When all seemed lost, a shout rose up on a wind gust behind them. Alex and Sky turned to see Ishibashi running full speed toward them, screaming at the top of his lungs and waving his hands wildly as if his life depended on it. For right behind him, flying low over the rocky island, was an enormous, roaring, stone cheetah.
To the Rescue
The giant cat soared over Ishibashi’s head. “Sprrread aparrrt and grrrab on to my wings!” he called out to Alex and Sky, and without hesitating, the two dashed in opposite directions. As the cat flew between them, they jumped into the air and grabbed on to the tips of his wings. Simber flipped them up and held steady while they scrambled to his back. They soared out over the water toward the ship.
Sky had the good sense to wave to Ishibashi, trying to let him know that the strange creature was a friend, not a foe, but the little man kept yelling. Eventually he gave up and just stood there, watching them go. He grew smaller as Simber flew.
“That was pretty good timing, Sim,” Alex shouted over the storm, hanging on tightly as the wind grew to near-hurricane strength. “Nothing like waiting until the last second.”
Simber growled in laughter. “This isn’t overrr yet,” he said. “Both of you need to move off my back and onto the base of my wings forrr a few minutes.”
Sky and Alex obeyed, sliding their grip a little at a time as they inched in opposite directions.
“Arrre you hanging on all rrright?” he asked Sky, who hadn’t had as much experience riding on Simber’s back as Alex had.
“B-b-barely,” Sky said, her teeth chattering as she moved up and down with the flap of Simber’s wings. “But there’s no way I’m letting go.”
“Good,” Simber replied.
They closed in on Florence, who was almost completely submerged now. It was amazing that the carpets had kept going this long—Florence was clearly trying every magic spell she could think of to help sustain them, but they were sinking fast. And the ship wasn’t far off. Alex could see everybody lined up at the railing, cheering at the sight of Simber and watching the rescue.
“Wherrre’s Spike?” asked Simber.
“We sent her to the other side of the island by mistake,” Alex shouted over the rumble of thunder. “It’s a long story.”
“So we’rrre going to have to do this without herrr, then,” Simber said. “Sky, Alex, be rrready. We’rrre heading underrr waterrr. Just flatten out on top of my wings and hang on, that’s all you have to do. Hold yourrr brrreath and don’t let go.”
“Got it!” Sky yelled.
“Me too,” called out Alex.
“Herrre we go!”
The two took giant breaths. Simber plunged under the surface of the water and plowed through it. Sky and Alex held their breath and hung on, and soon Florence’s thirty-four carpets were above them. Simber glided upward until Alex and Sky felt a bump, and they knew that Florence and her carpets were now resting on Simber’s back. The overworked carpets began to pop and disappear in the water as they traveled along.
When Simber slowed, Alex watched through the water as Florence nimbly rose to her haunches, half out of the water, balancing on Simber’s back. They sank a bit as the carpets popped and disappeared, but the cheetah flapped his wings and kicked his legs, trying desperately to keep the warrior from sinking them all completely.
A minute later, the water grew brighter and Alex could tell the sun had appeared above them. They’d made it out of the hurricane’s circle! And just when Alex’s lungs were about to give out, a large shadow came over him. He looked up through the water. The ship!
Soon a rope slapped the surface above him, and Alex needed no further urging. He pushed off of Simber’s wing and swam to the surface, grabbed on to the rope, and looked around for Sky. She was on the other side of Simber, holding a rope of her own and beginning to scale the side of the ship. Lani and Henry stood at the ship’s railing, pulling her up. Alex began climbing as well, with Samheed pulling him from above.
Florence cautiously rose to her feet and grabbed the ship’s railing, trying to lighten Simber’s load a bit. Once Alex and Sky had made it on board, everyone ran to the opposite side of the deck to help balance the weight and hung on tightly while Florence began an awkward climb, rocking the vessel crazily from side to side, but managing to keep all the passengers on board.
The crew cheered when she eased over the edge. Finally Florence centered herself on the deck, and the ship sat steady once more. Almost everyone flopped to the deck, either from being sent off balance or simply because they were exhausted and breathless. A moment later, Simber rose up out of the water and shook himself dry as the Artiméans greeted him with great enthusiasm.
Brushing off the praise, Simber simply nodded his greetings and took his usual place hovering over the back of the ship. Within minutes, everything seemed strangely back to normal again.
Well, almost.
Once Captain Ahab had steered the ship all the way around the hurricane to the other side of the island, and once Spike’s faux diamond–studded spike was flashing prettily in the sun nearby, they turned toward home.
Simber, flying off to one side, took a long hard look at the vessel’s unusual patch job, and shook his head. He turned toward Alex and the others, who were resting on the deck, soaking up the sun, and asked, “What in the worrrld have you done to Marrrcus’s ship?”
Doubts Arise
After stewing half the night over the troubling meeting with General Blair, Aaron spent the morning alone, pressing oil, deep in thought. It was unsettling. Why had the general been so dismissive of Aaron? Was General Blair only using him for the oil? Didn’t he see that Aaron was a worthy and smart leader? After all, Aaron had offered him a portion of the mansion once they took over Artimé. Why wouldn’t he let Aaron take part in the actual battle?