Chapter 2

  The stench of burned hair and singed flesh hung heavy as Kevin faced the wallowing bear. Michael and Veronica shadowed him far too close for comfort. The other boy kept grabbing him by the shoulders and pulling him back whenever the bear moved. Although it took the three several minutes to get close enough, the bear didn’t move from its spot, even when they made their way to the bear’s rump.

  “Go for the head,” Michael whispered in his ear. The other teen’s breath sent a chill down Kevin’s spine. Michael gave him a firm push for encouragement and added, “Hit it from behind.”

  Kevin waved him off and held his sword in both hands. The blade wavered in tune to his trembling hands. He hopped on his good foot to the bear’s side, wary whenever the beast moved. Although the thunder of his heart in his ears kept him cautious, he took a deep breath. “I can do this,” he whispered. “I can do this.” Honestly, he wasn’t so sure. He didn’t know why he had to do this, and that worried him more.

  “You can do it.” Michael patted him hard on the shoulder.

  After another deep breath, Kevin steadied himself on his good foot. He wrapped his fingers tight around the hilt of the short sword and leapt—more like fell—into the bear. The sword sunk into the beast’s neck, enacting a gurgling sound from somewhere deep within its body. Blood spurted from the wound and ran down its throat to dapple the dirt road.

  Kevin yelled and scrambled backwards, abandoning the rusty sword. His injured foot refused to carry his weight and he collapsed. Had Michael not been there to catch him, Kevin would have landed on his backside. The bear gave one last pitiful cry and slumped to a heap on the road. Its body stilled and stopped moving. Even its fur ceased to rustle in the breeze.

  Then, its carcass slowly turned transparent until Kevin could make out the dirt and rocks of road. In a few moments, the bear ceased to exist entirely, blood and all. Kevin’s rusty sword clamored to the ground to land in a dusty plop.

  “Okay,” Michael drew the word out. “You both saw that, right?” Rich brown eyes glanced purposefully to the road where the bear once lay.

  Kevin studied the same spot and blinked forcefully, expecting some phantasm of the bear to reappear. A shuffle of movement drew his attention to Veronica who sidled up to them.

  “We can’t all be suffering the same hallucination,” she said.

  “Excellent work, you three.”

  Kevin, Michael, and Veronica glanced to the cart driver. The man smiled at them like a proud father.

  “You gain experience with each enemy you defeat,” the man explained. “Some will even drop items or treasure.”

  Kevin and Michael exchanged a glance.

  “What do you mean?” Michael asked.

  “The village of Serene is just down this cart path. If you hurry, you can reach there by nightfall. But—” the cart driver held up a finger. “It’s best to heal up first in case you encounter other enemies along the way.”

  “Other enemies?” Veronica shifted back and forth and her big brown eyes glanced down the road. “Do you mean there could be more of those things?”

  “Kevin, do you need help with your curing spell?” the man asked.

  Kevin glanced at Michael and Veronica for advice. When both only shrugged, Kevin continued. “Um, yeah, I guess. Will that help my foot?”

  “Recite the curing spell out loud. You know the words.”

  “’I know the words’?” Kevin shook his head as an uninvited passage seeped into his brain. He didn’t know where the words came from, but his heart urged him to recite them. “Duty unknown through lands uncouth, Banish death, oh path of truth.”

  Soothing, cream-colored light enveloped the three and warmth seeped into Kevin’s skin like a sweater pulled straight from the dryer. The ache from panic in his chest died away, the burn in his lungs from running snuffed out. Then the pain pulsing through his foot lessened until he could put weight on it again.

  “Cool,” Michael breathed, patting down his body as if it had become foreign to him. “You gotta admit, that was pretty neat.”

  Veronica shivered. “Neat? That gave me the creeps.” She ran a hand up her arm several times and her shoulders shook. Veronica stood a head shorter than Kevin, and her strong posture suggested she had a tough character. Dark brown hair past her shoulders had picked up several leaves and other debris. She appeared to be his age—eighteen—and had large brown eyes.

  Standing beside her, Michael dwarfed her slim body. Big arms stretched the white-and-blue cotton shirt across his chest and hinted at muscle, as did large legs. He had styled his ear-length brown hair to suggest he had recently crawled out of bed, but the hairstyle fit him. Keen brown eyes the color of melted chocolate watched Kevin and made him shiver. The odd shade of brown was almost mesmerizing.

  “The village of Serene is just down this cart path,” the man interrupted. “If you hurry, you can reach there by nightfall.”

  The three teens turned dirt-streaked faces to the cart driver. When Kevin ran a hand through his light brown hair, he came back with a handful of grit and twigs, which he wiped clean on his loose-fitting shirt. He played soccer in high school, but the past few months of enjoying life before college had left his previously toned physique on the scrawny side. Next to Michael, he felt like a stick.

  A whinny from the horse set the cart into motion. Wooden wheels started it bumbling down the cart path that ran through the forest.

  “Well.” Veronica thrust her hands to her hips and frowned at the forest as if berating it. “Do any of you know where we are?”

  “Nuh-uh.” Michael said. He examined his crooked wooden staff and scratched his chin as if trying to solve an age-old riddle. “All I know is, I woke up in the forest and heard someone screaming—you, I’m guessing.” He pointed to Veronica with the staff. “But, I have no idea how I got here, or even where here is.”

  “Same with me.” Veronica said. Her eyes silently chastised the dimming trees before turning her gaze on Kevin. She looked him up and down with purpose. “Are you okay? You seemed like you were hurt earlier.”

  Kevin tried his foot, finding a dull and aching pain keeping him from putting much weight on it. “I think I broke it.”

  “Try that curing thing again. Something about the path of truth . . . or something,” she suggested.

  “Duty unknown through lands uncouth, Banish death, oh path of truth.”

  As before, warm, inviting light bathed them in a comforting glow of warmth. Obediently, the pain in Kevin’s foot retreated completely.

  “That’s pretty cool.” Michael thrust out a hand to Kevin, nodding with a smile. “I’m Michael Cavanaugh.” When Kevin only raised an eyebrow at him, he leaned in to study Kevin’s face. “Whoa.”

  “Whoa what?” He shooed the other boy away when he leaned in to close.

  “Oh, nothing. It’s just . . .” Michael drew back and caught Kevin’s hand, shaking it with vigor. His grip was hard and commanding. “It’s just . . . your eyes. They’re an amazing color.”

  “Let me see.” Veronica pushed between them, more or less shoving Michael aside, and gave Kevin’s face a once-over. “Wow, you’re right. You have hazel eyes.” She smiled, wide and genuine. “They’re really quite pretty.” She might have blushed.

  Heat rose in Kevin’s cheeks and he glanced away quickly. “Whatever.” He waved both of them away. “I’m . . . I’m Kevin. Kevin Kennedy.” He gestured to Veronica who still studied his face and eyes with a smile.

  She startled when he cleared his throat. “Uh, Veronica Jones.” She drew back and volleyed a glance between Kevin and Michael. “I’d say it’s nice to meet you, but . . .” Her dark eyes circled the forest. “Neither the location nor the events are very heartwarming, I’d say.”

  Michael tossed his gnarled staff into the other hand and grabbed Veronica’s hand. He shook it once and narrowed an eye at her in study. “I know this sounds strange, but, do we know each other.” He scratched his head with the gnarled end of his staff and continued to shake her hand. “Damnit, my head is soup. I can barely remember my own name.”

  “Guys! The wagon man!” Kevin yelled.

  Empty road stretched before and behind them with only the noises of the forest to keep them company. The canopy hid all traces of the sun, but the cart path had grown darker since they defeated the bear. Looking left and right, only a small trail of dust around a corner clued Kevin into the direction the man and his cart went, but he was gone from sight. Kevin stood in the middle of the narrow, one-lane path and let his arms flop at his side.

  Deep in the woods, the call of a wolf answered his frustration. The three shuffled closer together.

  Veronica tucked in beside Michael, and the tip of her bow bounced off his head. “Do you think we can catch up to the man if we run?”

  Michael shrugged and fended off her bow with his staff. “We can try. Are you okay to run, Kevin?”

  He tested his foot. It felt—great. Like nothing ever happened. “Yeah, I think I’m fine now.”

  “Okay. Let’s go, then.” Michael pointed his staff down the well-worn road.

  They ran for several minutes until exhaustion beat them into a slow walk. Daylight had faded into a dim orange glow as the sun finally broke through the canopy only to sink into the horizon. While the forest grew darker, so too did the sounds of twilight. Grim creatures grumbled and moaned. Shadows cast by looming trees grew longer and thicker, reaching out for them as they walked. Bushes rustled, trees swayed, and things crept in the murk.

  Each time the teens rounded a bend in the road, they found only more barren dirt worn down by years of carts and horses. Each vacant turn stole more and more of their determination and more and more of the fading daylight.

  “He’s a fast little bastard, isn’t he?” Michael turned to walk backwards down the road. “Where could he have gone? It’s not like we’re the only people out here.” A stone poking through the road tripped him and he stumbled around to catch his footing. “Right? We’re not the only ones out here, right?”

  A creature grumbled in the woods like a wolf played back slowly from a recording. All three quickened their pace and huddled together before hustling down the road together. A thump in the woods caused them to break into a short jog. The mournful hoot of an owl warned of the onset of evening.

  “Do you think something else is out there in the woods?” Veronica asked.

  “Like another one of those huge bear things?” Michael said.

  “Do you ever shut up?” Kevin growled. He grabbed Michael by a shirtsleeve and drug him down the road. “Just keep moving and keep quiet, okay?”

  Veronica trotted on ahead but stopped in the road to point. “Hey! I see something! Lights! I think it’s a town!”

  “Really?” Michael broke from Kevin’s side and ran to join her. There, he hopped up and down before shouting. “No, I see them too! Come on, Kev! It’s got to be a town!”

  “What did you call me?”

  Michael rolled his eyes and took Kevin by an arm. “Look!”

  In the valley below, a collection of a dozen or so points of firelight basked in the smoldering tinge falling over the lands. Fading light teased their vision as the orange blob of the sun hung tantalizingly on a horizon, hinting at tall sheer cliffs surrounding the village.

  Vitality renewed, they ran down the cart path towards the lights. But just as Kevin thought he could make out the shapes of houses or wooden fences, the sparse light fell another shade darker and smothered out any distinguishable features.

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  Beasts grumbled and something awful crowed from the forest. Kevin urged them on faster. A large something followed them through the trees but remained hidden behind the bushes. Rustling leaves and snapping twigs nipped at their heels.

  The sun ducked below mountain peaks, leaving only a molten gleam to stand guard over the town. As light lost its hold on the world, the three reached a small stone bridge spanning a dry moat. A gate fashioned from tree trunks held together by wrought iron bindings beckoned them into the small town beyond.

  “Do you . . . do you think this is Serene?” Veronica asked, gasping for breath.

  Their boots thumped on old wood as Kevin lead them over the bridge. He didn’t care if this was the right town the cart driver mentioned or not. It was the only haven available from the haunted night.

  A thick river rock wall about ten feet tall encircled the town. Disproportionately massive guard towers of the same rock flanked the tree trunk gate. They kept watch over an old woman who led a goat across their threshold before a groan of movement shook the gate doors.

  “It’s closing!” Kevin shouted.

  They rushed the gates as the old woman and her goat waddled through, and squeezed by with an apology. Once through the tree trunk gates, a heavy iron portcullis lowered behind them with a whine of ungreased metal. Michael skipped out of its way, pushing Kevin on ahead of him before throwing an arm over his shoulder. Kevin fended the larger teen off with an elbow to the side.

  A cobblestone thoroughfare wider than the cart road split the small, two-block town in half. Fires burned against the night in barrels and flames winked in lanterns hanging from shops and houses. Stone and wood crafted buildings dark with age and neglect held up ramshackle roofs of rotting shingles and sagging overhangs.

  Where the cart road’s dusty path ended and the cobblestone street began, a faint blue light no thicker than Kevin’s finger tantalized their eyes. As they stepped across, a chime sounded, clear and level in their ears.

  “What was that?” Michael asked, walking backwards ahead of them to survey the walls. “Did you two hear that?”

  Kevin only grumbled; Michael certainly was a chatty one, and all the chatter was summoning a headache.

  “Maybe it’s letting everyone know the town gates are closed,” Veronica suggested as she huffed to catch her breath.

  As they entered, Michael threw a thumb over his shoulder. “I don’t think that sound was the gate. It hasn’t closed yet.” In exclamation to his point, the gates finally latched shut with a low thud that rattled in their chests.

  “Well, whatever. Let’s just figure out where we are.” Kevin turned Michael by a shoulder and hustled him through the dim streets before he bumped into someone. A boy their age wearing similar, poorly constructed white-and-blue clothing stumbled. He regarded them with wide-eyes and a pale face before he ran off.

  “That was . . . disconcerting,” Veronica whispered. Her eyes studied the town and the people who now clogged the streets.

  Women in old style long woolen dresses of the same color toted baskets of bread or fruit. Horse-drawn carts clopped alongside men hauling sacks of grain. An old woman swept the sidewalk with a broom made of twigs and hay.

  “I think I may have asked this before guys, but where are we?” Michael tucked his staff under an armpit and wound an arm through both Kevin and Veronica’s arms. He pulled them to the side of the boulevard as a horse plodded by pulling an old cart. “I’m starting to get a little creeped out, here.”

  “A little?” Kevin forcefully removed himself and pushed Michael to arm’s length.

  More cart wheels bumbling on the cobblestone street brought a wheel barrow their way. Golden wheat stalks glowing in the scant firelight of town bowed and flexed as the cart bounced along. A small and aged man wearing tattered brown burlap for clothing pushed his wheel barrow as if it were a Herculean task. Grey hair dusted his temples and streaked his beard, and dirt smudged a cheek. He wore a long and sullen look and cast his eyes to the ground as he passed.

  “Uh, excuse me.” Kevin stepped out to intercept. “Excuse me, can you tell me where we are?”

  The long face turned into a wide, gracious smile, as if Kevin’s words had revived him from his melancholy. Wrinkles formed around his eyes and a well-kept smile greeted them all. “Welcome to Serene, brave travelers.”

  Kevin licked his lips. “No, we’re not travelers. We don’t even know how we got here. Is there someplace we can use a phone?”

  The man’s smile did not waver.

  “Um, sir?”

  “Welcome to Serene, brave travelers.”

  Kevin cocked his head and poised to ask again, but Michael tugged him back to the side of the road to rejoin their huddle. Once the three moved aside, the man resumed his trudging with his cart of wheat, his face once again long and sullen. “Score another point on the ‘creeped-out’ gauge. Maybe we should ask someone else. Someone who doesn’t look like they’re about to contract the bubonic plague.”

  Together, they searched up and down the darkening street. Several others wearing plain white shirts and trousers with slashes of blue wandered with them. Their faces also told tales of being lost and forlorn. A few of them paused, as if contemplating approaching Kevin, Michael, and Veronica, but in the end they too shuffled off into the small town. Kevin tried to ask several of them, but no one he talked to knew any more about where they were than they did.

  “This place is so weird,” Veronica whispered.

  A young woman in a blue dress passed, searching here and there. “Has anyone seen my cat?” she asked. She continued to search high and low, narrowly missing stepping into the path of a horse being led through the streets.

  A plump woman carrying a sack of flour sauntered by, long red hair tied into a messy bun on the back of her head.

  “Excuse me.” Kevin shuffled over to her, trying his hand at a pleasant smile. “Can you tell us where we can find a phone?”

  “This village is safer than most when the sun goes down, but you should still stay on your guard.” She gave him an unnervingly bright smile. “It’s always best to head indoors when night falls. Night is when the demons come out.”

  Horrible chills crawled down Kevin’s spine, and he stumbled back.

  Michael came to his side and leaned in to the woman. “A phone,” he repeated, emphasizing the words. He reached out and took her arm. “We’re lost and we need help.” He tried to shake her but her body remained stiff and unmoving.

  Kevin’s stomach soured when the woman only smiled and repeated, “This village is safer than most when the sun goes down, but you should still stay on your guard when night falls. It’s always best to—”

  “Hey! Listen to me!” Michael took her by the shoulders and shook her again but her face remained placid. “Where the hell are we! Tell us how we can get help!”

  “The village is safer than most when—”

  Michael pushed her away and stumbled back. He grabbed Kevin and backed them all into a wall. “This is . . . I just . . . I don’t understand what’s going on around here.”

  Veronica took his arm and held on as they cowered against the shop. “I have to admit, I’m getting really freaked out now. I want to go home.” Something grumbled in an alleyway, prompting the woman with the sack of flour to hurry off after finishing her monologue. “I think we should do as she suggested and find somewhere inside.”

  “Good idea, V.” Michael gestured with his chin to the cobblestone street. “It looks like all the other people are clearing out, too.”

  In that moment, the sun slipped below the horizon, robbing the streets of the warm orange glow of sunset. The town fell instantly into darkness, unhindered by lamplight or lanterns. Villagers headed to doors and houses and one by one, they disappeared into the buildings. Even the horses and carts once bumbling through the streets had vanished. Lamp lights now burned in vacant windows, which cast dancing shadows on the cobblestones.

  At the end of the boulevard stood another tree-trunk constructed gate puncturing the rock wall encircling the town. A dozen houses huddled for company there. Two or three multi-storey brick and stone buildings held up one side of the town. Source-less light burned bright and luring in their windows. Across the street, a handful of fancier buildings kept them company, most with signs bearing odd pictures or symbols stating the building’s purpose.

  Michael’s stomach rumbled for all to hear. He patted his belly when Veronica raised an eyebrow at him. “What? I’m hungry.”

  “Well, I guess we should get indoors too. Do you suppose there’s someplace to feed Mike’s insistent tummy around here? A restaurant is bound to have a phone we can use.” Veronica put hands to hips and surveyed the shops. “Hopefully we can find somewhere to stay for the night until we figure out where we are and how we get back home.”

  Michael pointed out a nearby building with his gnarled staff. “How about that place?” A four-level, poorly constructed shop of wood, brick, and stone leaned over the sidewalk as if it could topple at any moment. A sign with words too dim to read waved above the door, bearing a painting of a pig wearing a red ribbon.

  As they drew closer, Kevin squinted to make out the sign. “The Pig’s Prize. What do you suppose this place is?”

  The smell of food answered them.

  Kevin pulled open the door only to be met by a fat innkeeper barring their progress. “Ten copper each for the night,” he declared in a gruff tone. He was neither friendly nor intimidating. Just a large old man with a vacant expression staring back at them.

  “Do you have a phone we could use?” Kevin asked.

  “Ten copper each for the night,” the man grumbled again.

  Kevin drew back and frowned before shaking his head. “Fine, whatever. Copper? Is that money, or something?”

  Michael searched his pockets and came back with a handful of coins. “Is ‘copper’ what this stuff is?” He presented a few copper coins the size of pennies. “I have seven of them.”

  “Me too. I don’t know where I got them, but . . .” Veronica held out a similar handful of coins.

  Kevin dug around in a pocket to come back with seven copper coins as well. “Okay. That’s weird. So, we have twenty-one of these copper coins between the three of us. What will that get us?”

  “That will get you two rooms and two meal courses—dinner tonight, breakfast and lunch tomorrow.” The man then snatched up the coins, leaving one behind in Kevin’s hands.

  “Only two rooms?” The boys whined as a whole.

  “Well, I guess you and I get to shack up for the night, then.” Michael gave Kevin a sly grin and clapped him on the shoulder. Kevin groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  The innkeeper moved aside and gestured them in. Once inside the inn, soft but lively music created a warm atmosphere and a few patrons danced in a corner. Other tavern goers huddled at tables or near the sides of the room, dressed in the same tattered and poorly sewn clothing Kevin, Michael, and Veronica wore. Burly men drinking ale and lithe women dancing in mindless circles occupied the spaces in between.

  Thick wood beams held up a ceiling constructed with such haste that Kevin could see the twinkling of stars through cracks in the shingles. Heads of deer and other game watched him as they gathered by the front door to take in the sight. A brutish man handed out drinks behind a wooden bar, and a few not-too-charming-looking men with large swords chatted in a dim corner of the common room. Wooden tables and chairs mostly clogged with people added a low hum of activity to the cramped space.

  Michael jumped back and flattened himself to the wall when a woman in a red dress danced by them, twirling at a dizzying pace. He watched after her before his eyes traveled once around the inn. He whistled long and poignant. “Whoah. It looks like Game of Thrones threw up in here.”

  “Yeah,” said Veronica, also taking in the medieval sights. “And something tells me this place isn’t going to have a phone we can use.”

  “Or even running water.”

  “Let’s just find somewhere to sit,” said Kevin. “Maybe we can find someone local who can actually hold a decent conversation and ask them where we are.”

  Two burly men smashed mugs together and chugged their contents, spilling their drinks about as they did. Michael shuffled back when some slopped onto his shoes. “Maybe we can find someone not-too-local?”

  Kevin pointed across the tavern. “I think there’s a spot there.” A vacant place at the end of a table remained untouched by the other tavern-goers.

  The same woman in the red dress danced by again. Her dress furled around her as she twirled in maddening circles. “Quick!” Michael pushed them both into the tavern. “Before she comes back again.”

  Like a demented game of Frogger, they darted into the tavern only to shuffle back when another dancing lady—this one in a blue dress—twirled by them. The teens waited for a break in the crowd before darting across again. As they passed a full table, they ducked another group of burly men smashing mugs. The three teens picked their way through the other patrons before the dancing woman came back for another pass.

  They found a vacant portion of a long bench positioned before an oak slab table large enough to seat the three of them. A few burly-looking men smashed mugs together beside them, sloshing their drinks onto the table before they chugged.

  “Um. May we sit here?” Veronica flashed a smiled full of teeth and twinkle to the men. She startled back when one turned to face her so quick it was a surprise he didn’t fall over.

  “Have a seat, travelers!” the drunk man laughed with a voice far too loud to be appropriate. A few people at the other tables glanced up at them. The man’s beard dripped with a generous amount of ale and gathered a fair amount more when he chugged his drink again. He plopped a wooden mug on the table, splashing a dark-colored liquid onto the aged wooden surface. “We don’t get many travelers in these parts. Tell me, friends. Where are you from?” A large hand motioned them to have a seat.

  Kevin, Michael, and Veronica climbed onto the bench, which was nothing more than a thick tree trunk cut down the middle. Michael leaned his staff against the table only to have it tumble to the floor several times. After a few attempts, he plopped the item on the table and declared his victory with a grin.

  “You wouldn’t happen to have a phone we could use, do you?” Kevin asked, shying away when the big man leaned in to listen.

  “Tell me, friends. Where are you from?”

  Memory rewarded him with only a blank and empty cavern in his mind. “I . . . I can’t remember, really.”

  “Well, I’ve never heard of Can’t Remember.” The man leaned back and laughed. “It was probably bigger than this spit of a town.” The two burly men shared a chortle, smashed mugs together, and took a swig each as a tavern lady brought two plates of food. Baked potatoes, a thick piece of roast meat, and vegetables winked back at them. Wafts of delicious smells tantalized Kevin’s nose.

  He turned from the men and leaned into Veronica sitting beside him. “What is wrong with this place and its people? Everyone’s so . . .”

  “Flat?” she offered. “Like they’re stuck doing the same things over and over again?” The burly men smashed mugs again to emphasize her point.

  “I feel like a little kid who lost their mom at Wal-Mart.”

  “Oh, whatever! I am sooo hungry right now.” Michael grabbed a wooden fork and a dull metal knife, and sawed at the meat on one plate.

  “There are other people here dressed like us.” Kevin tugged at his loose-fitting cotton shirt for emphasis. “All of us look just as lost, too. I think we’re not the only ones who ended up here and don’t know how we ended up here.”

  “We should try to ask someone,” Veronica said.

  Kevin agreed, but his stomach growled. He came to the sudden realization he was starving.

  As unnerving as the feeling was, Kevin gave in and speared a few carrots from a plate. They were slathered in butter and absolutely delicious. He soon found himself more engrossed in eating than worrying about his predicament.

  “Hey V,” Michael said around a great mouthful of roast. He had already made it through half of the large piece of meat. “Why aren’t you eating?”

  Veronica gave the plates a disapproving look. “I’m vegan. All this stuff is dripping in dead animal flesh and excrement.” She curled her lip when Kevin sawed at the roast and gobbled it up.

  Michael examined his speared chunk of meat, but ate it with a shrug.

  “See if you can flag down that waitress,” Kevin said. “Maybe they have something else on the menu.”

  A holographic display burst into life, startling them all and sending Michael careening from the table with a yelp. Orange-red grids with glowing white text hovered obediently over the table, jostling about when Kevin startled back.

  “What the hell!” Michael yelled from the floor. He pointed an accusing fork at the hologram. “Where did that come from!” A tavern lady danced by him without a care in the world, no concern for the fact that he sat in the middle of the isle. She all but ran him down.

  “Kevin, what did you do?” Veronica yelled.

  “I-I don’t know!” He choked down his mouth full of carrots and wiped a hand across his face. “Maybe it was something I said.”

  “Menu!” Michael called. A similar screen burst opened before him. “Whoah.”

  “Guys, I know where we are!” Veronica snagged Michael from the floor and pulled both boys close. Suspicious dark eyes scanned the crowds for eavesdroppers and ruffians, and she lowered her voice until it became thin and raspy. “I think we’re in a video game.”