The woman nodded her helmeted head. Alex could feel her hands shaking as she gripped his shoulders.
Alex breathed hard, trying to rebuild his depleted oxygen stores, though he wasn’t sure how much oxygen was left in this little box—they had to get out of there. “Let’s do this, then. Here we go. Everybody, gather your breath and stay close to me.” He pushed the button. The outer door opened slowly, letting water in. The pirates behind them pounded on the glass, but Alex knew there was no way they’d be able to break through.
“Where’s Kitten?” Henry asked, his eyes wide open in alarm now.
“I’ve got her,” Crow said. He patted his best friend’s arm as the water rose up around his chest. “Here we go.”
Soon the water had reached the top of the box, and the door slid all the way open. Everyone looked for Alex to lead them.
Alex wasted no time. He floated out and pushed off the glass door frame to give him momentum in the right direction. He began kicking, and soon he and Copper were rising slowly through the water. Crow swam with Alex, holding on to his mother’s hand. Samheed, with Lani wrapped in his arms, pushed upward on one side of Alex. Sky held Henry, who was clearly the most injured of the three. Alex urged Sky to go a little faster if she was able. Soon she took the lead.
Alex looked back through the murky water at the glass cage, which was nearly empty now. Only Simber and Florence remained. Florence was standing now, but Alex wasn’t sure if Simber had propped her up that way or if she’d gotten up on her own. After a few moments, he couldn’t see them any longer.
Soon the entire volcano island was out of sight and Alex could see a bright spot in the sky above. He couldn’t wait to get everybody safely on board the ship.
When something flashed, Alex almost smiled. Spike! he thought. He looked around for the whale, hope surging—maybe they could get a ride to the surface.
But it wasn’t Spike’s faux diamond–encrusted horn catching the light.
It was the electric spark of the slithery eel.
And it was coming their way.
Flashes of Light
Alex grabbed Crow’s arm and pointed at the eel, then up toward the surface. “Go!” he said in his garbled, watery voice. “Hurry!”
Crow’s eyes widened in fear, but he always listened to Alex. He shot up through the water, swimming as fast as his little feet could kick.
When Sam and Sky noticed Crow, they looked at Alex. Alex showed them the eel, which came in and out of sight. It began to circle them. Alex pointed up, urging his friends to go faster, which they did. Alex tried too, but his arms and legs burned. He had the heaviest load and had spent way too many minutes underwater today. It was exhausting, not to mention the fact that he hadn’t stopped to eat anything in forever. He didn’t know how much more strength he had in him.
Still, the presence of the eel was extremely motivating. Alex kicked through the pain and struggled onward. He could see the surface now. Everything was getting lighter. Alex pushed on, wanting to squeal in pain from the way Copper was gripping his arms. He kept telling himself that as long as she wasn’t panicking, he could handle the fingernails digging into his skin. He began to wish he’d grabbed a helmet for himself.
He watched from below with great relief as Crow made it to the surface. Soon the boy was pulled from the water, presumably by two squirrelicorns eager to finally do something. Sky and Henry were next. Henry’s legs disappeared first, and then Sky’s.
What a relief to know they were safe! Alex knew that Samheed and Lani would have to wait for the first pair of squirrelicorns to come back from dropping off Crow. Too bad Simber was still down in the aquarium with Florence.
Which made him wonder: Just how was Simber supposed to pull Florence up to the surface when he could barely propel himself there?
He closed his eyes briefly. One more obstacle. He kept kicking.
Copper’s grip grew even tighter on his arms, until he felt like she was cutting off his circulation. He opened his eyes to the sight of the slithering eel closing in at his feet. Copper had seen it.
Alex didn’t have time or energy to reassure her. His hope was that the eel wouldn’t want anything to do with humans—after all, it had thrown Carina out to sea after it had grabbed her off the ship. In fact, the eel seemed to be pretty strict about collecting only weird sea creatures. Well, and Florence. But here it was, surrounding them, and it didn’t look disinterested in the least. Alex kicked faster and watched Lani’s and Samheed’s legs disappear from the water. He was almost there.
The eel wouldn’t stop circling. Alex wouldn’t stop swimming. With a final burst of energy, he shot upward, pushing Copper above him until she reached the surface. He treaded water until he felt her weight being lifted from his arms, and then he broke through and gasped for air. He wiped the water from his eyes and looked for squirrelicorns, but they were all retreating, delivering Samheed, Lani, and now Copper to the ship. Alex flipped on his back, knowing he should go back under and watch the eel, but also knowing if he didn’t catch his breath for a second, he just might die anyway, without the eel having to do anything at all.
As he gasped and floated and waited for the first pair of squirrelicorns to return, his body spent and muscles trembling, he felt something wrap itself around his legs. Alex sprang to life, kicking and yelling. “Help!” he cried, hoping it would bring the squirrelicorns faster. He flailed about, just barely sliding out of the eel’s grasp again and again, shouting when he could get a breath, until finally the eel rose up out of the water and wrapped around Alex like kite string around a reel.