The Trap (The Magnificent 12 2)

Mack had never heard of making kids dance, but maybe she was tired of purple nurples, swirlies, thumbtacking, pantsing, tripping, headlocking, and good old-fashioned punching. He could easily picture Camaro forcing a geek to dance.

More interesting to Mack was the fact that the golem had somehow been classified as a geek.

He texted back:

If Camaro says dance, just dance. Do your best.

“So you felt the call of destiny,” Jarrah was saying to Dietmar.

“Not really.”

“You wished to honor your ancestors, Grimluk and Gelidberry?” Xiao suggested.

Dietmar looked a little uncomfortable. As if destiny and ancestors were alien concepts. “I just believed from what I had read that the Magnificent Twelve would arise. And that they would come to the Externst

eine. Sooner or later.” He shrugged. “I simply believed I was right.”

“Why the Externsteine? Why would Grimluk send us here?” Mack asked. But just then a big bus came rushing by.

“Tourists,” Dietmar said. “Come to see the Externsteine. We will not be alone.”

Mack watched the bus barrel away, then slow to turn in. He stared after it. No. No way. No way Nine Iron could have gotten on a plane and made it here this quickly.

“Did anyone else see a green hat go flashing by on that bus?” asked Mack.

“Xiao. You might want to go airborne and see what’s ahead,” Mack said. Then he stopped himself. “Not that I’m trying to tell you what to do.”

Xiao gave the matter some consideration. “Since you are the first of the Magnificent Twelve, you are the elder. Like an elder brother. We should do as you say.”

“Only as long as he doesn’t get bossy,” Jarrah said.

“Only if he is right,” Dietmar said.

For his part, Mack felt maybe they should have an election to decide who was in charge. But there wasn’t exactly time for that. In any case, Xiao had already transformed.

Dietmar hadn’t seen this happen before. “This is not possible.”

Mack and Jarrah shared a grin.

Dietmar shook his head. “No, this is definitely not possible. Laws of physics are being violated.”

Xiao refused to be stopped by mere laws of physics and writhed up into the sky. She was back a minute later.

“I saw the rocks, the Externsteine. They are magnificent in a sort of crude way. I also saw the bus and people getting off. They looked like regular tourists. But there was a very old man in green.”

“How did he get here so fast? He would have had to go straight from the Forbidden City to the airport.”

“Private plane?” Jarrah suggested.

“I don’t know,” Mack admitted. “I’m just saying that for a very slow guy, he gets around pretty fast.”

“Let’s go,” Stefan said grimly. “I owe Paddy Wacky.”

Mack fretted. “I wish I knew what we’re supposed to do when we get to these stupid rocks. I mean, this is not about fighting Nine Iron.”

“What are your instructions?” Dietmar asked reasonably.

Mack threw his hands up. “We don’t have real clear instructions. Grimluk sent me to Beijing, where we met Xiao. After that, all we had was something about the Egge Rocks and an ice show.”