“What? Siggy, too? I-I’m actually somewhat embarrassed by this information.”
“It wasn’t for fun, believe me. It was to get to the roof of the gray shack so we could escape from the masses of people and try to figure out how to fix things. I never thought I’d tell you—we were so scared you’d come back alive while we were climbing on you. We didn’t know what you’d do to us.”
Florence chuckled. “Well in that case, I’m glad I could be of some use.”
By the time they reached the rocks where the pirate ship rested, Alex had scrambled to the top of Florence’s head to stay dry. She grabbed on to a boulder, found a foothold, and pulled herself up out of the water, finding a place to perch on the rocks that had split the pirate ship.
Alex stood on Florence’s shoulders, reached for the ship, and peered over the railing. There wasn’t much left inside, but he spied a few ropes floating there, attached to the ship at one end. He reached out for one, grabbed it, and climbed deftly along the inside of the ship to a spot where Florence could take it. He handed off the rope to her. She quickly wound it around the mast on the other half of the ship and tied it tightly. They did the same on the other side.
“There,” Florence said. “Now the two pieces are connected.”
Alex scrambled back out of the ship to climb on Florence’s shoulders again. Once settled, he leaned out and touched the side of the ship. “I can see some of our water containers tied up,” Alex said, relieved. “Let’s get this ship on shore.”
“Sounds good.”
“Are you ready?” he asked. He took a deep breath.
“Whenever you are, but take your time. There’s no need to rush. Focus on that open spot on the beach.”
“I know.” He realized all too well that if the ship didn’t transport properly, they could end up with nothing but an unfixable mess. After a moment of panic at the gravity of the situation, he shoved the fear aside and removed all other thoughts from his mind. He focused intently on the open space on land. He made sure he had his hand firmly placed on the ship’s side, and then, in an intense whisper, he said, “Transport.”
Both halves of the ship vanished.
Florence and Alex whipped their heads around to scan the shore. An instant later the battered vessel appeared almost exactly where Alex had intended it to land. Upright, and nearly perfectly placed. Seawater gushed out of it onto the sand.
“Yes!” Alex shouted, pumping his fist in the air.
Florence held a hand up in triumph. “You did it! All in one piece—just barely, thanks to the rope idea. Nice work.” She climbed down the rock into the sea with Alex crouched on her head to stay dry, and began the walk back to shore. When they reached land, Alex gave a shout. The others came running to see the ship and assess the damage. Alex slid off of Florence’s shoulders and landed with a thud on the ground.
“Oh my,” Copper said, peering at it. Her voice was still a bit raspy from the thorn necklace she’d worn up until her recent rescue. “I wonder if it’s something we can fix.”
She came up to the broken edge of the ship and took an expert look all around inside. She’d worked on plenty of Queen Eagala’s ships on Warbler.
Florence joined her. “I think so,” she said. She reached inside the ship and began loosening the knots that held the containers of freshwater, then brought the containers out and placed them in front of the thirsty humans.
As they drank in careful, measured sips, Florence glanced at the variety of shipwrecks poking up out of the water nearby or crashed onto the rocks. “We’ll need a little help. We don’t have any tools. We’re also missing some really important items, like the sails, rigging, ship’s wheel, a rudder . . . and plenty of material to patch this thing. We’re going to need to scavenge some of these shipwrecks to find what we need.”
Sky flashed her mother an adventurous smile. She and Crow knew quite a bit about shipbuilding too.
At the word “scavenging,” Samheed and Lani looked at each other and grinned.
Henry and Crow both stopped in their tracks and looked at Florence, eyes wide. “What did you say?” Crow asked. “We get to explore the wrecks?” He could hardly contain his excitement.
“You swimmers can scavenge,” Copper said. “I’ll stay on shore and help Florence. I’m glad to finally be able to do something to help after all you have done for me.”
“I’ll be glad to have your help,” Florence said.
Ms. Octavia seated Captain Ahab nearby to rest and watch, and then joined the humans to figure out their work plan. But soon a peal of thunder rattled the sky and rain pelted the ground, leaving tiny, perfect divots in the pods of drying sand. The wind shifted and began to swirl around them. The short reprieve from the storm was apparently over.
Sky ignored the storm. She scurried toward a wreck a little ways offshore to explore. But just as she ran through the wind and rain, something caught her eye near the center of the barren island. She stopped short and looked more carefully. It was a small person, raggedly clothed, standing still and watching them.
Sky gasped. The figure disappeared behind a rock.
She turned back to the ship. “Alex? Florence?” she called out softly. “We’re definitely not alone on the this island.”
Aaron Tries to Rile Up the Crowd
Aaron realized the best way to show General Blair that he was serious was to start tearing the wall down immediately—but that wasn’t necessarily the best way to go about it from the perspective of the high priest of Quill. So the morning after his meeting with the general, Aaron called the people of Quill together so he could tell them what to believe.