CHAPTER 48
Jennifer
“Get off the bridge!
Get off the bridge!”
Dianna and Evangelina
slipped out of the third dimension, leaving Elizabeth and Jennifer
to drag Skip’s frozen body off the creaking bridge. The volley of
explosions had blasted the underside of the span, sending chunks of
asphalt and steel plummeting into the Mississippi. Eddie, once
again on the wrong side of the bridge, was forced to run back to
the eastern bank.
Pieces of the arch
support over their heads were hanging loose, and Jennifer could
feel the entire western half swaying back and forth. She shifted
into dragon shape and lifted Skip-sicle the rest of the way so that
her mother could focus on running.
They barely reached
the western abutment when a horrific screech of metal against metal
signaled the death of Winoka Bridge. The entire span plunged
downward with a cascade of roaring splashes. The river consumed the
lower material without difficulty, but the higher bits of the arch
stuck in its craw and poked out like broken teeth from a watery
grin.
Somewhere to the
north, another several explosions rumbled.
“That sounds like the
hospital,” Elizabeth muttered.
“What’s going on?”
Jennifer asked.
Ruddaduddaduddaruddaduddadudda
Even with her
excellent dragon vision, Jennifer could not spot the helicopters at
first. Their anti- infrared shielding and low flight paths shrouded
their approach. When she did spot them, she cursed.
There were at least
ten of them slipping through the river valley, some larger than the
others. They popped up fewer than two hundred yards away, pointed
their rockets at the electricity substation on the riverbank, and
let loose with a new storm of rockets. Moments later, the lights
began blinking out across Winoka.
“Mom. They’re going
to destroy the town.”
“I can’t believe
that, honey.” In the dwindling light, Elizabeth’s despair was still
visible. “I see it, but I can’t believe it.”
“We can’t let them do
this.”
“Agreed. How do we
stop them?”
You could try forgiving them.
“Evangelina, that
sort of sarcasm doesn’t help—”
Fine. Let’s move to action. We must destroy them.
Jennifer and
Elizabeth looked at each other. Was Evangelina right? Did they have
no choice?
Surely, this time, you will not argue. Surely, this time, you see the only possible path.
“You don’t have to
leave it to her.” They turned, surprised, to hear Dianna say this.
Her hands glowed with golden energy. “You can pursue them and deal
with them in any way you like. Maybe you can find a less violent
way to stop them than what my daughter has in mind.”
Mother. You’re interfering. I’ve had time to heal, and I am hungry.
“Daughter. Stand
still and listen. This is not our town. This is not our legacy.
Those it belongs to need our help. Let’s give them a
chance.”
Evangelina’s legs
twitched. Then she was gone.
Dianna sighed. “You
will have to move quickly if you want a different outcome from what
she has in mind. You won’t be able to save all of them—but maybe
you’ll be able to save some of them.”
“Save them? Have you
seen them? According to my friend
Susan, they top out at one hundred eighty miles per hour and have
heat-seeking missiles, among other fabulous blow-uppy stuff.
Perhaps you saw them take out the bridge we almost died on. Ms.
Wilson, I don’t think saving them is
going to be a problem. I think catching
them is going to be a problem. I think not
dying is going to be a problem.”
“What can you do to
help us?” Elizabeth asked.
Dianna raised her
glowing hands and motioned at Jennifer. “I can make her
faster.”
Jennifer licked her
lips. “How much faster?”
“Fast enough. You
could take your mother with you. Perhaps together, you will find a
way to disable one or more of the helicopters.”
Another volley of
missiles smashed into the center of town. Jennifer figured it was
the armory, an opinion confirmed by a rapid succession of
subsequent explosions.
“Faster.” With a single word and a burning touch,
Dianna transferred a jolt of energy through the limbs of the
Ancient Furnace. Jennifer immediately marveled at how slow the rest
of the world seemed to be going. Let’s
race, she told everyone and everything she could see.
Let’s race race race!
She turned to her
mother. “Ready!”
“Jennifer, honey.”
Her mother was clearly torn. “I can’t go with you. I need to get to
others, form some sort of defense. They’re going to come after the
hospital.”
Now Jennifer was
racing her own fear, which seemed disturbingly up to the task. “How
will I do this alone?”
Her mother motioned
across the river. “You don’t have to. Take Eddie. Take out as many
as you can, hurting as few as possible.”
“What if I don’t have
a choice?”
“I trust you,
Jennifer. Make the best choices you can. It’s all anyone can
do.”
Suddenly, a
helicopter over their heads spun out of control and careened into a
building. The resulting fireball lit up the streetscape enough for
them to make out a shadow of a dragon slipping away, looking for
its next kill.
“Hurry,
honey.”
Jennifer sped away,
shouting across the river for Eddie as she cruised over the watery
wreckage.
He was waiting for
her, bless him, halfway up a tree and poised to jump. She hovered
for half a second, caught him on her back as he leapt—
“Hummmph!”
—and then they were
off.