by McMann, Lisa
Sky swallowed hard. “When … ” She cleared her throat. “Uh, I mean, when do you think he’ll wake up?” Her fingers worked over each other, unable to keep still.
“I’m not really sure about that,” Henry said. “Could be anytime. Could be a while.” He took out his magnifying glass and examined Lani’s gaping wound. “Wow,” he said, impressed.
Sky looked down, squelching her disappointment. When she turned, she caught Samheed watching her.
He looked away, only a little embarrassed to be caught. It was weird for him, seeing Sky and her little brother acting so alive and normal, and Meghan treating Sky like she was one of their close friends. It almost felt like … like Alex and Meghan and everybody else had been too busy making friends with the new kids to be bothered to come rescue him and Lani.
He lifted his head and sucked in a sharp breath, disgusted with himself for thinking such a thing. They’d risked their lives for them. “Don’t be stupid,” he muttered.
Sky slid across the wooden plank deck to the starboard side of the ship, knowing she was probably just in the way. She took a long drink from a tiny magical fountain Ms. Octavia had sculpted while she’d anxiously waited for everyone to return to the ship. The water was cold and pure and delicious—the best water she’d ever tasted. But all she could focus on was Alex, and in between thoughts of Alex her mind went back to her mother stuck inside that strange underwater glass case. She pressed the heels of her hands to her eyes. As happy as she was that they’d rescued Sam and Lani, somehow she felt like everything had gotten worse instead of better.
Once everyone had settled in and had something to eat and drink, Florence carefully stood up midship and beckoned to Simber. He moved directly above her to keep his wings from knocking her head clean off, and they held a private meeting far above the others.
“We’re going to need to tell them soon,” Florence said in a soft voice.
Simber stared stonily ahead.
“We have to tell them before we get to Artimé, Simber. Or they’ll wonder where he is, and why he isn’t there to greet them. And then we’ll have chaos. This is at least a semicontrolled environment.”
Simber still said nothing.
“I don’t want somebody saying something accidentally, either, and the longer we wait, the more likely that is to happen,” Florence said.
Silence.
Florence sighed. She tried once more. “I know you’re worried about Alex, but think how they’ll feel if we wait. They’ll feel betrayed. That’s not what Artimé’s about.”
Simber growled low and long. Finally he said, “Alex is the only one who saw it all. They need to know what he went thrrrough. Forrr us.”
Florence bowed her head for a moment, thinking. “Maybe it’s best someone else tells it, then. He’ll be far too modest.” She glanced around when she heard a flurry of activity in the sick bay. Sean and Carina were both awake now and sitting up, and Meghan was describing what had happened to them as they lamented their uselessness in this mission.
“Plus, Lani needs to know about her mother,” Florence whispered. “And we can’t wait for Gunnar to break the news—they’ll certainly hear something from everyone who will be glad to see them when we arrive home again.” She ducked as they passed through a cloud of evening bugs, and spit a few out of her mouth before continuing. “I spoke with Henry about it, and he doesn’t want to tell her. You should have seen the poor boy’s face when I asked him. He’s in agony.”
Simber’s muzzle twitched. “We should wait until she’s in less pain,” he said. “And fewerrr nosy onlookerrrs.”
Florence sighed. “I honestly don’t see that scenario existing right now. It’s going to be messy no matter how it happens.”
Simber’s determined face didn’t falter. “We wait forrr ourrr leaderrr.”
The Long Night
There was no wind, and the pirate ship was moving so slowly it almost seemed to be floating backward at times. It made for a smooth ride, though, and the moon reflecting on the sea was a perfect picture. The water looked like glass.
Simber kept his eyes forward toward home, while Florence watched the sea behind them to make sure the people of Warbler weren’t coming after them. But all was calm.
“All theirrr ships, but no idea what to do with them,” Simber growled. “Is everrrywherrre so dysfunctional?”
It was a rhetorical question.
» » « «
Lani slept. Samheed watched over Alex, growing more anxious the longer his friend’s eyes stayed closed. He teased him, daring him to wake up. “Come on, man,” he said, his voice strained. “You think you hit that tree hard? Try galloping full speed into a glass wall.” Samheed’s nervous smile fell away when Alex didn’t respond. He swallowed hard and tried again. “You got me good, you know. I owe you one. Hey, remember, uh, remember that time in the lounge where … ?” He choked on the words and couldn’t finish. Instead he closed his eyes and pressed his fists into his temples, trying to force the watery grit from his eyes.
Samheed shook his head slowly, thinking what a mess he’d turned into over the past weeks. And while the Artiméans moved about the ship busy with chores, or captured a bit of sleep, Samheed couldn’t stop the questions that were driving him crazy. He glanced at Lani sleeping, and drew a finger across her forehead to catch a strand of hair that had fallen over her face. And then he got to his feet and wandered about the ship, trying to work out his inner jumble of emotions. He had so many questions, and no one was talking about important things. Was he just supposed to wait until they felt like explaining themselves? He didn’t think he should have to ask what took them so long, but nobody seemed to feel the need to apologize for the lengthy delay.
Maybe they just didn’t understand how horrible it was on Warbler, Samheed thought. But then he looked at Sky. No. She knew. Her brother knew. Even Meghan had a clue. It hurt. And it made him angry.
Samheed ducked his head as he walked past the muttering captain. He’d met the statue before by accident once, thinking he was going into a dressing room. Boy, was that a mistake. He took a punch to the mouth from the crazy peg-legged statue before he knew what hit him, and ended up with a fat lip. At least the weirdo was useful for something.
He found himself at the bow, straining his eyes in the dark, looking for Artimé. There was a faint glow in the distance, and he thought that must be it. He couldn’t wait to get home. He reached around his neck, forgetting that the thorns were gone, and he felt the indented scars all the way around. And then he remembered the squirrelicorn. He looked around for Rufus, finding him balancing on the railing nearby with a group of others. Samheed wandered over.
“I’m sorry about the soldier you lost because of me,” Samheed said solemnly. “I don’t know how it happened, but I know Alex was really upset about it.”
Rufus and the other squirrelicorns bowed their horned heads at Samheed. “Thank you,” one of them, not Rufus, spoke up. “That was Gremily. She was a terrific soldier and we miss her. But it was not the mage’s fault. He would never do anything to hurt us.”
Samheed tapped his hand lightly on the railing and nodded, feeling awkward now, unsure what else to say. And thinking it was strange that Rufus called Alex a mage. Even though they all were mages, the Unwanteds tended to reserve that term for Mr. Today as a sign of respect. But maybe creatures thought about the word differently. The squirrelicorns turned back to their conversation, giving Samheed the excuse he needed to walk back to the bow and stare toward home.
After a while, Meghan joined him. She slipped her arm around his waist in a side hug and brought his arm up to hug her shoulders. They didn’t need words to transmit what they were feeling. After a while Samheed turned to look at her face. He smiled, and she smiled back, and then he looked more closely at her. “They didn’t get your eyes,” he said.
“No. Thanks to Lani.”
“She never mentioned it.”
“Of course not.” Meghan gazed over the water, a
wry grin on her face. “Wait—how could she have mentioned it?”
“We—” He began to tell her about their secret tapping language in the cave, but then he stopped. “They were teaching us the sign language,” he said, not looking at her.
“Ah,” Meghan said. “Well, the way it happened was that you were on the table. They’d just put my thorns in, and Lani managed to cause a commotion and scatterclip somebody to the wall so I could run for it.”
Samheed swallowed hard. “She’s pretty amazing,” he said, trying not to betray his feelings. He had to put them away now, he knew.
“I’ve always thought so,” Meghan said. “But you didn’t.” She leaned into him. “Sounds like you gave her a chance.”
Samheed started to protest. “I’ve always thought—”
“No, you haven’t.” Meghan’s soft laugh rang out over the water.
“Yeah, okay. You’re right.” Samheed squeezed his fist in his pocket. “But I respect her now. She’s the only thing that … kept me … ” He trailed off, reprimanding himself.
Meghan raised an eyebrow at his heartfelt admission. It wasn’t like him to speak so openly. He seemed so different now. But people change when circumstances change, she knew that well enough from the aftereffects of the Purge. She didn’t say anything.
They stood for a long moment.
“So then you escaped,” Samheed said, going back to their conversation.
It took Meghan a second. “Yes. There was a huge group of Warblerans coming, but I ducked out just in time and managed to find my way out the south hole by the lagoon. There weren’t many others roaming the tunnels.”
“Probably all working,” Samheed mused.
Meghan shrugged. “I made a mad dash for the beach, and zigzagged so no darts hit me—I don’t think they expected anyone to approach from that direction. It was pretty miraculous, actually, that I got out of there.”
“I’ll say.”
“So I swam back to the white boat, but I was bleeding a lot, and so exhausted. Nobody came after me.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand why.”
“They’re not allowed to go into the water,” Samheed said. “That’s why they didn’t follow us to the ship earlier. The queen doesn’t want anyone to learn how to swim. She wants them to fear the water so they don’t dare to escape.” He paused. “That’s what I heard, anyway.”
A heavy sigh escaped Meghan’s lips. “Wow.”
“So, ah, then what?” Samheed glanced at her, growing fidgety as his troubled soul began to bubble. “You … what? You drove the boat to Artimé and they threw you a monthlong party or something?” He cringed and shook his head, cursing himself under his breath. “Aw, cripes. I’m sorry. That was totally—”
“It’s okay,” Meghan said softly. “Really. I understand how you must have felt.”
Her words struck him like a slap to the face. He wanted to laugh. “Um, no. I don’t think you do,” Samheed said, unable to keep the bitterness from rushing out. He pulled his arm off her shoulders and let it drop to the railing, bouncing his fist on it a few times. And then he turned his head to face her, his lost eyes searching hers. “Is anybody ever going to explain what took so stupid, blasted long?”
Meghan looked at him, her expression unreadable, and pulled her arm from his waist. She put her elbows on the railing, taking care to put space between them. She tapped her lips, eyes narrowed, reminding herself that they knew nothing, and that this was going to be hard. She wanted to yell, but in an even voice, she continued, pretending like he hadn’t just been a total jerk. “When I got to the boat, I was too weak to climb in, so I hung on to the ladder.”
Samheed shuffled his feet and said nothing.
“I don’t know how many hours passed,” she continued. “Eight? Ten? I was delirious and freezing and bleeding, and nobody knew we were gone. They were all busy with preparations for Mr. Today to go on holiday.” She sniffed, but didn’t cry. “Amazingly enough, when they saw the boat was missing, Alex managed to figure out from our comments earlier in the day that we were going on an adventure and we’d taken the boat. He and Simber began searching. Finally they saw it in the Warbler lagoon.”
Samheed gazed out over the water, unblinking.
“So Simber dropped Alex into the empty boat and went flying over the island looking for us. It took Alex a while to notice me. I couldn’t speak. I managed to make a splash, I guess—I don’t remember that part. Alex heard it and found me clinging to the ladder. He hauled me into the boat. When Simber came back without you guys, they didn’t know what to do, but I was unconscious, and they finally decided they had to get me home before I died.”
Samheed closed his eyes. “Okay, yeah, I’m sorry. I mean, I know it was hard for you, and at least Lani and I didn’t have to sit in cold water for half a day. But that doesn’t explain why it took a month for you guys to come back. I mean”—his still hoarse voice grew louder and cracked, and he held his head as if it were about to explode—“I mean, Lani sent those stupid seek spells day after day after day! And nobody—nobody—”
He put his hands over his face, and his voice grew dark and cold, booming over the calm sea. “Meghan, you cannot possibly imagine, not in a million years, how helpless and horrible it felt to be blind and alone and to call out for help with that spell and have no response, day after day after day, not one hint that you were getting them—” The tears overflowed his red-rimmed lids and ran down his cheeks. He turned to face her. “And I can take it, okay? I’m tough, I don’t need anybody, I don’t need you guys,” he said, sounding like the old Samheed, not knowing what crazy words were falling out of his mouth, “but how—how could you do that to Lani? How? I can’t imagine a single reason big enough that would keep you guys from helping us for so long.”
He was growing hysterical, and he couldn’t stop. “Where were you? Where were Lani’s parents? Where was Mr. Today?” He ripped his hands through his hair and then held them out, like a plea. “Don’t make up some crazy story just to try to get me to calm down, okay? Just admit it. Somebody, will you please just admit it? Say you screwed up and you’re sorry, and I’m telling you, Meg, I’ll respect that a whole lot more than this junk we’re all dancing around now—this ignoring it, or pretending like everything’s fine, and I promise you that’s all I need to hear and it’ll be all good again.” He sniffed hard and swiped his arm across his face. “It’ll be good again.”
Meg closed her eyes and dropped her head.
Samheed’s voice softened and he put his hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you, Meg. I know you couldn’t do anything. But what about them?” he turned and waved his hand across the ship, seeing for the first time that Florence, Simber, Sean, Ms. Octavia, and Henry were all standing nearby listening to them, the most somber looks on their faces. Beyond them Lani was sitting up, watching with her fingers at her lips. And Alex—Alex was awake and on his feet, leaning over the railing, Sky and Crow holding him up as he vomited into the sea.
After a moment, Sky shot a sad glance over her shoulder toward Samheed, and then she pulled a small towel from her back pocket and helped Alex wipe his mouth. She and Crow eased him into a chair, where he put his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.
Samheed paled when he saw Alex, knowing his friend had heard him. He turned away, pressing his fingers into his eyes and fighting an inner war once again.
Meghan’s lip quivered but she stood tall, not sure what to say. She glanced at Simber, and then at Sean, and then at Alex, whose long dark ringlets were tangled once again and hung down over his fingers. With effort, he lifted his head, looking at Simber, who nodded back to Alex.
Alex held up a shaky hand, taking a gentle breath and focusing on speaking. “Thanks, Meghan,” he said. He paused as a wave of nausea passed over him, and sweat beaded his forehead. When he could speak again, he said, “Sean can take it from there.” His voice quavered, but his words were quiet and decisive, like a leader’s. “But first
… ” He looked at Samheed and weakly held his arms out to his friend.
When Samheed hesitated, Alex said, “Come on, man.” He took another painful-sounding breath and tried again. “I just hurled, and my head is split in half. Help a guy give a proper greeting, will you?”
The Tale Is Told
Samheed lowered his head and shuffled off toward Alex. “I’m an idiot,” he said, kneeling down in front of Alex’s chair. He reached out and the two friends hugged, Alex wincing only a little when Samheed patted him on the back. “I’m glad you’re okay.” Sam sat back and looked at his friend. “You look terrible, though,” he remarked.
Alex gave him a shaky half grin. “At least I don’t smell like you.”
“Hey,” Samheed said. The others nearby snickered. “I worked hard all day to smell this manly.” He let his smile fade, then said earnestly, “I’m sorry for sounding like a jerk.”
“Well, under the, um, circumstances,” Alex said, “I—” He turned green. “Oh no. Hold on a second.” He looked for Sky, who saw his face and rushed over, helping him to the railing just in time.
“It’s the medicine,” Henry said, nodding importantly. “He might yodel groceries all night long!”
Alex groaned from the railing, letting his arms dangle over it. “Somebody kill me now.”
“No!” shouted Florence, Octavia, Simber, Rufus, and all the humans who had lived through the disaster on Artimé. Death of the mage was no joking matter. Their faces reflected the fear that it could happen again.
Lani shot Samheed a quizzical look. “I think maybe we should let them do the talking now.”
The light moment of banter faded. Carina got up and offered her seat to Samheed so he could sit next to Lani. Sky helped Alex ease back into his spot on the other side of her. He wiped the sweat from his brow with his shirt and let his head rest on the back of the chair. He closed his eyes. “I drove the boat with Meg,” he said, his voice wrecked and full of grit. “Simber flew above us. And slightly to the right,” he said, his hand stretching out before him, placing Simber in his mind. “He was guiding us home in the dark. We made plans to come back for you the next day. And then—and then Simber—” He heaved an uneasy breath, and brought his forearm to cover his eyes as the memories flooded back. Alex began to shake uncontrollably.