Keepers of the Labyrinth Read Online Free Page A

“It just pinpointed where we are in the world.” She pointed at a little X that began to move as they pulled out of Chania Airport.
    â€œDid you make it?” Lil asked, staring at the tiny flecks of solder, meticulously round, holding down the ends of the wires. She had once made a noisemaker at a library program, but this seemed far more advanced than anything Lil would ever attempt, even with guidance.
    â€œWell, yeah,” Sydney said, setting it on top of her backpack, screen up. “I wouldn’t exactly buy this.”
    â€œWhy do you need a GPS if you were planning on taking the bus?” Lil wondered.
    Sydney looked at her, scowling. “I was bored. Besides, did you see the road we’re going up? It’s insanely dangerous looking. Steep. Lots of turns. Very narrow.”
    Lil had noticed that the manor was in the middle of nowhere. But she was fairly used to that, being from the middle of Vermont. She wondered if that was why Mom liked Vermont.
    â€œIt
is
off the beaten path,” she said.
    Sydney leveled her with a stare. “That is the understatement of the century.”
    Just then, Lil became aware of the girls on their left giggling and eyeing them from across the aisle. The girl doing most of the laughing had sleek black hair that she wore in a ponytail, and eyebrows that had been plucked into sharp points.
    â€œReg
ardez la pauvre nerd
qui peut même pas a
cheter un poratble a
pproprié,”
she said. The dowdy girl next to her started laughing again.
    Lil glared. “I don’t know what she’s saying, but I can tell it isn’t good.”
    Sydney’s eyes landed on the device. “I know what she’s saying,” she said, indicating a maple leaf pin she wore on her sleeve.
    â€œYou’re from Canada?” Lil asked.
    â€œYeah, Winnipeg,” Sydney replied. “Just ignore her.”
    â€œWell, what did she say?” Lil said. “It depends on what she said. She can’t just sit there and say—”
    â€œShe seems to think this is the only cell phone I can afford.” Sydney tapped the side of her temple. “Not too bright.”
    Lil smiled, but a moment later, the girl in the seat across from them looked at her again. This time she spoke in English. “They must not have hair salons in Canada.”
    â€œThey must not have manners in France,” Lil said, standing up.
    The bus pitched around a corner, and she clung to the seat back in front of her to keep her feet.
    â€œThat’s Vivi Lancaster.”
    Lil looked down. The girl in the seat she was clinging to turned toward her. She had short brownish hair that twisted in the front like a ski slope sliding to her forehead. Her skin was pale and her eyes were bright blue, and she wore a pair of plain suspenders over a white collared shirt. She was retro and stylish, like a mix between a black-and-white movie and the front of a modern magazine cover. And she had a slight French accent—perhaps a touch of a British one, too. Lil couldn’t quite tell.
    â€œShe’s been trying to lose me since the layover in Frankfurt. I’m Charlie.” The girl extended a hand over the seat. Lil took it and shook.
    Sydney looked up from her device and peered over the seat.
    â€œI’m Lil; this is Sydney,” Lil said.
    â€œAh,
oui,
” Charlie said. “It’s a pleasure.”
    The van twisted around another bend, and Lil sat down. Charlie leaned up, lacing her arms over the back of the seat.
    Sydney glanced back at her device. “Here goes.”
    â€œWhat’s that—” Charlie started, but before she could finish what she was saying, the bus took a sharp turn, upending several bigger bags and suitcases from the luggage hold. Once the girls had righted themselves, Sydney leaned over Lil to look out the bus window, then pushed the device between them. Charlie appeared just above the seat again.
    â€œIt’s a