Red Shirt Kids (12 page)

“THIS IS INSANITY!”
David exclaimed. “We should call the police.”

“Honey, just pick up the shirt,” said Laura.

David sighed and reached into the open chest in the attic. A jolt of electricity shot through his arm, and he recoiled sharply. “What is this? What’s going on?” David asked, stunned.

Laura watched as David absorbed the Falton family history, his eyes growing wider with each new piece of information that Kathy divulged. Suddenly, the doorbell rang from downstairs.

“The kids!” Laura cried, hopeful.

They all raced for the stairs.

Laura flung open the front door and looked down at Ben, who stood on the front step clutching the voice modifier.

“Hello,” said Laura, disappointed that it wasn’t her kids.

“Is Mike here?” asked Ben.

“Do you know Mike?” Laura asked, some hope returning.

“Yeah, he left this at my house,” said Ben.

“Mike was at your house? Who are you?” asked Laura.

Kathy came and stood next to Laura. “Oh, hi there, Ben,” said Kathy. Kathy turned to Laura. “Ben is Sam’s second cousin.”

“Yeah, uh, is Mike home?” Ben asked again.

“I’m sorry, Ben, he’s not here. Do you know …” Kathy’s voice trailed off as Ben nodded, absorbed in thought, and started to walk away.

Kathy frowned. “Goodbye, Ben.”

Ben raised his hand as he walked, head down, past the front gate.

Kathy shut the door and went back inside. But Laura remained on the front porch, watching Ben pensively. “Ben!” she called suddenly. “Come back!”

Laura, Kathy, and David stood beside Ben as he faced the open chest in the attic. “You just want me to pick this shirt up?” asked Ben, puzzled. He looked at the chest suspiciously.

“Yes, dear, please pick up the shirt,” said Kathy, trying to mask the urgency she felt.

Ben shrugged and reached into the chest. He pulled out the red shirt and turned towards the adults. “What’s the big deal?”

“P-put it on,” urged Laura.

“Huh?” Ben scrunched his nose.

“Please, Ben, put the shirt on,” Kathy pleaded.

“It’s important,” added David.

Ben rolled his eyes but humored the adults and pulled the shirt over his head.

“Unbelieveable!” exclaimed David as the red shirt blended into Ben’s clothing and disappeared.

“Where’d it go?” Laura asked, her voice a whisper.

“That’s how they work,” said Kathy, equally stunned. “It’s you, Ben,” she said to him.

Ben looked at the adults nervously.
These people are nuts,
he thought.
I’ve got to get out of here.
Then he looked down at the red shirt. It looked like it had been absorbed by his T-shirt. Only a residue of shimmer remained.

“What the crap?” Ben exclaimed.

Laura ignored the exclamation. “Ben, do you know where Mike and Amy are?” she asked. The panic in her voice was evident.

“You don’t know where they are?” asked Ben.

“No,” said Kathy. “Do you?”

“Well,” Ben said as he reached into his back pocket. “I might.” He unfolded the map of the Falton family land and placed it in Laura’s outstretched hand.

“HELP! LET ME OUT!”
Sam yelled from inside an amber ball. He was fully encased in the sap, his cries now soundless.

Amy was pinned to the wall near the doorway ten feet off the ground. Liquid amber secured her legs and arms to the wall. Francis stared at Amy with lidless eyes. “The boy could be invisible. What is your power, young lady?” he asked Amy.

“You’re insane,” Amy declared, her voice filled with resentment.

Francis frowned. “Insane? Now, could an insane person build a machine like this?”

“Uh, yeah,
only
an insane person would build something like this,” Amy replied.

Francis ignored her retort. “I feared that, when Greg died, the power of the shirts ended with him. But now I have a second chance. Do you see the possibilities?”

“Yes, you are a nut job!” Amy yelled.

“You lack vision, my dear,” Francis curtly replied and began to leave.

Suddenly, from the corner of her eye, Amy saw the bottle of liquid nitrogen floating in the air toward Francis. She tried to think of something to say.

“You, you, you’re crazy!” she yelled. “You’re just jealous of other people’s powers, and—and your face is disgusting!”

Francis faced Amy again, his eyes burning with fury. With a squeeze of his fist, the amber around Amy’s legs and arms tightened like a tourniquet. She screamed.

Suddenly, she began to laugh—a deep guttural laugh from her belly. She realized something about Francis, about power, about herself. “You make me sick!” she yelled at Francis. “You want power because you don’t have it—the real kind that no one can take from you.”

Francis’s eyes were ablaze. He rushed at her with his hands like claws and his bony fingers oozing liquid amber menacingly. Then, in a flash, the can of liquid nitrogen flew in front of him and blasted frozen vapor into his face. He screamed and covered his eyes. Then the can hit him hard on the head, and he was out cold. The amber vice around Amy’s limbs slackened slightly, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She watched as the liquid nitrogen floated over to Sam and blasted the amber ball around him. In an instant, Sam had broken free and smashed the frozen amber into tiny pieces.

The liquid nitrogen next floated toward Darren. “Look away,” Mike’s voice commanded.

“You’re invisible!” Darren exclaimed as he looked away and the nitrogen blasted his amber trap. Sam broke the frozen amber apart with his bare hands and extricated Darren from inside. The vein-like wires used to zap his powers wriggled aimlessly, shooting sparks. The children next turned their attention to Diane and freed her, as well.

Suddenly, an explosion ruptured the giant chandelier in the main chamber. Sparks flew as the chamber reeled from the blast.

“Hurry!” Sam yelled frantically at Mike over the noise. “It’s gonna blow!”

Ben led Laura, Kathy, and David through the backyard and past the tall tree. Laura looked up, seeing the fort for the first time. She looked at the drawings, which she was still clutching in her hand.

Ben stopped at the edge of a creek. He looked down at the map in his hands, illuminated by the moonlight that streamed through the clouds and cast an eerie glow on the town. Taking a mental picture, he folded up the map and tucked it into his back pocket. Ben took three steps back and prepared to jump as far as he could over the creek.

“Where are you going?” asked Kathy.

Ben kept his eyes on the creek. “To find your kids.”

Ben took off running toward the stream. He planted his foot and then jumped, sailing high into the air and clearing the stream by twenty feet. He landed with a thud and fell on one knee to regain his balance. “Whoa!” Ben looked behind at Laura, David, and Kathy, who were now tiny specks across the stream.

Ben turned and ran into the forest, a wide grin spreading across his face. Each step propelled him ten feet through the air. He gained speed with every step and soon became a glimmering red blur.

BEN FLEW THROUGH
the forest, streaking past trees. He had never felt so free. He bounded up to the remains of Francis’s destroyed home and looked around but saw no sign of the other kids.

Ben kicked the dirt, frustrated. He was sure this was the place they were going. He looked down and saw little drops of glowing amber glistening in the moonlight. They formed a trail leading into the thick, dense foliage. Ben took a deep breath and ran.

Sam helped Diane to her feet. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“I—I think so,” said Diane, still disoriented.

Darren pulled off a small antenna from his red shirt, which had been stuck to the shirt by the amber. He reached over and pulled off Diane’s, as well. They were now free from Francis’s machine.

Sam’s sweatshirt floated in the air, and suddenly Mike appeared wearing it. “Amy!”

“Get me down!” yelled Amy.

“Can you get her down?” Mike asked Sam.

“I can’t reach her.”

Diane stepped forward. “Yes, you can,” she said.

Diane raised her hands, and Sam began to levitate off the ground. “Whoa,” said Sam, his arms stretched out for balance.

He floated up to Amy. “Whatcha doin’?” he asked with a grin.

Amy smiled despite herself. “You know, just hanging around.”

Mike gagged dramatically. “Sam, get her down fast. I think she’s cracked.”

Sam gingerly pulled the amber from Amy’s legs. This time, it didn’t stick but fell away like limp lettuce. Sam grabbed the amber around Amy’s arms. “Put your arms around my neck when I get this stuff off,” Sam said to Amy. “So you don’t fall,” he added quickly.

Amy nodded, and Sam ripped away the amber that was trapping her arms. Amy fell into Sam and wrapped her arms around his neck. Their faces were almost touching. Sam’s neck felt hot. “I’ve go-got her,” stammered Sam.

Diane lowered her hands, and Sam and Amy floated gently to the ground. Amy held onto Sam’s neck for a moment longer. “Thank you,” Amy whispered. She stood on her tiptoes and pecked Sam quickly on the cheek.

“Yes!” Sam yelled, as he highfived Darren and everyone erupted into giggles. It was Amy’s turn to blush.

The celebration was erupted by an almost inhuman scream. “Nooooo!” Francis writhed on the ground as he came to.

Francis glared at Sam and focused his eyes, but nothing happened. Francis tried it again—nothing.

Darren cocked his head and stared. “Something not working?” He asked sardonically. Darren smiled then fired a concentrated stream of red heat from his eyes. It blasted into Francis and knocked him out of the room into the outer chamber.

Ben bounded to the base of a gigantic spruce tree where the trail of amber went cold. He walked slowly around the tree, his hand fingering the bark, searching for amber. Suddenly, he heard a sound from inside. It sounded like yelling. “It can’t be,” Ben whispered. But then he heard it again—it was definitely yelling. He pushed against the tree with all of his strength and scanned the tree, trying to find any way in.

“Maybe the opening is somewhere else,” he thought. He walked into a nearby gathering of brush, pushing branches and leaves aside, and saw a huge rosebush that looked out of place. He tried to move it but cut his hand on its thorns. Recoiling in pain, he shook out his hand and inspected the bush. He found a thorn-free section and pulled the rosebush aside. Hidden behind the rosebush was a wooden door.