RICK and ROY

The students spread out to different corners of the room to clear the boxes away. Rick and Roy chose a spot where they could work together.

"So," Roy started, trying to sound casual, "can you tell me why you were so stubborn keeping that secret?"

Rick kept his eyes on the boxes. "What secret?"

"You know." Roy tossed the crate he was holding a little harder than he needed.

"I thought I said I don't want to talk about it," Rick muttered.

"But that was when we were tied up! Can't you tell me now?"

Rick didn't answer.

"Okay then, I'll tell you why I kept my painting secret. Then you tell me, got it?"

Rick raised his eyebrows and chucked another crate. "Okay."

"Remember how I ran out of the library with an article that I didn't want to show anyone?"

"Yeah. Not a good idea."

Roy took a deep breath and continued. "Well, it freaked me out. It was about a kid who'd been caught forging legal documents. I remember seeing another article about the same kid making and selling art forgeries."

"That sounds bad."

Roy nodded. "Yeah, and the worst part is that the kid in the article is me!"

Rick shot him a concerned look. Both of them forgot they were supposed to be moving crates. "Roy," Rick said quietly. "What are you talking about?"

"But it wasn't me!" Roy said in a rush. "I didn't do it, but it was still there in the news. I was framed, or something! That's why I didn't tell you, or anyone, that I could paint or draw or anything like that. I didn't know what was happening. I was scared."

"I believe you," Rick said slowly. "But that's just plain weird."

Roy was silent for a moment. He turned his attention back to the crates and reached for one. "I told you my reason. Now you tell me yours."

Rick laughed. "Now I just feel stupid. It's not as crazy as yours."

"Tell me anyway."

"I like studying languages," Rick said with a shrug. "I've been looking into a college that has a really great linguistics program. But you always said how great it would be to go to the same college after high school, and I was afraid you would be mad that I wanted to go there."

Roy forced a smile. "Yeah, I would be mad. I am mad. But you still could've told me."

"The college is in Germany."

Roy's eyes grew huge. He laughed. "Okay, maybe you had a reason not to tell me. I would've killed you if I'd known!"

"Are you going to kill me now?" Rick said, grinning.

"Nah, there's a murderer around here who could do that for me."

"Enough about that. I'm still confused about that article. How...?"

Rick didn't have time to finish. From the other side of the room, Nathan shouted, "Hey! I found a door!" Rick and Roy looked up from their work and were about to go to where Nathan was, but then there was another shout. "There's a door over here, too!" Madison called.

"I also have one!" Heather added.

"Wow," Roy said. "How many doors can there be down here?"

Rick shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe there's dozens of them. I wonder where they all lead."

The students met in the middle of the room to decide what to do. Rick and Roy wandered over and joined the group.

"Which door are we going through?" Madison was asking.

"Not mine," Heather suggested. "It was locked."

"Right," Amanda said. "So that leaves us two doors."

"I found one, too," Lara added quietly. "I just...didn't want to shout."

Amanda nodded. "Okay, three. And probably more that we haven't found."

"I say we stop looking," Star interjected. "I think I may have gotten a splinter."

Roy snickered. "Of course she would be the only one to get a splinter," he whispered to Rick. "I bet she didn't even touch the crates."

Rick only shrugged, then turned to the other students. "Star has a point," he said, glancing sideways to catch Roy's surprised look. "We shouldn't look for more doors before checking the ones we have."

"No more looking, then," Amanda concluded. "We should split into three groups and explore all of them at once. If yours leads to the mansion, great. If not, turn back and try one of the other ones. Hopefully we'll all meet in the mansion."

"That sounds like a bad idea," Star said. "What if one of the doors leads to another maze? Do you want us to get lost?"

Amanda sighed. "If your door leads to a maze, just come back here."

"What if all of the doors end in mazes?" Star asked.

"Come on!" Madison said impatiently. She was already walking toward a door. "Let's just get out of here!"

"Split into groups," Amanda instructed. "We have eleven students here, so there can be one team of three and two of four."

"What about a group of five?" Roy asked, which earned him an elbow jab from Rick. "What?" he asked. "I'm just curious."

Amanda turned to Roy and sighed sternly.

"Okay, I was just kidding," he said before she could say anything. He and Rick joined Dwain, then waited to see whether they would get a fourth member.

"Is Nathan already in a group?" Rick asked.

"Yeah," Dwain answered, waving his hand. "He's over there with James and Julia."

"What about Heather?" Roy asked.

Rick looked around. "She's going with Lara, Madison, and Amanda."

A confused expression flashed onto Roy's face. "Then who do we have left?"

"Hello." The three boys turned at the sound of Star's voice. She was walking toward them, holding her chin high and looking a little flushed.

"Hello," Dwain said. "What do you want?"

Star's eyes shifted back to the other students. Her face grew more red. "Well, I don't think there's any room in those other disaster squads, so I wondered if I could just...tag along with you three."

Roy looked horrified, and Dwain looked confused, but Rick ignored them and smiled. "Sure, Star."

Star flicked her hair over her shoulder and sat down on a crate to file her nails while she waited to leave.

"Are you crazy?" Roy whispered to Rick. "She's so annoying! And look! Did she just have that nail file in her pocket?"

"Calm down," Rick whispered back. "It won't hurt us."

"But Rick...."

Whatever he was about to complain about next was interrupted by a call from Amanda to get going. Star put away her file and followed as Rick, Roy, and Dwain walked to the closest door. "Let's hope this door leads to the mansion," Rick muttered. Then he pulled it open.

"Oh, yuck!" Star exclaimed when the musty air behind the door flew into their faces. Gagging, she said, "I am not going in there."

Dwain peered into the dark space and shrugged. "It's not too bad."

"We're going to need a light," Rick pointed out, feeling along the grimy wall. "I can't find any lamps or candles."

"We brought two lamps when we came down here," Dwain said, "but the other groups must have them."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Roy asked.

"Uh, hello," Star waved at them. "I have a phone."

Roy huffed. "After all we've been through, you still carry that stupid phone around with you?"

"Yeah, obviously," Star said, as if it really were obvious.

"Who cares why she has it?" Rick said. "Turn your phone light on, Star. You can lead."

Star was shocked. "You want me to lead the way into that...that...creep hole?"

The three boys nodded simultaneously, and Star realized that she had no choice.

"Fine," she said. "But if I see a spider, I'm switching places with one of you."

Star went ahead, lighting the way down the foul-smelling passage. It was narrow, and the ceiling was low. Rick, who was just a few inches too tall, had to hunch his shoulders to fit. The path turned sharply every dozen feet, and it sloped steadily upward. Despite Star's concerns, they found no spiders along the way, but there were cobwebs everywhere.

Five minutes of walking later, Star stopped so suddenly that Rick ran into her. Roy was caught by surprise as well, but he and Dwain were able to stop before bowling into each other and Rick.

"What are you doing?" Rick asked, trying to see over Star's shoulder into the darkness ahead.

"I got a text," she said.

Roy let out an exasperated cry. "And she texts, too? Does she even care that we're stuck in a tunnel with a murderer to find?"

"Star," Rick said. "Do you really have to...?"

"Shh," Star interrupted, then turned her attention back to her phone. When she was finished, she turned to the others, the phone light casting unnatural shadows on her strangely serious face.

"It's Kathryn," she said quietly. "I...don't know how she got my number...."

"Kathryn?" Rick whispered.

"She wants to know where J. Q. King is," Star continued, her expression unchanging. "She wants proof that he's with us."

"But he's not with us," Dwain said.

Rick realized something. "If she wants to know where J. Q. King is, he isn't with her either."

"So he's out roaming the woods somewhere," Roy said. "Wonderful."

Star shook her head and started walking again. "She didn't say why she wants to know. But I really think we should get back to the mansion."

The boys agreed. The group walked for what felt like hours, which might have been boring if they hadn't been so scared. Star eventually stopped again, and this time Rick was able to keep from running into her.

"What is it?" he asked.

Star didn't answer immediately. Instead, she lifted her phone further in front of her. Its light caught on a wall. "Look," she said. "Dead end."

"No way!" Roy exclaimed. "We came all this way just for a dead end?"

Rick shook his head. "I was hoping this wouldn't happen."

"Yeah," Star said. "Now we have to go all the way back and pick another disgusting tunnel."

Rick sighed and brushed a hand through his hair. He froze when it bumped into something hard protruding from the ceiling. "Star, the light!" he said.

"What?"

"Shine your light on the ceiling."

Star shrugged, then angled her phone upward. "I don't see why...."

"There!" Rick interrupted. "See that lock?"

The others peered at the ceiling and saw a small, sliding bolt lock.

"I bet it's a trapdoor," Rick said. "We go through it, and we're out of here."

"What if it leads into something we don't want," Roy asked, "like a pond? We'd drown. Or what if it leads us straight to Kathryn?"

"It's just as likely to lead us to the mansion," Dwain pointed out.

"I don't care where it leads," Rick stated, sliding open the bolt. "I'll go first."

Rick dug his fingernails around the sides of the hatch and pulled. It came only halfway at first, then with one more tug the trapdoor came open with a cloud of dust and a flood of dim light. Rick grabbed the sides of the opening and hefted himself through it.

"What's up there, Rick?" Roy asked, squinting through the dust.

After a pause, Rick replied, "It's the mansion. I think I'm in front of the gym." Roy, Dwain, and Star heard a door open. "Yep," Rick said, a little more muffled. "It's the gym."

"So who's going up next?" Roy asked, looking between Star and Dwain.

"Ladies first," Star said. "I want to get out of here!" After handing her phone to Dwain, she reached up and tried to pull herself through the hole. After a few moments of struggling, she admitted, "I can't do it."

"I'll give you a boost," Dwain offered, kneeling with his hands out.

"I guess I'll help, too," Roy said, doing the same. Star secured a foot on each of the boys' hands. They lifted, and in a moment she was out. As soon as she was safe, she reached back down, demanding her phone. Dwain handed it to her.

"You next, Dwain?" Roy asked.

"Sure," he responded. Roy helped lift him out, then stood alone in the dark tunnel.

"Hey, Rick," he called. "Can I get some help here?" For a moment, Roy wondered if they had all left him. But then he saw his friend's hand reaching down to him. He took hold of it, and soon he was standing in the halls of the mansion.

While Rick kicked the trapdoor shut, Star looked around. "I never thought I would say this," she said, "but I am so glad to see this place!"

They heard running footsteps down the hall and saw the rest of the students coming toward them. They all looked relieved to see that the last few had found their way, but their faces were also serious, probably because of the person they had with them.

"J. Q. King!" Roy exclaimed. He was there, running along with the rest of the students. He looked awful, covered in dirt, cuts, and bruises.

The two groups met. J. Q. King leaned over with his hands on his knees, panting. Rick looked at him, then at the other students. "Where did you find him?"

"He found us," Amanda replied.

Madison scowled. "And scared us half to death when we saw him looking down at us through the trapdoor."

"Where was he?" Dwain asked. "How did he get here?"

J. Q. King straightened up, brushing off his clothes. He cleared his throat. "I can answer my own questions," he said. "Sornione is here, students. He found me in my mansion--er, my hideout--in the woods. I escaped, but I had to hide."

"Where?" Dwain asked.

J. Q. King looked embarrassed. "I think it was...James' closet?"

"Hey, what?" James exclaimed.

"You were in the mansion this whole time?" Rick said.

J. Q. King nodded.

"Why did you never come find us?" Amanda asked.

"It was too dangerous," J. Q. King said with a shrug. "I had no idea who the imposter student was, and I knew that since Sornione was here, they would be more bold and--" J. Q. King paused. "Wait," he said, eyeing the students in Rick's group. He turned back to the students behind him. "Where's Stewart?"

"You guys didn't tell him?" Roy asked.

"Tell me what?" J. Q. King said, looking around at the students with wide eyes. "Tell me what?"

Amanda spoke quietly. "Kathryn took him," she said.

"No. No, no, no," he muttered. His voice grew louder until he was yelling. "No! How could you let her? She'll take him straight to Sornione!"

The students were nervous about his reaction. They knew that it was bad, but something in J. Q. King's voice made them feel like it was even worse than they had thought. "What's wrong?" Amanda asked.

"What's wrong?" J. Q. King snapped. He pulled at his grimy hair and started pacing. "What's wrong?!" He stopped and sank to his knees. "You're all changing," he said. "But none of you look like him."

"Look like who?" Roy asked.

J. Q. King shook his head. "It was Stewart." He looked up at the students standing silently around him. Tears streaked down his dirty face. "Sornione has my son."