Archer's Quest (4 page)

Kevin saw them at least once a month and talked to them on the phone every week. He picked up the phone and hit speed dial 3.

It rang four times before Ah-jee answered. "Hello?"

"Hi, Ah-jee, how are you? It's Kevin."

"Kevin! What a nice surprise!" Ah-jee said.

At the same time, Archie was saying, "I am very well, thank you. But you have already told me that your name is Keh-bin. I have not forgotten. Also, I thought we agreed that Ar-chee was not a suitable name for me."

Kevin looked at Archie in irritation—then realization
dawned.
Oh, for cry in' out loud! He doesn't know what a phone is. He thinks I'm talking to him!

"Not Ar-chee ...
Ah-jee,
" Kevin said. "But I can't talk to you right now."

"What?" Ah-jee said. "Then why did you call?"

"If you are not speaking to me, then to whom are you speaking?" Archie said.

With Archie talking in one ear and Ah-jee's voice in the other, Kevin felt as though he had no room in his head left for thinking. He clenched and unclenched his jaw, then spoke into the phone.

"Ah-jee, hold on for just one second, okay?"

"Sure thing, Kevin," Ah-jee answered.

"Hold on to what?" Archie said.

Kevin put his hand over the mouthpiece. "Archer. I. Am. Not. Talking. To. You." He spoke slowly, trying to force himself to be patient. "I'm talking to my
grandparents.
"

"Your grandparents?" Archie leapt to his feet and looked around the room.

"No, no!" Kevin said. Sheesh, the things he had to explain! "They don't
live
here. I'm talking to them through—through this." He held the phone out. "It's called a telephone. It works—well, sort of like the spirit box. I can talk to them even when they're not with me."

Archie drew back a little, staring warily at the phone.
"Your world has much powerful magic," he said. "It is wondrous indeed, but such power could be dangerous in the hands of an enemy."

"Yeah, well, I'm not talking to an enemy now, okay? I told you—it's my grandparents."

Archie nodded. "In that case..." He bowed solemnly to the phone. "Respectful greetings to your elders," he said.

"Uh, thanks, Archer. They—um, they're bowing back to you."
Well, I'm sure they would if they could see him.
"Now just give me a minute, okay?"

He took his hand off the mouthpiece. "Hi again, Ah-jee. Sorry about that. It was, uh, a bad connection."

Kevin heard a click on the line; Ah-mee had picked up the extension. "Hi, Kevin, sweetie. We're coming to see you this weekend. Did your dad tell you?" she asked.

Of course not, Kevin wanted to answer; he never tells me anything. It was Kevin's
mom
who had told him. "We'll have your birthday present with us," Ah-mee continued. "I'm sorry it's so late, but we wanted to bring it ourselves."

"That's okay—it's kind of nice to get a late present," Kevin said.

"You're such a sweet thing," Ah-mee gushed.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "Well, I called because I'm working on this project"—he didn't say it was for
school, that would be a lie, but he knew that was what she'd think—"and I need a little help."

"Of course, dear, we'll help if we can."

"It's a Korean history project. Do you know anything about a guy named Chu-mong? He lived a long time ago. He was some kind of king."

"Yes, yes, Chu-mong," Ah-jee said. "He was supposed to be the greatest archer of all time."

A spark of hope seemed to fly through the phone line right into Kevin's ear and brain. "Ah-jee, can you tell me anything more about him?"

"Well, his mother was a bear, wasn't she?" Ah-mee said.

"
A bear?
" Kevin said.

"No,
yobo,
you're getting all mixed up," Ah-jee said. "The one with the bear-mother was Tan-gun."

"Oh. That's right. Sorry," Ah-mee said.

"How could anyone have a bear for a mother?" Kevin asked.

"It's one of those old myths," Ah-mee replied. "There was a bear and a tiger, you see, and they made a bet about who could stay in a cave longer—at least I think that's what happened. Oh, dear, my memory's not what it used to be."

"Never mind, Ah-mee," Kevin said hastily. It might take ages for her to remember the whole story. "I mean,
I'm sure it's interesting, but I need to know about Chu-mong."

"All right, dear. Chu-mong. Let's see ... wasn't he the one who founded Koguryo?"

"Yeah, I know that already," Kevin said. "But that's all—I can't seem to find anything more."

"I used to know one story about him," Ah-jee said. "I don't know if I can remember it all now. How about if I think about it and tell you when I see you this weekend?"

"Ah-jee, I have to finish this project—could you tell me whatever you can remember?"

"Hmm ... Well, it's something like a bunch of enemies were chasing him, and he escaped by crossing a river. But there wasn't any bridge or boat or anything. It was some kind of magic."

"Magic?" Kevin gripped the receiver tighter.

"Well, it's just a story, of course." Pause. "You know, your dad might know more about him...." Ah-jee's voice trailed off for a moment. Then, "Hey! I've got an idea. Why don't you call Professor Lee? He's an expert on Korean history. I'm sure he'd be glad to help you. I could call him first and tell him you want to talk to him."

"That'd be great, Ah-jee," Kevin said. He was getting somewhere, he could just feel it! And he'd met Mr. Lee before—maybe at his grandparents' house—old, but a pretty
nice guy. It seemed to Kevin that Korean people always made sure to meet each other when they lived in the same area. His parents knew just about every Korean family in Dorchester.

"He's probably at his office now," Ah-mee put in. "At the museum. He's a curator at the arts and culture museum, you know. For the Asian collections."

The museum! It was only a few blocks away. He and Archie could check out the exhibits to see if there was anything that might help them. And he could talk to Mr. Lee while they were there!

"Thanks, Ah-jee and Ah-mee! I'm sorry, I have to go. I'll see you this weekend. Thanks! Bye!"

Kevin hung up the phone and clenched one fist hard. He didn't pump it in the air—it wasn't a true victory, not yet. But he was on the right track.

Before they left the house, Kevin wrote a note to his parents:

Mom and Dad,

I've gone to the museum to do some research. I'll probably be home in time for dinner, but don't worry if I'm not—I'm working on a big project.

Kevin

P.S. I accidentally broke a window in my room. Sorry. I'll pay for it out of my allowance.

He stood for a moment with the note in his hand. How was he going to explain the broken window? He
didn't want to lie to his parents—but the truth? They'd never believe him. He sighed and put the note on the kitchen table.
I'll worry about it later.

Archie stood by the front door waiting for him. Kevin put on his jacket. As he zipped it up, he glanced at Archie and frowned.

Boy, the guy sure looked out of place. The outfit wasn't
too
bad. Sort of like something you'd wear for a martial-arts class. But the bow and the quiver full of arrows were definitely a problem. Nobody walked around the streets of Dorchester with a bow and arrows.

He thought about how quickly Archie had drawn the bow when he'd shot at the window. He'd put the arrow on the bowstring, drawn it back, aimed, and fired all in one smooth motion. All in about a second, too.

'Archer, I was wondering ... I'd like to try shooting an arrow."

Archie looked surprised. "Have you never drawn a bow?"

Kevin shook his head. "No. I think I get archery in gym class, but not until I get to high school. When I'm older."

"What kind of world is it where young boys are not trained to the bow?" Now Archie's expression was almost angry.

Uh-oh. I don't want him to get upset.
"Archer, there
are people around here who do archery—I've just never had a chance to try it myself."

"Hmm. I do not mean disrespect, but I wonder at your elders, that they have not taught you. You should indeed have a chance at the bow. But not here and now."

"Couldn't I just try—"

Archie raised his hand. "I have reason enough for refusing. First, you do not have your own bow, and there is not a person alive who is allowed to touch my bow, excepting myself. Second, even to introduce you to the bow would take much time, and we have a task at hand that must be accomplished."

Kevin sighed and cast one last look at the bow and quiver on Archie's back. He noticed that there was a coil of rope tied to one side of the quiver. The arrows were point-down. He wondered how sharp they were ... probably pretty dangerous.

"Archer, do you think it would be a good idea to leave your bow and arrows here? They'd be safe. We could put them in the garage—"

"NEVER!" Archie roared, and Kevin jumped back in alarm. "MY BOW AND ARROWS DO NOT LEAVE MY SIDE!"

"Okay, okay," Kevin said hurriedly. "Sorry. I just thought—"

"Not even when I sleep," Archie said, his voice still stern but not as loud. "They are always within my reach, and bad fortune to any man who would part me from them!"

"Sorry," Kevin said again.

He looked at Archie one last time and held back a sigh. Well, he could be a martial-arts instructor who also liked archery. Kevin didn't know anyone who was really into archery, but at least bows and arrows didn't seem to have changed too much since
B.C.
times, so Archie's set didn't look completely foreign.

Kevin pulled up his hood; it was cold and gray outside. Halfway down the driveway he turned and saw that Archie wasn't following. He had stopped and was looking around intently.

Kevin didn't know what streets and houses were like in Archie's time, but he would have bet a year's allowance that they were really different. The way Archie was staring, it seemed like he'd just arrived from another planet. Kevin could tell that he was trying not to look too taken aback—his mouth wasn't hanging open—but he couldn't hide the surprise in his eyes.

"Come on, Archer," Kevin said. Archie blinked and began walking again.

They reached the end of the driveway. Then—

"
Sssst!
" Archie hissed. "Jump, quickly!" He grabbed Kevin's arm and nimbly leapt over the hedge of waist-high evergreen bushes that lined the driveway. Archie's leap caught Kevin completely off-balance. Rather than executing a sprightly jump of his own, Kevin was dragged right through the thorny hedge. As he tumbled to the ground in a heap, his head jerked downward and his knee smashed into his left eye.

"Ouch! What the—"

"Hush! Danger!" Archie made a sort of sideways chopping movement with one hand. He readied his bow and put an arrow to the string as he crouched, peering through the bushes.

Kevin blinked to clear the tears from his sore eye. Then he rolled over onto his stomach and got to his hands and knees. He crawled a few inches until he was next to Archie.

His eye was throbbing, his mind racing.
Maybe Archie got here through one of those time-portal thingies. And it stayed open for a while, and someone bad came in after him—an evil warrior. Or maybe even some kind of beast, or monster...

Kevin felt almost naked, there on his hands and knees behind the hedge. No bulletproof vest or armor—not even his baseball cap, which had been snagged by a thorn on his trip through the hedge and now hung there, just out of his reach.

Fine for Archie—he's got a weapon! How am I supposed to defend myself?

He looked down at the ground underneath the bushes and picked up a stone. So small it was more like a pebble.
Great. When this evil whatever-it-is shows up, I can pebble it to death.

He squirmed a little closer to Archie. "What is it?" he whispered. He could feel his pulse thumping in his throat.

Archie jerked his chin to the left. Kevin swallowed hard, then looked in that direction.

Nothing. The street was empty except for a lone car that had come around the corner and was just now going past them.

Maybe the warrior-beast thing had the power to make itself invisible....
What's our next move?
He glanced back at Archie, uncertain.

Archie was following the car with his gaze and his aim.

The
car?
That's the big danger?

Kevin waited a moment longer just to be sure. Archie was still staring at the car.

"Oh, man, I can't believe it!" Kevin got to his feet in disgust. His eye was still hurting, and his other cheek, too. He blinked again, then touched his cheek gingerly. Blood, but only a little—a scratch from a thorn. And he was probably going to have a black eye.

He brushed twiggy bits out of his hair and off his jacket and jeans. His sleeve was torn. Great—something else for his mom to be thrilled about. As he reached for his cap, he noticed that the hedge didn't look so good, either; the branches were bent and broken where he'd been dragged through.

All because of a stupid
car.

"It is not a threat to us, then?" Archie had at last lowered his bow as the car disappeared from sight.

Kevin sighed. "Archer, it's perfectly safe," he said. "It's like ... like a cart that doesn't need anything to pull it." He poked at the bushes, trying to rearrange the branches so the damage wouldn't be so obvious.
Good thing Archer didn't fire any arrows at the car. Someone could have gotten hurt.

"A cart," Archie responded in a low voice. "If there is nothing to pull it, how does it move?"

Kevin didn't know very much about cars. But that didn't really matter; he wasn't about to get into a technical discussion on internal-combustion engines with Archie. Gasoline ... spark plugs ... how could he explain all that? "Um, fire," he said. "There's a little fire inside it that produces energy to make the car go."

"And what could create fire in this way?" Archie asked. Then his eyes got huge. "Could it be—no, I cannot believe it," he whispered. "Is it true?"