Spirits of Ash and Foam (30 page)

“You know Callahan?” This from Cash.

“
You
know Callahan?” This from Rain.

“He hired me! Sent me to that cave. Sent me to my death, come to think of it.”

“Why? Why did he hire you? What's in the cave?”

“Some kind of ancient artifact is supposed to be there. He called it a—”

“Zemi,”
Rain said.

“Yeah. You know about this?”

Rain pointed to her snake charm. “This is a
zemi.
It's how I can hear you. There are eight more of them, and I'm supposed to collect them. Callahan's in my way.”

Cash looked scared, more afraid of Callahan than of Mosquito Boy. “Uh, look. I'd tread carefully. He'll figure you're in
his
way. And he's not the kind of guy to let anyone get between him and his paycheck.”

Again Rain and 'Bastian exchanged a look. 'Bastian said, “Paycheck? Who's he working for?”

“No idea. But I can guarantee you he wasn't shelling out my cut on his own dime. Callahan's nothing if not tight with a buck.”

“Did he pay you?” Rain asked.

“Dying kinda got in the way of that.”

Rain smiled slyly. “So he got you killed and, uh…”

“Stiffed you,”'Bastian added.

“Well, that's one way to—”

“So if it came down to it,” Rain said, “you don't owe him anything.”

“I guess not…”

“So you're on my team now.”

“There are teams?”

“There are teams.” She said to 'Bastian, “Do you think they'll go back? Aycayia and the Kimlets?”

He nodded. “At night, when it's safe.”

“Then we need to go back at night.”

“It won't be safe. Not for you. Not on Sycorax.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Cash said, holding out his arms. “You're talking about Sycorax? That's where the swarm is! You can't go there.”

“I have to,” Rain said.

“Why?!”

“Because now I know dreams can lie.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

WON'T GROW UP

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17

“This makes no sense,” Renée said.

Rain couldn't agree more—though they clearly had different topics in mind. There were five of them on the Guerrero speedboat now: Rain, Charlie, Miranda, Ariel
and Renée
. From Rain's point of view, the presence of her least favorite schoolmate—at this most crucial place and time—made no sense whatsoever.

Morning had broken on Wednesday, leaving Rain alone. 'Bastian's spirit had returned to the
zemi,
and Cash had simply vanished. Not just Cash, either. The storm that had raged all night over every one of the Ghosts—except Sycorax—had dissipated almost instantaneously with the dawn. Looking out her bedroom window at the clear morning sky, with the rising sun rapidly evaporating the rainwater from the drenched street and sidewalks, Rain had a moment of clarity regarding Hurricane Julia:
She's dead.

Powerful as she was, Julia could no more stick around in daylight than'Bastian or Cash.
Or why would she let up now?
No, Rain was convinced Julia was some kind of ghost. That meant Rain would be free of her, safe from her, for a little over twelve hours. If she could get to Aycayia and the Kimlets
before
sunset, then Julia would return too late to intervene.

Not that getting to Aycayia was going to be easy either way. Though Rain was fairly certain the Manatee-Woman would return after dark to Punta Majagua with her Sisters and the Lost Kims, there was no telling where they'd be before then. It definitely raised a question: Why was Aycayia able to operate in daylight when every other mystic creature Rain had encountered could not?
Why didn't
she
vanish with the sun?
Only one answer seemed to make any sense: Aycayia
wasn't
dead. In both dreams, in both versions of the legend, Aycayia and the Six Sisters had been transformed by Guanayoa into sea creatures, but they had not died. On the contrary, they had—perhaps inadvertently—been made immortal.

No wonder Aycayia was so lonely. On the surface, living forever sounded pretty sweet, but beneath the waves, what would it be like for this young girl—this young mother who had lost her child—to live on endlessly in the body of a manatee? The manatee-monotony, even with your Sisters there to maintain your spirits and despite the ability to occasionally transform back into a human, would deaden the soul. Did she have—
could
she have—manatee calves? Would she want them? Or had there been, over the centuries, an endless succession of human children, stolen away and transformed? If so, then clearly Aycayia's power to morph herself a brood didn't include the ability to grant them their own immortality. Otherwise, there'd be hundreds of dolphins and pups by now, not just the original Six Aunties and the three Kimlets.

If these previous Lost Children all aged and died before Aycayia's big brown eyes, the pain of losing her own child would return over and over and over again. The loneliness—even in the midst of caring for each latest “litter”—would be unbearable. And the desperate need to find replacements would continue throughout eternity.

Aycayia the Cursed. Talk about understatement.

Armed with this new understanding, Rain felt maybe she stood a chance of breaking the cycle, if only she could find them before nightfall.

Rain raced to get ready. (Today, she had no problem braiding her hair.) She gathered her things and snuck out of the Inn without seeing her parents or doing any of her morning chores. Ignoring the trouble she'd be in later, she merely left them a brief note claiming she had to get to school early.

Fifteen minutes later, with drums beating in her head, she was outside Charlie's door and filling him in on all she had learned and intuited. They conceived a plan and set about executing it immediately.

There was no point in skipping school. Given that three children had already gone missing on the island, it would only raise significant red flags if they ditched—and besides, they couldn't expect to find Her or the Kimlets until sunset approached. Plus they needed Miranda's help.

So they were both there, waiting for young Miss Guerrero, when Ariel dropped Miranda off at the Columbia Yacht Club. In Ariel's presence, Rain asked Miranda if they could once again go out after school to look for the Kimlets. Miranda turned to look at Ariel, who made a slight glance at the cloudless sky and nodded. Then Charlie asked if they could bring scuba gear. Miranda bit her lip and looked away, but she nodded, this time without bothering to get confirmation from the ever-silent Ms. Jones. Charlie and Rain exchanged shrugs; it seemed it was just understood that Ariel would pick them up after school with diving gear already aboard. They followed Miranda off the slip, and on the way to school, Rain filled Miranda in on the latest relevant weirdness—though not, of course, on anything 'Bastian- or
zemi
-related. By the time they reached campus, Miranda was up to speed on the plan—dreading it, but up to speed—and prepared to do her best.

But they were ambushed entering the junior high. Rain had gone in first with Charlie behind her, but when Miranda followed, Renée had practically pounced. “Hey, Sugar. Miss me?”

“Renée! Hi. I mean … yes. I mean, I saw you yesterday.”

“I know. But it's been like forever since we last hung out. What are you doing after school? I'm off today.”

Renée's work schedule at Koko's Caribbean Fries had kept her at bay—and out of Rain's braided hair—during the current Kimlet crisis. But Renée didn't work Wednesdays, and Miranda was not an adept liar. So before Rain or Charlie could stop her, Miranda said, “Um, well, you see, we're going out on my father's boat to help search for Wendy, John and Michael Kim.”

Renée's eyes squinted in confusion, then widened briefly. Truthfully, she had put the missing tourist children out of her mind, and it took her a second to figure out what Miranda was talking about and then another second to get her head around the notion that any of them cared. During second three, she began to see this as an opportunity. She grabbed hold of Miranda's arms. “Oh, I'll come along. Anything I can do to help.” Renée glanced over Miranda's shoulder, taking pleasure in Charlie's helpless horror and Rain's grim frustration.

Miranda turned back in time to catch Rain and Charlie's looks—while missing Renée's resulting smirk. It didn't take much effort to read Rain's mind.
It was going to be hard enough hunting for dolphinized children with Ariel around. But at least she'd be tied to the boat. How are we supposed to do what needs doing without revealing the truth to Renée?

Miranda's own pleading expression spoke a few volumes of its own.
Maybe … maybe we don't need to hide the truth from Renée. One more set of eyes, one more diver, might help …
but even Miranda, who liked Renée, wasn't truly buying that. If they told her everything, it wouldn't change one inescapable fact: Renée hadn't seen the manatee transform. Without that one supernatural sight to anchor all the rest, there was no way she'd believe. Frankly, Miranda wouldn't have believed it either. So right then and there, Miranda steeled her mind to do what needed doing. She'd try to be as kind as possible, but one way or another she'd exclude Renée from their endeavor; she'd
ditch
her if necessary.

She turned back to face Miss Jackson.

So, approximately seven hours later, Renée was on the boat with the others, loudly mystified by their course and heading. “Those kids were lost near Windward. Why are we looking here?”

Rain's biggest concern was that Renée's appeal to logic might trigger some degree of, well, common sense in Ariel, who, as the sole adult, had the power to turn the boat around, but Ariel didn't give the slightest indication she had even heard Renée. Relieved, Rain said, “The Ghost Patrol and everyone are already searching near Windward. We're helping out by searching less likely spots.”

“Less likely?” Renée asked as the speedboat curved around the lower side of Sycorax en route to Back Bay. “Try impossible. How would three little kids have gotten from the east side of San Próspero to the
west
side of Sycorax?”

Charlie shrugged. “Current?”

Renée stared at him. She opened her mouth to speak but was too exasperated to form any words.

Suddenly, Miranda grabbed Rain's left arm, squeezing her biceps just below the armband. In fact, Miranda's thumb grazed the snake charm. It drew Miranda's eyes to it, and Rain watched her friend confirm the
zemi
's presence. If Rain had to give it up to 'Bastian again tonight, there'd be no convincing Miranda it had been left at home. Rain mentally shrugged.
Worry about that if and when …

Miranda tore her eyes away from the charm and looked over the bow of the boat. Rain turned and followed Miranda's gaze. The Aunties were heralding the boat's arrival, leaping and cavorting along. One even had Alonso's camera.

This time, Miranda said, “Follow those dolphins!” It was a needless statement, as Ariel was already headed that way.

Renée blanched again. “What?!” She started to say more but held her tongue to keep on Miranda's good side.

Charlie offered, “Dolphins are known to rescue people lost at sea?”

Now Renée couldn't help herself. “Seriously? That's the story you're going with?”

By this time, the boat was curving around the southwest lip of Sycorax, heading into Back Bay. Rain could see Punta Majagua—Witch's Finger—to the north. What she couldn't see was the
Bootstrap.
Callahan's boat was gone. It pleased her at first—and then made her nervous.
Rather know where he is than risk him jumping out at us.
Truthfully, though, it didn't change anything. “Okay, suit up.”

“Suit what?” Renée asked as Rain and Charlie began stripping down to the bathing suits they were wearing beneath their clothes.

This had been Plan B. When Miranda had failed to dissuade Renée from joining them and had wimped out on just saying no, Rain had the brainstorm to
not
warn their classmate about the dive. She managed to pull Miranda aside en route from the gym to the cafeteria and suggest that when the time came, Renée would be without a swimsuit and wouldn't be able to join them. A grateful Miranda had seized on the opportunity to suggest she stay aboard the boat with Ariel and Renée to keep them occupied and distracted. Rain could pretty much tell this was because Miranda was even less comfortable scubaing than snorkeling, but it made sense. Their new friend would only hold Rain and Charlie back, and the less Ariel and Renée saw the better.

“We're going swimming?” Renée asked incredulously.

“Diving,” Rain said as she opened the benches that held and hid the scuba equipment.

“Why?”

Charlie offered, “Part of the search?”

“What are you searching for
down there
? Kids or corpses?” Everyone went silent, and even Renée seemed to feel she had crossed a line. She looked around the boat, exhaled loudly, and said, “Fine,” pulling her blouse right over the top of her head.

As she unbuttoned and took off her shorts, Charlie stammered, “W-what are you doing?”

“Well, no one warned me to bring a suit, so I guess I'm diving in bra and panties.” She seemed pleased by the lone boy's discomfort.

“That doesn't seem appropriate,” Rain said stiffly.

“Oh, grow up,” Renée responded as she chose a pair of flippers. “How's this any different from a bikini? Besides, we're doing this for the children. Right, Sugar?”

Rain's face turned copper red. Charlie stood there, slack-jawed, desperately trying not to look Renée's way. Ariel piloted the boat, seemingly unaware of the conversation entirely. And Miranda looked stricken. She had gotten it into her head that she wouldn't have to dive, that her job would be to stay behind on the boat with Renée and Ariel.
So now what do I do?
She hadn't asked Ariel to bring her a bathing suit, and she definitely didn't feel comfortable swimming in her underwear, especially not with Charlie around.