“Wow, that’s one brave mermaid,” said Carlos when Mal was done sharing Arabella’s story with him, Evie, and Jay after they’d pulled Jay away from R.O.A.R. practice. They were sitting at a table in the refectory at Jay’s insistence, since he didn’t like to hear bad news on an empty stomach. “I would never even dream of touching my mom’s furs, and she goes and steals King Triton’s trident? That’s insane.”
Jay nodded, his mouth full of food. He swallowed loudly to the consternation of the girls. “I don’t mean to be rude, but why is this our problem exactly?” he asked.
“Arabella’s a friend, and she came to us,” said Mal defensively. “She didn’t know who else to ask for help.”
“Uh-huh,” said Jay. “Because she did something naughty, and we’re from the Isle of the Lost. But the thing is, we have stuff to do in Auradon now.”
Carlos slowly nodded his head. “Jay has a point. You have a packed royal schedule, Mal. You don’t really have time for something like this. Why does it have to be you—us—who have to look for this thing? We didn’t steal it. Plus, don’t forget, exams are coming up.”
“And what about Ben? Doesn’t this fall under his responsibility?” asked Jay.
“Ben’s in Northern Wei negotiating some kind of truce between the Imperial City and Agrabah,” said Mal. “I don’t want to bother him with this.”
The boys still looked a little wary.
Mal put her hands on her hips and scowled. “Okay, this is not the team that returned to the Isle of the Lost and defeated their evil talismans! I’ll tell you why it’s our problem. Because when a friend’s in trouble, what do we do?” she asked fiercely.
“We leave them alone?” joked Jay. He sighed. “All right, all right.”
“Come on, you guys, we all know what it feels like to have done something wrong,” Evie beseeched. “And to feel scared and alone afterward.”
“Of course we’ll help,” said Carlos.
“Yeah, we were just playing, what do you call it, devil’s advocate,” said Jay with a smile.
“But it seems like the best thing to do is to tell Fairy Godmother so she can alert King Triton,” said Carlos. “I mean, right?”
“But Arabella asked us to keep it secret,” said Evie.
“We can handle this ourselves,” said Mal. “Let’s not bring Fairy Godmother into it.” Mal didn’t want to sit around waiting to have tea with the goddesses from Mount Olympus or laughing at the Sultan of Agrabah’s corny jokes again, which took up a lot of her time now that she was the king’s girlfriend. She itched to do something meaningful, to be useful instead of simply decorative. “Are you guys with me?” she asked.
One by one, each of them nodded.
Mal smiled, relieved. “Obviously, first things first, we need to figure out where the trident is,” she said briskly. “Any ideas?”
“That’s what this is for,” said Evie, removing the magic mirror from her purse. She flipped it open and spoke directly into its reflection. “Magic Mirror of seas and skies, show me where the trident lies!”
The mirror turned cloudy and gray and nothing happened. “Is it broken again?” asked Carlos.
Evie shook her head. “It was never broken, it just didn’t work in the Catacombs.” Evie gave it another good shake, and the mirror showed the trident stuck between two rocks under the sea.
“Where is that?” asked Mal, squinting at the screen. “I wish your magic mirror could talk, Evie.”
“It’s only the last shard of the mirror; no audio function, sorry,” said Evie apologetically.
“Looks like it’s somewhere near the barrier. See that shimmering line? That’s the invisible dome,” said Carlos, looking over Evie’s shoulder.
“Which means anyone on the Isle of the Lost could grab it, if they know it’s there,” said Jay.
“But where exactly is it?” asked Mal, her forehead scrunching in dismay.
Carlos took a closer look at the screen. “As far as I can tell, it looks like it’s right by the Isle of the Doomed. The water’s murkier over there. And see those flashes of green in the water? That’s goblin slime.”
Mal nodded. It was the same green color that seeped out of Maleficent’s fortress.
“Those goblins would do anything to get their hands on that kind of treasure. Not to mention the pirates if they knew about it,” said Jay.
“Magic Mirror, is anyone else looking for the trident?” asked Evie.
This time, the mirror’s surface glowed, and showed villain after villain on the Isle of the Lost searching the surrounding waters for the trident. Witches in scuba outfits, pirates diving off docks, hooligans of all kinds swarming the beaches and picking through seaweed, searching.
“Looks like everyone’s looking for it. Word must have gotten out somehow that it’s there,” said Carlos.
“Goblins are terrible gossips,” muttered Mal.
“The worst,” agreed Evie.
Jay only shrugged. He had no opinion on goblins other than that they were fun to steal from.
“It’s still going,” said Evie, as the mirror showed an image of a crowded tavern.
“What’s that?” asked Jay, leaning over for a better look.
“Don’t push!” said Carlos, as they all crowded around Evie.
“It’s Ursula’s Fish and Chips Shoppe,” said Mal, as the mirror zoomed in more closely, until they could make out the blurry silhouette of a figure in the middle of the crowd.
“Who’s that?” said Evie, catching sight of thick, ropy strands.
“I can’t tell yet. One of the pirates, maybe?” said Carlos. The mirror kept focusing.
“It’s a girl,” said Jay decisively. “Those are braids.”
“That’s not a girl. That’s a sea witch,” said Mal, tapping on the screen.
“It’s Uma!” said Jay.
“Uma!” quaked Carlos.
“Uma.” Evie sighed.
“Ugh. Come on. It’s Shrimpy,” said Mal. “It’s always Shrimpy.” She told Evie about her long, nasty history with Uma.
“You know Uma’s mostly mad because you said she was too small to be in our gang,” Jay reminded her.
“But she was too small to be in our gang,” said Mal defensively.
“She’s not that small,” said Carlos. “There was a height requirement?”
“Mal just didn’t want to share,” said Jay with a grin.
Mal shrugged, but Jay was right: she hadn’t wanted Uma to be part of her crowd. She’d pushed her away, even though Uma was fiercer than Ginny Gothel and much scarier than Harriet Hook. The truth was, Uma was real competition, and Mal hadn’t wanted any of that back then.
Evie squinted at the picture of Uma in the magic mirror. “Why do you hate her so much?”
Mal was taken aback. “I don’t hate her. Actually, since we’ve been in Auradon, I’d forgotten all about her. She’s the one who’s always been obsessed with me.”
Carlos and Jay nodded. “Uma loathes Mal,” said Carlos.
“I mean, I get it, you dumped a bucket of shrimp on her head. You can’t be her favorite person,” said Evie. “But it’s also not any different from what people on the Isle do to each other every day. Couldn’t she get over it?”
Mal smiled ruefully at the memory of that fateful day. “I think it bothered her more because we were close once, best friends actually. But then she…”
“She laughed at you,” said Carlos, who had turned away from the magic mirror and had zipped open his backpack to get a head start on his homework. “I was with my mom that day at the docks. I saw what happened. Uma laughed at you when you tripped and fell and slid down the dock.”
“Yeah, I didn’t like it,” said Mal, eyes glazing at the memory. “So I took my revenge. Her hair never smelled the same again. In fact it smelled…”
“Shrimpy,” Jay said with a laugh.
Evie shuddered, thinking of how terrible that would be. “Yikes.”
“I wasn’t the nicest perso
n back then,” said Mal, frowning at the image in the magic mirror.
“You were only doing what you were taught,” said Evie supportively. “What we were all taught on the Isle.” She picked up a piece of fruit from Jay’s tray and took a bite, glad that it was fresh and not rotten like they were used to on the island.
“But how does she think she’s going to find that trident? She doesn’t have a magic mirror at her disposal, like we do,” said Jay.
“Maybe everyone who’s looking for it is working for her?” guessed Evie.
“No, the goblins only work for themselves,” said Mal. “The only ones who could possibly be loyal to her are the pirates.”
“A bunch of thieves and thugs,” said Jay.
“Harry and Gil? You used to run with them,” Carlos chided. “Didn’t you?”
“I sure did,” admitted Jay. “That’s how I know they’re all a bunch of scoundrels.”
“But if any of them found it, they’d definitely give it to Uma,” said Mal. “They always follow orders. Especially Harry Hook.”
“We don’t have much time; King Triton will notice the trident’s missing by tomorrow, so we need to get it back tonight,” said Evie.
“And Uma’s after it, so you all know what that means.” Mal stood up from the table, ready to take action.
“We need to find it before she does,” said Evie.
“And hurry,” added Carlos.
Jay smiled. “Here we go again.”
Uma paced the top deck of the Lost Revenge confidently. With Harry and Gil at her side, she’d assembled a solid squad—a bona fide pirate ship with a bona fide crew. No matter that Gil was so dim he often forgot not to call her by that horrid nickname; Harry and his wharf rats were ready to cut up anyone who stood in their way. She surveyed the work the pirates were doing to bring the ship up to task.
They were busy provisioning the ship, bringing on food and water from Ursula’s as she’d ordered, as well as a whole host of supplies. All sorts of things could go wrong at sea, and you couldn’t exactly head home if you had a problem, so they needed extra lengths of rope and sail, boards that could be used to fix the hull, and all the tools and hardware to make those repairs. Plus, Harry insisted that every inch of the ship had to be checked. Every length of rope was inspected for rents or frayed edges. Rats loved to chew on ropes, and they tended to choose the most undesirable places to snack on them. If the pirates didn’t check every inch of the ropes, their main sail might just sail free the moment the wind caught it, or their anchor line might snap in two just as it took hold.
The crew went over every length of sail, and they checked all the winches and pulleys as well, making certain that each was sound, replacing a few, fixing others. They checked the mast for cracks and the rudder for soundness, and made certain it worked in proper coordination with the captain’s wheel. Things seemed to be coming together. But there was one particular problem that caught Uma’s attention. Apparently the Lost Revenge had as many holes as the ship had boards. Wooden sailing ships always take on a bit of water, she knew. But the Lost Revenge took on water by the bucketful, and when they’d tried to push off the dock the problem had only increased, with more water rising faster, threatening to turn her sailing vessel into a gigantic bathtub.
“So what do we do?” she asked Harry, who, coincidentally, had experience sailing in a bathtub.
“Well,” Harry started, clearly excited that she had decided to consult him on the matter. “We should have her lifted out of the water, the hull scraped clean and repainted, then—”
“Stop. That’s not happening. We need to do something about the state of this ship, but we don’t have time to lift it or do anything major. Be serious.”
“Yeah, I guess. Okay, so then maybe it’s just a matter of resealing the boards. When the ship was built, the joints were all watertight, you know, fitted together closely so no water could pass through them. But ships age, and boards flex and rot and chip, and pirate ships have a way of getting rammed into or ramming into things, taking cannon shot, the usual stuff. It ruins the hulls and the boards that make them up.”
“Wonderful history of sailing, thanks, but I have no interest. Get to the point, will you?” she growled.
“We caulk the joints. There’s an adhesive that’s fitted between the boards and then it’s all slathered over with pitch.”
“Pitch? As in singing on key?” she asked.
“Pitch as in tar or mastic—what we call sludge: that black sticky stuff that water can’t penetrate.”
“Gotcha. Get on it,” she said, pushing at his chest.
“Me?” he asked, stumbling back.
She crossed her arms. “Well, you do seem to be the expert, and I recall seeing a barrel of something black and sticky down there in the hold. I reckon you’ll find all the supplies you need down there, so grab a few of the crew and get working.”
“Great. I’ll be covered in sludge for days.”
“It beats bailing water every time we sail.”
“It does,” said Harry as he headed down into the hold. “I’ll have this ship watertight in no time.”
When Harry had disappeared out of sight, she headed to the wooden bridges and trudged back to the fish shop. Her shift was up. It was time to put away her captain’s hat and put on an apron.
Later that evening, Harry, Gil, and the rest of the crew filed in. There was ferocious Jonas, with his cornrows and scar on his left cheek, Desiree, tiny but vicious in a ragged peasant dress, fierce Gonzo in his red bandanna, long braid, and blue pantaloons, crazy Bonny in her torn fishnet shirt and patched dungarees, and a whole host of others—all hardened mercenaries. They took one of the long tables in front of the kitchen window. “Recap. What do we know about Yen Sid?” asked Uma, drumming her fingers on the table.
Harry dumped a pile of documents on the table, pulled out a notepad, and paged through it with his hook. “Professor at Dragon Hall, but not a villain. Volunteered to live on the Isle of the Lost to, quote, ‘help the new generation of villain offspring.’” At this Harry snickered. “What a loser.”
“What else?” said Uma impatiently.
“Let’s see,” said Harry, having trouble turning the pages with his hook. Uma sometimes wished he would give up with the whole hook obsession and just use his hands, but she knew it would never happen.
“Here we go,” said Harry. “Keeps to himself, amateur lepidopterist.”
“Lepidop-what?” said Gil.
“Studies butterflies,” explained Harry. “You know, those bugs with the pretty wings?”
“I know what a butterfly is,” growled Gil.
“Really? Well, you learn something new every day,” said Harry with a smirk. He continued to read the list. “What else, let’s see…has never set foot in the Fish and Chips Shoppe, but is a regular at the Slop Shop, where he takes his tea.”
“Tea?” Uma made a face.
“Yeah, it annoys the goblins to no end, because they’re a coffee shop, and apparently he always insists on chai, which of course they don’t have,” said Harry. He kept reading. “No known acquaintances. No associates. An enigma, shall we say….”
“Hold on, what’s this?” said Uma, picking a paper off the top of the pile. It was marked with a golden beast-head stamp and signed by Fairy Godmother.
Harry peered over her shoulder. “Oh, those are transfer documents—for when he moved here to the Isle of the Lost from Auradon. I had one of my boys pull the file.”
Uma pointed to an additional name on the paper. “Look.”
Harry read the file and caught Uma’s eye. They grinned at each other, matching evil smiles. “This is it. This is how we get in.”
“What?” asked Gil, still oblivious and his stomach growling loudly.
Uma studied the document again. This was all coming together beautifully. She could see the outline of a plan already. Truth be told, she was a little afraid of the esteemed professor. There was a hidden strength and a fortitude
to the old guy that chilled her, and the scope of his magical power was legendary. For once she was glad there was a magical barrier to protect them from such wizardry. There was no way they would ever get her mother’s necklace back from the sorcerer himself; Uma knew that for a fact. Yen Sid would never let that happen. But here on paper was another way. “Professor Sid didn’t move here alone,” said Uma slowly.
“He brought his apprentice!” added Harry gleefully.
Uma held up the file. “The Sorcerer’s Intern.”
“We just need to find out who he is and where. We’ll never get the professor to talk, but this is the weak link. His apprentice is sure to know where he keeps that necklace,” said Harry triumphantly.
Gil studied the grainy, blurry picture. “She.”
“She?” asked Uma.
Gil nodded in excitement, happy to contribute to the planning. “I know her, she helps out Professor Sid in class. Like a teacher’s assistant. Sort of quiet, shy, a little mousy even. Always sweeping. Sophie, I think her name is.”
“Great! Let’s see, we can threaten, bribe, or intimidate. What do you suggest?” asked Harry gleefully.
“First things first,” said Uma, thinking quickly. “Gil, invite her to the Fish and Chips Shoppe tonight. Tell her we stumbled on a bit of magic and want to discuss it with her before alerting her boss.”
“Discuss?” Harry asked innocently. “Is that the word for tying someone up and threatening them with my hook?”
Uma smirked. “Don’t worry, Harry, you’ll have your fun.” By the time they were done with her, this Sorcerer’s Intern would wish she’d never set foot on the Isle of the Lost.
Gil had never had any trouble asking girls to go out with him. In truth, most of them went out of their way to make themselves available. Girls were always dropping schoolbooks in front of him, or giggling uncontrollably in his presence. He was used to a certain amount of admiration from the female species. But when he approached Sophie after class that day, she was wary.
“What do you want, Gil?” she asked, setting down the books she was holding and pulling up the red sleeves on her robe. She had dark hair and a skeptical expression. “I’m not giving you the answers to next week’s test, if that’s what you’re asking.”