Dream Tunnel (11 page)

46

G
eneva awoke to the sound of knocking. Lately, she had become accustomed to Conroe waking her up in the middle of the night. Neither of her parents would bother to answer the door. They knew it was for their daughter.

But it was Conroe’s honeymoon. Had something gone terribly wrong with Crane on their first night together? She peeked out her second-story window, expecting to see her friend standing at the door below.

But it wasn’t Conroe. It was Crane.

Geneva ran out of her room and down the stairs. She flung the door open. “What’s wrong? What happened to Conroe?”

“She’s gone,” Crane said.

“What do you mean?” she asked, panicking.

“I can’t find her. I was hoping she might be here with you.”

“Why would she be with me? It’s your honeymoon.”

“I know. I don’t understand it. She was in bed when I went into the bathroom. But when I came out, she was gone.”

“And you didn’t hear anything?”

“No, I didn’t hear a thing, and she just vanished!”

“Frederick,” she said. “It had to be Frederick. He must have used his time travel computer to transport Conroe right out of her bedroom.”

“He can do that?”

“Yes, if his time travel computer still has power,” she replied.

“Why would he do that?” he asked.

“So that she will miss the coronation ceremony. He’s still trying to become king.”

“The queen wanted to send him to prison tonight,” Crane said. “But Conroe asked her to wait so that she could do it herself.”

“She underestimated him again.” Geneva shook her head. “Give me a minute to get dressed.”

“Where are we going?” Crane asked.

“To the source—the OutCastle.”

Geneva got dressed, and she and Crane mounted their horses.

“We need to make one quick stop along the way,” she said, leading Crane onto the North Trail.

“Where are we stopping?”

“I want Will to go with us,” she answered.

“Good idea…I guess,” he said, “if he
wants
to help. Do you think he’s angry with Conroe for marrying me instead of him?”

“No, not at all. He’s not in love with Conroe—he never was. The only reason he was going to marry her was because the queen asked him to.”

“He saved us tonight. If he hadn’t found us and given us his horse…”

“Yes, Will is an honorable man.”

47

C
rane’s limited equestrian skills were pushed to the limit on the long ride to the OutCastle. The three stopped just outside the iron fence that surrounded the castle.

“Okay, what’s the plan?” Will asked.

Geneva jumped in. “See the room up there with the candles burning in the window? That’s probably Frederick’s room because if he did transport Conroe, he’s expecting you, Crane. Look at that ladder—it will take you right up to his window.”

“It looks like they’ve been doing some painting,” Crane observed. “A worker probably left it there.”

“Awfully convenient, though, don’t you think?” Will asked. “Frederick even left the window open for you.”

“Maybe it’s a trap,” Crane said.

“Probably is,” Geneva agreed.

“So, I’m gonna climb up that ladder and just step right into his trap?” Crane asked.

“But you’ll have a trap of your own,” Geneva said. “Will and I will be waiting outside on the ladder, ready to come in at just the right moment. Then we can tie him up, and I’ll use his time travel computer to bring Conroe back. All you have to do is get him standing in front of the window with his back to us. Then we’ll sneak in behind him and grab him.”

“You make it sound so easy,” Will said.

“Well, it’s not easy,” Geneva replied, “but it’s a plan.”

“Let’s go,” Crane said.

Geneva and Will followed him to the eight-foot-high iron fence.

“What if this thing is electric?” Crane asked. “What am I saying? There’s no electricity in this world.”

“There are no security alarms either,” Geneva said.

Crane began climbing up the fence.

“Of course, there could be dogs,” Will added.

“Great,” Crane said.

“We’ll be okay,” Geneva assured. “We haven’t attracted their attention yet. But we need to
run
to the ladder. The dogs won’t be able to reach us up there.”

“But Frederick will hear them barking,” Will said.

“That’s okay,” Geneva replied, “because he’s expecting Crane. He won’t know that we’re with him—if Crane climbs up to the window fast enough.”

All three climbed over the fence, jumped down simultaneously, and ran to the ladder. Dogs began to bark as soon as the trio hit the ground. Will was the last one up the ladder, and one of the dogs snapped at his foot, tearing out a piece of his pant leg.

Crane climbed up the ladder as fast as he could. If Frederick looked out his window with a lantern, he would surely spot Crane’s partners on the ladder below him, eliminating their only weapon—the element of surprise.

When Crane reached the window, he was surprised to see Frederick sitting at a desk across the room with his back to him, looking at his time travel computer screen. He climbed in through the window without making the slightest noise—until a board creaked beneath his foot.

“I’ve been expecting you,” Frederick said, turning his chair around to face Crane. “Although I really thought you’d be here sooner. I sincerely hope you’re not too late.”

“Too late for what?” Crane asked. “Where is Conroe?”

“Where do you think?” Frederick turned back around to the time travel computer.

Crane stepped up behind him and looked at the screen. “Why did you send her back?”

“You should have seen the look on your face when you walked out of the bathroom and she was gone. That was priceless.”

“You were watching us?”

“Sure,” Frederick replied. “I should have watched you two roll around in bed for a while before I popped her out of there. That would have been even more fun.”

“You’re despicable,” Crane said. “Bring her back right now!”

“Or what?” Frederick jumped up from the chair and held up his fists. “Are you going to fight me?” He grinned. “Let’s do it.”

Rage began to boil up from Crane’s gut. He didn’t even attempt to get Frederick positioned with his back to the window. He forgot all about Geneva’s plan. Instead, he ran at him like a mad man, his arms flailing at his sides.

The arrogant expression on Frederick’s face quickly turned to disconcerted fear.

Crane ran over Frederick like a bulldozer over a fencepost, flattening him to the floor.

Geneva and Will came in through the window.

“What did you do, Crane?” Geneva asked. “That wasn’t in the plan.”

“Well, it did the job,” Crane said with pride.

Geneva knelt down to take Frederick’s pulse. “He’s still alive, but he’s out cold.”

“That’s okay though, right?” Crane asked. “You know how to work this thing.” He pointed to the time travel computer.

“Yes, if it’s the same as Conroe’s.” She sat down at the desk and began to press keys.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Will marveled.

“You won’t believe the things it can do,” Crane said.

“There she is.” Geneva pointed to the screen.

“I recognize that road,” Crane said. “It’s close to Philly.”

Geneva nodded in agreement. “Okay, let’s see if I can bring her back.”

“It’s instantaneous when it’s just her, correct?” Crane asked.

“Yes.” Geneva entered several keystrokes and waited.

“Shouldn’t something be happening?” Crane asked.

“What’s supposed to happen?” Will asked.

“She should be appearing right here with us,” Crane answered.

“
Appearing?
” Will asked.

“Something’s wrong.” Geneva frowned.

“Don’t say that,” Crane said.

“It’s not working. I’ll try it again.” She reentered the sequence of keys.

Nothing.

“What’s wrong with it?” Crane asked.

“Oh,” Geneva said. “I see what it is. Frederick has made the return perimeter smaller.”

“
Return
perimeter? What’s that?” Crane asked.

“Conroe has to be inside the return perimeter in order for me to transport her,” Geneva explained. “Normally, the return perimeter is the same as the
main
perimeter. But Frederick has made it much smaller, and I don’t know how to change it back.”

“But you can still make that work, can’t you?” Crane asked. “You just need to get Conroe inside the return perimeter.”

“The problem is that I have no way to communicate with her,” Geneva replied. “She can talk to me, but I can’t talk to her. It’s always that way.”

“Yeah, but don’t you have a way of moving her from one place to another?” Crane asked.

“I can only do it when she’s inside the return perimeter because when I do that, I’m actually transporting her here briefly, and then back there to a different location.”

They heard Conroe’s voice coming through the speakers of the time travel computer. “You’ll never get away with this, Frederick. Crane will come after you. And the queen will have you hung for this. Bring me back now, and she might show mercy. Frederick? Frederick!”

“You’ll have to send me there,” Crane said. “It’s the only way. Just show me where the return perimeter is and I will take her there. Then you can bring us both back.”

Will pointed to the screen and asked, “What does this mean?”

A large box in the center of the screen flashed an alarming message: WARNING - 19% POWER.

“It means there’s not much time left,” Geneva answered, typing at the keyboard and opening a window that contained a map with a white circle in the middle of it.

“Here’s the return perimeter,” Geneva said. “Oh, no.”

“What?” Crane asked.

“Look at it,” Geneva replied. “It’s only five feet in diameter. Frederick set it up this way in case we got control of this thing. He wanted to watch you try and fail.”

“Well, I’m not gonna fail. What’s the exact location of this return perimeter?”

“It’s the same place you were when I brought you back last time—while you were sitting in that truck. See? In the parking lot.”

Crane looked more closely. “Third row, fifth slot to the left. Got it. Send me back.” He stepped away from them.

“Okay,” Geneva said, “here we go. Good luck!”

48

“
C
onroe!” Crane ran up behind her.

She spun around. “Crane!”

They embraced.

“Frederick did this to us,” she said. “It had to have been him—he’s the only one with a time travel computer.”

“
He
sent
you
here, but Geneva sent me.”

“
Geneva?
” she asked.

“When you disappeared, I figured Frederick must have transported you, so I went over to Geneva’s house. We stopped by for Will, and the three of us rode to the OutCastle. I climbed in through Frederick’s window and knocked him out cold. Then Geneva used his time travel computer to send me here. And it’s almost dead, by the way, so we don’t have much time.”

“Why didn’t Geneva just bring me back? Couldn’t she see me?”

“She could see you and hear you, but she couldn’t bring you back because Frederick has altered the return perimeter somehow, and Geneva doesn’t know how to undo the change. Now it’s only five feet in diameter.”

“What’s the
return
perimeter?” she asked. “I’ve never heard of that.”

“Geneva said it’s separate from the
main
perimeter,” he explained. “It means that she can see us right now, but she can’t move us anywhere or transport us back until we get inside the return perimeter.”

“That’s okay—as long as we know where the return perimeter is.”

“I know where it is, but it’s a long way from here. It’s in that parking lot where we left the pickup truck. The place where Frederick tried to shoot you.”

“Do you know how much power the time travel computer has left?”

“Yes. Nineteen percent.”

“That should be plenty,” Conroe said, “if we can catch a ride.”

49

G
eneva and Will watched Conroe and Crane on the time travel computer screen.

Someone pounded on Frederick’s door, startling them.

“Frederick? Are you okay in there, son? I heard noises.”

“It’s Opal,” Geneva whispered.

“Frederick? Answer me,” Opal ordered. “What are you doing in there?”

Will went over to check on Frederick. He was beginning to stir.

“Frederick! Unlock this door!”

Will went back over to Geneva. “How are we going to explain this?”

“We’re not,” she said, closing the time travel computer and picking it up. “Let’s go.”

They climbed out the window and down the ladder. The dogs had retreated, but now they were returning. Will carried the ladder across the yard and propped it against the top of the fence, creating a low-slope ramp that they could walk up.

Geneva started up first, with Will close behind. One of the dogs followed them on the ladder, but he couldn’t keep up with their pace. The other dogs tracked them from the ground, directly underneath the ladder, snapping at their feet. They were close to the top of the fence when Geneva lost her balance. Two options flashed through her mind: first, she could regain her balance by dropping the time travel computer, knowing that the fall might destroy it and thereby eliminate any hope of bringing Conroe and Crane back, or second, she could hold tight to it and protect it from the fall with her body, and possibly break some bones and definitely be brutally attacked by the dogs.

Will quickly assessed Geneva’s situation and placed his hand at her back to support her, helping her to regain her balance and go on.

By the time one of the servants unlocked Frederick’s door with a master key, Geneva and Will were riding away on their horses.