“I’ve got him!” Rutger yelled.
He pushed the golden button on top of the Barrier Wand, and Sato appeared in front of them. The boy collapsed to the ground, a terrible mess of blood and dirt and torn clothing, sweat-ice crusted all over him.
“Goodness gracious me!” Master George yelled as he and Mothball reached forward to help Sato. They grabbed him by the arms and pulled him over to a leather chair, plopping his exhausted body onto the cushions.
“What happened?” Mothball asked.
Sato answered, his voice shaky and barely audible. “Lock . . . me . . . up. Chain me. Then . . . I’ll explain.”
“Lock you—” Rutger began.
“Just do it!” Sato snapped, his hand pressed to a wound on his leg. “Just do it before Chu can control me!”
“What happened?” Master George asked, leaning over to look at the boy. “Did you get the sample?”
“Yes,” Sato said through a moan of pain. His eyes narrowed, like a wolf on the hunt. “It’s . . . inside me.”
“Oh, lad. Oh, you poor, poor lad.” Master George paused. Then he straightened, his shoulders square. “Ready the holding cell, Rutger. And get me some rope.”
Part
3
~
The Circle Of Time
Chapter
29
~
Tickets to Fourth City
I’m really getting sick of this place,” Paul said.
Tick couldn’t have agreed more as he scanned the walls and ceiling of the small restaurant where they had stopped to eat something that was a cross between pizza and toast. Five days had passed since Sally winked back to Master George, and they’d spent every waking hour investigating the town for signs of where they were supposed to be at five o’clock the next afternoon. Though they didn’t know what they were looking for, they looked nonetheless.
And, just like this place—one of the last buildings they’d yet to explore—they’d found nothing. No signs, no clues, no Barrier Wands, no magic portals, no further riddles. A big fat zero.
And time was running out. Reginald Chu’s riddle had been clear—5:00 pm, tomorrow. Maybe they’d finally been stumped.
“Maybe it’s a good thing if we don’t figure it out,” Paul said. “Beats going off to have more adventures with a psycho mad genius of the universe.”
“He said, ‘win or die,’” Sofia said. “Dying sounds worse to me.”
Tick picked up his last piece of dinner, but then put it back down, his appetite gone. “Sally said we need to be the ones to win it—so we can put a stop to whatever Chu’s doing.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure that’ll be a piece of cake,” Paul muttered. “Hey, Chu dude! We won, but please stop that knuckleheaded horseplay you’re up to. Thanks kindly.”
“You want to give up?” Sofia asked. “Then quit. I’m sure Master George will wink you away if you cry enough.”
“No, Miss Italy, I don’t want to quit. Someone has to protect you.” Paul leaned back and rubbed his belly. “Man, that was pretty good.”
“Come on,” Sofia said as she got up from her chair. “It’s our last night—we’d better get searching.”
~
They searched until well past dark. They looked on every corner, behind every bush, under every sidewalk bench. They walked the underground pathways of the train stations again. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even the trains seemed to avoid them; they’d yet to actually see one despite several trips to the stations.
Tick thought about quitting more than once that night, but the urgency of the dwindling time spurred him on, despite his exhaustion. Finally, a roving policeman told them they needed to get off the streets, that curfew was far past. Sofia complained, but the officer made it clear they’d get one warning and one warning only.
And so they went back to the hotel, back to their beds.
Tick set his watch alarm for 6:00, but he had no idea what he’d do when he woke up. Imagining the glowing monkeys prowling the woods outside his window, he fell asleep.
~
His alarm had just sounded when he heard someone knock at the door. It was Sofia, dragging a sleepy-eyed Paul behind her.
“We need to get out there,” she said. “We only have eleven hours left.”
“But what are we going to do?” Paul asked. “We’ve looked everywhere. There’s no point in looking anymore. We’re just as well off staying here.”
“Well, we have to do something!” Sofia insisted.
Tick groaned as he flopped back on his bed. “I’m with Paul on this one. All we’ve figured out is that something is supposed to happen at five o’clock. At this point, running around the town makes no more sense than sitting here, holding hands and chanting to the time gods.”
“Chanting to the time gods?” Paul asked. “Tick, you’re losing it.”
Sofia huffed as she took a seat. “Then think. What are we missing?”