Between them they helped Scott to his feet and carried him with them. He moved like a sleepwalker, not resisting but seemingly unaware of where he was going. Alicia was waiting for them at the bottom of the bleachers, with Daniel. She hadn’t been able to come any closer. She couldn’t expose her eleven-year-old son to the sight of the dead woman.
“Jamie! Scott!” She didn’t know what to say.
“Are you Alicia McGuire?” Nathalie asked.
“Yes.”
“It’s all right. I’m a friend. John told me about you.”
“Who are you?” Alicia asked.
Nathalie looked around her. The streets were emptying rapidly, people scattering in all directions. Soon there would only be policemen left. “We can’t talk here,” she said. “We have to get these boys on their way.”
“On their way where?”
“Alicia…!” It was already too late. Jamie pointed. The policeman with the moustache was striding purposefully towards them. He had unfastened his holster and his hand was on his gun.
“Tyler.” The single word was an accusation. The policeman stood with his legs slightly apart, like a cowboy in an old film.
“Jamie Tyler. Right?”
“No.” Jamie looked him straight in the eyes and pushed.
“Jamie Tyler was here but he’s gone. You’ve missed him. And now you’ve got to help all these people. You’re not interested in us.”
The policeman frowned as if he hadn’t quite heard what Jamie had said. Then he relaxed. “You’re right. I’ve got to help these people.” He turned round and walked away.
Nathalie Johnson stared, not sure what she had seen. But Alicia understood. Jamie had done the same thing when they were trapped in Don White’s house in Sparks. Even so, she shivered. She couldn’t imagine what it must be like for a fourteen-year-old to have so much power.
She turned to Nathalie. “Listen to me,” she said. “We’re not going anywhere until we know who you are.”
“I’m Nathalie Johnson.”
The name meant something. Alicia had seen it in the news.
“Computers?” she asked. “Are you that Nathalie Johnson?”
“Yes.”
“You helped the senator. You did a couple of fundraisers last year…”
“Yes. But that’s not why I’m here.” Nathalie stopped. The policeman with the moustache had disappeared but she had no doubt that others would soon arrive. They had been lucky that he had decided to make the arrest on his own – but he would surely have put out an alert before he moved in. “I have a car very near here,” she said. “Will you come with me at least that far? I’ll tell you the rest once we’re on the way.”
Alicia nodded. She couldn’t take her own car. The police would surely be guarding it, waiting for her to return. And anyway, they would have circulated its number.
They hurried round behind the bleachers and down towards the statue. Nathalie first. Then Jamie and Alicia, guiding Scott between them. Finally Daniel. As they went past, Jamie glanced one last time at the statue. He felt a strange mixture of emotions, looking at the craggy face, doomed to kneel for ever with the dusty highway in front of him. The prospector had travelled a long way to deliver his warning. At least Jamie hadn’t let him down.
Nathalie’s car – a blue Mercedes – was parked near by in a spot reserved for VIPs. Normally she would have had a chauffeur, but today she had decided to drive herself.
“You can take my car,” she said. She handed Alicia the keys. “The best way I can help you is to make some calls.”
“Where am I meant to go?” Alicia asked.
“Give me a minute. You need to get to an airport. I’m just trying to think which one.”
“An airport?”
Nathalie sighed. “I know this is difficult for you but you have to understand. I know what’s been happening… or some of it anyway. You see, I belong to a group of people, an organization, that exists solely to help Jamie and Scott and the other Gatekeepers.”
Gatekeepers.
Jamie stared. Had this woman really said that?
“What do you mean?” Alicia demanded.
“It’s all right, Alicia,” Jamie cut in. He looked at Nathalie.
“You know about the Gatekeepers,” he said.
“Yes, Jamie. The Gatekeepers. The Five.” She paused. “I know Matt Freeman.”
“Where did you meet him?”
“In England. I met him there twice. But he’s not there now. He’s in Peru. A place called Nazca, just south of Lima. And that’s where you have to go.”
“Peru…?” Alicia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
“It’s OK.” Jamie hadn’t told Alicia anything about the time after he was shot. He had decided it was too much to explain.
He hadn’t even wanted to try. “Why is Matt in Peru?” he asked.
“There was a second gate. It opened. Matt tried to stop it but he was hurt. Pedro is with him now. Pedro may be able to help your brother. That’s another reason why you have to be there.”
“What about Scar?”
Nathalie shook her head. “I don’t know any Scar.”
Jamie had made his decision. Everything that Nathalie had said had made him think that she was telling the truth, and the mention of Pedro clinched it. That was Inti’s other name. Matt had told him. And Inti had the power to heal. The sooner Scott was with him, the better.
“How do we get there?” he demanded.
Nathalie let out a deep breath. She had been afraid that she would be unable to persuade them – but somehow Jamie had found out who and what he was. One day she would ask him how that had happened. But for now, she had to think straight. They were in Auburn. The police were still looking for them. Nightrise might be looking for them too. How to get them away.
“Lake Tahoe Airport,” she said. She glanced at Alicia. “It’s just off the 89. Right down at the south end of the lake.”
“I’ve passed it,” Alicia said. “But Sacramento is nearer.”
“If the police are looking for you, they’ll close off all the airports. Lake Tahoe is tiny. And there are no main roads. It’s the last place anyone will think of looking.”
“What happens when we get there? I just buy the boys a single ticket to Lima?”
“I can arrange a private jet. I can have it in the air within fifteen minutes. It’ll fly out from San Francisco and it should be there waiting for you when you arrive.”
“And you’re just going to give us your car?”
“The car doesn’t matter. Nothing matters. Just get them there.” She rested a hand on Jamie’s arm. “I’ll call Matt and tell him you’re coming,” she said. “And one day you and I will meet properly and you can tell me everything that’s happened.” They heard the squawk of a radio on the other side of the bleachers. The police were sealing off the entire area. It was time to go.
Alicia didn’t even try to argue. She unlocked the doors. Daniel got into the front. Jamie helped Scott into the back and was about to follow him. But then he remembered something. He straightened up, facing Nathalie.
“The security man,” he said. “Warren Cornfield…”
“You made him do that.” So she had guessed what had happened.
“I couldn’t do anything else. Will you be able to help him?”
“I’ll do what I can, Jamie. I promise.”
Then another policeman appeared, walking towards them. Jamie got into the car. Alicia didn’t even wait for him to close the door.
She started the engine. They sped off.
Nobody said anything for the first few miles. They were heading south towards Placerville, another gold-mining town. From here they would pick up the 50 heading east back to Nevada. Scott seemed to be neither awake nor asleep but somewhere between the two. He was sitting slumped against the window. Jamie was next to him, watching the scenery go past without taking any of it in. He was thinking about Matt. Of course, it wouldn’t be the same Matt that he had spoken to after the battle, at the river’s edge. For a start, this Matt would never have met him or Scott. But they were still the Five. The same… but in a different time. That was how Matt had explained it. Perhaps when they were all together in Peru it would make sense.