The Blackhope Enigma (21 page)

“Thought I had him mesmerized,” said Blaise. “Maybe I can bore our enemies into submission.”

“You got Dean to stop whining, at least.”

“I’d better shut up, or I’ll put you to sleep, too.”

“You’re good, but not that good.” Sunni laughed. “Thanks for coming to get us. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

Blaise beamed at her. “Glad to be of service and everything.”

He waited for her to say something. She picked at some lint on her sweater.

“How long did you wait till you came into the painting?” she asked at last.

“Overnight. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to get in. I had to walk the labyrinth in front of two detectives. The only way I could get onto it was to tell them I’d show them how you disappeared — without telling them the password, of course. Plus, I’d already had to sneak into Blackhope Tower past all the reporters and cameramen.”

“Wow.” She shook her head. “I suppose that was bound to happen, wasn’t it? They’ve probably gone completely crazy now that you’ve disappeared, too. Did you hear anything about my family before you left?”

“Not much. They said on the news that your stepmom and dad were too upset to talk to reporters.”

“Oh.” Sunni hugged herself.

Blaise fished around in his bag and pulled out a bundle of lavender-striped wool.

“Your scarf.” He held it out to Sunni. “I — I found it tied around a tree and kept it for you.”

She smoothed it out across her lap and smiled at him.

When they climbed to the poop deck later, the children saw the
Mars
anchored in the narrow strait ahead, bearing no sign of damage from the skirmish with Bashir.

“What do we do now?” Blaise threw his hands in the air. “Marin’s ship is blocking our way. And we’ve got Angus and Ishbel tailing us.”

“Can’t we get around him?” asked Sunni, shielding her eyes from the sun.

“He will attack,” said Patchy. “
Mars
is in a good position.”

“He wants to finish my picture. I know it,” said Dean miserably. “You’ve got to keep us away from him, Blaise.”

“Unless there’s another route, we’re going to get squeezed between him and Angus,” Blaise said, studying the map.

He pointed out a more roundabout northwestern route through a cluster of islands. “Here,” he said to Patchy. “What about this way?”

“Very dangerous, Captain.”

“How?” Dean asked.

“Domain of crabs. Better not to disturb.” Patchy wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

“Well, what other way is there?”

“No other,” admitted the sailor. “Only northeastern route, where Marin waits.”

“Then I’ll take my chance with the crabs. They don’t have a ship, and Marin does.” Blaise turned to Sunni and Dean. “Are you with me on this, guys?”

“More crabs.” Dean glared at the map.

“Not much choice, is there? We’ll just fight whatever comes,” said Sunni.

“Change course, then,” Blaise commanded. “Now!”

The vessel made a wide arc, heading west into an open waterway.

On the
Luna
, Lady Ishbel screamed at the pilot, “What is that boy doing?”

The pilot’s eyes twinkled as he answered, “He goes crab way, mistress. Foolish.”

With a stony expression, Marin watched the
Venus
maneuver away, then turned his gaze to the
Luna
. After having trailed Blaise so closely, Lady Ishbel’s galley had come to a full stop rather than follow him westward. Marin spied her on deck and swore as he recognized the stranger from the Janus arch at her side.

“I do not know what their schemes are,” the apprentice said to the pilot. “That boy has picked up the other two children and is heading toward the crabs, while Ishbel lets a spy move freely on her ship.”

On the
Luna
, Lady Ishbel fiddled with her pendant.

“Oh, let us do something, Master Bellini!” she said. “I cannot sit here any longer.”

“Patience, my lady. Marin is deciding his next move. I don’t think he will be able to resist following the children and playing spy hunter. Once his ship has moved from the mouth of the strait, you should signal for the oarsmen to take the
Luna
through it at full speed. Then we can bear west to intercept them.”

At the same moment, Marin was pacing back and forth. “The idiotic boy attempts escape through crab waters, and Ishbel sits there idly.”

“Maybe she waiting for you, Captain,” said the pilot.

The apprentice snorted. “I had better not keep the lady guessing, then.” He whirled around and pointed at the
Venus
, gliding into the distance. “Follow the boy!”

The
Mars
immediately began to change course, and with a low roar, the oarsmen heaved the galley in pursuit of Blaise’s ship. Lady Ishbel gazed doe-eyed at Marin as her ship stormed northeastward past the
Mars
into the now empty strait.

D
ean’s stomach flipped, and a queasy chill ran through him.
Someone’s walked over your grave
, his grandmother would have said. He clutched the side of the boat and swallowed hard. Something was coming. He could feel it.

A plume of white water shot into the air, and the ocean around it churned as if someone were beating it with a whisk. A misty island loomed on the horizon, then disappeared into the clouds.

Dean could not speak. His heart was banging a thousand beats per minute, and his head felt like it was going to explode.
Get a grip
, he told himself, but his body would not listen.

“I haven’t seen any of these crabs you’ve been freaking out about. And we’re coming into open water now,” Blaise said, clapping Patchy on the shoulder as he strode up. “Maybe for once we’re on the right track.”

“Hey, that might be the island on the map!” Sunni was gleeful as she pointed to the land on the horizon.

“Yup.” He caught sight of Dean. “Are you OK, man?”

Dean’s head hung down.

“Dean?” Sunni held his arm. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, Sun. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

Just then, a huge whalelike fish, ivory white, with a deadly skewering tusk jutting from its forehead, leaped out of the sea, making a wide arc in the air before disappearing below.

“Patchy!” Blaise yelled. “More speed! Get us away from that thing!”

There was no sign of the beast for a few moments, but then something white skimmed below the surface like a missile. The ivory monster broke through the water and flew up into midair, its red eye and tusk trained on the
Venus
. In its wake a battalion of dark shapes followed, beating and chopping the water.

The children could make out helmet-like discs of shiny armor with spindly legs underneath. One of the discs breached and flung up a long black spike toward the ship.

“Horseshoe crabs!” shouted Blaise. He had grown up with ordinary ones in New England, but these were gigantic. And they were coming at lightning speed.

Twitching spikes appeared at the port side of the hull, wrenching oars into the sea. Claws gripped the wood and began pulling off great chunks. More and more appeared on the starboard side, making the galley list sharply.

Sunni stood aghast. “They’re coming aboard! We’re going to have to swim for it, guys.”

Sunni and Dean flung themselves over the side into the water, struggling away from the sea of frenzied crabs. Blaise hesitated, dashed across the deck to retrieve his bag and Sunni’s sketchbook, then leaped after the others. The crew, too, jumped overboard and vanished into the waves.

The armored crabs crawled onto the ship’s hull, their tail spikes moving like lances. Nearby, the tusked creature circled, watching with its crimson eye as the
Venus
was wrenched apart, just as a human would tear a boiled crab’s leg to get at the succulent meat.

As the boat disintegrated, the crabs sank along with it, leaving only floating debris.

The children treaded water, trying to catch their breath in the rough sea. Dean’s clothes felt like lead, slowing him as he tried to move. He had just convinced himself that he couldn’t stay afloat a moment longer when he heard a strained shout.

“Over here!” Blaise spluttered. “There’s something to h-hang on to.”

Painstakingly Sunni and Dean paddled toward the debris and clung to chunks of the
Venus
, mouths parched and eyes stinging, hoping nothing predatory approached them from below. Before them loomed the monumental, stony island, its top wreathed in mist.

“Land,” Sunni said hoarsely. “Swim to it.”

“OK,” Blaise said, panting.

“Dean?” Sunni turned to locate him.

Before he could open his mouth to answer, a strong current dragged Dean under. Everything around him faded to blue-gray as it quickly swept him sideways. He kicked furiously, but his body was sucked downward, around and around in a dizzying circle.

Marin strained to find Blaise’s ship. It had been a constant speck ahead of them but had suddenly disappeared. The apprentice pounded the hull in frustration.

“Captain!” came a sudden cry from the crow’s nest. Marin looked up sharply to see the lookout pointing a quivering hand to the waters off the starboard side. The galley was being drawn toward a gigantic whirlpool. Marin and the crew gazed in horror at the center of the churning maelstrom. The
Mars
was on course to be carried straight in.

As the apprentice bellowed instructions, the helmsman struggled to steer the vessel away. Men chopped at the water with oars, trying to push them out of the current, but to no avail. The ship reared up and was pitched forward into the swirling vortex, the mast and timbers splitting with a fearsome crack.

Marin screamed as he was catapulted into the heart of the dark water below.

“Dean!” cried Sunni when she realized he had disappeared. “Where are you? Blaise, he’s g-gone!”

Blaise fought to swim nearer, but he was towed into a cluster of small, spiraling whirlpools in the water. “I can’t — something’s sucking me under!”

The force of the current caught Sunni, too, and pulled her after him. She saw Blaise’s dark head gliding in circles as if he were on a merry-go-round, moving into the center. Then he disappeared.

Sunni was yanked after him, headfirst, nearly deafened by the roar of the water churning around her. As she fell, she tried to straighten her body into a dive position, but the force of the water tumbled her over and over. Eventually, she found herself gliding upward into a remarkably still, electric-blue pool. She floated there, dazed, and stared up at an arched cave ceiling as lofty and magnificent as a cathedral, shimmering with reflected light. Carved out of the wall of the grotto were six giant stone goddesses, holding up canopies of stalactites that grew from the ceiling.

“Sunni,” said a voice.

She rolled over and looked around. Pieces of shredded sail and shattered hull littered the pool. The high arch of the ceiling curved down into a horizontal stone platform. Blaise was huddled at its edge, his hand extended.

He helped her out of the water. “You made it!”

“You too,” she whispered.

“Only just.”

“Dean. Have you seen Dean?” Sunni staggered along the edge of the rock platform, her eyes streaming with seawater and tears.

Blaise walked with her, his arm hovering around her back. “No.”

“He was right there with us. I should have held on to him! I am so stupid —”

“No, you are not —”

“Listen. What’s that?” She wiped her eyes and cocked her head at a distant rushing sound. The rush grew into a roar. Bubbles rose to the pool’s surface as if it were coming to a boil.

A ball of seaweed, silver fish, and bubbles blasted upward and splashed over them. The smell of kelp filled the cavern, like a beach at low tide.

As the water settled again, placid and glowing blue, Sunni and Blaise swept startled fish back into the pool and picked seaweed fragments off themselves. A giant clump of kelp had surfaced, and something was stuck underneath it. A hand emerged from the seaweed.

Dean’s streaming face peered out, and Sunni dived frantically into the pool to help him.

“Sun.” Dean grabbed her arm, his eyes half-shut as she fished him out and hugged him close.

“You’re alive! I thought you’d gone for good.” Sunni sniffled and laughed at the same time. “I think crabs have it in for you, Deano.”

“I thought I’d drowned.” Dean buried his head in her shoulder.

“One minute you were there, and then you weren’t. Stop doing that to me!”

“The water just took me,” murmured Dean, “and I came out here.”

“I know. It got me and Blaise, too.”

“Is he OK?”

Blaise crouched down and ruffled Dean’s wet hair. “Yup. Hey, man, nice swim.”

“I couldn’t have swum if I’d tried!” Dean spat and worked his finger around in his mouth. “I’ve got seaweed stuck in my teeth.”

A gigantic bubble burped up in the pool and pushed a billowing dark shape to the surface.

“What the —?” Dean exclaimed.

“Come on, Blaise, help me,” Sunni said urgently. They swam out to the floating shape and turned the figure over to reveal Marin’s unconscious face. With all the strength they had left, they towed him back to the platform and laid him out. Corvo’s apprentice was clammy and still, his olive skin drained of color.