The Lost Souls scattered across the valley, tucking themselves under shrubs and behind giant rocks. Within a few minutes, Scarlet couldn’t see anyone. She joined Tim behind a nearby boulder.
“Do you think they’ll be okay?” he whispered.
“Who?”
“Jem and your cousin. I mean, neither are exactly the type to take on a panther.”
Scarlet sighed. “I know. I’m not really sure what I was thinking. But something told me—”
But Scarlet never got a chance to explain, for just then, a deep voice drifted over to them. A very familiar voice. A voice that didn’t belong on Island X. Scarlet thumped Tim on the shoulder, then peeked around the rock to watch Captain Wallace’s crew appear atop the hill.
“This is it, Captain,” Iron “Pete” Morgan announced. “Remember this valley?”
“Of course I do,” Captain Wallace puffed, clambering up next to him. “And those blasted children had better not try to stop me this time. If they do, they’ll be sorry.”
Scarlet snorted, then stopped as two towering pirates stepped up behind him. One was missing a hand, the other an eye. Three more equally fierce-looking swabs appeared behind them. Within moments, Captain Wallace’s entire crew was gathered atop the hill.
“Shivers!” Tim said.
Scarlet gulped as they thundered down into the valley. “He said he’d gather a crew to rival Lucas’s, but I didn’t expect this.” She wouldn’t have wanted to meet even one of them in a dark alley, let alone twenty.
“It’s this way, Captain.” A pirate with a compass pointed south. Scarlet recognized him as one of the Blood Brothers.
But he’s part of Lucas’s crew, she thought. What happened?
“Good,” said Captain Wallace. “Let’s push on. There’ll be no resting until that stupid child is trapped inside the panther’s lair.”
“We can’t let them go any farther,” whispered Scarlet.
“You think we can take them all?” asked Tim.
“I don’t know, but we have to—”
“Stop right there!”
Scarlet froze midsentence at the sound of another familiar voice. She poked her head out again to see none other than Lucas Lawrence standing atop the hill. She thumped Tim’s shoulder again. “It’s Lucas!”
“Ow!” Tim rubbed his shoulder, then peered out. “Scurvy.”
Lucas marched down the hill, followed by another twenty pirates with even more crooked teeth and missing fingers and battle scars than Captain Wallace’s crew.
“Scurvy,” she agreed.
Captain Wallace swore, and his crew gathered around him, cutlasses drawn.
“What do you think you’re doing here?” Lucas yelled.
“None of your business!” Captain Wallace retorted.
“It is too my business!” Lucas shot back. “This is my island, and you’re trespassing!”
Scarlet choked. She would have leaped up and run out swinging had Tim not clamped on to her arm and kept her in place.
“Your island!” Captain Wallace laughed. “Not likely!”
“It’s as good as mine!” Lucas stabbed the air with his dagger. “And I’m telling you to leave. The crew of the Panther has some business to take care of.”
“You’ll have to get by me and my crew first!” said Captain Wallace.
Lucas laughed. “Easy! I’ve got the most powerful crew in all the tropics!”
“Not anymore, you don’t. Remember the Blood Brothers?” Captain Wallace gestured behind him. Blake and Blair Blood gave Lucas small guilty waves.
Lucas did a double take. “What? Blair! Blake! You said you’d be on my crew!”
The Blood Brothers shrugged and shuffled back into the crowd.
“You’ll be sorry!” Lucas shook his fist. Then he composed himself again. “Not that it matters. I’ve still got the meanest, ugliest crew around!”
“Hardly!” said Captain Wallace. “My men are meaner and uglier than yours. In fact, they make me sick just looking at them!” He glanced back at his men and added, “I mean that in the best possible way.”
His men exchanged glances, and Pete rolled his eyes.
“Well, I’ve got something you don’t,” Lucas taunted. “Something that’s going to knock your boots off. Or rather, tear them off with its big sharp teeth.”
“I know about the panther,” Captain Wallace said coolly.
Lucas drew back. “You do?”
“I also know you don’t have it yet,” Captain Wallace went on. “And I know you’re not going to get it, either.”
Lucas’s face turned crimson. “What?” he cried. “How?”
“Because…,” Captain Wallace faltered, obviously realizing that he couldn’t very well tell Lucas his plan.
“Because it’s ours,” Pete spoke up. “We’re going to capture the panther ourselves.”
“What?” Lucas’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.
“Exactly!” Captain Wallace cried. “I’m going to be the captain of the… the… the Big Cat!”
“That’s a terrible name,” Tim whispered. Pete rolled his eyes, obviously thinking the same thing.
For a moment, the two captains stared at each other. Then all at once, they both made a break for it. Lucas’s men threw themselves down the mountain, and Captain Wallace’s crew took off running. Scarlet ducked behind the rock and held her breath as forty pirates thundered past, elbowing and jostling and swearing at each other.
As soon as they were gone, she popped up and motioned for the other Lost Souls to do the same.
“After them!” Scarlet commanded.
They took off, about fifty yards behind the pirates. The path was now well trampled, so Scarlet could devote part of her brain to figuring out what the flotsam they were going to do when they reached the lair.
But by the time the pirates slowed, coming to a halt under a ledge that jutted out of the side of a mountain, she still hadn’t come up with a good plan. So she motioned for the other Lost Souls to hide behind some nearby trees. The pirates were too busy tossing insults and spitting at each other to notice.
Lucas and Captain Wallace both pulled themselves up onto the ledge, while their crews stayed down below. Not knowing exactly what she was doing, Scarlet stepped out from the trees and marched right up to them.
“Hey!” she yelled. All eyes turned to her.
“Not again,” Pete groaned.
“McCray!” Lucas’s face broke into a sneer. “I was hoping you’d come. I’ve got plans for you, too. You and your whole crew. I’ll deal with you after I finish this.”
“I’d like to see you try,” Scarlet retorted, although the look in his eye made her shiver again. It was the same look she’d seen in Captain Wallace’s when he met with Voodoo Miranda. Lucas wanted revenge.
“This is our island,” she told the captains, “and if you think I’m going to let any of you steal from it, you’ve got another thing coming!” She pulled her dagger out of her boot.
“Deadeye!” Lucas shouted, and a grizzled old sea dog with a patch over one eye stepped forward and grabbed her shoulder. She tried to pull away, but he held fast.
“All right, then.” She stopped struggling and stood still, knowing full well she could take out his knees with a well-aimed kick. But as soon as she did, she’d have forty pirates down her throat, and she wasn’t sure the crew was ready for that. She decided to stall. “Go on,” she told them. “Get your little cat. I’ll watch.”
Lucas and Captain Wallace both looked surprised. They turned toward the cave, and Lucas stepped forward, making some clucking noises.
“It’s a cat, stupid, not a chicken.” Captain Wallace pushed Lucas out of the way and stuck his head into the dark hole. “Hallooo?”
“Move it!” Lucas shoved him aside and peered into the cave. “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty.”
A few moments later, he pulled his head out. “Nothing in there.” Then he spun around to face Scarlet. “Did you take it?”
Captain Wallace began to sneak up behind Lucas, positioning himself to shove his enemy into the lair.
“You did, didn’t you?” Lucas continued. “Give it back, McCray, or my men will take it from you.”
All at once his entire crew was surrounding her, unsheathing their cutlasses and baring their hideous teeth. She gulped and raised her dagger, signaling to the Lost Souls that now was the time to help her.
Suddenly, Captain Wallace began shrieking and Lucas started hollering, and the men looked away from Scarlet and up at the ledge, where an enormous black panther had emerged from his lair, baring a mouthful of flesh-ripping teeth.
Scarlet froze, mouth wide open. She’d never seen anything as sleek and muscular as the panther. His head came up to Lucas’s ribs, and his paws were so big they could have taken out all the pirates with a few swipes. But even more amazing, more alarming than the cat’s rippling muscles and glimmering eyes was what was perched on his back.
It was Scarlet’s cousin, Josephine.
“Sink me,” Scarlet breathed.
Behind Jo, Jem was hanging on for dear life, his face as pale as the beast was black. The panther turned to glare at Lucas and Captain Wallace, who now clung to each other, trembling and babbling nonsense. Throwing back his head, he let out a roar, then leaned back on his haunches and launched himself into the air, straight for the pirate captains.
They screamed and threw themselves off the ledge, crashing into the pirates below, who were trying to scramble back the way they’d come. The panther landed lightly on the ground and paused just long enough for Jo to give Scarlet an exhilarated smile before hurtling off after the pirates.
Scarlet stood and stared after them long after they’d disappeared, trying to decide if she’d really seen her Old World cousin riding on the back of a panther and chasing the pirates off her island. Eventually, Tim joined her and tapped her shoulder.
“Captain, look.” He pointed up at the ledge, where a tall, blond boy was creeping out of the den, blinking in the sunlight.
“Smitty!”
Smitty waved. “Hullo!” he called. “What’s all this fuss about? I was just inside having a nice nap—a catnap, get it?” He chuckled.
“Come on, Smit,” Scarlet said. “We’re going home.”
“Oh. Well, all right,” Smitty said, clambering down from the ledge. “But you’ll never believe the dream I had, just a few minutes ago. Fitz was there, with this Old World girl I’d never seen before. And somehow they tamed the panther into letting them ride him! Isn’t that the craziest thing you could imagine?”
Scarlet shook her head and stared again at the path her panther-riding cousin had taken. “It doesn’t get much crazier than that.”
“Show us again what Captain Wallace looked like!”
Tim eagerly complied, hopping to his feet and pulling Liam up with him to play the role of Lucas Lawrence. As the other Lost Souls sat around the bonfire on the edge of the clearing, Tim and Liam imitated, for the fifth time at least, Captain Wallace and Lucas babbling like babies at the sight of the black panther.
The Lost Souls howled with laughter, and Tim and Liam took their bows.
Jem leaned back on his elbows and stared up at the sky, which was now chock-full of stars. The fire warmed his bare feet, and for the first time in days, he took a deep breath and relaxed. The pirates were gone—for now, at least—and he had actually survived not only an encounter with the dreaded panther but a ride on its back.
And best of all, he would never, ever have to do that again.
“I want to know how Jo talked to the panther!” said Ronagh. She turned to Jo, who sat on the grass beside her. “You were amazing!”
“Oh, it was nothing, really,” Jo said shyly, as all heads turned to her. She and Sina were working on a new outfit for Jo, since their adventures that day had left her dress ripped and stained. They were tearing pieces of fabric off the skirt and weaving them with long ferns to make a very different kind of dress.
“You met an enormous predator and convinced him to let us ride on his back,” Jem reminded her. “I’d hardly say that’s nothing.”
“Did you really talk to him?” Scarlet asked from across the circle. “Like, in English?”
“I thought island animals didn’t understand English,” said Elmo.
“Except for the pigs,” added Emmett. “But that’s because they’re from the Old World.”
Jo shook her head. “I did talk to him. But…” She paused, as if trying to decide how to explain it. All the Lost Souls leaned forward expectantly. “But it’s more than that. Cats need to be approached in a certain way. They need a special touch.”
“So do monkeys,” Ronagh said, petting the one that was sitting in her lap, snacking on some flies.
“Ships too,” added Tim.
Jem looked back up at the stars, recalling how he and Jo had stood together, knees knocking, while the panther looked them up and down, as if trying to decide which one he ought to devour first. He began to pace, his enormous black muscles rippling with every step.
The highlights of Jem’s life had just begun to flash before his eyes when Jo reached into her pocket and pulled something out. She took a deep breath and stepped right up to the panther, hand outstretched.
“What are you doing?” Jem had croaked. “Get back!”
The panther had stopped pacing and swung his great head around to stare at her. Its yellow-green eyes glinted, and Jem had been absolutely certain he’d seen the last of his new friend.
But the panther tilted its head and regarded whatever Jo had in her hand. And then, slowly, he moved forward to sniff it.
Jem held his breath.
“That’s a good kitty,” Jo whispered. “Take your toy.”
Toy? Jem couldn’t believe it. She had a cat toy in her pocket?
The panther had faltered at the sound of her voice, then slowly leaned in again. And he drew back his lips to expose a mouthful of sharp and shiny teeth, which he used to pluck the object out of her hand.
Jem’s mouth fell open. It was a small gray mouse, which someone had knit by hand.
“There,” Josephine said softly. “I knew you’d like it. Now, look. We’re here for two reasons. First of all, we need our friend back. We believe you’ve seen him?”
“Jo,” Jem spoke up without taking his eyes off the panther that was chewing thoughtfully on the mouse’s tail. “The island wildlife doesn’t understand English. Just the Islander language.”
Jo had considered this, then shrugged. “Well, hopefully one cat isn’t too different from another. I’ll just talk to him like I talk to my own.” And she proceeded to explain the entire situation to him, including the approach of some pirates who wanted to capture him.
The panther kept on chewing his new toy, but he was obviously listening. Every now and then he’d look at Jo and cock his head to the side, as if to say, “You don’t say. Go on.”
And then, in a move that had caused Jem’s jaw to practically fall off his face, the panther suddenly dropped his mouse and took a step toward Jo. And he began to rub his head against Jo’s hand! Soon she was petting him, and before Jem knew it, they were heading deep into the cave, where Jo had clambered up on the panther’s back and pulled him up behind her.
This was hands down the strangest day of my life, Jem told the stars. But possibly also the most fantastic. And, he reminded himself, it never would have happened in the Old World. So score one more for Island X.
“I think,” Jo continued, “that the panther’s just misunderstood. He was lonely and wanted a friend.”
“Exactly!” Smitty piped up from the other side of the circle. “The panther wasn’t such bad company, though he did snore even louder than Swig.” He elbowed Tim in the ribs. “I think Jo’s right—he just wanted a friend, and when he saw me, he knew I was the perfect one.”
Tim snorted.
“Sure,” said Liam. “Whatever you say…” He paused, coming up with a new name. “Meriwether.
”
For a moment, Smitty looked startled. Then as quickly as his expression had changed, it returned to normal. He shoved his hands in his pockets and whistled a tune.
But Liam had noticed it. “Wait,” he said. “That’s it, isn’t it?”
“What’s it?” Smitty said without looking at him.
“Your name!” Liam crowed. “It’s Meriwether!”
The Lost Souls gasped. All heads turned to Smitty.
“No!” Smitty protested. “It’s not! That’s a terrible name!”
“It is!” Liam jumped to his feet. “Admit it, Meriwether! That’s your name!”
“Is it really?” yelled Monty.
“Come clean, Smitty!” Gil called.
Smitty protested a few minutes longer, then gave up, throwing his hands in the air. “Fine! You got me! My name is Meriwether Smith, and now you know why I go by Smitty!”
A cheer went up around the bonfire, and several Lost Souls who’d been trying to solve the mystery for years punched the air and slapped each other on the back. Liam began to dance a jig.
“Yeah, yeah,” Smitty grumbled. “Laugh it up.”
But beside him, Sina was looking pensive. “Meri… wether,” she said, trying out the name. “Meriwether.” Then she nodded and smiled.
Smitty turned to her, incredulous. “You like it?”
“Meriwether.” Sina tried it out again. She nodded.
“Well, sure, it sounds good when you say it,” Smitty muttered as the others hooted with laughter.
Later, as the Lost Souls began to wander off to their tree houses, Jem joined Scarlet to help douse the fire.
“It’s been quite the week,” she commented, pouring water from her canteen on the embers.
“That’s the understatement of the century,” Jem told her.
“You did well here, taking care of everyone,” Scarlet said. “And that panther trap was pretty brilliant.”
“Thanks,” Jem said. “Too bad we didn’t get to test it on a real panther.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if we got to test it on some pirates someday soon.” Scarlet kicked some dirt on the coals and sighed. “We sure haven’t seen the last of them.”
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