by Liz Kessler
I waited for Ana to come down the mast. It was my turn next. I watched her climb down with the ease of a monkey shimmying down a tree. I knew she’d been doing this for years, like the rest of them, but I still envied her bravery. I hadn’t told anyone, but I was a bit nervous about going all the way up the mast for my shift.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be fine,” Ana said, glancing at my face as she jumped the last section to land on the deck next to me. She unclipped two hooks and handed me the harness. “Put this on.”
I pulled it tight and buckled it around my waist. “Just stay hooked on at all times and you can’t fall more than the length of your arm,” she said as she checked all the buckles.
I held my arm out. OK, that wasn’t too bad. I could do this.
Ana patted my back. “Ready?”
“Mmm-hmm,” I said. And then, heart beating like the wings of a butterfly trapped in a jar, I looked for my first foothold.
The first few steps weren’t too bad. I reached as high as I could, gripped the sides of the rope ladder, and stepped up the first rung. I reached up again, hooking the safety clip onto the side, and took another step.
“You’re doing great!” Ana called up to me. “Just take it slowly.”
“OK!” I called back, without looking down. Step by step, rung by rung, clip by clip, I inched gradually up until I’d reached the platform.
“You did it!” Ana called.
I looked down to give her a thumbs-up. Whoa! Big mistake. I hadn’t realized how far up I’d climbed! Ana looked like a little toy person. The deck was a long way away. The sea was even farther. And I was up here, rocking wildly from side to side as the ship swayed through the ocean’s swell.
Each time the mast swayed sideways, my stomach felt as if it had been left on the opposite side.
I gripped the mast and tried not to think about it.
I’m fine. I’m clipped on. I’m safe.
I kept repeating those words to myself like a mantra. After a while, my heart rate calmed down and I started to relax. I settled into my position and got to work. I had a job to do.
The crystal’s chain was looped over a hook on the mast. It swung a bit with the ship’s motion, but I could see it clearly enough. Not that there was much to see. Just reflections of the sea, with a thin line of mist slicing through the middle of each one.
I kept watching. Sea and mist. Nothing but sea and mist.
Had I gotten it wrong? For the first time, I doubted myself. Why had I been so convinced this was the magical crystal? Why did everyone believe me so readily? Was it just that we wanted so much for it to be true — and we didn’t have anything better to go on?
What if we were all wrong? What if we’d wasted two hours on a wild-goose chase while Noah powered ahead and won the contest? What then?
No. I couldn’t let myself go down that road. We had to be right.
I stared at the crystal so hard my eyes began to water. Wiping my hand across my eyes, I whispered to it.
“Please show us the way. Please be the magical crystal.”
And then . . .
I saw it.
Just a glimpse. Something other than blue sea and white mist flickered out from the crystal. Something that looked like . . .
There it was again! And I knew exactly what it was.
A hill. A tiny piece of land. A building on top of it.
Halflight Castle. We’d found it!
Almost as soon as I saw the image, it disappeared. I gripped the mast more tightly, stared at the crystal more intently, and willed it to appear again.
And then it did; only, this time, it wasn’t just one image. This time, the mist cleared from the reflections and the castle appeared in them all!
“Ana!” I called. She was still on the deck below me.
She glanced up. “You OK?” she asked.
“Get Sam. Tell the others. I can see Halflight Castle in the crystal!”
“Are you kidding me?”
“I’m serious!” I called. “We’re on track. We’re nearly there!”
“Which direction?” Ana called up to me.
I studied the crystal again. How could I tell? The castle was reflected in every side. It could be anywhere.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “But it’s nearby. I’m sure of it.”
“OK, stay there. I’ll get Sam.” Ana turned and made her way to the back of the ship. I continued watching the crystal. It was like looking through one of those kaleidoscopes I’d had when I was little. Like I was seeing hundreds of pictures of the same thing, turned into tiny patterns that were mesmerizing me.
Except — there was something still not right about it. I couldn’t think what it was. Then I thought about the poem again.
You’ll be wrong twenty times; only one way is true.
We weren’t supposed to be following twenty versions of the same picture. We were supposed to be following the one that was different from all the others. So even if we managed to figure out which direction the picture of Halflight Castle was pointing to, that wouldn’t give us the answer we were looking for.
I was pondering all this when Sam appeared below me. “I’m coming up!” he called.
Bounding up the ladder as expertly as Ana had come down it, he was by my side a minute later.
“Ana says you’ve found the castle,” he said.
I frowned. “Yeah, but it’s not the right one.”
“Not the right one?” Sam pointed out to sea. “All we can see with our bare eyes is ocean and mist. If the crystal is showing a castle, surely it has to be the magical one we’re looking for.”
“I don’t know.”
“Let me have a look. Swap places with me.”
Sam shuffled around the platform and I squeezed myself against the mast to let him get past me. He leaned over to look at the crystal.
“Wow,” he breathed. “That’s amazing.” He turned away to look around the ship. “It’s showing us something that isn’t even there.”
“Yeah, Halflight Castle is a bit like that,” I admitted. “But the poem said the picture would be wrong twenty times, and we have to look for the one that is right.”
Sam frowned. “Maybe the poem was wrong. Maybe the crystal is telling us the right thing twenty times over!”
“But it’s not telling us anything — it’s pointing in every direction!” I said.
“Hmm, I see what you mean,” Sam agreed.
We stood there together, watching it for a while. It was mesmerizing, watching the crystal sway gently, flashing and flickering with multiple pictures of the same thing. Except . . .
“Sam!” I grabbed his arm. “Look!” I’d seen something different. So subtle you wouldn’t have noticed unless you were searching for it.
Sam continued looking at the crystal. “What is it?” he asked. “What have you seen?”
“Keep watching.”
We stared together. “There!” I jabbed a finger at the crystal. “Do you see it?”
“What am I looking at?” Sam asked. “I can’t see anything different. Just twenty tiny pictures of a castle.”
“Keep watching. I’ve counted the sides. There are twenty-one, but when the sun catches it, one side looks different from the others. It’s so tiny you could miss it if you blink, but I’m sure it’s —”
“There it is!” Sam burst out. “I saw it! I saw it! I saw something different.”
As we watched, we managed to pinpoint the side that was different. It was to the left of the ship — the port side. It was hard to see it most of the time, but every now and then the sun glinted sharply against the crystal, and we could tell that this one picture was different. All the others showed a castle with a line of mist running through the middle. This one looked identical, but instead of a line of mist, the castle had a chunky crescent moon above it.
“Almost half a moon,” I murmured without thinking about it.
Sam turned to me. “Halfmoon Castle — that’s what we’re l
ooking for. The picture has a moon in it!” He let go of the mast and threw his arms around me. “You did it, Emily — you found it!”
I couldn’t reply for a moment. Sam’s grip had taken my breath away. He let go of me and stood back, grinning. “We’re going to beat Noah. I know it,” he said. “Thanks to you.”
Finally, I found my voice. “It’s a team effort,” I said.
“Well, OK. But I’m glad you’re on my team.”
“Me too,” I said before I could stop myself.
Sam had pulled a compass out of his pocket. “Looks easterly to me. I’m going to take a precise bearing, then let’s go down and tell the others. We’ll keep taking turns up here, checking the crystal to make sure we maintain the right direction. And we’ll work around the clock till we get there.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I said.
“Come on. Let’s go tell the others.”
“I thought we had to keep someone up here all the time,” I said.
“Come down with me first. I want you by my side when I tell everyone what you’ve found. You deserve your moment of glory! It’s Luke’s turn on watch next, so he can take over once we’ve shared the good news.”
I was glad Sam climbed down the mast ahead of me. I was blushing furiously from his praise and I didn’t want him to see it.
Daylight was starting to fade. The sun was halfway down from its spot in the sky, burning through the mist as it headed for the horizon behind us.
“You’re sure this is right?” Dean asked. “Seems to me like we’re just going deeper and deeper into that fog.”
Sam was at the wheel, with Dean and me on either side of him, keeping watch. Not that there was much to see. To be fair, Dean was right. We could still barely see a thing. We’d been following the crystal for a couple of hours now, and, if anything, the mist was even thicker than it had been earlier.
“Shall I check with Kat?” I asked. It was her turn on watch.
“I’m sure we’re on the right course,” Sam replied. “She’d have called down if not.”
Dean grumbled something under his breath.
Sam turned to him. “You got something to say, Dean?” he asked sharply.
Dean put his hands in his pockets and shrugged.
Sam stepped to the side. “Emily, take the helm for a minute, will you?”
I moved into his place at the wheel. “I haven’t done it yet,” I said nervously.
“You’ve sailed a boat before, though, haven’t you?”
“Well, yes, but —”
“Just hold the wheel; keep us on the same bearing.”
I nodded and took hold of the wheel. “OK.”
I watched Dean and Sam square up to each other out of the corner of my eye.
“If you have something to say, I’d rather you say it,” Sam said to Dean.
“Yeah, I’m sure you would,” Dean replied.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Dean took his hands out of his pockets and waved them at the ship. “This!” he said. “All of it. We’re in a contest out at sea, in the middle of the thickest fog in the world, and what are we doing about it? We’re listening to some mumbo jumbo about a piece of jewelry that’s supposedly magical; we’ve got girls running the show; and we’ve got you wanting to talk about it.” Dean hissed through his teeth. “It’s embarrassing,” he added.
“Embarrassing?” Sam replied. “What’s embarrassing about it?”
“You’re supposed to be a pirate. I’m supposed to call you Captain,” Dean replied. “Neither word fits you. I’m ashamed to be on the same ship as you.”
“Oh, really?” Sam replied. “Well, if you feel that strongly about it, I’m sure we can find ways to solve that problem for you.” He waved a hand at the plank of wood we’d used to get across to the ship when we’d boarded. “Go ahead; you’re free to leave anytime you like.”
“Ha! You want me to walk the plank?” Dean scoffed. “That’s your solution? Even when you do act like a pirate, it’s more like one from a corny old movie than a real-life, modern-day pirate. It’s bad enough that your dad is a caricature of a pirate but you’re just as bad. The only one in your family with any idea of modern pirating is your brother. And believe me, if I get half a chance to jump ship, his is the one I’ll be joining.”
Dean’s voice was rising with each word. Others were starting to notice. Ana poked her head out from inside the office. Luke was making his way across the deck from the front.
“Everything OK here?” Luke asked as he joined us.
“It’s about as OK as it will ever be with a clueless, hopeless loser in charge, clutching at straws and hoping for magical jewels to solve our problems,” Dean replied.
Sam’s face was bright red. He looked like he was ready to throw Dean off the ship himself, never mind make him walk the plank.
Ana had joined us too. “What’s up?” she asked. “Anything I can help with?”
“I think we’re beyond help,” Dean mumbled.
“Dean, come on,” Luke said.
“Come on, what?” Dean snapped back. “You know you agree with me.”
“I . . .” Luke began.
“Dudes, what’s going on?” Hal had come over to join us.
“Nothing much,” Ana replied. “Just the usual arguments.”
Hal started to ask something else. I didn’t hear what he said, as Dean and Sam had both raised their voices and Luke was shouting louder than them both to try to tell them to stop arguing. Soon, everyone was talking — and no one was listening.
Everything was falling apart. How had it happened so quickly? A couple of hours ago, we’d been a team, ready to steam ahead and win round two of the contest. Now we were nothing more than an arguing crowd.
I held the wheel tightly and focused on the figures of the dial in front of me. I had one job: keep us on course. Even if that course was starting to seem pointless. Even if it was beginning to seem like we’d barely last another five minutes without having an outright mutiny on our hands.
And then I heard a voice. Someone was calling.
“Hey,” I said. No one responded. They were too busy yelling at one another to notice me.
Again. The voice. It was Kat! She was shouting from the top of the mast and waving down to us.
“Guys!” I said more firmly.
Still no reply.
“Hey!” I yelled. “Just shut up and listen, will you?”
That did it. All of them stopped talking and turned to look at me.
I pointed above us. “It’s Kat,” I said. “She’s calling us.”
Everyone looked up. She was waving madly at us with one hand; the other holding tightly on to the mast.
“What is it, Kat?” Sam called up to her.
“We’re there!” she called back. “The crystal’s leading us there.”
“Seriously?” Ana stepped forward and shouted up. “It’s working?”
Kat grinned widely. It changed her whole face, took the hardness out of her features. “It’s working!” she said. “I can see land ahead.”
I turned to Sam. His eyes were wide. “You’re sure?” he called up.
“Absolutely positive. It’s a huge bay, looks like golden sand and turquoise water.”
“Crystal Bay,” I breathed. “We’ve found it.”
Dean hadn’t said anything yet. Sam turned to face him. Squaring up to him so that their faces were almost touching, he said, “Want to call me a loser again, Dean?”
Dean stared Sam in the face, but Sam didn’t back down. Eventually, Dean shrugged. “Whatever,” he mumbled.
He turned away from Sam and was about to walk off. “Hey!” I called to him.
Dean turned to me. So did Sam. Sam flashed me a “What are you doing?” look. I didn’t care. I’d promised Sam I would help him get the respect of his crew. I had to do this.
“Sam knows what he’s doing,” I said, my heart thumping with nerves as I spoke. Why would Dean listen to me? “He�
�s the captain. It’s time you recognized that.”
Dean’s eyes opened so wide his eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline. “Says who?” he asked with a sneer. “The onboard prisoner who’s only been let out of her cell while we’re too far out at sea for her to run away?”
Half of me wanted to reply by telling him how wrong he was. That, actually, I could leave anytime I wanted. The other half of me knew that announcing I was a mermaid to the whole crew would be the worst thing I could do right now.
Either way, I didn’t have time to reply. Sam did it for me.
“Actually, no. That’s not who she is,” he said. With a glance at me, he added, “At least, it isn’t anymore.”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked. “If she’s not a prisoner, what is she?”
Sam took a breath, pausing before he replied. Then he said, “She’s the person who just found the most important thing we’ve managed to come up with since we set foot on this ship. She’s the person who might have just saved all of us from humiliation and defeat.” He turned to me and smiled. “She’s the person I am officially declaring one of the crew.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Dean murmured under his breath.
“That’s the end of the discussion,” Sam said, taking charge again. “We’ve got more important matters on our hands. Like winning round two.”
Before anyone had a chance to argue with him, he went on. “Luke, can you take the helm? Stay on this course unless we say otherwise.”
Luke nodded and came to take over for me.
“Emily, I want you to stay between the mast and the wheel. Listen to Kat’s instructions and pass them straight on to Luke. We need every move to be accurate now.”
“OK,” I replied, and started picking my way across the deck.
“Ana and Dean, I want you both on the sails. Dean, you’re in charge on the deck. You are the most skilled at trimming the sails with fine precision.”
“How did you —?” Dean began.
“I watch. I observe,” Sam cut in. “I’m the captain. It’s my job to notice these things.”
For once, too stunned to argue, Dean simply nodded.