by Tina Chan
Kristi was worried. She knew Finn was tiring, even though he worked hard not to show it.
“Three more levels to go,” she muttered to herself, thankful they were low enough on the fire escape to be blocked by the trees planted along the edge of the apartment complex. “Three more left, three more left, three more left,” she chanted under her breath. “Two more levels left, two more left.”
“Success.” Finn pushed off the rim of the platform and awkwardly landed on the ground. He braced his fall with his hands and knees then pushed himself onto his feet. “You guys coming?”
Chelsa silently dropped down beside Finn; somehow, Finn had surpassed Chelsa while making his descent. Kristi shimmied her way down until she was only eight feet above the ground before leaping off the fire escape. Troop was beside her in an instant.
Finn hobbled over to his crutches and let out a grunt. “Guess I’ll have to make do with only one for now.”
He shoved a crutch beneath his arms then tossed the other back behind the bushes; it was little more than a piece of mangled metal after its thirty-seven-story plunge.
“I’ll lead,” Troop said.
“I know how to get to the Meditation Garden, too,” Kristi said. “I don’t mind taking the lead.”
Troop raised his eyebrows. “Allowing you to lead us to the Wayland Hotel was the last time I trust you with directions.”
“Point taken.”
Troop went out of his way to make sure they took all the backstreets and dodged behind a building every time a law enforcer came into view. Although, to be honest, Kristi thought they could’ve walked down Main Street in plain sight all the way to the Meditation Garden and no one would’ve noticed. All eyes were trained on the public news-screens, which were still exhibiting Troop’s film.
A few more turns and backtracks later, they were at the Meditation Garden. There were a few soccer matches being held in the city park, but the Meditation Garden itself was void of citizens. Visiting the garden in daylight, Kristi realized it wasn’t as big as she had imagined it to be. At most, the garden took up an acre of space.
A small dirt path spiraled its ways through the bamboo plants and trees until it reached the center of the garden. A small pond with shimmering droid-koi splashing in the water dominated the heart of the garden. Moss covered stone benches surrounded the pond.
“Did Nick say which bench the trapdoor is beneath?” Chelsa asked.
“No,” replied Troop. “Start searching, everyone.”
Kristi dropped to her knees and peered beneath the bench besides her. A layer of dead leaves obscured the ground. She stuck her hand into the space to sweep aside the foliage. No trapdoor. She moved onto the next bench. Same results. Onto the next bench.
Chelsa pointed to the bench Kristi was searching below. “I already checked that one.”
“Did we leave any unchecked?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Let’s recheck all of them, then,” Troop said. “The trapdoor must be pretty well hidden if it has to remain undetected for a while.”
Everyone got back onto their hands and knees and started a second sweep through for the elusive trapdoor. Well, everyone but Kristi. A trapdoor beneath a bench in a public garden seems just a bit too obvious, she thought. If I had to hide the entrance to a secret place, where would I place it?
“Kristi, why aren’t you helping?” Troop demanded.
“Hold on a second,” she said.
He let out a snort-slash-sigh. “In case you haven’t noticed, time’s not on our side.”
Kristi ignored him and walked over to a plaque positioned a few feet above the ground. It read:
Leonard Memorial Pond
Donated by the Klisbury Community Garden Club
The sign was nailed to a hunk of granite jutting out from the dirt; the granite didn’t have as extensive of moss growth compared to the stone benches. Which must mean the benches are older than the koi pond, Kristi thought.
She took off her sneakers and rolled up her pants. Then she waded into the pond, scattering the fish when she took her first step in. Her breath hitched a little; the water was colder than she anticipated.
“Kristi,” Troop said. “What has gotten into you?”
“I think the trapdoor’s in the pond.”
“Nick clearly told us the entrance was beneath a bench.”
Chelsa and Finn looked at each other and resumed hunting for the trapdoor, clearly uncomfortable with the argument being taken place. Kristi took another step and stepped off an underwater ledge of some sort. She dropped down several feet and sputtered; the water reached her shoulders.
“Get out of the pond now,” Troop demanded.
“I don’t remember anyone putting you in charge of us.”
She edged towards the center of the pond; the water continuously got deeper and deeper. By now, she had to tread water to keep her head from being submerged. A rigid gust of wind blew through, making her teeth chatter.
“I think I found something,” Finn said.
Troop shot Kristi a look of disproval and mouthed, “You should’ve listened to me.”
Kristi remained in the pond and watched Finn reveal what he had found. It turned out to be nothing more than a large, flat slab of rock with the year the Meditation Garden was built etched into it. Finn’s shoulder slumped in defeat.
Kristi took a huge gulp of air and allowed herself to sink below the surface. She stretched her legs and used her feet to feel around the bottom of the pond. She shirked away from the gross texture of the oozy mud. Stop being such a wimp, Kristi chided herself. She drew in a breath and ended up choking on pond water.
Gasping, she kicked her way to the surface and slurped in a deep breath before going back under. Kristi forced her eyes open to grasp a vague sense of her bearings.
Her foot connected with the pond’s floor. Using her arms to keep herself upright, she shuffled her way around. There was a muted thunk when her right foot hit something hard.
Ignoring her throbbing toe, Kristi dove down and found the object that she had hit with her foot. Her fingers wrapped around a metal handle. This must be the trapdoor, she thought.
She wanted to stay down longer, but she was running out of oxygen. She broke through the waterline to replenish her lungs. The others were still busy looking beneath the benches.
“It has to be here,” Troop muttered. “Nick wouldn’t lie to us.”
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
A group of people marched by, obviously not attempting to hide their presence. Finn and Troop simultaneously hid behind a bench. Chelsa nonchalantly played with her fingernails with her back turned to the group of Searchers.
“It’s not fair we don’t have the droid-dogs,” a Searcher whined from the back of the group.
Kristi submerged herself until only her eyes were above the water.
“Will you shut up?” a senior officer said.
“We’ll never find the Accidents if we don’t have the droid-dogs. They could be anywhere!”
“I swear, if you don’t shut your mouth in a minute I will personally see you kicked off the squad. I honestly can’t figure out why I agreed to take you on.” The officer stopped in his tracks, right in front of Chelsa.
Kristi completely dove underwater, praying no one would think to search for a fugitive hiding in a koi-pond. She waited beneath the surface until her ribs ached for air and stars swam before her eyes. As seamlessly as she could, Kristi pierced the surface of the pond for a quick inhale. The Searchers were still talking to Chelsa when Kristi submerged herself again.
She waited and waited. Every time she went to the surface for air, she risked being caught. Just leave, Kristi directed her thoughts at the Searchers. Just go away and never come back. A gold droid-koi zipped by in front of her eyes. Kristi reached out her hand to touch it, but the fish darted beyond reach.
She leaned her head back and looked up. Although the water blurred her vision, she coul
d still make out the outlines of the Searchers.
Great, now I can’t come up for air because the Searchers will definitely notice me. She swam to the possible location of the trapdoor. Once she felt the metal handle, she grasped it with her hands and pulled on it with all her might. It refused to budge an inch. What was worse, though, was that the exertion had depleted her oxygen levels dangerously low. Dumb, Kristi. That was really dumb. Why do you never think your plans through?
She began to propel herself to back to the surface. Something big and heavy sailed through the air and smashed through water, narrowly missing her head. She splashed up and saw the disappearing backs of the Searchers. A Searcher whirled around, catching the sound of the disturbed water caused by Kristi.
Kristi sank below once more, but not before she heard Chelsa call out, “Probably just a surprised koi.”
She allowed a minute to slip past then deemed it safe to reemerge from the pond.
“We have to hurry,” Chelsa said.
Both Troop and Finn had come out from their hiding places. Kristi’s wet hair plastered against her back.
“A second group of Searchers will be passing through shortly,” said Chelsa. “And they have the Sniffers.”
Sniffers were droid-dogs with a sole purpose: to track down people by scent.
“I’ve found the trapdoor,” Kristi said. “But I can’t get it open.”
“Who would put a trapdoor in the middle of a pond?” Troop asked. “You wouldn’t be able to enter the room without letting all of the water from the pond flood it.”
“I’ve found the entrance. Check it out if you don’t believe me.”
“Sniffers,” Chelsa reminded everyone. “We don’t have time to waste.”
After a brief pause, Troop kicked off his sneakers and said, “Alright, I’ll go look at the ‘trapdoor’. Chelsa, can you walk around a bit and try to make a trail that will throw the Sniffer’s off track? Finn, keep a lookout for other Searchers. If you see someone approaching, slap the surface of the pond to warn me and Kristi.”
Troop followed Kristi back into the body of water. Kristi doggy-paddled to the deepest part of the pond and said, “The trapdoor should be directly below us.”
Without a word, Troop dove to the location Kristi was pointing to. She followed him. By the time she reached him, Troop was already tugging at the trapdoor’s handle. A cloud of silt exploded in front of their faces as the trapdoor suddenly sprung up. Troop slammed the door shut and motioned for them to go back up to talk.
“Did you find it?” Finn asked.
Troop nodded, sending a spray of water everywhere.
“Good,” Finn said. “Because I think a second group of Searchers are coming this way. Listen.”
Kristi strained her ears; she could make out the sounds of barks and yips.
A person crashed through the undergrowth. It was Chelsa, wiping sweat off her forehead and breathing heavily.
“Searchers,” she gasped. “And Sniffers. I’m not sure if they caught sight of me or not.”
chapter forty-nine
[ Troop ]
