Spader kicked his skimmer into gear and sped off. We were losing him.
“Uncle Press!”
“There! Got one,” he announced, pointing. He saw an empty skimmer and we both jumped on. Uncle Press quickly powered up, hit the throttle, and we were off.
Luckily there was a speed limit on the canals. It was pretty crowded and to go too fast meant a guaranteed accident. Spader was already far ahead of us, but I could tell he was having trouble going as fast as he wanted to because it looked like rush hour had hit Panger City. Uncle Press maneuvered our skimmer around the slower traffic and only managed to tick off a few people by cutting them off.
We traveled quite a ways through the canyons of towering buildings. We couldn’t stop to appreciate the tour though; we had to keep up with Spader. Spader knew exactly where he was going and made several turns down different canals. I kept watching him and directed Uncle Press who was busy avoiding other skimmers.
Finally Spader turned off into a narrow canal that ran between two smaller buildings. I saw where he dumped the skimmer and kept watching to see which building he was going toward. I had a strange sense of deja vu. This is exactly what happened when we followed Spader to his father’s apartment on Magorran. I could only hope that we wouldn’t find the same kind of horror here on Panger City.
We landed our skimmer and quickly jumped off. When we ran up onto the street, Spader was standing there, waiting for us.
“I just saw you,” he said, sounding a little embarrassed. “I didn’t know you were following me.”
“Yeah, well, we’re sort of in this together whether you like it or not,” I said.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m glad you’re here. I’m a little…”
He didn’t finish his sentence. I could tell he was afraid of what he might find.
“It’s okay, Spader. We’re with you,” said Uncle Press.
Spader nodded, then turned and led us into the apartment building where his mother lived. This place looked like any apartment building at home, except for the fact it was light yellow. It was five stories high with around ten apartments to a floor. Spader knew exactly where he was going. We climbed the stairs to the top floor and walked to the door on the far end of the corridor. That’s where Spader stopped, caught in the moment. Soon he would find what he came for, and I could tell that as much as he wanted to go inside, he was afraid to. He looked up to us. Uncle Press gave him an encouraging nod.
Spader knocked on thedoor. “Hobey-ho!” he called happily.
There was no answer. He knocked again.
“Mum?”
There was no sound of footsteps coming to the door. No one called from inside to ask who it was. I hoped that his mother was out shopping or taking a nap or visiting friends.
Spader glanced at us again and tried the doorknob. It was open. His heart must have been racing because mine sure was. He then took a deep breath and stepped inside. Uncle Press and I followed him, stepping into his mother’s home.
I have to tell you guys, I never thought I’d have this feeling evenoncein my life, but to go through it twice was, well, it wasn’t fair.
The apartment was totally empty. Not a piece of furniture or picture or any other sign that anyone had ever lived there. It was just like the feeling I had when we all went back to 2 Linden Place in Stony Brook and I saw that my house was gone. Well, it wasn’t exactly as bad as that because what I saw back on Second Earth with you was that my own family had disappeared. I knew exactly what Spader was going through.
He stood near the door, staring at the empty home, unbelieving. Uncle Press walked up to him, put a hand on his shoulder and softly said the magic words, “Try not to be sad. This is the way it was supposed to be.”
Spader pulled away from him angrily.
“How can that be?” he shouted. “Where is she?”
“She’s not dead, Spader,” said Uncle Press. “You’re a Traveler now. That meant it was time for her to move on too.”
Spader shot a look of total confusion to Uncle Press. I have to admit, I was still confused about this whole family-disappearance part of being a Traveler myself.
“So then where is she?” I asked. “And while we’re at it, where’smyfamily?”
Uncle Press looked uncomfortable. I think he knew exactly where they were, but for some reason he didn’t want to say.
“Spader, I’ll tell you the same thing I told Bobby when he found out his own family was gone,” he said calmly. “You were always destined to become a Traveler. Your family was here to raise you and teach you and help you become the person you are today so that you could begin your journey. But they’ve begun a journey of their own now. Someday you’ll see them again, I promise.”
“What about my father?” demanded Spader. “He didn’t go anywhere. He was killed!”
“He was a Traveler,” answered Uncle Press. “He had other duties. I promise you both, as time goes on you will understand everything, but for right now, you must know that nothing horrible happened to your mother.”
This was bringing up all sorts of old, horrible feelings in me. I was getting frustrated over not knowing all there was to know about being a Traveler. I could only imagine what Spader was feeling. This was still very new to him. We stood in the room for a few moments, then Spader suddenly ran farther into the apartment. We followed him as he ran through the empty home, into what was probably once a bedroom at one time.
He stood in the middle of the room and said, “This was my room. I lived here from the time I was born until I left to become an aquaneer. I don’t believe that my entire childhood can be wiped away as if it never existed.”
He went into a closet. “Pendragon, help me,” he said. I shrugged and followed.
“Help me up?” he asked.
D. J. MacHale
The Lost City of Faar
I clasped my hands together and held them out. Spader put his foot in and I hoisted him up.
“I had a hiding place nobody knew about,” he said while running his hands along the wall over the closet door. “It is where I kept the things that were most important to me.”
I felt bad for him. Spader was doing the same thing I did when I walked onto the empty lot at 2 Linden Place. I looked over every inch of that empty space, desperate for any sign that proved I had lived there. But there was nothing. Even the scar on the tree that had been made by our swing was gone. I knew that Spader’s secret hiding place would be empty.
Over the closet door was a piece of wall that had been neatly cut out and replaced. Spader knew exactly where it was. He pulled away the piece and reached into the compartment. Of course it was empty. I could tell by the pained look on his face.
But then, just as he was about to climb down, his face changed. He had found something after all.
“Let me down,” he ordered.
I awkwardly bent down and dropped his foot. He banged his shoulder against the door frame as he came down, but he was okay.
“What did you find?” I asked. I couldn’t believe that some hint of his past life had actually been left behind.
Spader held the treasure in his hand.
I knew instantly that it wasn’t something he put there himself. It was a piece of green paper, folded in half. Written on the outside in black letters was: “For Spader. I’m proud of you and I love you. Hobey-ho!” I could only guess that it was his mum’s handwriting.
Spader unfolded the paper and I saw his mum’s final gift to him. It was the other half of the map that led to the lost city of Faar.
“She may be gone,” he said softly. “But I guess her job wasn’t finished until I got this.”
“Hello? Anyone home?”
The bright voice came from the entrance to the apartment. It was a woman’s voice. For a moment I thought Spader’s mother had returned. Spader did too. He ran for the entrance. Uncle Press and I were right behind.
But when we got there, we saw that it wasn’t Spader’s mother after all. It was Po Nassi, the agronomer. What was she doing here?
“Here you boys are! Why did you run off like that?” she asked like a scolding but jovial schoolteacher.
