Sofia couldn’t help but feel happy that the old Paul was starting to come back. “Call me crazy, but I prefer my movies to have the slightest hint of intelligence.”
“When all this is over,” Paul said, “check out Steve the Slashing Monkey and tell me that movie doesn’t bleed intelligence.”
Sofia couldn’t stop before a snort of laughter came out.
“I knew it!” Paul yelled, his voice echoing off the rock walls. “I knew I could make you laugh!”
“You two are driving me mad,” Master George muttered. “I believe I’m quite ready to get some sleep.”
“But what’re we gonna do?” Paul asked him. “Can’t you get someone to wink us out of this stinkin’ place?”
“Sorry, old chap. If someone hasn’t winked us by now, then there’s obviously been a break in communication. Jane brought us here, remember, and her shield must still be working. And I don’t have my Barrier Wand. I assure you, Sally’s doing his very best to find us.”
Great, Sofia thought. They had to spend the night in the middle of the desert, with no telling how many creatures of Mistress Jane lurking about. Just great.
“Well,” Paul said, “at least it’s not cold. I bet we can find some soft sand to snuggle in, Sofia. You in?”
Sofia leaned closer to him and smacked him on the arm. It felt so wonderful that she did it again.
Paul jumped to his feet and ran away, snickering as he rubbed his sore spot. “Man, for a chick who’s a scaredy-cat of scary movies, you sure do know how to punch.”
“I was glad you’d gotten over your sour mood,” Sofia responded as she started looking around for her own place to get some rest, feeling with her hands mostly. “But now that you’re back to normal, I kind of miss the grumpy Paul after all.”
“I love you too.”
She’d just found a nice spot of open sand when a slight thump in the air sounded behind her. It was barely noticeable, and she almost felt it more than heard it. She whipped around to see what had happened.
A shadowy figure of a boy stood between her and Paul, a hump of a backpack on his shoulders. When he turned and faced her, the starlight revealed his face just enough.
“Tick!” she cried, scrambling to her feet and running to him. Paul reached him just as she did, and they all joined in a group hug. When she finally pulled back, she said, “What happened? Where’d you go?”
“And how’d you get back here?” Paul added.
Master George joined them. “Atticus! Speak, man, speak!”
Tick laughed a little, though it didn’t hold much humor. “Calm down, guys. It’s a long story, and we don’t have much time to talk. We have to get moving. I’ll tell you everything on the go.”
“Get moving?” Sofia asked, feeling a slight chill. “Where are we supposed to go?”
“Some place called the Factory,” Tick answered. “It’s full of Mistress Jane’s little monster pets. But don’t worry. We have a billion ghosts to help us out.”
Chapter 32
Tick didn’t want to waste a single minute. When the Haunce outlined the plan for what they needed to do to stop the fragmenting of the Realities, one thing bled through all the others: they needed to hurry.
Tick had less than thirty hours to get to the Factory, convince Mistress Jane to help-after getting her there in the first place, of course-then summon all the Chi’karda he could to help the Haunce rebind the barriers of the Realities.
No problem. Then why did he have the terrible feeling that nothing would go right along the way?
Sofia, Paul, and Master George stood in front of him in the darkness. The starlight was not strong enough to reveal their faces, but Tick could imagine the looks of surprise and confusion.
“Seriously,” he said. “We need to go. We’re gonna be winked in five minutes.”
“Whoa,” Paul said, his upraised hands mere shafts of shadow. “I’m not takin’ a single step till you elaborate on this whole ghost business.”
“A billion ghosts,” Sofia added. “What was that all about?”
Tick was about to answer when Master George made an unpleasant harrumphing sound.
“What?” Tick asked.
“You met the Haunce, didn’t you?” the old man responded. Tick could barely see him shaking his head. “I’ve met it only once in my life, and if I ever do again, you can bet your bottoms I’m going to have a word or two with it about holding back vital information about soulikens and all that.”
Tick felt a flutter of confusion, but Sofia spoke up before he could.
“The Haunce? What’s that? And why would it know everything about soulikens?”
Tick’s confusion increased. “You guys know about soulikens?”
“You mean you do?” Paul responded.
Tick nodded even though he doubted they could see him. “The Haunce told me about them.”
“What is the Haunce?” Sofia shouted.
For some reason a chuckle burst out of Tick. “We sound like the dumbest people who’ve ever lived.” He remembered the urgency of what they had to do. “But come on-we really need to go. The Haunce wants us to stand at the spot where the Blade of Shattered Hope tree thingy was.”
“Why?” all three of them asked in unison.
“He- it’s going to wink us closer to the Factory. We can sort things out once we get there. Come on-can you tell where the Blade used to be?”
“Over this way,” Paul muttered. “Doesn’t sound like a good time to start doubting Superman Atticus Higgin- bottom.”
Paul’s shadow moved past him and started walking toward the central area of the dark stone walls surrounding them. Tick followed and heard Sofia and Master George right behind him.
Tick tripped twice over debris and stepped on things that clanged and snapped. The place must’ve gotten really messed up after he’d been winked away.
Paul finally stopped in an open spot and turned to face the rest of the group. “Pretty sure it was right about here. But be careful-some of the sand turned into glass shards.”
Tick felt the crunch under his shoes, smelled something burnt. When they were all standing in a circle, he reached out and took Sofia’s hand, then Paul’s. “The Haunce told me we need to hold hands. It’s easier that way.”
Tick was glad they didn’t argue. Sofia took Master George’s hand, and then the old man took Paul’s. Standing there in the dark desert with the slight breeze sighing as it passed over the towering rocks, Tick felt a major case of the creeps, like they were about to begin a seance.
“Okay!” he shouted. “Wink us away, Haunce!” The words sounded incredibly stupid, but he wanted to get this part over with. He had no idea what to expect once they got to where they were going.
Before this last thought even fully formed in his mind, the tingle shot across his neck and down his spine.
It had been a strange hour for Sato.
There’d been the reunion of Tick’s family-without Tick, unfortunately-as well as hearing more details about Mrs. Higginbottom (a.k.a. Lorena) and her brief stint as a Realitant. Sato had been amazed to learn that she and Mistress Jane had been partners of a sort in exploring and seeking out new Realities, and they’d been together when the Thirteenth was discovered. They’d realized that something was special about it right away, and how odd properties of Chi’karda ran rampant there.
It was the first time Jane had started to show the dual signs of her thirst for power and her edge of obsession with the idea of a Utopian Reality. When Jane threatened Lorena if she dared tell anyone about their discovery, that had been the last straw. Lorena decided to call it quits, realizing she wasn’t cut out for that kind of
