“So she took over power from Aaron?” Alex asked. He had to admit this was the most burning question on his mind. What had happened to his brother? His stomach had been knotted and unsettled for days—he could only guess the worst.
“Sounds like it,” Sean said. “Eva told me Gondoleery was up to something. She’s been doing some sort of elemental magic, I guess. Ice, fire, stuff like that. Eva said they used to make rain with Marcus and Justine back when they were children on Warbler. And that once Marcus gave them their memories back, Gondoleery started working on her magic again.”
“I didn’t know they had that kind of magical ability,” Lani said. “But I guess Mr. Today brought a rainy day to Artimé now and then just to change things up, didn’t he?”
“He did,” Claire said. “I’m sure I don’t know the spell for it, though.”
“Maybe there’s a book with a counterspell to the ice,” Alex muttered. “Somewhere in that mess of a library in the Museum of Large. I’ll see if I can find something on the topic of elemental spells.” He pinched the bridge of his nose to ward off the headache that threatened at the thought of digging through all of Mr. Today’s books.
Lani looked out the window longingly. “I’d just love to get in there and fix it up.”
“Maybe if you were just a little bit better at magic, you could see the secret hallway,” Alex said. He meant to tease her, but the dull way the words came out made it sound like an insult.
Simber cleared his throat. “Why don’t you paint a 3-D doorrrway to the Museum of Larrrge? That way you could let whomeverrr you want up therrre.”
Everybody turned to look at Simber. The suggestion raced through their brains as they tried to find a flaw in the plan.
“It’s just a suggestion,” the cheetah added.
It seemed like a valid one, and Alex was chagrinned that he hadn’t thought of it before. “That’s really good thinking, Sim. We’ll have to keep it quiet, though,” Alex said. “I don’t want just anybody getting up there.”
There was a shuffling of feet behind Alex, and he turned to see Charlie peering at the group.
“Charlie!” both Claire and Alex exclaimed at once.
Claire put her hand to her forehead. “I’d nearly forgotten all about you.”
“Me too—I’m sorry,” Alex said. And then it occurred to him that Charlie might have very important news. “What can you tell us?”
Charlie began signing rapidly. Lani narrowed her eyes, trying to decipher the language, but she gave up and looked to her father.
Gunnar Haluki gave Charlie his full attention, while everyone else watched the expressions on his face change. When Charlie stopped, Haluki let out a breath and shook his head.
“What is it?” Alex asked.
Haluki pursed his lips. “It sounds like it’s going to be a long story,” he said. He glanced carefully at Alex. “Charlie says Aaron was kidnapped.”
Tough Answers
Kidnapped?” exclaimed Alex.
Haluki nodded. He watched Charlie intently as the gargoyle explained further, and then Haluki interpreted once more. “Matilda saw the whole thing. A group of ten pirates burst into Aaron’s office while Aaron was trying to make her come alive magically.” Haluki paused. “She adds that she faked being a frozen statue the whole time, of course.”
“What?” Alex said.
Gunnar shrugged. He watched Charlie and continued. “The pirates had shiny weapons. Swords, cutlasses, that sort of thing. They grabbed Aaron and held a paper to his face, and agreed he was the one they were after. They picked him up and he tried to reach some magical components that Liam had given him—”
“Wait. What?” Claire asked, her face furious.
Haluki shrugged again, but Sean spoke up. “It was Meg,” he said, his voice hollow. “She created a sack of fake components to trick Aaron.”
Alex was confused by a number of things, but he couldn’t worry about them now. “What happened to Aaron?” he demanded.
Simber lifted his head and regarded Alex, but Alex was focused intently on Haluki.
“They carried him out of the palace and down to the sea. They threw him face-first into a small boat and rowed out to the pirate ship. And then they chained his boat to the ship, left him there, and climbed aboard. And then they sailed away, pulling him behind them.”
“Back to their island? What would they want with him?” Alex was stumped. “He’d be absolutely useless as a slave.”
Haluki and Charlie conversed for a moment.
“They went the other way,” Haluki said, his voice puzzled.
“You mean east?” Lani asked, exchanging a look with Alex. “Why?”
Haluki shook his head. “Matilda doesn’t know. Charlie saw them, too, from the mansion window. They passed by during the night, definitely heading east.”
The group was quiet for a moment, contemplating the news.
Charlie signed some more, and Haluki translated. “Then, in the morning, Gondoleery arrived at the palace and there was a bit of a ruckus. Matilda could hear some of the exchange from her post by the window in Aaron’s office. When Gondoleery found out that Aaron was gone, she declared herself high priest and sent Liam and some others—she’s not sure who—to the Ancients Sector.”
Ms. Morning leaned forward, eyes narrowed. “Oh,” she said. She massaged her temples and was silent, while Sean just closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the back of his chair, defeated.