Island of Shipwrecks (17 page)

He stopped.

“Liam!” the voice called again.

He turned. It was Meghan, running toward him.

“Wait,” she called, slightly out of breath.

“Yes?” Liam asked. “Have I forgotten something? My hat, perhaps?” His hand went to his head and he absently brushed pebbles from his hair. He hadn't been wearing a hat, but in his embarrassment he could think of nothing else to say.

“You are a strange man,” Meghan declared. “Very strange. But I wanted to thank you for telling us what Aaron was planning. That's helpful.”

Liam looked up. “You're welcome. I'm on your side. I want you to know that. Just as Eva was. I don't know if you believe me, but there it is. I'm also very sorry—so incredibly sorry, for what I did to Claire, and if you could pass that information along, I would appreciate it very much.”

Meghan regarded him for a long moment. “I will,” she said.

“Thank you.” He turned to go once more.

“Just a moment,” Meghan said. “I wasn't finished.”

“My vast apologies, Meghan.” He waited.

“You see,” she went on thoughtfully, “I think I have an idea to help you with your little problem. And I must say, it's a very good one—the idea, I mean. I think you'll like it.” With that, she grinned impishly and started back toward Artimé.
“Come on, then!” she called out over her shoulder.

Liam watched her for a moment, a puzzled look on his face, and shuffled after her.

» » « «

An hour or so later, Liam Healy, Governor to the High Priest Aaron of Quill, walked out of Artimé with his shoulders set, his head held high, and a large sack under one arm. He very nearly started to whistle as he walked, but then he remembered—just in time—where he was.

W
hen Liam returned to the palace with the sack of spell components under his arm, the door to Aaron's office was open. He peeked in.

Taking up nearly all the space on Aaron's desk was a sparse contraption made up of rusty metal pieces. Gears were strewn all about along with other pieces of metal of every size and shape. Leaning over the contraption was Aaron. His priestly robe lay on the floor in a heap and the sleeves of his shirt were pushed up. There was a streak of dirt near his jaw. Surrounding the desk were several large burlap
sacks overflowing with various nuts from the Favored Farm.

Aaron didn't notice Liam, for he was incredibly intent on the task before him. He muttered to himself now and then. Things like “If this goes here, then I need . . . ah yes” and “Where in Quill did I put my wrench?”

“It's in your back pocket, sir,” Liam offered.

Aaron looked up, startled. “Oh, it's you, is it?”

“Yes.”

Aaron reached for the wrench and almost grinned before he stopped himself. He was having more fun than he'd had in a very long time, but no one needed to know that.

Liam took a step inside the room. “What are you making, if I may ask?”

“None of your business,” Aaron snapped out, without thinking. It was second nature to him to respond like that, even when he didn't mean to or need to. He didn't even realize he said it, and continued, “It's an oil press.”

“Very nice,” Liam said. He was intrigued by Aaron's ability to think of such a thing. “You seem to be very good at putting it together.” He came closer and spoke in a low voice, as if he
were doing something wrong by asking, “Tell me—how did you come to, ah, to create such a thing? How did you know what to do with all the metal pieces and such?” He realized he didn't know the names of any of the instruments or parts that Aaron was working with. Most people in Quill didn't have access to such things.

Aaron frowned and didn't answer. He turned his attention to Liam, looking him over. “Where have you been? What's that in your hair?”

“Oh!” Liam said, rubbing his free hand through his hair and dusting off his shoulders. “While I was out getting the spell components, I spent a bit of time, ah, overseeing the wall destruction. It's coming along quite well.”

Aaron set the wrench down on the table. “Really? That's good . . . I suppose. I mean, yes, that's very good.” His eyes landed on the sack under Liam's arm. “And what's that?”

“The spell components you requested, High Priest,” Liam said. He nodded politely.

Aaron gave him a skeptical look. “You got the spell components already? And you know how to use them?”

“Oh, yes. I knew you wanted them right away, so I took care of it immediately. Only had to torture two Artiméans to get what I needed,” he said.

Aaron's eyes widened. “Well,” he said, trying not to sound impressed, “I admit I didn't think you had it in you. Torture, you say? That's . . . that's a job well done.”

“Thank you, High Priest.” He began opening the bag. “Do you want to see?”

Aaron was curious, indeed, but the contraption was calling him. “I'm focused on this task at the moment, since we won't have General Blair's help until I figure this out. Save the spells for later when I can concentrate, will you?”

Liam obliged, securing the sack once more. “I'll keep these safe until you're ready.”

“It may be a few weeks, unfortunately. This is slow going.” Aaron turned back to his oil press, picked up the wrench, and started tinkering. Liam watched curiously for a moment, and then regarded the high priest thoughtfully before turning on his heel and heading out of Aaron's office.

“Liam,” Aaron called as the governor disappeared.

He poked his head back into the office. “Yes, High Priest?”

“Be sure Gondoleery doesn't hear about those spell components, all right?”

Liam nodded. “Of course.” He paused. “Where has she been, by the way?”

Aaron sighed and turned back to his machine. “If we only knew,” he muttered.

S
imber paced the lawn in front of the workers as the wall crumbled, making a huge mess along the entire border between Quill and Artimé. The work continued around the clock, with two teams going in opposite directions around the island. By the next morning, the area where the gate had been was free of all Quillens, and the people of Artimé had an expanded view of the ugly land of Quill.

Meghan and Carina met Simber and Ms. Morning on the lawn to figure out what to do about it all.

“What do you think about this, Simber?” Meghan asked.

Simber had been contemplating the action since the demolition began. “I think tearrring the wall down is an excellent idea,” he said. “Which is why it's so puzzling to me that they'rrre doing it. I can't think of anotherrr time when I've agrrreed with something Quill does.”

They watched as a large section at the top of the wall came down with a tremendous thud, shaking the land, and barely missing a handful of workers who scurried away just in time.

“Not only is it dangerous,” Carina said, “but it seems very suspicious to me, and I can think of only one reason why they're doing it.”

“Me too,” Meghan said.

“Me thrrree,” added Simber. “Aarrron is clearrrly plotting anotherrr attack against us.”

The two young women nodded, and Meghan shared what Liam had told her about Aaron's plan to take over Artimé.

Ms. Morning frowned at the mention of his name, but she seemed grateful for the information.

“I wonder if they finally figured out how terrible their original attack plan was,” mused Carina. “But if they're trying to
widen the access to make us more vulnerable, they're going to have to remove or smooth out all of this rubble to get their pathetic vehicles through.”

“It'll definitely take a while,” Meghan said. She glanced out to sea, wondering if she'd find Alex and the ship magically appearing in the distance. But they weren't there. “Are you and Carina going back to the ship, Sim?”

The stone cheetah growled his indecision. He felt uneasy about being away from Alex. “I don't know,” he said. “Not rrright now, anyway. I'm quite concerrrned about all of this.” He waved a paw at the workers.

“Carina should definitely stay here,” Ms. Morning said. “We need her as a fighter in case something happens.”

“I think that's a wise decision,” Carina said. “And, Simber, why don't we see how things progress? There's not much you can do for the ship anyway. They just have to take it slow.”

Simber nodded. “Yes, that's what I've been thinking. And I rrreally need to be prrresent herrre for the moment. I make the Quillitarrry uncomforrrtable. If they see me leave, they might considerrr Arrrtimé vulnerrrable. We mustn't let on that not
all of ourrr best fighterrrs arrre herrre at the moment.”

“Or Alex, for that matter,” Meghan said. “He's been away from home too long. It doesn't feel safe, you know? What if something happens? I hope they get back soon.” She wanted the safety of Alex's presence, sure, but she missed him and her other friends terribly.

“So it's settled, then,” Carina said. “Simber and I will remain in Artimé for now.”

“I think that's the best plan,” Meghan said.

“I agrrree,” Simber said. “And I know the ship will be back soon. It has to be.” He looked out over the sea, more worried than he was willing to say.

S
aying he could create a flying carpet component was easier than actually doing it. Alex knew it would take an incredible amount of construction, turning little bits of moss into a component sturdy enough to hold a person and fly them around. It would be very time consuming, and he didn't actually know if it would work. Secretly Alex wasn't too worried though. He wouldn't need to tackle the task at all if his own personal flying carpet, Simber, returned soon. Besides, there were a number of other things that were more important at the moment. And there was still one possible solution that would get most of them home in an instant, if only Alex could fix the tube.

Confident that Copper and Florence could direct the others in scavenging and fixing the ship, Alex's first order of business was to revisit that option. At dawn, before the precious hour of calm arrived, he sought out the island's gracious host, finding him in the greenhouse.

“Good morning, Ishibashi-san,” Alex said. “I'd like to try to fix the magic tube. Do you have any tools I could use?”

“I do.” Ishibashi led Alex to a small room that was filled with a hodgepodge of supplies. It appeared the scientists had done a fair amount of scavenging over the years. “You may use anything in here,” Ishibashi said. He left Alex to explore on his own, but returned a moment later with an overflowing handful of broken knobs and springs, cracked buttons, and a few unidentifiable bits of metal.

Alex raised an eyebrow. “What's this?”

“Sato found these years ago after a violent wreck that sent debris crashing into Marcus Today's tube. Some pieces he found inside the tube, some wedged between rocks nearby. He collected them and saved them for Mr. Marcus Today, but our friend does not return.”