Chapter Twenty Five

By Chris Fulmer

Kevin could sense a sharp veering in the plane's path. He suppressed a slight shiver. Although he and his friends had managed to get on board the plane, he had no idea where it was going, and he certainly wasn't going to risk arrest by going up into the main part of the plane and ask where he was headed now that he was once again wanted by the cops. Plus, he still had no idea what to do once they landed. If he'd known where his family was (he'd tried calling Denver again back at the train station in Kansas City, but the lady on the other end of the line had been less than helpful), he might have tried getting in touch with them, but as he didn't, he was truly on his own...again. Putting aside Order of the Phoenix, which really hadn't helped take his mind off the predicament at hand, he crawled out of the carrying case he'd holed up in and looked into Skylar's case. The former child star was sitting with his back to the front of the case, sulking.

Had Kevin found out about Skylar's history when he'd first met him in the morning, he'd have flipped with joy, as he'd thoroughly enjoyed A Kid in King Tut's Court when he'd seen it with (a very reluctant) Buzz last year. Now, however, he was less than thrilled with this after have seen Skylar's true nature earlier before they'd left Kansas City. He was, however, interested in burying the hatchet between them, so it was with making up in mind that he knocked on the front of the case and said, "Hi there."

Skylar turned very slowly. "What do you want?" he asked sourly.

"I just want to ask why it is that you're so bitter toward everybody," Kevin told him. "What's eating away at you inside?"

"I really don't think that's any of your concern!" Skylar snapped.

"Well I think that if you talk about it, it won't bother you so much," Kevin said, having a feeling that he was trying to shoot a hole in smoke. "I don't care how mad I get at times, I've found that when I talk to my parents about problems, they tend to not gnaw away at me."

"Well I'm sure you come from a great family," Skylar muttered.

"Look, I don't want to pick fights with you," Kevin said, "Trust me, I just want to be friends. If it's about how you ended up alone in that alley..."

"My parents will be back for me, you mark my words, so why don't you just stuff it!" Skylar snapped and turned back around.

Kevin threw up his hands in disgust. "Why do I even bother!?" he said out loud. He closed the front of Skylar's case with a loud slam and slumped over a nearby trunk.

"Don't let him upset you," Kayla said from her case, "he's never comfortable discussing his family with us either."

"I had a feeling," Kevin came over and leaned against the top of the case. "So, how's someone like you able to survive on you own without anybody to keep you company for almost five years?" he asked.

"Well, it helps to have a face that people can't resist breaking up over," Kayla said with a small smile. "And plus, the bakery down the street never locked up at night, so I could just sneak in and help myself to their food."

"Well you know, that's probably not a good idea taking food that's meant for others," Kevin said.

"If I didn't do it, I'd die!" Kayla protested. "When you live on the streets, you have to do things you wouldn't normally do to survive. And I don't like taking other people's things, either, but I really don't have any choice!"

"I guess you're right," Kevin conceded. "If I hadn't used my dad's credit card to check into the Plaza, I'd probably have had to sleep in Central Park and have attracted all the creeps in New York."

He slid down into the case. "Two years ago, if I were told I'd be alone for five years," he told her, "I'd probably have been thrilled like you wouldn't believe, since I couldn't stand my family. But once you're away from them, you really appreciate how important they are. I won't lie when I say I'm tired of being left alone. I just want to be with them for the holidays for once."

"At least you have a family to go back to; I've never had anybody," Kayla sighed. "I can guess how rough it is, having no place to call home or anyone to care for you," Kevin couldn't help but be touched. "Well, like I said back in Wichita, once we get to Chicago, I'll find a place for you. And I think I know someone who'd be perfect."

"Who?"

"Mr. Griffith, he lives about four streets over from my house, he told my dad when he installed our new shower curtain rings that he really wants kids of his own," Kevin told her. "Now he's currently trying to raise one of the worst bullies in town, but he'll be gone by the end of the summer, so you'll have him all to yourself."

"I'd still like the boys with me, I mean, it's hard to be without them," Kayla pointed to Danny, sound asleep in the back of the case, and over to Skylar's case.

"I'm sure I can arrange that," Kevin said.

Just then there came the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs into the cargo hold. Kevin scrambled back into his case and shut the door. He hoped this wouldn't take too long. "So he said, 'I know where this is going, the punchline is, rectum damn near killed him,'" one man could be heard saying to another, "and I told him, 'I don't know about the rectum, but the gall bladder was sure acting up!'"

"You really think that's funny, Otto?" the other man said, clearly not breaking up over the joke.

"Uh, well, I thought it was," the first man said. Through the grating in front of his case, Kevin could see them inspecting several of the suitcases on the other side of the cargo bay. "So, I hear Mr. Bramon's planning a big send off to end the tour tomorrow night."

"That's what Willie said," the second man said, looking at a large steamer trunk, "I hear he's going to set off..." he suddenly spun around. "Say Otto, do you hear that?" he asked his associate. It was then that Kevin could hear Danny still snoring away. He slapped his face. If these guys had any brains, they'd all be discovered any minute now.

"It sounds like it's coming from in there," the second man pointed in their general direction. "Do you think it could be those kids the tower said to be on the lookout for?"

"I don't know, Otto, but I can't think what else could be..."

There was a clanging open of a door. "You'll never take us alive!" Skylar shouted, taking off running toward the other end of the cargo bay.

"Hey, come back here!" yelled the first man, chasing after him. Kevin groaned in disgust.

"What's going on out there?" Danny asked, waking up.

"Cover's blown!" Kevin crawled out. He had visions of spending Christmas behind bars dancing in his head, unless they could get of the plane without getting caught, although there'd probably be no escape up top, as there'd be probably at least several dozen guys ready to catch them up there. He glanced around the hold. In the other corner, he saw an inflatable rubber raft near what looked like a door. He swallowed hard. He didn't really want to risk diving out of a plane, but it looked once again like he didn't have much of a choice. He ran over to it and pulled the cord on it marked INFLATE. The others seemed to guess what he was going to do right away.

"Are you crazy!?" Skylar protested, "nobody can survive a fall like that!"

"It's better than prison," Kevin said, reaching for the handle on the door, "and if we get decent enough cushioning, we might even come out of it unhurt."

"MIGHT!" Kayla was already horrorstruck at the thought of free falling several thousand feet to likely doom.

"Just close your eyes and it'll be over in a flash!" was the best thing Kevin could tell her.

"Get them quick; they're getting away!" shouted the first man as he and his associate charged right at the four of them.

"Uh, Kevin, I don't really think this is the best idea!" Danny protested as Kevin swung the door open. Kevin had the same thought as he looked down out the door; they were about thirty thousand feet up in the air. But just as quickly as this thought came it flew away. "It's now or never!" he shouted, and with great resolve pushing the raft out the door, moments before the two men could grab them.

The raft's free fall to the ground probably took only about a minute and a half, but in Kevin's mind, it seemed to last a lifetime. Almost from the moment he was airborne, he regretted the decision to jump, as the ground looming below looked very hard. It also didn't help that Kayla was practically strangling him while screaming in terror at being up so high. Plus, he didn't realize until it was too late that he would have no control over the raft's maneuverability. For the first time during this latest separation from his family, he was worried that he wouldn't live to be reunited with them. He shut his eyes at about fifteen thousand feet, expecting the end to be near. Fortunately, the raft managed to come crashing down on a soft hill of snow and slide down into a shallow creek. Kevin breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Is it over yet?" Kayla said in a very weak, still terrified voice.

"Yes, we're all..." it was now that Kevin noticed that Danny was now starting to freak out somewhat. Apparently the fact they were now in water was horrifying him.

"What's with you?" he asked him.

"Must...water...pouring...escape...!" Danny scrambled frantically out of the raft and leaped across the water in one tremendous jump, where he collapsed on the far shore, breathing heavily and still looking pale. Kevin had never seen a more acute look of terror on anybody's face, not even Kayla's when she'd seen they were taking an airplane earlier.

"So what's...?" he began, but Skylar cut him off. "You know, for this group's self-appointed leader, you're really doing a terrible job!" he snapped at Kevin.

"What?" When did I say I was in charge!?" Kevin protested.

"You've been acting like it ever since we met this morning, and your brilliant ideas have caused us all nothing but trouble!" Skylar spat at him.

"Hey, I gave you and the others the power to tell me how you all felt, and you yourself went along with my suggestions!" Kevin said sharply. "If you'd come up with a better idea than me, I'd have gone along with it with no questions asked! I'm thinking myself now that I've just made a mistake in doing this, so don't pound it over my head!"

"You're damn right you made a mistake; now we don't even know what state we're in!" Skylar screamed in rage. "I should have stayed in the alley!"

"Then why didn't you!?" Kevin inquired, quite interested in hearing the answer to this.

"Because I thought you could help me to find my family, but apparently I made a mistake of my own!" Skylar leapt out of the raft and strode over to where Danny was now starting to pull himself back together. Kevin knew he was right on one account; there was no telling what state they were in now. He had no idea which way was east or west anymore, so he now no longer had a way of gauging which way Chicago was. And now, since they seemed to be in the middle of nowhere (he could see nothing around in any direction but wide open fields as far as the eye could see), he also couldn't tell where they were going to spend the night. Flurries were starting to fall, and he was worried they would turn into heavier snow much like the kind that had caused all the problems yesterday in Denver. Some of Skylar's words were cutting into him; maybe he was only causing problems for the others; maybe he should have just left them in the alley to be content and not have to worry about suppressed fears coming to the surface.

It was while these thoughts were plowing through his mind that he suddenly felt the urge to look up, and there he saw through a break in the clouds a star brighter than any other he'd ever seen. It was moving at a swift pace across the sky toward the northwest, and Kevin, who normally didn't pay enough attention in his Sunday school classes about the various religious teachings, knew at once what it was for.

"It's the Christmas star," he said aloud, pointing up at it.

"The what?" Danny looked up at it.

"The Christmas star. It's pointing out a safe place for us to spend the night somewhere in that direction," Kevin pointed off toward the northwest.

"Oh that whole story's a lot of rubbish!" Skylar retorted.

"Have you got any better ideas about where we're going to stay, O'Sullivan?" Danny asked him. Skylar thought about this for a moment, then shook his head in disgust and said, "Oh, all right, but I've just about had it with his bad decisions!"

"And I've just about had it with your complaining!" Kevin shot at him. Part of him was wishing Skylar had stayed in Wichita. He turned to Kayla, who was still shook up by their free fall front the plane. "Feeling better now?" he asked her.

"No," Kayla shook her head, the terror was still in her face, and Kevin couldn't help but feel sorry for what he'd just put her through.

"I'm sorry you were scared," he told her, giving her shoulder a reassuring pat, "and I promise you we won't go on any more planes or anything else that goes up high."

"Promise?" Kayla seemed bent on making sure his word was golden.

"Promise," Kevin shook her hand. "Come on, we've got to get some shelter before this snow picks up."