Island of Graves (21 page)

Ito reached to adjust a knob at arm's length, never moving from the eyepiece. Then he turned a collar around the neck of the instrument. After a minute Ito said something in his language, which Aaron didn't understand. Ishibashi and Sato exchanged a hopeful glance. Aaron didn't dare ask for a translation. He lifted his gaze and watched Ito's every move.

Ito looked again and made a pleasant noise, and then he straightened up and spoke rapidly. Ishibashi and Sato began to converse excitedly, and they each took a turn looking through the
eyepiece. Aaron stayed glued to the wall, hoping their excitement meant that he'd done it. And then, before he could see it coming, Sato, Ito, and Ishibashi turned and surrounded him. They shouted praises, and then Ito, whose eyes were shining, opened up his arms for an embrace while Ishibashi patted Aaron's back and said, “Good work, Aaron-san! You have done it!”

As Aaron hugged Ito, his eyes welled up at the words. Ishibashi had called him Aaron-san. He squeezed his lids shut, trying to stop the tears from leaking out, and found himself burying his face in the eldest man's bony shoulder. A lump of emotion blocked him from being able to speak.

Next Ishibashi was hugging him, and then Sato was hugging him, and that was more hugs than Aaron Stowe could remember having since he'd left home after the Purge. He couldn't control his feelings, couldn't stop the tears of relief and joy, so he hurriedly tried to wipe them away. Ishibashi noticed.

Aaron's mentor herded the other two men back to the telescope, giving Aaron a chance to pull himself together. “You'd better take a break now, Aaron-san,” Ishibashi said with a toothless smile, “because Ito and Sato are already deciding which instrument they will make you fix next.”

Aaron nodded and laughed. “Okay.” He wiped his eyes on his sleeve and stepped out of the greenhouse, going to stand at the entrance of the shelter to get a breath of fresh air. He'd done it. And it felt amazing.

He stood near the entrance in a spot that would allow a bit of spray, but not the full force of rain, to refresh him, and marveled again at the perfect design of the rock slabs.

He thought about the strange, joyous feeling in his heart from accomplishing something these scientists couldn't do. He thought about the way the time sped by when he was working on a machine or putting together an instrument, or creating a spider creature. He thought about how Ishibashi had said that nothing else mattered but what was inside him. And he also thought about how, if Justine had discovered his ability to create things like this, she would have sent him to his death.

For the first time in his life, that thought didn't cut through him with burning, mind-numbing fear, and that rule didn't apply. In fact, stuck here on the Island of Shipwrecks, everything about Quill seemed entirely insignificant. With the spray soaking him through, Aaron smiled, and with growing satisfaction he looked out and said to the world, “I really think I could live here. Forever.”

A
lex found Florence and Claire in the mansion. They listened to the plan and had much the same reaction to it initially as Alex did. Once they heard the reasons for going out to find Aaron, though, they came around just as the others had.

Claire gave Alex a refresher course regarding her boat, which was actually his first real lesson, as he'd only borrowed the boat unannounced in the past and figured out some of its workings on his own. “Remember it's magically intuitive,” Claire said. “It'll automatically avoid rocks or areas that are too shallow. You can take it as close to an
island as you need to. It'll stop if it can't go any farther.”

“Oh, that's right,” Alex said. He remembered that from his first trip in the gleaming white boat with Mr. Today, when they'd skimmed around the island to enter the palace from the magically hidden back entrance. It was an excellent feature.

“Just set the location instructions and leave it,” Claire continued. “And use the anchor spell if you need to go on shore anywhere.”

“Right,” Alex said. “Don't I have to steer it at all?” He'd always steered the boat before.

“Of course not,” Claire said. “It's magic. If you want it to go automatically, you have to tell it where you want it to go—just like you do with origami fire-breathing dragons. But if you don't have a specific destination or direction in mind, you'll need to steer it manually.”

“I didn't know it could do that,” Alex said. “Sounds like I'll be able to get some reading done.”

Florence spoke up. “We'll use the preserve spell on it in case the magic fails or something comes crashing into you. Then you won't end up in the same predicament as we were in before on the Island of Shipwrecks.”

“I think
Ms. Octavia is already working on preserving it,” Alex said.

“Excellent,” said Florence.

“The boat should be able to maneuver you through anything,” Claire said. “Even the hurricane, if you end up that far. It's a very powerful machine.”

“I'm glad to hear that,” Alex said. “Wish we'd had that feature on the pirate ship.”

“Me too,” said Florence. “Spike is going to follow along, so she can assist you and get you back here in case anything goes wrong with the boat.”

Alex nodded. “I'm sure we'll be fine.”

“Who else is going with you?” asked Florence.

“Charlie. I'll bring my sign language book, don't worry. I've been learning a little every night before bed.”

“Good. We'll keep Matilda here, then. There's no good way to get her back into the palace, though we need ears there more now than ever. Ah well.” Florence trailed off, hand on her forehead, thinking. “Okay, so Spike, Charlie, and who else?”

Alex shrugged. “That's it. You need everybody else here in case something happens. I'll be careful.”

The ebony warrior, towering over Alex, leaned forward. “Oh no,” she said. “You are not going alone.”

Alex took a step back. “Lani and Samheed offered to come, but I don't want to take any spell casters away from Artimé. You need them if Gondoleery makes a move while I'm gone.”

Florence began to pace, making the mansion shiver the tiniest bit with each step. “You need another human to help watch for danger in the unfamiliar places. Charlie won't be able to do much to help you, and Spike certainly can't if you go ashore anywhere.” She frowned and tapped her forefinger against her temple. “You can take Crow.”

“But what about the babies?” Claire interjected. “We need him to take care of Thisbe and Fifer if we have to go into battle, so the rest of us are able to fight.”

Florence frowned harder. “All right, then,” she said reluctantly. “I'll ask Sky if she's willing to go with you. I'll miss her quickness, but with her lack of magical ability, she'll be better at helping you search.”

Alex turned to hide the smile that kept trying to force its way onto his lips. If he were to choose anybody to spend a few
days with on a boat, it would definitely be Sky. He just hoped she'd agree to it. “That's fine,” he said, his lips still twitching.

Florence wasn't oblivious. She knew he was pleased. “This isn't a pleasure trip,” she warned. “Stay on your guard the whole time. You approach an island, you circle it, you call out for Aaron. If he's got any brains at all—and I'm not sure about that—then he'll be near the shore. If you must go ashore, find the best and safest way to land, and only land if there
is
a safe way. Find Aaron and get back to the boat. You saw what's waiting for you on that gorilla island. I didn't see it, but I know it was bad—Simber told me. I can't imagine Aaron could have survived if he made to that island.”

“He's alive.”

“So you say. Just be sure to always have a way out, and never forget why you're out there. And if you can't find him, move on.”

“Okay, Florence, I get it,” Alex said, beginning to get a little annoyed. “Are you seriously lecturing me on this right now?”

Florence stopped pacing. “Sorry. You used to be a little kid.”

Alex grinned. “All right. Just stop worrying. I'll be fine, and I'll be back in a few days if I'm lucky.”

“I hope you're lucky,”
Florence muttered, and went back to her pacing.

“Remember,” Alex said, “I'll be in touch the whole time through Charlie.”

“That's the only reason I'm letting you go.” Florence stopped at the front entrance and opened the door. “I'm going to see how Octavia's doing with the boat. And to check with Sky.” She left, closing the door behind her.

Claire put her hand on Alex's arm. “You've got plenty of components?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Alex said. “Though . . .”

“What is it?”

“Maybe I ought to take some heart attack spells with me, just in case.”

Claire nodded. She knew why he didn't use them. She didn't like them either, for the same reason. But this was different. “I would if I were you,” she said.

» » « «

That evening, with his vest loaded and an extra sack of spell components packed, Alex shoved a large handful of books into his rucksack. He included the sign language book, though
with Sky along, he wouldn't need it quite as desperately as he'd thought. But he still needed to learn the language. Maybe Sky could help teach him on the boat. Alex packed a few more personal items and some clothes, and then sent an order to the kitchen for his favorite to-go meals for the trip.

He checked his pants pocket to make sure he had Simber's dewclaw in there in case he had to summon the cheetah with a seek spell. And then he loaded his rucksack on his back and headed out.

Sky met him on the lawn. She had her things packed too, and she didn't hide her grin when she saw him.

“Ready for some excitement?” he asked her.

“Ready,” she said.

Simber, Florence, Copper, and Ms. Octavia were there to send them off, as well as Samheed and Lani and the others who wanted to wish the travelers well on their journey. Crow was nearby with the twins to say good-bye too.

The boat floated in the lagoon, ready to go.

Ms. Octavia was all business. “I've installed a magical water fountain on board so you'll have freshwater to drink at all times,” Ms. Octavia said. “It'll never run out. And I've got
boxes and boxes of food that the kitchen delivered. Most are in the cabin and a few are in the hold as backup in case you get lost or stranded somewhere and it takes us a few days to get to you. You'll find blankets, toiletries, music and art supplies, tools, a healer's kit—everything you could possibly need.” She smiled proudly.

“Sounds like we'll have enough food for an army,” Alex said. “At least we know what's important.” He gave his instructor a hug and planted a kiss on the side of her snout. “Thank you, Ms. Octavia. We'll survive any disaster with this.”

Florence spoke up. “I've put a sword and a dagger belt in there for you, Sky. Those weapons might also come in handy in case magic doesn't affect certain creatures you run into, like that eel.”

“A sword! Good thinking, Florence,” Sky said. “Thanks.” She'd done some sword training with Mr. Appleblossom's stage combat class and knew how to use one—in a play, at least. She wasn't so sure about real life.

Simber frowned at the mention of the eel, but they'd seen no sign of any ominous sea creatures since they had left the Island of Legends, which led them to believe they really had killed it. “That boat can outrrrun any eel,” he said. “Be surrre it does.”

“I will,” Alex promised.

Fifer toddled over and grabbed on to Alex's pant leg. Alex picked her up and tickled her. She giggled.

“I'm going away for a week or so, little Fig, but I'll be back,” he said to her, and sang in a silly voice, “I'm off to fetch my evil brother.” Then he froze. “I mean,
our
brother,” he said in his normal voice.

“That's weird,” Sky remarked.

“Yes, very,” Alex said. He walked with Fifer toward Thisbe and knelt on the ground by her.

“Good-bye for now,” Alex said. “Do either of you have a hug for me?”

Fifer threw her arms around his neck. Alex laughed and kissed her cheek. Sisters weren't so bad, he decided.

He gave Thisbe a hug as well, and tried to kiss her cheek, but she was having none of it, preferring instead to pick a nearby reblooming flower—every time she picked it, another flower of a different color immediately bloomed in its place. It was an endless game for the little ones as the pile of picked flowers grew larger by the minute.

“The
chefs can use those discarded petals for something, I'll bet,” Alex said.

“I'll have the twins help me bring them into the kitchen,” Crow said.

Alex grinned at the boy. “Thanks for taking care of them. They love you.”