After an agonizing minute of silence as the squirrelicorns glided in a circle overhead, one of them nosedived toward the ground and swooped in front of Alex. “It’s in the water, but on the opposite side of the island, sir!”
“Drat!” muttered Alex. “There always has to be some problem.” He looked in the other direction, but couldn’t see over the rock shelter. “Is it clear of the storm, at least?”
“It looks to be, sir! Enjoying open water, nice and calm.”
“And not sinking?”
“It doesn’t appear to be.”
“At least there’s that.” Alex looked at the others, rapidly reassessing the situation. “Change of plans. Let’s save the spells for now and run to the other side of the island. Then cast your components and go—you’re on your own! There’s no time to waste.”
The Artiméans made a frantic dash for the other side of the island while the precious minutes of the hour of calm ticked away. Alex followed the others, hanging back with Florence, who was trying to help Captain Ahab maneuver over the rocky ground more quickly.
When they’d made it halfway to the other side and it was clear that Captain Ahab could move no faster on his wooden leg, Alex called out to the squirrelicorns. “Three of you take Captain Ahab now, will you, so he doesn’t get left behind?”
Three squirrelicorns soared down and quickly picked up the captain, allowing Alex and Florence to try to catch up to the others. While they ran, they caught glimpses of the squirrelicorns swaying through the wind as they carried the statue out over the waves, heading toward a dot on the horizon that Alex could just barely see. The other three squirrelicorns flew down to fetch Copper and carry her away.
Just as Alex and Florence reached the other side, Samheed threw down his carpet. It expanded. He sat on it and gathered Fox and Kitten on board. “To the ship,” he commanded. His carpet lifted him several feet above the waves and puttered toward the ship. Alex watched intently, hoping the wind would stay quiet enough not to upset the carpet and knock them to the sea.
Lani went next. “Come on, Crow!” she said. She threw down her carpet, and when it expanded, she sat down and patted the space in front of her. Crow hopped onto the spot and soon they were off, following Samheed. They tipped a bit, but both hung on tightly to the sides of the carpet, and it righted itself again.
Henry followed, flying solo, and soon overtook Lani and Crow.
Octavia threw her component down, climbed on, and whisked away, leaving Sky, Alex, and Florence on the island.
“So far so good,” Florence said, gathering her components. “Sky, keep your eyes on the ship and let us know if anybody fails to make it. Let’s get mine started, Alex.”
It was nearing the halfway point in the hour of calm, and there was no time to lose. Alex and Florence marked off an area on the rocks and began throwing magic carpets down at breakneck speed, overlapping them slightly for more stability, five across and six deep. Florence sat down on them, trying to spread her weight evenly over the thirty carpets. “I sure hope this works,” she muttered.
“Go!” Alex said. “Hurry!”
“To the ship!” cried Florence.
Sky and Alex held their breath.
The magic carpets strained and wiggled beneath the warrior. The ones around the edges lifted her up an inch, maybe two . . . now three . . . but the ones in the middle didn’t budge.
“Come on,” Sky pleaded.
“You can do it, Florence,” Alex said. “Lie flat on your back! That might help the ones under your—you know what.”
Florence shot Alex a look, but did what he suggested. All the carpets rose a bit with Florence lying stiffly on top, and then lifted a little higher and began to move toward the ship, just barely clearing the rocks and shipwrecks that jutted up above the waves. She was moving very slowly.
Sky gripped Alex’s arm. “If she doesn’t speed up, she’s not going to make it, is she?”
Alex shook his head. “I don’t know.” He glanced into the distance, looking at all the dots in the sky and counting them. “Everybody’s still flying,” he said. A few of the dots bounced around a bit in the air with the wind. Florence’s ride continued steadily, but very slowly.
“Alex,” Florence called out. “I don’t think this is going to work.”
“Think positive, Florence!” Alex called out in desperation. “You can do it!”
Sky looked at Alex. “Can you send a few more carpets out to go under her?” Do you have extras?”
“A few,” Alex said. “We already used some of the ones you made last night.” Alex rummaged in his vest pocket and grabbed four carpet components.
“Florence, catch!” he called out. He tossed the four components to Florence, and she caught them. Soon she had a second small layer of carpets under her center of gravity.
“I think that helped a little,” Sky said. “Maybe.”
Thunder rumbled, a little louder than before, and a gust of wind blew Sky’s hair across her face.
“Storm’s picking up. We should go,” Sky said.
Alex strained his neck, looking at the darkening skies, and worrying over Florence, whose journey was frustratingly slow. He turned to Sky. “Okay. But there’s one more thing I forgot to do before we go. I think I have just enough time. Wait here and keep an eye on Florence—I don’t want you to get hurt.”