His face pale, Smee stood looking at the cave opening. Shining Pearl put her hand on his arm; he jumped.
“You can stay here, Mr. Smee,” she said. “You’ll be safe in the cave.” She turned to the rest of the pirates. “You can all stay, if you want. I’ll lead Mister Grin down the mountain. This was my idea, and I know it probably won’t work.” She paused a moment to steady her quavering voice. “But I have to do something to save my family, and this is the only thing I can think of.”
A few seconds passed uncomfortably. Then Hurky said, “I’ll go with you, little one.”
“Me too,” said the pirate known as Boggs. “I ain’t staying in a cave while a girl does my fighting for me.”
That was all it took for the other pirates to declare—quietly—their intention to go with Shining Pearl. That left only Smee, who looked at the men, then at Shining Pearl, then said, more to himself than anyone else, “I’m acting captain. I’ll lead my men.”
Shining Pearl nodded, too moved to speak. She went to the cave entrance again and looked out. Mister Grin had not moved. She beckoned to the pirates; one by one, they crept from the cave and—casting wary glances toward the sleeping beast—began to make their way down the mountainside. When they had what Shining Pearl judged to be an adequate head start, she turned, looking up to where Mister Grin’s massive form lay, still motionless. She took a deep breath and emitted an ear-piercing whoop.
Instantly, the enormous head rose. With alarming quickness, the croc slithered over to the cave on thick, powerful legs. He poked his snout inside, and a moment later withdrew it with a roar of rage. The giant head swiveled left and right, seeking the scent of its prey. Then, with another roar, the beast began lumbering down the mountainside right toward Shining Pearl and the pirates, who were already running toward the Mollusk Village as fast as their legs would carry them.
As the trees crashed and snapped behind her, Shining Pearl could only hope they were fast enough.
CHAPTER 67
BAD NEWS
HOOK AND LEONARD STOOD on the quarterdeck, eyeing the sails and discussing strategy. They were getting along surprisingly well for two men who, had they met under any other circumstances, would likely be trying to kill each other. Leonard was in command—there was no doubt of that. But Hook was proving to be such a master of the flying ship that Leonard could not help but feel, if not admiration, a certain respect.
Hook, for his part, felt a grudging respect for Aster, but that had not prevented him from thinking of how he might get rid of him and have the ship to himself. Hook’s dark eyes glittered as he pondered the possibilities.
With a ship like this, a man could pirate as no man has ever pirated before. A man could . . .
“…tuck in behind that cloud bank there,” Leonard was saying.
“What’s that?” said Hook, coming out of his daydream.
“I said we can tuck in behind that cloud bank over there,” said Leonard, pointing to a low line of clouds to the right of Mollusk Island. “That way we can approach the island without being seen by the Scorpions.”
Hook studied the cloud bank, then nodded in agreement. He shouted some orders to the crew—actually, to George, who translated the nautical terms for the other boys—then turned the wheel to set the new course. This drew the attention of Peter, who flew up to the quarterdeck, alighting next to Leonard. Hook glared at him, but Peter ignored the pirate; the two had not spoken to each other once on the ship.
“What are we doing?” Peter asked Leonard. “Why have we turned away from the island?”
“We don’t want them to see us,” said Leonard. “At least not before we know what we’re going to do.”
“What do you mean?” said Peter. “We’re going to rescue the Mollusks, aren’t we?”
Hook snorted, which irritated Peter greatly. Leonard put his hand on Peter’s shoulder.
“Yes, we’re going to rescue them,” he said. “But if we simply fly in there, they’ll see us coming. We want to see them first—where they are, what defenses they have. Then we can make a decision as to how to proceed.”
“But we will attack them,” said Peter.
“Yes, of course,” said Leonard. He hesitated, then added, “But we might want to send Ammm to get reinforcements first.”
“You mean reinforcements on ships?” said Peter.
“Possibly,” said Leonard.
“But that could take days!” said Peter. “Or weeks!”
“Yes,” said Leonard. “But if we charge in there vastly outnumbered, we could all be killed, flying ship or no. And what good would that do the Mollusks?”
Peter thought about that, then said, “So what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to send in our secret weapon,” said Leonard, pointing to Tink, who’d been listening from her perch in Peter’s hair. “She’ll have a look and let us know what she sees.”
A wise plan, chimed Tink.
“I’m going with her,” said Peter.
“No,” said Leonard, his voice suddenly stern. “They’re likely to see you, and then we’ve given ourselves away.”
“But I’ll be careful!”
Like the last time? When they shot you with the poison arrow?
“She’s right,” said Leonard, suppressing a smile. “We’ll send Tink alone. I promise, there will be plenty for you to do once we’re ready to attack.”
Peter pouted, but that was the extent of his objection. He couldn’t argue with Leonard’s caution; he’d seen how easily the Scorpions had defeated the Mollusks.
A half hour passed, and Hook had the De Vliegen—flying much lower now—tacking smoothly back and forth behind the cloud bank, which nicely shielded the ship from the island.
“We’ll stay here,” Leonard said to Tink. “Come back as soon as you can.”
I will, said Tink, and she was gone, a golden streak disappearing among the clouds.
Leonard told George and the boys to help him load the ship’s cannons. They went below, leaving the deck empty, save for Hook at the wheel; Molly, sitting forward with a blanket wrapped around her; and Peter, staring over the rail at the spot where he had last seen Tink. There was no sound other than the whistle of the wind and the extraordinarily loud ticking of the starstuff-touched clock, in the captain’s cabin below.
After a few minutes Molly rose and went to where Peter was standing, staring at the clouds.
“She’ll be all right,” she said.
Peter looked at her. “Tink? Right, I’m sure she’ll be fine. It’s…” He stopped.
“It’s what?”
“What if the Mollusks are…What if they’ve been…”
Molly put her hand on his arm. “We’ll just have to hope for the best,” she said.
Peter turned to her, suddenly angry. “What good does that do, hoping for the best? What help is that?”
Molly reddened and removed her hand.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I was just trying to…”
Now it was Peter’s turn to redden. “Molly, I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that I feel as though the Mollusks are all I have right now, and if they’re gone…”
“You have me,” said Molly. “And Father. And James and the others. You have all of us.”
Peter looked down. A tear fell, then another, both whipped away by the wind before they reached the deck.
“I have you now,” he said, his voice breaking, “but you’re growing older, all of you. And I’m not. I never will. I won’t have you later. That doesn’t trouble me so much on the island. I feel at home there. But if I lose that…”
“Peter,” said Molly, putting her hand on his shoulder, “no matter…”
Before she could finish, the ship lurched to port. Hook spun the wheel to correct it. Seconds later, Leonard was on deck.
“What was that?” he shouted to Hook.
“I don’t know,” said Hook. “It felt like we hit something, but there ain’t nothing up here to hit.”
/> “Peter!” called Leonard. “Have a look, will you?”
Peter, quickly wiping his eyes, vaulted over the rail and swooped alongside the ship. He saw it right away—a bulge in the keel just forward of amidships. A few of the planks were being spread apart; light gleamed through the cracks.
“What do you see?” called Leonard, leaning over the rail.
“There’s a sort of bump on the bottom of the ship,” Peter called back. “I think it’s the starstuff, pressing against the wood.” As he spoke, the timbers groaned, and the bulge bulged a bit more. Peter flew back up to the deck and landed next to Leonard.
“I think it’s getting worse,” he said.
Leonard and Hook exchanged worried glances, both thinking the same thing: if the starstuff escaped through the hull, the ship would no longer fly. With a hole in the hull, it wouldn’t even float. They’d have to get to land before that happened. But the only land around was currently occupied by the Scorpions.
“Mr. Hook,” said Leonard. “Perhaps we should…”
“Tink!” shouted Peter, spotting a sparkling speck zipping toward the ship through the clouds.
Seconds later she was perched on the ship’s rail, her tiny, delicate face deadly serious, chiming so fast that Leonard had to ask her to slow down as the bad news tumbled out….
Bad men everywhere with whips and sticks…making Mollusks work in the mountain…Mollusks hurt, sick, hungry, the children…very, very bad…
“What did she say?” asked Molly. “What is it?”
Peter, ignoring her, spoke to Leonard. “We can’t wait any longer,” he said. As he spoke, the ship’s timbers groaned again.
“I agree,” said Leonard. He look over the rail, rubbing his chin. “Mr. Hook,” he said. “This cloud bank goes all the way to the water, does it not?”
“Aye,” answered Hook. “We calls it the White Beard, when the clouds meet the sea.”
“Well, can you set us down on this side of the White Beard?”
“Into the water!” said Peter and Molly at the same time.
If Hook was surprised, he didn’t show it. He looked at the sails, gauged the wind.
“I can bring her down,” he said. “But it might be a bit rough on her.”
“Do it,” said Aster. He turned and spoke quietly to Tinker Bell for a few seconds; she nodded and disappeared over the side. Meanwhile, Hook was shouting orders, which George quickly translated. The boys jumped to the sails. Almost immediately, the De Vliegen began to descend.
Peter, frowning, said to Leonard, “I don’t understand. Why are you putting the ship in the water?”
“Yes, Father,” said Molly. “Aren’t we giving up our advantage?”
“We’re giving up one advantage to gain a greater one,” said Leonard. “Molly, do you remember the last time we approached this island?”
“I most certainly do! We were lucky to escape with our lives—especially you, Father—when those red-painted warriors attacked us in canoes.”
“Precisely. And what do you think they’ll do if they see this ship sailing in?”
“I suppose they’ll attack again…. Wait, Father, is that what you want?”
“Precisely,” said Leonard.
“But—”
Molly was interrupted by Hook, bellowing a string of commands, rapid-fire. The sails fluttered and flapped loudly. The ship, its bow tilted down, was descending to the sea with frightening speed.
“Hold on tight to something!” roared Hook. As the ship neared the wave-tops he gave the wheel a violent spin, pointing the ship upwind. At the same time, he ordered George and the boys to take in the topsails and let out the main. For a moment, the ship listed hard to starboard; then the wind caught, and it leveled off just as it touched down on the sea. There was a splash and a violent lurch as the ship slowed to a near stop, forcing all aboard to hang on as hard as they could to keep from falling. Timbers creaked in protest as the ship sank down, then bobbed back up, sending large, foam-frothed waves outward from both sides. A few more bobs and the ship settled, now sailing like a regular ship.
“Brilliant!” shouted George.
“Well done, Mr. Hook,” said Leonard.
Hook waved his stump dismissively, as if he’d sailed a hundred flying ships into the sea. But the glint in his eyes betrayed him; he was quite impressed with himself.
“I still don’t understand,” said Molly. “Are we going to just sail in there and be attacked?”
“That is the plan, yes,” said Leonard, glancing over the rail. “But we won’t be sailing in alone.”
Molly started to ask him what he meant, but before she could, she heard a voice from the sea call her name…in Porpoise. She turned and saw a smiling silver snout poking out of the waves.
“Ammm!” she shouted.
Her old friend was surrounded by at least two dozen more porpoises. Tinker Bell, having guided them to the ship, hovered proudly above. Leonard leaned over the rail and conversed with Ammm for several minutes in fluent Porpoise. When he was done, he turned to the quarterdeck and called, “Mr. Hook!”
“Yes, Cap’n?” replied Hook, with a hint of sarcasm.
“Make your course for Mollusk Island,” said Leonard. “And let’s have plenty of sail. We wouldn’t want them to miss us.”
CHAPTER 68
THE ALARM
THE SCORPION LOOKOUT BLINKED: A piece of the cloud bank had broken free and was moving toward him. As he stared, the moving cloud took shape, fog spilling off…its sails.
A ship!
Instantly the lookout raised the conch shell hanging from his side. He pressed it to his lips and trumpeted the alarm; the sound echoed down toward the compound from the lookout’s mountainside post. He took a big breath and sounded it a second time.
From down the mountainside, he heard another lookout repeat the alarm. Then he heard shouts, and within a minute dozens of red-painted Scorpion warriors hurried out of the jungle and onto the beach, sprinting toward their war canoes.
The Scorpions had a simple strategy for dealing with sailing ships: strike immediately, and in overwhelming numbers. Some of the ships would shoot cannons—the Scorpions called them fire-throwers—but there were never enough cannons to stop all the war canoes. And once the Scorpions, with their deadly poison arrows, got close to the ship, the battle was over quickly.
The first canoes were already in the water, moving swiftly toward the ship; many more were right behind. The lookout smiled. He expected to enjoy the show.
Fighting Prawn heard the moaning of a conch shell reverberate down the lava-tube tunnel. He lifted his head to listen; it was not a Mollusk signal.
The sound was repeated, closer this time. The Scorpion guards were agitated, some of them shouting, seemingly unsure about what to do.
The guards fell silent as a large man strode into the cavern chamber. At first Fighting Prawn saw only a silhouette against the dim tunnel light, but as the man passed a torch, Fighting Prawn recognized the bone necklace, the red-painted face, the gleaming black eyes of the Scorpion leader. The leader surveyed the chamber, his eyes lingering an extra second or two on Fighting Prawn. What he saw, Fighting Prawn knew, was a bunch of exhausted, hunger-weakened slaves, their chief a beaten man, pounding rocks with bleeding hands. Fighting Prawn could feel the contempt in the Scorpion leader’s eyes.
The Scorpion leader said something to his men, speaking in harsh syllables. When he finished, five guards ran from the chamber. The Scorpion leader looked around again; then, after barking another command to the remaining guards, turned and strode back up the tunnel.
Fighting Prawn glanced left, then right. Five guards had gone; that meant that only five remained. The guards were strong men, armed with knives and whips. But now it was just the five of them, guarding about fifty Mollusk men and a few pirates—the only slaves still able to work. Many of his men, Fighting Prawn knew, were barely able to move. He prayed that at least some of them could still summon the strength, and the wil
l, to fight. Because this was their only chance.
He gripped a rock and started to rise.
There were more than thirty canoes in the water now, with still more being launched: the Scorpions slicing skillfully through the waves, paddles flashing in the sunlight. Most of the canoes carried ten warriors, ready to put down their paddles and pick up their bows and arrows when they came within range.
The canoes were aimed, like waterborne arrows, straight at the ship. As the canoes drew closer, the ship began a slow turn to port, presenting its starboard side to the canoes. The Scorpions saw four cannons sticking out of the gun ports, a sight that caused them to whoop and shriek with delight. Four cannons, they knew, would have no chance of stopping the attack.
The forward canoes were almost within range. Some of the warriors set down their paddles and readied their bows. The war whoops were constant now; the ship was a fat, slow, inviting target. It would be an easy kill.
CHAPTER 69
REVOLT
THE CLOSEST GUARD was looking away when Fighting Prawn reached him; he went down without a sound. Fighting Prawn, the rock still in his hand, took three quick steps toward the next guard, who turned just in time to emit a shout before he, too, went down.
The element of surprise was gone now. Fighting Prawn shouted for his men to rise and take the remaining guards. Pride swelled his heart as three men, then four, then more, struggled to their feet, despite their desperate weakness. Two of the pirates were up as well. The three remaining Scorpion guards, clearly stunned by the revolt, at first tried to run toward the tunnel; but, finding their path blocked, had backed against the cavern wall, lashing out with whips and knives while shouting for help. But no help came, and the Scorpions were soon brought down by a hail of rocks hurled by the slaves they had once tormented.
When it was over, Fighting Prawn put his hands on his knees, gasping for air. The fight, short as it was, had left him, in his weakened state, barely able to stand. He looked around; the others looked no better. Fighting Prawn gave them a few more moments to recover, then ordered his men to strip the fallen Scorpions of their knives and whips. When they were ready, he turned and started out of the tunnel, followed by every Mollusk and pirate who could still walk. None of them knew what awaited them outside the cave, but all of them knew there was no turning back.
Peter and the Secret of Rundoon Page 27