Operation Tenley

  “Family might be there to catch you when you fall, but it’ll cost you.” Gavron dropped his robes and stepped back. “Which reminds me, this thing’s a dud.” He threw the garage-door opener at Pennie.

  Above them, Tenley let out another shriek. Her leg had fallen through the net.

  “She’s falling!” Pennie panicked.

  “Technically, it looks like the net is disintegrating,” Laraby corrected her. “Gavron, how long do you think they have?”

  “Not long.”

  Another scream. Holden’s arm was hanging below his torso now.

  “Not long at all,” Gavron repeated.

  “Your sipLips are the only ones quick enough and small enough to get through those branches. They’re our only chance,” Laraby said.

  Gavron scrunched up his nose. “Okay, but like I said, I don’t work for free. It sets up a bad precedent. Happened to my friend Dromo. Now he’s got no respect. Can’t even—”

  Laraby grabbed Gavron’s collar and yanked him close. “If you don’t send in your boys right now—” He whispered something into his ear. Gavron’s eyes went wide. He turned back to make sure the other sipLips hadn’t heard.

  “Videos and photos,” Laraby added.

  “You wouldn’t do that,” Gavron challenged him. “Those are private family moments.”

  Before Laraby could argue, more screams came from the trees. Tenley’s arm had fallen through. Holden fought to get to her, but the more he moved, the faster the web disintegrated.

  Laraby turned back to Gavron. “You have three seconds.”

  “Please, Gavron,” Pennie begged. “They can’t hold on much longer.”

  Gavron looked back to the sipLips before turning to Laraby again. “Fine. But you owe me.” He snapped his fingers. “Go get them,” he ordered the sipLips. “And make sure you wash your hands afterwards.”

  The sipLips activated their sorry-looking propellers and zoomed away.

  Pennie turned to Laraby. “What did you say to him?”

  “I have some videos that, let’s just say, he wouldn’t want to go public. Think underwear and cowboy boots.”

  Overhead, the sipLips popped out of the leaves and flew toward the net.

  The empty net.

  Tenley let out a blood-curdling scream—but not at the sipLips above them, at the ground rushing toward her below.

  From Pennie and Laraby’s point of view, it was impossible to know if the sipLips would reach them in time.

  38

  Mother Nature’s Garden

  “Let go of me, you freak!” Tenley screamed.

  “No!” Pennie and Laraby yelled up to the sipLips. “Don’t let go.”

  “Put ’em down right here, boys.” Gavron directed them toward a broken tree trunk. “Nice and easy now.”

  The sipLips dropped Tenley and Holden with a thump and zoomed off.

  “Ow!” Tenley said. “But, thank you. Thank you so much, weird things.”

  “Pennie!” Holden brightened. “What were those things? They had propellers.”

  “I’m so happy you’re both okay!” Pennie turned to Laraby. “This is Laraby. He can explain everything.”

  “Um, I’m sorry. What are you even wearing?” Tenley asked.

  “Uniform,” Pennie answered, nodding to Laraby’s torn-up robes. “He works here, so that’s what he wears.”

  Laraby stood transfixed by Holden. Pennie elbowed him. “Laraby.” She recognized that look. It was the same one she’d had when she’d first seen Tenley in person.

  Holden’s face folded. “Wait a minute. How do you know him, Pennie? I thought you’d never been to Adventures, Inc. before.”

  “Right, no,” Pennie stalled. “We’re friends.”

  “You have a lot of old friends.”

  “Where’s Dan?” Tenley straightened up. “Did he see me save that little kid?”

  “I think he did,” Pennie told her. “He had to go.”

  “Wait a minute.” Tenley narrowed her eyes. “Why didn’t you guys have to go on that, that”—she looked to Holden for help—“whatcha call it. Stupid virtual reality invisible thing that dumped us onto that invisible net thing, where we almost died?”

  “The visual effects were epic,” Holden smiled weakly. “Except it really seemed like that lady was trying to hurt us.”

  This shook Laraby out of his trance. “Lady?”

  “More like a witch,” Tenley groaned.

  “What did she look like?”

  “Really old,” Holden said.

  “Anything else you noticed about her?”

  “Uh, yeah. She’s missing her heart.” Tenley shivered. “She applied the crazy and just stood there while a swarm of bees attacked us and then like a million spiders crawled around us. She didn’t even care, she just stepped back into her lame petal and left.”

  “That’s her,” Laraby mumbled to Pennie.

  “Who?” Holden asked.

  “Someone else who works here,” Pennie answered.

  Tenley slapped her hands on her hips. “I could sue for, like, a thousand reasons. No seatbelts, for one thing. My Uggs are ruined. And we never even signed a waiver.”

  “It wasn’t that bad, parts of it were pretty awesome. Like that air surfing. And those little propeller guys.” Holden looked at Pennie. “I’ll go on it again with you, if you want.”

  “I think we should get back to the bus.” Pennie glanced at Laraby.

  “I agree. Let’s go,” Tenley said.

  “Pennie. We might want to look a little harder for that thing before we go,” Laraby nudged her. “That thing you lost?”

  “The thing I lost,” Pennie reacted. “You’re right. We should find it.”

  “Which reminds me,” Holden said. “I found your necklace.” He pulled it out of his pocket.

  Laraby’s eyes bugged. “Yes, very good. That’s what she lost.”

  Holden handed it to Pennie.

  “Thanks Holden. Where’d you—”

  Something slurped.

  “How about we all FaceTime later?” Tenley suggested. “This place gives me the creeps.”

  “Good idea,” Laraby said. “Pennie, come with me. Let’s look for the exit this way.”

  The two stepped away. Pennie slipped him the crystal.

  Holden and Tenley followed, but stopped when they heard leaves crunching behind them.

  “Howdy-do,” Gavron slurped.

  Tenley backed away. “Why does no one wash their clothes around here?”

  Pennie and Laraby spun around.

  “Couldn’t help but overhear the gravity-groper mention a necklace. You still owe me for that broken wall opener. Mind if I take a look at it, Fair One?”

  “Don’t even think about it,” Laraby warned.

  “Jam your hype, bro. I was talking to the other Fair One.”

  “I don’t have a necklace.” Pennie held her hands up to prove it.

  “Yes you do. The one with the infinity sign. I just gave it to you,” Holden reminded her. “Why is everyone calling each other Fair Ones, anyway? What is that?”

  “Didn’t you watch the remix, Wonderall? It’s like a fairy, but with tools. That’s what Pennie told me.”

  “You told her?” Laraby turned to Pennie.

  “Yup, she told me everything,” Tenley answered.

  Laraby threw his hands up. “Okay, now we have a serious problem.”

  “Aww. You took my advice, Fairly One,” Gavron said proudly. “Are we in love?”

  “You told your client about us because he told you to?” Laraby pointed at Gavron.

  Holden groaned. “What is going on here? Why am I the only one who doesn’t know what any of you are talking about?”

  Pennie turned to him. “Holden, what Tenley just said is true.”

  Holden crossed his arms. “You said it was a play, you were rehearsing your lines for a play.”

  Pennie look
ed down. “I’m sorry.”

  “Wait. So, you’re saying you’re a fairy?”

  “Fair One,” Tenley and Pennie said together.

  Laraby groaned. “You’re lucky Fair Force can’t monitor us in here, Pennie, because you’ve just committed serious crimes. Serious crimes.”

  “I had to tell her, Lar. Nothing else was working.”

  “Well, now we’re going to have to erase their memories.”

  “What?” Tenley grabbed her head. “You can’t erase my memory. I need to know who I am at the ANMIT auditions. What if I think I’m someone else? Like someone who can juggle or something. I can’t juggle.”

  Gavron reached into his tool belt. “I’ll do it.”

  “Gavron,” Laraby said. “Put those away. We can’t let her see those.”

  “Who?” Tenley asked. “You mean that old lady in the ugly jumpsuit? She’s the evil queen?”

  “Mother Nature,” Gavron said. “She’s trying to kill you.”

  “That was Mother Nature? You didn’t tell me she wore a jumpsuit?” Tenley turned to Pennie.

  “Okay. Every single one of you is sounding bonkers.” Holden backed away.

  Pennie leaned into Laraby. “If we’re going to erase their memory anyway? What’s the harm in telling them?”

  Laraby considered. “All right. But keep it PG. Nothing too gory.”

  Pennie turned back to Holden. “That old lady is Mother Nature. And Gavron’s right, she’s not very pleased with what’s happening to her planet. That’s where we come in. We protect you from her, as best we can.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Holden snorted.

  “I know, right?” Tenley rolled her eyes.

  “Ha!” Gavron clapped, thoroughly entertained now. “And you think my boys are dumb.”

  Laraby crossed his arms over his belly and lifted his brow. “What exactly is stupid about what Fair One Pennie has just told you?”

  Holden grinned. “First of all, Mother Nature isn’t real. That’s just a made-up term for, you know, like weather and plants and stuff. And second of all, that’s just like, stupid.”

  Laraby studied him. “So, the sudden influx of storms and floods and hurricanes and tornadoes and sinkholes, these are all random occurrences?”

  Holden shrugged. “Yeah. It’s called global warming.”

  “More like a global meltdown.” Gavron slurped.

  Pennie stepped closer to Holden. “It’s the truth.”

  Holden snickered. “Then that would mean you were just pretending to be a teenager.”

  Pennie blinked at him.

  “You were pretending to be a teenager?”

  “I’m sorry, Holden.”

  “Were you pretending not to know how to skateboard?”

  “No.” Pennie shook her head. “I can’t skateboard.”

  A loud explosion went off in the distance. Gavron dropped to the ground and covered his ears.

  “Time to get out of here,” Laraby said.

  “Didn’t I already say that?” Tenley muttered.

  “Time,” Laraby said to himself, turning the crystal eight over in his palm. “How does one find time?”

  “What are you saying?” Pennie asked him.

  “Time,” he repeated, louder. “We need to figure out where it is.”

  “Duh. Time is, like, in the air,” Tenley shrugged.

  Laraby stared at her. “Time is, like, in the air.”

  Tenley nodded. “Yeah. That’s, like, what I just said.”

  “What are you thinking, Lar?” Pennie asked.

  “That I’m a poet and don’t even know it?” Tenley beamed.

  “Does anyone hear that?” Holden asked, nervously. “That buzzing?”

  Tenley collapsed. “I can’t go through that again.”

  There it was, that same buzzing.

  “Laraby,” Pennie elbowed him. “What is going on?”

  “We need to turn back time.”

  “We can’t.”

  “We can. We’re not on Earth and we’re not in Fair City. The Manual says nothing about turning back time in Mother Nature’s garden.”

  Pennie grinned. “That’s true.”

  “Here.” He handed her the crystal eight. “Time is in the air. Slip it in anywhere.”

  “Anywhere?”

  “Anywhere,” he whispered, flicking his eyes to the right. And in full voice he said, “Say, Pennie. Why don’t you look for an exit that way?” He pointed to the right. Pennie ducked around some trees. “And Gavron?” He walked over to him, still on the ground covering his ears.

  “Is the explosion over?” Gavron looked up.

  “Yes. Why don’t you go look for an exit that way.” He pointed to the left. “We need to spread out.”

  Gavron hurried away, but then thought better of it. “Wait a minute. What about that necklace?”

  Just then, a huge gust of wind blew Tenley off the ground. She landed hard on a pile of leaves. Holden pulled her up with his good arm.

  “Found the exit!” Pennie yelled. “Over here.”

  They hurried toward Pennie’s voice and stopped short in front of elevator doors rippling in the air, hovering a foot off the ground. The crystal eight was sticking into the middle of it.

  “Whoa, a hologram elevator?” Holden smiled.

  Tenley crossed her arms. “I’m not going on any more rides. I’ll take the stairs.” She looked around doubtfully.

  “This is the only way out.” Laraby walked up to the doors and slipped his hand inside of it. It looked like he had stuck it under rushing water.

  Another gust of wind slammed into them. Everyone stayed on their feet this time, but the buzzing grew louder.

  Tenley started whimpering. “Please. Make it go away.”

  “Your stopwatch, Pennie,” Laraby said. “Exactly what time did it stop when the Fair Force arrived?”

  “Seven fifty-nine and fifty-three seconds.”

  “That’s the time we’ll have to go back to. Can I have it?”

  Pennie slipped off the stopwatch and handed it to him.

  “Okay, you two first.” Laraby waved Holden and Tenley up to the doors.

  “Watch out!” Holden yelled. But it was too late. Gavron snatched the crystal and sprinted away.

  The doors disintegrated.

  39

  Mother Nature’s Garden

  Gavron ran for the tall grass.

  “See you later, bro!”

  A couple of steps and one hidden tree stump later, Gavron flew through the air and landed on his belly. The crystal eight landed to the right of him. Before he could get it again, Holden made a dive for it.

  “This is Pennie’s.” Holden grabbed it and stood gripping his cast.

  Gavron crawled away. Holden rushed back to Laraby and handed him the crystal.

  Laraby stuck it into the air again and another set of doors appeared.

  “That is awesome,” Holden said. “Seriously cool.”

  “Okay, you two, let’s try it again.” Laraby waved Tenley up to the new set of doors. Just before she reached it, a black cloud appeared behind her. It hovered above her for a second before diving toward her feet and flipping her onto her back.

  Another black cloud appeared behind Holden and did the same. He landed with a violent bounce next to Tenley.

  Laraby dropped down to help them. Gavron saw his next opportunity. He sprinted over and plucked out the crystal eight again.

  “Boys!” he ordered. The three sipLips hiding behind a tree popped out. “Catch!”

  Before Gavron could throw the key, the sipLips blew backwards, splattering against the tree trunk.

  “Boys!” Gavron started for them. He hadn’t taken a full step when another black cloud appeared, this time above him. It hovered for a moment, then circled around his robes fast enough to lift him off the ground and flip him sideways. He dropped the key.

>   Laraby scooped it up again. Two trees over, wind was pounding down on Pennie while she clung to a branch.

  Holden, who had managed to get to his feet again, extended his good arm to Tenley. She took it and the two pushed onward against the heavy wind together, back to Laraby.

  “As soon as the clients are inside the travel box, you’re next, Fair One. I’ll follow,” Laraby shouted to Pennie.

  “No!” Pennie yelled back. “Get the sipLips in next. If they don’t get to the Log Ride at the same time, they’ll be no one to catch Tenley and Holden when they fall over it again.”

  Holden and Tenley were almost to the doors when Tenley was blown off her feet, this time six feet in the air. She crumpled to the ground.

  “Tenley!” Pennie stormed her way over to her. When she reached her, she pulled her behind the nearest tree. “Are you okay?” She propped Tenley up against the trunk. Tenley’s lips were trembling. She looked at Pennie with tears in eyes and shook her head. “My ankle. I can’t walk.”

  “All right, listen to me, Tenley. I’m going to get you out of here. I promise.”

  “Is this really happening?” Tenley whimpered. “Everything you said about Mother Nature trying to get rid of us?”

  “Yes. It is. It’s really happening.”

  Pennie peeked around the trunk. Holden and Laraby were hugging two tree trunks, struggling to hang on. The rippling doors to the travel box were getting dimmer. “What’s going on with the doors?” she yelled.

  “They’re starting to shrink,” Laraby shouted. “And it’s taking the crystal with it.”

  Pennie tucked back behind the tree. “We’re going to have to make a run for it, Tenley.”

  “I can’t,” she said. “Just leave me. I’ve been such a jerk to you, anyway. I did that remix, Pennie. It was me. I wanted to trend. So I could get more votes. I’m so sorry.”

  Pennie was struck. But there was no time to think about it now. “Tenley, I’d never leave you. It’s my job to protect you.”

  A tear rolled down Tenley’s cheek.

  Pennie pulled her up and wrapped her arm around her shoulder. “Now look. Imagine you’re late for the ANMIT auditions. They’re just about to call your name and you’re still in the parking lot. We’re going to have to sprint as fast as we can if you’re going to make it up to the stage in time. Got it?”