Dee took the lead, with Summer subsequent her casually and Michael jordan and Audrey after that.
Jenny wanted others to go ahead of her partly because she was afraid, and partially because your woman didn’t desire any of them planning to save her if the girl fell off.
Heights.
The lady had constantly hated altitudes. But the girl was damned if the girl was going to allow this bridge stop her from reaching to Tom.
That wasn’t everything that bad at the beginning. Steep, yes, and narrow, yes. And there were no handrails. In the event the whole framework had been half a dozen inches off the floor, Jenny could have walked it easily, with out a chance of falling. The problem was doing it twenty feet off the floor.
But if the lady looked lower and concentrated on her very own feet, she couldn’t observe how they were rising.
Just in that case, though, a thing drifted previous her
feet-a wisp of mist. Concerned, she appeared to one aspect.
No, that they weren’t cloud-height. They actually were just twenty foot off the ground. Although mist was rising around them.
“Oh, spiffy, ” Jordan said from somewhere in advance, and Summer’s voice said, “I won’t be able to see. inch
Dee’s words floated back from also farther ahead. “Reach back and hold hands with each other. I could feel my personal way along. “
Jenny reached forward and required a handful of Audrey’s nylon jacket-Audrey only got one good equip to use. Your woman shuffled forward, gritting her teeth. Anything around her was white. She may barely find her own hiking boot styles.
In a few a few minutes, though, her head out of cash through the air. She proceeded shuffling upward, inching from it. Her hip and legs were aching, and the girl hoped these people were getting close to the top.
It absolutely was only when Audrey stopped brief in front of her, and gasped, that the lady looked about.
The mist was gone. What she saw underneath the bridge at this point was-unearthly.
It had been dark, and arching through the darkness had been other bridges, delicate and airy, several fiery, several that seemed like ice. They will led to clumps of land that looked like islands floating in space.
“Like Neverland, ” Jenny whispered. “A bunch of Neverlands. What are they? And exactly where are we all? “
“Oh, I may believe this, ” Audrey said in the same way softly.
“I do, inches Dee stated from the very top of the posture. Her
head was placed back for the slim dark column of her the neck and throat. Faint light from the bridges shifted for the planes of her cheekbones, and her eyes glowed. “I do. “
A number of the islands had been brighter and more substantial-looking than any landscape Jenny experienced seen on Earth-sharper in detail, more superb in quality. Others were dim and vague-as if they had been partly formed after which abandoned.
Between your clumps of land Jenny could find stars -but not typical stars. These types of stars rippled and waved as if your woman were looking at them through a clear stream, or as though they were studded on a going length of black silk. There were something amazingly lost and lonely info.
“But exactly what are those things? All those other island destinations? ” the lady said again.
Audrey offered herself a little shake and seemed to emphasis. “I think-those are the nine worlds. Coming from Norse mythology-Norse, like the runes. I told you about them when. “
“You mean-we’re above the Shadow World somehow? inch
“I imagine. Now that-that’s probably Asgard, the one approach up generally there. It’s got to get. “
Jenny tilted her head back. Significantly above them-the farthest aside of the clumps-was an island globe that appeared all silver and gold. She can just glimpse something like a shining hill rising right into a golden impair on it. The bridge to it was incredibly narrow and seemed to be on fire.
“That’s where the gods live. “
“The gods? inch Jenny chatted to Audrey without looking down through the shining tropical isle.
“So the myths declare. Hmm, and I’ll wager that’s Vanaheim. World of primitive water and many, where some of the less essential gods live. ” Audrey pointed to the island decorated in jewel-like colors, dark blue and dark green.
“Vanaheim-any relation to Anaheim? ” Michael murmured. Audrey pinched her mouth over a smile, although ignored him.
“And that is Alfheim, associated with light and air, inches she explained, nodding in an island that was much closer to these people, shimmering in the colors of sunrise: yellow-colored, pale blue, light green. “Home of sunshine elves-like very good spirits. Now i am remembering all of this, isn’t that amazing? I need to have been about eight after i learned that. “
“What about those? ” Dee said, aiming straight outward. Two area worlds were floating around the same level as the bridge they stood in: one rocky and lashed by what appeared as if tornadoes, as well as the other so bright with orange open fire that Jenny couldn’t figure out any details.
“The rocky one’s Jotunheim-the world of fundamental storms. Plus the other one has to be Muspelheim, the world of fundamental fire. Nothing lives right now there but fantastic giants. inches
“What’s that? ” Michael said, looking downward and also to the left.
Audrey seemed. “Hell” the lady said just.
“I usually thought terrible would be hot, ” Summer time said, her eyes widening like cornflowers blooming.
“Hel with one particular l. It’s the underworld, exactly where everything basins in the end. Dominated by Hella, queen with the dead. inches
It seemed like a frozen pond, colder and blacker than the empty space between the planets. Jenny experienced never viewed such a lightless, joyless place.
The bridge to it was like a slide, wide-ranging and frosty.
“We certainly wouldn’t when you go there. In order to that one-the one that appears like a cavern. That’s Svartalfheim, the subterranean world. “
“No even more caves, thank you, ” Michael jordan said.
There was clearly only one tropical isle left. It had been the one immediately below these people, and equally ends in the bridge they stood on seemed attached to it. Came from here, the surface was obscured simply by dark mist and shadows.
Audrey explained, “Niflheim, land of ice and shadows. The Shadow World. ” She shook her head. “I even now don’t consider this. inch
“Why not really? It’s not any weirder than anything else we now have seen today, ” Dee said. “But I just count 8-10 worlds. Where’s Earth? inch
Audrey appeared around, then simply shrugged. “Maybe we do not get to see that bridge until we end the Game. inch
“Who cares about you? Look, the reason for writing this is to walk involving the worlds, correct? ” Dee said, her eyes shining. “And right now we’re performing it. So-shall we? “
Jenny nodded. Your woman felt very small and insignificant standing right here, and her throat was tight. And she got the feeling it turned out going to be harder still dropping than heading up-because right now the fall was a lot longer.
That they started shifting. It was hard to stroll inside the place between your worlds-physically hard. After a couple of steps Jenny began to truly feel muscle-burn in her calf muscles and leg muscles. The lady could notice Audrey panting in front of her.
And the simplest glimpse from the fall in either aspect made Jenny’s internal organs feel as if they were plunging out of her body.
Her legs wanted to deep freeze. She wanted to get down on her rump and scoot the rest of the way-no, get upon her tummy and slither. But that wasn’t the worst.
She was scared she would weak.
If I faint up here, I’ll land. Of course I’ll fall. No one faints efficiently forward. Items slide off of the side.
The moment the thought of fainting occurred to her, it blacklisted everything else away. She was going to faint. Just thinking about it built her light headed. She was so fearful of fainting, the lady felt like jumping.
Hysteria began to bubble up inside her. Your woman shouldn’t include thought about jumping. Now your woman was worried she would jump, just because the theory had took place to her. The girl had to never think about it.
Think of anything else. Consider Tom, imagine getting to Mary. But the idea of jumping was now caught up in her mind. Your woman started to picture it. The girl could get it all over with, choose the side and simply let go. God, no-she don’t want to, but the girl was scared she’d move crazy is to do it.
The words came from her own human brain, but it was so severe it seemed alien. You keep on shifting, girl!
Jenny realized your woman was stopped, frozen. Staring down for her individual feet inside their brown natural leather hiking footwear, and the white colored ribbon of bridge, and the formless night on either side.
Merely put 1 foot before the other. The right foot. Released your correct foot.
We can’t, she thought.
Yes, you can!
But once I faint-or jump
You expect everybody else to face their fears, and also you can’t deal with yours? You are not your just master if you cannot even control your personal feet! If you’re just a coward!
The right start jerked a little and stepped forward.
That’s right. Now the different one.
The other boot came frontward. Jenny was walking once again.
She may do it-command her personal feet. Merely put one foot ahead of the other. And one more step. And one more.
Don’t turn to the side. An additional step. And one more.
There are only a few body-lengths of link in front of her. She can see in which it concluded. Ten feet. Five toes.
On thighs that got suddenly removed weak because angel-hair pasta, Jenny came and fell onto secure ground.
Dee bent more than her. “You okay? inches
Weakly Jenny patted among Dee’s hightops. “I’m terrific, thanks. inches
“I shouldn’t have let you be previous. I forgot. “
Jenny sat up and easily wiped her forehead. “I do fine without any help. “
“Yeah, you performed. You appear to be doing a wide range of that these times. “
Jenny was very happy.
Then it strike her. These people were across. They’d made it.
Mary.
She researched so fast her eyesight swam.
Following your alien grandeur of the place between the realms, it was anything of a comedown. They were for the central isle in the artificial lake at Joyland Park. The light-house looked similar to it had for hours, white and shining. The park around them was a huge range of lights-but ordinary lighting, illuminating ordinary rides such as the SuperLooper plus the Tumble-bug. Almost everything looked extremely ordinary.
At the rear of her, the bridge curved gracefully in the lake water, and the normal water reflected a wavering posture back. There were no mist, and no signal of any other worlds. The very best of the mid-foot wasn’t much more than forty foot high.
“A hallucination, Perhaps, ” Audrey said slowly. “One of Julian’s items. And I presume it must have been from myself, since I’m the only one who knew regarding those other worlds. inches
Jenny opened up her oral cavity, then closed it once again. She thought Audrey should be right-but your woman wasn’t sure. And the fact was that they would probably never be sure.
Your woman looked back in the lighthouse. “Come on, people. This is it. “
Once she received up her legs had been shaky, although she took the business lead and Dee let her.
The lighthouse looked bigger as they got closer. It
was life-size, with a widow’s walk around the best and a weathercock. And it was mounted on some wide-ranging dark building that Jenny hadn’t seen before because it wasn’t lit up. A restaurant, maybe, she thought.
There was a wooden door in the lighthouse’s side, having a large flat iron handle.
“Monster positions, inches Dee reminded Jenny since she reached for the handle. In that case Dee was standing ready to conquer the door shut if anything at all unfriendly was behind it.
“Tom and Zach will be towards the top, of course , ” Michael stated, resting together with his hands on his thighs in anticipation.
Nonetheless they weren’t.
It was funny, how the end began. Jenny have been waiting for too long, working and fighting, and everything the time waiting for the moment that she would find Tom. The lady was accustomed to holding out she was not really ready for it to get rid of. She wasn’t-prepared.
She practically couldn’t deal with it.
But when it began happenings industry fast, and prepared or not really, she was thrown with it.
She pulled on the iron handle, plus the wooden door swung available. There was you do not need Dee to kick it shut. Everything inside was illuminated, certainly nothing came hurrying toward all of them.
Black metal stairs bent up on Jenny’s left, circling upward toward the top from the lighthouse. Although straight looking at her the lady could see the interior in the broad building. The light-house had no back wall structure, and opened up right into it.
It was a great place, using a huge diorama two testimonies high as a backdrop. It looked like a show set
of the wharf landscape, but the numbered flags about poles tricked its actual purpose. It had been an indoor small golf course.
“Treasure Island, inches Michael stated, peering around her make. “Pirates, see? “
It absolutely was pirates. The diorama highlighted a wall painting painted within the far wall membrane of the extensive building, a marvelously realistic mural having a volcano in the back. Painted smoke cigars and little neon lamps for sparks showed it turned out erupting. There were also a large storm inside the painted sky, and forked lightning that really flashed.
In the bottom of the mural, just in back of the the game of golf itself, two dinghies were landing in some fiberglass rocks. 1 boat was painted, with a pirate within an eye patch and loath, a wide lace cravat, and boots.
The other boat was actual, with Jeff and Zach.
Jenny carressed her oral cavity. Then she was working.
There were not any terms for what your woman felt following. When she would been separated from Ben in the conventional paper house, it was for hours. This time around it had been times. She was exhausted, overstressed, starving, on the verge of collapse-and she would never been so cheerful in her life.
Only the sight of him brought back everything that was good and homelike to her mind. It absolutely was like coming back to her very own room after being aside a long time with strangers.
It was where your woman belonged.
The lady threw her arms around him. And after that she simply held upon, her cardiovascular pounding and pounding.
“Watch out, Jenny. He was here just a small ago. “
And Jenny, who had pertaining to so long affiliated Tom with protection, with safety and security and coziness, found herself sense passionately protective of Ben. As if this individual were Summer season. Looking into his dear deal with, handsome and rather glumness just now, great wonderful green-flecked eyes, the lady said, “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. “
“Just let me away, please, inches Tom said sharply, then gave up and kissed her back. Jenny’s solicitous feelings had chucked her into a perfect spasm of love intended for him, and it felt so good to kiss him again.
“If you two could tear your self apart for just a minute, ” Zach’s voice said.
Jenny looked up. Her relation was in your back of the dinghy, yes, a similar cousin she’d lost, the girl thought a bit deliriously. The identical, with his great beaky nasal area and his ash-blond hair drawn back in an informal ponytail fantastic keen greyish eyes.
“I missed you, too, inch she stated and screwed up back to larg him.
“We’re tied up, ” Tom stated briskly.
Jenny saw that his darkish wrists were tied in back of his back again with some sort of thick power cord. “No trouble, ” the girl said, in the same way briskly, and pulled out the Swiss Armed service knife. I am going to never get anywhere devoid of one again, she thought, and, crouching by Zach’s feet, she began properly sawing on the cord.
“Hi, Dee, inch Tom stated, calm as though he had been meeting her Saturday with the ball game. “Hey, Audrey, Mi-” He pennyless off and bolted erect, and Jenny cut his hand.
“Sit down, ” she explained.
He did not seem to recognize. “Summer? “
“Hi, Jeff, ” Summer time said shyly.
“Summer? inches
“She wasn’t dead, merely asleep, inches Audrey explained.
Jenny stated, “Sit straight down, will you? We’ll explain afterwards. “
“Yeah-sure, ” Ben said weakly. He lay down. Jenny finished reducing the power cord enough in order that he could pull out than it. Then, when he was rubbing his hands, she considered Zach.
“Are you both ok? ” she added. “I mean-not injure or anything? “
“We’re fine, ” Tom stated absently. “He just place us here a little while ago. We were inside the lighthouse, before, and this wasn’t also bad-except I used to be afraid a person would come. inch
“You recognized I’d come. I hope. inches
“I expected you didn’t. I was afraid you would. inch
“Tom”-a strand on Zach’s cord jumped apart- “you don’t have to worry about me. inches She looked up to find him looking straight down at her, in that fresh way, the way in which he had since the end of Julian’s initially Game. As though she had been something much precious, a thing that bewildered him, but surprised him-something this individual didn’t are worthy of, but trustworthy.
“Sure I must worry about you, Thorny, inch he stated simply. “Just like you bother about me. “
Jenny smiled.
“Nobody must worry now. We’ve received the Game, Tom. We went on the treasure hunt and after this we’ve discovered you. It can all over. inch
“I’ll nevertheless be happier out of right here, ” he said, and Zach stated, “That applies to me doubled, tripled, and quadrupled. inch
Jenny looked around. She supposed it was a spooky place in a way-if you were resting and expecting trouble. There are real give entrances below the mural, ultimately causing other parts in the miniature golfing range. There were mock buildings holding a similar thing-golf holes-with names just like Lafitte’s Black Powder Functions. It was dark inside each one of these places.
“Don’t tell me. You guys had been afraid of the parrot, inch Michael stated. Jenny implemented his look to a area of the building near the golf course, apparently an area pertaining to eating, simply because there were fruit plastic furniture and bar stools bolted towards the ground. There is also a little stage which has a sign that read: cap’n bill
AND SEBASTIAN, THE WONDER PARROT. The mounted TELEVISION showing Hard woody Woodpecker cartoons, mercifully noiseless.
“No, we were afraid of the eyes, inch Tom stated, stepping out of your dinghy and over a length of thick string that sagged between two wharf key elements.
Jenny’s brain snapped up. “The eyes? “
“The types that stay in the shadows and look toward you. And the whispering. “
Mouth squared, Jenny sawed throughout the last of Zach’s cable and applied his arms. So the additional Shadow Guys were around.
Tom was staring at Audrey’s arm. “What happened for you? “
“Believe me, you aren’t happier being unsure of. “
“You guys every look like you’ve been using the Raiders-and losing, inches Tom stated.
It was the case, Jenny believed, following Zach over the rope. The prisoners they’d arrive to recovery looked good, just as that they had when they’d disappeared lurking behind Julian’s wall structure of fire. A little crumpled and stained regarding the garments, but otherwise fine. Zach still acquired his 35 millimeter camera around his neck.
It was the rescuers who were weakling and battered. Even Summertime looked wounded, like a broken-stemmed flower. Audrey, usually the style of beauty, looked more like a young hiker who’d experienced a bad accident. Dee’s skinny jeans were tarnished dark with the thigh. Michael jordan looked as though he’d recently been ducked in swamp normal water and then tumble-dried.
“You’ve been through a lot, ” Zach said, and for when his greyish eyes were not cool or unreadable. “Thanks, Jenny. inches
Jenny waved dismissively, yet she felt a glow inside. “What happened again there inside the fire, anyway? One minute I used to be holding your hand, the next, “
“I fell, ” Zach said. “Pure foolish luck. We tripped, and when I got up, I didn’t know which will way to go. I stumbled around and wound up back in Julian’s base. “
“Out from the fire, in the frying griddle, ” Jordan said.
“And then Tom came back for me. ” Zach looked at Mary, and something handed between them with out words. The introverted professional photographer and the star athlete had never recently been particularly close before, nevertheless Jenny experienced the feeling that that got changed at this point. She was pleased.
“Aww, ” Michael jordan said.
Audrey said, “Shut up-mon précieux. “
Dee interrupted. “Here’s a map of the area. ” The
map was wood, colored to look like parchment, with iron restaurants around this.
“It can be an enjoyment park, in that case. We could find some of it out the light-house window, ” Tom stated. “Okay, appearance, here’s my plan,. inches
His tone of voice trailed away. Audrey, Jordan, Dee, and Summer were not looking at him. Instead, these were looking at Jenny expectantly.
Ben looked at Zach, who was position with his hands folded, something such as amusement in the sharp-featured face.
“Okay, uh-why don’t you show your strategy? ” Ben said to Jenny.
Jenny was fighting enjoyment, too. “I don’t have a single. We avoid need 1. We’ve gained, and we needs to be able to only walk out of here. The sole thing I miss is why Julian hasn’t displayed up. inches
They all looked over the various darker doorways and crevices.
“Do you think maybe-he’s watching all of us? ” Summer season said.
“Of course I’m watching, that is what I carry out, ” a weary tone said.
