“What do you mean ‘the same way’?” I asked. “The papers said you had no idea how they disappeared.”
“We don’t always tell the press everything we know,” Hordish said with a smirk.
“A brilliant strategy, Detective!” Mirella flew up from her perch and hovered near Hordish. “You don’t want the culprits reading about your investigation on the front page of the Rockfall Times.”
Hordish nodded. “Exactly. So, here’s what we do know.” Something buzzed in the detective’s coat. He fumbled through his pockets with his big hands and pulled out his phone. He looked at the screen and frowned. “It’s Mayor Grimlock. I better take this outside.”
Detective Hordish shuffled out of the control room. Mrs. Wrenchlin stepped forward and pointed to one of the ships on the screen. “That is the Empire Star, the first ship to disappear. She pulled into the harbor late in the evening last week. She carried a cargo of small appliances—toasters, vacuum cleaners, that sort of thing. She set her anchor for the night so the morning shift of dock workers could unload her. She didn’t make it to the morning.”
“Yes, but exactly what happened?” Mirella buzzed closer to the screen and hovered next to Tank’s mom. “I read your report of the incident, but quite frankly, I simply don’t understand how it is possible.”
“None of us do.” Mrs. Wrenchlin sighed. “It’s probably easier if we just watch the video from the security camera.”
“I know that.” I glared at my detective partner. “I was just, um, thinking out loud.”
“What a curious way for a ship to disappear.” Mirella flew closer to the screen. “What of the ship’s crew? Were they taken too?”
“They were found on the beach, unconscious and with no memory of what had happened,” Mrs. Wrenchlin said. “The theft happened at night, so most of the crew were already asleep. The ones who were awake remembered seeing the black cloud appear, but nothing after that.”
“Very curious.” Mirella studied the screen for a moment before spinning to face Mrs. Wrenchlin. “What theories does the Harbor Patrol have?”
“None that make sense,” Tank’s mom said. “It could be something in the water causing the mist. It could be thieves operating somehow from within Slick City. It could even be pirates from outside the mountain. We just don’t know. Hopefully Detective Hordish can help narrow down suspects. We’ve analyzed the video, but all we can say is that there must be something in the mist that affected the ship.”
“That much is obvious.” Mirella narrowed her tiny eyes. “SlurpCo needs our ships back. We cannot afford to lose a single crate.”
Mrs. Wrenchlin smiled at the buzzing blaze fairy. “The Harbor Patrol is working hard to find the ship, Ms. Ballaworth.”
“Mirella, please! We are all friends here,” the SlurpCo executive said in a singsong voice.
“I’ve doubled the night patrols on the water, and we’ve had a team of divers searching the harbor floor,” Mrs. Wrenchlin continued. “So far they haven’t found anything. We showed this video to senior wizards at the Shadow Tower, but they can’t confirm what created the mist. They will be sending a team of wizards later today to investigate further.”
“And what of the second ship, Nolan’s Edge?” Mirella asked. “How did it disappear?”
“In the same way,” Mrs. Wrenchlin answered. “One week to the day, and at the exact same time.”
She tapped the screen, and security-camera video of the second ship appeared. We watched the video in silence. It followed the same pattern. A SlurpCo cargo ship floated in the water, minding its own business, when suddenly the water around it began to bubble. A black mist rose from the water and engulfed the entire ship. And then, as quickly as it had come, the mist disappeared and the ship was gone.
“So two ships vanish, and you have no idea, no clues and no suspects?” Mirella said. “I see why Mayor Grimlock is losing patience with you, Harbor Master.”
Mrs. Wrenchlin crossed her arms. “Between the Harbor Patrol and the police department we will find out who is behind these disappearances.”
“You better hurry,” Mirella snapped. Her whimsical laugh was gone. In its place was the stern words of a monster used to getting what she wanted. “Another SlurpCo ship arrives in Fang Harbor this evening. We don’t want to lose that one too.”
“Actually, Detective Hordish and I had just come up with a plan for that ship when you arrived,” Mrs. Wrenchlin said. “If you agree to it.”
“What sort of plan?”
“Both ships vanished in the middle of night. We think the thieves, whoever they are, will strike again tonight for the third ship. This time we’re going to be ready. We’ll have police officers and the Harbor Patrol standing by, ready to act at the first sign of trouble.”
“Are you talking about a stakeout?” Tank asked. She looked to me, her ears perked up.
Mrs. Wrenchlin smiled. “Yes, it’s a stakeout. But don’t even think about asking to come. It’s late at night. Both you and Fizz will be at home in your beds.”
She silenced Tank’s protests with a single look. My friend’s ears flopped. There was no way her mom was going to let her go on that stakeout. It’d be the same story with my mom.
I didn’t really listen as Mrs. Wrenchlin explained the details of the stakeout to Mirella. I was too busy making plans of my own.
Whatever it took, Tank and I would be at that stakeout.
The glowshrooms around Fang Harbor cast their pale light across the water.
The third SlurpCo cargo ship, Wave Dancer, floated in the middle of the harbor like a silent giant. The ship’s crew had been removed earlier, so now the ship lay empty except for the dozen or so shipping containers filled with SlurpCo products. Near the edge of the water Detective Hordish and a small army of police officers waited in a flotilla of Harbor Patrol boats. With them was a contingent of wizards from the Shadow Tower. The school of wizardry rarely got involved with anything that happened outside the tower. This time, though, the possibility that the thieves were using magic to conjure the cloud of black mist that engulfed the ships had them interested. Tank’s mom watched over it all from the harbor master’s control tower.
Despite Mrs. Wrenchlin’s earlier warnings, she eventually agreed to let Tank watch the stakeout from the safety of the shore. Since we didn’t have school in the morning, it only took an hour or two of pestering. Tank is a good pest. I’m not so shabby myself. It took less than half an hour of nagging to get my mom agree to let me tag along. We had just slipped down to the water’s edge when a shadow on the water appeared.
“Here she comes,” Tank whispered.
The shadow drifted closer.
“Are you sure it’s her?”
“Of course it’s me, Fizz!” a familiar voice called out from the water.
“Aleetha!” I cheered as loudly as I dared.
The shadow revealed itself to be a small rowboat carrying a lone lava elf, our pal Aleetha Cinderwisp. She used to go to school with us, but now she’s studying to be a wizard at the Shadow Tower. That’s where all the elves go to learn magic. She goes to classes just like Tank and I do, but has some pretty weird subjects. Who ever heard of getting an A in History of Magical Mishaps? That’s a thing apparently.
“Relax, Fizz,” Aleetha chuckled. “It’s a real boat. It’s just powered by magic. You’ll be fine.”
The oars of the small boat slowly paddled us toward to the Wave Dancer. Tank scanned the water.
“What happened to the other boats?”
“They’re around here somewhere,” Aleetha said. “The wizards have them cloaked in an invisibility bubble to avoid being spotted by the thieves.”
I nearly fell out of the boat. “Really?! The Slick City police are using magic? I thought they banned using that stuff in their investigations.”
“Times are changing, Fizz.” Aleetha grinned. “I think we had a hand in that.”
Every monster in Slick City knows to stay clear of magic. Magic is un
reliable, unpredictable and downright dangerous. Only elves like Aleetha are comfortable with the arcane arts. Trolls, ogres and goblins like me are happy to use technology to get stuff done. And all monsters know never to mix technology with magic. Putting those two together is a great way to fry your scales and blow up your neighborhood.
When we were closer to the Wave Dancer, Aleetha whispered a word of magic and the oars lifted out of the water. Our little boat slowed to a stop.
“This is close enough,” Aleetha whispered.
We bobbed on the water in silence, waiting for the thieves to arrive. After a few minutes something did show up, but it wasn’t the ship stealers.
Next to us, a dozen Harbor Patrol boats had suddenly appeared. They formed a wide circle around the Wave Dancer. Police officers stood on the decks of each boat, watching the cargo ship.
“Where did they come from?” I hissed.
Aleetha cursed. “We drifted into the invisibility bubble. Now we’re invisible too.”
“That’s good, right?” I said.
“Not really,” Aleetha muttered. “Invisible can see invisible, which is why we can see them.”
“And they can see us,” Tank whispered. “Let’s just hope they don’t notice our little rowboat.”
All eyes were on the cargo ship in front of us. Well, almost all eyes.
Three boats away, one burly ogre in a rumpled overcoat glared directly at our little vessel. Detective Hordish practically fell over the railing of his boat when he spotted us. We’d promised him we’d stay out of the way and watch from the shore. Now he’d caught us far from the shore and very much in the way. The ogre barked an order to one of his officers, and soon every monster on the boat was looking our way.
“I think we’ve been noticed,” I said. “Aleetha, get us out of here before we become Hordish’s catch of the day.”
“Good idea.”
Our oars dropped back into the water and magically began rowing us away from the cargo ship. Suddenly the water around us began to bubble. The sight of the bubbling water drew Hordish’s attention away from us and back to the Wave Dancer.
A dark mist appeared on the surface of the bubbling water. It grew into a thick cloud of smoke around the cargo ship. Aleetha stood at the front of our tiny rowboat. She thrust her hand into the dark cloud swirling around us. It sparkled purple at her touch.
“We were right,” I said. “It’s magic.”
“You got it, Fizz.” Aleetha studied the mist with narrowed eyes. “This has been created by some kind of spell.”
As the smoke surrounded our boat, my head grew heavy and my vision blurred. Through the gathering cloud, I could just make out Detective Hordish. He wobbled on the deck of his boat, nearly falling over. Next to him, one of his officers collapsed. Hordish waved his arms madly, ordering the other Harbor Patrol vessels to pull back. I liked his thinking.
“There’s something in the smoke.” I struggled to get my words out through the growing fog in my mind.
The water beneath us began to churn. Bubbles burst through the surface and rocked our boat. I held onto the gunwale with both claws, wishing I had stayed home and done something more enjoyable, like finishing my homework.
The dark cloud now completely surrounded us. Tank sat in the bottom of the boat. She rubbed her eyes and struggled to stay awake. Waves splashed over the side of the boat as the bubbles turned into gushing geysers of water.
A heavy thud sounded against the bottom of the boat.
Whatever had grabbed the Wave Dancer now lifted it out of the water and tilted it like a salt shaker. The three of us slid down the deck, tumbling toward the churning waves of Fang Harbor. We’d come to catch the ship thieves, but now we were sunk.
I landed with a splat instead of a splash.
My body crashed into something solid, squishing my snout, bending my tail and shaking my brain. Tank and Aleetha landed beside me. Somehow we had missed the water and stayed on the deck of the Wave Dancer. The whole ship was tilted at a sharp angle.
Suddenly the ship’s massive hull groaned like it had a toothache. The world around me moved. My stomach lurched into my throat. Water whooshed high into the air on all sides as the ship’s massive hull splashed back into the harbor. I wobbled to my feet.
Tank sat up and rubbed her head. “Have we landed?”
The cargo ship rocked from side to side. Aleetha poked her head out from under her cloak.
“What happened?” she groaned.
Tank jumped to her feet, suddenly alert and eyes wide. She pointed straight ahead.
“That happened!”
On the far side of the ship, a thick, slimy snake slithered across the deck. Except it wasn’t a snake. It was the largest tentacle I had ever seen. Living in a mountain full of monsters, I’d seen my fair share of tentacles. From the octo-ettins who were my classmates to slabbergrabbers who hung from the rocks and snatched food out of the claws of unsuspecting tourists, tentacles were as common as tails and usually about as big. This tentacle was different. It was as thick as an ogre and as long as the mudball playing field. It had wrapped itself around the Wave Dancer like a child grabbing a toy. A shiver ran through my scales at the thought of the size of the creature who commanded such strength.
“That thing just grabbed the Wave Dancer right out of the water!” Aleetha said.
The tentacle slid across the deck as the monster released its grip on the ship. Tank had her phone in her hands and snapped photos of the retreating tentacle. She looked up from her screen.
“There’s more to that monster than just tentacles.”
The roof above us was a brilliant blue. Puffy white balls of smoke drifted across it overhead. A blindingly bright circle of light shone down on us. Somewhere deep in my brain, the name of the light bubbled up.
“The sun.” I shielded my eyes against the brightness. “And those white things are clouds!”
Most monsters live their entire lives without ever leaving the darkness of Rockfall Mountain. That included the three of us. I had briefly glimpsed the world beyond the mountain once before. It was only for a few seconds, and I was still safely inside the mountain. Now, water stretched as far as I could see. In the distance a line of rocky cliffs loomed on the blue horizon. We were definitely not in Slick City anymore.
Tank stared at the sky, her jaw hanging open. “How? Where?”
“My thoughts exactly,” I said. “Where are we, and how did we get here?”
Aleetha shook her head slowly. I’d never see her look so confused. “As far as I can tell, this ship has been moved from Fang Harbor and dropped somewhere outside the mountain.”
“With us tagging along as stowaways.” Tank pulled her phone from her tool belt and frowned. “There’s no signal! I can’t send a message home.”
My scales ran cold. Together, the three of us had been to the top of Rockfall Mountain and all the way down to the Dark Depths at the very bottom. It had been terrifying, dangerous and nearly fatal, but at least we’d been inside the mountain. Rocks and darkness were what we knew. Now, we were surrounded by blue sky and brightness. This was another world, and it was more terrifying than any beast I’d faced before.
A shadow fell across us, blocking out the sun in the sky. A ship as tall as Slick Stadium loomed over us. Three thick masts rose from the deck of the wooden ship. A patchwork sail hung from the main mast. It billowed in the gentle breeze that drew the ship alongside us. From the top of the tallest mast flew a black flag with white skull emblazoned on it.
Kobolds are dog-faced bullies on the best of days. They have splotchy orange fur, stink-eye stares and fangs sharp enough to chew through the bones of a grizzled rockboar. And those are the nice kobolds who live in Slick City. The kobolds scrambling onto the Wave Dancer wouldn’t be allowed within a dragon’s breath of the city limits. They had sinister scars in their fur, gold rings in their snouts and vicious-looking swords in their paws. One by one, the kobold pirates scurried along the ropes and stepped on
to the deck of the Wave Dancer.
My scales had turned to ice. We were lost, far from home and about to become chew toys for a bunch of marauding muttheads.
We ran to hide on the opposite side of the ship.
Behind us the kobolds clambered aboard. They yapped with glee and raced to the far end of the Wave Dancer, where the massive shipping containers sat loaded with SlurpCo products. We watched from a distance as the pirates hacked at the containers’ locks with their sharp blades.
“They’re not after us,” Tank whispered.
“They’re more interested in what’s inside those containers,” I said. “Let’s hope it stays that way.”
“It won’t,” Aleetha muttered. “They’ll search the ship for any remaining crew. We need to find a place to hide until they’re gone.”
The kobold pirates ran around the deck barking and snarling. So far they’d been too busy breaking into the cargo containers to notice us. But Aleetha was right. It wouldn’t be long before that changed.
Tank rushed over to a jumble of twisted metal that had been ripped loose when the giant tentacle thingy grabbed the ship.
“Under here!” Tank hissed. “They won’t be interested in a bunch of broken ship parts.”
“Good thinking!” Aleetha shimmied into the small opening created by the fallen debris.
I squeezed in beside her, and we made room for Tank. Our hiding spot was cramped but safe—for now. It also turned out to be well located. A hole in one of the pieces of sheet metal gave us a clear view of the containers the kobolds were so interested in.
A cheer erupted from the pirates as the first lock was broken. The doors to the container swung open. The kobolds leaped on the boxes inside like a first-grader on a dropped candy bar.
“Leave that loot alone, you tick-infested mongrels!”
Fur froze at the barked command. The pirates stopped their looting and cowered before the large kobold marching toward them. The new arrival stood a head taller than the biggest pirate. He wore a weathered red coat with tarnished brass buttons and a three-cornered hat that looked like it’d been run over by a school bus.
The Case of the Tentacle Terror Page 2
