The Fourth Ruby by James R. Hannibal

Author:James R. Hannibal
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Chapter Thirty-Four

YOUNG TANNER’S SMIRK held steady, but the rest of him morphed into Old Tanner. At the same time, the snow-dusted, bloody square behind him became a darkened hall, and the screams of dying men became the alarm bells the Phantom had set off. Tanner’s arm was stretched through the carriage window, fingers caressing the ruby. He plucked it from Jack’s hand.

“Why?” asked Jack, recovering his voice. “Why are you doing this?”

But Tanner gave no answer. He kicked away the chock beneath the carriage wheel—the one holding it in place on the platform—and then shot straight up through the hall. A pair of quantum thrusters, like those the spooks had used in the Archive, blazed at his ankles.

“Didn’t see that coming,” said Jack as he and the Phantom watched Tanner nimbly alight on the upper balcony and run away into the shadows.

Slowly, the two tore their eyes from the empty balcony. They stared at each other for half a heartbeat, and then the Phantom snarled and made a grab for the stopwatch device. But the shift of his weight set the coach into motion, sending him sprawling back against the seat instead.

The coach creaked and bounced down a ramp toward a pair of tall double doors, and Jack dug the fingers of his free hand into the velvet cushion as it smashed through. The carriage collapsed to the bricks, skidding to a stop in a sagging heap of gilded firewood, wheels rolling off in separate directions. Jack fought back his shock, pushed his way out through the debris, and took off across the courtyard.

Dogs barked.

Men with guns converged, shouting in Russian.

“Jack!” Gwen waved to him from the corner of a building, next to the alley that led back toward the wall. They would never make it that far.

It seemed the Russian guards weren’t too keen on shooting at a couple of kids. They did, however, release the dogs. A pair of German shepherds bolted out in front of their masters, covering the distance at twice the speed. Jack glanced down at the device in his hand and a solution came to him. He held it up so Gwen could see. “This way! Run to me!”

She nodded and sprinted out to meet him.

A dog leaped, teeth bared, just as their fingers touched.

Zzzap.

Pain.

Trees.

An iron grip on his shoulder.

Jack glanced back and saw the angry glare of the Phantom. The thief had chased him from the wreckage, grabbing him at the last moment, and Jack had teleported all three across the compound to the top of the Kremlin wall. As momentum carried them over the battlements toward a grove of tall pines, the Phantom ripped the stopwatch from Jack’s hand, growling in his ear. “Turnabout’s fair play, innit?”

Zzzap.

He was gone. And Jack and Gwen crashed into the pines.

They tumbled down through bows and branches, letting out a series of grunts and cries until they slammed into the snowbank below. Gwen was the first to crawl out. She pulled a pinecone from her curls and tossed it away.

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