15
NICO
“I’m telling you, she’s overdoing it.”
Tyler dipped his oar into Still Cove. “All afternoon, Emma cannonballs into the vortex, splashes out of the pond, checks her latest insane creation, and then sprints back to do it all over again. It’s too much.”
Nico stopped paddling long enough to scratch his nose. “How many times has she gone?”
“What, today?” Tyler shook his head. “I lost track after ten.”
Nico whistled.
The mist parted and he could finally see the island ahead. Both boys jumped out to pull the boat onto the beach. Nico zipped his windbreaker as a polar gust swept the sand. He couldn’t wait to get inside the houseboat and warm up.
“Thanks for getting me,” Nico said. “Sorry I took so long. My dad held me up at home, and then Opal wasn’t at the meeting spot like we’d planned. I guess she’s not coming.”
“No biggie.” Tyler tossed his oar inside the rowboat. “Honestly, I wanted off the island for a while anyway.”
Nico glanced at him, surprised. “Off? Why?”
Tyler rolled his eyes. “You’ll see.”
Something rattled the bushes nearby. A moment later, three tiny blue Smurfs burst from the trees. Nico’s jaw dropped. “Right on cue,” Tyler muttered.
The lead Smurf—a stout, bearded fellow—spotted them and pointed. To Nico’s shock, he heard a squeaky voice yell, “Attack!” followed by two more high-pitched war cries. The Smurfs charged and began kicking sand onto Nico’s shoes, snarling and shaking their little fists.
“Not again.” Tyler shooed the pint-sized assailants. “Can you give it a rest, please?”
“War! War!” The leader began beating his chest, but a moment later the trio blipped out of existence. Nico and Tyler were alone again.
Tyler put a hand to his forehead. “Finally. Those guys have been driving me crazy.”
Nico was staring at his feet. “Tyler. There’s sand on my shoes.”
“Mine too. Those little creeps showed up mad and never stopped.”
“Tyler, those figmentsmoved the sand. And they were talking to us.”
“You think I don’t know?” Tyler removed a sneaker and shook it out. “The new ones won’t shut up. They last longer,too. I’ve been waiting for that crew to poof since they declared war on the ‘pond giants,’ or whatever they kept calling me.”
Nico blinked, trying to process this information. “So now they last longer, talk, and can move things around?”
“Dude, let’s get to the pond. You won’t even believe it.”
Ten minutes later they crested the ridge, allowing a clear view of the houseboat.
“Holy crap,” Nico whispered.
“Yup.”
Figments. Everywhere. Nico could see at least a dozen of them surrounding the water.
“Ty,” Nico breathed, his pulse ratcheting up a notch. “What’d you guys do?”
“Don’t look at me!” Tyler grumbled. “I made one BB-8, and the stupid droid tried to shock me before rolling into the bushes.” He swept a hand at the circus by the lake. “This right here is the Emma Fairington show, and it runs nonstop.”
Something uncomfortably tall with skinny arms and legs bounded toward them in bendy, knee-jarring lunges. Nico squinted, then straightened in astonishment. “Is that … is that an Elf on the Shelf?”
