Spirits of Ash and Foam (26 page)

As she descended the back stairs, she heard her parents talking. Alonso was saying, “Is it horrible to feel relieved those kids didn't go missing on Rain's watch?”

“A little horrible,” her mother said. “But I know what you mean.”

But it's
all
my watch!
The ponderous guilt weighing her down like lead, she entered the kitchen with shoulders slumped, asking, “Any news?”

Her mother and father shook their heads. Alonso said, “I'm going to take the
Spirit
over to Windward to help with the search.”

“Can I go?” Rain asked.

Alonso said, “No,” turning to Iris for confirmation.

Iris concurred. “No, Rain. Everything that can be done is being done. You go to school.”

“Please,” Rain said, “I want to help. I need to help.”

Her mother just repeated, “Everything's being done. You need to go to school.”

Rain ran a hand through her long hair, pushing it out of her eyes and tucking it behind her ears. She hadn't braided it this morning. She had started to, but she couldn't get her fingers to function properly. They wouldn't work on automatic, and she was overthinking it. Finally, she just gave up. She knew she'd be pushing it out of her face all day, but what choice did she have? She was trapped.

She made a move toward the dining room, but her mother said, “No one's come down yet. Anyway, I've got it covered.” So Rain picked up her backpack and headed for the back door. Iris said, “Rain, have some breakfast.”

Rain didn't stop. “I'm not hungry.” She closed the door behind her.

 

 

Rain, Charlie and Miranda conferred outside school, before the bell. Last night, Deputy Constable Viento had stopped by Charlie's place and questioned him in front of his mom. (He'd basically repeated Rain's story.) But as far as Miranda knew, no constables had stopped by the Old Manor.

Rain told them about her dream.

Miranda said, “Is that supposed to be symbolic or something?”

Rain pushed her hair out of her eyes. “I don't think so. At least, I almost hope not.”

“You hope not?” Miranda asked, incredulous. She turned to Charlie.

He was chewing nervously on the inside of his left cheek. Then he shrugged and said, “What's the alternative? That the manatee took the kids out and…” He didn't want to finish, but Miranda still looked confused. “And drowned them,” he said.

Miranda bit her lip and looked away. Tears welled up in her eyes and then tracked down her cheeks.

“Sugar, what's wrong?”

Renée materialized among the trio and, with a real show of concern, used her thumbs to gently wipe away Miranda's tears.

Miranda was too stricken to respond. Rain didn't even want to be on the same planet with Renée right now, let alone explain the Kimlets' kidnapping to her, but some clarification seemed unavoidable. “There are these kids that have gone missing…”

“I heard about that,” Renée said, still a little mystified. “
Tourist
kids, right?” As in,
Are we really that upset about tourists?

“They were staying at the Nitaino. And the three of us babysat them Sunday.”

“They were so sweet,” Miranda said. Charlie's eyebrows went up at that generous description of the troublesome Kimlets, but Miranda misinterpreted. “
Are
so sweet! They are still sweet!”

The bell rang. None of them moved. Rain stared at Renée. “We need a couple minutes. Could you explain to Mrs. B?”

Renée bristled. She didn't like running errands—or doing favors—for anyone. As Rain had guessed, though, it would be tough to say no and still maintain the illusion that Renée … cared. She turned to Miranda. “I can stay if you want.”

Miranda glanced at Charlie and Rain before turning back to Renée. “No. I … That's okay. We'll be in soon. Thanks, Renée.” Miranda took it for granted that Renée would fulfill Rain's request. As Renée's mouth twitched slightly, Rain had to suppress a dark laugh.

Renée gave Miranda's arm a squeeze. “Okay, Sugar. See you inside.” Renée did a quick about-face and walked deliberately toward the school building.

As soon as Renée was inside, Miranda turned to Rain. “How is this happening? How is any of this happening?” She was initiating what Rain felt sure was a well-deserved freakout.

Since the full truth wouldn't exactly calm her down, Rain put a hand on her shoulder and said, “Look, it's happening. Does the how matter? We need to focus if we're going to help Wendy, John and Michael. Do you have your phone?”

Miranda nodded and fetched it out of her backpack.

Rain pushed her troublesome hair out of her eyes and said, “In the dream, she turned them into dolphin pups. And she's surrounded by a pod of six more dolphins. So search
dolphins.
And not the science. The legends. The myth. That's how we'll solve this.” She sounded way more certain than she felt.

Miranda's thumbs went to work. She searched and skimmed and finally said, “Sailors believed dolphins bring luck.”

Charlie chimed in, “For the sailors or for the dolphins?”

Taking his question seriously, Miranda said, “They rescue people. So I guess for the sailors. Hmm … the Greek god Dionysus transformed pirates into dolphins.”

“Okay, that's starting to sound familiar,” Rain said, allowing herself a bit of hope. “How did the pirates get transformed back?”

“They didn't. They were evil pirates. I don't think anyone wanted them back.”

So much for hope. “Are you sure? Try another Web site.”

Miranda surfed some more. At one point, she nodded to herself and said, “Dolphins can be shape-shifters. They can become human. But it doesn't say how.”

Charlie wondered, “The first dolphins, the pod of six, could those be other children the manatee has stolen?”

“No. They're Aycayia's Six Sisters.”

“Eye-ka-what now?”

“Aycayia. The Manatee-Woman. That's her name.”

He stared at her. “You know her name?”

“From a different dream. Aycayia the Cursed was First Witch. She was punished by being transformed into a manatee. Her Six Sisters were transformed into dolphins.”

Miranda stared at her for a few long seconds, then slowly said, “Wow. That, um, fits. This site says dolphin calves are raised by their mother with the help of ‘Aunties.'”

Rain tucked her hair behind her ears. “So Aycayia's Sisters are helping Her take care of the Kim kids. That's good, I think.”

So it went past the second bell and beyond. Finally, it became clear that if searching the Internet was somehow sufficient for solving mystic mysteries, everyone would be doing it. So Miranda used her phone for something else. She called Ariel and arranged for her to meet them after school with Pablo Guerrero's speedboat. They'd search for the Kimlets themselves.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

OFF PUNTA

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16

The nameless Guerrero speedboat swept out of Próspero Bay with Ariel at the helm and Rain, Charlie and Miranda all scanning the water with borrowed binoculars, looking for …
what?
The same exact thought echoed in the heads of all three teens:
What exactly do we expect to see out here?
If Ariel—who had been told only that they were joining the search for the missing tourist children—thought something similar, she kept her own counsel and maintained her standard unknowable poker face. But once Rain pushed the hair out of her eyes, she could see the question clear as day on Charlie and Miranda's worried expressions and knew her own countenance looked no different.
What am I hoping for? That Aycayia and her Six Sisters and her three stolen Kimlets will just swim up to the side of the boat? Well, maybe. They've taunted me before.
But it was a big ocean, and Rain desperately wished she had something more to go on.

Ariel steered the boat southwest, to circle round San Próspero toward Windward, where the navy, the Coast Guard, the constabulary, the lifeguards, the Kims, Alonso Cacique and other volunteers were all focusing their search. But the Searcher lowered her binoculars to desperately surf her own mental Internet for a better clue to guide them. Sure, Aycayia had
taken
the kids at Windward, but there was no reason for Her to stay there with them. In fact, with all the activity on the east side of the island, she'd likely avoid the entire area.
So where would she bring them now? I need to focus on what I know about Her.
There was only one location specifically named in Rain's dreams of Aycayia: Punta Majagua, where Guanayoa took First Witch and her Sisters. But Rain didn't know of any Punta Anything on the Ghosts.
So why does the name sound familiar?

Rain tucked her hair behind her ears and turned to look at the afternoon sun, sinking slowly toward its nightly resting place beneath the western sea. She wished the fiery ball would simply drop down with a splash and bring on the night, so that 'Bastian would appear.
He
knew these islands better than anyone.
And he knows all the old names …

Then she remembered: it wasn't “Punta” that sounded familiar; it was “Majagua.”'Bastian had told her last week that the precorporate name for Sycorax Island had been Isla Majagua. So if there was a Punta Majagua, then Sycorax was where it would be.

Almost embarrassed for not knowing the privatized Sycorax as well as she knew San Próspero, Malas Almas or Ile de la Géante, she turned to Miranda and said, “Do you know where Punta Majagua is?”

Miranda lowered her binoculars and nodded. “Sure. So do you. It's Witch's Finger.”

Witch's Finger! Of course! Aycayia was First Witch!
And every local knew the little peninsula on the northwest end of Sycorax Island looked like the crooked finger of a witch pointing toward the setting sun. “That's where we need to go!” she shouted. “That's where they'll be!”

Ariel's head turned a few degrees—not enough to look back at Rain, but enough to acknowledge her words. Then the pilot turned toward Miranda, and a single eyebrow was raised a centimeter in question. Miranda looked from Rain to Charlie and back to Rain. Then Miranda swallowed hard, bit her lip and nodded to Ariel, who immediately put them on a northwest heading, accelerating with the wind at their backs.

Now Rain's untamed black mane was blowing across her face and over the binoculars. She'd tuck it behind her ears, and it would be back in her eyes before she could raise the binoculars. She was about ready to scream when Miranda appeared at her shoulder, saying, “Do you want me to braid that?”

“Oh, yes! Please!”

Miranda immediately set to work, her fingers nimbly intertwining three long strands of Rain's hair almost as quickly as Rain could—on a normal day—do it herself. “It's so thick!” Miranda said.

“I know. It's such a pain.”

“No, I mean it's gorgeous, Rain. I wish I had hair like this.”

By the time the speedboat was hugging the southern coast of Sycorax and about to come around behind it, Miranda had tied off the end of the braid with the rubber band Rain had worn on her wrist since failing to make her hair behave that morning. It wasn't quite the tight black rope she usually created for herself, but it was a big improvement over the Medusa thing she had been dealing with all day. Rain breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Thanks, Miranda, you're a lifesaver.”

Miranda beamed, and Rain shot a look at Charlie, as if to say,
Why don't
you
ever braid my hair?

Fortunately, that's when Charlie demonstrated alternate talents. “There!” he shouted, lowering his binoculars and pointing. Dolphins breached the surface in front of them, one after another, as if leading them on procession. Not just any dolphins, either. Rain was sure this was the manatee's pod—Aycayia's Sisters, the Kimlets' Aunties—even before she spotted one of them with Alonso's camera strap between its teeth.

Two of the Aunties teased Rain, tossing the camera back and forth between them. Rain only smiled. She felt certain that—intentionally or otherwise—they were leading the speedboat toward their pups. Toward Michael, John and Wendy. She stepped up behind Ariel and said, “Follow those dolphins!”

This time, and despite the apparent downright silliness of the request, Ariel didn't acknowledge Rain at all but instead maintained a steely eye on the marine mammals, pursuing them around the lower lip of Sycorax's Back Bay, bringing Punta Majagua—the Witch's Finger—into view.

Rain instantly saw Back Bay wasn't empty. A lone but familiar cabin cruiser was anchored just offshore. Stunned—but feeling less surprised than furious—Rain took a few steps back until she was even with Charlie. She whispered in his ear, “It's the
Bootstrap.
” They both turned their binoculars toward the deck of the cruiser and saw Callahan using his own binoculars to look straight back at them.
That's why he was heading north out of the harbor,
Rain thought,
to come here!
She still didn't understand all the connections.
Did Callahan have something to do with the Kimlets' disappearance? With Aycayia? Is all this linked to the
zemi
somehow?
She had no answers, and she didn't like that Mr. Attack-of-the-Killer-Tourist himself was in the vicinity generating questions.

Callahan wasn't happy either.
Those two bloody kids are everywhere! And this time they've brought witnesses.
He especially didn't like the looks of the blonde at the wheel of the approaching speedboat. He was still enough of a soldier to recognize the quality of a warrior in someone else—even at this distance. He'd rather not mess with her, with them, even in the dim light of the setting sun. If they stayed clear of him, fine. He'd let them go about their business. If they interfered—with him, his boat, or his search for the second
zemi
—he'd wait for dark and end them once and for all. He mentally settled in to see what happened next.