The Hole in the Wall - Lisa Rowe Fraustino [78]
My father groaned and grimaced and put me down. Then he put his hand on the small of his back and croaked, “I’m fine, fine. Don’t worry, I’m fine. Where we gonna pitch the tent?”
Finally he looked around and realized where we were. “Oh.”
By now the music of the spheres had quieted, and the color explosion had faded. The sweet smell had lifted, leaving behind the scent of mud after a spring rain. Everything seemed almost normal.
Pa shrugged and said, “Wake me up when we get there.” He climbed back in among the garbage bags.
“Is the disaster over?” Ma asked the goons. Obviously they knew everything there was to know through their technologically advanced ears.
“Close enough for horseshoes,” said Goon One. “You folks are authorized to go home. We’ve been assigned to escort you and assure the safety of the premises before you enter.”
Ma harrumphed.
“Claire, do you want to get me my special walking stick?” said Grum.
That would be pretty amusing, I thought, Grum pulling a gun on the goons. But Ma put her hand on Grum’s shoulder and said, “That’s all right, Mum, I think Stan is good for his word, if nothing else.” Then she turned back toward the goons. “Gentlemen, I appreciate it, but we won’t be requiring any escorts or assurances. You’re authorized to leave us alone. Kids, give these gentlemen back their glasses and say thanks.”
Dang. I was hoping! I dug the glasses out of their hiding place in my pocket and held them out to Goon One. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
“Just one more thing,” he said, turning to Jed. “I’m going to have to confiscate your Little Genius.” He held out his hand. Ma’s face crinkled. “His what?”
“He must mean me,” I said, even though I knew he didn’t. “Odum wants me bad.”
That joke got me a groan from Barbie. Jed was groaning, too, but not for the same reason. “No! Really? Stan gave me that system for Christmas! He can’t take it back!”
“Sorry, kid. Company policy. Security clearance required. Yours has been revoked.”
“Unless, of course, you wish to return with us to the stadium,” said Goon Two.
Muttering like Pa, Jed felt around in his pockets, then pulled out the green alien bug-eye goggles. He dangled them and shook his head sadly. “What a waste of resources. I’m the only one who can even use this unit.”
“Nevertheless,” said Goon One, stepping closer. I wondered if I ought to fetch Grum her special walking stick after all. But Jed gave in. He muttered some more and dropped the goggles into the big meaty outstretched hand. The men thanked him and got into the Hummer.
“Why didn’t they make you fork over the computer?” Barbie asked. I was wondering the same thing.
“Without the headware, that’s just a fairly intelligent cell phone. If Stan wants it back, he can call me.”
Smiling at that, we loaded into our vehicles to leave. “This time, I’ll follow you,” Ma said to Jed.
He had just turned the ignition when headlights cropped the ridge. A shiny black pickup truck was coming our way. “That’s Stan!” Jed smacked the steering wheel. “I can’t believe he’s coming for us after he made a deal!”
The truck cut us off, goons poured out of it like circus clowns, and we were swept away into the guts of Zone Q forever. In my imagination. Actually, there were only two people in the cab: Boots and Miss Beverly. She gave us a weak smile and a little wave as they sped by. Her son ignored us and careened the vehicle toward the newly installed gate at the Trace.
“They must be going to cure Miss Beverly!” Barbie said.
I smacked my head, realizing. “Zensylvania has adrium! That’s why Odum made the Dogstars an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
“Makes sense,” Jed said. “And whatever he paid them, it wasn’t enough.”
At that, Jed backed the truck out, and we headed for home.
I was pretty nervous about what we’d find at the bottom of the hill. Would all the leachate be gone? Would all our stuff still be there? At least the goons hadn’t reclaimed the broken borrowed glasses from Grum. She was wearing them on top of her asbestos curls now. We could use them to scan the property for adrium ourselves.