Chapter 32

  AJ Eddison

  After several close calls and a handful of long, stressful minutes being entirely lost, they made it back to the ALL-Rover. By the time they stumbled out of the fog and saw the vehicle resting at the center of a clearing in the fog, AJ hadn’t seen or heard any pursuit for over a minute. AJ dared to hope that they had escaped.

  Michael rushed to the hatch. It opened for him as he approached. “Thanks, Clara,” he said automatically. He had picked up on Nick’s habit of talking to Clara like she was a real person. Given how Clara behaved, it was the most natural way of treating her.

  Inside, Michael paused. He ran to the front, then to the back. “Clara,” he said as he emerged, his voice a little desperate. “Where are Dwayne and Leah?” AJ hadn’t noticed their absence until Michael said it.

  “They are 234 meters ahead. I can display a map, if you wish.” Clara sounded unconcerned.

  “Why did they leave?” Michael asked.

  “I do not know,” Clara replied. “No threat has been detected in the vicinity.”

  Michael chewed his lower lip in thought. “We’ll go look for them,” he told AJ. “But first…”

  They were able to wake Jimothy, but not Elizabeth. Nick Carter had said this was nothing to be concerned about; it just meant that Elizabeth was awake in the other place and wished to remain so.

  Jimothy sat up, bleary-eyed and yawning. “Whoa, hey Mike,” he said. “Hi AJ. I just had a crazy dream.” He swung his legs off the bed.

  “Probably wasn’t a dream, Jim,” said Michael.

  Jimothy paused to think about this. Then his eyes widened. “Oh yeah. Wow. Uh, maybe I should go back. Things were getting…oh. But, I was already knocked out?” He squinted into the distance, then rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands. “This is really confusing.”

  “No worries, Jim,” said Mike, using a practiced tone, calm and steady. “You said you were knocked out?”

  Jimothy’s brow scrunched up with the effort of remembering. The two of them right there, concerned older brother and befuddled younger brother, were adorable. “Um. Something like that? There was a lot happening. But I think that Hazel will keep me safe!”

  “Right,” said Michael, sounding doubtful. “Hazel. Ok, Jim, we need to go someplace. You up for it?”

  Jimothy nodded and hopped out of bed. He’d gone to sleep in his normal clothes, so he was ready to go. “How’s Elizabeth?”

  “She’s okay,” said AJ. “She just won’t wake up.”

  “I can carry her,” said Jim. He grabbed his cane nearby, stood up with a lift from Michael, and stepped carefully out of the room. Elizabeth rose from her bed in a cocoon, a fine net of light that wrapped her up and lifted her from the mattress, complete with pillow and blanket. She slid through the air, out the door, and came to rest gently on the couch beside Jimothy, who appeared to be on his way to get a drink.

  AJ looked at Michael, eyes wide. Michael did not appear much surprised, but AJ didn’t think she would be getting over the fact that their siblings had superpowers anytime soon.

  Jim got a drink; Michael stocked up with some more food and another handful of bullets. He also paused to take some pictures of the drawings on the table. They had all prevented Leah from drawing any dragons, but she’d done plenty of butterflies and fish and other creatures, not to mention the strange places she had rendered in crayon. Some of Jimothy’s work was also present; the gap in skill between his art and Leah’s appeared to be nearly as great as such a gap could be.

  Michael was in a hurry to get going. He paced, tapping his camera, while they waited for Jimothy to use the bathroom. And when Jimothy finally emerged, they wasted no time in opening the hatch, saying goodbye to Clara, and venturing into the mist.

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  They knew the general direction, but neither AJ nor Michael remembered the specific path. This didn’t matter, because Jimothy saw the Line. Michael had tried to explain the Line to AJ, but she wasn’t sure she understood. At the moment, it seemed to be a literal line on the ground that only Jimothy could see. He led the way, and Michael followed without question, in complete confidence that Jimothy would lead them to where they needed to be.

  Elizabeth floated in the air behind Jimothy, which had made AJ nervous at first. Jimothy kept looking at Elizabeth and becoming anxious himself until he slowed to a halt.

  “Uh…Mike?” he asked, his voice small. “I…is it okay if I talk to you about something?”

  Michael scanned the surrounding mist, not keen on staying still. But he put a hand on Jimothy’s shoulder and said, “Sure, Jim. What is it?” He sounded so strong at that moment, so reassuring, that AJ felt a flutter in her chest.

  “I…well, carrying Elizabeth like this just reminded me. Um. In the other place, I kind of…like, I got someone killed, Mike.” His voice broke as a pained look came over him.

  “Hey,” said Michael, hugging his brother close with one harm. “Let’s sit down a sec.” He paused, for there was nothing nearby to sit on. A bench of blue light, like a park bench, appeared beside them, just large enough for the two of them. Michael took a moment to appreciate the craftsmanship before taking a seat with Jimothy.

  AJ wondered if she should step away for a moment. But no, that was stupid. She shouldn’t be on her own in the mist. And besides, neither Michael nor Jimothy would mind her listening to whatever they had to say. That thought warmed her. They were all in this together.

  Jimothy told Michael a story about a strange and fascinating girl he had invited to his lighthouse, and how a giant wolf had murdered her right in front of him. It sure sounded like a dream, something that obviously hadn’t really happened. But tears were in his eyes when he talked about her light, which he still had in a box at the lighthouse.

  “Jim,” said Michael, in a tone that said he took this entirely seriously, dream or not. “That doesn’t sound like it was your fault in any way.”

  Jim nodded, but he still had tears on his face as he leaned against his big brother. “I know,” he sniffed. “I know. But it still…”

  “Mom wasn’t your fault, Jim,” said Michael, an arm around his little brother to hold him close. “And neither was this.”

  Jimothy sniffled and muttered a hesitant affirmative.

  “You know what Elizabeth told me?” said Michael with a glance at the comatose Eddison sibling strung up in her cozy net of light. “She said you saved her from a giant wolf. Was it the same one?”

  Jimothy nodded.

  “Hey, Jim. Look at me.” Michael and Jim turned sideways on the bench so they faced each other. Michael took his little brother by the shoulders. “Listen, Jim,” he said. “Mom would be proud of you. And I’m proud of you. Okay? Because I know you’re trying your best. I know there’s a lot going on right now. But I believe in you, Jim. Got it?”

  Jim whispered something to himself, probably repeating Mike’s words. Then he said, “Got it.” He wiped snot and tears on his sleeve. “Thanks, Mike. I believe in you, too.”

  They hugged. AJ’s heart melted. She wished Lizzy was awake. She wanted to hug someone, too.

  “Also,” said Jimothy, still in the hug, “I, uh, I know about the tumor.”

  “Oh,” said Mike after a long pause.

  “But it’s going to be okay,” Jimothy continued. There was a calm assurance in his voice. “It’s all going to be okay. Okay, Mike?”

  “Yeah. Okay, Jim. I…believe you.”

  Jimothy and Michael stood up, catharsis complete. For a second, while they stood side by side, Michael looked just like a bigger, stronger, more whiskery version of Jimothy.

  The Whyte brothers turned and continued into the mist. AJ caught up to Michael and took him by the hand. When he turned to look at her in surprise, she said, “You are a good brother, Michael Whyte.”

  Then, before she could stop herself or overthink it, she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.