Opening his eyes, Cole firmly commanded, “Away.”
Nothing happened.
“Nice work,” Jace said dryly.
“We have to get up there,” Mira said, shooting Jace a reproachful look.
“What if we drag over some of those blocks?” Jace asked.
“Those giant cinder blocks are too heavy,” Cole said, scanning the area. On the porch near the back door he spotted a cooler, and beside it a bag of blue plastic cups. “Got it.”
Not waiting to explain, Cole ran to the porch. Jace and Mira came with him. The clear plastic bag wasn’t tied shut, so Cole pulled open the mouth and went inside, feeling a little like he was wrestling with a parachute. The cups were stacked inside of one another. Grabbing the top one, Cole yanked it free from the rest and dragged it out of the bag. Standing it up, the cup came to the top of his chest.
“Pyramid,” Jace said, going after a cup of his own.
The cups weren’t too heavy. Cole compared it to toting an empty garbage can. Under one of the hutches, they turned two of the cups upside down beside each other, then set the third on top.
“This could work,” Mira said.
“Think we could make it if we go three high?” Jace asked.
Cole shook his head. “We still won’t reach. It’s going to take four levels. Won’t be very stable.”
“We better hurry,” Mira prompted.
They ran back and forth two more times until they had nine cups, then Cole and Jace started arranging them while Mira went for the tenth. The first two rows were easy. After that, Jace had to stand on the bottom row to place the two cups on the third level.
Jace hopped down and rested a hand on the tenth cup. “I’ll climb up to the second row,” he said. “Cole, you climb to the first and hand it up to me.”
The cups looked wobbly as Jace climbed, but they held. As Cole boosted himself onto the first row, he leaned into the cup too much. It tipped forward, and they all came down. Jace sprang clear, rolling when he hit the ground.
Ears burning with shame, Cole held his breath. The clatter of falling plastic cups had seemed loud, but hopefully the sound didn’t carry inside the house.
Seconds passed. Cole watched the back door.
Nobody came.
“Smooth,” Jace said.
“Sorry,” Cole replied. “You okay?”
“Just terrific,” Jace replied shortly.
“Next time I’ll help brace the cup you climb,” Mira whispered. “I should have thought to do it.”
Moving quickly, they rebuilt the pyramid up to three levels. Jace climbed onto the second row, and while Mira steadied the cup from the far side, Cole climbed onto the first. Mira came around and handed the tenth cup up to Cole, who carefully passed it up to Jace. Cole held still as Jace turned and placed the cup on top.
“Go up,” Mira told Jace. “You’re the key person. You have to make the guess.”
“This isn’t very steady,” Jace muttered, testing one of the cups on the third row. As he climbed onto it, Cole studied his technique. In a quick, controlled movement, Jace boosted himself into a sitting position. Then he slowly stood.
“Nice,” Mira said from below.
“Good thing it isn’t windy,” Jace said, testing the top cup. He hopped up onto it, and it tipped sideways. Cole leaped clear as the cups crashed down. Jace landed on one, crushing it. Fortunately, the cup broke his fall.
It was only a moment before the back door opened and Mr. Barrum emerged, his ax in one hand. Wearing an undershirt and sweatpants, a toothpick poking from his lips, he looked grumpy and absolutely enormous.
Some childhood instinct awoke within Cole at the sight of him. Paralyzed, overwhelmed by a fear much greater than the threat this giant posed, he cringed in terror.
Mr. Barrum started toward the hutches, and his face scrunched up in anger. “Vermin!” he yelled in a harsh voice that Cole remembered all too well. “Get away from those rabbits.”
“We’re leprechauns!” Cole cried desperately.
Mr. Barrum either didn’t hear or didn’t care. He came stomping over to them, his ax gripped in both hands, ready to swing.
Too late Cole realized that a smart person might have hidden inside a cup. He lay still while Jace ran one way, Mira the other. Mr. Barrum veered toward Mira. Jace had retreated under the hutches. By dashing out into the open, Mira had made herself the more obvious target.
Mira raced for the nearest cinder block. If she could climb inside the hollow part, it might offer temporary protection, but this mission was blown.
Cole jumped to his feet and drew the Jumping Sword. “Over here!” he screamed, waving the blade, hoping to distract Mr. Barrum from Mira.
Mr. Barrum didn’t notice.
Taking big strides, Mr. Barrum caught up to Mira before she reached the cinder block. As the ax came whistling down, something crashed into Cole from behind and Jace yelled, “Honor!”
Chapter 32
SKY CASTLE
It was daytime again. Puffy white clouds softened the blue sky. Cole lay sprawled on thick grass with Jace on top of him. Judging by the scale of the grass, they were back to normal size.
“What happened?” Cole asked.
“Sorry,” Jace said, moving off him. “I had to get us out of there. I wasn’t sure if my guess would count if I didn’t touch a living thing, so I grabbed you.”
“This is ridiculous,” Cole griped. “I thought we were supposed to have a chance! That time we never even reached another living thing!”
“We might have been close,” Jace said. “She could have been a rabbit. We didn’t make it up there to find out.”
“Trillian warned us it would be hard,” Mira said. “We have to win, anyway. It’s now or never. My guess this time.”
She walked over to Cole and gave him a hand up. As Cole brushed himself off, he looked around, trying to refocus. A huge wall loomed ahead of them. Gray blocks the size of cars were fitted together without mortar. A large, gateless archway granted access through the wall. Part of another wall was visible through the arch. Above everything soared a narrow, straight tower, stretching absurdly high, its base out of view.
“Oh, no,” Jace moaned.
“What?” Mira asked.
“This was my worst sky castle,” Jace said. “My fifth mission. I never came closer to dying.”
Cole checked over his shoulder. Behind him, the grass ended at an abrupt edge with only sky beyond. Glancing around, he didn’t see any skycraft or distant castles.