She waited at the small rundown gray table for someone to notice her.
A worker looked up. “Time’s up, eh? Who sent you?”
“No, no,” Secretary said. “I’m not checking in or out just yet. I’m on an errand for the high priest.”
“Sure,” the woman said.
“No, truly I am. I’m to inquire after two individuals. Bethesda Dia Gloria and Liam Healy. Are they still housed here, or are they . . . not?”
The woman stood. “Bethesda’s gone and buried. Liam’s heading to the sleep chamber today.” She looked out the window. “He’s standing there now, waiting to go in.”
Eva stepped to the window. “Oh dear. Well, by order of the high priest, you’ll need to put a halt to it. I’m to collect him and his things and take him to the palace.”
The worker narrowed her eyes. “What proof do you have?”
Eva’s lips quivered. She looked at her wrinkled hands resting on the window frame. And then she closed her eyes and used the code phrase that Justine had given to her that would overrule any other measure put in place, her voice quiet so as not to be overheard. “In the name of Quill, and upon your life and mine, it shall be done.”
The worker was quiet. “Apologies,” she said.
Eva turned to look at her. “Get going, then, before they kill him.”
The woman nodded, flustered, and nearly tripped over the chair leg on her way out.
Eva hesitated, then followed. Liam was certain to be overwhelmingly grateful. And she was determined to be on the receiving end of the gratitude when he was.
A Visit to Gondoleery’s
Liam sat down in the backseat of the Quillitary vehicle next to Eva Fathom. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and put his face in his hands. He shook while Eva instructed the driver, he shook as they drove off, and he even shook as Eva patted his shoulder a few minutes later.
Finally he took in a deep breath, sat back, and looked at her. “I don’t know how to thank you for this,” he said in a low voice.
Eva smiled. “One day you will know exactly how to thank me,” she said. “All you need to do now is go along with whatever Aaron says.” She looked out her window. “If you want to stay out of the Ancients Sector, I mean.”
Liam regarded her. “But I—after the mage—and Claire Morning, and that pantry—I just can’t . . .”
Eva turned toward him. “Listen to me,” she said, softly enough that the driver couldn’t hear. “You can say things with your lips that your heart doesn’t feel. And for now you will. You must.”
Liam’s lips parted. He faced forward and closed them again. “Oh. Of course. In that case. Is that what you—?”
“Good.” She looked straight ahead. “Good. We’ll talk again another time.”
The driver stopped outside Gondoleery Rattrapp’s house. Eva got out of the vehicle, and then she bent down and looked in. “I think you should come with me.”
Liam fumbled with the handle and got out, and together they walked up the path to the door.
The last time Eva was here, the house had glowed blue. But this time there was a faint orange glow coming from behind the curtains. “Do you see that?” she whispered.
Liam nodded, eyes wide.
Eva knocked on the door. “Pay close attention to everything.”
Scuttling noises came from inside. Eva knocked again.
When at last Gondoleery opened the door, a rush of hot air blew over Eva and Liam. Eva disguised the surprise on her face at the sight of their old Restorer, but Liam stared.
“What do you want?” Gondoleery asked. Her face was red and blistered in spots, her wild gray hair was blown back, and her knuckles were covered in burns. She pulled a thin blanket around her shoulders and gripped it tightly around her neck as if she were cold.
Eva smiled politely. “Aaron—I mean the high priest—is wondering if you will come to the palace for dinner tomorrow night. Eight o’clock.”
“What for?”
The questions were sounding familiar. “I’m not sure exactly,” Eva said. “Something about a possible government job. Strang will be there, and Liam, too. And me, of course.” Eva knitted her brows thoughtfully. “I think.”
Gondoleery stared. “Why in Quill would I ever want or need to spend time with that arrogant snot?”
Eva smiled. “I wouldn’t know.” She realized something else that looked so strange about Gondoleery—her eyebrows were gone. Eva glanced over Gondoleery’s shoulder, trying to look inside. She could smell wood or something else burning. “But you’re invited, nevertheless, and I do hope to see you. It’ll be nice to catch up again.”
Liam slowly rose up on the balls of his feet, trying to see into the house.
Gondoleery sneered. “Don’t count on it.” She closed the door swiftly.
“All right, then,” Eva said, smiling brightly at the closed door. She turned to Liam and muttered, “Let’s go.”
They walked back to the vehicle.
Gondoleery’s front door opened again. “What time did you say?”
“Eight o’clock.” Eva smiled and got in the jalopy as Gondoleery slammed her front door.
Liam climbed in beside her. “Great Quill,” he said. “That was—”
Eva pressed her fingertips on his arm. “Save it,” she murmured. She leaned forward to speak to the driver. “Back to the palace, if you please, sir.”
They drove in strained silence the short distance to the palace. When they got out, Eva slipped the driver a sack full of fruits and vegetables she had picked up that morning from the Favored Farm. “Here, take these,” she told him. “And give my best to your family.”
“Th-thanks,” the driver said, dubious. “Thanks a lot—my wife will be very grateful.”
“Just as I am grateful for you,” Eva said. “I shall call on you again when my business takes me into Quill.”
The driver bowed his head. “I am at your service, madam.”
She waved him off, and the two watched him drive away.
“What is going on here?” Liam asked under his breath. “I’m not quite sure I understand . . . you.”
Eva tilted her head and opened the door to the palace. “Hmm?” she said. “Whatever do you mean?”
The Team
Once the ship had sailed and everyone had stowed their things, Alex gathered them on deck. “Do any of you know what ‘sports’ are?” he asked.
Lani, who had been studying a wrinkled piece of paper, folded it quickly and put it in her pocket, then lifted her hand in the air, along with a few others. “I read about it. It’s kind of like having a battle. Everybody on your side has a job to do, and if everybody does their thing right, you can win against the other team. People do it for fun. I don’t get why you’d want to have a battle just for the fun of it, but whatever.”
Samheed and Carina Holiday exchanged a grin. They both loved a good battle and would probably choose to do it for fun every day if they could.
“I saw that,” Lani said.
“Anyway,” Alex interrupted, “that’s the kind of mission this is. Those of us who have been training with Ms. Octavia will have certain parts to play in the rescue, and everyone else will have different roles. If we do it right, it’ll work perfectly and no one will even notice we’ve stolen Sky and Crow’s mother away. That’s what we’re going for. A rescue without a fight.”
Carina looked disappointed. She was still a bit mad about the last battle on Warbler, where she and Sean had been knocked out at the very beginning by sleep darts.
Alex continued laying out the plan. “Ideally, it’ll be simple,” he said. “We’ll wait for Sky and Crow’s mother by the skylight. Her name is Copper, by the way, which is also the same color as her hair, so that will help you identify her.” Alex glanced at Sky to make sure he’d gotten the details correct.
Sky nodded. “Her hair is long and a little bit lighter than mine,” she said. “She wears scarves over it, or at least she did. And she has the go
lden-orange eyes and thorn necklace as well.”
“Sounds like she’s not hard to miss,” Sean said. “Right, Crow?” He’d taken quite a liking to the quiet Warbler boy.
Crow nodded. “She’s beautiful,” he said.
Carina’s hand flitted to her mouth and her eyes glistened. “It’s settled, then,” she declared, patting the boy on the knee. “We shall save her.” Carina had a young son of her own and was no doubt thinking of him. She gave Sky’s shoulders a squeeze.
“Once we’ve spotted her and alerted her to our presence, we’ll communicate a time for her to sneak out the fishing hatch, and we’ll take her from there. And if she’s unable to access that hatch or too afraid because she can’t swim, we’ll have her return to the spot by the skylight. Florence can smash in the window, and we’ll lower a rope and pull her out that way.”
Samheed yawned. “Sounds easy enough. You probably won’t even need us.”
“Well, that’s where phase two comes in.”
Carina perked up her ears. “Phase two? I’m listening.”
“Remember the animals? The sea creatures caged underwater on the other side of the reverse aquarium? Some of us saw them the first time we were there.”
Sky, Crow, Simber, and Carina nodded.
“Are we going to set them free?” Crow asked, excited.
Alex grinned. “Yes. At least we’ll try. They shouldn’t be trapped like that. I can’t stop thinking about them.” He also couldn’t stop thinking about Spike, but that was another matter.
“Cool, so we’ll figure out how to release them,” Samheed said. He narrowed his eyes. “Wait. What kind of creatures are we talking about?”
“I’m not sure,” Alex admitted. “We didn’t get a good look.”
“So they could attack us.”
“I suppose they could.”
Henry frowned. “I’m not sure I have any medicine to treat injuries from sea creatures,” he muttered.
Simber glanced at Ms. Octavia. “Can you communicate with waterrr crrreaturrres, Octavia?”
“I’ve never done it before, but I can try,” the art instructor answered. “I won’t know until we get there.”
The team began to buzz with excitement. Alex let them talk it out. He was glad to see their enthusiasm. But Sky’s face wore a look of dismay. Alex studied her, and then walked over and knelt on the deck by her side. “What’s wrong?”
She looked at him. “You all seem more excited about saving the creatures than saving my mother.”
Alex touched her arm. “Only because they didn’t know about the creatures. It’s a new development—one I’d only been thinking about recently. They’ve known all along we were going to save your mother. And, I should add, they all volunteered their time to train for this rescue because of you and your mother, not because of sea creatures. They committed to weeks and weeks of intense training—you know more than anyone how hard we’ve worked.” He smiled, remembering the time she’d tried to leave on a raft to rescue her mother on her own before she even knew how to swim. Impulsively he took her hand. “The entire team will be on backup in case something goes wrong with your mother. Believe me, it’s our first priority.”
Sky squeezed his hand. “You’re right,” she said. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just anxious about it. I really am grateful.”
Alex smiled. Reluctantly he pulled his hand away and stood up. “I’m glad you believe me. And now I’m going to make sure everybody else feels the same as we do about the mission.”
“Thanks, Alex,” Sky said sheepishly. Then she leaned in and whispered, “Was it your whale that got you so interested in the sea creatures?”
Alex froze. “Um . . . no,” he said. “I . . . um . . . I’ve got to . . .” He whirled around and pointed his thumbs at the group, indicating he had things to do. He flashed an apologetic smile and stepped away to address the others, leaving Sky looking confused.
“It was just a question,” she muttered. But he was already out of range.
“Okay, okay,” Alex said, waving his hands to get the team’s attention. “Quiet down. And let’s not forget that our goal here is saving Copper. We’ll help the creatures if we can, but only after we’ve got Copper safe and sound. Clear?”
“Absolutely clearrr,” Simber said.
The others nodded. “Of course!” “That’s what we’re here for.” Their voices rang out full of enthusiasm, which eased Alex’s mind. He looked at Sky, eyebrows raised.
She put her thumbs up and smiled. “Thank you.”
Alex breathed a sigh of relief that the crisis was averted. But he had some jumbled feelings churning inside him that he couldn’t seem to straighten out. In addition to his frustration over his inability to concentrate, and his embarrassment over his failures with Spike, Alex couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty—because he, too, was more than a little excited to rescue the sea creatures. Perhaps one of them would be so grateful to be free that it would become Alex’s special water creature. Fully devoted . . . one who would replace the spot in his heart left cold and empty by his terrible mistake with Spike Furious.
Watching and Waiting
Speckled by cries of “Thar she blows!” from Captain Ahab, mews in triplicate from Kitten, and the occasional rumblings from Florence or Simber, the conversations on board the pirate ship were mostly earnest and thoughtful as the day progressed into night. And conversations between Alex and Sky were virtually nonexistent as Alex strove to avoid all mention of Spike. Though the longer he kept the secret, the more he began wanting to confess everything to her so he could get it off his chest.
Sky wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. After the kiss on the beach, the last thing she expected was for Alex to grow more distant. She had thought the opposite would happen. But she had plenty else on her mind to focus on right now, like rescuing her mother. Everyone on board was trying to focus on the mission, Sky most of all. So she didn’t give Alex’s behavior much thought.
As they sailed past Warbler Island, the captain kept the ship far from shore at Alex’s command—they didn’t want Warbler to mistake them as coming to attack, and they kept the ship dark until they were well past the island. It was better not to let them know they had left Artimé vulnerable.
Fox, Kitten, Ahab, Simber, and Florence made up the statue brigade. Octavia and a handful of squirrelicorns represented the creatures, and Alex, Lani, Samheed, Carina, Sean, Henry, Sky, and Crow were the human factor. It was almost perfect. It would have been nice to have Meghan with them, but she was one of only a few who knew and could handle performing the dissipate spell, which would remove the thorn necklaces from the Warbler children. Alex knew from experience that it was such a painstaking spell, and so dangerous, that a person could only do a few of them a day without tempting great error. The tiniest shaking of a hand could cause irreparable damage—or make someone completely disappear, as had happened quite tragically to Gremily the squirrelicorn during the battle on Warbler.
Alex missed having Meg on this trip. While he and Meghan hadn’t spent a lot of time together lately because of all the things they were busy with, he still considered her one of his best friends. Alex walked to the stern of the ship and looked back toward home. The island of Quill was there, he knew, even though it was dark.
Above his head, Simber flapped his wings now and then, but mostly he soared with them outstretched, riding the breeze. The ship moved slowly during the dark hours so that they wouldn’t reach Pirate Island until daylight. Since Pirate Island could erupt or sink under the water without notice, Alex didn’t want to be too close, and he wanted to be able to see.
“When we get close, you’ll make surrre someone looks afterrr the kitten?”
Alex smiled in the dark. “Yes. Henry will take her.” They were silent for a bit, and then Alex asked, “Can the captain swim?”
“I don’t know. It won’t help to ask him, so I’ll keep an eye on him. I would imagine he’d sink like a rrrock.”
“Everybod
y else can swim,” Alex said. “I was careful about that when I was first choosing this group.”
“It may not matterrr, if we get sucked into the volcano,” Simber said dryly.
“That’s not going to happen,” Alex said. He hoped very much he was right. But there was no telling when the fiery island would suddenly decide to plunge underwater.
“Have you considerrred anchorrring the ship a distance away and taking a smaller crrrew on my back to save the woman?”
“I have,” Alex mused. “But you can’t possibly carry Florence, can you? We may need her.”
The cat growled. “No, you’rrre rrright. I could prrrobably hold herrr a shorrrt amount of time, but not morrre than a few seconds.”
“And I don’t like having the others so far away if something goes wrong.”
Simber nodded. “I agrrree.”
“So I guess we just have to wait off shore for the island to sink and resurface, and risk it.”
“It’s underrrwaterrr now,” Simber said, his eyes trained on the spot where the island should be. “It’s been down forrr quite a while.”
“Oh. Well, that’s good, then. We’ll try our rescue when it comes up and the volcano fire dies down.”
“I’ll keep you inforrrmed.” Simber looked down at Alex. “You should rrrest while you can.”
Alex nodded. “I’m headed that way now. Thanks, Sim.”
Simber growled in response, which Alex knew was the statue’s way of saying “You’re welcome.”
» » « «
Everyone slept restlessly as they waited for daybreak. When Sky awoke, she sat at the bow of the ship, gazing forward, occupied with her thoughts. Alex left her alone. His mind was filled with preparations and plans for the rescue. And as much as he longed to sit with her and talk through his failures with Spike, he had to let that go and focus on the rescue.
As it turned out, Alex didn’t need Simber to tell him when Pirate Island resurfaced. The captain made it quite clear.
“Thar she blows!” he cried. “Blasted creature. Wretched, elusive sack!” Captain Ahab seemed to think the island was the whale he’d been chasing for years, and no one could convince him otherwise. “Aye, the whale will be the death of us all!”