Blackwells and the Briny Deep

by Philippa Dowding

  After a while, the ship reached the end of the island and rounded a point. Jonah saw a lagoon, but he couldn’t get too close, since he didn’t want to run aground.

  He banged the drums.

  He looked through the telescope.

  Jonah stared hard at the lagoon.

  And this time … something rose from the water!

  “What is that thing? It looks like a disgusting dead fish!” A weird, watery monster-thing loomed above the waves.

  AND A BOY was tied to a rock before it! Jonah stared harder. The sun glinted off something in the monster’s hand.

  Is that … a boat hook?

  “That’s not a boy! That’s William!” Jonah yelled. But where’s Emma?

  “Boil his bones! Shiver me timbers!”

  “QUIET, BIRD!” Jonah licked his lips and peered through the telescope. The monster loomed above William, wet and writhing, with a wide-open mouth and a fin down its back. It shook a whalebone sword in one spiny hand and Peregrine  ’s boat hook with the other!

  Then the fish-monster pushed William beneath the waves! Jonah raced along the deck. He had to do something!

  He ran blindly and then banged into the big black cannon.

  Cannonballs sat beside it. And what looked like firecrackers. And a box marked flints with long thin matches inside.

  How hard could it be?

  Jonah hoisted one of the heavy cannonballs into the cannon. He aimed the cannon at the trees — at least he hoped he aimed it at the trees. It was hard to tell. He used a flint to light the long wick at the back of the cannon.

  The wick sparked and jumped to life. He covered his ears and ducked….

  KA-BOOM!

  Jonah fell to the deck. For a moment, everything was still. The parrot was still, the ship was still, the trees on the shore were still.

  The cannonball sailed across the lagoon.

  Jonah meant to hit the trees.

  He didn’t MEAN to wing the fish-monster drowning his brother. He really just meant to scare it off. But he’d never fired a cannon before.…

  A horrible shriek filled the air. The water rose and boiled where the monster had been, and tentacles and sea-creatures flailed from a wave that rose and rose. The water churned and boiled, higher and higher.

  The monster had vanished, but where was William?

  And now there was another noise. A weird, watery, burbly screaming. Jonah scanned the water and froze. An army of horrible fish creatures gnashed shark teeth, shook seaweed hair, opened fish lips, and shrieked at him.

  “What are those things?” he cried. The watery horrors swam toward him. Suddenly, something thumped against the boat. He ran to look over the side.

  And almost fainted!

  The angry fish monsters clung to the pirate ship. Their hands were spiny, and they shook fishbone spears at him. Two of them shook paddles.

  Those are Peregrine’s paddles!

  The creatures clung to every inch of his ship, their slippery green hands clutched every port hole, every knot in the wood. But they couldn’t climb out of the water …

  … because Jonah saw fins where feet should be.

  Can these things be mermaids? Correction, screaming mermaids!

  The sound made Jonah’s hair stand up. It made him want to jump overboard and drown himself. Which was perhaps the point.

  But, he told himself, it’s just a noise. It can’t hurt you if it’s just a noise. Try not to listen.

  “Boil his bones! Shiver me timbers! Pieces of eight!” the parrot said over and over. Which was a sudden improvement on the screaming mermaids.

  What should I do?

  For a moment, pirate Jonah was filled with panic. What if? What if this was all real? What if he wasn’t dreaming, but he really lost his brother and sister? What if he was all alone, destined to sail a pirate ship around a weird desert island for the rest of his life, with screaming mermaids attached to it?

  But then the worst thought of all bubbled to the surface.…

  What if William drowned?

  BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU!

  Jonah gasped! That’s a foghorn!

  He ran to the side of the ship, swept the telescope along the beach …

  … Emma and a tall boy ran out of the trees!

  “EMMA!” Jonah shouted. He waved his arms, but he was too far away for his sister to see him. All she’d see was a pirate ship far out at sea.

  BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU!

  Jonah watched through the telescope. Emma blew the foghorn while the tall boy dove into the water. The water writhed and boiled … then the boy clambered back onto the beach.

  He had a boat hook in one hand and William in the other! Jonah whooped with joy. William was alive!

  Emma and the tall boy ran back into the forest with William between them. Angry mermaids crawled onto the beach, shrieking. Spears fell around Emma, William, and the boy.

  BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU!

  Keep blowing that foghorn, Emma! I’ll find you!

  Jonah ran to the wheel and turned the pirate ship toward the distant shore. His brother and sister were alive, and he was going to find them, no matter what.

  And the army of screaming mermaids was going with him.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  PLEASE, WILLIAM

  Emma and Finn ran across the sand, carrying William between them.

  “Lie him down!” Finn said when they were safely under the trees. Angry mermaids shrieked and slapped their tails on the beach behind them, but they couldn’t follow.

  “Is he okay?” Emma panted and dropped to her knees. Poor William! He looked terrible, pale, and his eyes were closed. Finn kneeled over the boy on the ground.

  “He’s not … is he still alive?” Emma whispered. William wasn’t breathing. There was no pulse at his neck. Emma felt her heart squeeze. She couldn’t lose her big brother! Not here, not now, not yet. Oh please, not yet!

  She felt a rising panic.

  Finn put his hand on the boy’s throat. Then he pulled something green from his pocket and placed it on William’s tongue. Seaweed.

  “It may be too late,” Finn said quietly. “Call him, Emma.”

  “William! Please, William,” Emma whispered. She took her brother’s hand. It was ice-cold. Finn ran his hand over William’s face. He breathed onto the boy’s lips. He breathed into his ears and nose. He pressed his hands upon the boy’s chest, once, twice, three times. And again and again. Emma stared into William’s face.

  I will never argue with Jonah again, I promise! Just please wake up!

  “Please, William,” she whispered again. Her throat was tight, her eyes full of tears. “Wake up! Please!”

  “Come, Captain, your sister calls,” Finn said softly.

  At that moment, William groaned and rolled over. He sat up and rubbed his head. With disgust, he spat seaweed onto his hand.

  Emma hugged him.

  “What happened? All I remember is the Mermaid Queen,” William said, dazed.

  Finn helped him up.

  “You saved me, Emma. You and your friend here.” William looked at Finn carefully. There was something oddly fish-like about the other boy. If he was a boy.

  “This is Finn.” Emma realized she wasn’t sure she could explain Finn.

  “Pleased to meet you, Captain William Blackwell,” Finn answered with a slight bow.

  Emma held her brother by the arm. “He’s an ancient, wandering sea spirit. He saved you.”

  “I thought I saw a dolphin save me….” William started, but Finn interrupted him.

  “We must go. The pirates wounded the Mermaid Queen, William escaped, and now the mermaids will hunt you all down. You must get to your ship.” As though on cue, the distant pirate drums sounded.

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  “Come, Blackwells!” Finn trotted away down the path. He clutched Peregrine ’s boat hook, which looked like a noble weapon in his hands.

  “I’ll
tell you about the dolphin part later,” Emma whispered, helping her brother down the pathway.

  “Do you know where our brother is? I’m missing a crew member, not to mention my ship,” William panted.

  “There’s no sign of your missing crew. I’ve found your ship, though….” Finn answered.

  They rounded the last turn to the figurehead graveyard. Finn stopped dead, and Emma and William crashed into him.

  William’s mouth fell open.

  There, standing in the middle of the pathway, was the strangest collection of people — if they were people — he’d ever seen. Or imagined. The knight, the gladiator, the sad mermaid (who was riding on the horse, with her tail tucked to one side), the sea captain, the schoolteacher and Mary-Celeste all stood under the trees. The monkey chattered above. Emma took a quick look at the bushes along the path — still no sign of the giant snake.

  The sea captain stepped forward. “You’ve done it, lassie! You’ve broken the curse! We’re free!” he said.

  Finn shook his head. “No, it wasn’t Emma. It was a pirate’s cannonball. And the Mermaid Queen isn’t dead, so the curse may not be broken for good.” The figureheads exchanged serious glances.

  “When did the pirates grow so bold?” the schoolteacher said.

  “It is strange — usually they are terrified of her,” Finn mused. “But now is your chance to be free of the curse forever. We have to battle the Mermaid Queen.” Each figurehead nodded solemnly, even little Mary-Celeste.

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  “Come on,” Finn said. “To Peregrine before the pirates find her. Wherever the pirates are, the mermaids will be close behind! And Blackwells, perhaps your missing crew is there, too.”

  “Emma,” William whispered. “What are these … people?”

  “They’re ancient sea spirits like Finn, except they’re cursed and he’s not,” Emma whispered back.

  Of course there would be cursed sea spirits. And pirates, William thought. If there are monster mermaids, why not pirates, too?

  William tried not to look too closely at the knight and the gladiator as they trotted along the pathway beside them, clanking in their armour. The knight looked at William and bowed slightly.

  “Your servant, sir,” the knight said. William quickly looked away.

  This really couldn’t get much weirder!

  Emma helped William limp along the pathway, behind the others. She blasted on the foghorn. If Jonah were anywhere near, he’d hear it.

  BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU!

  Ancient figureheads ran and clanked down the path ahead of them. A sad mermaid rode a horse. A monkey chattered in the trees. A strange dolphin-boy brandished a boat hook.

  And somewhere nearby, a giant snake slithered quietly along.…

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  PEREGRINE, HO!

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  Jonah beat the drums. He stuck the pirates’ swords in his belt. He stood at the wheel with the parrot on his shoulder and the telescope in his hand as he searched the island.

  BUUUUUU!BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU!

  Jonah steered toward the sound of Emma’s foghorn whenever it came.

  There were more and more mermaids around the ship. They bumped along the side; the water was thick with them. An army of angry, shrieking mermaids surrounded him.…

  BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU! BUUUUUU!

  Suddenly, people ran out of the trees and onto the beach!

  Jonah peered through the telescope. One of them had a backpack and a foghorn! Another held a boat hook!

  “It’s them!” he said to the parrot, which was quiet for once. But there was something a little off about the people with Emma and William.

  Is that … a gladiator?

  Jonah shook his head.

  I must be seeing things! But wait, is that … a knight?

  It was Emma and William all right, but the rest of the people were very odd. If they WERE people. Jonah skimmed the telescope over what looked like a knight, a gladiator, a sea captain with a pipe, and someone — correction, something — on a horse. A monkey swung from tree to tree. There was the tall boy in ragged clothes who saved William, clutching the boat hook. A woman in a long black skirt held a little girl’s hand. The group ran along the beach just as two dark figures ran out of the trees.

  THE PIRATES!

  Jonah held the telescope as steady as he could. They were still scary and huge, but the pirates didn’t look like zombies anymore. They were Eye-Patch and Gold-Tooth all right, but real. The curse must have been broken! They clutched swords from a secret cache buried in the sand and ran toward a sailboat stuck on the beach.

  It was Peregrine!

  Emma and her group ran toward the sailboat from one side. And the pirates ran toward the ship from the other. And every second more and more mermaids filled the water between the pirate ship and Peregrine.

  Who would get to Peregrine first?

  Jonah jumped back to the wheel. He looked up at the sail. “Come on! Come on!” he yelled at his ship, urging it on.

  “Boil his bones!” screeched the parrot on his shoulder.

  “I’m going to boil you if we don’t get to Peregrine before those pirates do!”

  Jonah sailed on, as fast as he could.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  RESCUE AT SEA

  William and Emma ran along the beach.

  “I can’t run much more, Emma,” William gasped. The strange day had taken its toll on poor William. Being drowned for part of it didn’t help much, either.

  “We can’t stop now, William! Look!” Emma pointed. “We’re almost back at Peregrine, and there’s a breeze! We can get aboard, then look for Jonah.” William rallied, put on a burst of speed and limped as fast as he could, leaning on his little sister.

  Finn and the others were far ahead.

  Clang! Clang!

  Swords clashed down the beach. Finn, the knight, and the gladiator had reached the pirates!

  The sea captain stopped for Emma and William. “You must board your ship before the pirates do, bairns. We’ll hold them off!” Emma untied Peregrine  ’s red ensign from her backpack and handed it to him.

  “Please give this to Finn! A gift from me.”

  The captain looked surprised, but he nodded.

  “Aye, lassie. Hae a guid journey!” Then the good sea captain ran to help the others.

  The pirates stabbed and swung their weapons. The gladiator and the knight circled them with their swords. Finn brandished the boat hook. The sea captain, the schoolteacher, and Mary-Celeste shouted encouragement. The monkey chattered in the trees. Coconuts rained down on the pirates’ heads.

  Then … a gigantic snake slithered out of the forest. It curled slowly around Gold-Tooth’s foot. “YARGH! Sister, the Kraken’s got me!” the pirate yelled. The enormous snake tugged the struggling pirate across the sand and into the bushes. Eye-Patch shrieked and ran away along the beach, the pirate and the knight close behind her.

  A knight and a gladiator chasing a pirate on a beach. Now there’s something you don’t see every day, William thought.

  Emma dragged William toward Peregrine. She’d never been so happy to see their sailboat! Brother and sister slowly pushed the boat out of the soft sand, then they jumped aboard.

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  BOOM BOOM da-dum!

  More pirates?

  As Emma readied the boat to sail, William grabbed the binoculars. There was a pirate ship all right, and it was heading their way. Between them and the pirate ship, the water frothed and boiled with mermaids. William looked closely at the pirate ship. He swept the binoculars across the deck.…

  JONAH?

  William stared. There was no doubt about it. His little brother was at the wheel of the huge black ship, steering right toward them. Jonah even looked like a pirate! He wore a black hat and had swords in his belt. He peered through a telescope, and a green parrot perched on his sho
ulder.

  “Emma! It’s Jonah!” William yelled.

  Emma grabbed the binoculars. “He’s a pirate!” she whispered, astonished.

  Brother and sister looked at each other. William shrugged.

  “We both knew he was always a pirate, deep down. Come on, we’ll rescue him at sea!”

  Their sails caught the fresh wind. William took the wheel, and the good ship Peregrine sailed away from the beach.

  This is probably the first time in history that any captain has sailed as fast as they could TOWARD a pirate ship, William thought.

  There was a shout in the water behind them.

  Finn leapt into the foamy waves. Or was it a dolphin who leapt? Beside him, the horse shouldered the sea and raced into battle. On his broad back rode the knight and the gladiator. The knight clutched Peregrine  ’s boat hook like a lance.

  “Excelsior!” the gladiator cried, brandishing his short sword.

  Behind them, the schoolteacher and the sea captain ran across the waves toward the mermaid army. Then came golden-haired Mary-Celeste on the back of the sad mermaid, who was sad no longer. Instead, she looked determined and ferocious. Those other mermaids, the horrible ones, had cursed her and held her captive for a very long time. She, too, was ready for battle.

  The figureheads swam and leapt toward the mermaid army.

  The war in the waves had begun.

  “Sail for your lives, Blackwells!” Finn called. Then he dove, holding the slippery green head of a mermaid. The water was a frothy green sea of slippery heads, tails, and seaweed.

  Then … SHE came! An enormous wave rose in the centre of the battle, filled with sharks, crabs, and fish. The monstrous form of the Mermaid Queen loomed, and with a cry the figureheads fell upon her.

  They wanted their freedom.

  “We have to help them, William!” Emma cried.

  William set his jaw and steadied the wheel. “No, Emma,” he said, determined. “Finn told us to sail for our lives. We have to save Jonah and get home.”

  “But they’re my friends! I don’t want to leave them!”

  The water boiled and writhed in the mayhem. Suddenly, Emma saw Finn leap from the waves and raise a conch shell to his lips. The air filled with a long, thin note that made the very waves sing. Again and again, Finn blew into the shell.