Sorcerer's Secret (39 page)

“Rory, watch out!” Bridget cried. The giant alligator came lumbering up the beach like a monster truck, leaping in the air with its jaws open wide, heading right for a terrified Rory. Rory stood frozen for a moment, out of reach of everyone's help, but then he pulled his arm back and threw the book of Munsee magic deep within the beast's maw before rolling to safety.

The alligator landed heavily on the beach in their midst, sending sand showering over everyone as its mouth closed with a snap. It was close enough to all of them that, if it wanted to, it could have simply reached out and swallowed them all. Bridget stared up at those huge white scales, the massive muscles gliding beneath them, and she felt overwhelmed with awe. She felt certain that they were all dead.

But the Albino Alligator did not attack again. Instead, it slithered backward down the sand, leaving a huge gash on the beach in its wake. It crunched over a canoe or two as it retreated, driving their contents deep into the ground, before dipping back into the lake, tail first. The last thing to disappear under the water was its huge, white head, with its long, evil-looking snout bristling with teeth, until only its beady eyes poked up like periscopes, the ripples in the water the only indication of the massive creature's presence. Finally, they, too, disappeared.

Rory dropped to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Mr. Hennessy hesitantly stepped toward him.

“You did the right thing, son,” he said, and Bridget's heart ached to hear those words.

“Why are you doing this to me?” Rory said bitterly, wiping his eyes. “You just show up again, telling me to throw away the only chance I had of saving Mom's life, and that if I do, she'll end up saved anyway. Maybe. I threw away my chance for a maybe.”

“In this life, that's usually all you get,” Mr. Hennessy said softly. He reached out a hand to touch his son's shoulder, then stopped, uncertain. Bridget couldn't stand it. She ran to them, practically bowling her dad over as she clutched him with one arm and Rory with the other. If she could have cried, she would have drowned them both. Instead, she sobbed without tears, feeling her father stroke her thin, paper hair and whisper that he loved her. She never wanted to let go.

But they couldn't stand there forever, and her dad finally stepped back, releasing her but still keeping one arm flung over her shoulder. She happily burrowed into his side.

“How did you get here?” Hex demanded. “You came from nowhere!”

“I knew you'd be here,” Mr. Hennessy told them. “A friend tipped me off. So I raced here as fast as I could, by a path only I knew. I've been here before, you see—a few times. But this will be the last time. I can't run anymore. I'm ready to end this madness once and for all.”

“So what now?” Hex asked.

“Yeah, I was only allowed to take away one thing,” Rory said. “And that thing is gone, eaten by that monster. But I don't want anything else.”

“I think the fire-breathing idol might be useful,” Hex urged, looking over the rest of the treasure with greedy eyes. But Dad pointed to the prone body of Peter Minuit.

“We're taking him. He's the key to the whole thing. Come on, the way isn't far. There's someone I want you to meet.”

N
icholas wasn't certain how it started. They'd taken their positions inside Belvedere Castle. He'd suggested putting some archers on the island in the middle of Turtle Pond, but Soka vetoed the idea. Maybe she knew something he didn't. They'd find out soon enough.

They could see Kieft's army across the long lawn. The day was cloudy, and as Nicholas watched, it grew cloudier still. He heard Soka mutter behind him.

“He's calling the clouds. How is he doing that?” She looked fascinated and perplexed. But Nicholas had long ago given up on trying to explain Kieft's power.

He glanced around at the troops. The Munsees were at the ready, grasping their spears and bows. He spied people from all over the five boroughs—the Red Legged Devils and Marylanders from Brooklyn, gods and spirits of all races from Queens, the entire Yankees baseball team holding their bats like clubs—even battle roaches with Captain Liv at their head. She caught his eye and saluted. He saluted back. So many making a stand—so many lives that could be lost. But what choice did they have?

The clouds had completely covered the sky, turning the morning into a dark, gloomy affair. Nicholas shifted uncertainly, staring out of the ramparts. Suddenly a wave of intense fear washed over him. It was magic, he knew it, and he opened his mouth to cry a warning. But it was too late, as arrows filled the sky, horses burst out of the trees on each side of the castle, and in a moment they were overrun.

The Cowboys came from one side, the Hessians from the other, and soon everyone was fighting for their life. With a loud “Tallyho!” Teddy Roosevelt leaped atop his horse, leading his men into the thick of the fight. Buckongahelas let out a war cry, echoed by his warriors, as they charged into the rising tide of battle. Nicholas grabbed his sword, ducking as a mobster shot a bullet into the rampart he'd just been occupying, and he entered the fray, determined to keep the enemy at bay.

A
lexa struggled to fight her way through the crush of enemies. She'd found herself with soldiers from two regiments from Breuckelen: the Red Legged Devils and the Marylanders, led by a pair of colonels called Smallwood and Wood. They proved to be fierce fighters, but they were all finding it difficult to push the enemy back when they weren't allowed to kill.

“Damn these rules!” Colonel Smallwood cried, smacking a Hessian on the head with the butt of his musket while dodging a knife thrust. “Guns were made for shooting, blast it!”

But looking around, Alexa could see the wisdom in not killing their opponents. For every angry, hate-filled god attacking her, she spied a scared, lost god who didn't look like he rightly understood how he came to be on this battlefield. Such was the power of Kieft's fear campaign. It made enemies of friends and killers of neighbors. She didn't want to draw their blood. But there were so many. How could they hope to survive if they couldn't protect themselves?

“Ms. Van der Donck!” Colonel Wood cried, pointing with his sword. “Watch out!”

Turning, Alexa spied a familiar horseman, bearing down on her with a gun pointed at her head. “You can't run anymore!” James DeLancey cried, readying to fire. Alexa froze—she had nowhere to go. But then, out of the fighting mess rode another horseman, who barreled into DeLancey, sending him crashing to the ground, where Colonel Smallwood quickly rendered him unconscious with a thump of his musket butt.

“Good show!” Smallwood said to her savior. “What's your name, soldier?”

“Sergeant Peacock, sir!” the man cried, saluting. “Happy to finally see battle, at long last! The War of 1812 has nothing on this! I'm off to find Private Kinderhook, my partner in arms. He was hiding under a bush, last I checked, but I don't want him to miss all the glory!”

With that, Sergeant Peacock rode back into battle before Alexa could thank him. She looked around; the fighting seemed to be growing more intense. Despite their best efforts, bodies already littered the ground. She didn't know how they were going to survive this. Taking a deep breath, she prepared to dive back into the fight.

Suddenly another wave of fear overcame her. All around, her companions fell to the ground, paralyzed by this new attack and helpless before their enemies. Even as she struggled to regain her feet, she knew this had to be one of Kieft's tricks. She prayed that Soka could counter it before it was too late.

S
oka felt the magic wash over her. Kieft was going all out, blinding some defenders, sending apparitions at others, all the while sending waves of fear washing over her troops. His armies climbed over the ramparts to take advantage of the confusion. She quickly pushed back against the magic, clearing the minds of her army before they could be overrun. More waves of magic followed and she strained to contain them all. But still the battle raged on.

She felt overwhelmed. She could keep pushing back the fear, but what could she do against all this slaughter? Then she felt it. A mind, at the edge of her consciousness, barely awake. What was it? She closed her eyes, delving deeper, trying to find this mind. Right before she was about to give up, she found it, so large she could barely understand it, so slow she could barely speak to it. But speak to it she did. And when it heard what she had to say, it grew very angry indeed.

With a burst, the island in the middle of Turtle Pond exploded out of the water to reveal . . . a giant turtle. The turtle had been the island all along. It answered Soka's call and began to attack the enemy soldiers, driving them back from the walls of the castle.

The awakening of the turtle gave Soka an idea. She sent her mind out, calling to all of the creatures of the land, asking them to help protect it. A screech came from above her as a giant owl swooped down, flying into battle with beak snapping. The ground began to rumble as coyotes and bears and even a mastodon lumbered out of the trees to join in the fight. The animals were coming to life to protect their land, and under Soka's direction, what began as a rout turned into a fair fight. But still, the battle continued, with no end in sight . . .

L
incoln didn't know where his friends had disappeared to. When the battle started, Teddy Roosevelt had charged into the fray, and Lincoln had eagerly followed. When he finally looked around, however, he couldn't find the rest of the Rattle Watch. Swallowing his fear, he focused on keeping the attackers away from the castle. On and on he fought, dodging knives and bullets while trying to keep from killing anyone. The fighting never seemed to let up.

Suddenly a giant turtle that seemed to show up out of nowhere crashed down on a group of Brokers of Tobias, smashing them into metal bits. Lincoln staggered away, his heart beating a mile a minute. This battle wasn't as cool as he thought it would be. In fact, it was pretty darn scary. But he was a fighter, so he'd man up and fight.

“I give up!” he heard somone shout, and spun to see Nathan Hale with his arms in the air. Before him, a vampire lawyer readied himself to spring. Lincoln quickly launched himself at Hale, pulling him to the ground. The vampire lawyer jumped at them, teeth bared, but a Munsee dog met him in midflight, and fought him off. Lincoln turned to Hale.

“Are you crazy!” he said.

“I was just about to complete my ingenious plan to infiltrate the enemy stronghold,” Hale replied peevishly. “Now please, you don't know me. I'm a Dutch schoolteacher.” He pushed himself to his feet and immediately put his hands in the air. “I give up!” A rush of fighting bodies raced by and Lincoln lost sight of the idiot. He shook his head. You couldn't help everyone.