License to Thrill (13 page)

“Graffiti?” somebody asked.

“You might say that,” said the ranger. “These pictures are called petroglyphs. Prehistoric people made them over eight thousand years ago.”

Everyone got down on their hands and knees to
examine the petroglyph. There were others depicting a squatting man, a caterpillar, a ladder, and a spoked wheel.

“What do they mean?” Pep asked.

“There are lots of theories,” the ranger told her. “They might have been primitive maps, or astronomical markers. Or maybe they were religious symbols, or boundaries between different tribes. We really don't know for sure.”

Pep, always interested in codes and secret messages, was fascinated by the petroglyphs. Her brother—he of the short attention span—had wandered a short distance away from the group. He happened to look down to see a large gray rock with these letters written on it. . . .

EDIWEFER

Coke called his sister over.

“Look at this,” he said. “The ancient people couldn't have known English, could they?”

“Of course not.”

Pep knelt down and touched one of the letters with one finger. It rubbed off. The message appeared to be written in chalk. Clearly, it was recent. A good rain would have washed those letters away.

“What do you think?” Coke asked.

“I think it's another cipher,” Pep replied.

So now there were three . . .

CIPHER #1: MAY 28, 1937, VOLKSWAGEN IS FOUNDED
CIPHER #2: 49:08. 28:40.5
CIPHER #3: EDIWEFER

Or whatever
that
meant. Pep couldn't see the solution right away, and the heat was making it hard to concentrate on the cipher. The twins rejoined the group, which was heading back to the visitors' center.

Someone was trying to tell them something, that was for sure. Probably Dr. Warsaw. When they got back in the car, Pep turned to a clean page in her notepad and wrote it down. . . .

EDIWEFER

Why did Dr. Warsaw have to use codes and ciphers all the time?
Pep wondered.
If he has a message to get across, why doesn't he just say it?

An hour later, Pep was still trying to decipher EDIWEFER when her father pulled off I-40 in Winslow, Arizona, so he could stand on a corner there and sing
the old Eagles song “Take It Easy.” They had lunch at a little sandwich shop there, and then drove another half hour west until they reached someplace called Meteor Crater. Coke assumed it was a phony tourist trap, but in fact it's an actual crater in the middle of the desert that's nearly a mile across, 2.4 miles around, and 500 feet deep.

Fifty thousand years ago, an asteroid slammed into the earth at this spot to create a gigantic hole in the ground. Mrs. McDonald dutifully took notes for
Amazing but True
. Pep celebrated the event by purchasing a Meteor Crater Frisbee in the gift shop.

After that, it was just forty-five minutes west to Flagstaff, Arizona, and another forty-five minutes
south on Route 89A to Sedona. The plan was to spend the rest of the day and the night there. Mrs. McDonald had booked a room at the Days Inn.

Sedona is one of the prettiest towns in the West, mainly because of the red sandstone formations that seem to glow at night when the sun goes down. The locals have given them intriguing names, like Cathedral Rock and the Devil's Kitchen.

But Mrs. McDonald didn't want to come to Sedona for the natural beauty. She wanted to see and experience the Sedona energy vortexes.

The
what
?

A “vortex” is a funnel shape created by a whirling fluid or the motion of spiraling energy. There are four of these swirling centers of energy coming from the surface of the earth in and around Sedona. They're sort of spiritual power centers. Energy saturates the area, and strengthens the inner being of each person who is at a vortex point.

Or so some people believe, anyway.

“That's a lot of bull, Mom,” said Coke.

“You kids don't have to come to the vortex,” Mrs. McDonald told him. “Your father and I can go on our own.”

So they did. Their parents drove off to groove on the vibes at Bell Rock Vortex while the twins hung
around the hotel room watching
SpongeBob
reruns.

An hour later, Coke was getting antsy and suggested taking a walk. Having seen every
SpongeBob
episode at least ten times, Pep agreed.

As the twins left the hotel and walked down the main drag, they looked at the storefront windows—Crystal Magic, Sedona School of Massage, Mystical Bazaar, Peace Place, Anti-Aging Life Extension, Center for the New Age Metaphysical Superstore . . .

“Gee, this is sort of a hippie town,” Pep noted.

A few blocks down, they stopped in front of a little house with a sign out front that said
PSYCHIC COUNSELOR
&
HEALER
. At the bottom of the sign were the words
SEE YOUR FUTURE . . . TODAY
.

Pep pushed her face against the window so she could peek inside. There was a woman sitting on a couch with her eyes closed, as if she was meditating. She had long black hair and flowing robes.

“Hey, let's go in here,” Pep said.

“Are you crazy?” Coke replied. “These people just take your money.”

“Come on, it'll be fun,” Pep said. “Maybe she really
can
see our future. And tell us what's going to happen to us.”

“I can't believe people buy into that stuff,” said Coke.

“Hey, neither of us believed in aliens until a couple of days ago,” his sister pointed out.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Coke said as his sister pulled open the door. “Hold on to your wallet.”

“You and your feelings!”

The bell on the door jingled softly, and the psychic healer lady opened her eyes and smiled. There were colorful tapestries and peace signs covering the walls. The smell of burning incense filled the small room.

“Come. Sit,” the woman said, patting the couch next to her. “Heal your hearts. Allow me to help you find your spiritual direction, fulfill your greatest potential, and create a more successful life path.”

Coke rolled his eyes. This lady
had
to be kidding.

“We want to know our future,” Pep said as she sat on the couch. “It's very important.”

“You have come to the right place,” the lady told her. “Your spirit guides will give you insight and direction or clarify your path and manifest your dreams.”

“How much is this gonna cost?” Coke griped.

“There will be no charge. Sit down, please.”

Coke sat on the couch.

“Do you need to hold our hands or anything?” Pep asked.

“That won't be necessary,” the woman said. “Just focus on the eternal. Your future will come.”

She closed her eyes.

“Together we must release your emotional blocks caused by shame, guilt, and fear,” she said softly. “It is the only way to provide guidance for a brighter tomorrow. I am letting the energy flow into you and through you, so that I might understand your true path.”

“Oh, geez,” Coke said. “What a load of—”

“Can you tell us anything
specific
?” Pep asked.

“Yes,” the woman said. “I see a troubled man in your life.”

Pep's eyes opened wide. She looked at her brother.

“That's a lucky guess,” Coke said. “Anybody could have come up with that.”

“The troubled man has been pursuing you,” the woman said.

“That's true!” Pep exclaimed.

“Oh yeah?” Coke said. “If you know so much, what's this troubled man's name?”

“He is a sick, sick man,” said the woman. “Sick in the head, not in the body.”

“Ha!” Coke said. “That proves it. You don't know his name. You're a fraud.”

“I see a city in Poland,” said the woman. “The capital.”

“Warsaw!” Pep shouted. “Warsaw is the capital of
Poland! Dr. Warsaw is the man who's chasing us!”

Even Coke was impressed by
that
. Maybe the woman
was
psychic.

“Dr. Warsaw has been chasing you for a long time . . . all the way across the country,” the woman said. “You are almost home now, yes? You are heading west. To California. I see another man. Pain.”

“That's John Pain!” Coke said excitedly. “He tried to kill us with a rattlesnake!”

“Where is Dr. Warsaw going to set off his nuclear bomb?” Pep begged. “We have to know. Tell us what else you see! Is he going to kill us? Please!”

The woman closed her eyes again. Both twins looked at her imploringly for answers. Even if they were going to die at the hands of Dr. Warsaw, there might be some comfort in knowing how much time they had left.

There was something vaguely familiar about the psychic woman's face. Tufts of short brown hair peeked out between strands of her long black hair. Coke glanced down and noticed a chocolate bar and a bottle of hand sanitizer on the table next to her. He looked at her face again, more carefully. That's when he knew. He leaned over and
yanked the wig off her head.

“Mrs. Higgins!” both twins yelled.

Yes, it was Audrey Higgins, their germaphobic, chocoholic health teacher, and Dr. Warsaw's henchman and ex-fiancée!

“I no longer go by that name,” said Mrs. Higgins calmly. “Now I am Aurora Moonbeam.”

“You're an assassin!” Coke shouted, pointing his finger at her face. “I don't care
what
you call yourself.”

“Please,” Mrs. Higgins said. “Those days are behind me. I've changed. I am a peaceful, loving person now. You've got to believe me.”

“Believe you?” Pep yelled. “You locked us in the detention room and then set our school on fire! You tried to kill us at The House on the Rock. You tried to blow our ears out at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. You poisoned our bowling shoes in Texas!”

“And don't forget about Wrigley Field!” Coke added.

“Each time we trusted you, and each time you tried to kill us again,” Pep yelled. “I will
never
believe you! I will
never
trust you!”

Both twins were on their feet now, shouting at Mrs. Higgins. She looked small and helpless sitting on the couch. Her eyes were watery.

“I was in love with Herman Warsaw,” she whimpered. “That's why I did all those horrible things to
you. It was for love. We were going to be married. I know everything I did was wrong now. I know I deceived you. I'm wracked with guilt. What can I do to make it up to you? I'll do
anything
.”

“It's all an act, Pep,” Coke said. “She's doing it again. Don't fall for it.”

Pep
wasn't
falling for it. Not this time. Pep was furious. Her eyes were on fire.

“You still love him!” she said to Mrs. Higgins. “You'll
always
love him!”

“I will,” she admitted. “But he's insane now. He's too far gone. Herman is incapable of loving another person. So I'm finished with him. Why won't you believe me?”

At that point, she broke down sobbing. It was hard to watch. And quite convincing. Coke was starting to waver. Maybe Mrs. Higgins
had
changed.

But Pep wasn't buying it.

“Save the tears, you phony!” she shouted. “I'm not falling for them. Not
this
time.”

With that, Pep leaped on the couch and attacked Mrs. Higgins, punching her and kicking her. Coke was so shocked that all he could do was stand back and watch as his sister pummeled the helpless woman. Mrs. Higgins wasn't even fighting back. All she could do was put her hands in front of her face to try to
ward off the blows. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she sobbed pathetically.

“Pep! Stop it!” Coke finally shouted as he pulled his sister away. “Get off her! Are you out of your mind?”

S
omething had come over Pep McDonald. Four weeks earlier, she had been a pretty normal California girl, concerned with her homework, babysitting, and soccer. But in the last two days alone, she had beaten up a defenseless woman and killed a snake with her bare hands. She had gained a tremendous amount of confidence, and ruthlessness. It was like she was a different person.