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“Why doesn’t that sound terribly reassuring?”
Next were mountain backdrops and twelve-foot-high bears. Fi
“Clouds!” Philby a
Fi
Nothing. The clouds looked perfectly normal.
Fi
“The more important question,” Philby answered, “is who knows we’re in here, and why was the ride turned on?”
“If you’re trying to cheer me up, you’re not doing such a great job,” Fi
A giant rabbit jumped across the scene, and called out loudly, which caused Fi
“More clouds!” Philby a
Fi
nothing.
Presently, there were chipmunk voices singing something at such a high pitch and volume that Fi
A low male voice began narrating the ride. The scene became as dark as the inside of a stomach. The boys bounced off the rails and the chute walls. Bruised and cold, Fi
“My bad, Fi
A large wolf wearing a cowboy hat and holding a rabbit was saying something that was probably fu
“Maybe we risk the cameras,” Fi
Philby said, “And have our DHIs removed from the park? I don’t think so!”
Fi
They slipped down a dip, traveling ever faster in the dark, churning water. Fi
A really big drop. The ride’s biggest drop of all. Its biggest thrill. Thrill or kill? Fi
He back-paddled, fighting the current.
“That baby’s about four stories, straight down,” Philby said. “Forty-five degrees. A million gallons of water driving you like a freight train.”
Their bodies slapped forward—closer to the edge—despite their vigorous splashing.
“It’ll either crush us,” Fi
Philby didn’t disagree.
Fi
“Yeah,” Philby said. “I think you’re right.” He rolled onto his stomach and tried to swim away from the drop, but it was no use: the water was too fast.
Fi
Though the two boys swam frantically, they were actually moving with the current toward the drop.
Philby said between strokes, “If we—could get—into a log—”
Was that possible? Fi
How much longer until a log arrived? Fi
It felt to Fi
“We’re not thinking right!” he said. The first log appeared. It looked big and powerful, and it was coming right for them.
Still thinking out loud, Fi
A voice surfaced. “I don’t think this is the best time to discuss physics,” Philby said. “Besides
—I probably know more about it than you do.”
They heard a loud bump! and whack! from the dark as the log grew closer.
“If we’re mostly light,” Fi
Driven by his newfound confidence, Fi
Slowly, he pulled away from Philby, and with half the effort.
It’s all what I’m thinking, he realized.
Philby watched as Fi
A moment too long.
Philby was sucked down the throat of the final plummet.
Time slowed. Philby tumbled through space and water, holding his breath and then sucking for air. His lungs burned. He couldn’t tell what was up or down. Then, amid the swirl of black, a hand appeared. A human hand. Glowing, as if it had been plugged into the wall. Behind that hand another shape formed. That shape was an arm, Fi
Fi
By the time Philby had righted himself, now sitting up, the log had snaked through the chute and entered yet another scene. This was the last scene, the most exotic of the attraction.
Fi
“How did you do that?” Philby asked.
“I’m not sure. But I think it was all in my head,” Fi
Behind the paddleboat, Fi
There, behind the Showboat, he saw a bunch of clouds. In the middle of one of the biggest clouds he saw several big letters. They appeared to have been spray-painted: FME
When Fi
“Our first clue!” Fi
20
“Where’s Maybeck?” Fi
“We don’t know.” Charlene sounded frightened.
“The sun!” Philby said. “Did you try the glasses?”
“Y, I, and R. Three letters! They look painted, added on later.” Willa replied excitedly.
“Same with us!” Philby said, “F, M, and E. We’re definitely on to something.”
Fi
Charlene looked worried. “We got to the ride and he said he had something he had to check out. We told him we had to stick together, but he blew us off.”
“And he hasn’t come back,” Willa said angrily.
“Hasn’t come back?” Philby asked, finally realizing they had a serious problem on their hands.
“And this was, like, half an hour ago,” Charlene said.
“He kept checking his watch,” Willa complained. “He was nervous about something, like he was eager to get back.”