The Candy Shop War, Vol. 2: Arcade Catastrophe (15 page)

“Okay,” Nate said.

“It made me curious. After Pigeon told me about Arcadeland, I came and checked it out.”

“Pigeon told you?” Nate cried.

She nodded. “I didn’t try to enter the arcade. I just roamed the outside of the building. I noticed that the storage room where they keep their prize tickets wasn’t shielded from my sight. I thought it meant that whatever was behind the shielded walls and floors must be pretty important.”

“Because you would think they would protect their prize tickets,” Nate said. “Makes sense. Maybe John Dart or Mozag are behind some of those walls.”

“The thought had occurred to me. Anyhow, after talking to Pigeon, I realized that those tickets were the key to getting a stamp, and the stamps were the key to gathering information.”

“He told you that?” Nate exclaimed.

“Keep it down,” Lindy scolded, glancing around. “Yes, he told me after I guilted him by explaining how left out I was feeling.”

“You took advantage of him.”

“Just his kindness. I really do like him, largely because of his kindness.”

“Go on.”

“I know where Dad keeps the Mirror Mints that Mrs. White left behind. He guards them pretty carefully because he hasn’t figured out how to produce more, even though he has her notes on the subject. Anyhow, the storeroom with the tickets had a full-length mirror. I went through a mirror near Arcadeland. When I came out into the storeroom, I heard an alarm go off. Somehow they had detected me. I worked quickly. Getting the tickets out was simple. I brought them in through one mirror and took them out through the other.”

“Smooth,” Nate complimented. “Fifty-six thousand tickets.”

“They were heavy. I unwound them and ripped them apart so it would look like I’d won them at lots of different games. But they knew I hadn’t because I never showed up on their cameras. The security at Arcadeland isn’t just for show. They pay attention.”

“Not well enough.”

Lindy giggled. “Katie was upset. I think she was embarrassed that a kid stole tickets that she should have protected. Thankfully, Mr. White intervened.”

“What did he do?” Nate asked, still wondering whether Jonas had revealed her true identity.

“He interviewed me. He told me he didn’t mind that I stole the tickets. He just wanted to know how. I told him about the Mirror Mints. He thought I was resourceful. He told me that in his opinion I had earned the tickets because getting them was difficult and I got away clean. Of course, he mentioned that he would be removing all mirrors from the more private portions of his arcade. But he let me keep the stamp!”

“I’m impressed,” Nate said honestly.

“You guys should have involved me from the start. I thought we Blue Falcons were supposed to stick together.”

“True,” Nate said. “But we didn’t want to disrespect Mr. Stott.”

“I know. I didn’t want to either. But with John and Mozag in trouble, I felt like I needed to help. I knew I could contribute.”

“What do you think about Jonas White?” Nate asked, trying not to give the question special significance.

“I wondered if he might be related to Mrs. White who owned the candy shop,” Lindy said. “I mean, they’re both magicians, and he set up his arcade so close to where she set up her shop. I didn’t ask, though. I was worried it might seem suspicious.”

“He’s her brother,” Nate said, figuring she would find out eventually. “He knows I was around when Mrs. White went missing. He mentioned it. But he didn’t make a big deal about it. I guess he wasn’t very close to her.”

“He gave me the benefit of the doubt too,” Lindy said. “He knew about Mr. Stott. Jonas connected me to him after I mentioned the Mirror Mints. But Jonas didn’t seem overly concerned that I live with him.”

“He must be pretty confident about his plan,” Nate speculated.

“Or his security,” Lindy said.

“Well, Lindy, I feel a little bad about shutting out Roman, but I’m glad there’s at least one Jet I can trust.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you got the stamp ahead of him. Spying is bad enough without also feeling lonely.”

Nate nodded toward the doors. “Should we go talk to the others?”

“Sure.”

They walked together through the doors and quickly found Trevor loitering, his eyes on an EMPLOYEES ONLY door. Trevor signaled Pigeon, who hurried over.

“Lindy!” Pigeon cried. “Where have you been? Mr. Stott is so worried.”

“I’m sorry, Pidge. I couldn’t handle being ordered to keep out of this. I’m a Jet now.”

“What?” he exclaimed.

“She got the third stamp, I got the fourth,” Nate explained. “Long story, and we can’t talk long. Is Summer already in there?”

“You just missed her,” Trevor said.

“She’s going to meet the owner of Arcadeland, Jonas White. He’s Mrs. White’s brother.”

Pigeon gasped. “Is he here for revenge?”

Nate forced himself not to look at Lindy. “Doesn’t seem that way. He wasn’t very friendly with his sister. But he’s here for a purpose. I can’t say too much. We’re supposed to go practice with Chris and Risa.”

“Practice what?” Trevor pressed.

“I’m not allowed to explain,” Nate said. “You’ll find out soon. Earn the stamps, then you’ll see.”

“You really won’t say?” Trevor asked, looking a little wounded.

“Just to be safe,” Nate continued in a loud whisper. “Jonas set some firm rules about what we can tell others. I’m in no hurry to break them—not yet, and especially not here. Let me see. What
can
I say? Summer and I won’t be much help with tickets tomorrow.”

Trevor looked even more perplexed. “You can’t come?”

Nate leaned closer. Pigeon leaned in too. Nate lowered his voice more. “I can’t risk mixing magic. Remember how we suspected the stamps would lead to candy? The stamps
are
the candy. They last about two days.”

Pigeon and Trevor looked sober as they digested the information.

“Summer will be taking off to practice too?” Pigeon asked.

“I guess,” Nate said. “Still, can’t hurt to keep an eye on her. Hey, I’ve got to go. The others are waiting for us. I don’t want to make them suspicious.”

Trevor nodded. “Okay, get out of here. We’ll pass on what info we have.”

“When will we see you?” Pigeon asked, eyes on Lindy.

“Tell my dad I’ll be home tonight,” Lindy said. “Tell him I need him to be understanding.”

“I’ll tell him,” Pigeon promised.

“We’ll talk later,” Nate told Trevor. “This will make more sense after you get your stamp.”

“I hope so,” Trevor replied.

Nate and Lindy backed away, then headed for the door.

Chapter Ten

Training

The training facility turned out to be a few blocks away inside a warehouse Jonas White had rented. Unimpressive on the outside except for its size, the facility contained many surprises inside. An assortment of gymnastics equipment filled one corner of the cavernous room, including parallel bars, a pommel horse, vaulting boards and tables, trampolines of diverse sizes, balance beams of different heights, mats for tumbling, climbing ropes, and a wide pit full of foam cubes. An indoor pool, built partially above ground and encircled by a wooden deck, dominated another corner of the room. A third quadrant held sporting equipment, including weight sets and punching bags, and featured multiple basketball hoops and a miniature soccer goal. The last corner of the huge warehouse was devoted to fighting, with a large wrestling mat and a full boxing ring. Along the walls hung gear for fencing, boxing, wrestling, and martial arts.

“Are we prepping for the Olympics?” Nate asked as he and Lindy entered. His voice echoed slightly in the vast space.

“I couldn’t believe it either,” Lindy replied. “It’s all for us.”

“Just the Jets?”

“All four clubs,” Chris answered, soaring down from above the entrance with Risa. “The other kids don’t come here much. I expect more will show once their clubs fill up.”

“We’re free to fly in here,” Risa said. “We don’t risk it much outside, except at night.”

“It’s pretty awesome,” Lindy told Nate.

“I’m excited to go for it,” Nate said. Ever since hovering in the room with Jonas White, he had let the ability lie dormant, all the while aware that the potential resided within him.

“Watch your speed,” Chris cautioned. “It takes some room to stop or turn. If you’re not careful, you’ll get flattened against a wall.”

Nate willed himself into the air, and up he went. It took no more effort than for a healthy person at rest to start running. The sensation was quite different than with Moon Rocks. Using Moon Rocks, he jumped, and physics controlled his trajectory until he collided with something. Now, he could swerve in any direction as desired.

The tall ceiling in the warehouse allowed Nate to soar high above the floor. The height bothered him a little, but Moon Rocks had helped train him not to freak out in lofty places. He picked up some speed, swooping down, then curved back up. As he changed direction at a greater speed than before, he felt what Chris had meant about turning. Nate could will himself to turn, but his speed limited how sharply. It was like turning while on a bike—the higher the speed, the more gradual the turn needed to be.

Nate also practiced speeding up and stopping. Again, like with his bike, he needed some space to accelerate and decelerate. Nate found that if he turned as he stopped, he could kill his momentum more effectively.

Air whooshed by as Nate soared around the room making lazy figure eights. The sensation was by far the most exhilarating he had ever felt. He extended one arm ahead of himself, partly because it felt natural, partly in case he needed to ward off a collision. As he practiced turning more sharply at higher speeds, he felt g-forces straining his body, like when rounding a curve on a fast roller coaster.

Lindy, Chris, and Risa glided through the air around him. Lindy was the most tentative, Risa the most aggressive, swooshing along within inches of the walls, ceiling, and floor.

“You’re catching on fast,” Chris commented, soaring alongside Nate.

“Now that I’m doing it, flying feels pretty natural,” Nate said.

Chris grinned. He slowed, and Nate came to a stop beside him, fifteen feet above the floor. “Risa and I have talked about the same thing. It feels like we had this power all along, and Mr. White just woke it up.”

“Have you had flying dreams?” Nate asked.

“Sure.”

“It’s sort of like that’s how I got my practice.”

“Just wait,” Chris said. “Risa and I have had flying dreams practically nonstop since all of this started. Once I woke up pressed to the ceiling in my room.”

“How long ago did you get your stamp?”

“More than two weeks. I had been hanging around the arcade a lot, and Todd drew my attention to the stamps. After I earned one, I told Risa and Roman they had to get their own. She earned hers quickly, but Roman got grounded, and then you guys showed up.”

“I really am sorry about him missing a jet stamp,” Nate said.

“I believe you,” Chris said hesitantly. “I’m not looking forward to competing against Roman. He’s going to be mad, and the kid knows how to win.”

“Some of my friends will be against us too,” Nate said. “Should keep things interesting.”

“Check it out,” Chris said, pointing.

Risa was inserting poles into sockets around the room in the walls, ceiling, and floor. Each pole held a ring.

“What’s with the rings?” Nate asked.

“Training exercise,” Chris said. “It’s one thing to fly, and another to do stuff while you’re flying. The rings are good practice. I also like playing catch. When you’re flying around, it’s harder than you might guess.”

“Is this what you guys do mostly?” Nate asked. “Fly around in here? Train and stuff?”

“Mostly,” Chris replied. “Mr. White has sent us on a couple of errands lately. We get something for him, and he pays us well.”

“Pays you with what?”

“Money.”

“Right. Are you stealing stuff?”

“Sort of,” Chris admitted. “But he isn’t going to keep it. We’re just borrowing things he needs for his treasure hunt. He promised to return it all in the end.”

Nate remembered Mrs. White sending them to “borrow” items for her. She had sometimes pretended they were recovering family heirlooms. “What have you gotten?”

“A book from a museum near Sacramento,” Chris said.

“Sacramento? That’s pretty far.”

“Not so far when you’re flying,” Chris explained. “We can get up to around a hundred miles per hour in the open sky. We went at night, of course. We had night vision goggles. You’d be surprised how easily you can nab stuff when you can fly. We set off some alarms, but none of the guards or police had a chance. ”

“What else have you taken?” Nate probed.

“An old doll from a mansion near San Anselmo, in Marin County.”

“A doll?”

“An ancient one like you might see at a museum. It was made of wood and carved all weird.”

“Native American?”

“Probably. We didn’t study it. We just snatched it. Mr. White will give it back later. We left $10,000 as a rental fee.”

“They rented it to you?” Nate asked.

“We didn’t ask permission. Mr. White paid us a bunch, too, since it wasn’t directly part of the treasure hunt. We were helping with his preparations.”