Page 45

The day after she and Oliver returned to Illusion Town, Leona decided to fulfill her promise to Roxy. Doing so gave her a convenient way to spend some together time with Molly. The plan seemed simple enough, but the attendant in charge of the gate of the River of Alien Nightmares ride at the Underworld Adventures theme park looked doubtful.

“I’m not sure it’s okay to let you two take a couple of dust bunnies with you on the ride,” he said.

Leona gave him a glowing smile and tightened her grip on Roxy. “Don’t worry, these are emotional support dust bunnies.”

“They are licensed,” Molly added, clutching Newton.

Roxy and Newton chortled and batted their innocent blue eyes at the attendant, who continued to look skeptical.

“I dunno,” he said.

“We’ll hold on to them,” Leona added. “They’re just dust bunnies. What could possibly go wrong?”

This being Illusion Town, she sweetened her assurances with a couple of gracefully palmed twenties.

This being Illusion Town, the attendant made the gratuity vanish with an equally smooth move. “Well, okay, I guess.”

He opened the gate and ushered them onto the first in a line of self-piloting vessels designed to take passengers along the artificial river and through the dark ride.

Leona stepped aboard first. The small craft wobbled a little. She sat down on the bench. Molly followed with Newton.

The attendant lowered the safety bar. The boat took off with a small jolt. It moved faster than Leona had anticipated, whisking them toward the entrance of the tunnel of Alien nightmares.

Thrilled, Roxy wriggled free of Leona’s grip, fluttered to the front of the boat, and clutched the side with two paws. The ribbons of the blue fascinator flew in the light breeze. Newton hurried after her, so excited he bounced a little.

“I’m not sure this is a really great idea,” Molly said.

“Here’s the thing,” Leona said. “I promised Roxy I would take her on a real boat ride when we got back to Illusion Town. Given that this city sits in the middle of a desert, there aren’t a lot of options.”

“Fair point,” Molly said. “Actually, I’m glad you suggested we do lunch and this ride today. I needed a break. Between the increased business at Singing Crystals and all the wedding preparations, I’m feeling a little frazzled.”

“I understand.” Leona put her arm around her and hugged her. “You’re happy, though, aren’t you? Really, truly happy?”

“Yes. Joshua is the one.”

“I’m so glad.”

“What about you?”

“Truth? I’m sort of holding my breath.”

“Well, you’ve only just met Oliver,” Molly pointed out. “There’s no rush.”

“I know. I’m holding my breath because part of me is afraid to believe I’ve met the right man.”

“If it makes you feel any better, the moms and I had a long talk about the wisdom of your relationship with Oliver Rancourt.”

Leona flinched. “You did?”

“Of course we did. We’re your family. We concluded that the fact that you’ve broken the rules for him indicates he may be the one. Looks like the Griffin free spirit sisterhood is about to be officially closed due to lack of membership.”

“Nothing will ever be the same now that I’ve met Oliver, that’s for sure. I don’t think I could go back—”

She broke off because the gates of the dark ride’s tunnel abruptly opened in front of the boat. Roxy and Newton chortled madly as the craft sailed through the entrance. When the gates slammed shut again, utter darkness descended. Leona could no longer see her hand in front of her face.

The special effects and scary scenes started appearing and disappearing immediately. Leona thought she was prepared but she yelped in spite of herself when a ghostly spider flew at them out of the darkness. It was followed by a monstrous creature with a mouthful of jagged teeth.

She was not the only one who jumped.

“Yikes,” Molly said. “So much for the ‘moderately scary’ ranking on this ride.”

The creature with the big teeth reached out with long claws, barely missing Leona’s shoulder. She shrieked again. An instant later, the boat whipped around a sharp turn and plunged down a short waterfall. Strange sea creatures, mouths agape, waited at the bottom.

Roxy and Newton were ecstatic. Their chortling reverberated inside the dark tunnel.

Leona caught glimpses of their silhouettes occasionally, but that was about it. For the most part, she could not see them or anything else except the frightening special effects.

Shrieks and yelps of surprise echoed from somewhere in the deep shadows behind them. Another boat had entered the dark ride.

A mad scientist wielding a huge syringe filled with glowing green fluid appeared at Leona’s side. She screamed. The figure disappeared as the boat rounded a bend in the river.

“You know, you’d think it would not be so easy to freak out a couple of women who have been through what we’ve been through in recent weeks,” Molly said.

“I just hope Roxy doesn’t realize that this theme park sells yearly passes.”

More screams and startled laughter sounded from other people on the ride. There was another sharp twist in the river. Water splashed over the side of the boat, dampening Leona’s jeans.

She was about to ask Molly if she had gotten wet, too, when she became aware of the sudden silence at the front of the small boat. She stilled.

“Roxy?”

There was no response.

“Newton?” Molly called softly.

More silence.

“This is probably not good,” Leona said.

“Probably not.”

A short time later the boat shot out of the exit, heading back to the dock. For several seconds the abrupt shift from deep darkness to bright desert sunlight made it hard for Leona to focus. When her vision settled down, she saw that she and Molly were alone in the vessel.

“Definitely not good,” she said.

“Nope.”

The screaming started then—real screams. A sense of dread whispered through Leona. She and Molly turned to look at the boat that had followed theirs into the dark ride. The two passengers, a young couple in their teens, mouths agape in horror, eyes glazed with shock, clutched the safety bar that pinned them to their seats.

“Did you see it?” the woman shouted to Leona and Molly. “There’s something in that tunnel. Something real.”

“Uh, no, no, we didn’t see anything,” Molly said.

“Probably just a trick of the light,” Leona offered.

She turned around quickly in the seat. The boat came to a halt at the gate. The attendant opened the safety bar.

“What happened to the dust bunnies?” he asked.

The young couple in the following boat arrived before Leona and Molly could explain. They started shouting, talking over each other in a frantic attempt to make the attendant understand.

“…Something weird inside the tunnel,” the man said. “For sure it’s not one of the special effects.”

“They were, like, for-real monsters,” the woman said. “They had four eyes. That’s all you could see in the darkness.”

Another boat emerged from the tunnel exit. Two women were yelling. The man with them looked grim.

“…Really huge rats, I think,” he said to the attendant. “You need to shut down the ride and get an exterminator in there before you send anyone else through.”

Molly looked at Leona. “I believe we have the answer to your earlier question.”

“What question?”

“Your exact words were, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’?”

“Oh, yeah, that question. All I can tell you is that I had a plan. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Oliver is right. One should always have a plan B.”