Wolves and Paths Read online

  Grandma hadn't watched and waited to see if any tour buses showed up at the school? Right?

  It was Grandma, after all. I took out my phone to turn it on, but Tate shot me a look and shook his head. "Don't check it yet," he warned me. "If you do, it'll make you want to go back. You've got to cut her off for a bit."

  He was right. I had to. But I couldn't shake the sick feeling in my gut.

  I had never done anything like this before. And I wanted to go on this trip. I wanted to see what Grandma feared about Disney World and what horrors awaited there.

  The ground approached, and I counted my ninth swimming pool. I took off my jacket and let it sit on the back of the seat. I wouldn't need it here. Not at all. In just a few minutes, we’d be on the shuttle to our hotel. The Caribbean something. It was inside of Disney World somewhere.

  The plane touched down and took a while to circle and let us off. The airport was nothing short of humongous, the biggest I had ever seen.

  “I can’t believe I’m doing this,” I said as we got off the plane. Grandma thought I was on a day-long bus ride to Washington DC right now. Tate already had the fake pictures ready to send her, and I’d seen them. He’d done a great job Photoshopping us in front of the Washington Monument. In front of the Lincoln Memorial. He’d even made some of the pictures crooked to make it look like someone had taken it with his phone. I already had them loaded up and in my photos. I’d send the first one tonight, just to keep her suspicion down.

  “See?” Tate asked as we boarded a trolley that must lead to the luggage area. “You’re going to be fine.”

  I breathed out a sigh of relief and resisted the urge to check my phone for Grandma's worried calls.

  “How long is this going to last?” I asked. Our trolley rolled past an enclosed garden of tropical trees and shrubs and finally stopped by the luggage pick-up. We rode a few trolleys and finally picked up our luggage. "This getting away clean, I meant."

  “I’m sure it’ll last a little while,” Tate said. He sounded so happy, and I hated that my worry might bring him down. I wanted to be carefree. A normal person. Not someone on a very long leash that might get yanked at any second.

  Maybe I needed therapy or something. I might be like someone in an abusive relationship, and I couldn't find a way to break away.

  Tate and I rolled our luggage away from the conveyor belt and had just started to walk away.

  I stopped and swore.

  “Red?” Tate asked. He took my arm and his tension matched mine.

  A woman in hot pink athletic pants was climbing off the trolley down the corridor and rushing towards the luggage pick-up faster than a woman her age should.

  My grandmother had followed us.

  She had watched for the tour buses after all. Then, she followed us when we drove off. It was the only explanation. All of our planning had gotten ruined in that one moment of error.

  All the happiness building inside me flattened like month old road kill.

  “What the heck?” I asked. A small crowd moved between her and us, blocking us from view. She hadn’t spotted us yet. Grandma had gotten on our flight. She must have been in coach while we were in first class, talking about how we’d gotten away clean. Only we hadn’t. The whole time she'd been sitting just feet behind us.

  “Come on!” Tate said, tugging on my arm.

  I hesitated. What was the point of continuing when Grandma knew all about this? But then a flash of anger rose up inside of me, and I followed Tate past the rental car counters and towards where a shuttle was parked right outside the building.

  Grandma ruined almost everything.

  She always would.

  “Keep going,” Tate said. He was begging more than anything. “Don’t let her wreck this for you.”

  My mind spun with all the things she would yell at me when she caught us. How miserable we would both be as soon as we got home. How awful she must have felt when she realized we'd lied to her. There was no way I'd get out of trouble now. Grandma might even forbid Tate and me to be together.

  "Keep going," Tate said again. "Don't look back."

  "I am," I said. I pushed open the glass door and headed outside into the muggy heat. Tate and I boarded the shuttle. Only a few other people were sitting down here, a family and a couple of old people. The driver was texting. He wasn't planning on leaving any time within the next few minutes. What if Grandma knew that we had booked this hotel?

  "Tate," I said. "We need another shuttle. Any other shuttle." I'd been looking forward to this for a month. I was going to enjoy this trip, and I wouldn't have this ruined for Tate.

  Then another bus pulled up behind us. Tate nodded. "I think you're right."

  Grandma still hadn't come out of the building. We had time. She couldn't navigate through the crowds all that well and we'd started with a distance between her and us. But we couldn't waste another minute. I jumped from the shuttle, legs shaking, and bolted for the second one behind us. It had a picture of Mickey on the side, and it was white and red. It might go right to the park. Or it might be the first one she checked. Or Grandma would be expecting us to head to the hotel to deposit our stuff before we did anything else.

  The rage inside me grew, and I pumped my legs faster until we reached the other shuttle. I climbed onto the bus. We were the first people.

  "The back," Tate said. I bolted down the aisle. The windows were tinted. That was good. Tate and I moved to the back and ducked down as the driver looked at us out of one eye. "I'll give you fifty bucks if you tell the woman in the pink pants that this shuttle is empty," Tate added to the driver.

  The guy just nodded and grinned. Maybe he didn't make much at this job. I hoped.

  We ducked as low as we could, shoving our bags under the seat. There was a piece of gum stuck on it. My knees began to ache, and no one else got on the shuttle for about two minutes. Then a set of frantic footsteps came up, and I held my breath. I knew who it was.

  "Have you seen a teen boy and girl?" Grandma asked.

  Did she sound scared?

  Terrified, even?

  One thing she didn't sound like was out of breath.

  The driver hesitated.

  "Have you seen a teen boy with a leather hat? He always wears that even in ninety-degree weather. And a girl with reddish-brown hair."

  Tate reached up and took his hat off, revealing his messy hair. He grimaced at me. I hoped the bribe worked. But at the same time, I wanted to stand and tell her we were right here. She was scared of something. Worried. What was this all doing to her? I needed to make sure she didn't walk out of here having an anxiety attack or worse--a migraine.

  Tate shook his head at me.

  I had already made my decision. Now I was going to go through with it. Live with it.

  "I haven't seen any kids," the driver told her. "You might want to try the other shuttles. I saw some getting on the one in front of me."

  "I checked that one!" She was raising her voice. Getting even more panicked.

  Tate shook his head again, and I stayed put. Grandma had some weird ideas, and I shouldn't have to be hostage to them.

  Her footsteps headed back down the bus steps and vanished. I stayed hidden until I was sure that she was gone.

  "I can't believe this," I said, sitting up in the seat. I had to keep the tears from welling out.

  "Your grandmother is trying to manipulate you," Tate said. "She's just using her emotions to do it. Making you feel bad if you dare do anything. She's good at it."

  "I know she is," I said. "She's the reason I can't have any friends. It's embarrassing having her butt into things at random. Before I met you, I had some girls from my second-grade class over for my birthday, and one of them brought me a cake with a picture of the Disney princesses on it, and Grandma flipped and threw the cake in the trash. She wouldn't even tell us why. The girl who brought the cake started crying. None of the girls in my class wanted to come over after that. I don't even remember her name because she wouldn't talk to me in class after that."

  I wondered how my parents would have handled everything, but no one had seen them since I was born. I couldn't even picture them. Grandma had never shown me their photos. All I knew was their names--Scarlet and Ash.

  "Geez, Red. You never told me about that."

  "Because it's humiliating."

  "It's more good reason to get away from her. I like your grandmother, but she's not always good for you."

  "I just wish she'd let me breathe," I said. The shuttle started to move, and my stomach did another flip-flop. We were going right to the park with our luggage in tow. We should change our hotel. How was this going to work? I tried to think, but Tate didn't have any ideas, either. "It looks like we're going whether we like it or not."

  "Come on, Red. You've wanted to go on this trip since you were little."

  So what if I was going off the narrow path Grandma had set for me? "What are we going to do about the hotel? If she knows we're here, she can call around and find out where our reservation is." I didn't put it past her, either.

  "It doesn't matter. You're going to have to make your grandmother mad if you ever want to get out of there."

  We didn't speak much on the way to the park. The shuttle moved us through heavy traffic, and we finally came to the gates. I checked behind us to make sure no other shuttles were following, especially ones that carried Grandma. She might still be at the airport, going out of her mind.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket. And this time, Tate didn't stop me from turning it on.

  Yep.

  Texts had blown up on my phone. There were two blank ones from Grandma like she wasn't sure what she was doing, and several that unfortunately, had words. Red. You are not leaving the airport. Another said Rem
ember what I told you about that place? And, of course, Why are you doing this? Do you want to make me worried sick?

  "I told you," Tate said.

  I was shaking.

  And with great effort, I turned off the phone.

  It felt great to do so. The shuttle turned, and the sun streamed in through our window. I leaned against Tate and the tension all melted away. Grandma was oppressive. Manipulative. I loved her, but I needed some space for a few days. I would deal with the blowup when I got home and showed her that I had survived the horrors of Disney World in one piece.

  We got off the shuttle, and the park spread out beyond the gates. Tate managed to secure us some lockers to store our luggage (for a price), and we got started with our day.

  * * * * *

  "See? You're having fun."

  Tate and I were weaving through the crowd, and we had just finished with the Pirates ride. The sun shined, and it was perfect weather. I stopped at a bench and sat down. We'd been in the Magic Kingdom for hours now, and nothing terrible had happened. We'd ridden as many rides as the lines allowed. Tate had bought me a red hoodie with the famous Disney characters right across it. The worst thing we'd passed was a little kid screaming in a stroller.

  We had left Grandma and her terror behind us at the airport.

  I hoped. I hadn't thought about my guardian in hours.

  I looked up and down the crowds to make sure she wasn't coming up or down the walkway, hunting for us. She might be standing out at the entrance right now, waiting for us to leave the park. The place was clear of hot pink athletic pants.

  "I've got to go to the bathroom," Tate said. "I know I'm a guy and all, but some of these rides are a little less gentle than I imagined them to be."

  I nodded to him and sat on the bench. "I think we're safe."

  Tate vanished into the crowd, and I waited. I knew I should pull out my phone and eye it again, but I knew it would ruin my mood. There would no doubt be a whole novel of worried texts when I opened it up and that there would be no point in reading them. Maybe I'd read them tonight if we had still managed to dodge Grandma by then.

  "Excuse me."

  There was a tall, middle-aged guy standing there next to my bench. The people walked past him almost like he wasn't even there.

  I scooted over to let the guy sit, even though he looked fit and athletic. He had wiry muscles and a tight shirt that looked ready to burst open over his pecs. He might be a military guy for all I know and not someone who would ask a girl to scoot over so he could sit down. I spotted something blood red on his arm, and at first, I thought he was hurt, but then I saw that it was the bottom of a tattoo. It was some coat of arms with a spinning wheel and a pumpkin on the bottom. I couldn't see the top half at all. It seemed like a weird thing for this guy to have on his arm. I'd expected an eagle or a flag with the military vibe that he gave off.

  But the guy moved in front of me instead. "Excuse me."

  "What?" I asked. "Is this seat reserved? I'm sorry." I stood up to let him have it.

  But he didn't sit. Instead, he drew closer, choking off my escape. "Which portal did you use to get here?" he asked.

  I moved away a bit. "Portal? I used the front gate if that's what you mean."

  The guy tightened his jaw. He might make a good drill sergeant. "You know what I'm talking about."

  "I don't. Sorry." I would walk to the bathrooms and wait for Tate there. This guy was weird. He must be mistaking me for someone else.

  I headed down the walkway and weaved around a large family with at least three strollers. At last, I could breathe and spotted the bathrooms up ahead.

  But the guy stepped in my path. He kept his arms folded over his chest, and he glared down at me.

  Then it clicked.

  My grandmother had hired him to get me out of the park so she wouldn't have to give Disney World money. That was the only explanation.

  "Look," I said. "If my grandmother put you up to this, you can go ask for your money back. I'm not going. She's crazy and still thinks I'm ten years old. No, scratch that. She still thinks I'm three. That might be more accurate."

  The man wore a look of confusion for a second, but then he molded it back into that drill sergeant look. "Your grandmother? So she's come through the portal as well. I see. Alric will be happy to hear that we've found her."

  Alric.

  It was the name Grandma had been muttering in her sleep.

  I shrunk back from the guy. Big mistake. He stepped closer as if sensing my discomfort.

  "Who's Alric?" I asked.

  "He has summoned you," the man said. "You must return to Fable at midnight tonight. Alric has taken the King's place. It is his order and my job to enforce it."

  I took another step back. I didn't know what this guy was on, but nothing he was saying made sense. Fable? It sounded like some magical world you might read about in some fantasy book.

  "I've got to go," I said. Tate was taking a long time inside the bathroom. I searched the crowd for an opening I could sneak through.

  And then the man reached out and grabbed my arm.

  "It is an order," he said. "Alric has risen. You wouldn't dare defy him."

  Okay. Maybe this guy belonged to some weird fantasy cult, and at one point, Grandma knew them. Maybe they hung around Disney World, and this was the real reason she didn't want me to come here. Why didn't she just tell me in that case?

  "Let go," I said. At that moment, I didn't care if Grandma came through the crowd and pummeled the guy with a package of kale. I didn't even mind if they threw me out of the park. I tugged, but the man kept my arm in his grasp.

  "You don't understand," he said. "You need to obey Alric. Things are changing in Fable. He is assembling his forces and will not deal lightly with those who do not submit to his rule."

  Was this guy scared?

  "What is your problem?" I asked. I searched around, but people moved around us, parting like a river in front of some rocks. No one wanted to step forward and mess with this guy. But the guy didn't even look tough anymore. He appeared as scared as Grandma sounded in her texts.

  "Do you not know who you are?" he asked.

  He was freaking me out. Not because he was talking weird, but because he was making me wonder if Grandma had some points after all. He tugged. I let him pull me in, surprising him. My crashing into him sent us sailing into a light post. The guy grunted and loosened his grip on me, and I took my knee and got him right between the legs.

  That worked. The guy doubled over, and I broke away and bolted towards the bathrooms. The man cursed and seethed. I didn't need to turn around to know he was curling up in a ball, flushing. I dodged around people. Someone shouted something. Asking if that guy had been bothering me.

  Tate was walking out right when I got there. I about crashed into him. Yes, I was about to run into the guys' bathroom to find him. "Tate," I breathed.

  He must have read the expression on my face. "Your grandma's here."

  "No. Some guy just tried to drag me off. Here in Disney World. I got away. I had to do something that would have made you cringe." I was babbling nonstop. My words blended into the noise all around us. "He's over--"

  I looked. The man was gone.

  I told Tate what had happened. I left nothing out. I even told him about the name--Alric--that Grandma had muttered in her sleep not too long ago. Tate's eyes widened. I trembled the more I talked. Maybe, just maybe, Grandma had been right to tell me not to come here. Maybe her panicked texts had a good reason behind them, and I was a horrible person for running off like this.

  "What did the guy look like?"

  I told him.

  "We've got to go to security. If there's some jerk trying to snatch girls, they've got to arrest him."

  Tate grabbed his map of the park and found the office. We walked there, and I kept an eye out for the man with the bulging shirt. He was nowhere. I couldn't have hallucinated the whole thing.

  Who the heck was Alric and what did he want with me? Neither of my parents was named Alric, that was for sure. Did they have any siblings that were after me?

  And why did this Alric person have guys crawling around Disney World? It didn't make any sense.

  We told the people in security what had happened. The woman behind the desk let us know she'd send people out to hunt for him. They'd never had anything like this happen before, and she was sorry.