A helicopter away from the River
I have felt so much hesitation and had so many uncertainties the last hour, but now seeing Jack, is one thing I need to be sure of. I jump off of my seat and across Tom Truckle and kiss him.
Jack is slightly off balance, but I don’t pull away. I need this so much. Slowly he understands and kisses me back.
“Absolutely wow!” the Mushroomers giggle.
“Absolutely absurd,” Tom mumbles behind me. I kick him with my feet.
“Dude,” Constance says to Jack. “You’re alive.”
Jack gently pushed me away, “Yes, little girl.”
“Watch it,” I tell him. “She is no little girl. She is badass.”
“I know,” he says to Constance. “I saw her in the tunnel. She did a great job.”
“You did a better job, surviving,” Constance says. “Or our boss would have collapsed, missing you.”
I realize that I can taste the blood on Jack’s face. “What happened?” I ask him. “How did you survive?”
“The Pillar told me how to get out,” Jack says. His eyes are straight, looking at me. He wants to know how I feel about the Pillar.
“So he is dead?” I say, my voice low and weak. Why do I like this man so much?
Jack nods. “It’s impossible to have survived the fire.”
“Still, I am glad you’re alive,” I hug him again.
“I think the first thing we have to do when we land isn’t getting the March to a doctor,” Constance says with a smile.
“Then what?” Jack asks.
“We have to get you two a room,” she sticks out her tongue then slaps Tom Truckle hard on the cheeks. “Imaginary boyfriend, you said? He doesn’t look imaginary to me.”
“I need a phone!” Tom insists, humiliated.
“We’re close to the warehouse,” the chauffeur says.
“No warehouse,” Jack interrupts. He gazes back at me, hold my head in his hands. “The Pillar told me what to do next.”
“He told you?” Constance is curious.
“He said Alice has to find his Wonder,” Jack says. “The yellow paper he’d given her.”
“His Wonder?” something tells me I never want to know.
“He said it’s in a locker in King’s Cross train station,” Jack says. “It explains everything, he said.”
“It’s one word,” I say. “How can it explain everything?”
“Besides,” Constance says, “it would be suicidal going to the train station now with all the chaos outside.”
“She is right,” I tell Jack. “My priority is not to know but to save the Mushroomers and the March.”
“Exactly,” Constance says. “I don’t know what the Pillar had on his mind, but we’re all sure the March knows the whereabouts of the Six Keys.”
“We do?” Tom Truckle asks, but no one listens to him.
“The March is Patient 14,” I tell Jack.
“I know. The Pillar told me. He knows where the Keys are and what they are for. So you don’t care about the note?”
“Not now. Save the people first,” I turn to the chauffeur. “Is the warehouse safe from up here?”
“It’s looks abandoned,” he says.
“Perfect,” I reply. “Land us there,” I turn back to Jack. “You have a lot to explain.”
“I will,” he says. “As much as I know,” he lowers his head. “I don’t even know how I am alive, but I will tell you what I know.”
“And I will tell you what I know!” a voice squeaked behind Jack.
All our heads turn to watch the March sitting up. He looks dizzy, not sure where he is. He isn’t even talking to us, but to the wall. His hands are flat on his laps as he says, “Mushrooms.”
“March,” Constance approaches him slowly. “Are you okay? How did you wake up?”
The March doesn’t talk to her. He doesn’t even know she exists at the moment. It's as if he is in a daydream, “Mushrooms.”
Constance slowly sits in front of him to get his attention. He turns abruptly and grabs her by the arms. “I will remember what the Six Keys are when I see the Mushrooms.”
“What?” She asks.
“I am telling you,” the March says, sweating. “I will remember where and what the Keys are if you take me to the Mushrooms.”
I sit next to him and pat him. “Where, March? Where are the Mushrooms?”
He turns and looks at me slowly. “In London. One of my gardens. One of my designs.”
Then he falls back into unconsciousness.