by Lisa McMann
“Were you seriously sad to hear about our parents?” Alex said.
“Weren’t you?” Aaron shot back.
“No, not really,” Alex retorted. “They sent me to my death. I didn’t have a lot of fond feelings left after that.”
Aaron felt himself struggling, already losing his focus on who he was. This was going to be disastrous. He fought to find his center once more, and to turn his lenses around, and said quietly, “I really can’t imagine what that must have felt like. At the Purge, I mean.”
“It was horrible!” Alex said, balling up his fists. “I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. I wouldn’t wish it on you.”
Aaron was quiet for a moment, and then he said, “You said you knew somehow that I was hurt. How did you know?”
Alex lifted his head and looked at his brother. “Because my soul broke in half, Aaron.”
Aaron stared. “What?” he whispered.
Alex clamped his hand to his ribs. “My soul broke in half and part of it went to you. I can’t explain it—that’s just how it felt. But it hurt like nothing I have ever felt before. Worse than broken ribs. Worse than a broken heart. I knew you were dying. I could feel it.”
Aaron swallowed hard, unable to speak.
Alex gave a sardonic laugh. “And when the pain went away, and I knew you were alive, I even went out to find you on my own. But then I came to my senses and turned back home.” He shook his head. “And finally,” he said bitterly, “finally I was ready to give up on you forever. I even managed to forget about you for a while. But then this happened.”
“Are you saying you didn’t want to go along with Simber’s plan?” asked Aaron.
“That’s what I’m saying.” Alex sat up and faced forward, watching the pink-and-orange sky grow dark.
“Oh,” said Aaron.
“But I did it anyway, because I need to do what’s right for my people.” Alex had a sharp tone to his voice. “Because I love my people,” he went on. “I love them, and I want to do anything I can to save them, and to keep one more friend from dying.” He choked back a sob, thinking of Meghan, and knowing Aaron would make fun of him for crying.
But Aaron didn’t. He faced forward now too, and looked out over the water. How much pain had he caused his brother over the years? He was ashamed. Having all these feelings, and letting them be free, finally—it was hard.
Sky peeked through the windshield, unable to hear the conversation, but it was clear to her a conversation was happening. The brothers were nearly identical now in posture, though they probably never thought about things like that.
Finally Aaron looked at Alex. And he thought about Ishibashi, and knew what he needed to do.
“Alex,” he said.
Alex turned his head. “What?”
“I’m . . . I’m so sorry for killing Mr. Today. It happened very suddenly, and I was surprised, and I just . . . I just reacted to him appearing in that room out of nowhere, ten feet away from me. But I take the blame for killing him, and I was proud about it then . . . but not now. And I’m sorry. I am. I hope you believe me.”
Alex groaned heavily and after a moment got to his feet. “I’m having a lot of trouble dealing with all of this right now,” he said, more gently than he felt like saying it. But Aaron’s new soft-spoken ways were influencing him.
Aaron nodded. He couldn’t force Alex to acknowledge the apology. He could only make it.
Alex moved to the captain’s seat and dropped into it, somewhat numb. Eventually Sky got up and handed out meals since no one else was doing it.
They ate in strained silence, and before Sky went to bed, she moved to where Alex was sitting. She rested a cool hand on his neck and placed a gentle kiss on the top of his head. He looked up at her, eyes grateful.
Aaron watched them, breaking apart a little inside.
Sky went into the cabin and came out with another blanket. She brought it to Aaron and showed him how to fold down the seat so he could sleep on it.
“Thanks,” he said, looking at her.
Sky recognized the pain in his eyes, and for the briefest moment it brought her back to the rooftop of the gray shack with Alex—the expression was almost identical. “You’re welcome, Aaron,” she said. “Good night.” She went up to the bow with her blanket and curled up on the cushions.
Aaron slept restlessly, but Alex stayed awake long into the night, trying to figure out why everything in his life felt like it had been completely turned upside down.
But First, a Pit Stop
After daylight, with the Island of Graves looming large, Alex told Aaron that they were stopping to rescue a stranded sailor. By midmorning they had reached their destination. Alex guided the boat to the high side of the island where the gorillas couldn’t rush at them, and where the girl would attempt to rappel down the rock using her vine rope. Hopefully it was long enough, for in daylight Alex could see exactly why she couldn’t just let go and land in the water—because there were rocks below.
While they floated, Sky explained in more detail to Aaron what was happening and what they were doing here. His eyes grew wide in fear as she described the gorillas, and he looked aghast when she showed him the scratches on her back. Though they no longer hurt, they were still very visible.
“Basically,” Alex told him, “just sit quietly and say something if you see any gorillas coming our way, because they can swim, too.”
Aaron grew pale. “Okay,” he managed to say.
“But,” Sky added, “if all goes well, the girl will be able to make it to the ground and we’ll get her in the boat and be off without any of them noticing.”
“Let’s hope for that,” Aaron said. “How will she know we’re here?”
“She can see us,” Sky said. “She knew we’d be coming back this way. She’ll sing when she thinks it’s safe.”
They didn’t have to wait long. Soon a girl’s voice came floating down, letting the boat’s occupants know that she was about to attempt her escape. “Stay where you are,” she sang, “but leave if you are attacked.”
“Well, that’s generous of her,” Aaron said dryly.
Alex shook his head. “As if we’d actually leave. We’re not going anywhere without her.”
Aaron looked at Alex. That was what Ishibashi was talking about—that good trait that Alex had. Alex really cared about people in trouble. No wonder he’d risked so much and tried so hard to find Aaron so he could come to Artimé to help them. Aaron used to hate that about Alex. But now he found himself almost admiring it.
Ten minutes later, a vine came hurtling over the side near the tallest tree. The end of it fell nearly all the way to the rocks.
“Looks like she finished it,” Sky said. Another minute later, she pointed. “There she is,” she said.
A young woman in tattered clothing began to descend the vine, bare feet pushing against the wall, inching her way down.
“She doesn’t have anything to catch her if she falls,” Alex said, nervous for her.
“Don’t you have any magic you can use to get her here safely?” asked Sky. She gripped the railing. “What about those stickyclips?”
“They’re gone,” Alex said. “Samheed only made a few. I used them all to try to get Sully.”
“Sully?” Aaron asked. “My driver?”
“Yeah—it’s a long story. Anyway, they’re gone.” He went through a mental list of spell options, but nothing he could think of would help in this situation, other than using scatterclips to stop her from falling in case she should let go of the rope too early.
Just then, Sky’s spine tingled. She turned to Alex. “Do you hear that?”
There was a tiny rumbling noise that grew louder. “Oh no,” Alex said. “Stampede?”
“I hope they’re going down the hill, away from her,” whispered Sky. “Aaron, glue your eyes to that spot over there,” she instructed, pointing to the beach a quarter of the way around the island. “If you see anything hitting the water, make sure to tell
us.” She opened the cabin door and signed to Charlie.
His eyes opened wide with fear, and he nodded.
Sky closed the door, leaving the gargoyle inside.
“Look,” Alex said softly. “She’s going faster.”
The girl moved down the vine rope, pushing off against the rock wall and sliding a little bit at a time, but the rumbling soon grew to a monstrous thundering. She began singing, but with the noise, no one could hear what she was saying.
And then, one by one, heads appeared at the top of the island, looking down on the girl. The gorillas pounded their chests and roared. The biggest one picked up the rope and started pulling the girl back up to them.
“No!” said Sky. “We have to do something!”
The girl started singing at the top of her voice, but with the gorillas roaring, Alex and Sky still couldn’t understand her.
Alex grabbed his scatterclips and stood ready to throw them if she started to fall, though once she was pinned to the wall he wasn’t sure what they could do. It would only buy them fifteen minutes or so before the spell wore off and she’d continue falling anyway. He didn’t want to use them if he didn’t have to.
“Do you think the gorillas will hurt her?” he asked. “Didn’t she say they let her live there?”
“I don’t know,” Sky said. “I think so. But she didn’t say what they’d do if she tried to escape.” She couldn’t take her eyes off the scene. The gorillas pulled the vine rope up and up and up, and the girl hung on for dear life. Her singing turned to shouting. Finally Sky understood something the girl was screaming. “Go to the graveyard! By the end of the river!” she was saying over and over.
Finally the gorillas pulled the girl over the edge. A few of them carried her above their heads and out of sight, while most of the other beasts had noticed the boat, and the thundering began once more.
Sky grabbed Alex’s arm. “What are we going to do? I heard her say go to the graveyard by the end of the river. We have to go!”
Alex nodded. “Let’s draw some of them into the water first to distract them from her.” He swung the boat around and headed for the beach, where the words “COME BACK” were still there, though they looked slightly wobbly, like they’d been trampled a time or two.
“Hey!” shouted Sky. “Hey, gorillas! We’re over here!”
“What are you doing?” Aaron exclaimed.
“Getting their attention,” said Sky.
Aaron stared at Sky like she’d lost her mind.
Some of the gorillas heard her, and they went down the near side of the waterfall, while others moved more slowly over the rocks down the far side toward the flat area, not far from the old ship.
“Um, Alex?” Aaron said. “They’re coming now.” He tapped on Sky’s arm. “Sky? Anybody? They’re coming right now.”
“Got it, thanks,” Sky said. “That’s what we want.”
“Spike,” Alex called, “we’re luring the gorillas into the water. Keep an eye out, and don’t be afraid to spear a few or let them chase you farther out to sea!”
“Yes, the Alex!” said the whale.
“She calls you ‘the Alex’?” Aaron muttered under his breath as the gorillas plunged into the water. He grabbed the railing.
“She does,” Alex said. He headed out to sea, enraging dozens of gorillas, then swung around and aimed for them, trying to draw even more into the water.
“I’d say we’ve got close to half of them out here in the water,” Sky said. “Whoa, they’re fast. Look out!”
Aaron leaped backward as if he’d been zapped. Half a dozen gorillas were suddenly in striking distance, and their saber teeth were enormous.
“Aaron!” Sky called. “Catch.” She grabbed the dagger belt and tossed it to Aaron, then took the sword for herself. Stationed at the side of the boat, she began to warm up her swing whenever any gorilla got a little too close.
“I’m going to draw them out a little farther, and then head around to the ship!” Alex shouted.
“We’ll still have half of them to deal with on land!” Sky shouted back. “We can’t fight them all!”
“But if she told us to go to the graveyard by the river, I think we should get over there!” Alex said, steering and training his eyes on the ones approaching in the water. “Besides, the gorillas on that side of the river are moving very slowly down the mountain. We’ll have time to figure something out. I hope.”
Aaron, seeing a gorilla’s arm stretching toward the side of the boat, yelled and stabbed at it with his dagger. The gorilla roared and retreated.
“Nice one, Aaron!” Sky said.
Aaron was too petrified to respond. He’d never actually used a weapon before.
Alex gave the boat a little burst of speed to get them out of reach. “I’m turning around now,” he said, pulling away from the gorillas. “Spike, distract them so it’ll take them a while to swim back to shore. Aaron, can you swim?”
“No,” said Aaron, his voice filled with terror. “I’ve barely touched the water—that I can remember anyway.”
“I figured as much,” Alex said. “Don’t fall out.” He guided the boat at top speed around to the low side of the island. “Hey, Charlie! I need you!”
Charlie peeked from behind the cabin door, and then at Alex’s urging, came out the rest of the way.
Alex lifted him up to stand on the captain’s chair and showed him where to hang on so he’d be safe. “I’m going to pull in next to the shipwreck,” Alex said, “right up close behind it so hopefully the gorillas can’t see us. Sky, Aaron, and I are going to go on shore. If you see any gorillas coming anywhere near our boat and we’re not running like heck in front of them, I need you to save our boat and get away from this island. Okay? Just use this lever to go fast, and use this wheel to steer. I’ll have you facing the right way and everything. You got it?”
Charlie nodded. He didn’t seem scared at all.
“Give it a try,” Alex said. “Drive around for a minute.”
Charlie did exactly what Alex told him to do, and the boat zoomed toward the shore.
“Good. You’re about as speedy as Lani, which is a good thing today,” said Alex. “If you have trouble, Spike will be here soon to help you.” He guided the boat all the way up to the shore, turned it around for a fast getaway, and stopped it in the shadow of the old beached ship.
“Sky, Aaron, ready? Come on,” Alex said, shoving a few more spells into his pockets, not that they had worked very well on these beasts in the past.
Aaron looked at his dagger. “Is this my only protection?” he asked.
“I’m not giving you any spell components, if that’s what you’re asking,” Alex said.
“What—you think I’d use them on you or something?”
“I don’t know if you would at this point,” said Alex. “Stay in the boat if you don’t want to help.”
“Aw, come on,” Aaron muttered.
Alex ignored him. He hopped out of the boat onto the rocks and ran around the old ship, heading for the flat graveyard area. Sky followed, carrying her sword. And a moment later Aaron hopped out with his dagger and went after the other two.
They ran straight to the flat area near the mouth of the river, watching right and left carefully, but no gorillas were on this part of the island. Though they were coming this way, based on the waving grass and brush on the mountain.
“Wow,” Sky said, bending down and pushing some grass aside. “Look at all these graves.”
Alex and Aaron looked around. Dozens of mounds of dirt peppered the area, overgrown with grass and weeds. Each mound had a large rock marker at one end. There were words on the rocks, identifying the person buried there. Alex knelt down next to one and pushed the overgrowth aside. “ ‘Marietta Plum, beloved performer and friend, d nov one, one nine one three,’ ” he read. He looked at another. “ ‘William Strange, animal trainer, d feb two five, one nine one four,’ ” he said. “And look—‘Figar Osari, ringmaster, d jan one t
hree, one nine one four.’ I wonder what a ringmaster is.”
“I don’t know. Some sort of lord of the rings, I suppose.” Sky moved on to read more, while Aaron stood watch, too scared to look anywhere but in the direction of the thundering gorillas. How he wished he had Panther here to protect him now!
“ ‘Imelda Fanzini,’ ” read Sky, “ ‘primate trainer, d apper one, one nine one four.’ ”
“Why are we waiting here, actually?” Aaron asked nervously.
Sky looked up. “We’re not sure, but the sailor seemed to know what she was talking about. I wonder why this is where she wants us to wait.”
“She probably has a reason after managing to survive here so long,” Alex said. He moved to read another gravestone. “ ‘Madame Fiona,’ ” he said. “ ‘Mother to us all.’ ” He looked up. “I wonder what the story is here. It’s wild.”
“What do the numbers mean?” asked Sky.
“I’m not exactly sure,” Alex said, “but I’ve seen numbers like that in some of the books we have in the library.”
The thundering grew louder. Aaron shifted anxiously, looking all around. “Do you see the girl anywhere?”
Sky and Alex strained to look as well. Then Sky pointed up. “Look. She’s jumping into the waterfall,” Sky said in awe. “She’s hanging on to a hunk of . . . something! See?” Sky watched as the girl free-fell a sickening distance. She landed at the bottom and disappeared in a big splash.
“Oh dear.” Sky stood on her tiptoes and watched. “I hope she survived that,” she murmured. A moment later, she spotted the girl again. “There she is! She’s coming this way down the river.”
“Unbelievable,” Alex said, eyes landing on the girl. She floated on a white board, paddling with all her might. Not far behind her, the gorillas were making their way down the rocky mountainside in pursuit.
“How did she get away from them at the top of the mountain?” Aaron wondered, his anxiety temporarily replaced by amazement.