Chapter 29
I ’m really getting sick of this place,” Paul said.
Tick couldn’t have agreed more as he scanned the walls and ceiling of the small restaurant where they had stopped to eat something that was a cross between pizza and toast. Five days had passed since Sally winked back to Master George, and they’d spent every waking hour investigating the town for signs of where they were supposed to be at five o’clock the next afternoon. Though they didn’t know what they were looking for, they looked nonetheless.
And, just like this place-one of the last buildings they’d yet to explore-they’d found nothing. No signs, no clues, no Barrier Wands, no magic portals, no further riddles. A big fat zero.
And time was running out. Reginald Chu’s riddle had been clear-5:00 pm, tomorrow. Maybe they’d finally been stumped.
“Maybe it’s a good thing if we don’t figure it out,” Paul said. “Beats going off to have more adventures with a psycho mad genius of the universe.”
“He said, ‘win or die,’” Sofia said. “Dying sounds worse to me.”
Tick picked up his last piece of dinner, but then put it back down, his appetite gone. “Sally said we need to be the ones to win it-so we can put a stop to whatever Chu’s doing.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure that’ll be a piece of cake,” Paul muttered. “Hey, Chu dude! We won, but please stop that knuckleheaded horseplay you’re up to. Thanks kindly.”
“You want to give up?” Sofia asked. “Then quit. I’m sure Master George will wink you away if you cry enough.”
“No, Miss Italy, I don’t want to quit. Someone has to protect you.” Paul leaned back and rubbed his belly. “Man, that was pretty good.”
“Come on,” Sofia said as she got up from her chair. “It’s our last night-we’d better get searching.”
They searched until well past dark. They looked on every corner, behind every bush, under every sidewalk bench. They walked the underground pathways of the train stations again. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Even the trains seemed to avoid them; they’d yet to actually see one despite several trips to the stations.
Tick thought about quitting more than once that night, but the urgency of the dwindling time spurred him on, despite his exhaustion. Finally, a roving policeman told them they needed to get off the streets, that curfew was far past. Sofia complained, but the officer made it clear they’d get one warning and one warning only.
And so they went back to the hotel, back to their beds.
Tick set his watch alarm for 6:00, but he had no idea what he’d do when he woke up. Imagining the glowing monkeys prowling the woods outside his window, he fell asleep.
His alarm had just sounded when he heard someone knock at the door. It was Sofia, dragging a sleepy-eyed Paul behind her.
“We need to get out there,” she said. “We only have eleven hours left.”
“But what are we going to do? ” Paul asked. “We’ve looked everywhere. There’s no point in looking anymore. We’re just as well off staying here.”
“Well, we have to do something!” Sofia insisted.
Tick groaned as he flopped back on his bed. “I’m with Paul on this one. All we’ve figured out is that something is supposed to happen at five o’clock. At this point, running around the town makes no more sense than sitting here, holding hands and chanting to the time gods.”
“Chanting to the time gods?” Paul asked. “Tick, you’re losing it.”
Sofia huffed as she took a seat. “Then think. What are we missing?”
No one answered, and they all remained silent for several minutes.
Paul snapped his fingers. “The last line of the riddle says, ‘Make sure your feet find the air,’ right? Well, maybe we’re supposed to catch a train and go somewhere else by five o’clock. Someplace called ‘air’ or something like that.”
“Hmm,” Sofia said. “That’s possible. The whole underground railroad system is kind of weird. There must be something about this place, a reason he sent us here-maybe it is the train!”
“I’ll admit it’s better than chanting to the time gods,” Tick said. “Let’s go.”
The streets were surprisingly busy for so early in the morning; most of the people out and about were heading down the stairs that led to the underground railroad.
“These people must all work in another city,” Tick said. “No wonder they have to leave when the sun comes up.”
“Good thing we’re not the only ones awake,” Paul said. “I didn’t want that cop barking at us again.”
They followed the crowd to the ticket counters, old-fashioned brick windows where old men took money and gave out printed slips of paper. Holding some of the local currency given to them by Phillip, they waited their turn.
“Next!” a white-haired man called out, a scowl scrunching up his face like he was having a kidney removed.
Sofia stepped up first. “We’d like three tickets for… a train.”
Somehow, the man’s face screwed up even tighter. “Well, that’s real nice to know you have that figured out, missy. How about telling me where you want to go?”
“Oh.” Sofia looked back at Tick, who shrugged.
“How many trains are leaving soon?” Paul asked.
“What kind of a fool question is that?” the old man grunted. “As many as you’d like. As few as you want. Now are you going buy a ticket or not?”
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any weirder, Tick thought.
“What are our options?” Sofia asked. “We’re tourists, and just want to do some exploring.”
“Oh, well isn’t that just peachy?” the man replied, rolling his eyes under his bushy white brows. “Good thing you got me, kids. One of the grumpy ticket masters would’ve sent you walking already.”
Tick could sense that something smart was about to fly out of Sofia’s mouth, so he kicked her gently on the calf.
“Please just give us our options,” she said instead.
“From this station, you can go to Martyrtown, Cook Reef, Falcon Bay, or Fourth City. Now choose and be done with it.”
“Okay, please give me just one second, sir,” Sofia said, so gushy polite that Tick was sure the man would kick them out for being smart alecks.
“Did you hear that?” Paul whispered. “He said Fourth City.”
“That’s the number of Chu’s Reality!” Tick said.
“Bingo,” Paul said.
“You really think that’s it?” Sofia asked, staring at the floor as if deep in thought. She finally nodded to herself and turned toward the old man. “Three tickets to Fourth City, please.”
“Well, congratulations on making a decision. I hope you have a swell time. That’ll be thirty-four yecterns.”
“Oh,” Paul said to the man as Sofia handed over the money. “Make sure we’ll be there by five o’clock.”
The ticket master printed out three tickets from a rickety metallic machine and handed them over the counter. “Boy, say one more snide remark and I’ll have the police boot you out of here. Now go.”
“Sir,” Paul replied, sounding more sincere than Tick had ever heard him before. “I promise I’m not trying to be difficult-we just don’t understand how the trains work here. And we need to be there by five o’clock.”
The man frowned deeper than ever, then looked at each of them in turn. “You three are just about the
