CHAPTER FIFTEEN

LOST IN THE PARK

Abby crept to the edge of the pond while Alexander, who was never too fond of large bodies of water, stayed behind by some empty cages. “The lake’s bigger than I remember,” she yelled back. She tossed a rock into the pond, listening for the sound for when it hit bottom. When there was no sound after several seconds, she shook her head. “And much deeper.”

Alexander stood on his tiptoes, craning his neck to get a glimpse of the body crumpled up on the island in the middle of the pond. He’d never seen a dead person before. Until yesterday, he’d never seen anything dead other than a rosebush. Abby motioned for him to join her, but he shook his head no. She was insistent, and after several requests, he finally inched his way closer to the water.

“We need to find a way over to the island. Can you swim?”

Wobbly knees and the terror in Alexander’s eyes answered her question.

“Thought so, I’m not the greatest swimmer either.” She skimmed a flat rock on the surface. The rock stopped in mid-skim as a slimy tentacle skimmed the rock back to them. “That confirms my suspicion. There’s something in the water,” Abby muttered to herself. Alexander stood beside an empty cage. His whole body quivered from fear.

“Come on, Alex. It can’t hurt you,” she yelled, although she wasn’t certain she was telling the truth. “Fine, I’ll find a way over by myself. I don’t need a baby’s help.” She dipped her foot in the water, hoping the rock-throwing monster wouldn’t tear it off and toss it to Alexander.

“Wait, I’ll go with you, but I ain’t swimming. How about trying to walk on those gigantic lily pads on the other bank?”

Abby was too busy throwing rocks to notice dozens of bright orange lily pads floating on the opposite side of the pond. The pads were the size of carts.

“That might work, but they don’t exactly reach the island.” She held her extended hand to her eyes and peered at the pads. “It looks like they’re short by about twelve feet. I can use my magic to jump twelve feet, but that doesn’t help you. We must find another way.”

 The sun broke through a bank of clouds, bathing the island in brilliant brightness. The dead body wasn’t dead or a body at all. The object was a Royal Rent-a Coach ripped to shreds, its spindly stretches of metal resembling lifeless limbs. Abby knew about Royal Coaches, and this was a newer model that had only arrived on the island a few days ago, judging from the banners.

“Orange lily pads…” She slapped herself on the forehead. “The only thing I know of that uses orange lilies are giant pond squirrels.” She shouted a warning to Alexander, “Run!” but he was gone.

                                                                 

 Abby dropped to her knees, which was a good thing because the slimy tentacles of the pond monster swooshed above her head. She would have been monster lunch if she’d been standing. She jumped up, but the dampness of the murky ground prevented her from getting any traction. Once she got the right foothold, she sprinted from the edge of the pond as if a slingshot shot her out.

She ran past a group of schoolchildren who’d just entered the park. Their teachers appeared unaware the park was possessed.

 “GET OUT,” Abby yelled without looking at the children or considering the chaos it would cause for a princess to yell GET OUT at a group of kindergarteners. The students ran around in frantic circles and flapped their arms as the teachers tried to corral them.

Alexander was gone. The last time she’d seen him, he’d been at the huge cage at the edge of the pond.

                                                                 

Abby huffed and puffed, out of breath as she arrived at the cage. She searched the yellow patch of grass for any clues or signs. A slight imprint of Alexander’s boots was the only trace of evidence.

She investigated the cages one by one. Bones of animals, at least she hoped they were animal bones, littered the floors—skeletons bleached white by an uncaring sun and carcasses stripped clean by park mice. Abby frowned at the death and decay around her. Except for the bones, the cages were empty. She found herself in a desperate race with time as sun sped from the east to the west. O’Toole and Malley would return with the setting sun. Still, there was no sign of Alexander.

I must be the worst babysitter in the entire history of babysitters. The sun mocked her, challenging her to find the missing boy before it dipped below the western mountains.

For an instant, she thought about returning to the pond and starting over, but she didn’t want to face whatever patrolled the lake, or accidentally run into a giant pond squirrel. Running into either of them would ruin an already bad day.

Beaten and exhausted, she sat on a log and buried her head in her cupped hands. What was she going to say to the leprechauns? They might forgive her for misplacing the boy if she explained they’d walked into a nest of giant pond squirrels… but that was a stretch. One thing was certain—she couldn’t tell them the truth: Alexander just vanished while I was busy fighting a pond monster.

                                                                 

Alexander’s voice drifted in from behind a large tree. “Abby could help you if she were here. No, I don’t know where she is. I think she was gulped down by a monster.” Abby heard only one voice, but Alexander was talking to someone. “They’ll be here soon. I’ve never heard of pond squirrels. The leprechauns will be here soon. They’ll know what to do.”