The Wand & the Sea

by Claire M. Caterer

  “I am not,” Avery panted as he tumbled through the broken foliage, “a wild boar.”

  “How the heck did you get here?” Ben asked.

  “Pike took me ashore in the longboat,” said Avery, beaming. “I believe you have misjudged his intent. He even bowed as I came aboard.”

  That sounded very unlike Pike to Everett. He could tell from Ben’s face that he didn’t believe it either. Everett thought the crew would be just as happy if Avery stayed on the island.

  “What is it you harvest here?” Avery asked. “Are they not sunfruit? I have never seen them grown before.”

  “All I know is, they’re really hard to cut off the vine,” Ben said. He started sawing on the plant again.

  “Stand back, squire,” said Avery. “Perhaps I can aid you in this endeavor.” And before Everett could stop him, Avery pulled out the wand wrapped in the red scarf and uttered triumphantly, “Osclaígí!”

  The vine collapsed in pieces, but so did the sunfruits. They exploded in a pulpy yellow mess, spattering the boys with their sweet pink juice.

  No one said anything for a few moments. Ben sat back goggle-eyed; Avery gave that infuriating superior grin he was so good at; and Everett’s stomach turned uncomfortably as he realized what would happen next. Finally it came from Ben:

  “Where did you get that? I thought Everett lost it in the moat!”

  “ ’Tis my own now, brave squire,” said Avery. “And I have learnt one of the Adept’s spells!”

  Ben turned on Everett, who he must’ve realized didn’t look exactly surprised. “And you knew about it?”

  “It’s not what you think,” Everett said. “I was just helping him with it.”

  “Keeping it a secret from everyone else?”

  “Well . . . yeah.”

  “Then it’s what I think,” said Ben. “Why don’t you ever tell me what’s going on? Did you even wonder why he’s messing around with a wand? Ever think maybe we should take it away from him?”

  “But I only want to learn magic as the rest of you,” said Avery.

  “And then what?” Ben asked. “Take over the ship? Turn us all in?”

  “Why will you not accept that I mean no harm?” Avery demanded, looking angry now.

  “Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that you tried to kill us before has something to do with it!”

  “That was my father!”

  “He didn’t set that forest fire, you did!”

  “But I am a different man now!”

  “And you’re still a boy, Avery.”

  “I believe you mean ‘Your Highness.’ ”

  “I believe I mean ‘You Turncoat’!”

  “Shut it, you lot!” Everett shouted above them. Both Avery’s and Ben’s faces were very red, and they stood close together, Ben’s sword raised against Avery’s wand. But Everett was more interested in the locket. It rose on its chain, hovering above Everett’s chest. Avery’s spell had opened it. The water symbol on its lid glowed with its strange white-blue light, and inside, the needle spun in a dizzying circle.

  “What did you do?” Ben whispered.

  “It’s the wand. It—interacts with the compass.”

  Avery waved the wand over the top of the compass. “Look ye here, Ben. The wand and the locket, they are stronger together.”

  Even without holding it, Everett could see some of the directions magnified by the compass. He held out his hand, and the locket settled onto his palm. He gave it to Ben. “Put it up to your eye, like the spyglass.”

  Ben did as he asked, then gasped. “Cool!” He forgot all about his fight with Avery. “I can see all kinds of stuff! There’s a place with weird rocks on the moor—like Stonehenge, maybe—and here’s a mountain lake—and over here—”

  He dropped the locket into the grass. He had stopped breathing for a moment.

  “What?” Everett demanded. “What did you see?”

  “It was—it was—”

  But before he could finish, they heard the cry from the beach: “A sail! A sail! It’s the Black Dragon!”

  Chapter 41

  * * *

  The Black Dragon

  Everett leaped up as soon as they heard the call. The boys bolted through the jungle and back to the beach. “Look,” Everett said, pointing at the Sea Witch. “What’s going on over there?”

  Ben pulled the collapsing spyglass from the pouch on his belt. He peered through it. “They’re lowering the longboat.”

  “Let me see.” Everett took the spyglass and scanned the horizon. He couldn’t see much from their sheltered beach, for the trees crowded in on either side; but he could see Morgan running down the deck, gesturing at the crow’s nest and shouting at Oggler. Then Morgan turned to Holly, who was behind her, and shouted something else. “Morgan and Holly are yelling at each other—blimey, it looks like a big row. And Jade’s hissing and all. Uh-oh—Holly’s got the wand out—”

  Avery nudged over Everett’s shoulder, suddenly interested. “Does she call the Adept?”

  “Excuse me, that’s mine.” Ben snatched back the spyglass. “It doesn’t look like it. She uses those stones for that, anyway. No, she’s waving it, like she’s going to put the whammy on Morgan . . . she’s . . . Wow!”

  “What?” cried Everett and the prince.

  But no one needed to be told. Holly had leaned over the railing of the Sea Witch, waving the wand in circles above the water where Oggler had climbed into the longboat. A wake opened beneath it as Holly spun the wand faster, and the boat churned toward shore as if a motor were attached. In minutes the longboat had arrived.

  Avery’s eyes were shining. “How is the lady Holly able to do such a thing?”

  “You know as much as I do,” Everett said.

  Avery held up his own wand—Everett’s wand, really—and gazed at it.

  But there was no time to think about whatever spell he had in his head. The sailors were frantically loading up the longboats; one had already cast off. Ranulf galloped up to the boys. “We must hasten back to the Sea Witch. Morgan will try to outrun the schooner.”

  They bolted for the remaining longboat and found Pike and Innes loading the last of the barrels. Innes grabbed Ben’s hand. “Come, we’ve no time to lose!”

  “We’ve no room for the lot of them,” said Pike. “Let’s make another run. Here, lad, you”—he gestured to Ben—“and the old man. Into the boat.” He wrinkled his nose at Ranulf. “Ye’ll swim yerself, I trust. Best get to it.”

  “But there be space to spare, by my eye,” said Avery. “We must all go at once.”

  “He’s right,” Everett said. The boat looked half empty.

  Pike shoved past Ben and stuck a pudgy, scarred finger in Everett’s face. “And I say this longboat’s too heavy as it is, with those barrels. Stay put till I come back for ye.”

  “But you won’t,” said a quiet voice. Pike whirled around to find Innes standing in front of the longboat as the tide lapped at its hull. “Stand aside, Pike, and let the lads board.”

  Pike strode up to her. “And ye’ll do what, exactly, if I don’t?”

  Innes waved a hand behind her. The quiet tide suddenly reared up like an animal, engulfed Pike’s legs, and threw him to the sand. He sputtered, struggling to his feet.

  “Why you . . .” He spat a mouthful of sand at her feet. “You lot—yer magic and yer webbed hands, like fish, ain’t ye? Ye might’ve cowed my captain once, but ye won’t do it to me.” He gave her shoulder a hard shove, and Everett winced, waiting for her to tumble onto the sand.

  But he couldn’t budge her. Her strawberry hair blew back in the stiff breeze. “Do not try me, Pike. You’ll find yourself in the brig afore long.”

  “Is that right? But yer just a girl after all, ain’t ye?” And now he sprung at Innes in earnest, both hands on her, and brought her to the ground, grasping for her throat. Ranulf bounded forward, raising his sword, but before he had reached the pair, Pike bellowed in pain. Innes had disengaged him, kicking h
im in a very unfortunate part of his anatomy. Ben leaned out of the longboat, grinning. “Wow! How did you—”

  “Not now, lad,” said Innes grimly as Pike doubled over, groaning on the beach. “ ’Tis time we go.”

  Ranulf trussed Pike like a Christmas goose and pushed him into the longboat. Avery was all for marooning him there on the island, but Ranulf said it wouldn’t be honorable, and even Innes said the captain wouldn’t like it. Everett, peering at the brigantine, could make out Holly, who waved her wand toward them. The longboat sped over the water, its bow tipping up out of the spray. When they reached the Sea Witch, the boys clambered up the ropes, then turned back and helped bring up the barrels and sails.

  There was no time to talk once everyone was aboard. Morgan barked that she needed all hands, whatever Pike had done, and sent him aloft to help the crew affix the mended sails to the yards. The boys got behind Quelch and Oggler, and yanked on the halyards to lower the topsail to its full length, and then turned it as the captain ordered. Holly and Ranulf stood at the foremast with Pike and Quinn, doing the same duty for the foresail and jib. The crew then leaped to the windlass and walked in a groaning circle to haul up the anchor. The ship heaved; the Sea Witch was under sail.

  Ben joined Everett and Cook at the gunwale. “That’s the Black Dragon? Why’s everybody so panicked? We can outrun her in a minute if we do that submarine move.” He muttered in a lower voice, “But I really hope we don’t.”

  “There be no sea portals here, and we can’t outrun her,” Cook said as if trying to steady his voice. “We’ll have to stand and fight.”

  Everett looked around the clear deck. “But what’ll you fight with?”

  “If ye’re lookin’ fer cannon, lad, ye’ll find none,” Cook said. He took his eyes from the schooner at last. “This lot don’t need guns.”

  Morgan appeared above the poop deck and bellowed from her perch. “Officers on deck! And you”—she gestured to Holly—“Lady Adept, you as well. Crewmen, hands to braces! Passengers, below!”

  It hardly seemed possible, but the schooner was already closer. A lot closer. If Everett hadn’t known better, he’d have said she was driven by a motor. The Sea Witch was clear of the lagoon now, and headed in the Black Dragon’s general direction.

  “Best get below, lads, as the captain says,” Oggler said, and pushed past them to take his post near the foresail.

  Ben nodded, but neither he nor Everett moved. “I don’t suppose they’ll notice if we stay?” Everett whispered.

  “Not if we get out of the way,” Ben said. “I want to see what they expect Holly to do.”

  “Under here!” Everett darted to the port side of the ship and huddled beneath the forecastle, sheltered from the wind. Ben followed. The crewmen gathered around the sails to haul them in as directed. But the girls—women—took up posts around the ship: Kailani clambered up to the mainmast crow’s nest; Rowan took the bow; Quinn and Innes stood amidships, one on each side; and the captain stayed at the helm, with Holly beside her. Morgan held a small trumpetlike device that she used to amplify her voice as she gave orders. Then, out of nowhere, the wind hurled a huge wave at them, rocking the ship dangerously.

  The foremast creaked above their heads. Everett peeked over the gunwale at the Black Dragon. They were heading straight for it, and it was shooting across the water all the faster.

  “Everett,” Ben said, poking him, “what if the Black Dragon has cannons?”

  “They can’t have,” said Everett. “This part of the world didn’t even have gunpowder back then—er, now.”

  “But you said they didn’t have schooners and brigantines, either,” Ben said. “I just don’t get it. How did they—”

  He was cut off when a wave broke over the side, drenching them. The Sea Witch lurched, dove into the sea, then righted again. Everett wiped the saltwater from his eyes.

  “Low waves, portside!” hollered Morgan.

  Innes, who was only a few feet from them, responded by extending her webbed fingers. She brought them up at right angles, as if she were getting ready to push a door open. She gently scooped her hands into the air, then rolled them outward; and just as she did so, the ship listed to port, and a gentle swell rose below them and rolled toward the schooner.

  “That’s it! Keep to!” called Morgan.

  Kai shouted down from the crow’s nest. “Ten leagues, Captain!”

  Ben and Everett gasped as another rogue gust rocked the mainmast. Kai grabbed for the ratlines to keep from falling.

  As the schooner closed in on them, the weather got worse. The wind whipped through the sails, and Morgan bellowed orders to turn them leeward, now lower them, and the men on deck sweated as they hauled the lines this way and that. It was far worse than the recent storm, but the skies were clear and bright. Besides that, the waves didn’t match the wind; the air came in strange rolling microbursts, but the waves seemed to fight each one, kicking up huge sprays and geysers that fountained over the open sea and onto the deck. The other officers mimicked Innes, extending their webbed hands and sketching elaborate patterns in the air. Everett realized that they were sculpting the waves, fighting the wind with them. Innes’s taut brown arms strained against the breeze. Her feet were planted firmly on the deck, keeping her balance even as breakers crashed over her and the wind flew her strawberry hair like a crazy flag behind her head.

  “What’s Holly doing?” Ben shouted.

  Everett peered up at the captain. Holly stood with her at the helm, wand in hand, making stirring motions at the sea. She too was churning up waves and sending them toward the schooner. He explained all this to Ben, who craned his neck around Everett to see.

  And still the Black Dragon came on.

  Somehow it had the wind behind it, though the Sea Witch’s sails were full, and the Dragon approached almost square to starboard. It was as if two opposing gales were driving the vessels together. But Morgan’s crew had no control over the winds. Their talent was manipulating the water, which crashed against the wind currents as if smacking brick walls. Sometimes they broke through, but like a relentless tide, the wind pushed them back and back and back.

  The ship pitched and rolled crazily between the opposing forces. The top of the foremast gave a mighty crack and tumbled into the sea, ripping the topsail away with it. The bow lurched at least twenty feet into the air and then dropped straight into a trench of gray water that opened in front of it. The hull rolled dangerously, and Kai, above in the crow’s nest, clung to the mainmast with both hands. She disappeared into the rigging, trying to climb back to the decks, but a few of the lines snapped free and she was flung over the side of the boat, floating on the air current over the sea.

  Morgan saw this as soon as it happened, and poked Holly. Everett could see even from his position how very white Holly’s face was, how hard she gripped the wand, but she pointed it at the water below Kai and turned the wand in a spiral. Small spouts of water, as if from a lawn sprinkler, shot from her wand and then into the sea, where they gathered into a small wave. The wave caught Kai as she sank, and it threw her back onto the deck. Holly winced, mouthing I’m sorry—the wind was screaming too loud to hear her properly—but Kailani only grinned and righted herself, then joined Quinn on the starboard side, sending larger swells to break through the wall of wind and capsize the Black Dragon.

  The ships were only a few hundred feet apart now. Everett swallowed, his throat dry despite the constant drenching. The schooner was massive, its hull twice the height of the Sea Witch. Its three masts carried eight square-rigged sails from topsail to mainsail, and three wide jibs as well as a huge spanker in the stern. The Sea Witch looked like a toy beside it.

  Everett could see at least three dozen crew members running all over the deck of the Black Dragon. But though they looked like men at first, he soon saw they were only wisps of black smoke, appearing and then vanishing just as he got a good look at them. They had very long arms, or armlike extensions, which swirled several feet into
the air and spun like Catherine wheels; a few moments later a whirlwind like a steel ball headed straight for the Sea Witch. The first one punched a hole through the main staysail. The second broke off the tip of the mainmast.

  “They must be, like, air Elementals or something,” said Ben. “They’re shooting air at us!”

  They were the same creatures Everett had seen every time he’d opened the locket.

  The problem was, they controlled the water, too. Though the boys couldn’t see any web-fingered women, someone was hurling waves at them. Innes and Quinn raised huge balls of water to break over the Black Dragon’s bow, but others just as powerful whizzed back at them, borne by the ferocious wind, and exploded over their heads in a salty shower. Morgan answered by congealing her water, rolling it into icy balls that broke through the wind and knocked the Black Dragon’s rigging askew. Its foremast creaked ominously.

  “Good hit!” Ben cried.

  Holly apparently couldn’t freeze her water missiles, but she hurled as many as she could. Still, the wind was on the side of the Black Dragon, and no matter how furiously the Sea Witch fired, the schooner’s superior numbers won out. Half the crew were charged with deflecting Morgan’s ice missiles; the other half fired missiles of their own, devastating the little brigantine. The foremast was in splinters; the staysail was tattered. They couldn’t keep going much longer. Morgan was going to have to retreat, however she could.

  “We need to do something to help!” Ben said.

  “Like what?” As Everett spoke, a wind-driven ice ball the size of a school desk punched a hole through the deck planking in front of them. “We need to get below; we’ll get killed up here!”

  “We can’t leave Holly up there by herself! She’s got nothing to fight with!”

  Then a thought dawned on Everett that seemed, at the time, very brave and quite brilliant. “Then let’s give her something,” he said, and darted to the main hatch, pulling Ben along with him.