"Of course I want to help. I'm just trying to get a better handle on these things, you
know. To figure out what we're up against, because you did say it was different after the Linking
Ceremony, that you were able to see strings of light and whatnot."
"Doesn't he ever let up?" Martin groaned.
"What's that got to do with anything?" Lilly said.
"Maybe the faeries taught Carole to see the natural vortexes."
"That doesn't change anything. If I see one, I'm still running the other way."
"But what if you fall into another dimension and Runt finds a connecting vortex, why
shouldn't we jump over to help?"
"Because there's no guarantee we'd end up in the same place as Carole," Lilly said.
"We'd only go on Runt's say-so. He knew Carole was on the other side, this
morning."
"Trusting our lives to the say-so of a pig?"
"Wreeet!"
Martin ignored Runt's objection.
"Listen to your sister, Zack," Carole said. "These days, dimensional travel is risky even
for the experts, and you want us to mess around with it? Me a complete novice, and you guys
who aren't even multitaskers?"
"I'd be willing to give it a try."
"Unbelievable," Martin said. "Man-eating forests and trolls. My idea of a good
time."
"The only reason Carole escaped is because of the faeries," Lilly said.
Zack crossed his arms and stuck out his chin. "You know what they say: there's safety in
numbers."
"And misery loves company." Martin said.
"If there was any trouble, Carole'd find an escape tunnel in time. I know she
would."
"That last tunnel was in the middle of a lake, Zack."
"I can swim."
"No," Carole said firmly. "It's too dangerous to consider."
"We might not have a choice."
"What's that supposed to mean!?" Martin said.
"Remember Professor Philamount said that after her first jump, Carole wouldn't be able
to resist? Well we've just experienced our first jump."
"Have not!"
"Sure, it wasn't exactly like Carole's, but we've all been exposed to the Faerie Realm,
and maybe that's enough. "
"We're not multitaskers, Zack," Lilly insisted.
"Think about it, Lil. What were the Hub teachers doing here in the first place? Weren't
they trying to turn monobrainers into multitaskers? And we did disappear."
"No," Martin gasped, "it can't be."
"For your sake, I hope not," Carole whispered.
"For our sake, I hope so." Zack's eyes lit up and he smiled widely.
On the off-chance that Zack's theory was correct and the rest of them had become
sensitized to dimensional overlaps, Carole decided not to take any chances. She put Runt and
Zack in charge of scouting out the Boar's Head path. Lilly and Martin would keep an eye out for
people and wild animals, and she would watch for incoming dimensions.
"I feel like we're on military patrol." Martin slumped under the weight of his oversized
pack. "Is all this really necessary?"
"Shush!" Lilly said. "Don't disrupt Carole's concentration."
"It's all right, Lil. The idea isn't so much to concentrate as it is to relax enough to sense
stuff."
"What sort of stuff?"
"Not exactly sure, but I think it's energy, mostly."
"How do you do that?" Martin said.
"I guess sort of like the way you can tell when a storm's coming. The wind changes, flies
pester you more, you smell rain, and see clouds rolling in. Lots of little things add up."
"You getting any warnings, now?"
"Nope."
Zack and Runt walked over the others. "How about a break? We've been hiking for
hours and Runt's tootsies are getting tender, not to mention he's wasting away to skin and bone."
Zack grabbed Runt's belly, causing the pig to squeal with laughter. "Oh ho, what have we here, a
ticklish little piggy?"
Runt sprang ahead, thwarting a second tickle attempt.
"A rest suits me fine." Martin dropped his gear and flopped onto the hillside. "Oh my
aching back. All this marching is worse than Phys Ed., no thanks to Mr. 'I wanna be a
multitasker!'"
"Not that you couldn't do with a little exercise," Zack muttered, as he too dropped to the
grass, though with his back to the red-faced redhead.
Giving in to the inevitable, Carole took the green space between the boys. Runt and
Lilly joined them.
Zack stared up at the few clouds meandering across the sky. "So what kind of place do
you figure we're likely to end up in?"
"Hopefully, none at all," Lilly answered wearily. "We've plenty enough to worry about
around here as it is, most of it being you!"
"I suppose I could handle a few days on a tropical beach," Martin ventured, "so long as
it came with plenty of fresh food; bananas, oranges, pineapples, and no mosquitoes."
"Don't forget the papaya." Zack closed his eyes and yawned. "Me and Runt would love
to try some papaya, wouldn't we, Runt. Always wondered what the stuff tasted like. How about
you, Carole, any preferences? Want to visit your witchling friend again? Carole?"
Carole and Runt were sitting very still, peering into the distance.
"Another dimension?!" Zack jumped to his feet.
"I think... Yes, coming in fast. It's going to hit!"
Lilly, Zack and Martin struggled into their packs and linked arms. They crouched in a
tight circle. Runt wormed his way into the middle, while Carole took position a few paces apart,
her staff gripped firmly in both hands.
"If it takes me, I'll find the first tunnel back. If it takes you, follow Runt's lead. Here it
comes!"
She braced herself as the invisible wave swept over. An instant later she was on all
fours, her hands buried in gritty, black sand. She sprang to her feet and spun a complete
circle.
She was in a wide, long low cave, and she wasn't alone.
The others were nearby, doubled over, being sick.
Runt, looking shaky himself, stumbled over to lean against her leg.
"Guess that answers that," she said. "You guys
have
been sensitized. How
could Zack have been so stupid?" She rubbed her forehead vigorously.
"Rit?"
"Nothing! My head's feeling a little weird."
"Ret?"
"Probably just the shift."
"Ret wret rit?"
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't really mean it, but they're bound to find out, now."
"Rit wret."
"Yeah right. You should have seen Jason's face when I told him, and we were good
friends. At least I thought so."
"Wreet rit riit."
"It wasn't that long ago."
"Reet?"
"Of course not, you're my familiar, remember? In fact, I'm putting you in charge of
babysitting those three. Keep them in line, will ya."
Runt nodded.
"Anyway, what's done is done. Might as well see what we're up against."
Carole examined the cave. The entrance wasn't far, so there was plenty of light
streaming in, but the air was hot and fetid.
She looked at where Martin, Lilly and Zack were kneeling. "Runt, is that where you four
actually landed?"
"Riit. Reet?"
"Probably nothing. Come on, it looks like they've finished throwing up."
Lilly was still kneeling on the ground, her head hanging low. Carole pulled out a
canteen and offered it to her.
Lilly took a swig and spat it out with a grimace. "It wasn't quite so bad this time." She
smiled weakly.
"I'm sure it'll get easier," Carole patted her shoulder. "You might not even throw up next
time. How about you guys, going to survive?"
Zack nodded gamely. Martin frowned.
"So, what do you think, the tropics?" Carole said.
"Definitely hot enough," Zack agreed.
Martin scooped up a handful of the black sand and let it pour through his fingers.
"Volcanic. Besides, even in a desert you'd expect a cave to be cooler."
"What if this
is
cooler?" Lilly said.
"Guess we'd best find out. You three well enough to walk?" Carole said.
No one disagreed.
"Alright, but--" She leveled a finger at Zack's chest. "We've no idea what's out there, so
pay attention and keep it zipped."
"Yeah, sure."
"I mean it Zack."
"Okay, I get it. Geez."
Carole took the lead with Runt at her side. The others got up to follow. Almost
immediately Martin fell to his knees with a yelp.
"Shush!" Zack swatted Martin's arm. "No talking."
"I couldn't help it. I twisted my ankle." Martin reached into the sand and pulled out an
object. "On this." He held up a golden orb, the size of a large orange. "Wow, is it ever heavy.
Wonder if it's gold?"
The others gathered around. "What do you think, buried treasure?" Martin said.
"Maybe," Carole said, "but if so, keep an eye out for the pirates."
"And for more gold." Zack shifted the sand with his feet. "Lucky stiff."
"Should I keep it?"
"Let me see it for a sec." Carole, surprised at the weight of the orb, held it to her
forehead and tried to get a sense about it.
She handed it back to Martin. "Better not risk it. Put it back where you found it. Let's
go." She moved off followed by Lilly and Runt.
"Who made her boss?" Martin grumbled, as he dug a hole in the sand.
As they looked out from the cave's entrance, it was obvious that they weren't on a
tropical island, at least not the vacationing sort. The sky was smeared with thick orange clouds,
and the air was heavy with the reek of rotten eggs. A nearby puddle belched loudly, spattering
the ground with acrid mud, forcing them to back away from the eye-stinging fumes.
Zack pinched his nostrils, "Gross! Who did it?!"
Runt head-butted his shin.
About a hundred paces from the cave, the ground sloped into a murky swamp, in which
grew leafy purple and orange bushes and gigantic red ferns. Most of the shrubs spread over the
surface of the greasy water, but the ferns opened into a feathery canopy high overhead.
"It's enough to make you sick."
"The smell?" Lilly said, her voice tight as if she were trying to hold her breath.
"Everything!" Carole squeezed her temples.
"Listen to that hum," Zack said. "Must be a billion bugs out there. And would ya look at
that!" He pointed to a black cloud rising from the near shoreline. The cloud dipped and swirled
through the air before drifting down the beach.
Martin grimaced. "Hope those aren't mosquitoes."
Carole studied the sand where the bugs had been, and then looked upwards toward the
smoking peak of a mountain so vast that it filled most of the skyline. "You were right about
volcanoes, Martin."
"It's as tall as Everest," Lilly said in a tone filled with awe.
"At least we know what's making the smog." Martin wiped his brow.
"Come on," Zack said, "let's check out the water. See if it's decent enough for a
swim."
Carole yanked him back by his collar. "Are you nuts?"
Zack tried to pull away. "Let me g--"
A curtain of flame enveloped the shore at the same time as a deafening roar shattered the
air. Following the flames, a huge mass slammed into the swamp, sending an explosion of muck
and water high into the sky. Waves of steam carrying the repulsive smell of swamp water and
burnt flesh, rolled across the beach. Carole clamped her hand against her mouth to keep from
gagging.
As the steam thinned, she saw two pair of enormous wings stretch out and beat the air
with such force that she could feel the wind against her face. A monstrous creature leapt free of
the water. Carole backed quickly into the cave, dragging Zack along with her. She watched in
stunned silence as the creature, clutching the charred remains of what looked like a reptile in its
claws, flew towards the smog-shrouded summit.
"That was a...a...a...." Zack stuttered.
"A dragon!" Lilly said.
"A dragon the size of a house!" Martin squeaked.
"Which is why we watch first, and move second." Carole scowled. She let go of Zack's
shirt and gripped the back of her neck.
"You wanted to do this?" Martin accused Zack. "To visit a different dimension?"
"Excuse me, but I wasn't the one who asked for a tropical island."
"Not one with frigging flying monsters! This is all your fault Zack. If you hadn't run
after that pig, none of this would've even happened."
"Reeet!"
Zack grasped Martin by the shoulders and shook him enthusiastically. "Do you know
how many kids would give their eye teeth to see something like that? It's a real live dragon for
Pete's sake. This is great."
"Eye teeth? We're sweating to death in some prehistoric nightmare and all you care
about is seeing a dragon. That beast could toast us all with one blast from its nostril."
"Be that way then, but if it wasn't for me you'd still be stuck on your raft, twiddling your
thumbs and going nowhere 'til next spring."
"Your point?"
"Come on. It never even saw us."
"No thanks to you. If Carole hadn't--"
"Will you two shut up!" Lilly snapped.
Unbeknownst to the boys, Carole had edged out of the cave and was looking skyward.
"It landed near the peak," she said. "Maybe the dragons live on the high ground and those reptile
things hide out in the swamp."
"It must've come out from under cover," Zack reasoned, "but why do a stupid thing like
that? You'd figure everything around here would know about the dragons."
"Maybe they've got pea brains," Martin suggested.
"Maybe something got its attention," Lilly said, while staring at the water.
The boys studied the swamp with renewed interest. There was a slight rippling of the
surface beside one of the nearer trees, and poking up from the center of the ripples were three
large, unblinking eyes.
"You think it sees us?" Zack said, the hairs on his arms beginning to tingle.
"What do you think Carole, stay put until a vortex turns up?" Lilly said.
"We'd best head for higher ground."