The Submarine Job
Page 8
Keep an eye out for whales,
Ralph Kane,
Petty Officer Second Class
P.S. I got a promotion!
Fiske smiled, folded the letter, and pinned his Dolphins to his blazer. It looked awful nice there, all shiny and important.
“Fish! Hey, Fish Breath!” Eric Landry was beneath a tree with his friends. “Where have you been, huh? Get scared and run off after last time?”
“Family business,” said Fiske. His stomach still squirmed, and he thought his hands might still shake. He didn’t like talking to Eric, and he certainly didn’t want to get another swirly, but it didn’t seem worth it to be afraid of him. It wasn’t like he was a Vesper. It wasn’t like Fiske was trapped aboard a submarine with him and he wanted to kill Fiske and there was no escape.
“Family business, oooh,” said Eric. “Sounds serious. Did you go visit your grandma whale, Fish Face?”
“Let me be, Eric,” said Fiske.
“No,” said Eric. He got up from under the tree and sauntered over to Fiske. “I’ve missed you, Fish. We have a lot of catching up to do.” He dropped his books on the ground and handed his blazer to one of his friends. “What have you got there on your blazer, Fish? Your gramma’s brooch? A fancy lady pin?”
“No,” said Fiske. “It’s not your business.”
“Everything that goes on in this school is my business, Fish Breath. Tell me before I rip it right off of you.”
Fiske looked down at his pin, as cool and calm as he could make himself. “It’s the insignia for the Naval submarine service.”
“What, you steal it from your dad?” asked Eric.
“No,” said Fiske. “I earned it.”
“Give it to me,” said Eric. He reached out and grabbed Fiske’s collar. “I said give it to me, Fish Breath.”
Fiske looked down at Eric’s hand and then back up at him.
“No,” said Fiske.
Eric pulled his fist back and scowled his worst at Fiske.
Fiske took a deep breath and cleared his throat. There was nothing to fear in Eric Landry. He wasn’t a Vesper. There were way worse things in the world. So he opened his mouth, blinked a few times, and organized the words that he wanted to say.
“You’re going to hit me because I won’t give you my pin?” said Fiske. “Th-that seems like a stupid reason.”
Eric’s face faltered for just a moment. And a soft ripple went through the crowd of boys behind him. Inside, Fiske was quaking and terrified of being punched in the face. But Eric was just a boy from school.
“It’s a pretty stupid reason, Eric,” said Fiske.
“Yeah,” said one of the other boys. “It’s kind of dumb, Eric.”
Eric’s fist hovered in the air, but he glanced over his shoulder at his friends. Fiske looked, too. They looked impatient, maybe a little annoyed. “Do you want me to pound him or not?” said Eric.
“I kind of want to play football,” said Matthew.
“Oh, I call other captain!”
The crowd began to drift away as the teams were divvied up. Soon there was only Eric and Fiske.
“So?” said Eric, dropping his fist and shoving Fiske away. “You’re still just a Fish.”
Fiske took a step back and smoothed out his blazer. His heart was steadily ticking down to normal, and his nerves were coming off of a boil. He wanted to burst into laughter; he wanted to jump and to yell and to maybe — maybe, if no one was looking, punch the air in unadulterated triumph — because he’d stood up to Eric Landry. And Fish? Fish? What kind of insult was Fish?
Fiske glanced down at his Dolphins, gleaming against the wool of his blazer. “Yeah, Eric. I guess I am.”
Clifford Riley would like to acknowledge
Christina McTighe.
Copyright © 2012 by Scholastic Inc.
All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC, THE 39 CLUES, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012939025
e-ISBN 978-0-545-45729-3
Cover design by Charice Silverman
Bank Vault door: © jamesbenet/iStockphoto; round metal disk: © J. Helgason/Shutterstock; bolts on door and disk: © Spectral-Design/ Shutterstock
First edition, June 2012
Scholastic US: 557 Broadway · New York, NY 10012
Scholastic Canada: 604 King Street West · Toronto, ON M5V 1E1
Scholastic New Zealand Limited: Private Bag 94407 · Greenmount, Manukau 2141
Scholastic UK Ltd.: Euston House · 24 Eversholt Street · London NW1 1DB
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.