by Matt London
Once they were sure no one was watching, Rick and Evie moved into the hall. They started checking the cell numbers for Vesuvia: Z-100, Z-99, Z-98, Z-97.
As they neared the end of this latest hallway, the door to cell Z-99 hissed and slid open. Several Winterpole agents emerged, and Rick and Evie ducked into another alcove just in time.
“Nice work, crew,” said the biggest man Rick had ever seen. Like the other prison guards, he was dressed in white instead of standard-issue black. “Good shoot,” he told the other agents, who Rick now realized were carrying film equipment. “Take ten, then back to your posts.”
The big man and the film crew walked away in the opposite direction from Rick and Evie. “That big guy must be the Polar Bear,” Rick said, releasing a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. The Polar Bear was something else Grandma Condolini had warned them about. He was the warden of the Prison at the Pole and one of Winterpole’s most fearsome agents. Rick did not want to cross paths with him.
“Why do you think they call him the Polar Bear?” Evie asked.
“I’m not sure. Maybe because he’s almost as big as a bear.”
“I hope that’s the only reason,” Evie said.
“Come on.” Rick urged her to follow him to the next hallway. “Let’s go rescue the pink princess.”
A few minutes of cautious sneaking later, they found what they were looking for. A little corridor led off from the main hallway. At the far end was a single door. Carved into the ice beside it was the label Z-01. Vesuvia’s room.
Evie’s hand hovered over the open button next to the door. “Are we really going to do this?”
Rick frowned. “Do we have a choice?”
“Fair point,” Evie replied, pushing the button.
The door slid open, but then the whole hallway went dark. Red warning lights flashed. Sirens blared. A voice came over the loudspeakers. “Attention. Attention. Escape attempt in progress in Sector Z.”
“That wasn’t my fault!” Evie said. “You totally can’t blame me for that.”
The loudspeaker voice again. “Repeat. Escape attempt in progress in Sector Z. Dispatch a Kill Team to investigate.”
A Kill Team? That sounded worse than polar bears or snowman guards. Rick grabbed Evie and pulled her into the nearest cell, shutting the door behind them.
He jammed their climbing picks into the door, locking it. “That should hold them.” As soon as he said this something heavy slammed into the door and growled. Then they heard someone or something pushing the open button. It clicked and hummed in struggle, but the door didn’t budge. “Uh . . . for now.”
Rick reached into their backpack and pulled out a flashlight. He switched it on and used the circle of light to explore the dark cell. Shadow icicles grew and twisted on the walls.
“Hello?!” he called out.
From back in the darkness, something groaned.
Rick and Evie followed the noise, searching the walls for the source of the sound.
Then, at the back of the cell, they found the cause. A girl had been frozen into the icy wall, so that only her head and hands stuck out. Her wiry blond hair draped like rags around her face. Her fingernails were dirty brown cat claws. She was too weak to shiver.
Evie approached the prisoner. “Vesuvia . . . Vesuvia . . . is that you?”
The girl raised her head. It was her. But she looked like a wind-up toy who’d had her spring ripped out. Her eyes struggled to focus on the two people before her. “E- . . . Eee . . .”
Evie stepped closer. “Vesuvia, it’s me.”
“Yuh . . . you . . .” Vesuvia muttered something inaudible.
“We’re here,” Evie said. “We’re here to . . .” She struggled with the word. “We’re here to rescue you.”
Vesuvia swallowed and a look of pain crossed her face as she attempted to speak.
Timidly, Evie reached out and touched Vesuvia’s hand. She put her ear close to her lips. “What is it, Vesuvia? What did you say?”
Vesuvia whispered. “I said . . . your shoes . . . are hideous.”
“AAAAND I’M DONE. RICK, THIS WAS A FUN RESCUE MISSION AND ALL, BUT I’M OUT OF HERE. Let the snow cone enjoy her deluxe accommodations.” Evie made for the exit. She’d have rather run from a million Winterpole agents than spend another infuriating minute with the Princess of Plight, Vesuvia Piffle.
Rick grabbed Evie by the hand. “Evie, wait! Remember why we’re doing this.”
The super root. Right. She watched as Rick opened their lead-lined backpack and withdrew a pair of flame-colored metal devices that Grandma Condolini had given them.
Rick flicked on the thermal torch. It glowed red as he held it in front of Vesuvia.
“Hey, what are you nerds doing? Get that away from me!”
Rick ignored her. The ice melted wherever he touched it with the torch. It worked much more quickly than the ordinary torches they’d used to free 2-Tor earlier, and pretty soon Vesuvia toppled to the floor like a wet rag. Her thin gray prison uniform clung to her in spots, leaving much of her purple and goose-bump-covered skin exposed. Vesuvia was always perfectly put together. It was weird to see her so wrung out.
Grunting with exertion, Rick lifted Vesuvia to a sitting position. “Your grandmother sent us here to rescue you. We’re getting you out of here.”
Vesuvia’s eyes darted between the Lanes. “G- . . . Granny? Wha-wha-what is this, some kind of prank?”
Rick let go of her and put his hands under his arms to warm them up. “Evie, give her your hoodie. She’s freezing.”
“I’m not giving her my hoodie!”
“Evie, come on!”
“Ugh, it’s fine,” Vesuvia said through her chattering teeth. “I wouldn’t be caught dead wearing that ratty old thing, anyway.”
Something heavy slammed into the door to the cell. The door thrummed. From the other side, they heard a loud animal roar.
“The Polar Bear!” Vesuvia backed away as cracks appeared in the ice around the door. “Are you idiots crazy? The Polar Bear is right outside. He’ll crush us faster than you can say ‘super-secret CEO.’ And that’s the only way out of here. You morons!”
Evie turned on her thermal torch and held it against the floor of the ice cell, attempting to bore a hole into the floor. “Is speaking a requirement for a prison break? Can she not talk? Is that a rule we can make?”
Rick joined Evie with her melting efforts, but from the way he kept glancing up at the door, she could tell that he thought Vesuvia—Vesuvia!—did have a point.
For every inch of ground she and Rick managed to melt, the Polar Bear slammed into the door at least four times. By this point, the cracks around the doorframe were too numerous to count.
“Faster, you fools! Hurry!” Vesuvia was standing now, shouting and looking down at them.
Soon they had a hole in the ice that was three feet across and ten feet down. Rick and Evie stared down into the hole, assessing the situation.
“We should be just another foot or two from breaking through into storage on the Y level,” Rick said. “Evie, stay here with Vesuvia and then follow me down once I’m through.”
“Be careful,” Evie said, suddenly regretting some of the not-nice things she told him earlier.
Rick dove into the hole, his thermal torch held out in front of him. Once at the bottom, he used the tool to melt through the last bit of ice.
Wham! Wham! Wham! A big chunk of ice broke off the doorframe and shattered in the floor.
“Oh no!” Vesuvia shrieked. “The Polar Bear! It’s the Polar Bear! He’s coming through!”
Evie backed away from the door. “Vesuvia, chill out. He’s a big dude, but he’s just a guy.”
“Just a—are you nuts?”
Down below, there was a tremendous crash and Rick called out, “Evie, come on! I’m
through!”
The cell door flew across the room and embedded in the wall. The white-haired warden stood before them. Now he wore massive cybernetic enhancements, including a shell of white reflective body armor, robotic gloves with steak-knife claws, and a helmet lined with steel teeth. Decked out in his gear, he looked like one thing and one thing only: a polar bear. Evie stared up at him in shock. She finally understood the reason for the man’s reputation.
The guard knocked huge chunks of ice out of the wall as he pushed himself into the room. He growled, “Winterpole statutes prohibit prison breaks. I must apprehend you. Do not resist. I have a permission slip to maul you viciously.”
Vesuvia screamed. Evie grabbed her by the hand. “Come on! Jump!”
The Polar Bear charged as the girls leaped into the hole. Evie braced her feet against the slick, icy surface to slow their descent. They landed just in time to see the Polar Bear jam his head into the hole. “Halt! Compliance is mandatory.”
“We’re not planning on stopping, right?” Vesuvia asked, holding out her hands, clearly expecting to be helped up.
“No, obviously not. We’re not quitters.” Evie climbed to her feet and looked around, ignoring Vesuvia’s entreaties. The floor was covered with blocks of ice. Each block of ice contained a person, and each person was trapped: their bodies frozen like Vesuvia’s had been, their frost-bitten faces contorted in agony.
“Please . . .” One of the men groaned. “I didn’t mean to use the forty-eight-cent stamps. I didn’t know the price had gone up to forty-nine. Ohhhh . . .” The wails of the prisoners made Evie feel like spiders made of ice were crawling up her back.
“We have to help them!” she said. She ran to the old prisoner and started heating his shackles with the torch. “Rick, come on!” she yelled to her brother. “I can’t free everyone by myself.”
“Do not even think about listening to your idiot of a sister,” Vesuvia shrieked. “If you don’t keep digging, we’re all gonna die!”
“Shut up, Vesuvia.” Evie melted the ice away, but the prisoner was too disoriented to notice.
Rick shook his head. “Evie, she’s right. There’s no time.”
“What?!”
The doors at the end of the cell block opened and two snowmen hopped into the room, their crimson eyes settling on Evie.
“Got it!” Rick screamed. “Evie, I broke through the floor. Let’s go!”
Evie could hear him and Vesuvia drop down to the next level. She had to make a decision. The lead snowman tensed up. Its orange missile nose rocketed out of its face, on a heat-seeking course for Evie. She looked helplessly at the old prisoner, then dove for the hole in the floor, crying, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry!”
She slipped through just before the carrot collided with the ground and exploded, sealing up the hole.
Evie landed hard on her rump, on another icy floor. It was so dark, Evie couldn’t see where her brother and her nemesis had landed.
Somewhere across the room, Vesuvia apparently had similar issues. “Where are we? Turn on the lights.”
Evie felt around, her hands stretched out in front of her. She settled on something cold and metal. It was round, like a big beach ball, and there was another, smaller metal ball resting on top of it.
“What is this place?” Rick whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” Vesuvia demanded. “Will someone turn the lights on? Turn—on—the—lights!”
Someone did. Pairs of little red lights, no bigger than lumps of coal, winked on. Hundreds of them. More turned on by the second.
“Uh, guys,” Evie stammered. Two red lights had appeared directly in front of her. But these weren’t just ordinary lights—they were eyes. And they were built into the object she’d been touching.
“Snowmen robots!” Vesuvia screamed. “Rick, you’ve gotta get us out of here!”
Rick switched on his thermal torch and heated the floor.
The snowmen came closer. Evie backed away, thrusting her torch at them. She circled Rick and Vesuvia, trying to keep the robots at bay.
Evie begged, “Hurry, Rick. You have to hurry!”
The snowmen recoiled when Evie aimed her torch at them, but she couldn’t point it at all of them at once.
“I’m almost through.”
“Almost isn’t fast enough!” Vesuvia wailed. “I’m too beautiful to die!” A snowman clamped a spindly hand on her shoulder. “Aieeee!”
One of the snowmen grabbed for Evie. She swatted it with her torch. The snowman fell back, knocking over the others behind him.
“I’m through!” Rick shouted. A cone of white light appeared from the hole in the floor.
Vesuvia didn’t need telling twice. She jumped in.
“Evie, come on!” Rick called.
A snowman grabbed Evie’s torch. She struggled for it, unable to break free.
“Just leave it!” Rick yelled.
She released the torch and slid into the hole after her brother, landing in a brightly lit hallway. But they weren’t safe yet.
Vesuvia shook her head. “It seems that your genius getaway plan is off to yet another great start. Look!”
The Polar Bear stood at the far end growling at them. “You are only making things harder for yourselves. The time it takes to apprehend you is directly proportionate to the time you spend frozen here. Oh well, works for me.” He dropped to all fours, roared, and charged the kids.
Evie ran, Rick and Vesuvia racing alongside her. Rick pointed at a set of double doors. “In here!” They made a sharp left and pushed through the doors. Another stairwell. The Polar Bear crashed into the open doors, ripping them off their frames.
“Man, that guy has a thing against doors,” Evie joked as the kids hurried down the stairs.
Clang! Bang! The sound of the Polar Bear thumping his metal-encased chest echoed in Evie’s ears as she took the steps three at a time. The cyborg warden crouched, turning his body into a wrecking ball. He tipped forward and tumbled down the steps, only turning when he smashed into a wall.
Vesuvia sighed. “This dude doesn’t give up!”
He chased them deep into the prison, down flight after flight. The stairs ended in a small room with a single door, marked “EMERGENCY EXIT.” Evie could feel the Polar Bear right behind them. Without hesitation she opened the door.
“We’re almost there!” she exclaimed. At the far end of the next room was a tunnel that led to the outside of the iceberg prison. Evie could see the overcast sky peeking through.
“Yeah, but first we have to get across that giant chasm.” Rick pointed out.
“Wait, what?! Did you just say giant chasm?” Vesuvia barged to the front, pushing Evie out of the way. Between them and the tunnel was a narrow catwalk that stretched over the chasm in question. Somewhere below, the ocean roared.
“Yeah, uh, that’s a giant chasm.”
“It’s either this or be Polar Bear food.” Evie said. Then she hurried across the catwalk, resuming her spot at the front. Vesuvia was right behind her, shoving her in the back and urging her along. Rick took up the rear.
The Polar Bear barged into the room. He pounced forward, landing hard on the catwalk with a tremendous CRACK!
“Go! Go!” Rick shouted. Evie reached the far side. She was almost knocked down as Vesuvia pushed past her. Then the catwalk broke.
“The destruction of Winterpole property will result in a longer SENTEEEENNNNCE!” the Polar Bear roared as he tumbled into the pit. His voice faded as he vanished.
Rick ran. Evie screamed his name as he sprinted across the falling catwalk. At the last second he leaped. The catwalk fell into oblivion. He wasn’t going to make it. Evie held out her hands. Rick grabbed her before slamming into the ledge. He dangled over the pit, his feet scraping the smooth wall. Evie’s grip was slipping.
Vesuvia stood at the
entrance to the tunnel, so close to the exit, and freedom. Evie turned to her, desperately. “Vesuvia! Help! Please, help me!” She couldn’t hold on to Rick forever. But she could see that look in Vesuvia’s eyes. That look of victory, of getting what she wanted. Vesuvia knew all she had to do to escape the Prison at the Pole was to leave the Lanes behind. Let them suffer whatever fate Winterpole could cook up.
But then Vesuvia did something surprising. She ran back to the edge of the cliff, reached down, and grabbed one of Rick’s arms. Grunting with exertion, the two girls pulled Rick to safety.
Evie couldn’t believe it—Vesuvia had actually come back to help! Evie had never seen Vesuvia do anything for someone other than herself. Maybe Grandma Condolini was right. Prison had changed Vesuvia. Maybe there was good in her.
Vesuvia glared at them. “Well, quit staring at me, Lames. Grandma’s waiting.”
Evie, Rick, and Vesuvia ran through the tunnel and emerged from the frigid iceberg. They paddled out to sea, all three taking turns rowing. It didn’t take long before they were far enough away from the Prison at the Pole for Sprout to land the Roost in the water and scoop them up.
Inside, Sprout was waiting for them, cowboy hat in his hands. He nodded at Vesuvia when she appeared. “Well, howdy, ma’am. Awful nice to put a face to the name I’ve heard so much about.”
Vesuvia shoved Sprout into the wall as she walked past. “Out of my way, you hillbilly! I’ve been frozen in a block of ice for six weeks. There’s no way I’m going to spend my first moments of freedom talking to you three.”
Evie shook her head. It looked like Vesuvia hadn’t changed at all.
A FEW HOURS AFTER THE DARING ESCAPE FROM THE PRISON AT THE POLE, THE ROOST WAS coming up on New Boca. At the rear of the bridge, Vesuvia sat on a wooden bench, acting like she owned the place. They had offered her clean, dry clothes, but Vesuvia refused, claiming that she was “appalled” by their fashion sense. She settled for one of Mom’s bathrobes, which pooled around her feet.
