everyone could see.
“We’ve hit a bit of a snag, as you can tell,” Alex began.
“Our ship is sailing on its own. To our extreme surprise and by
no fault of our brave captain, we sailed right past Warbler and
now appear to be heading for, well, that lovely-looking place.”
He took a deep breath, thinking fleetingly that this story would someday, hopefully, be hilarious. But it wasn’t today. “We aren’t sure what will happen once we reach the island, but we’ll
keep you posted.”
Alex cringed when he saw a wing waving in the air. It was
the ostrich from the library. “Yes?”
“You’re saying the boat is in control, and we might never
get back to Artimé?”
Alex blinked as murmurs began chasing through the group.
“No,” he said quickly. “I’m not saying that. We will of course
get back to Artimé, even if it means Simber carrying us back in
groups. Don’t worry about that.”
Several of the statues began to fight over who would be first
to go back to Artimé.
“Guys! Hey!” Alex said.
Simber let out a roar, which stopped all the statues mid-sentence. “Excuse me a moment, Alex,” Simber said, and then he flew
over to the group of complainers and growled. “Statues, let me
rrremind you that you rrreprrresent me. And I am not pleased.” The statues remained quiet. Some of them nodded sheepishly. Simber returned to his spot near Alex. “Sorrry. Please
continue.”
Alex nodded. “Thank you.” He addressed the statues.
“Look. I know this is a new situation for many of you, and it’s
frightening, but I feel like it’s better for me to tell you what’s
going on and admit that we’re not sure, rather than try and
pretend everything is okay. That’s just how we do things,” he
said, shrugging and smiling a bit, trying to take the fear away
while his insides clenched nervously.
Florence gave Alex an encouraging nod.
“So, basically, we don’t have a choice. We’re in for the
ride. And with any luck, we’ll be on track again by morning, heading back to Warbler to do the task we set out to do.”
He put his hands on the railing and spied Sky nearby watching him. “I just want you to know,” he said, “that we’re going
to do everything we can to save Samheed and Lani. It’s still
our most pressing goal. But all of you are equally important
to Artimé”—he looked at Crow and Sky—“and we all need
to work together to have the best chance of all of us making it
home safely.” He paused, and then he said, “Are you with me?” The response was subdued, more due to the vastness of the
sea surrounding them than to lack of enthusiasm. The humans
tapped their fists to their chests in support as they said, “I’m with you!” And the statues, eyeing Simber, were more enthusiastic than they’d ever been.
Later, when everyone had eaten and settled down to get some rest, and the captain had a new peg leg thanks to Ms. Octavia, Alex and his friends spread out on their backs at the bow of the ship, where the only sound was the water lapping against the hull and the soft whispers of the vessel. The vast layers of stars above reminded him of the first time he and Sky sat on top of the gray shack, after the lights of Artimé had been doused and nothing else remained. He had cried for Mr. Today, for Simber, for Lani and Samheed, and Sky had been there to comfort him. He glanced at her and saw the stars reflected in her eyes. That night seemed so long ago, but here they were, running up against yet another dead end, and Lani and Samheed were still captured.
Almost as if he and Lani were thinking in time with one another, a small ball of fire raced overhead and came to an abrupt stop in front of Alex’s face. It exploded as usual, leaving the fiery outline of a drawing of Lani, with Alex’s name in the corner. Alex could barely stand to look at it—it only made him more anxious and upset that they were stranded on this ship.
Carina sat up and looked at the tiny streak of light left behind, going all the way to Warbler and glowing more brightly than usual in the dark night. “What was that?”
Alex sighed, and when he didn’t answer, Meghan explained. Carina reached over and squeezed Alex’s shoulder. “Poor guy,” she said. “You must feel so helpless.”
“Yeah,” Alex said.
“At least it’s comforting to know Lani is alive and well enough to send spells, though,” Carina said, her voice full of hope.
Alex closed his eyes, the sudden pain in his chest making the rest of his body numb. He couldn’t bear to look at Sky, or anyone else. “Yes,” he managed finally. “At least there’s that.”
Carina squeezed once more and then lay back again with a rueful smile. “We’ll find them,” she said.
Alex couldn’t respond. His mind was whirling with confusion, and his stupid feelings kept messing everything up. Oh, what he would give for this moment to be in Quill again, where feelings weren’t allowed.
Finally he got up and stood in awe as Pirate Island loomed large and tall before them. It hadn’t spewed any fire since sunset, and by the light of the night sky, Alex could see a few patches of bushes and scraggly trees growing sideways from the rocky volcano’s shaft, with large blankets of seaweed draped over craggy points.