The Trap (The Magnificent 12 #2)(27)

“Is she dead?” Mack asked.

Xiao jumped in to do quick introductions.

“No, Mack, she’s not dead. Not even killed,” Shen Long said regretfully. “But it will take her a while to put herself back together. You’d better get going. She won’t fall for the same thing twice.”

“Actually, Uncle, I was wondering if you could give us a ride.”

“A ride?” Shen Long scratched his chin with one five-clawed foot. “Where to?”

“Germany,” Mack said. “Some place called the Egge Rocks or Externsteine.”

“Externsteine?” Shen Long looked troubled.

“Or the nearest airport,” Mack said. “I know it’s a long way.”

Xiao, human once again, gave Mack a significant look. In a whisper she said, “The problem is not the distance. It’s the memories.”

Shen Long looked stricken. His jovial face was sad and creased with worry. He seemed to have decided what direction Germany was in and was staring that way, but with eyes that saw something else entirely.

“She wouldn’t even remember me,” Shen Long said softly.

“No one could ever forget you, Uncle. But it was a long time ago.”

“I will take you,” Shen Long said reluctantly. “But I am not hanging around. Otherwise she’ll think I came to see her.”

“As you wish, Uncle,” Xiao said.

The dragon lay as flat as he could, and Xiao, followed by Mack, Jarrah, and Stefan, climbed up his side and onto his back. Like all Chinese dragons, he rose effortlessly, and headed away from the sun.

“What was all that about?” Mack asked. He was trying not to think about what would happen if he fell off. Shen Long was gaining altitude pretty quickly. Soon they were brushing the undersides of the clouds.

“An old love of my uncle’s. Her name was Nott.”

“Not what?”

“Nott. Just Nott.”

Mack waited as long as he could before asking, “Not what?”

“Nott. That was her name. Nott.”

“Is that a joke?” Mack asked. “Like one of those ‘not’ jokes? Like if I said, ‘I like your dress . . . not.’”

“What’s the matter with my dress?” Xiao asked, a little irritated.

Leaning forward, Jarrah asked, “Not what?”

“Not a what, a who,” Mack explained to Jarrah. “Nothing!” he answered Xiao’s question.

“Okay, then,” Jarrah said. “Not who?”

“Are we there yet?” Stefan asked.

“I think Nott was Shen Long’s girlfriend,” Mack yelled back to Jarrah. The wind was fierce and cold now that Shen Long was picking up speed.

“Then what’s this about nothing?” Jarrah asked.

“It’s not about nothing,” Mack said. “It’s about Nott.”

There was a moment or two of silence. Then Jarrah said, “You know, I could push you right off this dragon’s back.”

Mack thought that over for a second or two then said, “I’d prefer you not. Heh.”

And so the first three of the Magnificent Twelve flew aboard a pot-bellied dragon into the west. And Stefan was there, too.

Mack leaned close to Stefan, not wanting the others to hear him. “Dude, we’re cool, right?”

Stefan thought about that for a moment. “I’m cool. And Jarrah is definitely cool. So cool. But I’m not sure about you.”

“That’s not what I meant. I mean, you could have died. I probably should have gotten you to a doctor.”

Stefan shrugged. “Why? I’m all fixed up.”

“But I didn’t know that at the time. I kind of risked your life.”

Stefan laughed. “You’re under my wing. Not the other way around.” Then he punched Mack in the shoulder, one of those “friendly” punches. A buddy punch. Which knocked Mack clear off Shen Long’s back and would have sent him spiraling down to plow a hole in some very hard-looking ground except that Stefan snatched him back and settled him in place again.

“See? Under my wing.”





Chapter Twenty



They told knock-knock jokes over Mongolia.

They sang “Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall” over Kazakhstan.

They stared blearily ahead with glazed, fixed expressions over Russia.

They stopped for water at a lake in Ukraine and used a porta-potty at an oil pipeline construction site.

They talked about their hopes and dreams and aspirations over Poland.

“I either want to be an extreme fighting champion,” Stefan said, “or a race car driver.”

“I want to be a surfer and go on the tour, you know?” Jarrah said. “Maybe get a sponsorship, right? Have lots of money but ride the big ones all day.”

“Wouldn’t that be boring after a while?” Mack asked.

“What, surfing? Boring?” Jarrah laughed like it was idiotic even to suggest such a thing. “Besides, I’d do a bit of archaeology in my spare time. Like my mum.”

“What about you, Xiao?” Mack asked. He didn’t like the conversation because he didn’t want to answer the question for himself.