by Liz Kessler
The boys were still looking out the window.
“Michele,” Jakob called across the room. “Come, let’s find the finest cabin and get a good night’s rest ourselves.” He paced back to the table and held a hand out for his wife. As she stood up and gathered her things together, Jakob called back over his shoulder to his sons. “Five thirty tomorrow morning, we meet here. You will choose your ship and I will give you further instructions. And then the real challenge begins. Round one was just the precursor. The challenge will have two more rounds, and it will take two days. Make sure you are ready.”
The sons both nodded to their dad.
As their parents left the room, the two boys stood by the window looking out.
“When I’m pirate king, we’ll do away with all those stupid sailing ships,” Noah scoffed. He turned to face the room. I ducked back even farther behind the curtain. “We will sail ships like the Sunbeam.”
“If,” Sam said. “Not when.”
Noah paused for a moment, then he burst out laughing. “Oh, brother, you are so funny,” he said, wiping pretend tears from his eyes. “You kill me; you really do.”
Sam’s face had turned red, but he didn’t reply.
Noah walked past the stage as he sauntered back to the table. He picked his jacket off the back of his seat and headed toward the door. Just before he reached it, he stopped and turned around. Sam was still collecting his stuff from the table.
“All right, I’m off to see how my new crewmate is doing,” he said. “Sleep well, loser.”
Before Sam even had the chance to reply, Noah waved a hand, pulled open the door, and left.
Sam was alone in the room. Or at least, he thought he was. I stood there going over everything I’d heard.
I had no doubt, now, that Noah had Aaron — or one of his men did. What I wasn’t so sure of was what to do about it. I’d be no match for them. At least, not on my own.
But maybe I didn’t have to tackle him alone . . .
Before I could talk myself out of it, I’d pulled the curtain aside and stepped to the edge of the stage.
Sam spun around. “Who’s there?” he barked. Then he saw me. “Oh. You!”
I swallowed hard. My throat was about the width of a centipede.
Come on, Emily. You can do this. You’ve faced scarier people than the scruffy son of a pirate king.
Sam crossed the room toward me. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
I took a breath. Then, keeping my voice as calm as I possibly could, I answered.
“I know everything that’s going on. I know even more than you do,” I said. “And I want to offer you a deal.”
Tell me about this deal,” Sam said.
As he came toward me, my certainty wavered. Maybe this wasn’t such a great idea. He was the son of a pirate king, after all. What made me think it was safe to put my idea in his hands? Then again, what other choices did I have?
“Hang on. I’m coming down,” I said. Mostly to buy myself a couple more minutes to think through my plan.
Sam sat at a table near the stage, pulled out a chair, and narrowed his eyes at me. “Well?”
“Your brother has captured Aaron,” I began, sitting down.
“Who’s Aaron?”
“My . . .” Why was I hesitating? “My boyfriend,” I said.
“Oh. OK, the boy you were with this evening.”
“Yeah, him.”
“You think that’s who he was talking about earlier?”
“I don’t think it is,” I said. “I know it is.”
Sam’s eyes were still narrowed. “OK, I believe you,” he said. “But why? What does Noah want with your boyfriend?”
“He wants him because of what he knows.”
Sam nodded. “Noah said he used to live around here or something.”
I bit my lip. “Yeah. At Halflight Castle.”
“What?” Leaning forward, Sam looked at me intensely. His blue eyes were like tiny daggers. “He lived there? At Halflight Castle?”
I nodded.
“And Noah knew this?”
“Yes. He sat at our table earlier, when we were doing the quiz. Aaron answered a question about it and Noah was really impressed.”
“I bet he was,” Sam mused. “Yesterday, before we boarded the ship, my dad told us we’d need to understand the local area. He told us the names of a few significant places. Including Halflight Castle.”
“And Noah didn’t waste any time snatching him and gaining an advantage.”
“Exactly. That’s my brother for you.”
Neither of us spoke for a moment. Sam broke the silence. “You said you wanted to offer me a deal. What is it?”
I paused for a second. Last chance to change my mind.
No. I couldn’t leave Aaron to his fate on a pirate ship. I had to go through with this plan.
“Capture me!” I said.
“What? Seriously?”
I nodded. “We both want something,” I went on quickly. “I want to find Aaron. You want your dad to respect you more.”
“How do you know I —”
“I was here, watching you. I saw it all. How you glowed when he praised you. How you burned with the desire to be as tough as your brother. How you couldn’t bear to tell your mom to stop babying you.”
Sam folded his arms. “Whatever,” he grumbled. “Go on.”
“So you capture me. Take me on your ship as a prisoner. I’ll go along with it, pretend you’re taking me against my will. You’ll look tough, like a pirate should be.”
“Like my father wants me to be,” Sam muttered. “Like I need to be if I’m going to stand a chance against my brother.”
“Exactly. Plus, because Noah has Aaron, capturing me will put you even with him. One prisoner each.”
“And what do you get out of it?”
I hesitated for a second. Then spoke evenly. “You promise to help me get Aaron back.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Win the contest. Then you’ll be in charge and you can do whatever you like.”
“And if I don’t win?”
“Then we come up with another idea. But either way, you promise to help me get Aaron back.”
Sam didn’t reply for a moment.
Finally, he unfolded his arms, leaned forward, and nodded. “OK,” he said. “I’ll do it. You’ve got a deal.”
The pirate king had told his sons to meet him back in the ballroom at five thirty. It was just after five, and my plan depended on Sam being the only one there.
I’d had a few hours’ rest after Sam and I had finished talking and planning. I hadn’t managed to sleep much. My mind was too busy with everything. On the way back to my cabin, I’d slipped a note under Mom’s door. Half true and half . . . not quite so true. The true part was that I told her Aaron was in trouble and I had to go help him. The not-quite-true part was that I said I was going to get Dad — and maybe Neptune — to help. If I had told her how I was really going about it, she’d never have agreed in a million years.
Anyway, it was too late to think about that. I was here now.
“Emily!” Sam called over to me.
“You’re definitely on your own?” I called back.
“Yes. Come on. Quick.” He waved me over.
I walked over to meet him in the middle of the room as we’d planned. “You remember what you have to do?” I asked.
“I’ve gone over it again and again in my head. You’re sure it’s what you want to do, though?”
I thought about Mom, waking up to a note saying I’d gone. Then I thought about Aaron, captured by pirates and taken prisoner by Sam’s horrid older brother.
“Yes,” I said. “I’m positive.”
“OK, let’s get ready. They’ll be here any minute.”
Sam followed me to the buffet table. It still had food on it. The tablecloth came halfway to the floor.
I crouched down and crawled under the table. Sam pulled down the cloth
in front of me. As he bent down, he met my eyes. I grabbed the edge of his vest. “Don’t let me down.”
He ground his teeth together as he stared into my eyes. “I won’t.”
A second later, he dropped the tablecloth over me and I retreated under the table.
The door opened and I heard more people come into the room. “Five bags of jewels and money and another three bags full of cell phones, laptops, and anything else we thought we could sell,” someone announced. It was the pirate king. I guessed Noah had come in with him. “My crew has served me well.”
Five bags full of people’s possessions? This man was so awful!
“Now, then, boys, gather around and let me tell you what is going to happen next.”
I saw three chairs being pulled out, then three pairs of feet under the nearby table.
Once they were sitting down, Jakob explained their task.
“As you know, your challenge is to find the Trident’s Treasure. I’ve divided the contest into three rounds. Round one was last night, and Noah won that.”
Noah made a sneering sound.
The pirate king ignored him. “Round two is to find Crystal Bay,” he went on.
“Crystal Bay? I thought that was a place in the bedtime stories Mom read to us when we were little?” Noah broke in. “I bet Sam still reads those stories now,” he added with a throaty laugh.
I didn’t hear Sam react, but Noah’s “Ouch, that’s my arm!” indicated that he’d probably hit him.
“Settle down, boys; we have a lot to get through,” Jakob went on. “And, yes, you are partly right. Like I said last night, you are going to find a place that is so well hidden many people do think it’s a fable, a story, a myth. That place is called Crystal Bay. One of many secret bays around a large and complex island. And at the heart of the island is a hill, with Halfmoon Castle at the top.”
“Halfmoon Castle?” Noah interrupted. “The sister castle to Halflight Castle?”
“Well done, son. Yes, it is. Halflight Castle is legendary enough in its own right. Halfmoon Castle is even more so.”
Hearing them mention Halflight Castle — where Aaron had lived most of his life — made my chest tighten.
“Halfmoon Castle is known in the pirate world as the holy grail of destinations,” Jakob continued. “It is believed to hold the treasure I told you of last night. But finding it is a treacherous and difficult task.”
I could hear a rustle of paper. Then Jakob spoke again. “Ah, here it is,” he said. “I shall tell you the truth. I have known of this treasure for many years, but I have never believed it was real. Now I do.”
“Why?” Noah asked.
The pirate king replied sharply. “Because now I have this.” He cleared his throat and began to read aloud.
“At Crystal Bay, the Trident’s Treasure waits for the most strong and wise.
In all the seas, you’ll never find so great or valuable a prize.
But only if you’re led to it by your fair daughter or your son,
Can you then say that it’s yours to keep. For life, forever, you’ll have won.”
A poem?
There was a long pause. Sam was first to break it. “So you can only keep the treasure if one of us leads you to it?” he asked.
“So it seems,” Jakob admitted. “Hence the contest. Round two is a race to Crystal Bay. Round three is to be the first to find the treasure. I shall follow behind you and track you both. One of you will lead me to the riches that will allow me to retire.”
“And that one shares the riches and becomes pirate king?” Noah asked.
“Yes, yes. Of course,” his father replied. “Like I said. Now, then, let’s get on with it. Noah won round one and has his choice of ship. Noah, which vessel are you choosing?”
“I’ll have Lord Christianos, please, Father.”
Jakob laughed. “I thought you would, seeing as it is nearly twice the size of the other. So, Sam, that means yours is Morning Star. Both good ships. Your task is to meet me in Crystal Bay. First one there wins round two. And to help you, I have a clue.”
I heard another rustling of paper, then Jakob spoke again. “There is another poem. This one is about the place, about finding it.” He cleared his throat. Then he read the poem aloud.
“Find it with math, with a compass and pen.
Or find it by bribing a hundred wise men.
Use a magical crystal that calls through the blue —
You’ll be wrong twenty times; only one way is true.”
“That’s it?” Noah asked. “That’s supposed to be our guide to finding a near-mythical bay?”
“That’s all you’re getting,” his father replied. “Here you go. One copy each.” Then a scraping back of his chair. “Good luck to you both. I know who I’d put my money on, if I ever decided to part with any of it. Which is unlikely!” He burst out laughing, and I saw his feet move as he got up from the table. “You have twenty-four hours, sons. First one there wins round two and opens the way for the others to follow. I’ll see you there.”
Jakob’s feet turned as he started to walk away from the table. The others stood up as well. One pair of feet moved in my direction. I was pretty sure they were Sam’s.
Right. Time to give Sam the upper hand. Time to start my campaign to get Aaron back from these disgusting people.
I coughed. Just loud enough so he’d hear me.
Come on, Sam. Now’s your chance. You have to capture me. Look good in front of your dad and brother. Do it!
“What was that?” Sam’s voice.
“What was what?” his father replied.
“Little bro hearing things,” Noah mocked him.
“I heard something. I’m sure of it.” Sam came toward me.
This was it.
The cloth was pulled aside. A moment later, I saw Sam’s face appear on the other side of it.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered at me.
“It’s fine. Let’s do it,” I whispered back.
And then everything changed.
“I told you I heard something. Dad, Noah, someone was snooping on us!” Sam reached under the table and grabbed hold of my arm. He pulled me out from under the table. Gripping my arm with one hand, he grabbed my shoulder with the other.
“How dare you spy on us!” he growled at me, his face contorted into a nasty snarl.
Even though I knew he was acting, it still shocked me. I hadn’t seen him like this before.
“Who are you working for?” Sam asked. “Who sent you? Who do you think you are to listen in on us like this?”
He was good at pretending to be a fierce pirate. So good that I could barely reply through my nerves. It hit me that even though Sam was pretending, I was still standing in a room with his brother and his dad, and neither of them needed encouragement when it came to being fierce and unpleasant.
“I was just — I came to get some food,” I squeaked. “I hid under the table when I heard you coming.”
“Don’t lie!” he said. “You were spying! And you won’t get away with it! I’ll make sure of it.”
I glanced across at Noah as his brother spoke. His face was all rage at Sam scoring a point for once.
“I will take her prisoner,” Sam said. “Make an example of her.”
“Fine. Take her with you and lock her in a cabin till you’re out at sea,” the pirate king said. “Good work, son; good work.”
Sam couldn’t keep his face from glowing at receiving such praise from his dad. Even if he did manage to whisper, “I’m really sorry,” as he pulled me by the arm and yanked me across the room with him.
The pirate king wagged a finger at his sons. “Boys, it’s nearly six a.m. You have less than twenty-four hours now,” he said. “See you in Crystal Bay. Remember: first one there wins round two.”
And with that, he turned and left the room. My life as a pirate’s hostage was about to begin.
We made our way to the docking station below the main deck. It was dark and
echoey down there. Noah had already stomped ahead of us and disappeared.
Maybe he’d gone to check on Aaron.
A couple of the pirate king’s crew were sitting on stools by the opening.
“Sam. Wait.” I stopped walking and tugged on Sam’s arm.
He turned to me. “What is it?”
“We need to make it look real,” I said. “Push me ahead of you. Remember to look tough.”
The pirates hadn’t seen us yet. They were too busy talking and laughing.
“You’re right,” Sam said. He took my arm and pushed me ahead of him.
As we approached the pirates, they looked up and stopped chatting.
“I’m Sam. I’m the — er — the pirate king’s —” Sam began.
“Yeah, we know who you are,” one of them replied gruffly. He nudged a thumb at me. “Who’s this?”
“My prisoner. I found her spying on us and my dad said she could come with —”
“Whatever,” the guy interrupted. “Over there,” he said, waving us toward a tender tied to the dock. “I’ve got a couple of things to finish off here.”
The other guy lazily walked toward the tender and motioned for us to follow him.
“Ah. Yes, I think I recognize —” Sam began.
The guy interrupted him. “Let’s go,” he said. We clambered aboard and sat on a bench at the front of the little boat as he drove us away from the Sunbeam and toward a tall ship that gradually came into sight against the dim dawn sky.
The ship had three masts, with three sets of square sails folded at stages up each one. A rope led from the top of the front mast to the bowsprit sticking out the front of the ship. Three triangular sails lay folded along that. The back half of the ship had a long wooden boom running down the center and a huge round wheel for steering. The ship swayed gently on its mooring, its halyards clinking in the gentle breeze.
Under any other circumstances I would have been excited to take a trip on such a beautiful ship. Excitement, however, was not at the top of my list of feelings.
