Island of Fog (Book 1) (23 page)

Mr. Morgan drew himself up to his full, imposing height, his face distinctly red in the brightening moonlight. “It’s finished, Simone. Take us to the hole NOW!”

His sudden, angry bellow made everyone jump, and Wrangler gave a whine. In the silence that followed, Hal held his breath and wished over and over that he and Robbie had never laid eyes on the stupid fog-hole!

“All right,” Miss Simone said tightly. “Have it your way.”

“Let’s get some flashlights and lanterns,” Hal’s dad said, suddenly taking charge. “Meet back here in two minutes.”

As several men hurried off, Miss Simone shook her head and swept a hand through her hair. “This is not how I planned things,” she said to nobody in particular. “Mr. and Mrs. Bridges are already prepared for this journey. I have a boat waiting for them. But it’s only a
small
boat and I’m not sure I have time to row back and forth—what, five or six times before the virus reaches us? Some of us will have to swim.”

Swim
, Hal thought, thinking of the icy water.

There was an uproar at this. “We can’t swim in cold water in the middle of the night with all those rocks in the water,” Mrs. O’Tanner protested.

“We’ll freeze,” Dr. Porter agreed.

“Or drown,” Emily’s mom said.

“What do you suggest we do then?” Miss Simone asked icily. “If you won’t use the tunnel because it’s dark and dangerous, and you won’t use the hole by the lighthouse because you don’t like swimming near rocks, what do you suggest? Would you like to try diving off the cliff as I do, and swimming down to the third hole?” Miss Simone’s eyes blazed.

“Oh, stop arguing!” Mrs. Morgan cried. “Let’s just go! I can feel my skin starting to tingle.”

Whether this was true or not, Hal couldn’t tell. He suspected she was imagining it. Still, it galvanized the group into action. As the men returned with armfuls of flashlights and lanterns, Miss Simone grabbed one and began leading the way along the road at a fast pace that occasionally turned into a jog. Lanterns swung in the darkness and the air was filled with the sound of shuffling, hurrying feet on the paved surface.

“Biscuit!” Lauren suddenly exclaimed. “I can’t leave Biscuit—I need to go and find him.”

“Forget the stupid cat,” said one of the adults roughly. “If you kids hadn’t blocked up that hole—”

“He’ll be fine,” Lauren’s dad said in a more gentle voice. “We’ll make arrangements to collect him later. We’ll have to come back anyway, to collect the cows and sheep and what-have-you.”

Hal had a sudden ridiculous vision of herds of farm animals boarding a small boat, followed by a white cat with pale brown patches.

“Biscuit won’t come to anyone but me,” Lauren grumbled. “And he only has enough food for a day.”

“He’ll be fine,” her dad said again.

The night sky was undoubtedly clearer by now, and although the dissipating fog took with it the usual cold moistness, in its place was a frigid, dry air that was even colder.

“Are we all here?” Miss Simone called from the front. “Is Fenton with us?”

“He’s behind us,” Hal yelled. He and Abigail were at the rear, away from disapproving adult glares. Behind them, Fenton’s red eyes were pin-pricks in the shadows.

Miss Simone issued some instructions at the front of the group, then stood aside and waited while adults and children hurried by. Then she joined Hal and Abigail at the rear. Hal never felt more guilty in his whole life as Miss Simone glared at him.

“What a mess you’ve made of this,” she scolded. “You’d better hope we make it to the lighthouse before the fog clears off.”

“Do you really think the virus is still Out There?” Abigail asked.

“Yes,” Miss Simone said shortly. “But never mind that now. We need to work on your transformation, Abigail. I explained that you children had to remain here in your world until your transformations were complete. Well, yours isn’t complete, and yet here we are, about to cross over into my world.” She sounded distraught. “You must complete your transformation, otherwise you may never get the chance again.
Do you understand?
”

Abigail nodded silently. She suddenly grew her wings and buzzed away before anything else could be said on the matter.

Miss Simone sighed. “And, Hal, I’m trusting that when you say you can change, you really can?”

“I really can,” he said, panting a little as they hurried. “I just have a hard time making it happen. And I can’t fly yet either. I’ve never tried.”

She looked sideways at him as they walked. “So you’re a dragon, yes?”

He nodded. “So you know, then.”

“By the process of elimination, you can only be one of two creatures—and only one of those has wings. Emily must be the other.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t know which of us was which beforehand,” Hal murmured.

Miss Simone grunted. “I
should
have known. But for the sake of fairness, I was asked to randomize the breeding assignments so that nobody got to choose a dragon or centaur over an ogre or harpy.”

She put a hand on his shoulder and leaned closer, while remaining in step. “No matter what happens, Hal, you
must not
cross over to my world until you’re ready. Flight is essential for dragons. If you can’t fly, the other dragons will never respect you. They’ll tear you apart.”

“I have wings,” Hal said feebly.

“Wings are just there to look at until you’ve actually used them,” Miss Simone said firmly. “Remember what I told you about my friend, the flying horse who can’t fly.”

With that she jogged away with her cloak billowing and hair swishing from side to side. She caught up with Emily and began talking to her earnestly.

Hal was left with his thoughts. Ahead, Robbie gave him a glance, and raised his eyebrows as if to ask if everything was all right. Hal shrugged and nodded.

He worried about flying. It was hard enough transforming into a dragon, without learning how to fly as well. He resolved to give it a try the first chance he got. If he could only turn into a dragon right now—

But then he saw Emily, now walking alone with Wrangler. Miss Simone had gone on ahead to catch up with the parents. Hal increased his step.

“Hey,” he said. “What did she say?”

Emily’s reply was flat and emotionless. “She said that if I don’t change in the next fifteen minutes, then I’ll need to stay behind.”

“Stay behind?” Hal repeated. “What—on your own? She said that?”

“On my own,” Emily said, nodding. “None of our parents can stay here. Nor can Miss Simone. So, unless some of my friends stay with me . . .”

Hal squeezed her arm. “We’re not leaving without you, Emily. We’re in this together.”

The lighthouse was dark, but for once it stood silhouetted against a clear moon. The sight of the pitch-black tower against a starry sky and moonlit sea took Hal’s breath away. He stared and stared, forgetting for a moment that the adults were arguing up ahead.

Alongside him stood Abigail and Robbie and all his other friends, equally silent and awestruck. Fenton slithered silently across the paved lighthouse grounds toward the tower, and in the next moment climbed the wall for a better look.

The fog had been clearing faster and faster as they had made the strange journey across the island, flashlights bobbing and lanterns swinging. Here at the coast, the evening was still but bitterly cold. Waves rolled and crashed lazily against the rocks. And the fog was gone.

Not just partially gone, but
gone
. It lingered inland, caught up in trees and lost in the meadows, but here at the coast it had escaped, having finally—after thirteen years of service—been allowed to fade away to nothing.

In the distance, on the horizon, the moonlight sparkled on the sea and the black silhouettes of buildings stood against a not-quite-black sky. The moon was bright, not quite full but brighter and sharper than Hal had ever imagined it. He saw stars. They twinkled just as his mom had always said they did. He’d never truly believed that, having seen nothing but photographs throughout his whole life, but here they were, twinkling, winking at him from far away.

The group had hurried through the vandalized gates without stopping, although Hal had seen a number of startled looks and more than one fatherly glare. As they approached the lighthouse, the children slowed to a stop while the adults continued on to a rocky outcrop. Hal and his friends stood admiring the night scene as their parents crowded onto a short dock, where a small boat was tied to a post—the boat that Miss Simone had brought along for Fenton’s journey. An argument started up; the men wanted all the women to get to safety first, but the women wanted to go as complete families.

“It makes more sense if we go one complete family at a time,” one of the moms insisted, her voice rising above the sound of crashing waves. “Otherwise we might end up with a bunch of women safe and sound in Simone’s world, but a bunch of dead husbands left behind here—”

Then one of the women cried out.

Hal searched the darkness. The adults were just a mass of black shapes on the short dock, but lanterns swung and cast haphazard glows around the circle of faces. It soon became obvious that it was Robbie’s mom who had cried out. She staggered and fell to her knees.

Men and women clustered around her. Then Dr. Porter’s voice rose above the babble. “Move aside.
Get out of the way.
” There was a silence, then some hushed whispers, as Dr. Porter examined Mrs. Strickland. “She has the virus. She needs to get to safety
now
.”

Robbie broke from the group of watching children and bolted over to the dock. When he reached the circle of adults, his dad pulled him back.

“What’s wrong with her?” Robbie yelled.

His mom was holding her face and seemed to be crooning while others held her upright. One of the men had removed his cap and was dipping it into the sea, then splashing the cold water in Mrs. Strickland’s face. Meanwhile, Miss Simone was in the boat already, untying it and trying to make herself heard over the commotion.

“Get her in the boat! Get her in the boat!”

Hal rushed to the rocks. Panic surged through his body.
It’s too late! The virus is here!

The adults wouldn’t let any of the children near Mrs. Strickland. Even Robbie was pushed back, although he yelled to get through. Then, in a flash, his huge ogre shape loomed over them, and everyone fell back at once.

“Maauummm,” the ogre thundered, and hunkered down. As he reached for her, he became himself again, and thus it was Robbie’s human eyes and clear human mind that saw up close what the virus was doing to his mother.

He yelled in anguish.

Then Mrs. O’Tanner covered her face with both hands. “Oh, no, no!” she cried. “It’s happening to me too!”

Miss Simone had stopped shouting and was staring curiously at her own arms. She held them up to the moonlight and watched as her skin began to rise in large blisters. “We’re too late,” she said softly.

Hal stood rooted to the spot. He had never felt so useless in all his life. What could he do to help? He could breathe fire—the last thing anyone wanted. Even if he could fly, what use was that? He couldn’t carry more than a few, and he didn’t know where the hole to Elsewhere was anyway.

If only they had a bigger boat.

Or, more to the point, if only they hadn’t blocked the fog-hole!

Hal cursed himself and wished he could undo what they had done. He could send Robbie hurtling across the island to unblock it, but it was far, far too late for that. The virus was already here.

He thought of his raft, somewhere out in the water. But even with that to hand, it was not enough. Besides, it was either floating way out to sea by now, or had been pulled under by the sea serpent.

And then Hal thought of something. He shouldered past Abigail, pushed Darcy aside, and weaved around the milling parents to where Miss Simone stood in the bobbing boat. “Miss Simone! The serpent! The sea serpent! Call it to us!”

Miss Simone hardly heard him. She seemed morbidly fascinated by her own bubbling skin. Her face was showing signs of the virus too, and her eyes were puffy and beginning to close.

“Massive allergic reaction,” she said dreamily. “Whatever hidden allergies people might have, this virus triggers them all, leading to hives and angioedema and anaphylactic shock . . .” She put a trembling hand to her head and closed her eyes. “Prickly, sensitive skin . . . dizziness . . . labored breathing . . . soon my throat will constrict and . . .”

One of the men started a coughing fit.

“Miss Simone,” Hal said desperately. “Listen to me.
Call the sea monster!
Call it to us. It can carry you all to the hole.”

Miss Simone turned her head to him, but her eyes were all but closed now. She mumbled through swollen lips, “I can’t call it. It’s out there somewhere, but I don’t speak its language.”

Two more men started to groan. Three of the girls—Emily, Darcy and Lauren—were crying and vainly trying to splash water over the virus victims to cool their reddened, blistering skin.

Hal shut out the noise and tried to focus. How could he get the sea serpent to help? He knew it was smart. It had strict instructions to keep them on the island—but it could help if Hal could only make himself understood.

Fenton?
He
was a serpent. A serpent dragon, admittedly, but a serpent nevertheless.

He was about to search for the boy when Miss Simone collapsed. Gasping, she toppled backward into the boat. Hal jumped in with her, fighting to remain standing as the boat threatened to capsize.

“Miss Simone,” he said, leaning over her. “Miss Simone, can Fenton talk to the sea monster? Can he talk the serpent’s language?”

Miss Simone was having difficulty breathing. Her throat was impossibly bloated, and showed large patches of blue. But she managed to squeeze out a word. “No.”

Hal felt that his last remaining hopes had just been dashed on the rocks. He tried to ignore the gasps and shouts and cries behind him. He knew that if he turned and saw his own parents succumbing to the virus, he would lose all chance of coherent thought.

Miss Simone grasped his wrist in powerful fingers. Startled, Hal saw that her fingers were webbed. Her skin was still blistering, but suddenly the swelling in her throat had diminished and her eyes were wide open. She looked different somehow, more vibrant. Her face had taken on a strange luminescence.

She smiled. “Hal, you’re right. The sea serpent is the answer. Go fetch it.”

“But you said Fenton can’t speak the language—”

“Fenton can’t,” Miss Simone said. “But Emily can.”

With that, she fell back and closed her eyes. Hal suddenly realized she had changed—dramatically. Her legs had been replaced by the tail end of a fish, with gigantic fins that spread and flopped over the side of the boat. The fishy scales spread up as far as her belly. Her magic clothes had transformed around her, and now covered her upper half only, with the rest draped like seaweed in the boat. Her cloak remained, but it too seemed different—long and stringy, almost like reeds, as if her clothes were an extension of her half-fish body.

“A mermaid,” Hal muttered.

But the meaning of Miss Simone’s words was still ringing in his ears.
Emily can speak to the sea serpent.
But she could only do that if . . .

He clambered out of the boat. “Emily! Get over here!”

“My dad—” she cried.

“The only way we can save them,” Hal said firmly, grasping her by the shoulders, “is for you to change. You’re a serpent of some kind, Emily. You can talk to the sea serpent in the water. Call it here and it will carry us all to the hole.”

Emily wasn’t taking it in. Tears were running down her face and she was shaking her head, trying to look over her shoulder at her poor mother, who was doubled up on the dock. A quick glimpse told Hal that only a few of the adults remained standing.

He ground his teeth and shook Emily. “You’ve got to
do
something,” he said. “Emily, please.”

But he couldn’t even turn into a dragon himself when he wanted to. How could he expect Emily to turn into a serpent when she wasn’t even aware she could change!

On impulse, Hal whispered in her ear, “Sorry about this, Emily. Let’s find that serpent.”

Then he gripped her around the waist and tumbled backward off the dock into the water, taking her with him. She had time to scream before the icy water engulfed them both—then they were both underwater with the ocean roaring in their ears.

Salt water immediately gushed up Hal’s nose and caused him a moment of panic. Before he knew it, he had let go of Emily. He fought to open his eyes, but the salt stung and he blinked frantically.

Then he felt his body weight shift and suddenly found his eyes no longer stung. He opened them wide, surprised and pleased that he could see so clearly. It was a moment before he realized he was a dragon.

Where was Emily?
He jerked his head around, searching. Being able to see underwater wasn’t much good in the darkness of night, although the bright moon provided some eerie illumination at the surface. Luckily, that was where she was, flailing legs and arms amid white frothing seawater. She was already a startling distance away from him, the tide dragging at her and pushing her toward the rocks. Hal flicked his tail and twisted his body, and found it very easy to move through the water. He reached her in seconds, holding his breath with ease.

But instead of surfacing next to her, he gently tugged on one of her ankles and pulled her down into the depths of the water. He felt terrible for poor Emily—he could tell from her thrashing that she was half crazy with terror. She thought she was drowning.

And that was what Hal was counting on. As she ran out of breath and started bucking, something dramatic happened: she changed. It wasn’t an instantaneous transformation, but it was fast enough to surprise Hal even though he had been hoping for it.

It started at Emily’s shoulders. Her arms stopped flailing and came together, tighter and tighter until they were pressed firmly to her sides. Then a strange rippling occurred over her skin, and her arms fused with her body, her pale pink flesh stretching and becoming indented and scaly. All this happened in a split second, and the strange rippling continued down her torso to her legs, at which point her legs stopped kicking and pressed together, her toes pointed as the skin stretched and hardened. In moments she was cocooned like a caterpillar, with only her head free.

Amazed, Hal watched as Emily slowly drifted downwards. As she fell past him, her eyes locked on his. They were wide, her mouth open as if trying to emit a scream. Her face was white, and by contrast her hair looked like some kind of jet-black inky substance leaking slowly into the water.

But Emily’s transformation hadn’t finished. Hal looked again and realized her torso was now lengthening rapidly. And while it lengthened, it began to undulate, looking less like a fat cocoon and more like a giant serpent.

Emily began to rise and swim around, flicking her body back and forth, glancing back at herself with obvious shock mingled with—what? Relief?

“Go find the serpent,” Hal tried to say, instead creating a lot of bubbles.

Still, Emily noticed him trying to speak. Her nostrils flared and she opened her mouth. A single large bubble popped out and rose to the surface. Obviously puzzled, Emily watched, almost cross-eyed, as another bubble popped out of her mouth.

Then she peered into the darkness of the sea. She seemed to be sniffing, or perhaps using some other sense Hal wasn’t aware of, to seek out the gigantic sea serpent.

Watching her, Hal did a double-take. What kind of creature had the body of a serpent and the head of a human? She had no legs or arms, and at first glance it looked like a giant snake had tried to swallow her whole, feet first. It was a bizarre sight . . . and yet she already appeared to be adapting to her new body. And the prospect of drowning didn’t seem to be on her mind anymore. Either she could breathe underwater, or she could hold her breath for longer in her new body.

One of Miss Simone’s stories sprung to Hal’s mind, the one about the snake folk and the rock slide . . .
Naga!
Emily was one of those human-snake naga creatures.

Hal swam to the surface, fearful that all was too late. How long had he been gone? It felt like ages, but couldn’t have been more than a minute. As he emerged into the air above, sounds sharpened suddenly and he heard sobbing and yelling. Not a single adult was left standing. They were either sitting or lying on the dock, faces and arms swelled up, eyes puffed closed.

Hal clambered onto the dock. By the time he climbed to his feet, he realized he was human again, dripping wet and shivering. “I sent Emily to find the serpent,” he gasped, gesturing toward the water. “But let’s not wait. Let’s get some of them into the boat. Robbie’s mom can go in first.”