What Scares You the Most? (5 page)

As the blind sailors screamed and wailed in terror, Deborah turned to her mother.

Katherine's eyes narrowed on Deborah. She flung the black cloak to the deck and tensed her entire body, as if expecting a fight.

Deborah caught a flash of fear in her mother's eyes.

Katherine's chin trembled. She clenched her hands into fists.

It was the daughter's turn to smile.

“Do you wonder what is happening to these poor men, Mother?” Deborah asked. “At night when you slept, I slid your book from your arms. It was a long sea journey. Time enough for me to learn a few things.”

“No!” Katherine gasped.

“I am not going to that island,” Deborah said, pointing over the rail. “The
real
witch will be spending her life there—not I!”

Katherine sucked in a deep breath. “Foolish girl!” she screamed. She raised her right hand, preparing to cast a spell on her daughter.

But Deborah acted quickly.

She slapped her mother's hand away. Then she shouted out the strange words she had taught herself from the old spell book.

Katherine froze like a statue.

Her eyes bulged. Her mouth gaped open. One arm was flung back. The other hand pointed at Deborah.

All around, the sailors wailed and screamed. Hands over their eyes, they staggered blindly around the deck.

Deborah acted quickly.

She knew the spell wouldn't keep her mother frozen for long.

She pulled off her blue cloak and swung it over Katherine's shoulders. She laced it tightly with trembling fingers, dropping the hood over Katherine's head.

Then Deborah shouted out another spell, a spell of strength.

She wrapped her arms around her mother's waist and lifted her up.

Staggering under the weight, Deborah made her way to the rail and raised Katherine's stiff body high.

“Good-bye, Mother,” she said softly. “Have a wonderful life on the island.”

Then she heaved Katherine over the rail.

Deborah watched her mother splash into the gentle waves. The blue cloak bubbled around Katherine as her body plunged into the water.

And then Deborah heard a sharp
cracking
sound as Katherine floated to the surface. The cracking spread, echoing over the ocean like thunder.

Deborah stared in amazement as the warm waters turned to ice.

The waves had been washing toward shore so gently. But now they creaked and cracked and froze in place.

Katherine bobbed in a large block of ice, surrounded by the frozen sea.

Leaning over the rail, Deborah saw her mother come out of the spell. Katherine blinked her eyes, staring through the ice. She shook her head. Moved her arms. Struggled to breathe.

She pounded on the ice, but she couldn't break through. Her skin was bright blue now, as blue as the
frozen ocean. Gasping for breath, she raised a fist to the ship and shook it furiously at Deborah.

Over the cries of the blind sailors and the cracking of the ice, Katherine's angry words floated up to Deborah. “You and I will meet again, daughter!”

Then, quickly, the ice began to melt. The waves began to wash to shore again.

And, carried by the current, the block of ice with Katherine inside bobbed its way toward the island, where the shore was covered in smooth rocks.

Deborah watched the block of ice melt. She watched Katherine crawl out of the ocean onto the rocks, the blue cloak clinging to her back. Then Deborah turned away. It was the last she ever saw of her mother.

Ignoring the screaming sailors, Deborah strode across the deck to where Katherine's black cloak lay. She bent down and picked it up. She pulled it over her shoulders and hid her face inside the hood.

Then she uttered the words needed to return the sailors' sight to them.

Over the happy cries and cheers of the sailors, Deborah called out, “My daughter cast a spell on you. But nothing could keep her from the fate she deserved. Look—see her on the island. We can return home safely now.”

She tried her best to sound like her mother. The sailors were so happy to have their sight back, they didn't question her.

Deborah pulled her hood over the blue crescent moon on her temple, making sure it was well covered.

Two of the sailors guided her back to the cabin belowdecks. This time, they did not bolt the door.

I am going home to England, Deborah thought with a sigh. But what can I do there? Where can I go?

I cannot return to the village. That is certain.

She clutched the spell book to her chest.

Wherever I go, she thought, I will have to use the magic. I have no choice. I will have to use the powers.

 

On the island, Katherine watched the ship sail away. She watched until it disappeared over the horizon, seeming to fall off the earth.

Her hair was still wet. Small chunks of ice still clung to her skirt.

She spread the cloak out to dry. As she did so, the smooth gray rocks turned blue.

“You have not defeated me, Deborah!” she shouted, shaking her fist at the ocean. Seagulls took off, startled by the fury of her voice.

“You have not defeated me,” Katherine cried. “I will stay alive here. I will take the breath—the very life of everyone unfortunate enough to stray onto this island. Their breath will keep me alive forever! And then I will take my vengeance on you, my daughter. Yes, someday…someday I will have my revenge!”

“The island was wonderful,” April said. “It really was a paradise.” She smiled into the TV camera.

The interviewer, a young newsman named Jimmy Clark, pulled the microphone to his own mouth. “And the money you won? What did you have to do to win that money, April?”

April squinted into the studio lights. He poked the mike back into her face.

“We were divided into teams,” April said. “And we had these contests called Life Games. And my team won the final contest, which was for bravery. So…”

“I'll bet you all were
very
brave to win a hundred grand!” Clark cut in. He laughed. “How did you win the bravery contest, April?”

April thought hard. “Uh…well…”

Why couldn't she remember?

She had been trying to remember some things about the island ever since she returned home. She
could remember being abandoned by Marks and the others. She could remember nearly drowning trying to escape in that little boat.

She could remember saving Anthony's life. Marlin disappearing. Marlin's broken ribs.

But—
then
what happened?

How
did
her team win the bravery competition?

For some reason, that part seemed to be lost behind a fog.

“What was the most dangerous thing that happened?” her friend Pam Largent had asked when April returned home.

April had stared at Pam, thinking hard. “The most dangerous?”

Why couldn't she remember?

She pictured blue rocks. A cave cut into the rocks. She remembered a smell, a horrible odor.

But why couldn't she remember what happened at that cave?

And now, Jimmy Clark, the TV reporter, gazed at her eagerly, waiting for her answer.

“We all had to cross a rope bridge,” April told him. “It was torn and broken, and a lot of the ropes were missing. If we fell, it would be a plunge straight down onto jagged rocks. I guess our team was the bravest on the bridge.”

April knew that was a lie.

The rope bridge wasn't part of the bravery contest at all. But she just couldn't remember.

Had it been
too
frightening? Is that why April had shut it from her mind?

“Well, congrats again,” Clark said, shaking hands with her. “And thanks for talking with us. I know you're going to be doing a lot of interviews. One last question—how does it feel to be a national celebrity?”

Is that what I am? April thought. Because I survived that island? I'm a national celebrity?

“Uh…it feels great!” she answered.

 

Pam was waiting for April when she got home. “You were awesome on TV!” she exclaimed, running up and hugging April. “Totally awesome!”

Whoa, April thought. What's this about? Pam and I have never been close friends. Why is she suddenly hugging me and telling me how great I am?

Pam was very tall and very blond and very pretty, with round blue eyes and a great smile. The girls' parents were best friends. So Pam and April were thrown together often, even though they didn't like each other very much.

When April was selected by The Academy to go to the island, Pam erupted in jealousy. “My grades are better, and I'm better at sports!” Pam had cried. She didn't try to hide her jealousy at all.

But ever since April had returned, Pam had been acting like her best pal.

Why is she doing it? April wondered. Then she
scolded herself. I should be grateful that Pam has a new attitude.

“You're the most famous person Applegate Junior High ever had!” Pam gushed. She followed April to her room. “I can't believe you're my friend!”

Now she is overdoing it! April thought. Pam wants something from me. I know she does.

But what?

“When is your next interview? How many interviews are you doing? Are you going to say yes to that interview on MTV?” Pam bombarded April with questions.

“It's so totally exciting!” Pam exclaimed, not giving April a chance to answer.

“I know. I'm really lucky,” April agreed. She sat down at her dressing table and began fiddling with her hair.

“Let me help you,” Pam said, pulling a chair up beside her. “I have some great ideas for your hair. And for some cool things you can wear to your next interviews. What if we pulled your hair up this way and then tied it back here?”

April gazed at herself in the mirror as Pam restyled her hair. “Hey, that's good.”

Pam really knows a lot about style. A lot more than I do, April thought with a frown.

“I saw some things at Urban Outfitters that would be totally cool,” Pam said. “Especially if you do the MTV interview.”

Pam stopped and stared at April's reflection. “And are you going to do the
Today
show?”

“Maybe,” April said. “My parents still haven't decided if they want me to go to New York.” She sighed. “The problem is, I'm missing so much school.”

“Who
cares
about stupid school?” Pam cried. “You're a
star
!”

She brushed April's hair back from her forehead—and then gasped. “April—I don't believe it! You got a tattoo?”

“Huh?” April gazed into the mirror. She saw Pam's eyes on the blue crescent moon on her temple.

A chill ran down April's back.

Ever since she had returned home, the blue moon had been throbbing, throbbing….

She jumped up from the dressing table. “It…it's not a tattoo,” she said, covering the blue crescent with her hair. “It's a birthmark, I guess.”

Pam narrowed her eyes at her. “Did you have it before?”

“Of course,” April lied.

“It's kind of cool,” Pam said, still studying April. “It really looks like a tattoo.”

It isn't cool at all, April thought bitterly.

I don't know what it is or how it got there.

April sighed again. This is supposed to be the most exciting time in my life, she thought. So why do I feel so strange? Why do I feel as if I've forgotten something important?

Something terrible happened on that island, April told herself. Something so terrifying, I've shut away the memory.

“Wouldn't you love to go back to that island?” Pam asked. “Wouldn't you love to have a few more weeks there?”

April sighed. “It was great that my team won all that money,” she told Pam. “But I'd never go back there. Never.”

The next day, she received an invitation to return.

After school the next day, April was interviewed by some kids from her school newspaper. Then she hurried home because she had a ton of homework.

She walked in the door a little before five. “Anyone home?” she shouted, tossing down her bag.

To her surprise, she heard a dog barking. Alfy, Pam's enormous sheepdog, came bouncing across the living room, wagging his tail furiously.

Before April could move, the big dog jumped on her, shoving her against the wall with his big paws. Taking little jumps, Alfy stretched up his head, trying to lick her face.

“Down, boy,” April said, laughing. “Thanks for the nice greeting. But get down!”

“Alfy—stop!” Pam came trotting into the room. She wrapped both hands around Alfy's collar and tugged the big, friendly sheepdog away from April. “He's too friendly. Too friendly!” she groaned.

April wiped dog drool off the front of her tank top.

“I was worried about you!” Pam said. “How come you're so late?”

“Worried about me?” April replied. “I had an interview, that's all.”

What's the big deal? April thought. What is Pam's problem?

“What's up?” she asked. “What are you and Alfy doing here?”

Pam picked up a sandwich she'd been eating from the coffee table in front of the couch. “What do you mean? Didn't your parents tell you I'm living here?”

April's mouth dropped open. “Living here?”

Pam nodded, grinning. “For a whole month. They must have told you. My parents are off to Ghana for a month. And they set it up with your parents that Alfy and I could stay here.”

April gaped at her. “It's been so crazy around here,” she said. “I guess they forgot to tell me.”

A feeling of dread swept over April. A whole month of seeing Pam night and day? Whoa.

At least they had a guest room. April wouldn't have to share her room. But did she need Pam living with her? No way.

“This is going to be so totally cool!” Pam gushed. “I know you and I haven't exactly been pals, April. But this will give us a chance to really get to know each other—right? We'll be like sisters!”

She hugged April again.

This can't be happening, April thought. Pam and me—sisters?

She pulled free of Pam and made her way to the stairs. “I've got to do some homework,” she said. “I'm so far behind.”

“If there's anything I can do to help, let me know,” Pam called after her.

Did I remember to bring the short-story book home? April wondered as she climbed the stairs. She was still thinking about it as she stepped into her room—and uttered a low groan.

What was that odor? Rotten eggs?

“Ohhh.” April pinched her fingers over her nose. But she couldn't shut the foul aroma out.

It swept over her, heavy and sour.

What
is
it? It smelled like fish. Like rotting meat. Like something decaying, something dead.

As the putrid odor washed over her, April started to choke.

Can't breathe, she thought. Can't breathe.

It's…suffocating me!

Gagging, tears pouring from her eyes, April staggered back through the bedroom doorway.

The sick odor followed her into the hall.

She started to gag. Her stomach lurched, and she swallowed hard, trying to force her lunch back down.

I know this smell, April thought.

A memory flashed into her mind. A vision of herself on the island. Entering the blue rock caves.
Inhaling a disgusting smell.

April gasped. The smell was from the island. From those frightening caves.

How did it get here? How did it get in my room?

“Hey, what's wrong?” Pam stepped up behind her. “You look sick.”

And then Pam's face twisted in disgust. “Yuck! Something stinks!”

Holding her nose, Pam stepped into April's bedroom. “What smells so bad? Did that bad dog Alfy have an accident in here?”

Swallowing hard, April followed Pam into the room. “I—I've got to open a window,” she choked out.

Halfway across the room, she stopped when she saw the bones on the rug beside her bed.

White bones of a small animal. Piled in a perfect circle.

Another memory jolted April. Climbing, exploring a dark cave. Looking down. Seeing a circle of white bones.

Just like on the island! April remembered. Just like the bones outside that rock cave!

Staring at the bones, inhaling the stench from the rock cave on the island, April couldn't control herself any longer.

She opened her mouth in a shrill scream of horror.