The Blackhope Enigma

by Teresa Flavin

  The sailors shrank back and looked at Lady Ishbel for orders.

  Angus burst out laughing at Sunni. “I don’t know what’s more amusing, you brandishing a dagger or grown men backing down at the sight of it.”

  “This isn’t meant to be funny.” Sunni pushed Dean to the ladder. “Get in the boat, Dean.”

  Lady Ishbel huffed, “Stop her!”

  “I have this under control, my lady —”

  Ignoring Angus, Lady Ishbel screeched at her crewmen, “Stop the girl!”

  Two men lunged at Sunni, and she lashed out with the dagger, slicing one across the arm and the other in the shoulder.

  “Don’t you come near me!” she shrieked. “Get away, or I’ll do worse than that!”

  Suddenly one of Blaise’s burly oarsmen climbed up over the railing and jumped in front of her, sword in hand, ready to take on anyone who dared to stop Sunni.

  “Get in boat now,” he grunted. “I kill anyone who stands in our way!”

  The dagger shaking in her fist, Sunni hauled herself over the side and almost fell down the ladder in her haste.

  Swinging his sword as he descended, the oarsman dropped back into the skiff. He and his mate pushed Sunni and Dean into safe positions and then took up their oars, speeding them back to the Venus.

  “Mistress, we can stop them with crossbows!” yelled the Luna’s first mate to Lady Ishbel. “Give us orders!”

  But by the time the crew had seized their weapons, the skiff was out of range. They grumbled among themselves.

  “I want my map, and that girl was to get it for me.” Lady Ishbel was incensed.

  Angus elbowed sailors out of his way as he strode across the deck to join her. “There are other ways, my lady, other ways to skin a cat.”

  Blaise pushed in front of his crewmen to help Sunni and Dean climb the ladder.

  “Sunni! Dean! You made it. Man, am I relieved to see you!” He almost hugged Sunni, but his nerve failed and all he could manage was a squeeze of her arm. “But what was going on over there? It looked like a fight was about to kick off. Did your sailors mutiny or something?”

  “Get us away from here” was all Sunni managed to say. “Away from them!”

  She was still trying to keep her dagger hand from quaking. Twice she’d drawn blood now, and it made her feel sick. She wouldn’t let go of Dean’s hand.

  Blaise called for Patchy, who hurried to his side.

  “Go now, full speed,” he ordered, his eyes trained on Lady Ishbel’s ship. “Stay on the same course to the island. And keep us away from that other ship.” He ushered Sunni and Dean along the deck. “Come on, let’s go below. And you can tell me the whole story.”

  In his quarters, Blaise pulled the chair out for his friend and gestured for Dean to take the bunk. Before she sat down, Sunni took the bloody dagger from her belt and laid it on the table.

  Blaise whistled. “Where did you get that? Man, it looks like you just used it, too.”

  “It got us off that ship. I found it during a battle with a pirate ship.”

  “Pretty gutsy.” He sat on the edge of the table. “So what happened back there?”

  “It’s a long story. That wasn’t our ship. We were kidnapped by this guy Marin —”

  “If he thinks someone’s a spy, he draws their picture and traps them inside it!” Dean broke in. “And he’s got one of me half finished!”

  “He thinks you’re a spy? I heard about him — supposedly he was Corvo’s apprentice. So he learned a few magic tricks, huh?” Blaise said. “Talk about capturing a likeness. But he can’t finish it if you’re not around, Dean.”

  “Yeah.” Dean perked up slightly.

  “So he kidnapped you?”

  “Yes. And we got dragged through the arch and the maze. Then we got to the sea, and when a ship came, Marin took it over. Then pirates attacked, we went overboard and got rescued by Sir Innes’s niece, Lady Ishbel.” Sunni scowled. She downed water from a pottery jug and handed it to Dean. “That’s her ship we just escaped from.”

  “Sir Innes’s niece is here? That’s something —”

  “She’s a stuck-up cow. She’s out for herself, Blaise,” Sunni interrupted. “And she’s just part of our problem.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You found a map, right?”

  Blaise looked surprised. “How do you know that?”

  “From Angus Bellini. He’s on that boat.”

  “No way, not again! I thought I’d lost him.” He flushed with anger. “He said Mr. Bell sent him to rescue us, but I don’t believe that. I’ve been trying to ditch him for ages. Oh, man, Sunni, he’s big trouble.”

  “We worked that out quickly, too,” she said grimly. “You’re right: all this stuff about him rescuing us is garbage. He wanted me to steal your map and give it to him behind Lady Ishbel’s back — or else he said he would hurt Dean.”

  “No surprises there. So you fought back!”

  “Sunni saved me,” Dean murmured from the bunk. “Again.”

  Blaise looked admiringly at Sunni. “Very cool.” Then he moved the dagger aside and unrolled his map on the chart table. “Here’s the map I found stuck to the white wall between the maze and the sea. I didn’t get all of it, though. Angus was on my tail at the time.”

  Dean hobbled over to look. “He wants it pretty badly.”

  “Then he either knows something we don’t or he’s guessing it’s important.”

  Sunni examined the top corner. “I think he has the missing piece.” She found her sketchbook, warped from its previous soaking, and opened it to a page of nine small sketches. “Angus dropped a scrap of paper with drawings on it. I memorized them as best I could and drew these.”

  “You drew that from memory? Wow.” Blaise lined the map up with Sunni’s sketch. “These are definitely connected. That line there finishes the outline of this island on the map, and those little drawings look like they go with the others.”

  “I haven’t a clue what they mean.”

  “Well, see this rectangle? Doesn’t it look like the labyrinth in the Mariner’s Chamber?” He hoped Sunni and Dean saw what he did.

  “Yeah, it does, actually.”

  “It could be the symbol for a labyrinth. It might be the way out. That’s why I set a course for the island. We’re not that far from it now.” Blaise rolled up the map.

  Sunni brightened. “We came in on a labyrinth, so maybe we have to go out on one.”

  “Yep, that’s my guess.”

  “Angus and Ishbel will come after the map, though.”

  “They’ll have to catch us first. No way is Angus getting this! I bet he thinks it’ll show him where Corvo’s lost paintings are. That’s all he really wants, and he’ll do anything to get them.”

  “You know about the lost paintings?” Sunni said. “Hugo told us about them.”

  “Hugo.” Blaise lowered his head. “You haven’t heard about him and Inko yet. . . .” His voice trailed off.

  “What?” asked Sunni and Dean in alarm.

  “Hugo probably died in the maze, and Inko got swallowed up by thornbushes near Marin’s cave,” Blaise said quietly.

  “Because of Angus?” Sunni swallowed hard.

  Blaise nodded. “He doesn’t care who he hurts — or kills.”

  Dean’s face was ashen. He crawled back into the bunk and curled up with his back to them. “It’ll be our turn next. We’ve got no chance.”

  Blaise crouched down on the floor next to him. “It’ll be OK, Dean. We’ve just got to keep going.”

  “That’s what Sunni keeps saying.”

  “She’s right. You want to know why?” Blaise rattled off a list of advantages they had over Angus and Marin and any other monsters they might come across. He thought Dean was listening until the boy let out a snore.

  “Thought I had him mesmerized,” said Blaise. “Maybe I can bore our enemies into submission.”

  “You got Dean to stop whining, at least.”

&nbs
p; “I’d better shut up, or I’ll put you to sleep, too.”

  “You’re good, but not that good.” Sunni laughed. “Thanks for coming to get us. I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  Blaise beamed at her. “Glad to be of service and everything.”

  He waited for her to say something. She picked at some lint on her sweater.

  “How long did you wait till you came into the painting?” she asked at last.

  “Overnight. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to get in. I had to walk the labyrinth in front of two detectives. The only way I could get onto it was to tell them I’d show them how you disappeared — without telling them the password, of course. Plus, I’d already had to sneak into Blackhope Tower past all the reporters and cameramen.”

  “Wow.” She shook her head. “I suppose that was bound to happen, wasn’t it? They’ve probably gone completely crazy now that you’ve disappeared, too. Did you hear anything about my family before you left?”

  “Not much. They said on the news that your stepmom and dad were too upset to talk to reporters.”

  “Oh.” Sunni hugged herself.

  Blaise fished around in his bag and pulled out a bundle of lavender-striped wool.

  “Your scarf.” He held it out to Sunni. “I — I found it tied around a tree and kept it for you.”

  She smoothed it out across her lap and smiled at him.

  When they climbed to the poop deck later, the children saw the Mars anchored in the narrow strait ahead, bearing no sign of damage from the skirmish with Bashir.

  “What do we do now?” Blaise threw his hands in the air. “Marin’s ship is blocking our way. And we’ve got Angus and Ishbel tailing us.”

  “Can’t we get around him?” asked Sunni, shielding her eyes from the sun.

  “He will attack,” said Patchy. “Mars is in a good position.”

  “He wants to finish my picture. I know it,” said Dean miserably. “You’ve got to keep us away from him, Blaise.”

  “Unless there’s another route, we’re going to get squeezed between him and Angus,” Blaise said, studying the map.

  He pointed out a more roundabout northwestern route through a cluster of islands. “Here,” he said to Patchy. “What about this way?”

  “Very dangerous, Captain.”

  “How?” Dean asked.

  “Domain of crabs. Better not to disturb.” Patchy wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.

  “Well, what other way is there?”

  “No other,” admitted the sailor. “Only northeastern route, where Marin waits.”

  “Then I’ll take my chance with the crabs. They don’t have a ship, and Marin does.” Blaise turned to Sunni and Dean. “Are you with me on this, guys?”

  “More crabs.” Dean glared at the map.

  “Not much choice, is there? We’ll just fight whatever comes,” said Sunni.

  “Change course, then,” Blaise commanded. “Now!”

  The vessel made a wide arc, heading west into an open waterway.

  On the Luna, Lady Ishbel screamed at the pilot, “What is that boy doing?”

  The pilot’s eyes twinkled as he answered, “He goes crab way, mistress. Foolish.”

  With a stony expression, Marin watched the Venus maneuver away, then turned his gaze to the Luna. After having trailed Blaise so closely, Lady Ishbel’s galley had come to a full stop rather than follow him westward. Marin spied her on deck and swore as he recognized the stranger from the Janus arch at her side.

  “I do not know what their schemes are,” the apprentice said to the pilot. “That boy has picked up the other two children and is heading toward the crabs, while Ishbel lets a spy move freely on her ship.”

  On the Luna, Lady Ishbel fiddled with her pendant.

  “Oh, let us do something, Master Bellini!” she said. “I cannot sit here any longer.”

  “Patience, my lady. Marin is deciding his next move. I don’t think he will be able to resist following the children and playing spy hunter. Once his ship has moved from the mouth of the strait, you should signal for the oarsmen to take the Luna through it at full speed. Then we can bear west to intercept them.”

  At the same moment, Marin was pacing back and forth. “The idiotic boy attempts escape through crab waters, and Ishbel sits there idly.”

  “Maybe she waiting for you, Captain,” said the pilot.

  The apprentice snorted. “I had better not keep the lady guessing, then.” He whirled around and pointed at the Venus, gliding into the distance. “Follow the boy!”

  The Mars immediately began to change course, and with a low roar, the oarsmen heaved the galley in pursuit of Blaise’s ship. Lady Ishbel gazed doe-eyed at Marin as her ship stormed northeastward past the Mars into the now empty strait.

  Dean’s stomach flipped, and a queasy chill ran through him. Someone’s walked over your grave, his grandmother would have said. He clutched the side of the boat and swallowed hard. Something was coming. He could feel it.

  A plume of white water shot into the air, and the ocean around it churned as if someone were beating it with a whisk. A misty island loomed on the horizon, then disappeared into the clouds.

  Dean could not speak. His heart was banging a thousand beats per minute, and his head felt like it was going to explode. Get a grip, he told himself, but his body would not listen.

  “I haven’t seen any of these crabs you’ve been freaking out about. And we’re coming into open water now,” Blaise said, clapping Patchy on the shoulder as he strode up. “Maybe for once we’re on the right track.”

  “Hey, that might be the island on the map!” Sunni was gleeful as she pointed to the land on the horizon.

  “Yup.” He caught sight of Dean. “Are you OK, man?”

  Dean’s head hung down.

  “Dean?” Sunni held his arm. “What is it?”

  “I don’t know, Sun. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

  Just then, a huge whalelike fish, ivory white, with a deadly skewering tusk jutting from its forehead, leaped out of the sea, making a wide arc in the air before disappearing below.

  “Patchy!” Blaise yelled. “More speed! Get us away from that thing!”

  There was no sign of the beast for a few moments, but then something white skimmed below the surface like a missile. The ivory monster broke through the water and flew up into midair, its red eye and tusk trained on the Venus. In its wake a battalion of dark shapes followed, beating and chopping the water.

  The children could make out helmet-like discs of shiny armor with spindly legs underneath. One of the discs breached and flung up a long black spike toward the ship.

  “Horseshoe crabs!” shouted Blaise. He had grown up with ordinary ones in New England, but these were gigantic. And they were coming at lightning speed.

  Twitching spikes appeared at the port side of the hull, wrenching oars into the sea. Claws gripped the wood and began pulling off great chunks. More and more appeared on the starboard side, making the galley list sharply.

  Sunni stood aghast. “They’re coming aboard! We’re going to have to swim for it, guys.”

  Sunni and Dean flung themselves over the side into the water, struggling away from the sea of frenzied crabs. Blaise hesitated, dashed across the deck to retrieve his bag and Sunni’s sketchbook, then leaped after the others. The crew, too, jumped overboard and vanished into the waves.

  The armored crabs crawled onto the ship’s hull, their tail spikes moving like lances. Nearby, the tusked creature circled, watching with its crimson eye as the Venus was wrenched apart, just as a human would tear a boiled crab’s leg to get at the succulent meat.

  As the boat disintegrated, the crabs sank along with it, leaving only floating debris.

  The children treaded water, trying to catch their breath in the rough sea. Dean’s clothes felt like lead, slowing him as he tried to move. He had just convinced himself that he couldn’t stay afloat a moment longer when
he heard a strained shout.

  “Over here!” Blaise spluttered. “There’s something to h-hang on to.”

  Painstakingly Sunni and Dean paddled toward the debris and clung to chunks of the Venus, mouths parched and eyes stinging, hoping nothing predatory approached them from below. Before them loomed the monumental, stony island, its top wreathed in mist.

  “Land,” Sunni said hoarsely. “Swim to it.”

  “OK,” Blaise said, panting.

  “Dean?” Sunni turned to locate him.

  Before he could open his mouth to answer, a strong current dragged Dean under. Everything around him faded to blue-gray as it quickly swept him sideways. He kicked furiously, but his body was sucked downward, around and around in a dizzying circle.

  Marin strained to find Blaise’s ship. It had been a constant speck ahead of them but had suddenly disappeared. The apprentice pounded the hull in frustration.

  “Captain!” came a sudden cry from the crow’s nest. Marin looked up sharply to see the lookout pointing a quivering hand to the waters off the starboard side. The galley was being drawn toward a gigantic whirlpool. Marin and the crew gazed in horror at the center of the churning maelstrom. The Mars was on course to be carried straight in.

  As the apprentice bellowed instructions, the helmsman struggled to steer the vessel away. Men chopped at the water with oars, trying to push them out of the current, but to no avail. The ship reared up and was pitched forward into the swirling vortex, the mast and timbers splitting with a fearsome crack.

  Marin screamed as he was catapulted into the heart of the dark water below.

  “Dean!” cried Sunni when she realized he had disappeared. “Where are you? Blaise, he’s g-gone!”

  Blaise fought to swim nearer, but he was towed into a cluster of small, spiraling whirlpools in the water. “I can’t — something’s sucking me under!”

  The force of the current caught Sunni, too, and pulled her after him. She saw Blaise’s dark head gliding in circles as if he were on a merry-go-round, moving into the center. Then he disappeared.

  Sunni was yanked after him, headfirst, nearly deafened by the roar of the water churning around her. As she fell, she tried to straighten her body into a dive position, but the force of the water tumbled her over and over. Eventually, she found herself gliding upward into a remarkably still, electric-blue pool. She floated there, dazed, and stared up at an arched cave ceiling as lofty and magnificent as a cathedral, shimmering with reflected light. Carved out of the wall of the grotto were six giant stone goddesses, holding up canopies of stalactites that grew from the ceiling.