The Guardians of Island X (6 page)

Liam reached for his sister. “Get behind me, Ronagh!”

Emmett called, “It’s been jolly knowing you all!”

Just then, there was a loud crash in the bushes behind them.

“We’re here!” Scarlet hollered as she tumbled out of the bushes and onto her knees in the dirt. The Lost Souls let out a collective cry of relief as their captain, from down on all fours, looked up at the hill. Her mouth fell wide open, but whatever curses came out couldn’t be heard, for a pack of smelly wild pigs was galloping past her, followed by about a dozen scampering monkeys and a pandemonium of parrots. The entire brigade charged right to the foot of the hill as the pirates, who’d lost their cutlasses when their jaws dropped at the sight, dug their fingernails into the ground to stop their slide. Their battle cries turned to shrieks of terror as the pigs lowered their tusks and ran right up the hill, tossing pirates aside as if they weighed no more than small root vegetables. Even Lucas screamed as a cloud of rhinoceros beetles flew out of the jungle and swarmed around his head. The boy spun around and ran right back up the hill along with all the other pirates. Captain Wallace was long gone, leading the sprint back to the
Dark Ranger
.

Within moments, every pirate had disappeared. Their footsteps faded away until all was still again, and morning proceeded to dawn as usual on Island X.

Smitty was the first to break the stunned silence. “Hurray!” he shouted, raising his fists as if he’d just
won a race. A few others joined in the cheering.

“The animals
did
come,” Liam cried. “Scarlet, how’d you do it?”

Scarlet finally got to her feet. “I searched for most of the night. They were downwind and hard to find. But I explained the situation, and they agreed it was important. On the way here, the pig chief rounded up some other animals to help out.”

“The rhinoceros beetles were a nice touch,” said Edwin.

“I am never eating meat again!” Ronagh vowed, and shook her finger at everyone around her. “
No one
is!”

No one argued. A few Lost Souls started to dance a victory jig. Others began to imitate the pirates upon seeing the animals.

But Jem stayed quiet. He couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if Scarlet hadn’t found the pigs and shown up at just the right time. And he could tell by the look on his captain’s face that she was thinking the very same thing.

The path back to camp smelled of dirty socks and rotten cheese. But no one complained. All of a sudden, the smell of the wild pigs seemed quite tolerable indeed.

Every now and then Scarlet paused to channel the animals who’d chased away the pirates, but she felt nothing. Taking that as a good sign, she concentrated instead on what the flotsam the Lost Souls could do when the pirates returned—as they surely would.

Convincing the pigs to fight hadn’t been easy. Actually, finding the pigs hadn’t been a picnic, either. Scarlet had gotten herself hopelessly lost and would have likely still been wandering the jungle, sniffing for clues, if the island hadn’t taken pity on her and plopped her right in the middle of the band of pigs.

The chief, a hairy barrel of a swine with wrinkly gray skin and an extremely long snout, had pulled back his lips and bared his pointy teeth when she began to plead her case. But they got on fairly well, she speaking aloud in English and he responding with easily read thoughts and feelings. He told her that while he knew the Lost Souls meant well, he wasn’t keen on approaching a bunch of pirates that might serve up his crew for breakfast alongside their eggs.

“Don’t do it for us,” Scarlet whispered so as not to wake the rest of the pack. “Do it for the island. We’re not
just trying to protect the rubies. Everything on this island needs protecting—the trees and the aras and you, your band, and your children. If the pirates or anyone else get their dirty hands on this place, it’ll be the end of Island X.”

The pig chief snorted over this for a while, then woke his crew and gathered them for a meeting. After a great deal more grunting and a few clouds of seriously stinky air, the pigs turned to Scarlet, ready to follow her.

Never in her life had she felt so relieved.

As they’d crept through the darkness toward the valley, the chief had stopped here and there to recruit monkeys, parrots, and one very drowsy family of rhinoceros beetles. Scarlet considered asking the chief for tips on how to communicate with them herself but decided it wasn’t the time.

Now as she led her crew back up the trail to camp, she wondered how they’d stand a chance if the pigs were ever to tire of helping them—and rallying the other animals. Scarlet smiled at the memory of those wonderful rhinoceros beetles shaking off their sleepiness just in time to fly right up Lucas’s nose.

Then she frowned. Lucas would be back. And probably soon. She was in serious need of a plan.

By the time they reached camp, she was no closer to making one, and she was now also in serious need of a nap. Most of the Lost Souls seemed to agree; at least half headed right for their blankets and flopped face-first into the grass. The other half stumbled off to collect fruit and nuts for a midday meal. Scarlet yawned and decided that food could wait.

Halfway across the clearing, she stopped in her tracks. Someone was rummaging through the pile of belongings that marked her sleeping spot. Someone with a funny kink in his long black tail…

“MONKEY!”

She sprinted toward him. He looked up in surprise, shrieked, and dropped her cutlass. By the time she reached her things, he’d hightailed it into the trees.

“Honestly,” Scarlet panted. “You give a monkey a boot, and he wants an entire ensemble.” She checked to make sure nothing was missing, then curled up around everything she owned, determined to sleep with one eye open.

Scarlet woke from her midday nap rejuvenated and ready to talk to Jem. His tree house plan was really the only good one they had, so she knew she’d better encourage it and help it progress. She stood, picked a few blades of grass from her hair, and looked around. About half of the Lost Souls were gathered around the pool as if waiting for something. Scarlet headed over.

“What’s up?”

“It’s Smitty,” said Sam. “He’s got something important to show us.”

Scarlet crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh really?” She knew she’d been neglecting her crew a little lately, running after anxious wildlife, but she hadn’t expected them to start sharing important information without her.

Tim waved his arms and cleared his throat. “Attention,
everyone,” he called. “Smitty here is about to introduce you to the key to our survival here on Island X.”

The key to survival on Island X! And no one had even bothered to wake her! Scarlet’s cheeks burned.

“Allow me to present the great island warrior…ahem…Runs with Daggers…and his faithful sidekick…Butternut!”

“What?” said Scarlet.

“Who?” said Sam.

Smitty pranced into their midst. A grass skirt hung from his waist, and two enormous leaves covered his arms like wings. His entire body still had a faint violet hue, and he’d painted his face with purple stripes and polka dots. He brandished a club at the spectators. A few Lost Souls gasped. A few more guffawed.

“I’m the fearless island warrior, Runs with Daggers!” Smitty cried. “And this is my sidekick, Butternut.” He looked around. “Hey! Where is he?”

There was a rustle behind a nearby tree, and Liam reluctantly stepped out. He was dressed in a similar costume, but wore half a hollowed-out squash on his head. Judging by the dark look on his freckled face, the uniform had not been his idea.

The Lost Souls stared for a moment, openmouthed, before bursting into laughter.

“Laugh all you want,” said Smitty, “but I’m on to something. If we want to scare away the pirates, we have to take advantage of what the island has to offer. Like the Islanders did back when they lived here.”

“You think they wore squash helmets?” Tim howled.

“Maybe if they wanted their enemies to die laughing!” Monty called out.

Liam lifted his headpiece and tossed it on the ground. “I told you the hat wouldn’t work,” he said to Smitty, who dove for it, dusted it off, and plopped it back on Liam’s head.

“You’ll thank me in battle.”

“What’s with your names?” asked Elmo. “Why Runs with Daggers and…” He grinned. “Butternut?”

“They’re intimidating,” said Smitty. “Well, Runs with Daggers is, anyway. Butternut pays a nice tribute to the island resources.” Just then he caught sight of Scarlet in the crowd. “Cap’n!” he cried. “What do you think? Would the Islanders have approved?”

All eyes turned to Scarlet.

“Well…” Scarlet knew Smitty didn’t mean to disrespect her ancestors. Not long ago she’d told him that they used plants for everything, even clothes. “I’m not sure they dressed up like…that.” She waved to Liam’s hat. “Maybe…when they wanted to be mistaken for vegetables.” The Lost Souls burst into laughter. “But, Liam, where did you find that squash?”

“In the jungle.” Liam took off his hat again and tossed it to Tim, who plopped it on his own head and began to dance a jig. The Lost Souls laughed harder and more of them joined in.

Scarlet watched her crew dance around Liam and Smitty, then she silently slipped away. She didn’t want to ruin their fun, but she was certain that her time could be better spent working on a plan to prepare for Lucas’s
return with the
Dark Ranger
pirates. She headed toward Jem’s usual sleeping spot.

She found him on his belly on the grass, waving his bare feet in the air and drawing on his map with a big red feather dipped in berry juice. Scarlet had yet to look at the map, still hoping that her Islander instincts would kick in and she wouldn’t need to.

Upon seeing her, Jem sat up, looking serious. “I’ve mapped out a spot for the tree house village.” He moved over so she could share the cloak underneath him. “I think we should build a few more houses along the main trail so we can post lookouts to watch for invaders.”

Good old Fitz
, Scarlet thought. He always had his priorities straight. No squash helmets or grass skirts for him. She sat down beside him but didn’t look at the map.

He noticed right away. “Don’t you want to see where the tree houses will be?”

“Oh, um…” Scarlet hesitated. “All right.” She took a quick glance at the map, then looked away. “Looks good.”

“Captain,” Jem said tentatively. “Are you actually trying not to look at the map?”

“Me?” Scarlet forced a laugh, knowing that if she explained her logic, she’d only sound loony. Again. Jem was a trustworthy pirate, and she didn’t want him to question her sanity. She didn’t want to question that herself. “Of course not! That’s silly.” She avoided looking at Jem as well.

“Right. I just thought…hey!” Jem straightened and squinted across the clearing. “Is that—?”

“What?” Scarlet turned, relieved at the distraction.

Jem stood up. “I thought I saw something…Scarlet, look at your things.” He pointed at her belongings, which she’d left in a neat pile. Now they were strewn about as if a tiny hurricane had blown through camp with an eye for her things alone.

“Again?” Scarlet jumped to her feet and ran to the other side of the pool with Jem close behind. When she reached the scene she stopped. Her coat, which she’d lately been using as a pillow, was gone. “Mon-keeeey!” she screeched.

“Wait.” Jem shielded his eyes from the sun. “Look, over there!” He pointed to the edge of the clearing, a good thirty yards away.

Scarlet turned just in time to see a shadow duck into the trees. “Monkey, if that was you, I’m going to string you up by your tail!” she shouted.

“Monkey?” Jem said. “I think it was a person.”

Scarlet shook her head. “I’m going after it.”

Jem didn’t hesitate. “I’ll come with you.”

“That’s nice of you, Fitz, but it’s not necessary. I can take on a monkey.”

“Sure, but what if it’s a pirate?” Jem replied.

Scarlet had no answer for that. She plunged into the trees with Jem fast on her heels.

Scarlet was sorely missing her boots. But with Jem trotting behind her in fine expensive footwear, she couldn’t bear to stop and remove the slivers that pricked the soles of her feet. She bounded on, trying hard not to yelp.

She thought she’d seen the thief a few minutes before, but now she wasn’t so sure. Whether monkey or pirate, it was small and light-footed and barely left a trail for them to follow.

“I think I see it!” Jem puffed behind her. “Swing right!”

Scarlet swung right, trying to scan the jungle, dodge trees, and avoid sharp objects on the ground all at once. It didn’t work. The toenail on her left big toe found a twisted root and lodged into it, bending backward as she tripped and fell with a shriek.

“Scurvy! Blast! Blimey!” She sat on the jungle floor cradling her foot, which bled where the toenail had cracked. “Did we lose it?” she asked without looking up at Jem. He looked back at her with a why-on-earth-did-you-give-your-boots-to-a-monkey face.

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Ugh, that looks painful.”

His sympathy made her feel a bit better. Scarlet struggled to her feet and limped on through the brush.