He offered a small smile. “We’re going in. Sky, I want you to lead Operation Copper. You’re the only one besides me who has been through the hatch, you know the workings of those doors the best, and you’ll be the best one to convince your mother to leave the island at that depth. Can you do it?”
Sky’s eyes crinkled with worry. “What about you?”
Alex looked down. “I need to right a wrong,” he said. “Artimé’s statues and creatures are sacred—as sacred as its people. I may have lost Florence because of my stupid mistake. I can’t lose another one.” He glanced at Simber, who stared hard at the water.
Sky gulped. “Okay,” she said. “Okay.” She sucked in a few deep breaths. “So what do you want me to do?”
Alex looked her in the eye. “I want you to take Samheed, Crow, and Kitten down to the volcano. We don’t know how deep it is. It’s going to be very difficult if it’s far. Just take your time. You may need to go in and fight—you have your component vest.”
“But I’m terrible with spells!”
“No, you’re not. Well . . . okay, you are kind of terrible with them, but never mind that. Just stick with the ones you know, and use the strengths you do have, like your clever brain.” Alex pulled extra spells out of his pockets and gave them to her, just in case. “Ms. Octavia, Samheed, Lani, and Henry are all excellent spell casters. Just do what you can and rescue your mother, and be wily and quick about it. That’s your top priority.”
Sky’s chin quivered. She pressed her lips together. “Okay. I can do this.”
“Yes, you can.”
“Just . . . rescue my mother.” Sky swallowed hard.
“Exactly. You were going to do it all by yourself once before, remember?” Alex teased.
Sky narrowed her eyes. “You be quiet about that.”
The squirrelicorns arrived and soared around Simber’s head, making sure they avoided his flapping stone wings, which could send any of them sailing into next week.
“Team,” Alex said, addressing the squirrelicorns, “I need you to circle this area. If anyone pops up from the water, pull him out and fly him over to the ship. Simple enough?”
“Sir, yes sir!” The squirrelicorns were always somewhat militaristic. It made Alex wonder what words Mr. Today had used when creating them. He watched as they organized themselves and began circling the area.
The ship appeared out of the darkness, bringing a hint of pink at the edge of the sky and an early morning fog to go along with it. Alex frowned. The fog would only make it harder for the squirrelicorns to see. Not something they needed right now. He hoped it would burn off quickly.
“Okay, crew, we’ve had some new developments.” Alex quickly filled in the others on what had taken place with Copper and with Spike. He assigned the teams and explained the two missions.
“We don’t have much time. Sky, take your team down. Hopefully, you’ll find Ms. Octavia and you can get our Artiméans out of there. It worries me . . . ,” he said, thinking of Octavia, but he didn’t finish. Everyone else was worried too.
“Sean, Carina—I need you to come with me. We’re going to release the creatures. And, Ahab, take the ship back a safe distance so you don’t capsize when this volcano resurfaces. Got it?” He looked all around. “Is everybody ready?”
A cheer rang out, followed by a small voice from the ship.
“What about me?”
It was Fox. He stood on a box at the bow.
Alex’s lips parted. “Aw, I’m sorry, Fox. I don’t have a job for you. You float.”
Fox blinked his big eyes. He looked down at the water.
Desperate, Alex flashed a pleading glance at Sky. He didn’t have the time or patience for hurt feelings right now—his whale was running out of air.
“What Alex meant to say,” Sky said gently, “is that he needs you on board the ship to take care of the rescued ones.” She leaned toward the fox conspiratorially and put her hand by her mouth to shield her words from the captain’s ears. “After all, we can’t have the crazy one helping my mother—he’ll scare her to death! Which is why you have the most important job.”
Simber grumbled. “That’s pushing it a bit farrr.”
“I’ll say,” muttered Alex.
Fox perked up. “Then I will be the best welcomer ever.”
“Think I’m going to throw up now,” Carina said cheerily. “Can we get on with this?”
“Not a moment too soon,” Alex said. “Okay. Be safe and be wise, everyone.” He poised to dive and added, “And watch out for that blasted eel.”
The Big Cat’s Worst Nightmare
Into the water they went. Alex dove straight down, with Sean and Carina behind and Simber circling above. The three looked around, trying to find the underwater island. Alex figured they didn’t have more than fifteen minutes to find and release the creatures before the whale would run out of air. They had to get it right.
Deeper and deeper they swam, knowing they could only go so far before too much time had passed and they’d have to head back up again. But Alex knew that Sean and Carina could hold their breath as long as he could—Carina even a little longer.
After a long minute, with pressure building up around Alex’s ears the deeper they went, he felt something tugging on his sleeve. It was Sean, who pointed to an area a little farther down and to one side. The top of the volcano! Alex gave Sean a thumbs-up and followed him and Carina, who had gone on ahead. The three of them swam down the side of the volcano to where the glass cage was. They rounded the edge of the rock and found themselves eye to milky eye with the giant squid—only his eye was bigger than their entire heads. And luckily, he was behind glass. Or maybe not so luckily. The good news was that the squid’s tentacle was no longer trapped in the door. Did that mean the eel had been back?