The giant Thomas skidded to a stop in front of them, gasping for breath. “Thought…thought ye’d left without me. I was worried there.”
Uncle Finn reached up to pat Thomas’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t leave without you, Thomas. I was just saying a few words to Jem before we go.”
“Right. Course. I was…I was just worried.”
Scarlet, Jem, and Uncle Finn all smiled at him. It was hard to believe that just a month ago Thomas had actually helped the treasure-hungry pirates kidnap Jem and Uncle Finn. It hadn’t been his idea, of course—he’d worked on the Dark Ranger, a pirate ship captained by a nasty, rodentlike man with a very long name that Scarlet could never remember. But Thomas had proven himself a hero twice: first when he’d smuggled Uncle Finn off the ship and later when Captain What’s-his-name had gotten his hands on the treasure map and intercepted the Lost Souls and Uncle Finn on Island X. There, beside the island’s steamy Boiling Lake, Thomas had denied his captain’s orders to do away with the children and taken their side instead.
Scarlet sighed happily at the memory. Thomas was a jolly pirate. She’d miss him while he was off on this new adventure, but she could tell he was happy as a clam to be a real research assistant.
“Now, Jem, Scarlet.” Uncle Finn stuffed his handkerchief in his pocket. “We’ll be gone a few days. And I wouldn’t be a good uncle if I didn’t say this.”
“Uncle Finn, we—” Jem began to protest.
“Quiet, boy. We’ve seen many dangers on this island—”
“But—” Scarlet interjected, ready to assure him that she was well aware of all the dangers. Uncle Finn stopped her with a wave of his hand.
“But we’ve been here a month, and all seems well. Plus, I know the Lost Souls are capable of taking care of themselves. Lord knows if you can sail a ship and raid schooners without getting caught, you can camp alone on an island. However, you mustn’t forget the dangers. Yes, the animals might be on your side. Yes, the spirits seem to be looking out for you. But the Dread Pirate Captain Wallace Hammerstein-Jones—”
“That’s his name!” Scarlet exclaimed, and received a glare from Uncle Finn. “Sorry. I just…it’s a long name,” she murmured.
Finn cleared his throat. “You mustn’t forget about Captain Wallace. He has our old map, and he’ll be back. So promise me you’ll be careful.”
Scarlet and Jem mumbled their promises.
“Good. And if you need me, I won’t be far away. In fact…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a funny little pipe about the size of Scarlet’s pinkie finger. “I’ll leave this with you. It looks harmless, but believe me, it will shatter the nearest eardrum. If you need me”—he tossed Jem the pipe—“just call.”
“All right.” Jem tucked it in his pocket.
“Well then. Thomas, if you’re ready.”
Thomas straightened and saluted. “At yer service, Cap’n Finn.”
Uncle Finn shook his head. “Just Finn, Thomas. We’re off then. Take care, you two.”
“We will,” Scarlet and Jem chorused. They followed the researchers to the edge of the clearing, then stood and waved until they disappeared behind the curtain of leaves and vines.
CHAPTER TWO
“All good pirates come to order!”
Scarlet surveyed the twenty-two scruffy, sunburned children before her. They looked up expectantly from their places on the grass. The twins, Emmett and Edwin, were passing around slices of juicy orange papaya. Scarlet paused for a moment to remember that, not long ago, all they’d had to snack on were a few jawbreaking lumps of hardtack. She couldn’t say she missed that part of the pirate life.
“All right, crew, it’s time we got organized. First item on the agenda…yes, Ronagh?”
Ronagh Flannigan, one of the youngest Lost Souls at eight years old and the only other girl in the crew, dropped her hand in her lap. “I’m wondering…you said, ‘All good pirates,’ and, well…are we still pirates, Scarlet?”
“Course we’re still pirates,” Tim piped up. “We still have a ship.” The quartermaster’s love of nautical knowledge had long ago earned him the nickname Drivelswigger, or Swig for short.
“But we’re barely ever on the ship,” Monty, a boy with enormous feet, pointed out. The rest of the crew erupted into chatter.
“I’m still a pirate!”
“But technically you’re not.”
“Am too!”
“Wait!” Scarlet cried. “Quiet, everyone! I said quiet!” The Lost Souls fell silent. “Of course we’re still pirates. We’re too good at being pirates to not be pirates. But we’re…we’re more than pirates now. We’re the guardians of a treasure. We’re…” She paused, searching for a good word.
“Island warriors,” thirteen-year-old Smitty finished, a dreamy gleam in his eyes. Smitty was one of the few Lost Souls who was truly excited about their new home. Actually, he seemed most excited about creating “island warrior” costumes with jungle plants. He also came up with warrior names to match them.
The Lost Souls still didn’t know Smitty’s real name; when he’d first boarded the Margaret’s Hop he’d told them that no good pirate would go by the awful name his parents, the Smiths, had given him. Sometimes the crew called out terrible names like Horace or Leander—just to see if he’d answer.
“Right. Something like that,” Scarlet said. She knew she hadn’t really answered the question, but it was a tricky one, and she needed time to think about exactly how to define the Lost Souls now. It also wasn’t as important as deciding how to fight off the pirates when they returned to the island. “So, first item on the agenda…yes, Fitz?”
Jem lowered his hand and cleared his throat. “I say we talk about housing. I mean, it’s all well and good to sleep under the stars, and I know the animals won’t hurt us here, but we’ll need better cover than our cloaks when it rains.”
A few pirates nodded and murmured their agreement.
Scarlet had to admit Jem was right. Sleeping under the stars was jolly, but sleeping in the rain would seriously scuttle, and it was bound to happen sooner or later. Jem was full of practical Old World ideas like that. He was another one of the few who didn’t seem fazed by their new home. But Jem hadn’t had time to get used to life on the Hop before they’d moved to Island X, Scarlet reasoned. To him, everywhere and everything was new and exciting.
But Scarlet was reluctant to start building shelters in a place that was obviously so special. The Islanders, she was certain, used to only visit the clearing where the Lost Souls were camped to make sure it stayed unspoiled. She told Jem as much.
“I thought you’d say that,” he said. “And I have a solution. Tree houses!”
“Tree houses! What fun!” Smitty shouted.
“It’s more than fun, though,” said Jem. “We’ll build them on the edge of this clearing, so we can keep watch over it without harming it. And most importantly, it’ll be a good battle tactic. From up high we’ll be able to spot invaders before they find us.”
Scarlet liked that. “Does anyone know how to build a tree house?”
“I bet I could figure it out,” Jem offered. “We did some woodwork back at the King’s Cross.” The King’s Cross School for Boys had been Jem’s boarding school in the Old World. “And Emmett and Edwin are good at that kind of thing.”
The twins looked at each other and shrugged. Scarlet recalled the time they’d tried to fix a few loose boards on the Hop; Edwin had nailed his brother’s pant leg to the ship, then hammered his own thumb with such gusto that he’d declared himself unfit to clean the long drop (as the Lost Souls called the toilet) for an entire month. But Jem looked so hopeful, so ready to put his Old World knowledge of things like fractions and right angles to good use.
“Go to it, then. Jem, you’ll head up the Housing Committee.”
Jem’s ears turned pink with pride. “Thank you,” he murmured.
“You’re welcome.”
Scarlet was about to move on to the subject of pirate att
acks when Monty suggested they form a committee for food gathering. Scarlet agreed that was a good idea, too. While her crew may have been uneasy about living on land, they were certainly good at preparing to do it. “Who wants to lead it?”
She saw Gil Jenkins’s hand shoot up but instead chose a reliable though rather unimaginative boy named Charlie. Gil had been Lucas Lawrence’s sidekick before Lucas defected to join the Dark Ranger pirates—with Jem’s treasure map. Scarlet still didn’t trust him entirely, even now that Lucas was gone. She often gave him tasks that kept him closer to home rather than the ones he wanted. She knew the boy didn’t appreciate it, but he had, after all, planned to mutiny against her.
“You can pick your own crew of food gatherers,” she told Charlie. “You’ll collect things like star fruit and guava—”
“And nuts,” Ronagh added.
“Papaya,” Emmett said over a mouthful of it.
“Berries,” said Monty.
“Wild pigs,” said Sam, the mouth-breather.
There was a pause as twenty-two heads turned to the boy with perpetual sniffles. Then Ronagh screeched, “Wild pigs?”
“You know…for meat?” Sam’s eyes darted around, looking for support.
“We’re not eating the pigs!” Ronagh’s face turned red beneath her freckles. “Are we, Scarlet?”
“No, no, of course not,” Scarlet said. Though they smelled like dirty socks and rotten cheese, and though they did have a tendency to rip humans limb from limb, the local band of smelly wild pigs seemed to be on the Lost Souls’ side. They’d protected them from Lucas and the Dark Ranger pirates when the intruders attacked. “We can’t eat the pigs, Sam. They’re our friends.”
“Then what about the other animals?” Gil asked.
Scarlet looked around the group. Most Lost Souls were shaking their heads, but a few seemed to be considering it. Ronagh looked as if she might explode.
“No,” she repeated firmly before the little girl could blow her ginger top. “I don’t feel right about it. Remember how the monkeys and aras and snakes chased away the pirates? Let’s stick to foods we can harvest for now. After a few weeks we can reassess the situation.” She knew Jem would like that. Along with fractions, right angles, and asking far too many questions, assessing situations was one of his Old World specialties.
“Hmph.” Ronagh stuck her tongue out at Gil.
Blimey, I’m being wishy-washy today, Scarlet thought. But the crew was throwing tough questions at her—questions that deserved some thought.
“All right, next item. How about—” Scarlet stopped as a feeling of distress cut right through her brain. Another animal in need. Not as impatient as a monkey or as nervous as a shrew…a snake, she decided. Possibly from the nearby pit of deadly striped vipers.
“What’s wrong?” Jem asked.
“Oh, nothing.” She’d ignore it. At least until after they’d decided how to fight off the pirates. “Next item…yes, Swig?”
“Captain, what about the Hop?” Tim straightened his spectacles. He’d stolen them from the Dread Pirate Captain What’s-his-name when the Lost Souls first raided the Dark Ranger, and Scarlet had yet to see the boy without them perched on his nose. “I’m worried someone might steal her. We can’t just leave her alone.” The quartermaster shoved his hands in his pockets. For the past month, he’d led regular trips down to the ship to gather supplies and patrol the shores of Island X. Since it took a good five hours to reach the ship, the Lost Souls usually stayed overnight and hiked back up in the morning. The long trip never fazed the Drivelswigger, though. A real sea dog, Tim was—born to steer a ship. Unfortunately, that also made him the Lost Soul who felt least at home on Island X.
“D’ya think we really need it?” Smitty asked. “I mean, now that we live here, maybe we should just get rid of it.”
Tim looked at Smitty the way Ronagh had just looked at Gil. “Get rid of the Hop? Are you insane?”
“No, we can’t get rid of it,” Scarlet hurried to say before Tim’s eyes could get any bigger. The snake was still nagging at her brain. Give me five minutes, she tried to tell it. “The Hop is our home. Well, our other home. Swig, why don’t you gather a group and find a good hiding place for it? Maybe a cove someplace close by? It’s not the perfect solution, but it’ll do for now.”
Tim nodded. “It’s the least we can do. I’ll take Monty, Elmo, and…” He looked past Gil’s waving hand. “Liam. Let’s head out this afternoon.”
“What about me? Can I come?” Gil asked, still waving his hand.
“Uh-uh,” Tim replied. “It’s best to have a small crew.”
Gil dropped his hand and pouted.
“All right now. Final item for discussion.” Knowing that this one might take a while, Scarlet settled cross-legged on the ground with the crew. “We don’t know when Lucas and the pirates will return, but we know for sure they will. We can’t let them get near the rubies, of course, but there could be trouble if they even see the clearing.” She gestured to the trees and the shining pool. “We have to decide what we’re going to do and how we’ll fight them off.”
A long pause ensued. Several of the Lost Souls became very interested in the grass.
“Tree house lookouts?” Jem suggested.
“That’s a good start,” said Scarlet. “What else?”
Another pause. Sam sniffed. Ronagh squirmed.
“What about the animals?” asked Elmo. “They helped us chase off the baddies before. I bet they’d do it again.”
A few pirates nodded, looking hopeful.
Scarlet chewed her lip. The smelly wild pigs were the only animals on Island X that seemed to understand English. Jem himself had made that recent discovery. Scarlet had assumed it would make her job much easier, but she’d soon found that being able to understand her didn’t seem to make the pigs any more willing to help.
“Maybe,” she told the crew. “But I’m not sure we can depend on them all the time.”
“Why wouldn’t they want to help?” asked Liam. “This is their home.”
Scarlet looked at her crew, debating how to tell them that whenever she spoke to the pig chief, she could feel a clear lack of enthusiasm.
Smitty jumped to his feet. “I can’t think of a better time to cut in,” he said. “Ladies and gentlemen of Island X, allow me to present…the island warrior uniform.” With that, Smitty reached behind him, produced a large fern, and plopped it on his head.
For a moment the Lost Souls looked stunned. Then they burst into laughter.
“Nice hat, Bertrand!”
“Wait! This is fierce, not funny!” Smitty cried. “Think how well we’ll blend in to the jungle when we attack that biscuit-eater, Lucas, and his filthy crew.” He turned to Scarlet, a hopeful look in his eyes. “Captain? What do you think?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I think you’re wearing a plant on your head.”
The Lost Souls howled. But Smitty just wagged a finger at them. “Watch.” He crouched low to the ground. “We can hide in the bushes like this. And when Lucas arrives”—he hopped up again and pulled off his hat—“he’ll be all, ‘Look at me, here to steal the treasure, har har.’ And then…” Smitty put the fern back on his head and crouched again. “We’ll jump up like this. Argh!” He jumped up and waved his arms, nearly losing his fern. “And scare the bilge rat senseless. See?”
He pulled Liam up to act like Lucas. Liam pretended to weep like a baby while Smitty danced around with his new headpiece. The Lost Souls roared, imagining the traitor at Smitty’s mercy.
Scarlet laughed, too, but halfheartedly. She’d lost their attention, and the snake’s angst was still rattling in her brain. She gave in and stood up. I’m coming, you impatient reptile, she tried to tell it. Keep your scales on. “This meeting is adjourned, mates,” she said aloud, although that was quite obvious since most of the Lost Souls were now dancing a jig around Smitty and Liam.
“At least they’re acting more like the Lost Souls of the Margaret’s Hop
,” she murmured as she walked away. But it was little consolation. They still had no plan to protect the island. And it was sure as the thorn in the sole of her foot, Lucas and his crew would be back.
CHAPTER THREE
Jem liked to envision his new title with capital letters: Head of the Housing Committee. It looked rather important like that.
After the meeting, he’d immediately gotten to work, collecting some thin palm bark, an ara feather (found under a nest and not plucked from the source, of course), and some bright purple berries. Then he’d crushed the berries into a thick juice. Voilà! He had paper, a quill, and ink to sketch the tree house village he was going to build.
It hadn’t taken him long to realize, however, that he hadn’t a clue how to build a tree house, let alone an entire village. Not that he’d been fibbing at the meeting; he had done some woodwork at the King’s Cross School for Boys. And yet, he wasn’t sure that carving a cricket bat was exactly on par with building a real house to hold real people. So he reassessed the situation and decided to start by choosing the best place to build the tree houses.
For that, he would need to draw a map.
He began by sketching the clearing, from the freshwater pool and the rookery to the papaya trees. Then he drew the rest of Island X, adding as many details as he could remember from his treks down to the Hop and from Uncle Finn’s original map. He vaguely recalled that map warning of a panther’s lair on the western arm and two dangerous mountain peaks to the north, so he sketched them in, hoping he’d never encounter them.
As he worked, he realized that his map could also help the other Lost Souls. They might feel more at home if they knew the lay of the land. Even Uncle Finn might like a copy! Jem kept his head down and sketched throughout the evening and most of the following day.
He’d just added the finishing touches to the compass in the corner and had leaned back against the tree that shaded him from the sticky-hot afternoon sun when Scarlet wandered by without even seeing him.
“Scarlet!” he cried.
The Guardians of Island X Page 2
