“Why doesn’t that sound terribly reassuring?”

Next were mountain backdrops and twelve-foot-high bears. Finn looked away, cold and shivering, and anticipated the arrival of a steel log.

“Clouds!” Philby announced.

Finn saw them in the backdrop. They were painted behind a mountain range. He wormed a hand into his pocket and donned the pair of 3-D glasses, just as Philby did.

Nothing. The clouds looked perfectly normal.

Finn squeezed the glasses back into his pocket with difficulty. “This is crazy,” he said. “What are we doing here?”

“The more important question,” Philby answered, “is who knows we’re in here, and why was the ride turned on?”

“If you’re trying to cheer me up, you’re not doing such a great job,” Finn fired back.

A giant rabbit jumped across the scene, and called out loudly, which caused Finn to splash in self-defense. Okay, Finn thought, now I’m defending myself against mechanical rabbits. What if these robots come alive the same way the dolls did? “Okay,” he said. “I would like to get out of here!”

“More clouds!” Philby announced.

Finn fumbled with his glasses again. Wearing them, he took in the clouds and sky. Still nothing.

nothing.

Presently, there were chipmunk voices singing something at such a high pitch and volume that Finn couldn’t understand a word. But he could feel the logs approaching. Philby kept glancing over his shoulder. He could feel them too.

A low male voice began narrating the ride. The scene became as dark as the inside of a stomach. The boys bounced off the rails and the chute walls. Bruised and cold, Finn grew increasingly desperate. “Exactly what are we doing here?” he asked as his head came up from underwater again.

“My bad, Finn,” Philby said. “But keep the glasses on. Okay? And keep an eye out for more clouds.”

A large wolf wearing a cowboy hat and holding a rabbit was saying something that was probably funny, though Finn wasn’t listening. His ears were tuned to the steady groan of the system—the approach of the log cars.

“Maybe we risk the cameras,” Finn suggested.

Philby said, “And have our DHIs removed from the park? I don’t think so!”

Finn knew this was right. He felt his courage gathering and was glad to have it back.

They slipped down a dip, traveling ever faster in the dark, churning water. Finn saw light up ahead. He felt a profound sense of gratitude. The end of the ride, in sight at last! But then he remembered where they were in the ride. Next up was—

A really big drop. The ride’s biggest drop of all. Its biggest thrill. Thrill or kill? Finn wondered.

He back-paddled, fighting the current.

“That baby’s about four stories, straight down,” Philby said. “Forty-five degrees. A million gallons of water driving you like a freight train.”

Their bodies slapped forward—closer to the edge—despite their vigorous splashing.

“It’ll either crush us,” Finn said, “or we’ll drown.”

Philby didn’t disagree.

Finn said more loudly, “I said: it’ll either crush us, or we’ll drown!”

“Yeah,” Philby said. “I think you’re right.” He rolled onto his stomach and tried to swim away from the drop, but it was no use: the water was too fast.

Finn also rolled over and started swimming. He tried for the edge, happy to climb out, even with the risk of getting busted, but the strong current prevented him from reaching the side. He panicked.

Though the two boys swam frantically, they were actually moving with the current toward the drop.

Philby said between strokes, “If we—could get—into a log—”

Was that possible? Finn wondered. It did seem the perfect solution.

How much longer until a log arrived? Finn wondered. He twisted his watch while flapping his other arm in an awkward crawl. Any moment, he decided. Between gulps of disgusting water he said, “Sounds like a plan. Keep swimming!” They were both still slipping backward despite their efforts. The ride’s dramatic plummet drew near.

It felt to Finn as if he were being sucked down a giant drain.

“We’re not thinking right!” he said. The first log appeared. It looked big and powerful, and it was coming right for them.

Still thinking out loud, Finn said, “We’re made of light, Philby. Holograms! We’re half light. We aren’t solid. Wayne talked about Einstein. About how we’re more space than atoms.” He couldn’t see Philby through all the splashing.

A voice surfaced. “I don’t think this is the best time to discuss physics,” Philby said. “Besides

—I probably know more about it than you do.”

They heard a loud bump! and whack! from the dark as the log grew closer.

“If we’re mostly light,” Finn proposed, “then water current can’t affect us. Light moves through water; it doesn’t get carried off by it.”

Driven by his newfound confidence, Finn rolled onto his back and stroked more gently.

Slowly, he pulled away from Philby, and with half the effort.

It’s all what I’m thinking, he realized.

Philby watched as Finn’s glowing body—brighter now—swam past him upstream. In doing so, Philby allowed himself to relax for a moment.

A moment too long.

Philby was sucked down the throat of the final plummet.

Time slowed. Philby tumbled through space and water, holding his breath and then sucking for air. His lungs burned. He couldn’t tell what was up or down. Then, amid the swirl of black, a hand appeared. A human hand. Glowing, as if it had been plugged into the wall. Behind that hand another shape formed. That shape was an arm, Finn’s arm.

Finn was inside the log car leaning over. The two boys locked hands, and Finn dragged Philby up and into the log. The log threw out a tremendous splash as it reached the bottom of the chute.

By the time Philby had righted himself, now sitting up, the log had snaked through the chute and entered yet another scene. This was the last scene, the most exotic of the attraction.

Finn and Philby scrambled for their glasses.

“How did you do that?” Philby asked.

“I’m not sure. But I think it was all in my head,” Finn replied.

Behind the paddleboat, Finn spotted large pink clouds in a big blue sky. His head swirled with the sounds of voices singing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.” He slipped on the eyeglasses.

There, behind the Showboat, he saw a bunch of clouds. In the middle of one of the biggest clouds he saw several big letters. They appeared to have been spray-painted: FME

When Finn lifted his glasses, the letters disappeared.

“Our first clue!” Finn whispered, looking for the exit.

20

“Where’s Maybeck?” Finn asked. The two girls didn’t answer right away. They seemed shocked to see him and Philby so wet and so pale.

“We don’t know.” Charlene sounded frightened.

“The sun!” Philby said. “Did you try the glasses?”

“Y, I, and R. Three letters! They look painted, added on later.” Willa replied excitedly.

“Same with us!” Philby said, “F, M, and E. We’re definitely on to something.”

Finn interrupted their glee. “Where—is—Maybeck?”

Charlene looked worried. “We got to the ride and he said he had something he had to check out. We told him we had to stick together, but he blew us off.”

“And he hasn’t come back,” Willa said angrily.

“Hasn’t come back?” Philby asked, finally realizing they had a serious problem on their hands.

“And this was, like, half an hour ago,” Charlene said.

“He kept checking his watch,” Willa complained. “He was nervous about something, like he was eager to get back.”