It was a jumbled-up movie that kept playing over and over in my head. As I lay in bed that night, I kept thinking about the images I had seen in Baz’s crystal ball.
A crumpling section of red sheet metal.
Tires bouncing on pavement.
Water spraying.
Theo in a bright blue shirt.
People running and screaming.
A guy with orange hair.
It all played out in soft-focus bits and pieces. What was actually happening was impossible to understand, except that it didn’t look good. It was chaotic and violent and made no sense. It made me appreciate Baz’s true gift. He might not have been able to conjure images from the future; that was the job of the crystal ball. But he had the ability to interpret them. It made me wish I hadn’t solved the mystery of what had happened to him back in 1937 and released his spirit from Playland. It would have been nice if he’d stuck around a little longer to help figure out what Theo was in for.
I finally drifted off to sleep. As much as my mind kept racing, my body was exhausted. It had been a wild adventure, and I was drained. I needed the rest because the next day might prove to be every bit as intense as the one in the story of the Oracle Baz. I had to be totally on my game.
Unfortunately, my game didn’t start well.
I overslept. I’d wanted to get up really early and head right over to Theo’s before he started his day. His birthday. But I slept right through my alarm. When I finally cracked open an eye, it was already six-thirty. Normally, that would be about four hours too early for me to get up on a Sunday, but not on that day. When I saw the time, I was hit with a shot of adrenaline that was better than any alarm clock. Suddenly, I was wide awake.
I instantly grabbed my cell phone to call Theo. But the phone was dead.
“No!” I said with frustration.
How could I have been so stupid as to not have plugged it in the night before? I really must have been beat. I snagged the charging cord and plugged it into the phone and had to wait for what felt like a lifetime for the power to kick in. Once it did, I went right to the phone app…and my stomach dropped.
There were five missed calls from Theo.
“No, no, no!” I bellowed.
Why do people always shout “no” when they see something they don’t like? It’s not like it’ll change anything. Mostly you see that in movies, but I guess it happens in real life, too, because I definitely shouted “no” a couple of times.
And it didn’t change anything. I had still missed five calls.
I immediately hit CALL BACK, but it went directly to his voice mail.
“No!” I shouted with frustration.
The shouting didn’t help that time either.
My next call was to Lu, and it also went to voice mail.
I didn’t shout “no” again. I guess I finally realized how futile it was. I kept my head and called the McLeans’ house number.
Again, I got voice mail.
It was six-thirty on a Sunday morning. Why wasn’t anybody home? The McLeans belonged to a church on the other side of town, and they often went to the earliest, crack-of-dawn Sunday service. Theo hated that. There was a good chance they were there. That realization made me feel a little better. Nothing can happen to you when you’re at church, right? Right??
My last-ditch effort was to call Lu’s home phone. It rang and rang, and just when I was about to scream “no!” into the phone like a fool, somebody answered.
“Hello?” said somebody who sounded half-asleep. I guess they weren’t used to getting phone calls this early on a Sunday morning.
“Hi, sorry to call so early,” I said. “Is Annabella there?”
“Marcus?” Lu replied.
“Yes!” (I don’t mind saying “yes” when things go well. That’s perfectly acceptable.) “Theo’s been trying to call me, but my cell was dead,” I said quickly because there was no time for formalities. “Did he call you?”
“I don’t know,” she said groggily. “Let me check.”
She dropped the phone, and I waited for what felt like an hour before she got back. She was suddenly as wide awake and alert as I was.
“He’s been calling me too,” she declared. “But I turn my phone off at night. House rules. Why is he up so early?”
“Don’t bother trying to call back,” I said. “His cell goes to voice mail and nobody answers at his house. I’m thinking they all went to church.”
“What do we do, Marcus?” she asked nervously.
Up until that moment Lu had been rock-solid confident that we could control Theo’s fortune. Hearing the uncertain tension in her voice made me feel like at this point even she had doubts. We had planned to be with Theo the entire day, and we had already blown it.
“Let’s go to his house,” I said. “If they went to church, they’ll be back soon.”
“And what if they’re someplace else?” she asked.
“Then I don’t know,” I said.
“GET OUT OF THE car, Theo,” Joe demanded.
“I’m not going,” Theo replied stubbornly.
“This cost Mom and Dad a truckload of cash. You can’t chicken out.”
“Oh, but I can.”
“I don’t get it,” Joe said with frustration. “You always say you want to fly in a helicopter. This is your dream come true.”
“Or my nightmare,” Theo shot back.
“I’m not gonna fight with you,” Joe said, trying to contain his anger. “But I’m not gonna take the blame for this. Let’s go inside and talk to the pilot. If he can’t convince you to go, then we’ll call it off.”
Theo thought about that and opened the car door.
“I don’t care what the guy says,” Theo declared. “There’s nothing he can say that’ll make me fly today.”
“Whatever,” Joe said. “At least I can say I did all I could to make you not be a weezer. Let the pilot take the heat.”
Joe was obviously disappointed because if Theo wouldn’t go, he wouldn’t get to go either.
They were parked in front of a small building that was marked with a sign: Nimbus Air. It was on the far end of the airport, a good distance from the main terminal building. Beyond the squat one-room building was a wire fence that cordoned off the runways.
Theo got out of the car…
…and left his cell phone on the front seat.
“I’ve got an idea,” Theo said with enthusiasm. “I’ll fly, but not today. Let’s see if he’ll change it to next week.”
“Next week isn’t your birthday,” Joe said.
“Who cares?” Theo shot back. “I’m not six years old. It doesn’t have to be on the day.”
“What’s the difference if it’s today or next week or next year?” Joe asked.
“Next week I won’t have this same bad feeling,” Theo replied.
“Unbelievable,” Joe said with exasperation. “It was a stupid fortune-telling machine, fool.”
Theo could only shrug.
The two walked across the gravel parking lot toward the small building. Theo looked out beyond the wire fence to the tarmac. What he saw erased any last doubt that he was making the right decision. Sitting on the tarmac, not far from the building, was a helicopter with the name Nimbus Air painted on it.
The helicopter…was bright red.
His stomach twisted and his head went light. The prophecy was becoming clear. It was foreseen that he would die in a tragic helicopter crash.
But not if he had anything to say about it.
I sped on my bike to Theo’s house even though he lived only a few blocks away through the suburban sprawl of our neighborhood. I got there in record time, dropped my bike while still moving, and rang the doorbell, hoping Theo would throw open the door and tear me a new one for not answering his calls.
He didn’t. Nobody did. Nobody was home.
“Are they here?” Lu asked as she flew in on her bike behind me.
“Only if they’re asleep,” I said. “But I doubt it.”
“We let him down, Marcus,” Lu said, near panic. “I promised him we wouldn’t let anything happen.”
“It’s okay. They’re probably headed back here right now.”
“And what if something happens on the way? We should have slept here. Or had him stay at your house. Or tied him to a chair. Anything! We totally dropped the ball.”
“I know, but it’s still early,” I said calmly, though I was feeling anything but. “His birthday is all day. He’ll be home soon.”
“Let’s hope so,” Lu said.
“YOU MUST BE THE McLean boys!”
Theo and Joe were greeted inside the small office by a tall, trim sixtyish African American guy wearing a leather flight jacket. His short gray hair and neat clothes pegged him as the pilot.
“I’m Captain Russell,” the guy said warmly, holding out his hand to shake Joe’s.
“I’m Joe. This is Theo.”
“The birthday boy!” Russell exclaimed, and shook Theo’s hand enthusiastically. “Fourteen. Great age. Old enough to get around on your own and start figuring out how it all works. Happy day.”
Theo shook his hand and noticed that Russell was wearing a bright blue shirt underneath his leather jacket. The sight actually gave him confidence. This might have been the guy Marcus saw in the crystal ball. Things were playing out exactly the way the fortune had predicted. The only thing missing was somebody with orange hair.
Theo relaxed. This was where he was destined to meet his fate. He was sure of it, and he knew exactly what he had to do.
Or not do.
“Thanks,” Theo said. “There’s a change in plans, though.”
“Oh?” Russell said, looking concerned. “Everything okay?”
“Here we go,” Joe said, rolling his eyes.
Lu and I sat down on the front steps of the McLean house, leaning into each other to keep warm. A biting-cold wind whipped across the yard. It was the kind of morning best spent in bed, nice and warm. Asleep. And safe.
“Look!” Lu exclaimed.
A car turned off the road into the driveway.
“Yes!” I exclaimed.
Again, that’s allowed.
We jumped up and ran to the car to find it wasn’t Theo or his parents. Sitting behind the wheel was Harry McLean, one of Theo’s older brothers. The one who went to college.
“No,” Lu said with disappointment. And of course it changed nothing.
Harry opened the door and climbed out.
“Good to see you guys too,” Harry said sarcastically. “What’re you doing here so early?”
“Looking for Theo,” Lu said. “Nobody’s home.”
“They’re probably at church,” Harry said as he got out of the car. “My parents love that early-bird service. Crazy. Still feels like last night to me.”
“I thought you were at school,” I said.
“I want to surprise Theo for his birthday,” Harry said. “And have Mom do some laundry.” He reached into his backseat and pulled out a sack stuffed with dirty clothes.
“We tried to call his cell, but he’s not answering,” Lu said. “We don’t know your parents’ numbers.”
“We’ll call ’em from inside,” Harry said. “But I don’t want to bother ’em during the service.”
“They won’t mind,” I said quickly.
Harry gave me a how would you know that? scowl and headed for the house.
“I WANT TO POSTPONE the flight,” Theo said adamantly.
“Really?” Russell asked. “Why’s that?”
“Because he had his fortune told and it said he was going to die on his birthday,” Joe said with a scoff. “Can you believe it?”
“Really? What kind of crazy fortune is that?” Russell asked, incredulous.
“Crazy is the exact right word,” Joe said.
“It’s dumb, I know,” Theo said. “Nothing’s going to happen. But I really don’t want to tempt fate. Call me superstitious, or dumb, or whatever you want, but I’m not going to fly today. Maybe we can do it next week.”
Russell gave Theo a curious look, as if not sure how to respond to such a silly concern. “The deal your parents made was for today,” he said. “Rescheduling wasn’t an option.”
“So then let’s fly!” Joe exclaimed.
Theo’s shoulders fell. He was out of options.
But Russell gave him a big smile and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’m just giving you a hard time,” he said with a laugh. “You actually saved me the trouble of delivering the bad news.”
“What bad news?” Theo asked.
“We can’t fly today,” Russell said. “The winds are crazy. Besides being dangerous, it wouldn’t be a very pleasant experience. We’d be bouncing around like popcorn. Maybe that fortune of yours isn’t so foolish after all.”
Joe’s mouth fell open. “Whoa,” he muttered.
“Really?” Theo asked with total relief. “We can reschedule?”
“Absolutely,” Russell said. “Have your parents call me, and we’ll pick another day that won’t be so dramatic.” He smiled broadly and added, “For any reason.”
Theo grabbed Russell’s hand and shook it furiously. “Thank you, sir, thank you,” he said, bubbling over with excitement. “I really want to do this. I do. I’ve always wanted to fly in a helicopter. Did my parents tell you that? It’s been one of my dreams. It’ll be awesome. Just not today.”
Russell laughed. “Yes, it’ll be awesome. We’ll pick a perfect day.”
Theo backed out of the room. “We will. Can’t wait. So…see ya!”
Joe looked to Russell and gave him a shrug.
“He’s odd,” Joe said.
“That’s okay. Odd is good.”
Joe went outside and looked to the car, but Theo wasn’t there. He glanced around and saw his brother standing at the wire fence, staring out at the red helicopter.
“So everybody’s happy,” Joe said. “Let’s go home.”
Theo didn’t move. He continued to stare at the helicopter, his excitement suddenly gone.
“What’s the matter now?” Joe asked.
“Nothing. It’s just kind of scary,” Theo said. “I’ve been worried about this for so long. I feel like I just dodged a bullet. That’s pretty intense.”
“You are seriously strange,” Joe said. “Tell you what: I’ll get you home, and you can hide under your bed for the rest of the day. Maybe that’ll make you feel better.”
“Nah,” Theo said. “I’m actually feeling okay.”
Harry dumped his bag of dirty laundry on the stairs and went straight for the kitchen.
“You guys want something to eat?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“No,” Lu said at the same time.
“Let’s call your parents first,” I said.
“What’s the rush?” Harry asked.
“We just want to know if they’ll be back soon with Theo,” Lu replied. “You know, so we can figure out if we should hang out and wait or not.”
“Whatever,” Harry said, and pulled out his cell phone. “I’ll FaceTime them. It’ll freak them out to see I’m calling from the kitchen. I didn’t tell ’em I was coming.”
Harry found their number in his contact list and hit the FaceTime button. The phone rang a few times, and then…
“Hey!” came Mr. McLean’s voice through the phone. “What’re you doing up so early on a Sunday? No party last night?”
“Yeah, there was, and I’m not feeling so hot right now,” Harry said as he held the phone up so the camera would see him. “You see where I am?”
“You’re in the kitchen!” Mrs. McLean exclaimed. “What’re you doing home?”
“I came for Theo’s birthday.”
“That is so sweet!” Mrs. McLean said.
“And to do laundry,” Harry added.
“And that is so typical,” Mr. McLean said.
“Put Theo on,” Harry said. “He’s got a whole birthday committee here waiting for him.”
Harry directed the phone toward Lu and me so we could see Mr. and Mrs. McLean and they could see us.
“Morning!” I said brightly. “Could you put Theo on so—”
The words caught in my throat.
“Oh no,” Lu whispered in dismay.
“He’s not here,” Mrs. McLean said. “He’s with Joe. Wait’ll you hear what his birthday present is.”
I didn’t register anything they were saying. All I could do was stare at Mr. McLean.
The guy was wearing a bright blue shirt.
Life as Theo knew it was going to end that day, but not because of anything that might happen to him.
The person in real danger was his father.