BAM!
Larry threw himself at the locked break-room door. It didn’t even budge and all he had to show for it was a sore shoulder. Tilly had locked them inside. Laaa had chewed through his wrist restraints and was passing the time, sitting in a chair and beating his head against the table. All the while, the caveman moaned in shame.
“Don’t beat yourself up, Laaa,” consoled Larry. “It’s not your fault.”
Larry moved to the sink and picked up an old dishtowel. He wrapped it around his right fist and headed back to the door. They had to break out of there somehow. Larry reared back and punched the door’s reinforced window. Nothing. Not even a crack.
“Argh!” Larry yelled in both frustration and pain.
This broke Laaa out of his head-banging trance. He moved to the door and punched it just as Larry did. “Aaaa!” Laaa yelled. He looked to Larry for approval.
“Laaa, if you see me do something dumb, don’t imitate me, okay?” asked Larry.
The Neanderthal nodded.
Larry rubbed his aching hand. “That’s basically what I keep telling Nick.”
Laaa nodded again.
“It’s a lot simpler for you, Laaa,” said Larry. He moved throughout the room, searching through drawers and cabinets. Laaa followed him, listening intently. “All you have to do is worry about fire ... no fire.” Larry continued. “Shelter ... no shelter.” Larry found an old butter knife and marched back to the door. “The whole evolution thing? It just makes things more complicated.”
Laaa followed Larry to the door, still listening and nodding.
“Look, I get it,” said Larry. He pried at the lock with the tip of the butter knife. “I know where Nick is coming from. I’m just trying to help the kid skip twenty years of my mistakes.”
Laaa pointed to the door and then to his head.
Larry frowned, trying to understand. “Door ... head. Okay ...”
Laaa reached out and opened an imaginary door. Then he pointed to his head again.
“Open your head?” asked Larry. Then his eyes widened. “Open your mind! Yeah, well, that’s parenting right there, Laaa.” Larry nodded. “That’s the challenge.”
Laaa shook his head and gently moved Larry aside. He took a step back, lowered his head, and charged the door. His head rammed through the reinforced window, shattering the glass. Laaa pulled his head out and then reached through the break in the window. He unlatched the door from the other side and swung the door open.
“Oh! Open the door with your head,” said Larry. He patted the caveman on the back. “Good job.”
Larry and Laaa ran out of the break room and into the freight room. He had to stop Tilly from calling the police. Lucky for him, it looked as if someone beat him to it. He found the rest of his group waiting for him outside. The guard shack door was closed with a stool jammed underneath the handle. Larry could hear Tilly pounding on the door.
“You won’t get away with this,” said her muffled voice. “I’m doing sketches of you in my mind!”
Larry ran up to his friends. “Everybody okay?”
“Yes, Lawrence,” replied Teddy. “We’ve secured the lady guard in her booth. But I don’t know how long that’ll hold her.”
“All right.” Larry clasped his hands together. “We need to find Lancelot, but somebody has to keep that guard locked up.”
Laaa stepped solemnly forward.
Larry nodded. “Laaa. You know what to do.”
The caveman held up both hands, palms out, as if he were holding up an invisible door.
Larry smiled. “Make sure she stays in there.”
Laaa nodded vigorously. “STAAAY!”
Larry pat him on the back. “Good.” Laaa ran toward the guardhouse.
“Lawrence, I can’t move my arms,” said Teddy. Both of his arms were now frozen stiff. His hands jutted out from the elbows as if he were trying to shake two hands at once. “I fear we are becoming less useful by the minute.”
Larry looked at the others. Sacajawea was almost expressionless. She was reverting back to her original plastic form. Ahkmenrah’s face was even more aged and cracked. As Larry looked at Attila, the Hun warrior swayed and then dropped to his knees.
Larry rushed to help him to his feet. “Come on, big guy.” Once the Hun was upright, Larry noticed that one of Attila’s eyes had turned back to glass. It stared up and to the left. “Wow, you’re looking all crazy-eyed there, man,” said Larry. “Like, way more than normal.”
Attila’s lower lip jutted out. He seemed about to cry.
Larry grabbed his arm. “Just hang tough,” Larry told him. “Listen to me. When does a Hun give up?”
Attila took a breath and summoned a brave smile. “Nagor.”
“That’s right. Nagor,” said Larry. “He just keeps ... pillaging and looting until the very last village is burned.”
Larry turned to gaze at the London skyline. “Lancelot’s out there somewhere.”
“Dad, there’s like eight million people in this city,” said Nick. “The guy could be anywhere.”
“We’ll find him,” said Larry. “We have to.”
“Always the optimist, Leonard,” said Teddy.
“Larry,” corrected Larry.
Teddy nodded. “Right.”
Larry led the way as they trekked into the heart of the city. As the strange group moved down the busy sidewalks, Larry tried to ignore the curious looks they received from passersby. He had to stay focused on tracking down the rogue knight. Surprisingly, they didn’t get as many stares as he had expected. Then again, London was a big city. And if it were anything like living in New York, then the people were used to seeing all kinds of strange things every day.
When they came to a small park, Sacajawea knelt and examined the ground. “He came this way,” she said through her tightening lips. “Traveling half an acre per hour. The horse ... its left flank is weak.”
They followed the trail for two blocks until it went cold. Then someone screamed from around a corner. That scream told Larry that they were still on the right trail.
“Come on,” Larry said as they dashed down the sidewalk.
They turned the corner and saw Trafalgar Square spread out before them. The huge open space was surrounded by ornate granite buildings and had a large fountain near the center. Larry recognized the London landmark at once. It was named after a British naval victory during the Napoleonic Wars. It featured a two-hundred-foot column displaying a statue of the hero of that battle, Admiral Nelson. Surrounding the column were four bronze lion statues, each one the size of an SUV. Normally, the lions surrounded the column. Since Lancelot had come through with the magic tablet, awakening the statues, the lions now terrorized the square’s many tourists.
As soon as Larry and the others entered the square, one of the lions turned its attention to them. It bared a mouthful of sharp bronze teeth.
ROOOOAR!
The other three lions noticed the first one’s cry. They ceased their prowling and bounded over to join the first. Now all four lions snarled as they stalked the small group from New York. Ears back and teeth bared, they crept closer, ready to pounce.
“Lawrence? Ideas?” asked Teddy.
Jed and Octavius peeked out from a pocket in Nick’s vest. “Use your flashlight, Gigantor,” yelled Jed. “These cats want to play!”
Larry whipped out his flashlight and switched it on. He aimed the beam at the ground in front of the first lion. Its ears shot forward and its head darted down as it began tracking the lit circle. Larry wiggled the flashlight a bit, making the circle dance about. The lion reached out a paw, trying to catch the circle of light. When it couldn’t stop the light from moving, it grabbed at it with both paws. Soon, the other lions joined the first. They all chased the light beam like kittens chasing the red dot of a laser pointer—just like one of Jed and Octavius’ favorite Internet videos.
“Gigantor, get your phone out!” said Jed. “We gotta video this!”
“We don’t have time for that,” said Larry.
“By the barnacled brow of Neptune,” said Octavius, shaking his head. “We’d have millions of hits.”
Larry switched off the flashlight and slid it back onto his belt. He smiled at the romping lions. “This would be huge.”
The lions continued to play like giant kittens. They pounced on each other and wrestled around the square. The tourists who hadn’t run for their lives were busy taking pictures of the frisky felines.
They had solved that problem, but they were still no closer to catching Lancelot. Larry scanned the large square and saw no sign of the knight on horseback.
Teddy glanced around. “Where the devil did he go?”
Larry’s eyes landed on a bus shelter. A large advertisement had been installed on one side. Larry smiled. He read the colorful poster and knew exactly where Lancelot was going.