CHAPTER SIXTEEN

T

he evening of May 23rd was warm and sultry. Lisa and Todd sat on their jackets and watched Swift Road for a sign of life. The Arco station was deserted, except for the dancing reflections of moon and clouds in the faces of the gas pumps.

“What time is it, Todd?”

“Five minutes to twelve.”

She said nothing more until a distant rumbling was heard. “What’s that? Do you think it’s them?” They peered intently into the darkness.

Finally, the sounds took form. A convertible with its top down led the procession. Three soldiers accompanied a boy in the front seat. That must be Charlie, Lisa thought. The car was followed by a large dump truck with 20 soldiers in the back. Three open Jeep 4x4’s and two cars were next. Each was filled with soldiers. At the end was another convertible with four more soldiers and a driver.

The convoy stopped where Swift Road met North Avenue. For a few minutes, everything was dark and silent. “What’s the matter? Why isn’t he signaling?” Todd asked.

Then a light flashed from the lead car. Todd and Lisa counted the seconds: “. . . 10 . . . 30 . . . 60.” There was another flash of light. Then another . . .

When the signal had been repeated 12 times, Lisa and Todd walked across North Avenue and approached the first car. “Charlie, it’s good to see you.” She shook his hand and was in command again. “Gather all your soldiers around the Jeep in the middle. Quickly! And tell them to be quiet.”

None of the soldiers, not even Charlie, knew what was planned for that night. They all wanted to cheer when they heard the voice above them on the roof of the Jeep.

“We have a long wait ahead. At daylight, we’ll start a tour. It will be our first trip away from Glen Ellyn. We’ll visit other cities in search of an army. When we find one that we think we can trust, then we’ll make a deal with them to help us recapture Glenbard.

“We’ll go to Lombard first, then to Villa Park, and then to Wheaton. If we can’t find what we want, we’ll try other cities. But . . . .

“You there,” she said impatiently to a restless soldier. “Did you hear what I said?” He didn’t answer. “Pay attention to what I’m saying. We can’t take any chances tomorrow. Who knows what we’ll find in those other towns? There might be armies that will try to kill us on the spot. We must be ready, and we can’t make any mistakes, so pay attention.”

The soldiers rested for a time, while Lisa and Charlie sat by the gas pumps discussing the plan. When they agreed on a better way to do something, they would rouse the soldiers for more briefings. Lisa carried the plan beyond the events of the next day. Her strategy brought them to the morning of May 26th, when Charlie’s soldiers and a hired army of thousands would recapture the city.

The general criticized her. “Lisa, why get ahead of ourselves? Let’s take the plan one day at a time.”

“No, Charlie. We have to plan the whole strategy to make sure that everything fits together. Then we can adjust it each day, as we need to, until the 26th.”

They spent the whole night talking it through. The soldiers slept, were awakened, and then slept again. By morning, the plan was fixed in everyone’s mind.

The eight vehicles and the army of 55 were ready. At dawn, the motorcade began the journey to Lombard. The children were tired and some were frightened by what they might discover in the “outside” world. But they all kept to their assigned positions in the vehicles.

The kids in the towns they passed were amazed by the long motorcade. Fearing that the brigade had come to do them harm, they ran into their houses. No one in these cities had yet learned to drive. The sight of one moving automobile would have surprised them, but to see eight cars and trucks filled with armed soldiers made them shudder with fear.

The motorcade stopped many times in Lombard. Lisa and Charlie tried to learn who the town leaders were. A few of the less fearful children stayed outside to watch the procession. Charlie would call out to them, “We’ve come in peace. Who is your leader? Where is your headquarters?”

They stopped at least 20 times, but no one would answer Charlie’s questions. Lisa and Charlie decided that there was no army in Lombard. The town was dirty and lifeless.

The motorcade moved on to Villa Park. What they saw there was something that no one wanted to speak of. It was a town that hadn’t survived. Death was everywhere. The children felt its presence on every street of the town, and they didn’t need to look inside a single house to know what they would find inside. They drove away silently.

In Wheaton they found a leader, a headquarters, and an army, but not the alliance they were looking for. The general of Wheaton was a cruel, violent boy. “Get your army out of here,” he said. “Or my men will wipe you out. My name is Scott Donald Mennie, and I have 200 soldiers.”

“Scott Donald Mennie?” a voice called from the ranks. “You look more to me like Scott Donald Duck!” The small army of Glenbard laughed, and Lisa studied the angry general. He was shaking.

He chose to ignore the insult. “You’ll be smart if you just stay in your own town and don’t stick your necks out of it again—ever!” Then he told them why. “I’m going to join with the Chicago army, and we’ll be seeing you someday soon. So don’t try anything clever, or you’ll just give us a good reason to wipe you out right now.”

Then he started to brag. “The Chicago army is huge. It has more than 2,000 soldiers. When Wheaton and other towns join up, it’ll have even more. Maybe as many as 5,000 by this summer. When we’re ready, we’ll start to capture towns like yours one at a time, until we control the whole state.”

He talks too much, Lisa thought.

But he wasn’t finished yet. “If you’re smart, you’ll join us. If you’re not smart, you’ll regret it. The King of Chicago is powerful. He’ll make you a good offer. You’ll have a chance, and you better take advantage of it. Now get out of here!”

Suddenly he held up his hand. “But wait. What’s your leader’s name? Is he here? I want to give his name to the king.”

When Lisa stepped forward, the boy laughed. “It can’t be!” He laughed again, and this time he looked at the 55 soldiers. “A girl!” he mocked. “What’s the matter with you guys? You must be some tough army! ”

Lisa had never wanted to hurt anyone, not even Tom Logan. But now she smashed her fist into the face of the Wheaton general.

He reeled backward but stayed on his feet. The blood from his nose confused him long enough for the motorcade to pull away. A girl! he thought, as he stared after them in amazement.

“Well,” said Charlie to Lisa, “We’ve got another enemy now . . . Scott Donald Duck!” They roared with laughter. Suddenly serious again, Charlie added, “That Chicago army stuff scares me. What do you think of it, Lisa?”

“The King of Chicago,” she said. “What a dumb name for a leader. Why not president or premier? Is this the Dark Ages or something?”

Neither of them answered. They both knew that it was like the Dark Ages. Kings and brutality and plagues and death were again a part of life. And Lisa knew that Logan was only her first enemy, not her last. If she recaptured Glenbard, she would be facing even bigger armies in the future. The Dark Ages wouldn’t end for a long time.

“Where to now, Lisa?” Charlie asked.

“Well, we could look at other towns. But I really don’t think we’ll find anything much different. We’re going to have to revise our plan tonight. We’ll just have to do it without a big army.” Lisa thought a while.

“Driver,” she said, “turn here. Left.” Lisa led the motorcade safely back to the farm on Swift Road.

But it wasn’t the quiet farm that they had expected to find. The high flames and smoke in the farmyard reminded Lisa of her burning house. The loud voices made her think of past battles and celebrations.

Which was it? she wondered as the motorcade came to rest in front of the farm. Was it a party, or was it trouble?

It was definitely a party—there were shouts and cheers of joy as she walked toward the crowd in the farmyard. They had been singing the Glenbard song and waiting for the return of the motorcade. The orange-and-yellow flag of Glenbard was flying high above the bonfire. Yes, they were celebrating.

Someone had learned that Lisa was alive and staying at a farm on Swift Road. The rumor had spread quickly through the city, and this group must have sneaked out after Charlie.

“Charlie!” Lisa was angry now. “How could this happen? How did they find out? Don’t you realize what could happen? This could be our big mistake. Logan might come here after us. Even if he doesn’t, now he’ll be on guard every minute against an attack. Tell me, Charlie! How could they have found out? Only you and Todd knew about it.”

Charlie couldn’t say anything. He stood there with his mouth open, thinking. Finally he said, “Lisa, I swear I didn’t tell a soul. I swear it. I can’t imagine how they found out. I didn’t even say we were going to the Arco station.”

She believed him. And then she remembered Jill. They must have tortured her, she thought.

The crowd wanted Lisa to speak to them. They cheered and shouted, “We want Lisa! We want Lisa!” But her mind was on other things, very serious things. Would Logan come tonight? What had happened to Jill? Was she hurt? What should they do next? Could they still attack on the 26th? Could this bunch in the farmyard serve as an army?

All through the night the crowd grew louder. They kept shouting, “Lisa! Lisa! We want Lisa!”

But she didn’t speak to them. Instead, she sat alone in a room inside the farmhouse and replanned the strategy. The words of caution came back to haunt her . . . take no chances . . . look at all the possibilities . . . mistakes are costly . . . think . . . plan . . . be logical . . . take no chances . . .

Outside, the noise continued. No, she couldn’t speak to them yet. When her plan was ready, she would talk. After all, you should only speak when you have something to say.

Mysteriously, the crowd was growing larger by the hour. How was it possible? Where did they all come from—those 200, and then 300? What had happened at the city?

The answer, if she’d had time to look for it, could have been seen on Swift Road, across North Avenue, down the old route to Grand Avenue, and, finally, past the lake to the castle itself. The roads were filled with a stream of pilgrims carrying their life’s belongings and food and guns to find a leader who had come back from the dead.

But in the darkness of her room, Lisa’s courage wavered. I’m not what they think, she said to herself. I don’t know if we can do it. I just don’t know.

The moment of weakness left her as she turned her thoughts to the problem, the one she knew she could solve. Enough doubting, she warned herself. I’ve got to make this plan right—perfect—no chances—no mistakes . . .

All that night and the next day Lisa kept to herself in the room. Is this the 25th? she wondered. Tonight—by tonight I must have the plan ready.

The crowd of 300 waited patiently outside in the warm spring air. They never doubted that everything would be all right and that she would figure something out.

Todd came to work by her side. Together, by candlelight, they looked at plans and drawings. To those waiting outside, it seemed they would never come out.

“What are they doing in there?” the children asked. “Why won’t she come out here? Why can’t we go get Logan?”

Charlie assured them. “It’s an important plan, a very important plan. We can’t make any mistakes, and we can’t take any chances! You have to trust her. She knows what to do.”

And when Lisa was ready—when she told them the new plan—it went into effect immediately.

In what seemed to be almost the next moment, the crowd was at the castle. They took positions in the woods and by the walls and in the trees around Glenbard. No one made a sound while Lisa crept through the secret tunnel alone.

Would he be in the chamber? Was her gun loaded? Did she have the key ready? Would there be guards?

What was wrong? She emerged from the tunnel inside the fortress. But there were no guards anywhere! No children anywhere . . . what was the matter? She was more nervous than she would have been had they been everywhere.

She went through the basement. There were no guards, no citizens. Up the stairs to the main floor—nothing, not a soul anywhere. She went down the corridor. It was deserted, lifeless. She found her way to the old chamber and turned the key.

Logan was sitting there as though he had been waiting. “Hello, Lisa” he said, and then added, “Sit down. I want to talk to you.”

She hadn’t expected this.

“I can’t handle your city, Lisa. You win. Your citizens rebelled and just walked out. How could I stop them? What could I do?

“Lisa, I’m sorry for the shooting, really sorry. I told them not to shoot. It was an accident. I didn’t want you to get hurt. And your friend, Jill, they’ll tell you that I hurt her, too. But I didn’t. We just scared her a little. She’s safe in a room downstairs. We just scared her, Lisa, that’s all. Your citizens found out where you were—I think she told them—and I threatened to hurt her if the others left, but they were too busy running away to hear me. They just walked out. What else could I do? They hated me from the start. What could I do?”

Is he asking my opinion? she wondered. Logan seemed spent and weary. He had faced the problems of the city, and he didn’t care any longer. He was beaten.

“Okay, let’s talk,” Lisa said, and she laid the gun on the table beside the candle.

It was a trick. In an instant, he grabbed the gun, aimed it at her, and shouted a signal to 50 hidden guards, who soon filled the hall outside. For the second time in the history of Glenbard, the gang leader was smiling victoriously at her.