The Quetzals,” Fern said, having told the Lins and Sam all about what Aunt Chan had revealed about them.
“Exactly,” Mrs. Lin agreed. “This Chan woman may have called them that, but these howling beasts go by another name as well. If I saw what I think I saw, then Mr. Lin is now under the spell of two Sirens.”
“Aunt Chan said there would be different names for things,” Fern interjected.
“It’s certainly possible,” Mrs. Lin conceded. “Lindsey mentioned to you that our Undead Sea Scroll had been stolen, correct?”
“Do you think that’s somehow connected to Mr. Lin’s disappearance and the Quetzals?” Fern asked.
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Sam insisted. “What does the Scroll have to do with any of this?”
“I only mention it because since the robbery, I’m unable to verify my recollections with The Undead Sea Scroll itself, but I believe that very few people are capable of taming the Sirens, or Quetzals. Whoever it is that has tamed them must be using them to guard Miles to subdue him so that he cannot escape. I believe that Mr. Lin is now being kept there as well. It will be nearly impossible to reach them with the Sirens standing by. . . . A few moments with them and we will all be rendered completely powerless.” Mrs. Lin suddenly perked up. “But, if I’m remembering correctly, Sirens do have vulnerabilities of their own.”
“Like what?�
�
“Music,” Sam said.
“That’s exactly right,” Mrs. Lin said, giving the boy a curious look. “If someone plays music, they no longer wail but instead fall into a peaceful sleep themselves.”
Fern racked her brain. They had two minutes before all the chaperones and students were to meet in the lobby.
“Would a harmonica work?” she asked.
“Yes, any instrument should work, in theory,” Mrs. Lin said. “Fern, tonight I want you to accompany me to search for Mr. Lin and Miles Zapo.”
“But we know where they are and I can teleport there,” Fern explained. “Miles told me that the Quetzals and Silver Tooth leave him alone for at least a half hour around midnight. That’s when I talked to him the last time.”
“I can’t let you go alone. We’ll have to get there on foot,” Mrs. Lin insisted. “You must have some backup.”
Fern wasn’t sure how to handle the situation. Mrs. Lin talked to her like she was an adult, but Fern knew she still viewed her as a child. Any adult in Mrs. Lin’s shoes would feel they needed to accompany Fern into such a dangerous situation, but Mrs. Lin would only be in the way. If it was dangerous, Fern could disappear in an instant. Mrs. Lin, however, could not.
“I’ll teleport right back if I think there’s any trouble.”
“Fern,” Mrs. Lin appealed. “I simply can’t let you go there by yourself. . . . There’s something else you don’t know.”
“What?” The solar system clock had already reached the half-hour mark. They were out of time. But no one in the group was budging.
Mrs. Lin paused before continuing. “Before the image disappeared from my Sagebrush locket, I caught a glimpse of the man who has tamed the Sirens and took Mr. Lin.”
“Silver Tooth?” Sam asked.
“Lindsey’s father and I have a history with this man. I recognized him. His name is Haryle Laffar.”
The Siren's Cry Page 14
