Island of Fog (Book 1) (25 page)

When Hal finally exploded from the water, the sound of pandemonium hit him—splashing and yelling as parents, now wide awake, choked and spluttered, ducked and bobbed, trying to regain control in their half-dazed, semi-conscious states. Robbie, in ogre form, unceremoniously picked up a couple of adults at a time, one under each arm, and dumped them on the grassy bank before stomping back into the water to retrieve a couple more. Hal saw his own mom tossed onto the grass, and winced.

Dewey splashed noisily out of the lake with his mom somehow clinging to his broad centaur back. Meanwhile, Abigail was struggling to pull Dr. Porter clear of the water, her wings buzzing noisily, but she seemed unable to rise above the surface and kept sinking down to her waist, barely keeping her mom afloat. Hal knew she wasn’t going to make it to land with such a heavy, sodden weight, so he ducked under the water once more, swam underneath, and surfaced with the doctor draped around his neck. Abigail, gasping, sank gratefully into the water and paddled ashore.

It wasn’t until Hal stamped up onto the grassy bank and gently deposited his load that he took a moment to pause. He glanced around the lake. Half a minute ago the water had been filled with gasping adults, screaming children, a dog, an ogre, a centaur, a couple of sinister black reptilian things, and probably a few other creatures that Hal had been too busy to notice, not to mention the sea serpent itself, which surely must be close by somewhere, in the depths of the lake.

Now, however, all was calm in the water, the only evidence of a recent disturbance being a few broken ripples and somebody’s discarded shirt.

They all lay on the grass, exhausted. The rude dumping in cold water had revived many of the adults, and they were rolling around, moaning and grumbling. Hal studied each of them in turn, appalled at the sight of the swollen faces and reddened skin, but encouraged by the signs of life. Only a few remained unconscious, including Miss Simone, but Hal and his friends had already rushed around to check on them all, and knew they were okay. Abigail seemed as confident as her mom as they both checked for pulses and listened for heart beats; Dr. Porter had trained her daughter in that kind of thing long ago. And so, with sighs of relief, the children had slumped back on the grass and thanked their lucky stars that the situation wasn’t much, much worse.

Maybe everything’s going to be all right
, Hal thought.

Human once more, he propped himself up on an elbow and sniffed the air. It was sweet, somehow fresher than he had ever known, clean and dry. He felt unable to stop himself from inhaling deeply. It almost made him feel giddy.

The slightest of breezes ruffled his damp hair and moved the long grass. The stars shone in the sky, bright and perfect, a dazzling array of patterns. Hal studied the moon, marveling at the way it glowed so big and round. Was that a face he saw looking down at him? Hal had heard about the face in the moon, and had seen pictures of it, but had never imagined seeing it with his own eyes. His dad had told him that the moon always looked toward the earth, never turning away—a friendly, watchful guardian.

Was this the same guardian that looked down on his own world? Did the two worlds share the same moon, or was it two different moons that happened to look the same?

Hal heard a splash and saw the gigantic sea serpent rising out of the lake for a moment, its bright white body cutting easily through the water. The lake was large, but Hal guessed the serpent wouldn’t enjoy it as much as the open sea around the island. It would probably get restless! He wondered if this lake was its original home, before being sent through the hole to watch over the island.

Miss Simone stirred. She slowly sat up and touched her face, looking puzzled. Her long scaly fish-tail uncurled and huge fins unfolded and quivered. Studying her swollen wrists for a moment, she finally looked around at all the other patients. Her mouth dropped open.

“We’re all alive,” she whispered. A grin spread across her face and she pushed back her dripping hair, looking around. “And we’re home,” she finished, nodding with satisfaction.

“Emily found the sea serpent and asked it to help,” Darcy said.

“She did?” Miss Simone asked, her eyebrows shooting up. She sought out Emily, who lay nearby. “Really? You transformed before we came through the hole? That’s wonderful!”

Emily sat up, looking pleased with herself. No longer in her snake body, she drew up her legs, staring at them as if wondering how they had managed to return to normal after such a dramatic transformation. Her gaze settled briefly on Miss Simone’s fish-tail, and then she replied modestly, “But it was Hal who made me change. I could never have done it if he hadn’t pushed me into the water and then tried to drown me.”

“Hal tried to
drown
you?” her mom said feebly, looking shocked as she joined in the conversation. She groaned and fingered her puffy eyelids. “I can’t see. My eyes are swollen shut.”

“I think it’ll pass, Mrs. Stanton,” Miss Simone said, sounding awed. “This is a first. When the virus first struck all those years ago, the reaction was far more severe and people died of heart failure, or couldn’t breathe, or went into shock and simply shut down. We were lucky—the virus must have weakened over the years. This was a fairly mild case, all things considered.”

“Mild case!” Mr. Morgan yelled indignantly. “Have you
seen
my wife lately? Her face looks like a sack of potatoes.”

“Nice,” Abigail murmured.

“But we’re
alive
,” Miss Simone said calmly. “Since we’re not dead already, perhaps the worst is over. The swelling will subside and we’ll recover. Is everyone conscious?”

Her long mermaid tailfin suddenly began to split down the middle, the scales fading and smoothing out. She quickly adjusted her dress, which had undergone a rapid and remarkable transformation of its own, and climbed unsteadily to her feet. Her green dress was soaking wet and her silky gown clung to her back, but as she walked across the grass to tend to the adults, her gown billowed suddenly and was, to Hal’s amazement, inexplicably bone dry. Miss Simone ran her hands through her golden hair and, in the blink of an eye, it too was dry, somehow tumbling across her shoulders instead of plastering itself to her face.

Neat trick
, Hal thought.

Abigail reached out and touched his hand. “You saved us,” she said quietly. “You acted while the rest of us stood around panicking.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Hal said. “It was Miss Simone’s idea to get Emily to talk to the serpent.”

“But you
got
her to do it,” Abigail insisted. “And while she was doing that, you took the boat out and found the hole, and showed us where it was just when we needed it. If it weren’t for you, we’d still be sitting on the rocks by the lighthouse.”

Hal said nothing. Maybe she was right . . . and yet he didn’t feel much like a hero. He realized it was because he was so laden with guilt. “We should never have blocked the fog-hole,” he mumbled.

“Well, we did, and we’re here. So everything turned out all right in the end.”

“Did it?” Hal sighed and looked around once more. “What happens now? What happens to the cows and horses and sheep back on the island? They can’t fend for themselves. Are we supposed to make them swim here?”

A laugh made him jump. It was Miss Simone; she was tending to Robbie’s mother, one of the few who remained unconscious. Robbie and his dad sat close by, looking relieved. At first Hal wondered what she was laughing at, until she turned and looked at him.

“Don’t worry, we won’t make the cows swim,” she said. “But it will be a bit of a journey for them nevertheless. We’ll bring them through the vent, or the fog-hole as you call it.”

“Biscuit!” Lauren exclaimed. “I hope he’s okay. Are you sure the virus won’t affect him, Miss Simone?”

Miss Simone looked puzzled for a moment. Then: “Oh, your cat. I’m sure he’ll be fine. You can collect him soon, I promise.”

She suddenly frowned as if remembering something, and gave Hal a long, curious stare. “Hal,” she began, but then she was distracted by something, and when Hal followed her gaze he saw three pricks of flickering light appearing out of the nearby forest. Hal strained his eyes, but could make out only a vague shape moving toward them.

Miss Simone mumbled something to Robbie’s dad and then clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. She addressed the adults first. “All right, please listen. I know you’re all feeling pretty rotten, but I believe you’re all going to be just fine once the swelling goes down. Still, I want our doctors to check you over, give you some medicine to soothe the skin, that sort of thing. Help is on the way.” She gestured toward the flickering lights. “Just over there is a small settlement, sort of a lookout post tucked away in the trees. They were expecting me to bring the Bridges family through the hole tonight, so I guess they’re pretty surprised to see so many of you.”

She turned to the children, looking at each of them in turn. “My people can take it from here. They’ll arrange transport, medicine, food, shelter, everything your parents need for a fast recovery. I should think they’ll be fine in the morning.”

The approaching dark shapes were beginning to take form. Squinting, Hal made out a group of squat figures moving through the long, lush grass. Immediately he was reminded of the short, stumpy people he’d seen during the storm at Robbie’s house. These were Miss Simone’s people?

“If you children would like to come with me,” Miss Simone said, “I’ll show you a couple of things while making plans at the same time. Also,” she added, her eyes narrowing, “we have a job to do.”

Hal went to check on his parents again. “Are you doing okay, Mom?” he asked, pleased to see that she was awake at last.

“I’ve felt better,” she croaked. Her eyes were shut tight and everything on her face that could swell was swollen. She kept taking short, panting breaths.

“Just rest,” Hal’s dad said. He didn’t look much better himself, but seemed reasonably comfortable, breathing easily. He was rubbing his arms and occasionally scratching at reddened skin. For a moment Hal stared, wondering if his dad was about to turn into a monster. A strange rash on an arm . . . Wasn’t that how everything had started?

“Are you going to be okay if I go off with Miss Simone?” he asked anxiously.

“We’ll be fine,” his dad said. “Hey, son—” Blindly he reached out and grabbed Hal’s shoulder, squeezing it firmly. “You did good, Hal. I don’t remember much of anything, but I do remember everyone rolling around moaning and all the kids crying. Except for
you
. You were busy
doing
something, Hal.”

Hal swallowed. “I was scared though,” he mumbled. He suddenly felt deeply ashamed. “And I was too scared to come and see if you were okay. I was afraid you were—”

“You did good, Hal,” his dad repeated softly. His strong, reassuring hand reached up and ruffled Hal’s hair, then carefully stroked it flat again. “We’re all going to be fine. It was a bit of a rough journey getting here, but we’re here.”

“We’ll wake up tomorrow with the sun on our faces,” Hal’s mom said weakly. She smiled, trying to find Hal’s hand. “We’ll have to find some sunblock for our pale skin. And you’ll have to remember to drink plenty of water. It gets hot here, and—”

She broke off, gasping for a breath.

“Rest,” Hal said, feeling awful for her.

A few minutes later, he regrouped with his friends, or most of them anyway. Fenton was missing again. Hal knew the big boy had come through the hole; his sinister dragon form had been unmistakable even in those frantic moments underwater. But Hal couldn’t remember if he had seen him since. Where was he now?

“Haven’t seen him for a while,” Darcy said, when Hal asked around.

“I saw him slinking off,” Robbie said. “He’s weird.”

They waited nervously while Miss Simone’s people arrived from the forest. They were not human. Hal counted seven of them, the three at the front holding aloft fiery torches. Shorter than Hal, and about twice as thick in limb and body, they looked powerful and heavy enough to walk straight through doors without bothering to open them first. They were like miniature versions of Robbie’s ogre, able to throw boulders and snap branches without batting an eyelid. For a moment, Hal imagined himself rushing at one of these creatures with all his might . . . and bouncing off again.

But they weren’t ogres. These people were scowling and broody, with pig-like faces and small, dark eyes. Large irregular teeth jutted out at odd angles, nostrils flared, and pointed ears twitched. They each wore rough, dirty clothing, dull leather boots, and a variety of belts, ropes and chains around their waists. On their heads they wore simple metal helmets shaped to fit around their ears—old and dull, dented in places. A few of them had similar metal shoulder armor, while a couple wore fine chain vests. All of them carried small bags or pouches over their shoulders.

Soldiers
, Hal thought, thinking of pictures he’d seen in history books, of old medieval battles with swords and horses.

“Children,” Miss Simone said, nodding at the lead soldier as the patrol marched past. “These are my friends. Goblins and humans get along perfectly, and we’re perhaps the closest allies in our land. Goblins are extremely hard-working and loyal, and thoroughly trustworthy, if a little crabby sometimes.”

One of the soldiers twisted his head around and bared his teeth in a snarl. But Miss Simone laughed as if they’d shared a private joke. “Now don’t worry,” she went on. “Gristletooth will take good care of your parents. He and his henchmen have all sorts of medicine in those bags. Let’s leave them to their work.”

Miss Simone started along the trail of flattened grass to the forest, and the children followed silently at a distance so they could talk quietly to each other. Hal wondered at first how the goblins had managed to leave such a wide, well-defined trail, but then kicked himself; obviously the trail was old, and probably used often. After all, the lake contained one of the few remaining doorways to another world.

“So this is where Miss Simone is from,” Abigail said, walking beside Hal. “Imagine her jumping in the lake every day and swimming underwater, through the hole, and to the island—”

“And,” Robbie said, “returning through a different hole. Remember when she dove off the cliff? I wonder how deep underwater
that
hole is, and where it comes out at this end.”

Miss Simone slowed and allowed the children to catch up. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” she said. “Ask me anything.”

Hal thought of something immediately. “Are you human? You keep saying you’re human, like when you mentioned earlier about how humans and goblins are allies—but, um . . .”

“You’re a mermaid,” Abigail finished for him.

Miss Simone nodded.

“And if you’re a human that can turn into a mermaid,” Hal went on, “does that mean . . . well, does that mean you’re like us? A shapeshifter? If so, why did the virus affect you?”

“I’m a shapeshifter,” Miss Simone confirmed. “Just like you. My parents lived in your world, as yours did. And like you, I was born and raised in a remote area away from ordinary children. I was one of twelve, and we went to a small private school in the middle of thousands of acres of privately owned land, miles from any other city or town. My parents learned to be self-sufficient, just like yours. Slowly but surely, our small community broke all contact with the outside world. It was very nice, actually, growing up there. But of course,” she added, “we had sunshine and no threat of virus.”

“And you changed into a mermaid,” Lauren said, enthralled.

“At age eight. Right on schedule. My friends changed too, one after the other. And, when we were ready, we were brought into this land.”