Just as the tiny creatures that had helped them get on their way faded into the distance, they heard Sergeant Sandblast yell out, “Beware of the…”
“What did he say?” Mason asked.
“I’m not sure, with the wind blowing. I think he said beware of the cars.”
“Cars? Nah, that’s not what he said.”
“Hmm, don’t know. I hope it’s nothing too bad.”
“Yeah, me too,” Mason muttered. “Me, too.”
The first few hours of the trip, before the sun went down, were rather enjoyable. The boys saw all sorts of fish and beautiful sea life. They even relaxed a bit. They filled up on their strange-colored sandwiches, which tasted like a cross between peanut butter and honey, they thought, but couldn’t be quite certain. Their sodas reminded them of lemon-lime, with a cherry twist in there somewhere.
“We’ll find her, I know we will,” Carter said.
“You bet.”
As the sun sank beyond the ocean, and its golden rays reflected on the water, a splash in the distance suddenly caught their attention. “Whoa, Mason did you see that?”
“That was a big splash.” Carter pointed to where it came from—about seventy-five yards from their boat.
“Yeah. It was probably a big fish or something.”
“What if it's Sharp Jaw?”
“Uh-uh, I think we’ve gotten past his territory. At least that’s what my calculations from studying the guidebook tell me. I haven’t said anything to you, because I know how much you hate that level. I figured we were safely past him.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Uh-huh. I’m sure of it,” Mason replied, trying to look calm.
Suddenly the boat began to rock very hard, but as far as the boys could see, the ocean looked still, except for beneath their vessel.
“Mason! What was that? It’s him, isn’t it?"
“I have no idea,” Mason answered, his voice shaking.
The boat rolled almost completely onto its side before the boys could get a good look at what was causing it to rock and roll. Their eyes popped open, for swimming beneath them, gnashing large, razor-edged teeth was a gigantic, robotic shark.
“Oh jeez, it is Sharp Jaw!! Sailed around his territory, my butt!” Carter said.
In the Queen Zamora game, Sharp Jaw must be beaten, or if the player studies the maps, it was possible to maneuver the boat around the shark’s territory. Mason had been hoping he’d done just that. It was a much safer bet to move around the shark, because he was a difficult opponent to conquer. Carter had the most trouble getting past the shark, but Mason could beat him with relative ease by luring him away from the boat, when he wasn’t able to make the journey around him. He’d read enough tips to know all he had to do was press certain buttons and catch a large enough fish to entice the shark away into shallow waters where he beached himself. He could do this from the boat itself. But if the player gets knocked into the water or the boat sinks, it’s a whole ‘nother ball game.
“No problema, Bro, we can handle him,” Mason said.
“Yeah, okay, easier said than done. You can handle him when we’re at home, pressing buttons. In case you hadn’t noticed, we aren’t at home, there’s no Beacon 850 with controllers around! In fact we’re here, and so is he.” Carter pointed down at the grinding, mechanical, menacing monster chomping his teeth and looking quite hungry.
Mason had to admit his brother had a good point. The boat rolled to the other side. Then a loud crunch alerted them that the shark had just taken a bite out of the ship. They didn’t have much time, because if this was anything like the game, the shark would continue taking bites until the boat was gone or until the players jumped into the ocean, hoping they could out-swim or outwit their opponent.
“Time to play, Carter. You ready?”
“No!”
“Too bad! Grab that net, over there.” Mason pointed to a net hanging on the side of the boat. Carter stumbled over to grab it as the boat heaved from one side to the other. He pulled the heavy net up as the shark hit the side of the boat again. Another crunching sound echoed in their ears as the robotic fish ground its teeth into the wood. The boat began to take on a little water. “Okay, now, keep throwing the net over and try to distract him from eating the boat. Try and catch him in it if you can!”
“Oh sure, like he wouldn’t eat right through that.”
“I don’t know, just do it,” Mason replied frantically. “I’m going below to see if I can’t find something to lead him away from the boat.”
“Like what?”
“Heck if I know! A can of tuna, maybe?”
“Yeah, that’ll work,” Carter muttered, as he continued to throw the net over in hopes of keeping the shark from chomping down on their boat. But the teeth-gnashing monster had already gotten quite a few large chunks out of the bottom and the boat was quickly filling up. Do not cry, he told himself. Hold it together.
Mason ran up topside. He was soaking wet. “The cabin is filled with water!” Mason yelled.
Carter didn’t know what to say. He just kept tossing the net over, but it was quickly diminishing into what looked like dental floss. “Oh, man we’re gonna die. We are so gonna die!”
“We’re not gonna die, Carter. Quit saying that! Now remember what Seyem said about believing in ourselves and trusting each other; he said that would get us through. Well, little brother, now’s the time. Look, I found some meat, tucked away in the refrigerator.” Mason held it up. It smelled terrible, like the day Mom found the body of a mouse wedged in the back of the closet. That smelled pretty bad, but this was way worse.
“Yuck.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think he cares.” Mason pointed to the giant tin monster leaping up and nearly crashing down onto the railing of the boat. His thrashing caused the surrounding water to rock and toss the boat about. It was difficult to hang on to anything. The monster was not wearing out, nor giving up. He clearly intended to have them for dinner.
“What are you going to do with it?”
“I see the shore straight ahead. If we can get the boat a little further, I’m going to swim out with the meat until we reach the shore, just like in the game. That’s the only way to beat him.”
“Mason!” Carter screamed. “This isn’t a game! He’s for real! He’ll eat you!”
“There’s no other…” before Mason could finish the sentence, the shark jumped higher than before and came crashing down hard into the mid-section of the boat. The boys flew into the air and into the water. Carter swam his way to the top to get air. He couldn’t see anything under the water as the boat broke apart and the shark continued thrashing about, causing a great commotion. Carter couldn’t even see where the tin monster was. Man oh man! They were in real trouble now.
Both boys surfaced at the same time. They couldn’t see each other, but Carter could hear his brother yelling at him. “Remember what Seyem said about believing? Now swim to shore, and believe the rules with all your heart! It’s our only chance!!” Carter didn’t hear another word from his brother, but did what he’d told him to.
Mason dove under and swam as fast as he could. The shark quickly swam after him, and Carter trailed behind.
Carter tired easily, and was struggling to keep up. “I can do it,” he told himself over and over. “I have to, for my brother and sister.”
He remembered Seyem’s words. And as he swam, Carter thought of all the wonderful times they’d had as a family together. Times when Izzy kicked her ball back and forth to him, the time when she gave him her cookie, and when she hugged him every night even though he didn’t want her to. These thoughts filled him up, making him warm all over despite the frigid waters.
Then he thought about Mason and all the times they spent playing their games, skateboarding. And when Mason would help him with his homework or take on an extra chore when he was sick. Was this what Seyem meant by love? Carter thought maybe it was, because when he really thought about those things, he couldn’t help but f
eel good. And the more he thought about his love for his brother and sister, the faster he swam. His fear of the great shark lessened, but not enough to keep him from hauling tail to reach shore.
It wasn’t long before he could see the shark and Mason. He could also see the shore close by. Mason had slowed down. He’s getting tired. He needs help. Carter knew his brother was in trouble. He’d have to do something to distract the shark; otherwise he knew Mason would be eaten.
“Hey, ugly! Ugly shark!” he yelled as he popped his head out of the water. But the shark ignored his taunts, and continued to chase Mason who had the meat. Carter watched as his brother dropped the meat and the shark swam down for it. They weren’t close enough to the shore, but both boys continued swimming hard and fast. Everything became silent, very silent, as Carter thought perhaps they’d out-swum the shark. It was a spooky kind of quiet, like right before the bad guy makes his move in one of those horror movies, just when it looks like everything is okay, but isn’t.
Then Carter heard, “Well, well mates, what have we here?”
He couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from but it wasn’t long before he heard another splash nearby…and he was sure it wasn’t the shark. He stopped for a moment, treading water while looking around. Was he imagining the voice? No way. His eyes popped open as he saw it—a large, dark ship with a skull and crossbones flag raised high. Pirates!
“Grab hold of the rope, lad.”
Carter saw the long rope the pirates had dropped down to him. He thought this over for a second—pirates or a robotic, man-eating shark? Hmmm. He looked at the rope, heard the encouraging words from the men on the ship above, had no idea where his brother could be, and as he turned in the opposite direction to see if he could spot him, he saw the shark heading straight for him. Best bet here was to grab the rope! He shimmied up faster than he’d ever climbed anything in his entire life. Which was a bit surprising even to himself. Now Mason could beat anyone when it came to rope climbing, but Carter was not a gymnast. He was a musician and an artist. But today, he was just as athletic as all the boys on the soccer team at his school.
The shark jumped high into the air and bit down. “Arrgh!” Carter screamed. The shark tore through the rear of his pants and took a small chunk out of his butt. Carter climbed even faster, and was soon out of the shark’s reach, even though it continued to jump into the air after him. Blood dripped down his leg, and his rear hurt pretty badly.
A hand reached over the side of the ship and pulled him aboard. He stood shivering and rubbing his rear end.
“Ahoy, matey. Quite a mess you got there. Best get you fixed up,” said a rotund man with a crooked nose. He wore a patch over one eye, and his beard went past his belly.
He was nearly as frightening looking as the shark, and Carter was sure he wasn’t going to fare any better aboard this ship, especially without Mason. Where was Mason? What if the shark had eaten him? This really wasn’t looking too good for any of them—Mason chewed up inside the belly of a giant, tin shark, Izzy trapped and soon to have her soul taken by Queen Zamora. And here he was, most likely about to be forced to walk the plank or whatever it was pirates did to folks in real life. But, then again, this wasn’t real life. Was it? Wasn’t this still a game? The gash on his bottom felt pretty darned real.
“Okay, laddie, let’s get you on down to the ship doctor and have you worked over a bit, that’s what we got to do. Now where’s Doc? Doc? Doc?!” he yelled, tugging on his long beard.
“Nah, I’ve got this special stuff that’ll fix it right up,” Carter replied as he reached for his backpack to locate the magic salve, only to discover that somewhere along the way in all the chaos he’d lost it. “Oh, no,” he groaned, fighting back the tears. He had a strong feeling the pirates weren’t too sympathetic to emotional outbursts.
Doomed. He knew this meant probably the worst imaginable. Not only was his brother missing in action, now he’d lost his pack, and along with it, his gifts. His rear was killing him, and he was stuck on a pirate ship with some pretty scary fellows.
“Are ye looking for this, mate?” The pirate asked, holding up the wet pack.
“Yes, sir.” Carter reached for it, but the pirate held it higher. Some of the others laughed as they watched the spectacle.
“Uh, hmmm,” he growled. “See here, I’ll give you back your goody bag in a bit, but first, you’re gonna have to do a little something for me and my crew.”
Carter suddenly realized this man was the captain of the vessel, and an intimidating one at that, with one patched eye and the other squinting at him. Carter looked around, seeing men of all ages, shapes, and sizes with one thing in common: eye patches. The stench of beer rose high into the air. Some of the pirates hung from the sails and others stood watching, as if waiting for something exciting to happen.
“Yes, sir,” Carter said, his voice quivering.
“That’s the spirit, a boy with some need for camaraderie. I like you, laddie, and I can see we’re gonna have a grand time together this evening. Now, hmm, let’s see, yes, there you are, Doc. Take the lad down below and fix up that wound. Dress him up for the entertainment tonight.”
“Entertainment?” Carter asked hesitantly.
“Yes. You are the entertainment.” He laughed boisterously and the crowd sang out some wild tune, about a party and knives and ale.
The more they sang, the more the words jumbled together. Carter grew dizzy. His last thought before he passed out was, “Where is Mason?”
Mason had been busy fighting his own battle. The shark had come after him, teeth bared and ready to bite, when the pirate ship suddenly distracted it. Mason watched in horror as the shark made a u-turn and headed straight for the boat as Carter climbed the rope. Mason knew he didn’t have much time. He also knew even though there had never been mention of the pirate ship in the guidebook, it could mean nothing but bad news. If he didn’t get aboard that ship, Carter could be carried off by a bunch of bad guys.
So as the shark tried to eat Carter, Mason swam fast and furiously to the other side of the vessel, where he found the anchor and climbed midway up the ship’s side until he located a porthole and snuck inside. He glanced around the small, darkened quarters. Luckily, no one had seen him, because they’d all been so preoccupied with watching the spectacle on the other side of the ship.
He heard Carter scream. He heard hooting and hollering and the bizarre song, and knew Carter must be beside himself. There was nothing he could do. Not yet, anyway. His hands shook and not only from the cold water. He was scared. He was more frightened than he’d ever been in his life. This was worse than the dinosaurs. At least then, he’d been able to keep an eye on Carter. Now what had happened to him? He wished he could see what was going on up on the deck of the ship. He’d have to wait. He’d have to think this one through carefully, and act with precise timing.
An idea took shape in his head and a smile spread across his face as he pulled open the door to the closet. There was the answer right in front of him. He pulled off his pack, and peered inside. To his surprise and pleasure, everything was still intact in his backpack, and magically dry. He climbed inside the closet, shut the door behind him, and formed a plan to save his brother.
CHAPTER NINE
A FRIEND AMID A SHIP OF FOES
“Um, excuse me, Doc?” Carter asked.
The man with wavy hair the color of sand, and eyes of sea green, grunted.
“What did the captain mean by entertainment?”
Doc didn’t respond.
“Man with a lot to say,” Carter thought.
Then Carter remembered something Seyem had said about a person’s eyes. That had been bothering him the entire time in Doc’s presence.
He’d just had his rear sewn up and it hurt like the devil and stung from something Doc had poured on it. He turned over carefully and faced Doc. He held up a large bottle—the word ‘whiskey’ printed on it. Carter assumed it was alcohol because it smelled like his dad that
time they’d had a Super Bowl party at their house. Mom made a huge stink, because Dad had gotten “drunk as a skunk.” Those were her words, anyway. Carter thought Dad was kind of funny that day, although he was acting a bit strange. But anyway, that was what the stuff Doc poured on his butt smelled like. Carter didn’t understand why his butt needed to be as drunk as a skunk, but as he rolled over, Doc poured a small amount into his mouth. It tasted awful and burned the back of his throat; Carter started to spit it out. Doc put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Carter reluctantly swallowed, and he quickly forgot the taste and burn, or why he even cared.
He flopped back over onto his stomach, trying to recuperate from the fainting, the stitching, and the whiskey…not to mention that he’d almost been eaten alive. Turning his head, he stared right into Doc’s eyes, and he knew right then and there. His eyes give him away. Carter smiled at him. Doc grunted. Doc was a good man. He was of the light. It was right there in those green eyes, the color of the ocean. Right there.
“You’re one of us,” Carter whispered.
Doc looked at him with a sparkle in his eye. A slow smile spread across his face and he nodded, but never said a word.
Carter remembered Seyem had said they would find people of the light in some of the strangest places, if they only looked for them. This was a strange place to find someone who wanted to overthrow Queen Zamora as badly as he and Mason did. Poor Mason. Where was he? He hoped Doc could help. “Doc, my brother is missing. Do you know what happened to him?”
Doc nodded.
“You do?! You have to tell me!”
Doc stared at Carter until Carter finally understood Doc was mute, meaning he was not able to speak. But as the man continued to stare at him, Carter began to hear him inside his head: “I know if you trust, you will be pleasantly surprised. That is all I know.”
“Okay, here we go again with this trust stuff! C’mon, you have to tell me where my brother is!”
“Trust stuff?” Doc raised his eyebrows into a surprised arch. Then frowned deeply.
The Clover Siblings and the Evil of Desmal Page 6