Chapter 33

Sending a Message

Tick finally remembered that he’d packed a flashlight before leaving his house. He swung his backpack off and pulled it out, then clicked it on. The light reflected off the silvery surface of the metal tube, making it look like a valuable piece of jewelry.

“Atticus,” Master George said as he moved closer and put a hand on Tick’s shoulder. “Listen to me carefully. I want you to describe what the Haunce looked like. Once I’m absolutely sure this all came from our strange and powerful friend, I promise I won’t doubt another word you say.”

Tick let the flashlight tip downward until it illuminated the leaf-strewn forest floor. “It was a big, silver-blue oval of pulsing light, with hundreds of faces replacing each other in the middle of it, their mouths forming the words as it talked to me. Creeped me out big time.”

Master George nodded as his eyes focused on the ground. “Indeed. Indeed. It’s hard to put into words what it means that the Haunce visited you, Atticus. There’s no longer any doubt that there is something special about you, something extraordinary. Especially if the Haunce thinks you can wink this message away without the use of a Barrier Wand.”

“Yeah, well, we’ll see,” Tick said. He shone the flashlight under his chin to make his face look scary. “You both can think I’m special all you want, but let’s see if I can actually do it.”

“You are special,” Paul said, not bothering to hide his sarcasm. “You’re so special.”

“He is,” Sofia snapped. “Be quiet and let him concentrate. Do it, Tick. Show him. Show us what you can do.”

Paul snickered, evidently thinking his joke was hilarious. “I’m just playin’, man. Sheesh. What’s the note in there say, anyway? And who are you sending it to?”

“It’s for Sally—” Master George began, but Tick cut him off.

“No, it’s not.”

“What do you mean? You changed it?”

Tick shone the light on the silver tube still clasped in his other hand. “Had to. The Haunce said we had no chance of getting all the Realitants together in time to help us. They’re spread all over the place, dealing with the earthquakes and junk that happened when everything went wrong.”

“Then who’s it for?” Sofia asked.

“It’s a note for someone who already has a bunch of people gathered, ready to fight the first bad thing that walks in front of them.” Tick paused, needlessly adding drama to the revelation, just for kicks. “It’s for Sato.”

Sato ignored every word spoken to him and every tap on his shoulder until he heard the voice of Lisa.

“Sato?” she asked. “You okay?”

He looked up to see she’d maneuvered her way through the tightly packed crowd. She stood in front of him, leaning down with her hands on her knees, looking at him with concern creasing her pretty face. The fact that she cared one whit made him feel a little better.

“I guess so,” he replied. He swept his eyes across the tall people of the Fifth who were packing in tighter and tighter around him, still gawking and pointing. “I just don’t know what they want. I’m not who they think I am—they have to know that! What do they expect me to do? Pretend I’m their leader raised from the dead?”

Lisa knelt down, the movement causing her blonde curls to bounce on her shoulders. “We all thought it was kind of cute until you put your head down and ignored them. Why don’t you come over and sit with my family? Maybe that’ll make them leave you alone.”

Sato shook his head slowly as he considered her offer. How stupid was this? These people fawning over him were the least of his worries. Where were they and how were they going to get out of there?

“Sato?” Lisa asked. “You want me to—”

“No, no, sorry,” he said. “I was just thinking that we need to figure out what’s going on around here. I need to talk to Rutger and Mothball. Figure out if we can get in touch with the other Realitants somehow.”

Lisa nodded. “Okay, sounds good. Why don’t you . . .” She paused, looked around quickly, then focused back on him. “Tell you what—I’ll get their attention so you can sneak off or something.”

“Get their attention? How’re you gonna do that?”

Lisa straightened, rubbing her hands together as if planning something evil. “I can be a brat when I need to be—ask Tick. I’ll think of something brilliant to make them leave you alone.”

Sato stood to join her, wincing at the gasps of anticipation his action elicited from the crowd. “Okay, fine by me. Good luck with that.” He started through the crowd of Fifth citizens standing between him and his Realitant friends.

“You people listen up!” he heard Lisa shout from behind him. “Sato will be right back. He has to, um, go use the bathroom.”

Sato stopped for half a second, thinking, That is the best she can come up with? But then he pushed on, making his way toward Mothball and Rutger.

Tick did his best to explain what the Haunce had said about Sato and the others being taken to some kind of way station anomaly in the Realities for safekeeping. But it was kind of hard when he didn’t really understand it himself.

“What is this place?” Paul asked. “Where is it?”

“I don’t know!” Tick practically shouted, though he toned it down to a rough whisper on the last word. They couldn’t risk Jane’s creations finding them yet. “All we care about is that they’re all safe—including my family, thank goodness—and that the Haunce is gonna move them very soon. Which is why I need to hurry. As soon as I get this note winked, we’ll have time to talk about stuff while we walk toward the Factory.” Annoyed, Tick pointed the flashlight in Paul’s face. “Okay?”

Paul reached out, flailing with his hands. “Alright, dude, get on with it!”

“Yes, Atticus,” Master George pitched in. “I’m very anxious to see what you’re about to do. Quite anxious indeed. And when we’re done, I’d love to hear more about this hideaway spot in the Realities you mentioned.”

Sofia reached out and lightly punched Tick in the arm. “We’ll leave you alone, now. Do your thing. I can’t wait to see it.”

Tick had a sudden rush of terror. He had no idea what he was about to do—or even where to begin. The Haunce had left him with some parting words of advice—mainly about envisioning a conduit between him and Sato and opening an imaginary slice through space and time. But mostly, he was supposed to sit back and let his power do its thing. He needed to believe in it and let the Chi’karda take his vision of need and manifest it for him.