Snap (10 page)

He wore sunglasses even though it was dark outside. His white suit was covered in rhinestones, and a white-and-gold cape was draped around his shoulders. Danya had never seen anyone dressed like that; he looked important. There was a gold belt hanging low over his ample belly, and he had thick, wavy black hair and long sideburns.

“I wonder who that is,” she said under her breath.

Chi looked up. She and Kyo spoke quickly in Japanese before Chi finally said, “He is called . . . how do you say . . . the King?”

“The
King
?” Pia nearly choked on her french fry. Without another word, she pushed away the tray of food and slid out of the booth. She grabbed Danya's shirt and hauled her to her feet.

The King was just finishing up his order when Pia and Danya reached him.

“Whoa!” he said. Pia stood so close to him that he nearly tripped over her when he turned around. “Well, hello there, little lady. You gotta watch where you're going.”

The King's voice was deep and slow, like all the hope had drained out of it, and up close Danya saw that there were dark circles under his eyes and faint frown lines crisscrossing his face. He tried to move past Pia, but Danya shifted into his path, stopping him. Maybe Pia
was
right—maybe they were supposed to help him.

“Mr. King,” Pia said. She dropped into a low bow, her nose almost touching the white, tile floor. “My cousin and I are on a hero's journey, and now that we've found you, we are at your service. Ask anything of us. It would be our pleasure to serve you.”

The King cleared his throat. There was a long stretch of silence. Danya swallowed awkwardly—was it possible the book really was guiding them?—and tugged at Pia's elbow. “Pia . . . get up,” she muttered. Glaring at her, Pia stood.

“That's very kind of you, little ladies. But I don't think you can help me,” the man said.

“Really?” Pia didn't bother concealing her disappointment.

“Are you sure?” Danya piped up, surprising herself. “You don't need help with
anything
?”

The King frowned. “Some help would be nice, lil' ladies, but unless you got two tap dancers hidden in your jean pockets, there's nothing you can do for me. Tonight was supposed to be my comeback show. I've got a sold-out nightclub across the street, and my dancers all up and quit.” The King shook his head, and the frown lines next to his mouth deepened. “What am I supposed to tell all those people who paid to see me? You just can't trust Broadway types, you know?” He huffed and shook his head.

Danya considered this. She definitely didn't know any tap dancers. But she looked back at her new friends, still happily folding origami shapes on the table, and an idea struck her.

“I don't know any tap dancers,” she said. “But I
do
know three Japanese break-dancers.”

Thirty minutes later, Danya, Sancho, Pia, Eiko, Chi, and Kyo were across the street at the King's nightclub, a low, brick building called the Boogie Woogie Café. They all huddled together in a backstage dressing room filled with glittery, sparkling costumes.

Eiko and Chi were combing Kyo's hair into the same swoopy style as the King's. Their hair had already been gelled and set in place, and they'd all found their own white jumpsuits covered in rhinestones.

“Would you like me to do your hair?” Chi asked once the other girls were finished with her. Before Danya and Pia could answer, Eiko and Kyo were combing their hair back and spraying hair spray over it to get it to stay in place.

“No, really, we need to go . . .” Danya started to say, but just then Chi attacked her curls with a thick, sticky cloud of hair spray. Danya squeezed her eyes shut, and the rest of her sentence dissolved in a fit of coughing. She could feel her thick curls stiffen on top of her head.

“Don't worry, Danya,” Pia reassured her as Eiko pulled tubes of makeup out of her bag and started painting her face. “It's already dark. How much farther could we get tonight, anyway?”

While Eiko smeared glittery powder on her cheeks, Danya pulled her lucky gel pen out of her pocket and nervously wove it between her fingers.
Tick tick tick
, she thought. It
was
late, and there was still such a long journey ahead of them. But Pia was sort of right. They didn't have a place to stay, and Danya didn't know how safe it was to travel in the dark.

“Besides,” Pia pointed out, “the King said he would pay us. And we need the money if we're going to get to Florida.”

Danya tapped the pen against her leg, not noticing the purple smears it left behind on her jeans. The King
had
said he was going to pay them twenty dollars each. Not to mention the extra crate of apples he'd promised for Sancho. (In his spare time, the King was an award-winning baker. His specialty was apple pie with cheddar cheese baked into the crust.)

“Fine,” Danya agreed. “We can stay.” It was only Monday still, and the bald man was planning to come back for Sancho in four days. There was still time. She could get her parents the money to pay back their loan before then
and
keep Sancho.

Chi sat on the floor next to Sancho, braiding his mane. When Chi was done, he rolled onto his back so she could outline the heart on his belly with glitter. The glitter tickled his belly, and he wiggled around, kicking his hooves in the air.

“Now go find your seats,” Kyo said, finishing Danya's face with a dab of lip gloss. “The show is about to start!”

Danya hesitated as Pia led Sancho out into the audience. “Maybe we can find the King now? Then we can get our money and apples and head out?”

“What are you talking about? We
have
to stay and watch the show!” Pia's face was covered in glitter, and her usually short, spiky hair looked full and swoopy. “We just completed number six! Don't you see? Everything is working out.”

“Maybe just
one
song,” Danya said doubtfully. But once again, she wondered if Pia was maybe a little bit right. They had found a king, and he had needed their service. Could the hero's journey be working?

There were two velvet seats reserved just for them right in the front row, and someone had even blocked off part of the aisle so Sancho had a place to sit. Pia grabbed Danya's arm and pulled her into a reserved seat.

Just then the house lights went out, replaced by blue and green and red spotlights. Smoke filled the stage. The King walked out and grabbed the microphone.

“I'd like to dedicate this song to my most faithful servants,” he said. The people in the audience around them leapt to their feet and screamed and clapped. The King searched the audience until he found Danya and Pia in the seats up front. “Without these two little ladies, there wouldn't be a show tonight, folks. Put your hands together for the littlest Elvises!”

The crowd went wild, and Danya felt all of her nerves disappear. She turned to Pia, and they wove their hands together, bouncing up and down as the people around them cheered. A sparkling disco ball spun high above them, making the glitter on Pia's cheeks and Sancho's belly shine and dance in the darkness. Smoke filled the room while the King crooned.

“Love me tender . . . love me sweet . . .” he sang. He came up to the edge of the stage and knelt, winking down at Danya and Pia.

“
Thanks, ladies!” the King called as Kyo, Chi, and Eiko danced behind him. “You really saved me, you know?”

“Anytime, Mr. King!” Danya shouted.

The crowd around Danya and Pia roared with applause and catcalls as the King's song drew to a close. Danya was swept up in the excitement, but as the noise died down, she couldn't ignore the nerves clawing at her stomach. Even though she'd told Pia they could stay, she still felt like something was a little
off
, though she couldn't put her finger on what. She glanced over at Sancho, and he lifted his head from the floor, pricking up his furry pony ears. It was almost like he knew something was wrong, too. Stumbling to his feet, he nudged Danya with his nose. His way of saying, “Time to go . . .”

“Pia,” Danya said, giving her friend's shoulder a shake. “We really should leave.”

“Oh, come on, one more song!” Pia said. “He's just getting warmed up!”

“But . . .” Before Danya could argue, a skinny, pimply boy with wiry black curls and a long, hooked nose stumbled down the aisle, flashlight in hand. The bright white beam swept over the seats as the boy moved, stopping every few feet to unstick his sneakers from the floor. He stopped right next to Sancho.

“This club's eighteen and older,” he said, shining the white beam of the flashlight into Danya's face. “You two look like
minors
. I'm going to need to see some ID.”

As Danya tried to think of an explanation, the pimply boy's eyes narrowed.

“Wait a minute . . .” A grin crept over his face. “I recognize you! You're the missing girls!”

CHAPTER NINE

Giving Chase in Graceland

R
un!” Danya yelled,
and she, Pia, and Sancho leapt from their seats and raced for the side entrance.

“Wait!” the boy called. The red velvet chairs were bolted to the ground, and the girls had to crawl over people's knees and dodge toes and soda cups in their effort to escape.

“Watch it!” someone called at the same moment a woman yelled, “Hey! That was my foot!”

Danya muttered an apology, but the music drowned out her voice. At least the lights in the club were low enough that no one else could make out their faces. The pimply boy tried to shine his flashlight at them, but he was having a hard time holding it steady as he pushed his way down the aisle.

Pia leapt over an empty seat and played limbo with a man's outstretched legs. Danya was not nearly so coordinated. She knocked over drinks and stepped on toes. Sancho, however, had the hardest time of all. He tried to barrel down the aisle after Pia and Danya, but he was just too large, and his pony bottom got stuck in a seat as he tried to crawl beneath a man's legs. He let out a terrified whinny, and Danya froze, whirling around so quickly she almost fell onto an old lady's lap.

“Sancho!” she called. Sancho wiggled and wriggled until he pulled his rump free. Just as he started to trot forward, a skinny hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed his tail.

“Got you,” the pimply-faced boy yelled, yanking on Sancho's tail. “I have your pony, runaway girls. Now give yourselves up before someone gets hurt.”

“Take that!” Pia grabbed a to-go soda cup off the ground, pulled herself onto the back of a man's seat, and launched it, grenade style, at the boy. It exploded over his wiry curls, dripping sticky root beer all over his face. Sancho shot forward like a bullet. People in the aisle leapt to the sides and crawled onto their seats to get out of his way. Tripping and stumbling, the boy followed them.

Once Danya and Sancho made it to the door, Pia grabbed another soda from someone's hand and dumped it onto the floor.

“Hey!” the boy shouted as his sneaker pulled right off his foot, sticking to the soda-covered floor. He stopped to yank it back on, and Danya, Pia, and Sancho hurried out the side door and into the dark alley right behind the nightclub.

“Keep running,” Danya said to Pia. Sancho agreed, pushing them forward with his nose. Before the door swung shut behind them, a group of boys wearing polo shirts and backward baseball caps stumbled down the alley, something thick and foul-smelling sloshing out of the plastic cups they carried.

“Hey, look!” one of them called. “It's a pony!” He snickered and lurched forward, pawing at Sancho. When he dropped his cup, sticky, clear liquid spilled everywhere, spraying Danya's and Pia's legs. Danya grabbed Sancho's reins, and they raced out of the alley toward the main strip. It was completely dark now. Streetlamps and nightclub signs glowed from the sides of tall buildings, turning the concrete shades of red and orange and blue.

“What are you girls doing out so late?” asked a lady wearing a tinfoil hat, pushing a shopping cart full of cans and bottles.

“We're on an adventure!” Pia yelled as Danya pulled Pia and Sancho toward a well-lit road in the opposite direction. Danya had taken one step into the street when a taxi whizzed past, startling her so much that she fell back into Pia, and they both tumbled onto the sidewalk in a heap. Sancho whinnied and reared back, his eyes wide and wild. As soon as he dropped back down to all fours, he started to run.

“Sancho, wait!” Danya leapt to her feet, brushing an old banana peel off her shoulder.

She and Pia ran, chasing Sancho past stoplights and telephone poles and down a highway that twisted away from downtown Memphis until it felt like they'd left the city lights far behind them. Streetlights flickered around them now, lighting their way as they ran past diners and gas stations, cars and trucks rumbling down the street next to them.

Finally, panting, Sancho skidded to a stop. Just in front of him stood a white, iron fence covered in black musical notes.

Danya grabbed Sancho's reins, thoroughly shaken. “Don't you
ever
do that again!” she yelled, her heart thudding painfully in her chest. Sancho lowered his head, pawing at the sidewalk sheepishly. When Danya's breathing returned to normal, she sighed and scratched him under his chin.

“You scared me,” she said, giving him a hug.

“Danya, look!” Pia said, pointing down the road ahead of them. Danya followed her gaze to a blue-and-white sign standing near the street. “Graceland,” Pia read out loud. “Wow, that sounds pretty. What do you think it is?”

Graceland.
Danya turned the word over in her head. It
was
a pretty name. It sounded like something out of a Ferdinand and Dapple book. Maybe it was a place for wayward travelers with nowhere to stay? The thought filled her with so much longing that she dropped Sancho's reins and took a step closer to the fence. Sancho leaned his head against her arm, and Danya patted him absently. Her arms and legs and everything hurt.

Pia snapped her fingers in front of Danya's face. “Danya. Danya. Danya. Snap! Come on, stop doing that!”

“Sorry,” Danya muttered. She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand. She was a minute away from falling asleep standing up, like a cow.

“Look, I know you're not going to believe me,” Pia said. “But I think we should check out this Graceland place. It's a sign, Danya. We've been wandering the streets all alone and suddenly—”

Before Pia could finish her sentence, Graceland's iron gates began to open with a creak. Pia turned to Danya, wide-eyed.

“See!”
she hissed.

“See what? That we got here late enough to sneak in after the cleaners?” Danya said, pointing. A tiny pink car with the words
SPEEDY FAST CLEANING CREW
written across the side in loopy letters pulled down the street, stopping for a beat to wait for Graceland's gates to open. Then, tires screeching, it sped around the corner and down the street.

“It's still a sign,” Pia muttered. The girls and Sancho ducked through the gates before they could swing shut again.

Together the girls headed down a twisting driveway lined with towering trees. There, at the end of the driveway, was a
palace
. Or at least it looked like Danya had always imagined a palace would look when she read about them in stories. Columns stood like sentinels to either side of the two French doors. Spotlights shone from somewhere, making the white walls of the mansion glow pink and gold. Two stone lions guarded the entrance. Sancho clomped up next to one of them and nudged its mane with his nose.

“You like the lions, buddy?” Danya asked. In response, Sancho curled up at the base of the statue and started to snore.

“No, Sancho, come inside with us.” Danya tried to wake her pony up, but he snorted in his sleep, shaking his mane.

“Danya, leave him, he's happy here,” Pia said.

Danya frowned, then leaned over to give Sancho another shake. Grumpily, he eased his eyes open and pushed himself back to his feet, following slowly behind them.

“I just don't think it's safe to leave him out here by himself,” Danya explained.

The front door was heavy. Pia and Danya pushed it open together and walked into the main room of the palace in awe, Sancho clomping along at their heels.

Everything was white and blue and gold. Heavy blue curtains hung from the windows, and a thick, white shag carpet covered the floor. Spiky gold mirrors hung from all the walls. Danya turned in place, taking it all in. She'd felt tired before, when they were wandering the streets looking for a place to sleep, but now she was wide awake and ready to explore. Even Sancho seemed to have a little more energy. He sniffed at the white shag carpet and tried to take a bite out of one of the curtains. Danya attempted to wrestle the fabric out of his mouth, but he only let go after getting distracted by one of the mirrors, then trotting to the other side of the room to examine his reflection.

He trailed along as Danya and Pia went from room to room, examining the strange, vintage furniture, switching on the old-fashioned radios and televisions, giggling at the huge, golden mirrors. Danya kept worrying that they'd run into a security guard or someone. But then Pia cartwheeled down the length of a room filled with sparkly suits, and Danya started to relax a little. Next, they linked hands and spun in the middle of a room that looked like a jungle, with Astroturf floors, lamps made out of bamboo and grass, and driftwood coffee tables. There was a long hallway filled with golden and silver records. Out back was a lit-up pool with a little waterfall and a beautiful, bright pink car. Pia wanted to take a swim, but Danya reminded her that they needed to catch some sleep before morning. Sancho sniffed at the pool curiously and tried to take a drink, but the chlorine made him scrunch up his face and spit the water back out.

They all finally ended up in a bedroom, where they changed into clean T-shirts and curled up amid the blankets and pillows on the giant, king-size bed. For a moment Danya felt a tug at her heart. She missed her parents. She used to crawl into bed with them at home, and sometimes they'd even have an impromptu pillow fight before tucking her in for the night.

Then Pia pulled out the Ferdinand and Dapple book, opening it to the hero's list. This time Danya didn't groan or roll her eyes. It was comforting to see the familiar book. And after their encounter with the King, she was going to have to rethink this whole
Hero's Journey
business. Sancho crawled onto the bed with them and pushed his nose into Danya's lap as Pia examined the list. The next hero's task was
7: Give chase to the enemy
.

Pia bounced up and down on the bed, giggling. “Cool!” she said. “A chase!”

Danya lifted an eyebrow. She was not entirely sure a chase sounded like fun. She glanced down at Sancho, but he was asleep in her lap, snoring softly. Next to her Pia bounced higher and higher, then flopped down on her back, making the pillows around her fly into the air. Now
that
looked fun. Danya leapt to her feet, and the girls tried to see who could bounce higher, while Sancho snorted in his sleep, kicking his little legs like he was dreaming of chasing a rabbit. They tossed pillows into the air and jumped until they were too tired to stand.

Then they flopped back into the pillows. Danya yawned and, before she knew it, she was drifting off to sleep.

While Danya slept, she dreamed.

She wandered the halls of Graceland, following a bright, golden spot of light. Danya didn't know why, but she had to reach that light. Fear crawled over her skin, but she forced herself forward to be brave. The light seemed so close, just around the corner. But when Danya turned the corner, she'd find an empty hall and the light would appear to the left, across the room, and bob away.

Graceland was spooky at night. Mirrors hung on every wall, reflecting Danya's frightened face back at her. Sparkly, rhinestone-covered suits were on display in glass cases, and at night they looked like people waiting for her in the shadows. It wasn't until Danya crept close enough to touch the glass that she realized the suits were empty. No one was there.

Fear grew in her chest. The light appeared again, and Danya followed it outside. But as soon as the doors swung shut behind her, Danya realized she wasn't at Graceland at all. She was home, in her backyard. Suddenly everything felt familiar, almost like déjà vu. This had happened before.

Danya was playing in the grass with her magnifying glass, Sancho crouched down beside her. Her mom had just brought home
Gulliver's Travels
from the school library, and Danya had read the entire thing in one night. There was this part where Gulliver found an entire civilization of miniature people, so Danya was searching the yard for tiny villages and houses. If there were tiny people out here, she and Sancho would have to make sure not to step on them.

The day was hot and dry, though, and as Danya held her magnifying glass over the grass, the ground began to burn. Tiny curls of smoke drifted toward the sky. Danya patted it out with her hand.

The dream changed. Suddenly it was hours later, and Danya was wandering through the woods alone. Just ahead of her, a fire crackled and grew, eating at the night like a living thing. Angry flames leapt across the dry grass. Something deep and painful flickered to life in Danya's chest. She needed to run, to find her parents or Pia or . . .

That's when she realized—Sancho! He was in the fire, hurt, and she had to save him. Despite her fear, Danya raced forward, toward the flames. But the closer she got to the fire, the farther away it seemed. She thought she heard someone shouting,
“Help! Help!”
and she tried to run faster, but no matter what she did, Danya couldn't reach the flames

“Help!”
she heard again. Then the sound changed. “Hey!” someone said.