Worlds Collide (The Land of Stories #6)(43)

“How are we going to get into the park if Alex has put a force field around it?” Jack said.

“If we can’t get through it, maybe we can go under it,” Conner said. “Rusty said the Calvin Coolidge Express was going to stop in Central Park—let’s go back to the tunnel and pray we find another hatch beneath it. But we have to hurry—God only knows what the witches could be doing to those kids right now!”





CHAPTER THIRTEEN





SOMETHING’S COOKING


Conner and his friends returned to the Calvin Coolidge Express tunnel beneath the New York Public Library. Jack found an old lantern on the unfinished platform, along with some matches, and lit it so they could see where they were going. Bree used a compass app on her phone to be certain which direction was north. The gang ran up the abandoned subway tunnel as fast as they could toward Central Park, hoping and praying they would find a way into it.

Strangely, only when Goldilocks started running did Hero finally settle down and go to sleep. The more tense and bumpy the situation, the more relaxed the infant became. His aunt Red, however, was fussing enough for both of them. The farther they ran through the tunnel, the more tears ran down her face.

“Red, why are you crying?” Bree asked.

“Physical exertion,” Red confessed. “It never agrees with me.”

After over a mile and a half of spotting nothing in the tunnel but bricks and the occasional rat, Conner and his friends finally arrived at another unfinished platform. The words CENTRAL PARK were written in chalk on the wall beside it.

“We’re here!” Conner said. “Does anyone see a hatch to crawl through?”

Jack raised the lantern toward the ceiling and they saw a circular door that opened inward. Conner found a ladder to the side of the platform and positioned it directly below the door. He climbed the ladder and pulled on the door’s handle, but it wouldn’t open.

“The door’s bolted shut!” he said. “We’re gonna need a jackhammer or something powerful to get through this.”

Bree, Jack, Goldilocks, and Red looked around the platform but didn’t find anything except some rope and masking tape. Their chances of getting through the door seemed very slim. Red, defeated, took a seat on the edge of the platform and pouted.

“So, we just ran a mile down a filthy, smelly tunnel for nothing?” she said, and sprayed her Febreze in the air around her. “This rescue mission isn’t going very well, is it?”

The others walked around the platform as they tried to think of alternative ways into the park. Bree, however, stood very still, and her eyes never moved from Red. An idea blossomed in her mind and a smirk grew across her face.

“Red, can I borrow your Febreze?” she asked.

Before Red had the chance to answer, Bree snatched the can of air freshener out of the queen’s hands. She picked up a roll of masking tape, plucked a long strand of twine from the rope, and climbed the ladder. Bree then taped the can of Febreze to the circular door, near the bolts keeping it shut. She broke off the tip of the canister and stuck the twine down the tube.

“Does anyone have a lighter?” she asked.

Jack handed her the matches he’d found on the previous platform. Bree lit a match and set the loose end of the twine on fire. Conner climbed halfway up the ladder to take a closer look at whatever contraption she was making.

“Bree, what are you doing?” he asked.

“Making a bomb,” Bree said casually. “We might want to take cover—quickly!”

Jack, Goldilocks, and Red jumped off the platform and ducked into the tunnel. Bree and Conner hurried down the ladder and joined the others. The flame flickered up the twine and into the can of Febreze and BAM! The canister exploded and the circular door fell from the ceiling.

“I’ve saved the day!” Red cheered, and applauded herself.

Jack and Goldilocks rolled their eyes and gave Bree a congratulatory pat on the back. Conner just stared at her with his mouth hanging open.

“What?” Bree asked.

“You just built a bomb!” Conner said in shock.

“And?”

“I just realized what a horrible influence you are,” he said.

Bree shrugged. “At least it smells better down here.”

The gang returned to the platform and stared up at the fresh hole in the ceiling. The explosion appeared to have blown through a layer of dirt and grass above the door. Conner climbed the ladder and crawled through the hole, and his friends followed close behind him.

Had Conner not known Central Park was above them he would have thought they were entering a forest in the fairy-tale world. He emerged from the tunnel at the bottom of a grassy hill sprinkled with large boulders. New York City’s skyscrapers were barely visible behind all the trees surrounding the area. Conner looked up and saw Alex’s magic shield stretching across the night sky like a jiggling, sparkling dome.

For whatever reason, Conner’s friends were taking their time climbing up from the tunnel. It took Bree, Jack, and Goldilocks a couple of minutes each to surface into the park, and almost five minutes passed before Red joined them aboveground. Conner thought this was a little peculiar, given the urgency of the situation.

“About time, Red,” he said.

“What are you talking about?” Red asked. “I was right behind you.”