“It’s just the connection,” said Creeper. “I’m down to one bar here.”
There was a long pause. “The war has begun,” said Cygnus. “We will recapture Falcon Quinn. And destroy Monster Island. And then take Shadow Island, and the Aca—”
The conch shell shuddered, and then there was the sound of waves and seagulls once more. Then it fell silent.
“Call dropped,” said Creeper.
“Thank you, dear,” said Mrs. Redflint. “Mr. Hake, I wonder if you might escort our guest to the dungeon now. Oh, and leave that sea stone. We might be able to turn it to our advantage.”
“The dungeon?” said Creeper, laughing. “I’m not afraid of your stupid dungeon!”
“Ah,” said Mrs. Redflint. “But you should be.”
Mr. Hake wrapped his tentacles around her and dragged Creeper down the hallway.
Count Manson went to a corner cabinet and brought out a large map of the Sea of Dragons and the many islands of the Bermuda Triangle, and laid it out on the conference table.
“Ve vill sail out to meet them,” said Count Manson.
“And do what?” said Willow. “Start a war?”
“The var has already begun, Villow,” said the count. “Ve vill defend ourselves. Let the enemy know the time of drift is at an end.” He turned to the dragon lady. “Mrs. Redflint, can you summon the pirates? Ve vill need transport back to Monster Island!”
“The pirates?” said Mrs. Redflint. “Hm. Count, I am slightly concerned that we may find ourselves on the pirates’ bad side after Mr. Lyons devoured their captain. And I do hate to be on the bad side of a pirate!”
“The librarian,” said Count Manson. “Yes. Perhaps they’ll be persuaded if ve promise them a reward. Vhat is the term? Booty? I trust ve still have gold in the treasury. Mr. Pupae?”
“It has gold,” said the moth man.
“Good, vell, let us promise them gold, in great measure! And also—let us deliver the librarian unto them. They can make him valk the plank.”
“Wait—we’re going to just give them Mr. Lyons?” said Willow. “Hand them one of our own?”
“He is not vun of my own,” said the count.
“It makes sacrifices,” said the moth man.
“But—Mr. Lyons—,” said Willow. “To just hand him over to them?”
“Yes. Vell. He might have considered these consequences before dewouring their captain,” said the count.
“He was only trying to defend our students,” said Willow. “Isn’t that what we are all pledged to do?”
“Ve vill defend our students,” said Count Manson. “By having them join their instructors in this battle.” He smiled. “Indeed! Let us have these creatures vith us—the vuns who unmasked the traitor. These—croquet players.” Count Manson laughed softly.
“Those are almost all first-year students,” said Willow. “They haven’t been trained to fight guardians!”
“But you vere all so wery eager to defend their right to be students at our Academy!” said the count. “Let them show their vorth, if they are so walorous!”
“You’re cruel,” said Willow.
“Miss Vordsvaste,” said Count Manson. “The vurld is cruel.”
“Mrs. Redflint,” said Willow. “Do you agree with this? To just sending the first-year students off on a suicide mission?”
“Well, I do think you are all wrong if you underestimate the strength of that group,” said Mrs. Redflint. “They have a remarkable sense of pluck.”
“Pluck,” said Mr. Largo. “They’ll need more than pluck to survive a battle with the guardian command.”
“Mr. Largo,” said Mrs. Redflint. “You may be wrong. It is possible that, in this situation, pluck will make all the difference.”
“At last it begins,” said Count Manson. “Ve go to var! VAR!”
Mr. Shale shook his head. “Shaddap,” he said.
Chapter 19
However Improbable
The coffin ship sailed slowly to the east. Falcon stood at the bow of the Destynee II looking into the rising sun. Over his head, the main sail luffed. The bow of the ship moved slowly through the waves. On the horizon before them was Monster Island. Falcon could see the silhouette of the buildings on Hematoma Boulevard, the towering flume ride of Plasma Falls, the burned-out remnants of the Bludd Club. Summer seemed like a long time ago.
He had flown to the Destynee II, still at anchor in the harbor by the queen’s beach, with both Jonny and Megan in his arms. There were angry, shouting voices in the streets of the Hidden City as he passed over the spires of Paragon Castle. Guardian warriors shot at him with arrows and spears but missed. Below him he saw the streets of the city, the Temple of Honor, and Guardian Junior High. He felt a strange pang.
Young voices called out to him. He looked down, and there were Sam, and Snick, and Celeste, and Chandler. They were looking at him, holding their weapons in their hands.
Gyra stood a little apart from the others. The wind blew her blond hair over her shoulders. “Falcon,” she called.
He expected his guardian friends to attack, but they just watched as he flew over their heads and out above the forest that surrounded the Hidden City. A moment later he crossed over the queen’s beach and landed on the Destynee II. It took a few minutes to melt Jonny Frankenstein, but once the boy was defrosted, he grabbed the tiller of the coffin ship and off they went. Now they were out on the Sea of Dragons again, sailing to the east. Megan lay on the deck, her eyes closed.
“Falcon,” said Jonny. “She’s fading. You’re sure you don’t want to try your healing eye on her?”
“I told you,” Falcon snapped. “Weren’t you listening? The last time I used it, I killed one of my best friends.”
“I thought you said that guardian girl—Creeper—had put something in your eye that turned it poison. It has to have worn off by now, Falcon. Don’t you think?”
“I said I don’t want to use it!” shouted Falcon. “If I hurt Megan too, I’d—”
Megan flickered. Then she slowly faded back in, although she was dimmer than she’d been before.
“She’s not going to last,” said Jonny. “We have to get her some help.”
“Yeah,” said Falcon. “Where do you suggest? Back to Guardian Island? Where they kept her in a windmill’s blades for the last six months? Or maybe on Shadow Island, where all my friends think I killed Pearl, where they came after me with torches and pitchforks?”
“Hey, don’t yell at me, Falcon,” said Jonny. “I’m just saying. She needs help.”
“Jonny—,” moaned Megan. “Thank you—for saving me.”
“Hey,” said Jonny. “Falcon was the one who saved you.”
“Falcon,” said Megan, her eyes opening.
“I’m here,” said Falcon.
“Heal me,” said Megan. “Please?” She blinked out, then came back a moment later. She was becoming something indistinct and blurry.
“I can’t,” said Falcon. “I don’t trust my eye.”
“Falcon,” said Megan with a voice like a wind through a graveyard. “Heal me. . . .”
Falcon looked at Jonny, then back at Megan. He searched for Megan’s hand, which was not easy since she kept blowing all around. Then he found what felt like fingers, and he held them fast, and concentrated. A blue light began to shine from his right eye, and it fell upon her. Megan disappeared entirely again and then slowly began to take form. She looked at Falcon, seeming to see him clearly for the first time. “Falcon—,” she said. “You are here.”
Falcon continued to focus his healing light upon her. “Yeah,” he said. “We’re all together. You’re safe.”
“I dreamed I was spinning,” she said. “I dreamed I was—”
Then, just like that, Megan blinked out entirely. There was a forceful breeze against his face, and against Jonny’s, and then the gust was gone.
Jonny and Falcon looked at each other for a long moment. “Megan?” said Falcon.
They looked
around the deck. “Megan?” said Jonny.
“I knew it,” said Falcon. “I knew it!” He glanced angrily at Jonny. “Now she’s gone! I never should have let you talk me into it!”
Falcon raised his hands over his head, preparing to yell at the top of his lungs. But then something about the mainsail caught his attention. It was bursting with wind.
“Falcon,” said Jonny. “I think she’s all right. Look at the sail.”
“Megan?” said Falcon. Seagulls circled around the mast.
“You see,” said Jonny. “You did heal her.”
“Heal her,” said Falcon. “She’s invisible, Jonny! How can she be healed when she’s invisible?”
“She is what she’s supposed to be,” said Jonny. “She’s the wind.”
“Great,” said Falcon. “So healing her means—we never see her again?”
Jonny shrugged. “She is what she is,” he said.
“Yeah?” said Falcon. “And what are we?”
“You?” said Jonny. “You’re an angel. And I’m a piece of junk.”
Falcon shook his head. “I think I must be the lousiest angel there ever was.”
“Yeah, well,” said Jonny, his eyes flashing. “I’m a pretty excellent piece of junk.”
Falcon was just about to reply to this when he spotted something on the horizon. There behind them was a guardian warship, belching black smoke.
“Falcon,” said Jonny. “We’ve got company.”
Falcon was just about to tell Jonny that he was already aware of the approaching guardians, but Jonny was looking the other way, to the horizon ahead of them. Falcon was fairly certain of what he would see as he turned to look. There on the northern coast of Monster Island, approaching from the opposite direction, was the pirate ship Cutthroat. It was flying the Jolly Roger.
“Guardians behind us,” Jonny said. “Monsters ahead of us.”
Falcon saw the flash of a cannon on the deck of the guardian warship. It was drawing closer now. They heard a whistling over their heads. A moment later, a boom came over the water. A large explosion rocked the waves beside the pirate ship.
“Okay,” said Jonny. “This is bad.”
“You think?” said Falcon.
“No way we’re going to be able to find the Filchers now. Fighting like this is what they hate most.”
Another volley from the guardians soared over their heads and crashed into the water near the Cutthroat. They could hear the sound of zombies’ and vampires’ voices on the wind now, shouting in anger, calling out for revenge.
Falcon looked from one ship to the other, then back at the silhouette of the abandoned rides on Monster Island. For some reason he thought of Mr. Lyons. What had happened to that copy of Sherlock Holmes the librarian had given him? He pictured the volume sitting by his old bed in Dustbin Hall, unopened and unread.
“Okay,” Falcon said. “We can’t join the monsters. We can’t join the guardians. We won’t be able to find the Filchers.”
“Sounds like we’re outta choices,” said Jonny.
The memory of Mr. Lyons, however, had not left Falcon’s heart. Now he remembered running into the librarian on the beach back at the Academy, that day he’d tried to stop Max and Pearl from fighting and had failed. What was that line Mr. Lyons had quoted to him from Sherlock Holmes? When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. “It is a good phrase to bear in mind,” Mr. Lyons had said, “if what you intend to do is solve mysteries.”
“Falcon,” said Jonny as more artillery fire burst over their heads. “We’re trapped.”
Falcon looked at Jonny, still lost in thought. Then he spread his wings.
“Okay,” he said. “I just thought of something.”
Chapter 20
The Sinking of the Cutthroat
A fireball sailed through the air and crashed into the topsails of the Cutthroat, setting the studsail boom and futtock shrouds aflame.
“Ve are sinking!” said Count Manson, enraged. “Sinking!”
“Aye,” said Captain Deadbeard. “That we are. Down to the bottom. To Peter Tork’s locker!”
“It vas my understanding,” said Count Manson, “that you could outvit these guardian wessels! But perhaps—I vas misinformed?”
“Captain Deadbeard,” said Mrs. Redflint, coming over to the place where the captain, his first mate, and the count now stood. “We must abandon ship!”
“Mrs. Redflint,” said Count Manson. “You panic so easily!”
A fireball landed near the aft of the ship, igniting the decking quite near to the place where a large wooden cage was placed. There in the cage was Mr. Lyons, who was watching the progress of the battle with an expression of strange calm.
“It’s no good, Count,” said Mrs. Redflint. “We should get the students to shore and continue the battle there. It looks to me as if our adversaries are already doing just this.”
“Vhat?” said Count Manson.
“They are seizing the harbor and the high ground. In order to hold Monster Island against us, should our ship founder and we seek shelter there!”
Students were now pouring out of the hatch that led from the lower decks. The vampires came first, wearing expressions of outrage and disdain. Other monsters, wearing life jackets, came out the hatch after them—Destynee and Weems, Lincoln Pugh and Ankh-hoptet, Max and Pearl, and many more.
“Count Manson, I’m wet!” whined Merideath.
“Indeed, old man,” said Reeves Pennypacker Waldow-Sherrod Binswanger III. “Highly unusual procedures, aren’t they?!”
“All the fires are making me hot!” said Muffy. “I’m sweating! I hate sweating!”
“Dude,” said Max.
“Now is not the time for announcing our discomfort!” shouted Pearl. “Now is the time for battle!”
“Captain Deadbeard,” said Mrs. Redflint. “We are awaiting your orders.”
The captain held his spyglass to his eye and looked out upon the raging sea battle. The guardian warship appeared to be just as damaged as the monsters’, and it was steaming in its damaged state toward Monster Island in order to seize control of the harbor. As Captain Deadbeard watched, a fierce volley of hurtling fire slammed against the Cutthroat’s starboard side, ripping open holes in the hull and feeding the growing conflagration. Pirates and monsters alike were hurled toward the sea as the Cutthroat began to founder.
Captain Deadbeard grabbed on to one of the ratlines on the mainmast’s shroud to keep from falling overboard. “Argh,” he sighed. “’Tis as I feared.” He turned to his first mate. “Give the order, Mr. Snarg. Abandon ship. Deploy the lifeboats. Men and grown-ups first!”
“Abandon ship!” shouted Snarg. “Yargh yargh targh!”
“Abandon ship?” said Reeves Pennypacker Waldow-Sherrod Binswanger III. “Is that really necessary, old chap?”
But with this, a cresting wave washed over the ship and hauled Reeves Pennypacker Waldow-Sherrod Binswanger III into the sea.
“Reevey!” shouted Muffy.
“My father’s going to hear about this!” shouted Merideath. “You can be certain of that!”
“There will be nothing for him to hear,” said Mrs. Redflint. “If first you should perish.”
Merideath thought it over. “Into the lifeboats!” she shouted. “I get to go first!”
The pirate crew moved the monsters, both students and teachers, toward the lifeboats. The first boat contained Dr. Cortex, Count Manson, and Mr. Largo, as well as the male vampire students. Merideath was about to climb aboard when Snarg said, “Men and grown-ups first! Men and grown-ups first!”
Mrs. Redflint, standing at his side, however, suddenly engulfed the first mate in flames. “Ow!” he shouted.
“I’m sure you’ll agree to reconsider this policy,” she said.
“Argh,” said Snarg.
Merideath and the Crofton sisters climbed aboard, along with Mortia and Bonesy, Crackthunder and Stinkfinger, Snort and Picador
and Twisty. Two pirate crewmen cut the lines with their sabers, and the lifeboat fell into the sea.
“Okay,” said Max. “My turn!”
Lincoln Pugh, in giant bear form, held the hand of Ankh-hoptet and growled. A cyborg named Robotron Three Thousand waved his arms around, his bubble-dome blinking on and off.
“Rrrr,” growled Sparkbolt.
“You students are next,” said Mrs. Redflint, pointing to the next lifeboat. “Make for the shore of Monster Island. Mr. Hake will meet you there. After you make landfall, you should prepare yourselves for battle. Use all that you have learned.”
“Battle?” said Max nervously.
“I shall prepare the poison of deadliness!” shouted Pearl. “I shall use it upon any who would dare to assault those to whom I am sworn.”
They climbed into the next lifeboat, along with Owen Fitzhugh, the abominable snowman; Elaine Screamish, the banshee; and Quagmire, the bubbling puddle of glup.
“Honk,” said Max.
“Mr. Parsons,” said Mrs. Redflint. “Whatever is the matter?”
Max looked ashamed. “I’m afraid,” he said.
“Dear boy,” said Mrs. Redflint. “Do you think that courage means never being afraid? If so, you are mistaken. No, courage is just the ability to be gruesome under pressure. I do believe you can be gruesome, Mr. Parsons. Can you not?”
Max nodded. “I can be gruesome,” he said.
“So can we all!” said Pearl, buzzing in the air above the Sasquatch’s shoulder.
“Good luck,” said Mrs. Redflint, her eyes shining. Then she blasted the ropes with her fiery breath, severing them. The lifeboat plunged into the waves.
Back on the Cutthroat’s main deck, Destynee was hopping from one foot to another. “Mrs. Redflint,” she said. “The salt water . . . I’m dissolving!” The dragon lady looked down at Destynee’s feet, where the cold ocean water was indeed beginning to melt the feet of the young enchanted slug.
“Dear, dear,” said Mrs. Redflint. “Let’s get you into a lifeboat, spit spot.” She turned to Snarg. “Can you see that she’s taken care of, please?” Another wave crashed over the side, splattering part of Destynee’s face. It began to dissolve where the salt water touched her.
Falcon Quinn and the Crimson Vapor Page 20
