“Why did Sean have to break his stupid leg?” Lani muttered. “We need Simber.”
“Simber couldn’t transport all of us anyway,” Alex pointed out weakly.
“The safest way out is by fixing the ship,” Florence said. “We don’t know how far we are from home. And nobody said this person—or these people—are going to harm us. They could be friendly, like on Karkinos.”
“Friendly people don’t hide,” Sky muttered. She looked at Alex. “Mean people and scared people hide.”
Alex shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t sure if her statement was aimed at him, but he’d learned to assume most cryptic comments were. And it was true—Alex had a tendency to hide when he was scared to confront a problem, especially when it involved a girl. That’s how he ended up in this current predicament with Sky. They talked at, about, and around each other rather than directly with each other. He knew it wasn’t right, but he didn’t know how else to function. He had to focus on leading his people out of this mess. There simply wasn’t time for difficult relationships. But he missed her.
“Sky’s right, of course,” Alex said carefully, eyeing her to see her response.
She smirked and looked at the ground, then stole a glance his way. But then she recovered her serious approach to the issue at hand. “I don’t think there’s enough food on this rocky island to sustain very many people. We need to get to work on this ship and have people keep watch. See if he or anyone else approaches us. Don’t forget how scary Florence is when you haven’t seen anything like her before.”
Florence popped her biceps. “Right. Don’t ever forget.”
Alex nodded. “It’s probably just someone in the same predicament we’re in. A lucky victim of one of these shipwrecks. Or maybe not so lucky, depending on how you look at it.” He looked around to assess his team. “Whatever the case, we’re stuck here, so I imagine we’ll run into him again. So is everybody in agreement? Shall we get to work?”
“We should at least have a lookout,” Lani said, wringing out her hair, which was soaked with rain by now. “I’ll do it. I’d feel a lot better about this that way.”
“Great,” Alex said. “We can take turns.” He looked up at the sky. It was growing darker. The clouds weaved restlessly together.
Lani ran a few yards away, climbed up a tall rock formation and perched on top of it. The steady rain beat down on her. She held her knees and mopped her eyes with her sleeve.
“Florence,” Alex said, “what are we looking for?”
“Whatever we can find to patch this ship together. Planks, sheets of metal. Waterproof stuff. Cloth for sails, ropes, tools—you name it. If it looks useful, bring it to me and Copper. And let’s make it beautiful and creative, Unwanteds! That’s our specialty, after all.” She stood up, a giant against the small barren island. “If things are too big for you to carry, you know how to find me.”
“Can we go, please?” Crow asked. He and Henry jiggled impatiently, excited to explore the shipwrecks that littered the area.
“All right, go,” Alex said with a grin as they bounded away. “Stay together and be careful! There could be sea critters about.” He thought briefly about the eel they’d fought on Karkinos and wondered if it had any friends out this way, lurking and waiting for a meal, and his smile faded. “Be careful!” he shouted again.
Everyone scattered, some staying on land to explore the smashed fishing boats and wreckage, and others heading out toward the rocks in the water to see what lay below the surface.
Alex watched as Sky followed her brother into the water. He wished he could follow her. He longed to talk with her the way they had before things got complicated. Was she really over him, like Lani had said? It seemed that way. He sighed and joined Ms. Octavia. They swam carefully amidst the rocks and headed toward the weathered stern of a sunken ship that just barely stuck up above the water.
They couldn’t see much through the murk until they got close. Once they reached it, they dove down and followed the line of the ship’s side, Octavia going first. The ship rested at a forty-five-degree angle, its snout planted firmly in a bed of rocks and mud. It was hard to see much of anything, but Octavia lit several highlighter components to guide them.
Alex followed close behind Ms. Octavia, marveling at the beautiful sides of the near-perfect ship. He wondered how it came to be here. He’d never seen anything like it in the waters or on any of the other islands they’d visited.
Nestled in the rocky sea bottom nearby was an enormous technical instrument that had apparently dislodged when the boat sank. Alex knew he’d have to check that out later. It looked fascinating, and he couldn’t imagine what it was used for. It probably wouldn’t be of any use to the shipbuilders, but maybe he could convince Florence to try to bring it on shore sometime.
Ms. Octavia reached the sea floor, swam across the bow and up the other side. Alex went after her, peering through the water and peeking into the ship’s many orifices. Schools of fish flashed and disappeared in and out of the openings. Alex wondered how they all knew just when to turn. It was like they were dancing, moving to some music only they could hear.
Clumps of sharp barnacles gripped the ship and the rocks nearby. As Ms. Octavia swam upward, Alex knew he’d have to surface soon—even all of Ms. Octavia’s training had not enabled him to hold his breath forever.