James Grippando - Leapholes

The futile cries from Jarvis were just an echo in the distance. "Ryan Coolidge, don't you dare leave me here!"

Right away, Ryan realized that this was no ordinary leaphole. This had to be some kind of supercharged, highspeed reverse legal leaphole. It was only befitting of one of the most courageous lawyers the world had ever known. At first, he experienced only the intense vibration of forward motion, as if he were being launched into another universe. Wind and heat caressed his cheeks, a surge of pure energy. The blinding light ahead was like staring straight into a spotlight. The noise was as deafening as a freight train. In fact, he could hear the clacking of iron wheels on rails. The noise grew louder and louder. The oncoming spotlight became more and more intense. Around him, outside the beam of light, there was only darkness. It was as if he were speeding through a tunnel. Suddenly, he heard the familiar steam whistle of a locomotive. He was on a train. This was indeed a railroad, and then Ryan realized what was happening.

The leaphole had found a real underground railroad.

The steam whistle blew again. The locomotive sped off even faster. Ryan was hanging on by his fingertips for a spectacular journey. In a flash, the train whipped through the nineteenth century. Snippets of history flashed in the darkness. It was all happening so quickly that Ryan could barely process the images, but he recognized some things. He saw soldiers falling as men in blue and gray uniforms clashed at Gettysburg. Teddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders were charging up San Juan Hill. With another flash, he was suddenly into the twentieth century, passing the Wright Brothers and their first airplane.

Then, in an even bigger flash, the sounds of the old steam locomotive gave way to the rumble of an even greater force. It hardly seemed possible, but the speed intensified. Ryan was aboard a roaring diesel engine. He could barely hold on as he zipped past the horrors of war in Europe and the Pacific. He sailed over a sea of civil-rights marchers on the Washington Mall, and then past the space shuttle on its journey to outer space. Ryan was both frightened and exhilarated. In some ways, he didn't want the trip to end. But he could feel the train gathering momentum. He braced himself for something even faster than diesel.

Finally, he was hanging on for dear life on a speeding bullet train, barreling toward home in the twenty-first century.

Ryan landed in Hezekiah's law office. Hard.

"Man, I need to work on those landings," he said to himself as he massaged the pain out of his tail bone.

Hezekiah's office was even more of a shambles than Ryan had remembered. The beginnings were such a blur to him. He remembered the SWAT team invasion, but it had happened so fast. There had been no time to assess the damage before he and Jarvis took the leaphole to the nineteenth century. As he looked around the room, he was seeing for the first time the mess they had left behind. Nearly every bookshelf was down. Several lamps were broken. Chairs were overturned. Countless case books lay scattered across the room.

Ryan picked himself up from the carpet and walked slowly to Hezekiah's study area. He sorted through the jumble of books atop the table. The old one from 1857-the one that contained the Dred Scott decision-was missing, which was no surprise. Kaylee had brought the book with her to nineteenth-century Missouri. But if she was now back in the twenty-first century, why hadn't she returned it?

If she was back. That was the question.

Hezekiah had seemed confident that Kaylee would return safely to the twenty-first century. Only Ryan and the others had been thrown off course into Illinois when Jarvis broke the human chain. But what if she, too, had been thrown off course? Was it possible that she'd landed somewhere between 1857 and the twenty-first century? It was a disturbing thought. If she had fallen short on her return, that meant she was still out there, somewhere, God only knew where-without a leaphole.

She would have no way home.

Ryan was getting worried. To be sure, it felt plenty good to be back. He wanted to tell his mother to stop worrying, that he was safe. He wanted to hug his sister Ainsley and tackle his dog Sam. He was glad to be away from that double-crossing Jarvis. But the loss of Hezekiah was beginning to feel like a death in his family, and his new concerns about Kaylee weren't making it any easier to cope.

Ryan glanced under the table, then did a double take. He noticed Hezekiah's jar. The last time Ryan had laid eyes on it, the jar had been filled with leapholes. Now, it was completely empty.

Something very strange was going on here.

Suddenly, there was a curious vibration beneath his feet. It was almost unnoticeable. It reminded Ryan of being in that sod house in southern Illinois, the way the ground seemed to shake right before the posse arrived. Ryan put his ear to the floor and listened. Maybe he was crazy, but he was almost certain that he detected the faint clatter of horse hooves.

Soon, it was no longer just a vibration in the floor. He could hear the sound of a galloping horse on the roof, in the walls, all around him. The noise grew louder until he could have sworn that a thoroughbred was racing through the room.

Then he heard the unmistakable neigh of a horse and a man crying Whooooaaaaa!

A rush of wind whipped through the library, followed by a bright blast of light. Ryan dove beneath the table just in time to avoid being trampled by a speeding thoroughbred.

"I said Whoooooaciar shouted Hezekiah. The excited horse stopped short. Another two feet and it would have slammed into the wall.

"Hezekiah!" Ryan shouted.

"In the flesh," he said as he turned his horse to face Ryan. Only then did Ryan notice that Kaylee was hanging off the other side of the horse.

She righted herself and said, "Where the heck did you learn to ride, Hezekiah? Next time I take the reins."

Ryan was so happy he was about to burst. "How did you two get here?" he said, his voice racing.

"Kaylee came back for me," said Hezekiah.

"So, you didn't get thrown off course when the rest of us broke away?" said Ryan.

"No way," said Kaylee. "There was no malfunction. You guys broke away only because Jarvis let go."

"He let go?" said Ryan.

"Yes," said Hezekiah. "It took us a while to see his true colors. But Jarvis was apparently planning all along to leave you and me trapped in the nineteenth century."

"I know. He told me everything after you rode off on horseback toward the posse. He was angry at you for not picking him as your replacement, and he was jealous of me for getting selected. He sold you out to Old Man Barrow."

"Well, Old Man Barrow sure didn't get his money's worth. The posse never caught me."

"How is that possible?" said Ryan.

Hezekiah gave his thoroughbred an affectionate pat on the neck. "You're looking at the great, great, great, great, greatgrandfather of aTriple-Crown-winning racehorse by the name of Seattle Slew. There was absolutely no way those other horses in the posse were going to catch this stallion."

"That's awesome," said Ryan. Then his excitement turned to concern. "But, what will happen to Jarvis now? I had to leave him in the nineteenth century."

"You made the right choice," said Hezekiah. "That's where Jarvis belongs: Where the brood follows the dam."

"So, that's where Legal Evil lives?" said Ryan. "In the nineteenth century?"

"Yes, but don't be misled, Ryan. It's not the only place it lives. Where the brood follows the dam is where Legal Evil is most obvious. The fact is, it lives in every city, in every country, in every century. Sometimes it's just not so easy to see it."

Ryan considered those words for a moment. Suddenly, it was as if the proverbial lightbulb had blinked on over his head. If it lived in every city, in every country, in every century, and if it wasn't always easy to see, maybe he'd actually seen Legal Evil before. Maybe he just hadn't recognized it.