Quantum (22 page)

“They are at Versailles. Have you been before?”

I nodded. Ella developed a strange fascination for Marie Antoinette after Mom took us to see the
Color of Flesh
in New York. The story itself went over Ella’s head but she was mesmerized by the costumes and so the last time we visited, Mom made sure that a trip to the palace and gardens of Versailles was included.

“We can take a taxi or I can transport you…,” Luna said, looking at me intently.

“I guess your way is faster?” I queried.

She nodded, looking for a quiet place. “Come with me,” she said, pointing to the bushes.

“Okay, take me over,” I said, closing my eyes. I felt her take hold of my shoulders and then I felt weightless, just as I had during my last experience. When I suddenly felt pressure on my feet, I opened my eyes. We were standing opposite one of the most beautiful fountains I have ever seen. I remembered it from my last visit, but couldn’t remember the name. I looked to Luna for information.

“It’s the Latona Fountain,” she reminded me, as we emerged from behind a tree.

“No awards for having a great memory for fountain names here,” I said, slightly embarrassed. “I do remember that her children’s names are Apollo and Diana, though.”

“That’s right,” Luna confirmed. “And there’s the back of the Chateau,” she said, pointing to the magnificent building behind the fountain. “Let’s walk. We are meeting Justin and Simla at the Queen’s Grove for the meditation segment. It’s nice and quiet there today, it will just be us.”

“Oh, I thought that was much later? Didn’t we plan to be here later?”

“I accounted for that in the transport, Your Highness.”

Very handy! I followed Luna through the paths to a grassy isolated spot where I spotted Justin, Simla, Olivier and Madison. They were sitting down on the grass looking up at me as we approached them. Olivier and Madison jumped to their feet and bowed. There were no other people around.

“Your Highness, please allow me to introduce Madison and Olivier to you,” Luna said, nodding to them.

“Pleased to meet you,” I said, and shook their hands–sweaty hands, they must have been working out. Simla looked exhausted, she barely acknowledged me, where as Justin grinned and seemed pleased to see me.

“Shall we get started?” Madison asked, beckoning Luna and me to sit down.

I sat down and followed along–pretended mostly–to Madison’s instructions. We started off doing a bunch of breathing exercises; I’ve always hated those. I find that whenever I focus on my breathing, I tend to hyperventilate. So I ignored her. The breathing exercises were built upon by the addition of muscle relaxation exercises. Seriously, why not just head to a spa for a massage? I watched Justin and Simla out of the corner of my eye as they were following along. Justin appeared totally into it. His chest was heaving just at the right intervals and his muscles were tightening and relaxing when commanded. Simla, on the other hand, was totally faking it–and very badly, worse than me, if that’s possible. I could see Luna watching her. Boy, she was going to be in trouble. Maybe that’s what Luna had been preoccupied with before. Maybe she received reports back that Simla was not participating fully. It’s not that surprising, though. Simla wasn’t into any sports. Any kind of physical activity must be super- challenging for her.

After about an hour of messing around with these exercises, Madison stood up, bowed and walked off, with Olivier following at her heels.

“I promised you some alone time,” Luna said, getting up. “So, I’ll be back in about an hour.” She handed Justin a couple of canvas bags. “Here are some refreshments, enjoy.” She then disappeared into a mist.

“Come on! Let’s run!” Simla whispered, getting up and pulling at Justin’s arm.

I was going to suggest the same, but hadn’t for a moment thought that Simla would go along. I had pictured making a run for it along with Justin, leaving Simla behind. So, I was a little shocked. I instinctively grabbed Justin’s other arm and got ready to run. I wasn’t prepared for the force with which he propelled both Simla and me back onto the grass. I landed with an almighty thump, hoping that I hadn’t cracked anything. “Geez, you idiot! Whatcha do that for?” I yelled.

“Did you both leave your brains behind? What’s the matter with you?” Justin shot back. “Do you really think that they’re going to just let us take off? They’re probably watching us right now!”

“Well, I think we should take a chance!” I grumbled. “What have we got to lose? Besides, they didn’t say we had to stay
here
for the hour.”

“Arizona’s right,” Simla said, rubbing her legs. “Push me again and I’ll kill you. I’m going. Stay if you want to, but I’m taking off.”

“Where to, Simla?” Justin sighed.

“To that big Chateau for starters. There are bound to be people in there, in fact if I come across anyone before I get there I’m asking for help.”

“Simla, they’ll stop you and you’ll be in trouble. Go on and try,” Justin dared her.

She did, much to my surprise. She walked off on her own toward the building. I was just about to follow her, when Justin took my arm.

“Arizona, hold on. I need to talk to you. You can follow her if you want to
after
. Please?”

“But I might not be able to catch up! I’d better go with her.”

Justin took my arm and briskly led me to where we could see Simla. She was walking toward the chateau, slowly. Her feet must hurt; she was limping slightly. As I was watching her, she suddenly disappeared into a mist.

“See?” Justin mumbled. “
That
was just plain stupid. You want to go next?”

“Sheesh! What should we do?” I despaired.

“Nothing. There’s nothing we can do. Not at this very moment. Come and sit down.”

I shook my head and we walked back to the canvas bags and sat down. Justin laid out the food in front of us. I was hungry; it had been a long day. I watched Justin as he wolfed down his brie-laden baguette. I had known Justin since the start of middle school. We had gelled instantly. We not only played hockey together, but also suffered through Kumon. He’d been a dweeby nerd when I first met him, however, he had since filled out into a five-foot-eleven, muscle-bound jock. He seemed to spend his life in the weight room at school. Justin had been part of both my Stevens and Darley lives and I was dying to find out how he had managed to do that. I did, however, have to find out what was happening now first and figure out how to find Simla. “Justin, you wanted to talk. So talk.”

“Okay, if I update you, will you do the same?”

“Sure, you go first.”

“I’ve been hanging out with Olivier. Strange guy, doesn’t say a lot, chuckles to himself from time to time. He’s definitely a Sigma-W-Pi. He’s got one of those pendants they wear. I tried engaging him in chitchat to try to figure out what we’re doing here. He just shrugged his shoulders. All I’ve been doing is training–which has been okay–apart from that meditation stuff, which seems like a waste of time. Olivier has me lifting weights and doing cardio. He’s been like a really good personal trainer. I don’t know what I’m training for, though.
 
My understanding is that I’m being taken to London tomorrow and that’s when I’ll find out.”

“What about Simla?”

“From what little she told me, I gather it’s been the same for her. She hates exercising, though, so it’s been hell for her. She’s thoroughly pissed and wants to go home. She’s not willing to wait until tomorrow to find out what we’re doing here.”

“Strange,” I remarked. “She was all gung-ho to start with. It’s fairly certain that you guys are being prepared to join Potomal’s group. He probably just needs to know that you guys are fit enough. What are you going to do if he asks you?”

“I’m keeping all my options open. I’m going to wait and hear what he has to say. I’m worried about Simla, though. She is now adamant that she’s not joining. Apparently her dad has the blueprints for the portal, so she said that she’d be able to travel anyway, she doesn’t really need to be able to wander, especially if it means busting her guts training everyday. She stupidly told Madison that, so I bet they’re now on alert as far as she’s concerned. And who knows what they’ll do now that she tried to escape!”

I shrugged. What a mess.

“What about you, Your Highness?” Justin snickered.

I thumped him. “Stop! I’ve basically been treated like a tourist with a personal tour guide. Luna and I have been doing the Paris sights until I got fed up this afternoon.”

“Why does she call you that anyway?”

“I have no idea, but, like you, I’m keeping all my options open for the moment. I’m being taken to London tomorrow, as well, and was told that I’ll find out more then.”

“Luna is Potomal’s daughter and you met the son as well?”

“Yeah, one of them. The youngest–I believe–Stan. He seemed okay. We’ll probably see him in London, that’s where he’s based. Justin, we need to figure out how to get Simla back. What are we gonna do?”

“We’re on the same team, right?” Justin asked.

“You tell me!” I retorted. “Our recent history has been confusing.
 
I’m still not sure if we are friends or enemies.”

“Arizona, we’ve been friends for a long time. I think that overrides any drama we’ve had recently. We need to stick together for now. We need to help Simla out as well, if we can. We’re dealing with forces much more dangerous than we’ve ever been to each other. So, can we call a truce and work together?”

I nodded. It sure would be easier if we worked together. Could I trust him? “How are we going to communicate with each other if we get separated in London?”

“I don’t know. We’ll have to find a way. Did you snitch a cell phone off anyone yet?”

“No, of course not! How could I?”

“Haven’t you been around any people other than Luna all day?”

“Yeah, guess I have. I couldn’t just take one off someone, could I? Besides, I can’t recall a word of French, which really sucks.”

Justin reached into the front of his pants.

“Eeewww, do you have to adjust yourself in front of me? Gross!” I complained.

He rolled his eyes at me and pulled out a cell phone.

“Where did you get that?” I whispered excitedly. “Hide it, they may be watching!”

“I slipped it out of someone’s gym bag in the changing rooms earlier today, after weight training.”

“Fricking awesome!” I said, and hugged him. “Does it work? Who have you called?”

“Haven’t tried it yet. This is the first time I’ve been left alone all day. Olivier was standing right next to me when I slipped the cell phone out of that bag. I’m majorly lucky that he didn’t see me.”

“No kidding. Let’s try it when we get back to the apartment tonight–after you clean it.
 
Okay?”

He nodded.

Just as I was about to ask him to explain his bi-dimensional life, Olivier and Luna came walking up to us. We got up; both of them looked fairly pissed off. They didn’t say a word as they grabbed us by the shoulders and transported us back to the apartment where they unceremoniously dumped us on the couch.

“Angry maybe?” I snickered, rolling my eyes. “Come on, let’s go to your room and try the cell.” I grabbed the phone and looked at the date. Phew, our time hadn’t changed. Only one way to find out if we were still in the same dimension. I called Kellan.

I listened nervously as the phone clicked and a French speaking voice came on. I’d no idea what she said. “Justin?”

“Did you dial the international code?”