Archer's Quest (5 page)

What in the world was he thinking?
"Ah, er, very clever of you to have guessed, Archer. You—you must be a really wise king."

Archie threw his shoulders back proudly. "One would not need to be a king to sense the presence of dragons," he said. "But your words are appreciated all the same."

"
Dragons?
You think there are dragons—" Kevin stopped, shook his head, then grinned. It was hard to stay mad at Archie. "Yeah, yeah, that's right. A little metal dragon inside each car."

"Such a world," Archie muttered softly, "to have achieved the taming of dragons." Then his face grew stern again. "And how do you know which of the dragon-carts are being commanded by enemy forces?"

"Jeez, you've got an obsession with enemies," Kevin exclaimed. What was it with Archie? Kevin didn't think he himself had a single real enemy. He had friends, and people who weren't friends. But not enemies.

"Archer, there aren't any enemies here. This is friendly territory." Oh, brother. That sounded like something out of one of those old war movies.

Archie straightened from his crouch a little. "This region has sworn allegiance to your king?"

"To my king..." Kevin paused. Not king—president? Or maybe mayor? And "sworn allegiance to"—nobody
he knew ever said the word "allegiance" except in the pledge. But he had to reassure Archie or they'd never get anywhere.

"Yeah, that's right," Kevin said, "except we don't say 'king.'"

Archie stood and began to walk along the side of the hedge. He nodded at Kevin. "Titles come and go on the wind. Emperor, king, son-of-the-heavens ... you are correct, the title does not matter. What matters for the moment is that we are safe. What matters for the future is whether he is a good king."

Kevin didn't know very much about politics. But he knew that his parents liked the mayor. They had voted for him in the last two elections. On television Mayor Jackson seemed pretty much like an ordinary guy. Kevin grinned, picturing the mayor in a crown and robe. "Yes, he's a good king," he said.

They started walking. After seeing how Archie had reacted to just one car, Kevin decided to keep to the side streets as long as possible. The museum was on a major road, but they could get into the back parking lot from a smaller street. Archie couldn't seem to stop himself from flinching whenever a car went by, but at least he didn't try to hide behind anything.

Half a block passed in silence. "Archer," Kevin said timidly, "I was hoping I might seek more advice from
you about magic." He was proud of that sentence—it had taken him a while to figure out how to phrase what he wanted to say.

Archie gave a short nod, so Kevin continued. "You said you don't know much about it yourself, and I don't, either. But magic usually has reasons, doesn't it? I mean, magic happens because a sorceress casts a spell on somebody, or because a spirit makes something happen. I was wondering what could have happened, to bring you here."

Archie nodded again. "I have been pondering the same thing, Little Frog," he said.
Drat,
Kevin thought,
back to Little Frog.
"And because there was no sorceress anywhere near me, I have concluded it must be the spirits. Something that happened in the heavens, perhaps. What animal reigns at present?"

Animal? A second ago he was talking about emperors, now he wants to know what animal is in charge? What the heck—well, it's not little frogs, that's for sure.

Archie went on, "Is it a Dragon year, or perhaps Rooster or Snake?"

Kevin realized then what Archie was talking about—the Chinese zodiac. According to the regular zodiac, Kevin was an Aquarius; he had been born in January. But with the Chinese zodiac, the month of your birth didn't matter. It was the
year
that was important.

At the Jade Palace, the Chinese restaurant where his family often ate, the paper placemats were decorated with the signs and their corresponding years. There were twelve signs—twelve different animals. Kevin had been born under the sign of the Tiger.

Just a few weeks earlier, he'd celebrated his twelfth birthday at the Jade Palace with his parents and Jason. At the end of the meal, one of the waiters had hit a big metal gong, and everyone in the restaurant suddenly got quiet while the whole staff crowded around their table to sing a song. Corny, and embarrassing, and the song was in Chinese, so Kevin couldn't even understand the words. Then a waitress gave him some ice cream with a candle stuck in it. She told him it was a lucky birthday for him—that it was a Tiger year, and your birthday during a year of the same sign as the one you were born under was supposed to bring you good luck.

Kevin also knew that the Chinese New Year wasn't celebrated on January first. He didn't know how they decided on the date—something about using the lunar year instead of the solar year—but the Chinese New Year was usually in late January or early February. The waitress had mentioned that it was almost time for the New Year celebration; she said it would be a Rabbit year in exactly three weeks.

"Wait—I have to figure it out," Kevin said and thought
for a moment.
My birthday was January 26. Today's February 15....
He counted the days in his head; "exactly three weeks" would be February 16. "It's the year of the Tiger," he said. "But it's the very last day."

"Ah!" Archie looked excited. "I was born in the year of the Tiger. And you?"

"Me, too," Kevin said.

"And in my kingdom now, it is once again the year of the Tiger. Magic indeed!"

It sounded to Kevin more like a coincidence than magic. Besides, there was an awful lot it
didn't
explain. Since Archie's time there had been hundreds of Tiger years—why had the magic worked in this particular year? And millions of people were born during every Tiger year. So why Kevin?

Archie was still talking. "I, who was born in a Tiger year, was riding on a tiger, during a year of the Tiger ... and then arrived in this world during yet another Tiger year ... at the home of a Tiger-born boy, whose family honors tigers. So many tigers! This must indeed be the source of the magic."

A family that honors tigers?

"Uh, it was clever of you to notice that my family honors tigers," Kevin said, "especially because I didn't say anything about it." No question mark. He was getting really good at this.

Archie raised his head proudly. "I saw it at once," he said, "on the wall of your room. It is one of the reasons I chose to trust you."

Kevin knew right away what Archie was talking about. There was a banner on the wall over Kevin's desk for the Dorchester State University Tigers. Orange and black lettering, and a tiger's face.

That banner had something to do with bringing Archie here? His mom had given him the banner for his birthday, along with a matching sweatshirt. Both of his parents worked at Dorchester State, and he'd practically grown up on the campus.

It wasn't magic. It was just another coincidence.

"We must explore this further," Archie declared. "Which of the elements reigned during the year of your birth?"

"Elements?"

"Yes. Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, or Wood?"

"Um, I don't know quite what you mean—"

"The five elements that make up the world."

"But there are way more than five elements. There are, like"—Kevin tried to remember from science class—"a hundred and something."

Archie glared at him. "Utter foolishness. Everything comes from one of the five, and returns to one of the five. There is no need to make things more difficult."

Well, at least we agree about that.

"And you have not answered my question," Archie said. "I was born twenty-four years ago, during a Fire cycle, which makes me a Fire-tiger. And you?"

"I don't know, Archer."

"How can you not know something of such importance?"

This seemed to border on an insult.
Is he saying I'm stupid?
He's
the one who's stupid, thinking there are only five elements! Doesn't he see that everything's changed since his time? Computers and electricity and cars and science and math—

Kevin's pace suddenly slowed.
No, wait. Math hasn't changed. At least, numbers haven't. I might be able to work this out....

Archie was a few steps ahead of him now; Kevin quickened his pace to catch up. "Archer, how long does a cycle last?"

"Twelve years, of course. One year for each animal of the calendar."

"And what was the order again?"

"Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood."

Twelve years. Five cycles. So first he'd have to figure out the number of years between Archie's birth and his own. And then—

Then what? Divide by 12?

No, that wasn't right.
Divide by 5?

Wait—that might not be right, either.

Kevin felt a familiar prickle of frustration, which happened whenever he couldn't figure out a math problem right away. It seemed to start at the back of his neck—an itchy, impatient feeling that made him want to shrug or scratch. His dad always told him to try to "see" the answer in his mind even before knowing what it was exactly. "You have to know where you're trying to go, and use the tools, the right equations, to get there. That's just as important as the answer itself."

But Kevin could never seem to "see" things the way his dad wanted him to. He'd grope around blindly in his mind until one of two things happened: He'd stumble across the answer and everything would be fine, or else he'd get so confused that the itchy feeling would spread until he wanted to jump out of his chair. He'd give up and go on to the next problem, which was almost always harder than the one before.

Kevin could already tell what was going to happen this time.

Frustration + confusion = no answer.

Kevin was about to confess that he couldn't work out which element he was when Archie grasped his arm and pulled him to a halt. "Hold a moment," Archie said, his voice suddenly anxious. "Did you say it was the last day of the year of the Tiger?"

"Yep," Kevin said. "Tomorrow starts a Rabbit year." At least he knew that much. He thought about Jason, who was a month younger than him. Kevin had once teased Jason about being a Rabbit, but Jason had pointed out that according to the Jade Palace placemat, rabbits were considered a lot smarter than tigers.

"I must return home at once!" Archie almost shouted, interrupting Kevin's thoughts. "Tiger magic is only alive during the year of the Tiger. If I do not make my journey very soon, I will have to wait a full cycle before trying again! Twelve years until another Tiger year—my kingdom will be lost, my people at the mercy of invaders!" He looked up at the sky. "There are but a few hours of sun remaining. We must hurry!"

Kevin stared, open-mouthed. Everything was happening too fast. Archie showing up out of the blue ... the window breaking ... trying to figure out who he was and how he'd gotten there. Kevin realized that up till now he'd been thinking of it almost as a game—a video game come to life. If he could figure out certain things, he'd get to go to the next level.

But it wasn't a game. Maybe it was a dream. But Kevin had already tried pinching himself, and he hadn't woken up.
If it
is
a dream, at least it's an interesting one. Might as well see what happens. Not that I have a choice....

What if Archie was right about the Tiger magic but couldn't get back home today? Where would he go? Would he want to come back to Kevin's house? How would Kevin ever explain things to his parents?

"You must lend me your assistance," Archie was saying urgently. "You know this land far better than I. I will be forever in your debt." He dropped to his knees and bowed his head at Kevin's feet. Right there in the middle of the street.

"What the heck?" Kevin glanced around quickly, praying that no one had seen them. "I'll try and help
you. That's what I've been doing all along, isn't it? Come on, get up—this is embarrassing."

Archie stood and looked Kevin right in the eye. "If you help me return to my people, my gratitude will know no bounds," he said.

The poor guy was really desperate. Kevin felt helpless for a moment. It was ridiculous—what did he know about magic or time travel or even Korean history? But he couldn't say no and leave Archie on his own. Kevin could just see it: Archie shooting arrows all over downtown Dorchester and maybe hurting someone or getting hurt himself.

He couldn't stand still any longer. He started walking again, faster this time. "The museum," he said to Archie. "There has to be something there to help us, or else...."

Or else what?

Archie seemed so anxious after learning about the date that he stopped flinching whenever a car went by. As they walked, Kevin saw that Archie seemed to be studying almost everything they passed, staring at the buildings, reaching out to touch a mailbox or a street sign. But he didn't ask any more questions.

It took them only a few minutes to reach the back parking lot of the museum.

"Archer, you're going to have to wait for me here,"
Kevin said. "They won't let you inside with your bow and arrows." Kevin didn't know if it was actually a rule, but he was pretty sure the museum people wouldn't be happy about Archie walking around carrying weapons in plain sight. And he knew better than to ask Archie to leave them at the coat check.

Kevin chose his next words carefully. "Please, Archer, I hope you will honor a request from me. I don't want you to go anywhere or—or do anything. Just wait for me here. I—um, I feel much safer knowing you're nearby."

That last part wasn't exactly a lie, but he thought it would make Archie more likely to stay put. If Archie started wandering around Dorchester on his own, anything could happen. Anything
bad.

Kevin had guessed right. Archie stood up proudly. "You have my word. I will be here to protect you at the first sign of trouble. And be careful, Little Frog."

Kevin almost smiled—Archie was acting as if the museum was enemy headquarters. But he probably didn't know what a museum was. When had museums been invented? "I'll be okay, honest," Kevin said.