Matt nodded. It was still a risk. He looked around the room and suddenly realized that the light bulbs that had been strung along the ceiling were all glowing. “Hey, you did it! You got the electricity to work!”
Jia beamed. “All we needed was a fuse!”
Matt slapped his forehead. “A fuse! I should have known that. Well, it was fun getting electrocuted anyway.”
Jia laughed a little too loud and then covered her mouth. Her smile faded and she grew serious again. “I’m sorry for what the captain did to you all,” she said. “You didn’t deserve to be discarded.”
“Clearly our dad made the captain very angry,” said Matt.
Jia nodded. “Whatever he stole must have been extremely important or valuable or both.”
“We heard the captain say he’s planning to travel back to New York to try to get it back,” said Ruby. “Do you know the date?”
Jia shook her head. “He hasn’t said, but I imagine it will be close to the time he picked you up, to make sure your father has whatever it is he wants.”
Matt breathed out a little. “So all we have to do is wait for the captain to travel back to New York, and then we escape.”
“That’s a lot simpler than we thought it would be,” said Corey.
“Yeah,” said Matt. Almost too simple, he thought, but he didn’t say it out loud.
Matt wondered how long it would be before the captain decided to travel back to New York. A day or two? Could they remain hidden and undetected on the ship for that long?
A sudden scratching noise made them all jump. Matt swept his gaze around the room and caught a flash of white between the slats of a crate.
“Santiago!” he shouted, and the white rat burst from his hiding place and shot across the floor, heading to escape beneath the door.
21
Thieves in the Night
“Catch him!” shouted Matt. “Don’t let him get out!” Matt dove for Santiago. He didn’t catch him, but he effectively diverted him from escaping beneath the crack of the door. Santiago ran toward Ruby, who jumped up on one of the crates.
“Ew! Get him out!” screeched Ruby.
“No! We have to catch him!”
“He’s just a rat,” said Corey. “Do we really need to worry about him?”
“You know he’s not a normal rat,” said Matt, trying to keep his eyes on Santiago as he skittered along the wall. “He’ll let the captain know that we’re here!”
Matt chased after Santiago, tripping over wires and boxes and backpacks as Santiago crawled between them. Ruby, Corey, and Jia all surrounded him, backing Santiago into a corner, when suddenly he leaped onto a wall and began to skitter up toward the rafters, where there were plenty of holes for him to escape.
“No!” Matt climbed onto a pile of crates and leaped toward the ceiling. He caught Santiago and dragged him down the wall, but as Matt fell to the ground the rat twisted free of his grasp. He scurried along the wall and slipped beneath the door.
Matt jumped to his feet and ran after him.
“Matt!” cried Ruby. “Stop! You’ll be seen!”
“We can’t let him get to the captain!” He threw open the door and raced down the dark hallway. Santiago was just ahead of him, squealing as he scurried up the stairs and ran toward the captain’s cabin, as though he were trying to sound a warning. He was only ten feet from the door. Desperate, Matt dove just as Santiago stuck his nose beneath the crack and caught him by the tail.
Santiago screeched as Matt dragged him away from the door and lifted him off the ground.
“Nice one, bro,” said Corey. He, Ruby, and Jia came to stop before Matt and the writhing Santiago, all of them gasping for breath.
Matt looked around. It was quite dark, but he could see the shape of things and spotted the chest Ruby had gotten herself stuck in during a transformation. He lifted the lid, dropped the squealing rodent inside, and shut it, securing the latch. He sat down on top of his prison and took a deep breath.
They all stood in silence as Santiago squeaked and scratched madly inside the chest. Matt suddenly realized how exposed they all were. Someone could find them at any moment. It was a miracle the captain didn’t wake up with all the commotion.
“What do we do now?” Ruby whispered.
“The captain will notice Santiago’s missing before too long,” said Jia.
Matt rubbed his fingers over his temples. They were out of time and options. “We have to go tonight,” he said. “Right now. We’ll have to get the compass and get home ourselves.”
“But . . . how will we get it?” said Ruby.
Matt turned to Jia. “Can you help us get into the captain’s cabin?”
Jia’s eyes widened in alarm. She shook her head. “There’s no way I can do that. I can’t even get in.”
“But you go into the captain’s cabin all the time,” said Matt.
“When he’s awake, and when I have his permission. Otherwise his cabin is always locked. I don’t have the keys.”
Matt rubbed at his bracelet. “We’ll have to pick the lock. You have plenty of tools that could work, don’t you? In your pockets?”
Jia pressed her lips together. Matt could see the tension rise in her neck and shoulders. He knew he was asking a lot, maybe too much. It was one thing to hide them in her room, but now he was asking Jia to actively betray the person who had fed and clothed her since she was seven—the closest thing she had to a parent—when she had nothing and no one to care for her. If they were caught, Jia would most certainly be discarded right along with them. He was asking her to risk her own life.
But they needed her. He didn’t think they could get inside the captain’s cabin on their own. “Please, Jia,” Matt pleaded. “We won’t be able to get home without your help.”
Jia finally nodded. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Thank you,” said Matt.
Jia rummaged through her pockets and pulled out a screwdriver, a wrench, pliers, a little hammer, and some nails. Matt had no experience in picking locks; he’d only ever seen it done in movies, but it seemed like something he could manage if he had the right tools. Matt took a thin file and a nail and approached the captain’s cabin slowly. He fiddled around with the lock for a minute, but nothing happened. Santiago hissed and screeched as he ran all around the chest. It made Matt feel uneasy, but he tried to ignore it.
“Let me try.” Corey pushed Matt aside and tried to work the lock himself.
“You’re being too loud,” said Ruby.
“I am not,” said Corey. “Back off.”
A light suddenly flashed behind them. Matt put his hand up to block the glare. It was Albert, shining a flashlight. He swept it over each face and finally rested on Jia. She winced and turned away from the light.
“I knew it,” said Albert. “I knew you’d try to help them, you traitor.”
“Albert,” Jia whispered. “Please! They just want to go home. You want that too, don’t you? You’ve never wanted them on the Vermillion.”
“It’s not what I want that matters,” said Albert. “It’s what the captain wants, and I think he’d want to know when someone’s trying to break into his cabin.” Albert took a step and then suddenly went sprawling to the floor, dropping the flashlight. Matt picked up the flashlight and shined it around the dining hall until he saw Pike standing at Albert’s feet. She’d tied up his ankles with her rope!
“You little weasel!” Albert hissed. “The captain will discard you all for this! Cap—!” He started to shout, but Corey pounced on Albert and pressed a hand over his mouth.
“We need to gag him,” said Corey.
“Jia, do you have any tape?” Matt asked.
Jia rummaged in her pockets and brought out a roll of black electrical tape.
“Ruby, help me grab his arms.” Matt and Ruby rushed over and pinned down Albert’s arms while Jia wrapped the tape around his mouth. He struggled mightily and tried to shout for help, but Jia got the tape around enough to cut off
most of the sound.
“Tape up his hands,” said Jia, handing the tape to Matt.
Matt used almost the entire roll taping Albert’s wrists together. “Sorry about this, Al,” said Matt. “Or should I call you Bert? Bertie Beans?”
Albert glared at Matt, struggling to free himself.
Matt stood up. “That’s two rats down. Now we just need to . . .” Matt trailed off as he turned back to the captain’s door, only to see Pike on tiptoe working some of her pins into the lock. Within seconds there was a click. Pike turned the knob of the door and it opened with a soft creak.
Matt gaped at the little towheaded girl. Pike simply stared right back at him, though he detected the barest hint of a smile. He suddenly had a pretty good idea of what the captain had been training her for.
Pike very calmly put the pins back onto her pillowcase dress and without so much as a backward glance scampered away and disappeared.
Jia handed Matt the flashlight and nodded. “Good luck,” she mouthed.
Matt glanced at Corey and Ruby. Each of them looked a little bewildered, like they weren’t really expecting to get this far. Matt wasn’t either, if he was being honest.
“We can do this,” Matt whispered, trying to convince himself as much as anyone.
Ruby nodded. “We stick together. No matter what.”
“You guys are such nerds,” whispered Corey, but he stuck his fist out. Matt and Ruby did the same.
“Put your other fists in,” said Matt.
“Why?” said Ruby.
“One for Mom and one for Dad. We need them too.”
Ruby put in her other fist and then Corey followed. For just a moment, it felt like they were all together, not just the children but their parents too.
With as silent steps as they could manage, the three Hudsons entered the captain’s cabin.
It was very dark, only a faint glow from the window on the other side of the captain’s bed. It was either a moonless night or cloudy. Matt held the flashlight against his body, blocking the light. He tiptoed slowly to the captain’s curtained bed, pausing as the floor creaked. He could hear the captain breathing deeply and loudly, practically snoring. It must have been the only reason he didn’t wake at all the commotion outside his door.
Matt found the seam in the bed curtains and parted them slowly. He moved the flashlight carefully over the captain’s body, careful not to flash it in his eyes. The captain slept on his back, one arm beneath his head and the other on top of his chest. His left. The one where he kept the compass. Matt flashed the light over his wrist and saw just a glimmer of the gold chain protruding from his cuff. He put the flashlight beneath his arm and reached for the chain, pulling it as gently and slowly as he could until there was a pull on the other end and he knew he’d reached the end of it. Now he needed to pull out the compass itself. He pulled a little harder, but it didn’t come. He increased the tension until he felt the compass pull along and then appear at the edge of the captain’s cuff. He reached for it and slowly, slowly pulled the compass out. He could see the dials, the numbers and notches. All he had to do was turn them the right way and they could go home. He gave a final tug and the compass slid out of the captain’s sleeve.
He was almost paralyzed with fear. He had forgotten what to do now. Turn the dials, he told himself. Get home. He took hold of it. He looked up at Captain Vincent, and his breath caught in his throat. The captain’s black eyes shone in the darkness. He stared right at Matt, glanced at the compass in his hand, then back at Matt. The flashlight fell from Matt’s arm, dropped to the floor, and rolled along the rough planks.
“I . . . ,” Matt stammered. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say. It didn’t matter.
The captain grabbed Matt’s wrist and twisted. Matt cried out in pain, dropping the compass. The captain tossed aside the bed curtains. Ruby squeaked in fright. Corey had a chair raised above his head and charged the captain, but the captain caught the chair easily and twisted it free, smashing it against the wall. Matt was able to yank himself free of the captain’s grasp. He went for the compass again, but the captain gave him a swift punch in the stomach, completely knocking the wind out of him and blurring his vision. Corey made an attempt as well, but before he could even touch it, a white blur suddenly leaped at him. Santiago hissed at Corey and sank his teeth into his hand. Corey screamed and fell back.
“Go, Ruby! Get out!” Matt shouted.
Ruby scrambled to the door, but Santiago was faster. He scurried ahead of her and slammed the door shut, then turned around and hissed at Ruby. She stopped short, lifting her hands in surrender. She slowly backed away until she bumped into Matt. She sank down next to him, and Matt put his arm around her shoulder.
“Well done, Santiago,” said the captain. Santiago scurried up the captain’s leg and arm and rested on his shoulder, glaring at Matt, Corey, and Ruby now all huddled on the floor. The captain drew his sword and pointed it at them.
“Please,” said Matt, breathing hard. “We just want to go home.”
“And how were you going to manage that on your own?” said the captain. “Did you think you could use the compass?”
A slim shadow moved behind the captain. Matt’s heart leaped in his chest. Jia. She was here! She must have snuck inside the door before Santiago shut it. She lifted her finger to her lips and pointed to the compass, still dangling from the captain’s left wrist. It took all of Matt’s concentration not to look at it or Jia, or show his relief and hope. He looked to the captain. He would have to keep him distracted and talking and Santiago fixated on them.
Jia, crawling on her hands and knees, had reached the compass. She looked to Matt with a question in her eyes, and he realized with a sickening dread that she didn’t know how to use it. She didn’t even know where or when to take them.
Matt’s mind raced. He would have to find a way to communicate to her how to turn the dials without the captain knowing what he was doing.
“I do know how to use the compass,” said Matt. “I’ve had it figured out for weeks. For instance, I know that if you turn the very center dial to the left to thirty-nine degrees north and to the right to seventy-two degrees west, it will take us roughly to the place where you picked us up.”
Matt tried to keep his eyes on the captain, only looking at Jia out of the corner of his eyes. Her hands were on the compass now. She was turning the center dial.
“Bravo,” said the captain. “But that doesn’t help you get to the right time, you know. See, that’s the tricky part, and perhaps the most important.”
“That was difficult,” said Matt. “But I’ve got that figured out too. The second dial is for the century and year. Right for the century, we’d go to twenty-one, and left for the year, nineteen.”
The captain raised his eyebrows, clearly impressed. Matt continued on. He needed to keep the captain’s focus on him. He needed Jia to hurry. “Finally, the outer dial will determine the month, day, and time,” he said. “That was the hardest part to figure out. Corey actually figured out that one. You go to the left for the months. We’d want four for April, to the right for day, we want twenty-five, and finally we’d want to arrive right when we boarded the Vermillion, so we’d go one more round to the left for eight a.m.”
Jia was slowly turning the dial. Hurry, Matt silently pleaded.
“Very goo—” the captain began, but was cut off by a hiss from Santiago. Captain Vincent glanced down and saw Jia with her hands on the Obsidian Compass. Jia looked up, her face horror-struck. She dropped the compass just as the captain shot out a fist and struck Jia hard in the side of the head. She made a sickening thud as she fell to the ground. She didn’t move.
“Jia!” Matt wanted to rush to her, but the captain began to pull the compass up by the chain. He could not let him change the dials. Matt made a mad dive for the captain and tore at his hands, reaching for the compass. The captain grabbed Matt’s hair and pulled so hard he feared his scalp would rip clean off, but he did not let go o
f his grip on the chain of the compass. He felt the floors begin to shift beneath him. The Vermillion was transforming.
What little light was in the cabin suddenly evaporated and the ship gave a violent lurch, throwing Matt and the captain to the floor. The walls pressed in on them. Matt felt metal rise from the floors, and the floors melded into grooved black rubber. There was a sudden roar, a flash of light, and then he was shoved against a pane of glass. They were bouncing over grass, swerving around large trees.
At first Matt had thought they had made a mistake. Jia hadn’t turned the dials correctly. They weren’t in New York. They were in a forest, probably in the middle of nowhere, but then they broke through to a paved clearing, and Matt’s heart skipped a beat as he saw something he recognized. The Alice in Wonderland statue! They were in Central Park, not far from the museum! They had made it!
The bus swerved around the statue and then burst onto Fifth Avenue. A car honked and swerved around them. They were traveling down the wrong side of the road and no one was driving the bus.
“Wiley, the wheel!” the captain shouted.
Wiley was staggering bleary-eyed down the aisle of the bus in a nightshirt. He plopped down in the driver’s seat and cranked the wheel violently to the right. The bus swerved and nearly crashed into a taxi. Wiley cranked the wheel in the other direction, nearly tipping the bus on its side and sending everyone crashing to the right side of the bus. The force of it allowed Matt to yank free of the captain’s hold.
“Ruby! The phone!” Matt shouted.
Ruby dug into her backpack. She pulled out their cell phone and turned it on. “Come on, come on!” The phone finally beeped to life, and Ruby pushed the button to dial their parents.
Wiley stepped on the gas and jerked the wheel to the left, the right, then left again, weaving in and out of cars as they honked and swerved and slammed on their breaks. Everyone was tossed about like bugs in a jar being shaken by a toddler.
“Wiley!” shouted the captain.
Time Castaways #1 Page 26