Spirits of Ash and Foam

by Greg Weisman

  I quickly barked my approval. I couldn’t really see how a dream would help anyone at this stage, but at least we were doing something. So I lowered my chin onto my paws and watched the show playing out behind Rain Cacique’s eyelids.

  This was the dream Maq sent:

  In the First Days, Aycayia the Cursed was in mourning for the death of her child. Aycayia had not eaten, had barely slept and would not leave the bohio, where once she had cared for the baby and held him close.

  Her six older sisters, who had raised and cared for Aycayia since she herself was a babe, were in fear for their youngest sister’s life. They urged her to leave the bohio, to bathe under the cool light of the moon. But Aycayia would not move. She stared into the fire at the center of the hut and watched the smoke and ashes float away.

  When the sun rose, First Sister tried again. She left the bohio herself and bathed in the clear, fresh water outside. She called for her sisters to join her, but Aycayia did not budge.

  So Second Sister left the bohio to bathe with First Sister. And both called to the others to join them. But Aycayia said not a word and did not budge.

  And so it went, as Third Sister and Fourth Sister and Fifth Sister emerged one by one from the bohio. And each began to bathe and each called back. But only when Sixth Sister joined them and all were calling Aycayia did she stir from the flames and smoke and ash.

  Finally, Aycayia emerged. She joined her Sisters, who washed the soot from her body. But the ash washed from Aycayia’s face was replaced by streaks of tears for her Lost Child. And the song she sang was beautiful but heartbreaking. Yet even in her grief, Aycayia was the most beautiful woman who had ever lived. And that was her curse. Men looked at her and saw the curve of her hip, the fullness of her breast, her raven-dark hair and the light in her eyes. But few saw the love that she had borne for her child or the anguish in her heart now that he was lost to her.

  When the bath was done, the Six Sisters made a large pot of ajiaco and coaxed Aycayia to eat. The soup was warm and flavorful and brought forth memories of her childhood—not so long ago—in the days before the horror of her wedding night. The smallest of smiles bloomed on Aycayia’s lovely face. But this smile would not last.

  The old crone Guanayoa appeared. She said, “First Chief and First Shaman have banished you from the cacicazgo.”

  The Six Sisters protested. They knew Guanayoa had always hated Aycayia and suspected she had poisoned First Chief and First Shaman against Her.

  But Aycayia was resigned to her fate. And with her child gone, there was nothing to keep her in the cacicazgo. “I will leave,” she said.

  Guanayoa was not pleased that Aycayia was not angry. And Guanayoa was even less pleased when the Six Sisters insisted on joining Aycayia in her exile. “We will go with Aycayia from the cacicazgo,” First Sister said. “Else Guanayoa will triumph.”

  The crone argued against it, but the Sisters would not budge, and their loyalty brought a small smile to Aycayia’s face. So it was decided that Guanayoa would take Aycayia and her Six Sisters far away.

  Fourteen Warriors were placed in seven canoes. They were blindfolded, so they could not look upon Aycayia. And their nostrils were plugged with rubber gum, so they could not revel in her scent. Aycayia was led to the First Canoe. She was bound so she could touch no one. And she was gagged so her voice could make no appeal. For Aycayia’s beauty was so potent, all the senses must be thwarted, lest someone take pity upon her.

  Aycayia’s Six Sisters sat in the six other canoes. Guanayoa sat beside Aycayia and guided the blind warriors far away to Punta Majagua. There, Aycayia, her Sisters and Guanayoa were abandoned. The Fourteen Warriors were instructed to row toward the heat of the setting sun with their blindfolds in place. Only when night had fallen could they remove them and find their way home.

  But there was no peace for Aycayia. She and her Sisters were forced to build a new bohio for Guanayoa. And they served the old crone as her slaves.

  And Guanayoa was cruel to Aycayia in many small ways. But Aycayia would not be brought to anger. It seemed nothing Guanayoa did could harm Aycayia more than her own grief.

  But Aycayia’s Six Sisters, Aunties to her dead child, could not bear to see Her treated in such a way. And so the Sisters summoned First Hummingbird to take a message back to the cacicazgo, pleading for help. Hummingbird flitted to each of the Fourteen Warriors, and each and every one answered the Six Sisters’ call. They sat in their canoes and put blindfolds on again. And they remembered their First Journey and crossed through the darkness in the same manner.

  The Fourteen Warriors found the bohio of Guanayoa on Punta Majagua. They found Aycayia bathing Guanayoa with her Sisters. But Guanayoa saw the Warriors first, and Guanayoa was First Witch. She cast a spell upon the Fourteen and told them only the strongest might have Aycayia. Thus enthralled, each Warrior did battle against friend and brother. And by nightfall, all Fourteen lay dead on Punta Majagua.

  Aycayia was one of only ten witnesses to the crime. She threatened to tell First Chief and First Shaman of First Witch’s evil. But Guanayoa warned, “There is no land safe from my magicks, Aycayia! And if no land is safe from me, then you will never be safe on land.”

  Frightened, Aycayia and her Sisters fled to First Ocean, hoping to escape Guanayoa’s wrath. They stumbled through the water, trying to reach the canoes of the Fourteen Warriors. But Guanayoa’s curse reached them first. The Six Sisters were transformed into dolphins. And the First Witch transformed Aycayia into a hideous manatee.

  But the beauty of Aycayia the Cursed is still strong, and so too her grief and her loneliness. And it is said, she can still become beautiful to lure children into the water with her song, never to be seen again …

  Lost in the dream, Rain felt something scrape along her arm. Then her Papa ’Bastian’s voice summoned her from sleep. “Rain! Rain, wake up!” Still groggy, she stirred. He poked the armband he had slipped upon her arm, nudging it and her. “Rain. Listen. I saw the kids. Rain!”

  Instantly, her eyes popped open, and she all but bolted out of bed—right through her ghostly grandfather, who now stood up behind her. Cash was there, too. She was still confused, half-asleep, but she was dragging herself awake, using her desperation like a rope to pull herself out of slumber’s grip. She stepped back so she could see them both. “Did you say you saw the Kim kids? Where are they? What time is it?” She glanced at the clock. It was 5:26 A.M. “Where are they?” she repeated.

  “They’re on Witch’s Finger with Aycayia. I tried to talk to them, to her. But I was pretty useless. The kids couldn’t hear me. Maybe she couldn’t either—”

  “How’d you get back here so quickly?”

  He couldn’t believe that mattered to her at this moment, but he said, “I ran across the island and hopped the first ferry back. Joe was at the helm. He looked so old…”

  She couldn’t believe that mattered to him at this moment, and she asked, “How were they? How did they look?”

  “Fine, actually. Happy. I mean I guess they’re under a spell, but they—”

  “Were they dolphins?”

  “No, human. At least at first. So was Aycayia. She was wrapped in seaweed, which was probably good for my sanity. But the kids were naked—”

  “Were they cold?”

  “No, listen. Aycayia had built a fire and made them soup. She was taking care of them. I don’t think she’s evil, Rain. I just think she’s—”

  “Lonely.”

  “Yes. And sad.”

  “The dream. I was dreaming that when you woke me.”

  “Dreaming me finding her?”

  “No, dreaming her story. But it was different this time than the last time. I mean it was the same story, but it wasn’t. That first dream … I think that first dream … lied.”

  Cash suddenly spoke up. “Kid, dreams can totally lie.”

  This was an odd epiphany for Rain. “Yeah. I guess so. But these dreams, the ones I’ve been having since all the weirdness sta
rted. They’re different. They feel so real. And this one tonight seemed … true. Or truer than the old version of the story, anyway.”

  The Pale Tourist shook his head. “I don’t ever trust my dreams. That’s fluff. Spinning off and evaporating like cotton candy for the mind, my friend. You want something to trust, try money. Coin. Lucre. That’s the stuff you can bank on. Cold, hard cash.”

  “Isn’t your name Cash?” the Dark Man asked.

  “It is now. And that’s why.”

  Rain and ’Bastian exchanged confused looks. Rain said, “Didn’t you have something to tell me?”

  “Oh, yeah. See, this mosquito swarm vampire thing killed me. And now it’s looking to kill you. It’s taking orders from this woman, who formed right out of the air.”

  “Julia,” Rain and ’Bastian said in unison.

  “If you say so. I didn’t catch her name. Anyway, I figured I should warn you. Figured if I did, maybe I could move on.” He looked around, but nothing had changed. There was nowhere in particular for him to move. He scrunched his face into a frown. “’Course, I might have gotten that wrong.”

  Rain visibly shook off Cash’s musings and turned back to ’Bastian. “Do you think they’re still there, where you left them?”

  “No. I stayed with them until they left. Then I followed. They went back to the water, and Aycayia had her manatee skin wrapped like a bundle under her arm. I kept up as long as I could. I saw her dress herself and transform back. Then I saw her transform the kids back into dolphin pups with her tail. The other six dolphins joined them, and they swam off faster than I could follow. So I went back to shore and crossed the island. Oh, and Callahan was there too!”

  “You know Callahan?” This from Cash.

  “You know Callahan?” This from Rain.

  “He hired me! Sent me to that cave. Sent me to my death, come to think of it.”

  “Why? Why did he hire you? What’s in the cave?”

  “Some kind of ancient artifact is supposed to be there. He called it a—”

  “Zemi,” Rain said.

  “Yeah. You know about this?”

  Rain pointed to her snake charm. “This is a zemi. It’s how I can hear you. There are eight more of them, and I’m supposed to collect them. Callahan’s in my way.”

  Cash looked scared, more afraid of Callahan than of Mosquito Boy. “Uh, look. I’d tread carefully. He’ll figure you’re in his way. And he’s not the kind of guy to let anyone get between him and his paycheck.”

  Again Rain and ’Bastian exchanged a look. ’Bastian said, “Paycheck? Who’s he working for?”

  “No idea. But I can guarantee you he wasn’t shelling out my cut on his own dime. Callahan’s nothing if not tight with a buck.”

  “Did he pay you?” Rain asked.

  “Dying kinda got in the way of that.”

  Rain smiled slyly. “So he got you killed and, uh…”

  “Stiffed you,”’Bastian added.

  “Well, that’s one way to—”

  “So if it came down to it,” Rain said, “you don’t owe him anything.”

  “I guess not…”

  “So you’re on my team now.”

  “There are teams?”

  “There are teams.” She said to ’Bastian, “Do you think they’ll go back? Aycayia and the Kimlets?”

  He nodded. “At night, when it’s safe.”

  “Then we need to go back at night.”

  “It won’t be safe. Not for you. Not on Sycorax.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Cash said, holding out his arms. “You’re talking about Sycorax? That’s where the swarm is! You can’t go there.”

  “I have to,” Rain said.

  “Why?!”

  “Because now I know dreams can lie.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  WON’T GROW UP

  WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

  “This makes no sense,” Renée said.

  Rain couldn’t agree more—though they clearly had different topics in mind. There were five of them on the Guerrero speedboat now: Rain, Charlie, Miranda, Ariel and Renée. From Rain’s point of view, the presence of her least favorite schoolmate—at this most crucial place and time—made no sense whatsoever.

  Morning had broken on Wednesday, leaving Rain alone. ’Bastian’s spirit had returned to the zemi, and Cash had simply vanished. Not just Cash, either. The storm that had raged all night over every one of the Ghosts—except Sycorax—had dissipated almost instantaneously with the dawn. Looking out her bedroom window at the clear morning sky, with the rising sun rapidly evaporating the rainwater from the drenched street and sidewalks, Rain had a moment of clarity regarding Hurricane Julia: She’s dead.

  Powerful as she was, Julia could no more stick around in daylight than’Bastian or Cash. Or why would she let up now? No, Rain was convinced Julia was some kind of ghost. That meant Rain would be free of her, safe from her, for a little over twelve hours. If she could get to Aycayia and the Kimlets before sunset, then Julia would return too late to intervene.

  Not that getting to Aycayia was going to be easy either way. Though Rain was fairly certain the Manatee-Woman would return after dark to Punta Majagua with her Sisters and the Lost Kims, there was no telling where they’d be before then. It definitely raised a question: Why was Aycayia able to operate in daylight when every other mystic creature Rain had encountered could not? Why didn’t she vanish with the sun? Only one answer seemed to make any sense: Aycayia wasn’t dead. In both dreams, in both versions of the legend, Aycayia and the Six Sisters had been transformed by Guanayoa into sea creatures, but they had not died. On the contrary, they had—perhaps inadvertently—been made immortal.

  No wonder Aycayia was so lonely. On the surface, living forever sounded pretty sweet, but beneath the waves, what would it be like for this young girl—this young mother who had lost her child—to live on endlessly in the body of a manatee? The manatee-monotony, even with your Sisters there to maintain your spirits and despite the ability to occasionally transform back into a human, would deaden the soul. Did she have—could she have—manatee calves? Would she want them? Or had there been, over the centuries, an endless succession of human children, stolen away and transformed? If so, then clearly Aycayia’s power to morph herself a brood didn’t include the ability to grant them their own immortality. Otherwise, there’d be hundreds of dolphins and pups by now, not just the original Six Aunties and the three Kimlets.

  If these previous Lost Children all aged and died before Aycayia’s big brown eyes, the pain of losing her own child would return over and over and over again. The loneliness—even in the midst of caring for each latest “litter”—would be unbearable. And the desperate need to find replacements would continue throughout eternity.

  Aycayia the Cursed. Talk about understatement.

  Armed with this new understanding, Rain felt maybe she stood a chance of breaking the cycle, if only she could find them before nightfall.

  Rain raced to get ready. (Today, she had no problem braiding her hair.) She gathered her things and snuck out of the Inn without seeing her parents or doing any of her morning chores. Ignoring the trouble she’d be in later, she merely left them a brief note claiming she had to get to school early.

  Fifteen minutes later, with drums beating in her head, she was outside Charlie’s door and filling him in on all she had learned and intuited. They conceived a plan and set about executing it immediately.

  There was no point in skipping school. Given that three children had already gone missing on the island, it would only raise significant red flags if they ditched—and besides, they couldn’t expect to find Her or the Kimlets until sunset approached. Plus they needed Miranda’s help.

  So they were both there, waiting for young Miss Guerrero, when Ariel dropped Miranda off at the Columbia Yacht Club. In Ariel’s presence, Rain asked Miranda if they could once again go out after school to look for the Kimlets. Miranda turned to look at Ariel, who made a slight glance at the cl
oudless sky and nodded. Then Charlie asked if they could bring scuba gear. Miranda bit her lip and looked away, but she nodded, this time without bothering to get confirmation from the ever-silent Ms. Jones. Charlie and Rain exchanged shrugs; it seemed it was just understood that Ariel would pick them up after school with diving gear already aboard. They followed Miranda off the slip, and on the way to school, Rain filled Miranda in on the latest relevant weirdness—though not, of course, on anything ’Bastian- or zemi-related. By the time they reached campus, Miranda was up to speed on the plan—dreading it, but up to speed—and prepared to do her best.

  But they were ambushed entering the junior high. Rain had gone in first with Charlie behind her, but when Miranda followed, Renée had practically pounced. “Hey, Sugar. Miss me?”

  “Renée! Hi. I mean … yes. I mean, I saw you yesterday.”

  “I know. But it’s been like forever since we last hung out. What are you doing after school? I’m off today.”

  Renée’s work schedule at Koko’s Caribbean Fries had kept her at bay—and out of Rain’s braided hair—during the current Kimlet crisis. But Renée didn’t work Wednesdays, and Miranda was not an adept liar. So before Rain or Charlie could stop her, Miranda said, “Um, well, you see, we’re going out on my father’s boat to help search for Wendy, John and Michael Kim.”

  Renée’s eyes squinted in confusion, then widened briefly. Truthfully, she had put the missing tourist children out of her mind, and it took her a second to figure out what Miranda was talking about and then another second to get her head around the notion that any of them cared. During second three, she began to see this as an opportunity. She grabbed hold of Miranda’s arms. “Oh, I’ll come along. Anything I can do to help.” Renée glanced over Miranda’s shoulder, taking pleasure in Charlie’s helpless horror and Rain’s grim frustration.

  Miranda turned back in time to catch Rain and Charlie’s looks—while missing Renée’s resulting smirk. It didn’t take much effort to read Rain’s mind. It was going to be hard enough hunting for dolphinized children with Ariel around. But at least she’d be tied to the boat. How are we supposed to do what needs doing without revealing the truth to Renée?