by Perrin Briar
BOOM!
The sound was muffled with distance. The sharp crack bounced off the high cliff walls at their backs.
“Get down!” Jim shouted.
Before the crew could react, a cannonball fell into the sea a dozen yards short of the Mary Celeste’s prow. A column of water rose and fell across the ship’s deck. Stoneheart shot a look over his shoulder to see it was The Revenge that had sent the volley. The crew were quick to scatter, taking their positions.
It was the opportunity the family were waiting for.
If they were quick, they could escape aboard a ship’s boat and cut ahead of The Revenge and into the open sea before either the pirates or the British could catch them. Bryan was certain the British would rather get the fabulous prize of the infamous Mary Celeste than a single small ship’s boat of a harmless family.
And then something very strange happened.
“Don’t worry,” Stoneheart said. “They wouldn’t dare fire at us.”
“But they are firing on us!” Jim said. “We have to fire back!”
“Belay that order,” Stoneheart said to the crew.
“But sir!” Jim said.
“They will not strike us,” Stoneheart said. “I am quite sure of it.”
The Revenge began to turn, as if they were preparing to line themselves up to strike the smaller pirate ship with everything they had. The pirate crew ducked their heads beneath the bannister in preparation of their impending doom.
But the The Revenge continued to turn, peeling away. The pirates grinned at the British sailors as they parted ways. The pirates cheered, certain they had just avoided certain death.
“What just happened?” Zoe said.
“I have no idea,” Bryan said.
The British had arrived. They were going to be the distraction the family needed to get away. Instead, they had fired a single warning shot and turned tail. There was no logic to it. What was going on?
38
“YOU ARE TO FIRE a single shot upon the Mary Celeste but no more,” Admiral said to First Mate. “You are not to strike her. Is that understood? You are to avoid any direct confrontation with her at all.”
“But sir, what if she attacks us?” First Mate said.
“Then make sure you do not get yourself into any such position,” Admiral said. “Am I being clear?”
“Yes sir,” First Mate said. “Perfectly clear.”
“Excellent,” Admiral said. “I’m going to my quarters, and I do not want to be disturbed—under any circumstances.”
“Yes sir,” First Mate said.
Admiral descended the stairs into the bowels of the ship. A contingent of sailors stopped, saluted, and then continued on up the stairs.
Once he was alone, Admiral turned from his quarters and headed deeper into the ship. He approached the sliding door at the end of the corridor and entered the same room the family had escaped through earlier.
He wondered how they knew to escape through these passages—there was no way a local from the kingdom would know how to work the locks and open the hatch, much less know what their purpose was in the first place.
They’d said they were from the surface. Could it be possible? Admiral shook his head. No. It was much more likely they were from the cowled man’s world, sent here to spy on him, watch him. Perhaps it was some kind of test.
Suddenly the shadows seemed darker, the world less bright, an enemy concealed in every corner, sent to destroy him. Admiral’s head pounded in his skull, hard and painful. He braced himself on the wall and shut his eyes, counting over and over from one to ten.
Occasionally he missed a number or said a word unrelated to his task, but slowly, eventually, painfully, he returned to normal. He took a few deep breaths, and the episode passed. They were getting worse. He wiped the cold sweat from his face and approached the back wall of the room.
He pulled on the levers and turned the knobs in the order specified in the instructions. Water began to flood the room, wetting Admiral’s shoes. He turned the locks on the crate door and climbed inside.
He took a seat inside his contraption and felt as powerful as God, capable of taking life. And that was precisely what he intended.
39
THE PIRATE PRISON cell made the one on The Revenge look like the Ritz. Placing a hand on any surface turned the palms black and greasy. One corner smelled strongly of urine. Something crunched beneath their shoes, what Bryan strongly suspected were bones. He hoped they weren’t human.
“I’m sorry,” Bryan said. “To you all. I thought we had everything going for us. I don’t understand why the British turned tail like that. It just doesn’t make sense.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Zoe said. “There’s something else at work here, something we don’t know.”
“But what?” Bryan said. “They fired a single shot and then took off. What could we possibly not know? Pirates and Brits. They’re meant to be at war. Why wouldn’t they fight one another?”
“I don’t know,” Zoe said. “But Stoneheart does. We’re going to have to figure a way out of here if we want to survive this.”
“We’re locked in the cell of an active pirate ship full of men who want nothing more than to stab us,” Bryan said. “Or worse. Stoneheart probably has a guard watching us right now. Even if we do escape, there will be no way we can get away.”
“Then what happens when we get to the Misty Mountains?” Cassie said. “We’re going to wait for them to find the treasure? What will we do in the meantime?”
“I know what his men will want to do when the sun goes down,” Bryan said, running his hands over his face. It was the worst thing he could imagine. “Come here, Cassie.”
Cassie came to him and they hugged. A father with his little girl. Zoe hugged Aaron close too, kissing him on the forehead.
“Are you okay?” Zoe said.
“I’m fine,” Aaron said.
“We were so worried about you,” Zoe said.
“I thought you might not be able to find the treasure and I was going to be stuck with the pirates,” Aaron said.
“We were always going to come to you,” Zoe said. “Do you hear me? We would never leave you behind. We would never leave you to your fate like that.”
Aaron gave his mother a small smile.
“It might not have turned out so bad if you didn’t come back,” he said.
“What do you mean?” Zoe said.
“Do you remember Larson, the fishing boat captain Stoneheart killed?” Aaron said.
“We don’t have to talk about that now,” Zoe said.
“No, it’s not bad,” Aaron said. “The other day I was helping Jim with getting some food from the pantry and I saw him.”
“Saw who?” Zoe said.
“Larson,” Aaron said. “The old fisherman.”
Zoe frowned.
“I don’t understand,” she said.
“Neither did I at first,” Aaron said. “But I think Stoneheart didn’t really kill him, only knocked him out, using some kind of blank in his pistol.”
“Why would Stoneheart do something like that?” Zoe said.
“Because what if Stoneheart isn’t as bad as we think?” Aaron said. “What if it’s all an act? What if he only pretends to do these things to make people think he’s bad?”
“If he was good, why would he lock us up like this?” Bryan said. “He should let us go.”
“Maybe he will,” Aaron said.
“We can’t rely on a pirate to do the right thing,” Bryan said, shaking his head. “You might be right, Aaron. But we need to get out of here as soon as we can.”
“Don’t worry,” Zoe said. “We’ll figure a way out of here. You just wait and see. An opportunity will present itself and we’ll take advantage of it. All we need to do is keep our eyes and ears open. It might be small, subtle. We need to have our brains in gear.”
KA-BOOM!
It wasn’t small, and it wasn’t subtle, but it was certainl
y an opportunity.
40
“THE BRITISH!” Skinny said, picking himself up off the deck. “They’re firing on us!”
“No,” Stoneheart said. “They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t dare.”
Stoneheart was the only member of the crew who had not taken refuge and found cover.
“Look,” Jim said. “The Revenge is too far to be able to hit us with their guns.”
Jim was right. They were well out of range. Then what in blazes had hit them? Stoneheart scoured the sky, but found no sign of any projectile.
“The Gods,” Skinny said. “We’re cursed! I knew we should never have let the women come back on board! There’s only one thing worse than having a woman on board, and that’s letting two come back after we were rid of them!”
“There’s no curse,” Stoneheart said. “We must have run aground, that’s all.”
“Run aground?” Skinny said, spine strengthened by fear. “We’re in the middle of the ocean! There aren’t any rocks out here!”
“Rocks are everywhere, you fool!” Stoneheart said. “Jim, get us out of here.”
“Out of where, sir?” Jim said.
It was a valid question. There was nothing to run away from, nothing that showed any obvious sign of being dangerous. Everywhere around them was the same view. Endless ocean.
“Cap’n, we’re taking on water,” Peg Leg said.
“Where?” Stoneheart said.
“Within the hull,” a pirate said. “The blast blew a hole in our side.”
The crew ran to the side and peered over, down at the cavernous hole. The sea lapped against it, filling it inch by inch. It would be a slow death.
“The hull?” Jim said, turning white. “Aaron’s in there.”
“He’s the least of our worries right now,” Smithy said. “We have to evacuate.”
“We’re not going anywhere!” Stoneheart said. “Nothing claims the Celeste, least of all something we can’t see.”
“But sir…” Smithy said.
Stoneheart brought his arm around so fast Smithy didn’t even see it coming. The blow lifted Smithy off his feet.
“Grow back your spine, you lily-livered scrote!” Stoneheart said. “Get the men to their battle stations. Whether it’s beast or boat, we will stay and fight!”
41
AARON GASPED and spewed out a mouthful of salty water. He gasped, breathing in, before sinking beneath the surface. He splashed with his arms, righting himself.
Something struck his head. He pushed it aside. His calf hurt, stinging. He repositioned his feet and found he could barely touch the floor, only with the very tips of his toes.
He had blacked out the moment the explosion occurred. There was a lot of sensory input to process. The shattering cry rent the ship’s hull open, exposing the afternoon sunlight. The Mary Celeste groaned at her mortal wound.
Aaron turned to find Cassie floundering, peering through soggy strands of her hair that covered her face. She locked eyes on Aaron and began to swim over to him.
Zoe hung over the edge of the hole that had been blasted in the ship. She lay on her front, her torso over the side. Aaron swam toward her, grabbed her, and pulled her back. Fear made his heart race. She was like a doll in his arms, her body floppy as if devoid of life.
Aaron pulled her back, her head smacking the water. The movement must have dislodged something, because it wasn’t a second later that Zoe was coughing up her own mouthful of salty water. The water had turned a faint pink from the cut she had on her forehead.
“Mum?” Aaron said. “Mum? Are you all right?”
“Give her some space,” Cassie said.
Aaron moved aside, holding his mother in his arms, helping ensure she stayed afloat.
“Help!” a voice said, cut short by burbling water.
Cassie turned to find Bryan to the side, water up to his chin. More was spilling in, the ocean squeezing itself into the tiny prison. Bryan tilted his head up toward the ceiling to make the most of the air he had.
“Swim!” Cassie said.
“I can’t!” Bryan said. “Leg. Trapped.”
It was all he could manage before the water level grasped for his mouth. Bryan gulped a mouthful of oxygen and sank beneath the surface.
Zoe, still struggling for air, was on her feet now. She pointed to Bryan and pushed Aaron away. It was a gentle push, all she was capable of.
“Will you be all right?” Aaron said.
Zoe nodded, though her face was deathly pale. Aaron swam to join Cassie, who came up from having been under water. She wiped at her eyes to clear her vision.
“There’s something on his leg, pinning him down,” Cassie said. “I need help lifting it.”
Aaron peered around, looking for something he might be able to give to Bryan to breathe through, like a pipe or reed, but there was nothing. They needed to hurry. Bryan wouldn’t last longer than a couple of minutes beneath the surface.
“Let’s do it,” Aaron said.
He and Cassie took a deep breath and went under. The water was murky. Aaron felt Cassie’s hand take him by the wrist and guide him to something angular with square corners. It also had grating, and he realized it was one of the prison doors.
Aaron planted his feet and crouched down, gripping the door with his hands. With no countdown, he added his own efforts to Cassie’s. He pulled, dragging at the doors, and together they managed to ease the door up one inch… Two inches…
They were making progress, but now Aaron was running out of oxygen too. He doubted Bryan could last the time it would take for him to refill his lungs. He gritted his teeth and a trio of bubbles belched from his lips.
He set his feet again and lifted with every muscle fiber he had. He felt a disturbance in the water beside him. If he hadn’t known better, he would have said the prison door had become lighter. It raised by six inches.
Something struck him on the shoulder. He ignored it. Then someone gripped his shirt and pulled. He realized it was someone telling him to come back up to the surface.
Aaron let go and pushed with his legs, bursting through the surface. He gulped mouthfuls of sweet, delicious oxygen. He began to fall back, knowing he would rebound and sink beneath the surface. He flailed with his arms to stay upright. He needed more oxygen. He bobbed to and fro until he was centered, treading water.
“Are you okay?” Jim said.
“Yes,” Aaron said, panting for air. “I’m fine. How’s Bryan?”
“He’ll be all right,” Jim said. “Thanks to you and Cassie.”
Cassie had her arms wrapped around Bryan. He had his eyes closed, his own arms cradling his daughter’s elbows. He was alive and would survive. But they didn’t have time to dawdle.
The ship groaned as she began to tilt to one side, taking on water and flooding. She was going to sink.
“Over here!” Zoe said, waving to the fissure in the ship’s hull.
She was pointing to something below them. The ship’s boats had been knocked loose by the explosion and floated away from the sinking Celeste. The family would need to hurry or else the pirate crew would take all the ship’s boats and there would be nothing but floating ship debris for them to cling to. The nearest landmass was an intimidating distance away on the horizon.
“Wait,” Aaron said. “What’s that?”
It was an object immediately below the surface, the curve of the water revealing something like a sphere. And as fast as it had appeared, it disappeared, sinking to the depths.
Jim had turned pale.
“Let’s get out of here!” Cassie said.
Aaron wasn’t sure he wanted to jump into the sea right then, not with whatever it was he’s just seen beneath the surface. Cassie didn’t share his reservations and threw herself over the side, taking Bryan with her. Zoe jumped next.
“You go,” Aaron said to Jim.
“I can’t go,” Jim said. “I have to take care of the captain.”
“But who’ll take care of you?”
Aaron said. “Come with us. You deserve somewhere better than this.”
Jim looked torn, looking from the fleeing family to the stairs that led back up to the deck. To the captain.
“I can’t,” Jim said. “I’m sorry.”
He offered his hand.
“Thank you,” he said. “For being my friend.”
Aaron considered the proffered hand. Then he took it. They shook.
“Without you, we would all be dead,” he said.
Jim smiled back. It was the first time Aaron had really seen him smile. It showed the carefree child Jim always had the potential of being, but never got to explore. Aaron made up his mind. He put his other hand over Jim’s.
“It’s about time I returned the favor,” he said.
“What?” Jim said.
Aaron pulled on Jim’s arm, bringing him to the very edge. He flailed his arms to maintain balance, but was already tilting over the side. He spun in the air, glaring at Aaron as he fell.
Aaron jumped and kicked his way up to the surface. He swam alongside Jim, toward the ship’s boat the others had climbed into.
Bryan reached over the side and grabbed Aaron by the collar, pulling him into the ship. Under any other circumstances, Aaron would have protested he could do it himself, but after what he’d seen in the water, he couldn’t have gotten out of the sea fast enough.
“Why did you do that?” Jim said to Aaron.
“Because sometimes we need someone to give us that little push,” Aaron said.
Jim looked up at the sinking Mary Celeste, at the figures on her deck, the only family he had ever known.
Bryan seized the oars and began to row, ensuring he didn’t put too much pressure on his injured leg. Zoe did likewise, and though their strokes were mistimed and not as efficient as they could have been, they pulled away from the sinking ship.
“What was that thing under the surface?” Cassie said.
“Some kind of monster,” Aaron said.
“It’s not a monster,” Bryan said. “It’s some kind of submersible.”