Leven Thumps and the Gateway to Foo

  “Obviously fate has a sense of humor,” Geth smiled.

  Leven stood up through New Hampshire and was contemplating lying down, despite the shadows, as they crossed into Maine and they all got off. From there they caught a ride in the back of a produce truck, which moved them all the way to the shore and a nice town called Cape Porpoise.

  Their spirits were pretty high, what with fate helping them out so generously, but when they reached the actual coastline of Maine and looked out at the endless ocean they suddenly became more than a little discouraged. The water stretched out forever.

  “It’s huge,” Winter gawked.

  “You can’t even see the other side,” Clover worried.

  “It’s impossible,” Leven said. “All that water, and, I’ve got to tell you, I’m tired.”

  “None of that,” Geth chastised. “There has to be a way.”

  The four of them had done nothing but discuss what their options were for the last two days, that and work to keep Leven awake. They couldn’t take a plane because they didn’t have money. Leven suggested he try and manipulate fate so someone would give them some money, but that still left them as minors trying to buy tickets to cross the ocean. It was also true they didn’t have passports or the papers and time to procure them. So flying seemed out of the question. The option of getting on a boat was considered, but that had some of the same problems as flying. Even if they were able to stow away on a ship it would take too long to get there and, according to Geth, time was of the essence.

  Leven always got just a little frustrated when Geth talked about time running out. If time were so incredibly important, why didn’t the great toothpick offer suggestions that might speed things up, instead of sitting back and waiting for fate to take a hand?

  “What are we going to do?” Winter moaned. “Two kids, a toothpick, and a stuffed animal against the entire Atlantic ocean.”

  “Maybe we should eat something,” Clover suggested, ignoring the crack about him being a stuffed animal. He had been making that same suggestion for the last half of the day.

  “Maybe we should sleep a bit,” Leven said.

  “I don’t think so,” Winter and Geth said together. “I wouldn’t mind eating, though,” Winter added.

  Leven could feel the air thinning. He rubbed his eyes, hoping he might be able to see something. His mind cleared. His gift of being able to see and manipulate things was not all that dependable, and he felt he made a rather pathetic offing. At the moment, however, his gift seemed to be kicking in. His eyes burned gold. He could see lights and movement. A large picnic was in full swing. He could see Winter and him filling their plates with food from a table and sitting down to eat. He could also see a church next to a flagpole and flag.

  “I know where some food is,” Leven announced. “Look for a church around here with a flagpole.”

  They all turned from facing the ocean and wandered into Cape Porpoise. Winter spotted the steeple of a white church, and in no time Leven and Winter were helping themselves to food served by a noisy bunch of Baptists at their October-blessed celebration.

  ii

  Sabine was agitated, and his brain raced, and his body twitched. His shadows had lost Leven. He had called them all home to assess how their search was going, but when he sent them back out, Leven was gone. They searched the entire state of Oklahoma. Nothing. They were now working their way through the surrounding states, but so far there had been no sign of Leven’s dreams.

  “Where are you, Leven Thumps? You can’t stay awake forever. And Geth?” Sabine seethed. “I thought I destroyed you long ago, yet here you are again.” Sabine twitched. “And Winter,” he slurred. “It looks as if we will meet again.”

  Sabine ran his thick bumpy tongue over his small teeth. He knew there was a possibility that Leven had truly given up, but he could not take that chance. Sabine also knew that if Leven had not given up he was probably heading toward the gateway. But since the gateway’s location was unknown to anyone besides Geth, that information did Sabine little good.

  Sabine inhaled, and like bats returning to their cave, his shadows filled the arches and open ways of his castle, cramming the halls and ceilings.

  His spirits whispered, “We’ve failed. We’ve failed. Nothing.” They swirled around, hissing hideously and berating themselves.

  No good news. The only hope Sabine now had was to find the gateway himself. The very idea seemed impossible, which was quite a contradiction to the spirit of Foo. But creatures and men of all breeds, under Sabine’s command, had searched high and low for the opening in Foo, and nobody had ever discovered it. The search had revealed nothing. Sabine was still no closer to knowing where or even what the gateway was. He glowered, his evil mind searching for the solution. Only Leven Thumps possessed the power to destroy his dream.

  A strong dark dream pushed in from reality and caught Sabine’s attention. It jolted him up and backlit his features. His breathing slowed as he closed his eyes. Someone in reality was dreaming the foulest of dreams, and Sabine’s soul had intercepted it. Sabine could see everything this person was dreaming. He manipulated the images to make the plot and outcome of the dream even more selfish and to satisfy his own greed. Sabine took the things he saw and twisted them into thoughts he could use. Then he opened both his hands so that his palms were facing upward, flipped his hands over, and sent the sordid dream flying back into reality.

  The images Sabine had intercepted and manipulated had given him pause. A thought struck him, and his face broke into an evil smile. He stood, threw on his cloak, and stormed from his chambers. He needed to visit someone immediately.

  iii

  Leven had never tasted anything better than the food the First Baptist Church of Cape Porpoise had put out for their third annual October-blessed celebration. The corn on the cob was so buttery, the potato salad so tasty, and the pie so thick that Leven felt as if he had died and gone to culinary heaven. Likewise, Winter was helping herself to as much food as she could get her hands on. She had an entire half a watermelon and two of the thickest, most scrumptious burgers she had ever tasted. Clover circulated invisibly, snacking off everyone’s plate. Geth pouted and complained about how fate should have given him a form that could digest food. He also went on and on about how time was growing short. Enjoying their feast, Leven and Winter ignored him.

  “This isn’t so bad,” Winter smiled at Leven as she prepared to gnaw on a huge, butter-soaked cob of corn.

  “I’ve never had food like this,” he replied.

  The folks putting on the event seemed like pretty nice people; they just kept cooking food and putting out more chips and soda. The bowery next to the church was packed. Leven felt like nobody would notice him and Winter in such a big crowd. He was wrong.

  A tall woman with big hips and pushed-up hair noticed them and approached.

  “Well, hello,” she said. “Are you two getting enough to eat?”

  Leven and Winter nodded, fearful of being discovered to be intruders.

  She studied Leven’s face. “You look familiar, young man, but I’m not sure I know who you are. Are you two members of our congregation?”

  Leven shook his head no. “We go to the Fourth Baptists,” he lied.

  “Oh, I see,” the woman smiled. “Well, I can’t help but think how I’ve seen you before,” she said, pursing her lips. She looked closely at the white streak in Leven’s hair. She reached out to touch it and then stopped herself.

  “I have a really average face,” Leven tried.

  “What do they call that?” she asked, ignoring his response and pointing at the stripe in his hair.

  “It’s a skunk spot,” Leven answered. “I got it when I was four.”

  “I think I’ve seen your picture on TV,” she said.

  Leven began to panic. To the best of his knowledge he had never been on TV, but his knowledge was off. He didn’t realize that his picture had been on a number of TV stations just recently. Apparently his house being
frozen and dropped to the ground was of some interest to some people. There was even a reward being offered for finding Leven. National Enquirer had picked up on the story and spread it across the entire country.

  The woman’s tiny eyes widened. “Do you have family in Oklahoma?” she asked.

  “No, ma’am,” Leven lied nervously.

  “Well,” the woman said, retreating and wearing a strained smile, “you youngsters enjoy yourselves. There’s plenty of food.”

  Once she was twenty paces away she took off quickly.

  “I think I must have been on TV,” Leven whispered to Winter, squinting and trying to see what the woman was doing now. “That lady seemed to recognize me. We’d better get out of here.”

  Winter looked at her remaining food and frowned.

  “Take it with you,” Leven insisted, watching the woman talk to a couple of men over by the church. They all looked in the direction of Leven and started to walk over.

  Leven pulled Winter up and glanced around for the best way out. The men started moving faster toward them. “Let’s go!”

  “That’s what I’ve been saying,” Geth said.

  Leven dragged Winter through the crowd and directly across the path of some children having a sack race. They jumped over a low hedge and into the church parking lot.

  “Hold up!” one of the men running after them yelled.

  That was their cue to stop holding back. They dashed out onto the main street and in the direction of the shore.

  “Where are we going?” Winter yelled.

  “I have no idea,” Leven yelled back.

  “That’s the spirit,” Geth cheered, happy that Leven was simply traveling by fate.

  “Clover, are you here?” Leven hollered.

  “Right on top of your head,” he hollered back.

  “Is anyone following us?” Leven yelled.

  Clover turned to see the two men still pursuing them. Behind them a couple of other people were piling into a car.

  “Yes,” Clover said. “Quite a few actually.”

  Leven glanced back. “Run!” he hollered to himself as much as anyone.

  The four of them ran—well, actually, the two of them ran and Geth held tight in the front pocket of Winter’s blue shirt while Clover bounced up and down on Leven’s head.

  “Around there,” Leven pointed, indicating a narrow, empty street to the left.

  They turned the corner, hopped two fences, and crawled under a long semi-truck that was parked, delivering cheese to a tiny café. Leven stopped behind the store to catch his breath.

  “What did she mean she saw you on TV?” Winter asked, fairly breathless herself.

  “I have no idea,” Leven huffed and puffed. “Maybe Terry and my aunt have a warrant out for me or something.”

  A nicely dressed young man in a red convertible pulled to the curb on the street next to where Leven and Winter were resting. He checked out his reflection in the rearview mirror, then hopped out of the car. He glanced over at Leven and Winter and sneered as if they were trash. Leven looked at himself and wondered how anyone could think anything else. His dark hair was a mess and hanging in his face, his clothes were dirty and ripped, and his hands were filthy. It’s not easy trying to stay clean while on the run. Winter looked even worse than Leven. Her blonde hair was always a mess, but now it was the kind of mess other hair would tell horror stories about. Her dirty shirt was also ripped in a couple of spots, and her jeans were torn at the knees.

  “I can’t believe what’s happening to our town,” the snooty young man said, loudly enough for them to hear. “It’s a shame.” He walked off and into a store just down the way.

  “What a jerk,” Winter said.

  “Look at the positive,” Geth spoke up. “He left his keys in the ignition.”

  “What good does that do us?” Leven asked, exasperated.

  “I’m not sure,” Geth admitted. “It just seems sort of fateful.”

  One of the men who had been giving chase peeked over a wall and spotted them. He hollered to those with him, and people began climbing over the wall and working their way closer to Leven and Winter.

  “Do you know how to drive?” Winter asked.

  “I’ve seen a few movies,” Leven said, scared.

  “Then let’s get out of here!” Clover yelled.

  Leven jumped into the front seat of the convertible, and Winter leapt into the back. He turned the key, and the engine started right up. He pressed on the gas but nothing happened.

  “You have to put it in drive!” Winter yelled.

  Leven couldn’t hear her so he just kept pushing on the gas pedal and revving the engine in hopes that it would do something. Those chasing them had cleared the wall now and were just a few feet away. Winter reached over from the backseat and pulled the lever into drive. With the engine revved, the car shot forward like a bullet, tires screeching and smoking. Leven turned the wheel and barely avoided crashing into a small truck that was parked on the other side of the road. He slammed on the brakes and glanced nervously in the rearview mirror. He squinted. It looked like half the town was running after them.

  “Go!” Winter yelled.

  Leven pushed on the gas again and the car flew forward. He grabbed the wheel and tried to simply keep it going straight. A big bus going the same direction blocked his view and caused him to have to swing onto a side street. The sounds of sirens sang through the air.

  “We’re dead,” Leven moaned.

  “Just keep driving!” Geth ordered.

  Leven flew over the road, his tires screeching and wailing. The sirens got louder as two cop cars roared up behind them.

  “What do we do?” Leven hollered.

  “Don’t worry,” Geth screamed. “It’ll work out.”

  Leven strongly wished that Geth was lying on the road in front of the car so he could run over him. Here they were, flying down a seaside road, going eighty miles an hour, and being chased by cops, and Geth’s way of helping was to suggest that he shouldn’t worry.

  Leven blew through an open toll booth and into the beach area. A few people hanging around the shore took notice and pointed.

  “I’m running out of land,” Leven said with concern, realizing he could only drive so far. “Even I can see that.”

  “Just keep driving,” Geth hollered.

  “But—”

  “Keep driving!” Geth ordered.

  The police cars had also entered the beach area and were breathing down Leven’s tailpipe. Leven steered onto a narrow street and found himself driving onto a wooden pier.

  “Seriously,” Leven cried. “We’re out of land!”

  “Keep going!” Geth shouted.

  Leven looked at the ocean in front of him. His vision wasn’t the greatest, but he could clearly see where the pier ended. His heart plummeted into his shoes. He hated water, and there was nowhere else for him to go.

  Clover appeared long enough to scream, “Are you crazy?”

  Leven’s reply was to step on the gas even harder. He closed his eyes and prepared to get wet. He couldn’t imagine a worse ending. Geth looked at Winter, and she nodded. The car flew off the end of the pier and down toward the water, but there was no splash. Instead, they landed with a small bump on a long patch of ice that had suddenly appeared.

  Leven opened his eyes and smiled in awe, his heart pounding and sweat dripping down his face. Winter kept the path in front of the car frozen, but the area behind she let drop off. One of the two police cars screeched to a halt on the end of the pier and the other slid into the water, lights flashing and siren wailing.

  The surface of the roadway of ice was rough, not smooth, as though Winter had textured it for traction. Leven pressed on the gas and the car shot forward on the frozen highway into a bank of dense fog.

  In a few moments they were miles out from shore. Leven kept his hands on the steering wheel in the ten o’clock and two o’clock positions, looking as if their very lives depended upon him holding the ca
r straight.

  “Amazing,” Clover said, hanging his head over the side of the car, staring at the narrow frozen stretch they were careening along. He could see fish and other objects from the sea frozen in the trail they were traversing. He looked up ahead, seeing nothing but a thin white roadway that stretched out directly in front of them and disappeared into the fog bank.

  Winter sat back in her seat, impressed with herself and smiling.

  “You couldn’t do this without me,” she pointed out, her blonde hair whipping wildly in the breeze.

  “That’s why I sent you,” Geth added.

  “You sent me?” Winter asked.

  “We knew Leven couldn’t get back by himself,” Geth smiled. “And we didn’t know just what kind of shape I would be in. So we used the dreams of those on earth to help you revert back to an infant. We then came through the gateway and switched you with another child.

  “Janet’s not my real mother?” Winter said with shock and glee.

  “Nope,” Geth said. “We didn’t want to displace anyone, but we needed you to be here. So we located the worst parent we could find at the time and switched her child with you. Janet’s real little girl ended up in a nice home out in the country with a pony and caring parents. Sorry for all the heartache you suffered, but we could think of no other way.”

  Winter didn’t smile, she sighed deeply.

  “You chose to do this,” Geth added. “In fact, if I remember correctly, the child swapping was your idea.”

  “I suppose I’m happy someone else didn’t get stuck with her.” Winter said, the headache that had been coming finally taking hold.

  “Family history is so interesting,” Clover said, butting in.

  Winter looked at Leven, who was still holding tightly to the wheel, his foot firmly pushing on the gas pedal. The speedometer needle was as far to the right as possible, indicating that they were going at least one hundred and twenty miles per hour.

  “We’re going to run out of gas eventually,” Leven hollered.

  “We’ll worry about that when it happens,” Geth said, staying true to his character.

  “Just don’t let the ice end,” Leven begged Winter.