Crown of the Cowibbean (7 page)

A troublesome thought crossed Dakota's mind as he thought back to Lyra's story. “The beast…do you suppose it was a hu'man?”

“Ha HA!” Marco cackled. “Little cow, I've seen horrific monsters from the darkest depths of the sea. But
hu'mans
? That would be truly unbelievable.”

Chuck turned the coral key over in his hooves, admiring the way it sparkled in the moonlight. “The poem says ‘
we shall be guided by stars of our own
',” he said. “Marco, have you ever seen a constellation in the shape of a crown?”

“Never,” Marco shook his head. “And I've used the stars as a guide all my life. But we already know where the crown is. It's at Spidercrab Rock.” Marco slid his hat down over his face. “It's just an old song,” he yawned. “No one can
make
stars.”

Now ready for bed, Chuck and Dakota went to their bunk and found that the Kingfish's pirates had taken all their blankets during the raid. But the night was warm and the Sea Cows were singing again. Before long, they were lulled into a well-earned sleep.

9

THE TEMPEST

Chuck and Dakota awoke at dawn to the sound of Marco's crowing once again. Arriving on deck, they were greeted by a bright red sky.

“Red sky at morning,” Dakota said. “Doesn't that mean a storm is coming?”

“That is the least of our worries!” Marco said. “We have bigger problems coming!”

They squinted into the sunrise and saw the
Tyrant
headed their way, sailing along at full speed. The Kingfish had caught up with them. As the ship neared, they saw the burnt sails had been repaired with some very familiar-looking material.

“Hey!” Dakota cried. “Those are our blankets, you pirates!”

At the sight of the
Tyrant
, all the Mana Ti'i dove into the water, hiding beneath the waves. But the Kingfish wasn't coming to the reef. Instead, the
Tyrant
glided by.

“What's he doing?” Dakota wondered.

“He's passing us!” Marco realized.

“He's going to beat us to the crown!” Chuck looked down at the
Swashclucker's
keel, still resting on the coral. “We have to get off this reef! If only the tide were higher!”

Dakota's mind zipped back to the day before, when he made the skies darken and the waters rise by playing the hornpipe. He grabbed the flute and the sheet music.

“Everybody hold on!” he warned. Taking a deep breath, he began playing “Tempest and the Tide.” A low rumble filled the skies above. Puffy gray clouds began to fill the morning sky. The wind began to blow harder. The water began to rise.

“Not enough!” Chuck mooed, looking down at the reef. “Play louder! Play faster!”

Dakota played louder and faster. The clouds thickened, blocking out the red sunrise as he repeated the song over and over. The water rose higher and higher, lifting them off the reef. The wind, which now gusted so hard they had to yell to be heard, carried them swiftly after the
Tyrant
.

Ribeye tied down the sails. Marco flapped up to the crow's nest to get a better look at the Tyrant.

“We're catching up!” Marco crowed. He pointed at Chuck and yelled, “Steer!”

“Me?” Chuck yelled back. “I'm not a steer! I'm just a calf!”

“No, you silly cow!” Marco clucked wildly, pointing ahead to the Tyrant. “STEER!”

Chuck got on the ship's wheel and did his best to steer. But the weather was getting out of control. The sky had turned almost black. Rain poured down in buckets. Both the
Swashclucker
and the
Tyrant
were getting slammed by waves that pounded the ships' hulls.

“
Basta
!” Marco squawked to Dakota. “
Stop
! Stop playing!”

But the storm couldn't be stopped. It was now a full-blown tempest, with wind and waves that tossed both ships around on the sea like toys in a bathtub. Soon, neither ship could see the other through the driving rain and the waves crashing over the deck. Ribeye took over the wheel as lightning ripped through the dark sky. The
Swashclucker
turned on its side in the wind, knocking everyone onto their faces. The key bounced out of Chuck's shirt pocket and skittered off the ship into the water.

“The key!” Chuck shrieked. But in the shake of a cow's tail, Dakota leapt into the raging sea with the hornpipe in his hand. He grabbed the key before it could sink. Fighting to keep his head above water, he then played the notes for “The Fishes' Breath.”

BWOP
! A bubble appeared around Dakota and the key. The waves bounced him like a beach ball before picking him up and slamming him upside-down into the water near the
Swashclucker
. The bubble broke, leaving Dakota with his head underwater. Ribeye grasped Dakota's feet and pulled him aboard just as a colossal wave hurled the ship up into the air. Dakota's stomach churned as the wall of water sent the ship crashing down again. The black sky swirled in front of Dakota's eyes as the
Swashclucker
spun out of control…then everything went black for him, too.

10

SPIDERCRAB ROCK

Dakota awoke to Chuck's face hovering over him.

“Hey, you're awake!” he mooed. “You've been out for over thirty minutes.”

They had weathered the storm. The sea was now calm, and the
Tyrant
was nowhere in sight.

Dakota sat and rubbed the back of his head. “Where are we?” he asked.

“The storm a-threw us off,” Marco called out fromm the ship's wheel. “But not terribly so. I have nearly managed to get us a-back on course. And I did it all without that grubby old spyglass.”

“That was pretty brave for someone who doesn't even believe the crown exists,” Chuck said, helping Dakota to his feet.

Dakota handed over the key. “I don't know what I believe anymore. I just couldn't let that Kingfish win.”

They sailed on. But after a few hours they began to feel like they were going in circles. Marco checked and double-checked the map, then sat down in confusion.

“I don't understand,” Marco took off his hat and scratched his head. “This should be the right place.”

“Maybe the storm blew us further off course than we thought,” Chuck said.

“Impossible!” Marco said. “According to the map, Spidercrab Rock should be right there!” He pointed to an empty spot about a half-mile away.

“So…what, then? It just doesn't exist?” Dakota asked. Marco remained silent. He had no more answers.

“Great!” Dakota shouted, throwing his hands in the air. “I just knew it! There is no Spidercrab Rock! There is no Coral Crown! We came all this way for nothing!”

Chuck felt crushed. He wiped the lens of the old spyglass and peered through, hoping he'd find something to prove their whole mission had not been a waste.

“Just when I started to believe!” Dakota continued, letting his temper fly. “Some adventure! Some treasure hunt! It's all just another stupid fairy tale!”

“No…it's not!” Chuck's eyes went wild and his jaw went slack. He held out the spyglass and pointed ahead. “Look! LOOK!”

Marco snatched the spyglass. Squinting through its grimy lens, he saw exactly what Chuck had just seen. Spidercrab Rock was right in front of them.

“Mamma mia!” Marco gasped. He pulled the spyglass away and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. “The island is invisible!”

Now they understood why this crusty old thing was so special. Only through its magical lens could they actually see Spidercrab Rock. Without the spyglass…nothing. Through the spyglass…island!

“‘
A spying eye sees when our own eyes do fail
,'” Chuck recited the poem.

“‘
Into the nothingness…BRAVELY WE SAIL!'”
Marco crowed, finishing the line. He fluttered up to the top of the mast. “Onward, buccowneers! Ha ha ha! I knew you little cows would bring good luck!”

Ribeye piloted the
Swashclucker
into the nothingness. Had anyone been watching, they would have seen the ship suddenly vanish into thin air. All at once, the crew found themselves surrounded by a glittering blue fog on the water. They could now clearly see the island without the spyglass, although no one on the outside could see them. As long as they were inside this magical mist, they were invisible.

Marco molted feathers with excitement as they glided toward Spidercrab Rock. The island rose high up out of the water like a giant boulder, and was chiseled into a colossal temple that towered above them. Two sparkling waterfalls poured from the sides of the rock, cascading down into the sea.

Chuck wrinkled his brow. “Why is it called Spidercrab Rock? It doesn't look anything like a spider crab. They should have called it ‘Weeping Rock'. Those waterfalls make it look like the rock is crying.”

Carved at the top of temple was the same pattern of curly waves that was on the spyglass, along with the shape of a crown. They all agreed that the Coral Crown must be inside.

“How do we get in?” Dakota asked. The temple had no doors or windows, just four steep sides and a flat top.

“It looks like the only way in is through there,” Marco pointed to a small cave at the base of the island beneath the temple. “But it's too small, even for a rowboat.”

“We can use a bubble!” Chuck said. “Dakota, play ‘The Fishes' Breath'!”

Dakota felt his belly quiver nervously as if it were full of goldfish. As Ribeye steered the
Swashclucker
closer to the cliff, ripples began to disturb the water. The whole ship began to shimmy and shake. The water between them and the cave began to bubble as though it were boiling.

Then, out of the simmering water rose a monstrous spider crab. He was even bigger than the
Swashclucker
! His long legs were like tree trunks, and his eyes were the size of melons. He loomed over the ship with claws that looked as though they could crush through stone.

“Oh…” Chuck said, “that's why it's called Spidercrab Rock.”

The enormous crab blocked the entrance to the cave, flexing his legs and snapping his claws.

“Another shellfish!” Marco clucked. “Stay here, little ones! Marco shall slay this beast!” He immediately flapped off toward the crab, swinging his sword and crowing furiously. But he was no match for the beast, who swatted at Marco with a monstrous leg. Marco spiraled down into the water with a splash. But the crab didn't attack any further. He just stood between them and the cave, silently waiting for his next challenger.

Marco emerged from the water. He was sopping wet, hopping mad, and ready to take a second stab at the beast.

“WAIT!” Chuck yelled. “Stop! He won't attack you if you don't attack him!”

But it was no use. Ribeye had already leapt from the ship onto one of the crab's legs, and Marco was already trying to poke holes at him. The crab thrashed his legs around, trying to shake them off.

Chuck quickly ran through the poem in his head. His tail twitched as he looked for their next clue. “I've got it! ‘
The beast shall sleep at the Sea Cows
' song.' We have to make him sleep!”