فصل 43

CHAPTER 43

A WAY OUT

THE FERRY WAS NEARING THE DOCK at the Transportation and Ticket Center, the announcer telling passengers to prepare to disembark. Sarah, Aidan, and J.D. remained by the rail, staring back across the Seven Seas Lagoon toward the Magic Kingdom. The fireworks show had ended, but they were hoping to see one light still in the sky.

It wasn’t there.

The ferry docked. The announcer was asking the passengers to proceed to the exits.

Reluctantly, Aidan and J.D. turned away from the rail. Sarah didn’t move.

“Come on,” J.D. said softly. “We have to get off.”

Sarah was staring out at the water.

“Where is he?” she whispered.

“He’s a tough little guy,” said J.D., putting his hand on her shoulder.

“Yeah, he’ll be okay,” said Aidan, not convincingly.

They were the last passengers along the rail now. A crew member called to them to please exit.

Sarah, with one last look at the sky, turned to follow her brother and J.D.

Behind them, they heard a splash.

Sarah was the first one back to the rail. She leaned over, eyes anxiously searching the water. She saw a glow beneath the surface, then bubbles, then…

“Peter!”

J.D. shouted for help; instantly, a crew member was there with a life preserver. In less than a minute Peter was sitting on the deck, coughing, dripping wet, somehow still clutching the lantern. Sarah gave him a hug; he responded with an embarrassed grin.

“I missed the boat,” he said.

J.D. was able to convince the ferry crew that he didn’t need any further attention, though Sarah wasn’t so sure. “Are you okay?” she said, looking at Peter’s clothes, which were even more ragged than before, and singed in places.

“I’ll be all right,” he said.

“What about Ombra?” said Aidan, softly.

“I think we’ve seen the last of him,” said Peter.

“Thanks to you,” said Sarah. From the lantern came a weak chime. “And Tink, of course,” added Sarah.

They helped Peter to his feet and walked off the boat, Peter leaning on J.D. and Aidan for support. The Transportation and Ticket Center plaza was filled with tired visitors heading home from a long day at Disney World.

“Where are we going?” said Aidan.

“We need to get Peter someplace where he can lie down,” said J.D. “And he might need a doctor.”

Peter waved that suggestion away. “Just some rest,” he said. “I’ll be fine.”

“Once we get Peter settled somewhere,” said J.D., “I need to contact the police. Might as well get that over with.”

“I need to make a call right now,” said Sarah, heading for a bank of pay phones.

“Who’re you calling?” said Aidan.

“Mom and Dad,” she answered over her shoulder. “Remember them?”

“Barely,” said Aidan, trotting after his sister.

The wounded raven, its feathers badly singed, landed clumsily in one of the tree’s upper branches. It could still fly—but not far, and not well. It could not remain in the tree for long; it was too exposed, too vulnerable.

It needed shelter. It needed to regain its strength. It needed to stay alive, so that the grievously weakened thing inside it could stay alive.

Below the tree was a large building. It had been crowded earlier, but the people were gone now. From its perch, the raven could see a passageway alongside the building.

With a labored effort, it lunged from the branch and glided down. It fluttered awkwardly into the passageway, which led to an opening in the building. The raven flew inside. It was now in a large, dimly lit space. To the right was an archway, like the entrance to a cave. The raven, its strength waning, flew toward it. It landed on the floor just inside, exhausted.

The raven’s head darted this way and that, looking for a safe refuge. Directly above, perched atop the archway, it saw a familiar shape—the shape of a large black bird, its wings extended.

With what little strength it had left, the raven launched itself from the floor and managed to flap its way up to the archway. The shape did not move; the raven sensed that it was not a bird at all, not even a living thing. But the raven was too weak to fly any farther, and the space atop the archway was high enough and dark enough to provide protection. The raven crawled behind the bird shape and huddled there.

It could stay there indefinitely. The thing inside it, though very weak, would keep the raven alive without food or water. The raven would stay there, a helpless host, for however long it would take for the thing inside it to grow strong again.

And then the thing would find a way out.