The Reckless Rescue

by Adrienne Kress

  “Alistair is too smart to get himself killed.” He put the camera down and looked at her. “He’s fine. You needn’t worry.” He gave her a smile intended, Evie was sure, to comfort her. It didn’t.

  “I don’t know how you can just say that,” she said. “I mean, he sent a letter to your bankers, the Andersons, saying he needed help. I saw it. They gave it to me when I was at their home for one of my weekly dinners with them. My grandfather wouldn’t be lying about that. Maybe he has always been smart enough to get out of things in the past, but surely him asking you for help now demonstrates just what kind of a horrible situation he’s in!” She was up on her knees facing him now, looking away from the view. What did a view matter really, in the larger scheme of things? Besides, she’d seen so many of them in the past few days. They weren’t nearly as important as important things.

  “I suppose that’s a fair point,” said Benedict after a moment. He thought a bit longer and then turned back to look outward. “I’m still not interested in helping him.”

  “W-well…,” sputtered Evie. “Well…Well, what about Sebastian?”

  “I don’t know who that is,” said Benedict.

  Right. Of course he didn’t.

  “Well. Yes, there’s more to the story than just Alistair,” said Catherine. “There are these men after the map. We aren’t positive, but we think they’re likely on their way now. To find you. And to get your piece.”

  That made Benedict look away from the view once again. “And Sebastian is the man in charge?”

  Evie scoffed. She couldn’t help it. She knew it was inappropriate, but picturing Sebastian as the leader of those men in the black leather jackets just made her laugh. She imagined him dressed the same way trying to look menacing. It was too absurd.

  “I take it he’s not,” said Benedict.

  “No. No, Sebastian’s my friend. He got himself into all this because of me. It’s all my fault. He was helping me try to find my grandfather. Trying to find you. He even went to your class. He had a weird moment with the TA….”

  “Derrick is a bit of a ridiculous person. He was assigned to me. I didn’t choose him,” said Benedict, shaking his head.

  “Well, then we found Catherine, and then we found the key to the map, and then Sebastian chose to destroy the key in the fire to protect me. But he didn’t actually.”

  “He didn’t?” Benedict seemed quite fascinated by the story, leaning in and listening intently.

  “No. He’s got a photographic memory. He burned the key to the map because he remembered it. So now he’s the key. And these evil men have kidnapped him because they need the key, and we need to rescue him.” Evie paused and took a breath. “Too.”

  Benedict nodded as he processed the story. He looked at Catherine. She nodded to confirm what Evie had said, which Evie found marginally offensive, but not too much. After all, Benedict didn’t know Evie, so how was he to trust her, really?

  “I can’t come with you. I can’t do this,” said Benedict finally. “I can’t.”

  “You have to!” Evie pleaded.

  “No, I don’t. But I will do this. I’ll give you the letter. I’ll give you my piece of the map.”

  “They’ll still come after you. They’ll still think you’ve got it. And they don’t need to keep you alive like they have to keep Sebastian alive,” said Evie. She didn’t know why it wasn’t good enough that he give them the map and letter. She wanted more. She wanted him to help them, to look for her grandfather with them. Benedict’s refusal just felt so wrong.

  “They are back at the house in town. I’ll take you there. Then, don’t worry, I can take care of myself.” Once again it was said kindly, and once again Evie felt low. But she nodded as he stood, and joined him and Catherine as they walked back toward the camp. She lingered a bit behind, dragging her feet along, taking things slowly, putting off the inevitable.

  Then she heard it.

  She wouldn’t have recognized it had she not remembered the sound so distinctly. It was very far off, just a quiver in the air. But she was instantly whisked back in her memory to that fateful day, to the last time she saw Sebastian.

  “Helicopter!” she called out.

  The black peak of the volcano rose out of the lush green of the island as the helicopter flew to the southern side, and Sebastian could do very little but stare. The volcano stood starkly against the brilliant blue sky, but the lush vegetation that grew up its side made it less formidable, more elegant, almost. It certainly didn’t look dangerous. He knew very little about it. He didn’t even know if it was still active.

  “Ah. The Vertiginous Volcano,” said Mr. M, coming over to him and looking out the window as well. “Still active but hasn’t erupted in a thousand years. Wouldn’t it be just impeccable timing if it did today?”

  Sebastian glanced up at him and then back at the volcano. It grew and grew as they flew closer and closer to it. He narrowed his focus, trying to see inside it, but they were coming at it from too low an angle.

  However, that being said, he could see…

  “Mr. I!” called out Mr. M. “We have company. How perfect! Get ready!”

  Sebastian stared at the small figures close to the top of the mountain. It was hard to make them out, but one had very distinct red hair, one had a brown domed head, and the other was much shorter than the first two, and he had to assume that that one was…

  Evie. She’d come for him. She’d actually kept her promise! He thrilled at that, and then felt guilty for ever thinking that she would do otherwise.

  Sebastian turned back and looked at the men. Mr. K was sitting in his seat, glaring at him, but Mr. I was up, fastening a harness around his own body with Mr. M’s help.

  “What’s going on?” asked Sebastian.

  “First attempt is to just grab them. Don’t want to waste time if we don’t have to,” said Mr. M.

  “You can’t be serious,” said Sebastian. That was impossible. There were three of them. Mr. I couldn’t grab them all. They’d run away, they’d get out of there faster than some person hanging on a cable could catch them. Wait. Why would he discourage this? “You can’t use a long rope,” he said.

  “What?” asked Mr. K.

  “The longer the rope, the less control the helicopter will have over its swing. You need something shorter and then bring the helicopter lower,” said Sebastian. Helicopter lower. That was smart. In more ways than one.

  Sebastian wasn’t quite sure why it was, but he was almost giddy with excitement now. It was something about seeing Evie and Catherine and likely Benedict. Seeing that they were trying to help him. It inspired him. It made him happy. And it gave him a renewed sense of purpose.

  “He’s right,” said Mr. M. “Thank you for being so helpful.” He grinned in that special way at Sebastian, and Sebastian did his very best to look upset with himself for accidentally helping. Which, of course, he had very much done on purpose.

  “I didn’t—I didn’t mean to,” he stammered, hoping he sounded flustered.

  “That brain can’t stop problem-solving, can it?” said Mr. M with a smile. “Well, it’s admirable. It really is. And thank you.” He turned toward the pilot. “Did you hear him? We need to get lower.” The pilot gave him a thumbs-up and took them downward. They were practically grazing the tops of the trees now.

  “Come up from below,” said Sebastian, pretending to say it to himself.

  “Come at what from below?” asked Mr. K.

  “What? Nothing. I didn’t say anything.” Sebastian looked out the window and did everything he could not to smile.

  “Hey! Mr. M, kid says to ‘come up from below,’ ” said Mr. K over the headset.

  “Oh yeah. Coming down at them from above, they can run away,” said Mr. M, thinking it through. “But we’ll take them by surprise if we head down the side of the mo
untain and come up beside them. They’ll hear us, of course, but won’t know where we’re coming from, and by the time they figure it out…it’ll be too late. Nice.” Mr. M went over to the pilot and had a word in her ear. Sebastian watched the conversation in the reflection of the window. He wasn’t exactly sure of his plan. He just knew that the lower they got, the more chance for escape he would be given.

  The helicopter went up then, flying right up past Evie and Catherine, and Sebastian stared in wonderment. It seemed like they might even be close enough to see him, but probably not. He felt a small stab of panic as the helicopter kept getting higher and farther away, until he realized that the pilot was taking them up and over the volcano to the other side of the island in order to sneak around it and come up from below, according to his suggestion.

  As they soared above the volcano, Sebastian pressed his forehead to the glass, looking down into its depths. It wasn’t all that deep, really, not relative to what he’d been expecting. And the hole was covered over with solid magma. It wasn’t like the bubbling red innards of volcanoes he’d seen in movies. It was kind of a disappointment. Nonetheless, the view was impressive—the jutting walls of the crater rising from the covered hole, straight and determined and very unnatural-looking.

  The helicopter was descending again quickly, and Mr. I and Mr. M together yanked open the door. Mr. M braced himself as Mr. I finished tying the rope to his harness and examined his surroundings. The sound of wind rushing and blades spinning was overwhelming, so loud that it was impossible to hear what Mr. M was saying through the headphones. They watched and waited for their chance, getting lower and lower. It was only then that Sebastian took stock of what a good flier the pilot actually was. She was avoiding rock formations and too-tall trees rather masterfully, he did have to admit.

  What she wasn’t able to avoid, however, was a soccer ball.

  The helicopter veered sharply, tilting to one side. It wasn’t that the ball had been particularly hard, but a soccer ball hitting the windshield was an unexpected thing. And even more unexpected when your windshield was connected to a helicopter. So Sebastian was not surprised that it had shocked the pilot. It wasn’t like the soccer ball was able to do any damage either, but a sudden tilt to the side, where the tip of one of the helicopter blades catches the side of a tree, could be surprisingly dangerous.

  The helicopter tilted wildly, turning almost ninety degrees, and Sebastian went spilling toward the open door. Mr. K still had his seat belt on. Seat belts really were useful, so Mr. K was safe, not that Sebastian had time to care. He did have time to note that he, on the other hand, was not wearing his seat belt. And after that, all he had time for was to flail his arms about wildly and grab the first thing he could as his body fell through the air. Which turned out to be Mr. I’s legs. That was fortunate. What was unfortunate was that Mr. I hadn’t found anything himself to hang on to, and so he and Sebastian went swinging out through the open door into the air.

  Mr. I was attached to the helicopter by the rope, and once they reached its end, they both went flying wildly underneath the helicopter and up almost level with the other side. And then back down again. The wind whipped around Sebastian’s face, his shiny sports jacket flapping violently about, and he felt even more disoriented than when he’d been drugged. Focus, Sebastian, focus. He looked down. No, that wasn’t doing it. The world was spinning and whirling frantically below him. He looked up at Mr. I instead, toward the open door to the helicopter. Mr. M had managed to stay inside and was holding tightly to the frame, staring at Sebastian in a way that looked like he was actually kind of impressed. Well, yes, Sebastian had been rather impressive just now. But this wasn’t helping either. So he turned his gaze in front of him. Toward the trees coming up to greet him. And that was when he realized I’m not tethered to the helicopter.

  Sebastian let go of Mr. I’s legs and leapt. Once again. Without looking.

  Because evidently that was his new thing.

  They didn’t know where the helicopter had gone after it had launched itself up and over the volcano, but they certainly did hear it as it came crashing down, and they did see the smoke rising up from a distance, back toward the jungle.

  “Sebastian!” cried Evie, and without thinking, without needing to think, she dashed past the campsite and back through the short stubby grass. She ran faster than she’d ever run before, the easy decline propelling her forward. Faster than when she’d been on top of the university building, being chased by Mr. K, faster than she’d run around the bear pit at the zoo. It was one thing to run for your life, but it was quite something else to run for someone else’s life. Catherine and Benedict caught up to her easily, though—they did have much longer legs—and she more than welcomed their company. They all made it to the jungle and broke through into the brush, a branch whipping Evie in the face and causing her a sharp pain that she barely registered.

  “Sebastian!” she called again. She didn’t know why she was yelling his name so much, but it pushed her forward. She’d save him. She’d find him. Because he was alive. He was alive and he was okay and he was alive.

  He had to be alive.

  “Evie!”

  She almost hadn’t heard it over the sound of her own beating heart and frantic breathing. She skidded to a stop, as did the explorers, and looked wildly about her. “Sebastian, where are you?” she shouted.

  “Up here!”

  Evie retraced her steps toward the voice, looking up into the canopy above her. She caught a glimpse of something shiny in the sun. She didn’t remember Sebastian as being particularly shiny, but maybe…

  “Sebastian!” It was him. He was there. He was whole. He was okay.

  “I’m coming down,” he announced.

  “I think that’s a solid plan,” replied Evie, grinning ear to ear as she watched him make his way down the tall tree. Man, trees really are wonderful things, Evie thought, fondly remembering the tree in the Explorers Society headquarters. They always seem to be catching people and making them not fall to their deaths and stuff.

  And then, finally, after what felt like way too long and like she couldn’t bear the wait anymore, Sebastian was there, on the ground, standing in front of her. A little bruised, a little worse for wear—his shirt thoroughly ripped to shreds—but safe. And alive.

  So very much alive.

  “Sebastian!” Evie cried yet again, and she launched herself at him. He really ought to have expected it, but it still took him by surprise as she drove the air right out of him. He also made a squeak of pain as she squished his aching and bruised body. “You’re alive!” She finally released him, and he took in a deep breath.

  “Of course I’m alive. They need my brain, after all,” he said, patting his hair back into place.

  “Of course, but you’re all there! You aren’t missing any limbs or anything! You aren’t all cut up and injured! Except…your hands. What happened to your hands?”

  Sebastian looked down to remind himself. Oh. Right. The bandages from drumming. “It’s really nothing, I was drumming. A lot. And there was some bleeding after a while.”

  “Drumming?”

  “Can we talk about it later?” asked Sebastian, feeling oddly uncomfortable.

  “Sure. But does the drumming have anything to do with the outfit?” asked Evie with a smile.

  Oh right. His sparkly ensemble. “Yeah. It’s all…related.”

  “It’s super shiny.”

  Sebastian nodded in agreement; that, it was.

  “Are you wearing eyeliner?”

  “Yup.”

  “Cool.”

  They both stared at each other. He wasn’t sure how he could express all the gratitude he felt right at that moment, seeing Evie, seeing that she had indeed come to rescue him like she’d promised. It felt like too much, like more than words were capable of expressing. “Hey, uh, thanks for co
ming for me.” Yeah, he thought, words are totally inadequate right now.

  “Well, it’s more like you came to us,” replied Evie.

  “We came to each other,” Sebastian said firmly, and Evie smiled at that. He smiled back. It was nice to smile. Sebastian looked around for the first time and saw Catherine staring at him with her usual inscrutable expression. Next to her was a man he recognized from photographs. Just like Catherine, it seemed as if he’d barely aged in the last two decades. He looked formidable—strong and solid. Intimidating.

  “Benedict Barnes?” asked Sebastian.

  “Yes, and you’re Sebastian,” replied Benedict in a warm voice that seemed totally incongruous with his appearance.

  Yes, I am. “Yes, I am,” he answered. There was something about acknowledging the fact that he was who he was that made him feel both sure and unsure. Did he know who he was? He was feeling less so every day.

  “What happened? Where are they? We heard a loud crash,” said Catherine, stepping forward.

  “This is going to sound crazy, but I swear we were hit by a soccer ball,” replied Sebastian.

  “A soccer ball?” asked Evie, though she seemed less confused and more thoughtful.

  It was all quite difficult to relate, as he wasn’t entirely certain what had happened himself. He remembered letting go of Mr. I’s legs and leaping. He remembered reaching out and feeling hopeful. But then he also remembered blacking out for a moment and waking up in the top of a tree. Probably a good thing he’d blacked out, because his body had gone limp, and as a result he was only scratched and bruised, nothing more.

  “You look pretty beat-up,” said Evie. He could hear the tinge of emotion in the statement.

  “I’m fine. I really am. I double-checked up in the tree. I’m very safety-conscious.” He was many-things-conscious, as a matter of fact.

  “The others, are they…are they…” Evie stopped.

  “I’m not sure, but knowing them, knowing how they are, I bet they’re okay,” he reassured her, even though in a strange way it also wasn’t a reassurance. Still, he knew she wouldn’t wish harm on anyone, not even scary evil men in black. “In fact,” he continued, “I think all of us are in quite a bit of danger. Let me tell you, these guys are violent. And ruthless. And quite irrational, too, at times. And mean. Just plain mean. Except I guess maybe the new one. The guy we met for the first time in your room. Who kidnapped me. His name is Mr. M. He sometimes acts weirdly nice. Which is almost scarier, actually. So really, my original point stands.” He was rambling now, not a thing he normally did, and something he tended to judge negatively in others when they did it. But he was overwhelmed, and in a bit of pain, and extremely happy to see everyone and yet totally scared at the same time. He wasn’t in control of his word-stuffs anymore.