The Children's Crusade (12 page)

I
F THAT'S A MIRROR
,
what was it reflecting about me?
Tim wondered. He took a step backward, and realized he felt very drained. He sat down hard on the floor. Suzy curled up on his lap.

Whatever it is that I did used some serious wattage,
Tim realized.
Magic can be that way.

So far, not one of the children in the clubhouse had moved or said a word. The only one still standing, in fact, was Jack Rabbit. The rest had collapsed to the floor.

“You—you—” Jack Rabbit sputtered. He advanced on Tim, his eyes flashing with fury.

Tim didn't think he had the energy left to fight. He dislodged Suzy and stumbled to his feet.

“You shall pay for this!” Jack Rabbit shouted. He lifted his hand.

But before he could strike, sparkling creatures
of translucent light shimmered in between Tim and the rabbit.

“The Shimmers!” Daniel gasped. “I've never seen them leave their pond before.”

“It is done,” the Shimmers said. But their mouths never moved, and the words sounded more like musical notes than any language Tim had heard. Yet he understood what they were saying. He glanced around the clubhouse. Obviously, they all did.

Somehow, Tim knew by looking at the beautiful sprites that they were the manifestations of the heart and soul of Free Country herself. They were beautiful.

“It is over,” the Shimmers said. “The territory is damaged, but it will survive.”

Tim felt relieved. He didn't want to be responsible for any permanent devastation.

“You would have used Timothy Hunter to power the world?” the Shimmers asked. “You might as well attempt to use the heat of the burning sun to toast your bread or to try to force the ocean into a pail.”

“What's going on?” Suzy whispered.

“I think we're going to find a way home,” Tim told her.

“Most of the children that have been brought across in recent months are already returning to
the world from which they came. Those who choose to stay, may. Maxine has found her place here with her beloved animals. Already Free Country begins to reshape herself.”

Tim could sense the relief in the room.

“It is still a refuge,” the Shimmers promised, “but it cannot be a refuge to all. It will take its refugees as it did in the past—a handful at a time. Its gates will once again be few and hard to find.”

They were hard enough for me to find
, Tim thought.
At least, when I was trying to get out.

“But—our plan,” Kerwyn said. “We wanted to keep safe the children.”

“You must have realized that not all children need to be rescued,” the Shimmer scolded. “How could you not? There are unhappy souls here, and that made Free Country weaker as well.”

“That's exactly what I tried to tell them,” Tim told the Shimmers.

“But I don't understand,” Wat said. “We were told that the Bad World is not a safe place for children. Any children.”

“Even worse than in our times,” Aiken Drum added. “Jack Rabbit said that—”

The Shimmers interrupted. “You are the victims of a deception.”

“Don't listen to them,” Jack Rabbit shouted. “They don't know anything. They're just little
wispy shapes of light. They're not even real.”

“Oh, we're real,” the Shimmers assured him. “Only
you
are not.”

The Shimmers danced around Jack Rabbit, and as they did he changed form. The large pink rabbit transformed into a haggard, pinched man in monk's robes.

“You!” Aiken Drum shouted. “You lured us to the ship! Because of you my sister perished in the sands and Yolande died!” He lunged for the monk.

“Stay back!” The man dashed across the room and leaped out the doorway.

Tim raced after him to see if the man had fallen to his death. He knew how high up in the tree they were. Aiken Drum pushed beside him.

No one lay on the ground. Tim craned his neck in all directions.
He isn't running away somewhere.

“
Where did he go?” Aiken Drum asked.

“I'll have you aboard in a jif!” a voice called out above them. “Hold on just a bit longer, me old gent.”

Tim looked up through the branches of the huge tree. His mouth dropped open.

A sailing ship—complete with mast, sails, and crow's nest—floated in the sky. The monk dangled from a line hanging from one of the portholes. A teenage boy with red hair was leaning
over the side, one hand on the wheel.

“I told you you'd make a pig's breakfast of it.” Junkin Buckley chortled.

“Let them try to flee,” the Shimmers said behind Tim and Aiken. “Free Country will make things right. There will be no blood on your hands. But have no fear, neither the corruptor nor the corrupted will escape. All is safe once more.”

“But our plans—” Wat protested.

“No.” The Shimmers were insistent. “It is over.” With that, they vanished.

Tim returned to the rest of the group. “Who was that rabbit-man-thing?” he asked.

Kerwyn and Aiken Drum gave each other a long, sad look. “We have seen him before,” Aiken Drum said. “In our time, he was a monk, preaching to children to join the crusades.”

Kerwyn shook his head. “To think he found his way here. And is still in the business of profiting from selling children.”

“We have failed,” Wat said sadly.

“No. Free Country still lives,” Aiken Drum said. “And that is all we can ask for.”

Tim looked out the clubhouse door again. The Shimmers were right. The countryside was already restoring itself. The gaping holes in the ground were closing up, and trees were righting themselves. He took a deep breath.

“Tim. I feel funny,” Suzy said. “Like something's pulling me away. Tim. Please hold my hand.”

“Sure thing.” He gripped both of her hands. They gazed at each other as she became less and less substantial. Finally, she vanished completely.

“Bye-bye, kid,” he murmured. Suzy had been kind of sweet, like a little sister.

Tim felt funny, too, as if his insides were being gently tugged but his outsides weren't quite cooperating. “I think it's time to go,” Tim said.

Aiken Drum stepped up to Tim, his hand outstretched. Tim clasped it. “I guess things are back to normal, eh?” Tim said as they shook hands.

“You did a good thing, here, Tim,” Aiken Drum said. “You have saved us. And not just us—you have saved those who will still need Free Country in the future. Go knowing that you have protected a sanctuary for countless children.”

Tim felt a warm flush color his face. He wasn't sure if it was from the pleasure of hearing Aiken Drum's words or if it had something to do with how insubstantial he was becoming. Things went blurry as he choked out, “Thank you.”

Next thing he knew, he was standing on the sidewalk in front of his house in London.

“So Free Country sent us all home,” he said. “At least, I think she did.”

He glanced around.
Uh-oh. Oliver never came
out from under that big table. What if the Shimmers hadn't realized the kid was there?

Tim didn't know where Avril and Oliver lived, but he figured it was probably near that playground where he had met Avril. That seemed like a good place to start. As much as he detested the obnoxious kid, Tim knew he'd constantly be wondering if Oliver had ever made it home.

Sure enough, as Tim approached the playground he spotted Avril on the swing and Oliver digging in a pile of dirt.

“Oliver, stop torturing that worm, you little creep.”

“Won't.”

“If you don't stop, I'll make you eat it, pig. I'm warning you.” She looked over at Tim. “Oh. It's you again.”

Tim plopped onto the swing beside Avril's. “I see your brother has returned.”

Avril scowled. Maybe bad moods ran in her family, Tim observed. “They're all back,” she said in a very complaining tone. “Everyone in the neighborhood and the whole wide world.”

“You might say thank you. I did help get Oliver home.”

“I'm supposed to thank you for that?”

She had a point. Oliver was a nasty bit of business.

“Besides, you didn't have anything to do with it,” Avril said. “It was all on the telly.”

“What was?” He could just imagine the news story:
Giant Rabbit fools kids into having a crusade in a magical land. Tries to escape in a flying ship. Film at eleven.

“On the telly they explained about mass hallucinations. That was where they went.”

“What? Don't be daft. You can't
go
to hallucinations—that's not a place.”

“Can, too! So says the lady on the six o'clock news.” She gave him a dismissive once-over from head to foot. “And looks like you should know—you sound like you were hallucinating, too!”

Tim shook his head in disbelief. He stood up to go. “Bye, Oliver.”

“You're still a pile of doggie doo.”

Maybe those Free Country kids had the right idea
, Tim thought.
Only there ought to be a place to send kids like Oliver, so the rest of us can have a refuge from them.

Tim trundled home, suddenly exhausted. It took him longer than usual, because he found himself walking very carefully, avoiding stepping on any little plants or grass. When he realized what he was doing, he laughed.

They're not Suzy
, he reminded himself.
Still, why crush a plant if I don't have to?

That got him to thinking about the little sprouts growing at his mother's grave. “I wonder what they'll be when they grow up?”

No way to know. Don't know what kind of seeds they were. I suppose one could say I don't know who their parents are—we have that in common.

Then he stood still.
I'm thirteen years old
, he marveled.
And I've already saved two entire worlds—Faerie and Free Country. Well, that's a story to tell your friends, or at least the most important one. I didn't get to tell Molly today, but there's always tomorrow. I wonder what she'll think. Who would have thought I could save a whole world, let alone two?

Maybe I have a knack for this magic thing after all
.