The Ship of Lost Souls 1 (17 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

First came the pigs. The reeking leader, who'd charged at Jem less than an hour before, burst out of the trees not long after the trio left the protected place. He grunted and shook his wrinkly gray head from side to side as his equally malodorous posse shuffled out of the bushes and assembled behind him. Scarlet thought the leader seemed almost exasperated, as if he wanted to say, “What's the matter with you people? You said you'd only pass once. I've had just about enough of being bothered by humans.”

In fact, the more she watched him, the more certain she felt that this was exactly what the old boar was trying to tell them. But how could she know that? She couldn't speak Pig to save her lost soul. All she knew was that this smelly wild pig felt irritated—and she was feeling that irritation for him. It was the strangest thing.

“I'll handle this.” Uncle Finn pulled a syringe full of green syrup out of his trouser pocket. “The fastest way to pass these beasts is to inject them with a potent solution of soothing herbs. It makes their eyes droop like sleepy babies.” He made a dive for the pig chief, ready to sedate him with the mysterious concoction.

“Wait!” Scarlet yelled, startling them all. Uncle Finn missed his target, tumbled forward, and ended up injecting a large mushroom on the path. It turned purple with white polka dots and wilted immediately. The pig looked from Uncle Finn to Scarlet and grunted. Scarlet knew instinctively that if he could speak, he'd say something along the lines of, “Take that, you clumsy, flat-footed, pasty-skinned human.” She decided not to relay the message.

“Fitz,” she said instead. “Talk to him like you did last time. Tell him we have to pass again to save our friends from some bad men who want to harm the island. Tell him we're acting in his best interests and we'll make sure no one damages his home.”

Jem repeated the message as if he were standing before the throne of King Aberhard himself, while Uncle Finn looked on incredulously from where he still sat, legs splayed, in the middle of the path. When Jem finished his request with a polite bow, the pig grunted again—Scarlet was certain he'd have rolled his eyes if he could—and jerked his head to the right. His putrid posse shuffled back into the trees, leaving a rancid cloud for the trio to pass through.

“I . . . I can't believe it,” Uncle Finn bumbled as Jem helped him to his feet. “You just spoke to one of the island's most deadly creatures. And . . . and it listened.”

“I just told him what he needed to hear.” Jem shrugged, but his ears were pink with pride.

They slipped past the wary chief, Uncle Finn still shaking his head in wonder. Scarlet was impressed with her friend's talents, too, but what concerned her most at that moment was her newfound ability to channel the island's feelings—or rather, the feelings of the island's inhabitants. Right then, she was picking up an uneasy sensation in the trees. She didn't know exactly which creature was feeling this, but she knew it was somewhere off to her left. Hiding.

She didn't have time to explore this phenomenon, however, because they were approaching her least favorite part of the trip: the ophid . . . ophidi . . . that
thing
full of deadly striped vipers. Scarlet turned to Uncle Finn. “I don't suppose you know any tricks to get us around the ophidiwhatsit?”

“The o-phi-di-an ag-gre-ga-tion,” Uncle Finn said pointedly. “And who needs tricks? You simply follow the explicit instructions on the map: “Ophidian aggregation. Keep right. Or in this case, left.”

“Keep right?” Scarlet repeated, then turned to Jem. “We just had to
keep right
?” she growled.

“Of course. How did you two get around it?”

“Um, we took the scenic route,” Jem said.

Uncle Finn raised an eyebrow at them but didn't twitch a whisker when they approached the pit. They slogged through the jungle and passed without incident.

“I can't believe you made me walk right through that,” Scarlet grumbled to Jem as they marched away from the pit.

Jem gave a cool shrug. “It wasn't so bad.”

She felt like lopping off his ear.

Soon the temperature grew warmer and continued to rise. With it rose Scarlet's apprehension. The trees quivered above them. The millipedes burrowed in the amber earth below, hiding their heads from a danger they couldn't identify. Scarlet couldn't identify it, either—all she knew was that she had to find her crew and get them safely back to the protected place.

A thick curtain of steam drifted across the path, and the jungle opened up onto the edge of the boiling lake. They stopped and stared down at its milky, blue-green bubbling water.

“Look!” Jem pointed through the steam to the far edge of the lake. Scarlet squinted and could just barely make out a small figure across the lake. Then another, and two more. They were creeping hesitantly toward the boiling water. One wore what looked like a headdress of ferns.

“The crew!” Scarlet had never been so happy to see them, and she took off at a sprint around the perimeter of the lake.

The Lost Souls looked up to see their captain barreling around the edge of the blistering water and cried out in relief. Scarlet ran straight into the middle of them and tried to hug as many as she could at once.

“Where've you been? Did you find the treasure?” Ronagh cried.

“Who's that?” Monty pointed at Finn as the man ran up, huffing, behind Jem.

“That's my uncle,” Jem said.

“Your uncle!”

“Did you find 'im at the treasure?”

“Did you find the
treasure
?”

“First tell us what happened to you,” Jem insisted.

“But hurry,” Scarlet said, glancing around her. “We can't stay here long.”

Monty, still in costume, cleared his throat. “We scared 'em good, we did. We kept making creepy noises and dropping snakes and chasing those old pirates around the jungle until they couldn't take it anymore and turned tail. Well, most of 'em did. Lucas and three others, including the captain, ran on past. The rest of those big babies rowed right back out to the
Dark Ranger
and wouldn't budge. That's when we decided it'd be safe to follow you. We stayed a good distance behind Lucas and his gang.”

“Good for you,” Scarlet said.

“And as for
our
crew,” said Liam, “we made sure Lucas and the others were following close enough behind us, then took 'em straight to that old lukewarm slough. They weren't looking at the map, and they followed us blind. Then we ran on, leading 'em in big circles and always ending up back at the lukewarm slough. The captain was so mad he almost lost his mind.”

All the Lost Souls laughed, imagining it.

“While the
Dark Ranger
pirates were arguing and threatening to hang each other,” Tim continued, “we made a run for it, straight to the place where Scarlet told us we'd find the path. Not only did we find the path, but we found the rest of the crew. You were right, Cap'n—the path appeared like it'd always been there, and we've been following it ever since.”

“So you're sure you lost the
Dark Ranger
pirates?”

“Fairly certain,” Smitty said. “Now what's your story, Cap'n? Fitz? Fitz's uncle?”

Jem and Scarlet exchanged sly glances. “Let's just say . . . ,” Jem began.

“We've got something to show you,” Scarlet finished.

“What? What is it?” Ronagh squealed.

“Shh,” said Scarlet. “Not now. We've got to keep moving. I just have this feeling . . .”

“But I can't stand the suspense,” Ronagh whined.

“You'll see soon enough,” Jem said, steering the younger girl back the way they'd come and beckoning the others to follow.

“Just give us a hint,” Emmett pleaded.

“Is it big? Is it shiny?” Edwin persisted.

“Look, you'll know soon enough. Just follow quickly and quietly. I've got a bad feeling about—”

“STOP. RIGHT. THERE.”

The Dread Pirate Captain Wallace Hammerstein-Jones's voice sliced through the steam like a cutlass through a thief's finger. The Lost Souls and Uncle Finn turned as a veil of steam lifted to reveal the rodentlike captain and his disheveled crew. Lucas, his face slippery with sweat and crisscrossed with scratches from unruly tree branches, looked triumphant. Iron “Pete” Morgan looked perplexed. Thomas the giant looked like he might cry.

“Look!” Captain Wallace cried. “Why, they're . . . they're only
children
.”

“Course they are,” said Lucas. “That's what I kept telling you.”

“Yes, but”—Captain Wallace inched forward as if he were approaching wildlife that might be easily startled—“I didn't believe it. Imagine. The Ship of Lost Souls, a ship of . . . children.” He stopped and began to laugh—a high-pitched, nasal cackle. Lucas joined in with forced chuckles, and Pete added a few halfhearted
har
s. Thomas's lower lip quivered.

“Well, this'll be easy.” Captain Wallace wiped his forehead and took another step forward. “Getting to the treasure will be no challenge at all. Why, it'll be like taking candy from . . . children.” He cackled again.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. She'd had quite enough. She stepped forward, motioning for the others to get behind her. “Captain Wallace,” she said in her most commanding voice, “the children you see before you aren't just
any
children. These are children who sail the seas. Children who brave bloodthirsty swabs and deadly jungle creatures without a second thought nearly every—”

“Silence!” cried Captain Wallace. He licked the sweat off his upper lip. “Do I look like I
care
? I've got a blasted treasure map here, and I'm not going to let a bunch of half-pint-pirates stand in my way. Now get off the path and let us
real
pirates cross before we toss you into that big lake. Good
Lord
, does anyone else find it infernally
hot
around here?”

“It's a
boiling
lake, Captain,” Pete sighed.

“Which you'd know if you'd consulted the map,” Uncle Finn muttered.

“Why Finnaeus Bliss!” Captain Wallace's eyes lit up, noticing the man for the first time. “You old scoundrel. Thought you were so smart to escape my ship, didn't you? And here you are, hoping a bunch of children will protect you while I skip on past to collect my treasure. With your map! It's too funny! Ha-ha! Ha-ha!”

Now Scarlet had definitely had enough. She reached into her boot and drew out her dagger, took another swift step forward, and pointed it right between Captain Wallace's eyes. “Shut up,” she said. “You'll never see the treasure. Not if I have anything to do with it.”

For a moment, everyone froze. Then Jem moved to her side. “Or me.”

“Me neither.” Smitty stepped up behind them.

One by one, the Lost Souls and Uncle Finn took their places behind Scarlet and drew their weapons.

“W-what?” Captain Wallace sputtered. “What is this? You think you children are going to scare me off? You're crazy. You've got water on the brain. Thomas can crush you all at once. With his pinkie fingers. Go on, Thomas, take them out.”

But the big man didn't move. He only looked at the Lost Souls with sad eyes.

“Thomas!” Captain Wallace screamed.

“Thomas,” Pete whispered, nudging him. “Go on.”

Finally Thomas took a step forward. He drew his cutlass and began to walk toward Scarlet. She gulped. She might be able to take on mousy old Captain Wallace, but a man Thomas's size? She didn't stand a chance.

But then, a few paces short, Thomas veered off. He walked straight toward the edge of the lake, stopped, and turned to face them. Swallowing hard, he held his cutlass out over the edge . . . and let it drop into the boiling water.

“I won't harm 'em, Captain,” Thomas said softly as twenty-seven mouths dropped open. “These ain't just any children.”

“You . . . you lout!” Captain Wallace sputtered. “Pete! Finish them off!”

Pete grasped his weapon and lunged for Scarlet. But he wasn't fast enough—for Thomas reached out and held the top of his shipmate's head in his big hand. “Sorry, Pete,” he said, and continued to hold on tight while Pete tried to twist free.

“Oh, for Pete's sake.” Captain Wallace stopped for a moment, distracted by his unintended pun. Then he screamed, “Lucas! Get them!”

“Which one?” Lucas yelled back with a tremble in his voice.

“The one who's pointing the dagger between my eyes, you stupid boy!”

“Oh.” Lucas dove for Scarlet, who looked away from Captain Wallace just long enough to dodge her former crewman. Captain Wallace took advantage of the moment to draw his own cutlass and make a charge for Scarlet, but as he was about to pounce, Jem lunged, throwing all his weight into the captain's shoulder. They tumbled to the ground, and Uncle Finn, with a warrior's holler, threw himself on top.

Scarlet turned to face Lucas. The boy's lips were pressed into a hard line and his eyes showed no emotion.
How will this play out?
she wondered, gripping her dagger with sweaty fingers. Lucas looked like he wouldn't hesitate to slay her, but could she do the same to him?

He lunged, and she ducked to the right. The Lost Souls gasped and hopped out of the way. Scarlet turned to face her nemesis once again, trying to predict which way he'd lunge next. But as she watched his face for some indication, something in it began to change. His nose twitched and his eyes widened, locking on something behind her left shoulder. Scarlet heard a rustle and a rumble but didn't dare look back.

“What the flotsam?” she heard Tim breathe.

“What's going on?” shrieked Captain Wallace.

“And what is that
smell
?” Smitty added.