Peter, his dad, and Papa climbed into the SUV. The others stayed behind. No need for everyone to go and they certainly didn’t want Goaltan to find out that the Candonite children were in town. Originally, Peter was supposed to stay behind too. After he told his dad and Papa he had been to Goaltan’s castle and joining them now couldn’t be any more dangerous, they considered it. After he told them that Lina was his best friend and he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, they agreed to let him go.
The three of them still were not sure what they were going to do, but they already had a place to start. Peter looked behind his seat and saw all the goodies they had collected from the neighborhood garbage cans. No one who saw them doing this seemed to mind, probably because they were eager to get rid of the sugary treats. Peter looked out the back window as he saw Lina’s dad’s car barreling down the road straight for the driveway.
“Wait, Dad!” Peter called out.
The car stopped within inches of the SUV. Lina’s mother was scolding her husband in a foreign language as she exited the car. Peter could make out a few English words: “Kill us…Henry…car!” Peter knew she was upset by her husband’s driving. She touched her forehead, moved down to touch her lower chest, and onto both shoulders and said, “Thank the good Lord!” She opened the back door and helped Henry, who wasn’t moving fast enough for her, out of the car. Henry had on earphones and was playing a handheld video game. He didn’t even look up. Lina’s dad exited the car. Peter thought to himself that Lina’s dad was one of those muscular guys you don’t know are buff until they have a short sleeve shirt on. Peter remembered Lina telling him he used to be in the Navy, some kind of an officer. Peter had asked Lina if he had ever arrested anyone and Lina swatted him on the shoulder saying, “Not that kind of an officer, silly!”
Peter’s dad told Peter and Papa, “Stay put. I will only be a minute.”
Peter watched, leaning out the car window.
“We don’t have much time. We have a plan we are hoping will work. It isn’t much, but it is all we’ve got. We have to go now and we could use all the help we can get,” Peter’s dad said urgently.
“Take Henry inside,” Lina’s dad said to his wife, pushing his blond hair out of the way to wipe some sweat from his brow. “I am going with them.”
“You bring me back Lina,” she told her husband, grabbing his hand.
He bent down to kiss her on her forehead and mustered a small smile. “I will.” He reached over and ruffled his son’s hair. Henry didn’t even flinch. He was too busy playing his game.
Inside the car, Lina’s dad introduced himself as Rod. Peter’s dad explained the plan to Rod as they drove closer to their destination.
No other cars were on the roads. Everyone was too busy staying out of sight. Everyone except for old man Rupert, who was in his garden, as he usually was, fiddling around with a stick of black licorice dangling out of his mouth. He looked up as they drove by. They didn’t have time to stop and tell him he better get rid of the licorice. Perhaps old man Rupert knew about Goaltan and didn’t care. He was best known by all the kids at school for being a frightening grouchy old man. Peter looked into some of the local business buildings and didn’t see anyone. It was so odd to see his normally bustling town so quiet. It gave him chills.
They stopped at a dumpster in an alley to get more discarded treats. They also stopped at Nana’s and Papa’s house, which was on the way. They were going to be cutting it close to the 7:00 a.m. deadline. Peter wasn’t sure why they were stopping at his grandparents’ house, just that Papa was adamant that they did. Papa told everyone to wait in the car and he would be back soon. The next thing Peter knew, the garage door was opening and Papa was holding three objects in his hand. As Papa moved closer to the car, he realized they were helmets: one jet black with brilliant red flames, one cherry red with fluorescent pink flowers, and the third royal blue. It was then that Peter noticed the mopeds behind Papa.
Everyone got out of the car and Peter’s dad said, “Whoa, Dad! What? You have mopeds?”
Peter stood there wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. Papa and Nana on mopeds! No way!
Papa slyly grinned. “Yes son, your mother and I have been riding for the last six months.”
“This is crazy. Why didn’t you tell me?” Peter’s dad asked.
“Because you would say it was crazy,” Papa answered matter-of-factly.
“What are we going to do with those?” Peter’s dad questioned.
“Son, we are going to need a quick getaway. We can’t very well run out of there on foot all the way home. I am fit, but I am not as spry as I used to be. I would surely get caught.”
“Why do you have three helmets?” Peter’s dad asked.
“In case I got around to telling you and you let Peter go along on a ride.” Papa grinned, winking at Peter.
“I don’t know about this,” Peter’s dad said, pursing his lips.
“I assure you, I am a very safe driver, much better than in the car. Your mom and I took several safety classes and we are members of the Rockin’ Peds Elite,” Papa said proudly.
Peter’s dad wasn’t quite sure how to respond. He didn’t like the idea one bit, but agreed it was better to have multiple getaway vehicles. Papa and Rod mounted the mopeds and rolled them out of the driveway. As Peter strapped on his helmet, he saw it had golden lightning bolts on the sides. Peter liked that immensely. He hopped on Papa’s jet-black moped and was impressed to see that it had red and yellow flames. He glanced over at Nana’s moped and had to smile when he saw Rod, all muscle, wearing a flowery helmet. When Rod pulled ahead on Nana’s cherry-red moped, Peter let out a chuckle at the sight of the skull with a pink bow in its hair painted on the back of the moped. All right, Nana!
Peter’s dad led the mopeds in his SUV. As they got closer to Harrison and Bernard Streets the air became icy cold. The hair on Peter’s arms was standing up and goose bumps started to form on his skin.
“What is that smell?” Papa yelled, squishing up his nose. Peter knew exactly what that rancid smell was: the Peblars. The smell was worse than burning rotten broccoli and onions. It wouldn’t be long before the entire town felt icy cold and smelled like a smoldering sewer.
When they thought they couldn’t go any further without being detected, Peter’s dad pulled the SUV down an alleyway and the others followed on their mopeds. They were going in blindly. They had no idea how many Peblars there were or in which areas the brutes would be hanging out.
“We have to time this exactly right or we will be in a heap of trouble,” Peter’s dad said, swallowing hard. In an effort to lighten the mood, in his best secret agent voice he added, “All right men, our mission is to save Lina and we’ll worry about how to get rid of Goaltan and his goons later.” It didn’t lighten the mood.
Papa took his son’s face in his hands, looked straight into his eyes and said, “Be careful, Son. I love you.”
“You be careful, too, Dad. I love you,” Mr. Fischer replied.
“I love you both,” Peter said. He grabbed his father around the waist and squeezed as hard as he could. He squeezed so hard his arms hurt. Then he did the same to Papa.
“Let’s get my little girl back!” Rod said confidently and fist-bumped with everyone. Peter’s dad looked a little awkward during the motion.
Peter took off his helmet and handed it to Rod, then climbed into the back seat of the SUV as the others drove down the opposite street. It was 6:56 a.m.
The plan was simple enough. Peter’s dad was to drive the SUV down Harrison Street, open the trunk with the release on his car keys, and swing a hard left. Hopefully the confections they had collected would go flying along the road and distract Goaltan and the Peblars. Meanwhile, Papa and Rod were to drive up Bernard and hopefully spot Lina quickly enough to get her on the back of Nana’s moped.
It would be dangerous. Peter had firsthand experience with what Goaltan was capable of doing. Just days before, Peter had witnessed Goaltan’s abilities when he and Lina rescued Joe and Angela from Goaltan’s lair. Now he was attempting to rescue Lina. He took a deep breath and braced for the ride.
As they drove closer to the corner of Harrison and Bernard, the buildings began to look as though Goaltan was making his home away from home. They were covered with tiny gray pebbles, just like the ones that made up Goaltan’s castle.
“Whoa!” Peter’s dad said.
Peter rolled down the window in preparation and felt the frosty air pour into the vehicle. The smell was putrid, reminding him once again of Goaltan’s dreadful home. What he saw next he couldn’t believe, or didn’t want to believe. Where Happy Donuts once stood was now a gaping hole. The ground was covered with rubble. Happy Donuts really was a happy place. Peter went there every first Sunday of the month before church with his Nana and Papa.
Happy was a really cool guy. He always called Peter “little dude” and gave him a free donut hole while they waited for their order. Nana was always saying that Happy was quite the gentlemen. Peter glanced at his watch. It wasn’t 7:00 a.m. yet. Goaltan hadn’t kept his promise. He wasn’t supposed to start destroying anything unless Peter didn’t show up for Lina. Peter could feel his face burning with anger. Happy didn’t deserve this.
“Hang on, son, here we go!” Peter’s dad exclaimed as he pressed hard on the gas pedal.
Peter looked straight forward and could see several Peblars turning their heads toward them as the engine roared louder. He searched for Goaltan and Lina. No sign of either one.
Peter had a surge of energy and leaned out the window to scream as loud as he could, “I am here now, you big oaf—7:00 o’clock on the dot!” He reached in the back and threw a cherry pie in the Peblars’ direction. As soon as the words exited his mouth, he saw Goaltan head for the middle of the street straight ahead of him, holding Lina by her shoulder with his burly hand. She was trying to kick and bite him with no luck.
“Oh spam!” Peter shouted as they barreled straight toward them. This was a term Peter used when he wanted to say something he wasn’t supposed to. His mother didn’t seem to mind it and had even said it a few times herself.
Peter’s dad turned the steering wheel sharply to the left. Even though Peter expected it, the sudden move still surprised him. Goaltan’s eyes enlarged with rage as he saw what happened next. The tasty morsels flew straight out of the back of the vehicle. Peter helped by throwing what he could out the window. Goaltan released his grip on Lina. She ran toward her dad and Papa, two blurs on the road. Peter wasn’t so sure about Papa’s driving, but he seemed to be maneuvering the moped with precision. Peblars were clawing at them as the mopeds whistled by toward Lina. One Peblar narrowly missed Papa. Goaltan wasn’t paying attention to Lina, which was a good thing. The bad thing, he was paying attention to Peter.
Peter’s dad drove the SUV up over the curb and struggled to get back on the street. Peter tried hard to keep his eyes on Goaltan and Lina. He breathed a sigh of relief as Lina mounted the moped with her father. Peter couldn’t hear what Goaltan was yelling, but was pretty sure it was something his mother wouldn’t want him to hear. Goaltan raised his right arm above his head and Peter understood this was not good.
Peter looked over his shoulder and saw a crack in the road moving toward them, faster and faster, and growing bigger and bigger with every foot.
“Dad, you better step on it!” Peter cried.
Peter’s dad pushed his foot down hard on the gas pedal.
“Dad!” Peter yelled.
His father could see what was going on in the rearview mirror. Peter didn’t know what his dad was going to do next, but he better do something now.
The crackling grew louder—almost to a thunder—when they felt the back of the SUV being lifted two to three feet off the ground. As fast as it was lifted, the SUV dropped back to the ground and continued to move steadily ahead. The thundering had stopped and Peter looked out the back window to see a crater the width of the street behind them. Goaltan had missed. In the distance, he could see Goaltan jumping up and down in frustration, causing the street to ripple. They were safe for now.