The Tree of Water (21 page)

“
I'm
a human,” Char retorted. “And I'm rather tired of you talkin' us down.”

“For goodness' sake, both of you, settle,” Ven said. “We're here to explore the Deep—good and bad. We don't need a ride, Char. Just be quiet while the ship passes.”

Char crossed his arms over his chest and leaned up against the spine. Coreon sighed and did the same. Amariel glared at Char, then settled back next to Ven. The green-gold sea turned dark again as the moving ship blotted out the sun.

“I remember being on the deck of the
Serelinda
and wondering what was below the waves,” Ven said as he watched the barnacled hull go by above him, towing a large, crusty anchor. “In fact, I wondered the same thing back in Vaarn, standing on the dock. I even wondered about it when I was doing the Inspection of the ship that I, er, sank, the
Angelia
. I've had dreams all my life of what lay below the surface of the sea. But I could never have imagined how grand it really is.”

“Grand. Yes, that's the word I would use,” said Char, wiping fish guts from the octopus's meal off his shoulder. “Grand. That's it. Yes.”

As the ship passed over the far side of the cage of whale bones, the light returned from above.

Near the skeleton's enormous head, something glittered brightly on the ocean floor.

The four children blinked.

As the ship sailed away, and sunshadow filled the cage, many more sparks twinkled around the skull.

“Did ya see that?” Char whispered.

“Yes,” said Amariel. “Let's go see what it is.”

They rose from the sandy bones and swam over to the upside-down skull. As they approached, a trail of shiny objects sparkled beneath them.

“Look at this,” Coreon marveled, running his hand along the glistening path. “A sea chest, gems, polished pebbles, a comb, abalone shells, pieces of mother-of-pearl—what is all this stuff?”

“That's a pretty big sea chest,” Char said, pointing at a brass-bound box near the skull. “I bet it weighs a ton.”

Amariel stopped above a circle of gleaming coins, buckets and chamber pots, polished to a shine.

“I know what this place is!” she exclaimed. “This is an octopus's garden!”

“An octopus's garden?” Ven glanced into the murk where the sea creature had sped off.

“Yes. Octopi love shiny things. They spend most of their lives sweeping the ocean floor for objects that strike their fancy. Then they bring those objects back to their lairs and tend to them, like fussy little old human ladies.”

Char was staring at the sea chest.

“I don't think that octopus could have carried this chest in from anywhere,” he said doubtfully. “It's twice the creature's size.”

“Of course it could,” Amariel continued. “Octopi are very strong, you know, and very smart.”

“You're right about that,” Ven agreed. “I used to hear fishermen talking about them in Vaarn, and the sailors of the
Serelinda
as well. It's very hard to bring home an octopus from the sea. They can open locks on their cages and squeeze through the tiniest of holes much smaller than would seem possible. The mariners have an expression for it—‘harder to pin down than an octopus' means someone is slippery or great at escape or avoiding things.”

Char was shaking his head. “I still can't imagine that small guy gathering all this stuff.”

“Shhh,” said Coreon, looking toward where the tail of the whale would have been. “Listen—I think we have another visitor.”

Ven closed his eyes and concentrated. From where Coreon was pointing he could feel the thrum of something approaching.

This time, however, the regular ticking he had heard the night before was gone. The thrum was higher, harsher, scratching against his eardrums. It sounded young and impatient. There were no words, but he could hear the intent nonetheless.

Hungry. Hungry. Hunting, hunting. Hungry.

Nervously the four children slid back against the spine, trying to blend in.

Ven's eyes went to Amariel. The merrow had dug her tail into the top layer of sand. He thought a single word in her direction.

“Friend?”

The merrow shook her head.

Ven exhaled.

A moment later, a shadow emerged from the darkness beyond the cage of bones. It was thin and agile, about five feet in length.

“Oh boy,” came the thought from Coreon. “It's a great white—a small one, but bigger than any of us.”

Unlike most of the sharks the night before, this new predator was swimming deep. It glided into the cage of bones at the tail end. As soon as it did, the thrum became louder, faster.

Excited.

Hunt. Hunt! Hungry. Hungry
.

Ven swallowed hard. The high-pitched thrum was jumbling his thoughts. After a few seconds, it changed.

Prey!

He knew each of the others had heard it as well. All four of their bodies stiffened in their hiding places. They lay as still as they could. The blue-white beast swam past, the hollow eye on the side of its head twitching as it did.

Then it circled around the skeleton head.

And came back for another pass.

This time closer.

Amariel, who was on the end closest to the shark, began to shake. The sand covering her tail swirled in the water in little clouds. Ven reached out, shaking too, and took her hand.

With a powerful thrust of its tail, the shark lunged forward.

Ven heard the merrow gasp. Unable to hold still, he turned toward her and found himself staring into the black eyes and slightly open mouth, teeth gleaming in the sunshadow that was raining into the cage of bones.

Speeding toward them both.

Amariel's hand ripped out of his.

Before he could stop her, the merrow bolted from his side and swam past the startled boys, away from the beast.

“This way,” her thrum called out in terror. “Follow me.”

The shark obeyed.

“Amariel, no!” Ven screamed. His mouth opened, and the sea rushed in, choking him. The great white's tail grazed him as it bore down on the merrow, its sandpaper skin slapping him across the face, leaving it raw and bleeding.

The three boys could only watch, helpless, as the merrow tried to outswim the shark.

It was clear to each of them that she would not be able to for long.

Coreon raised his crossbow and took aim at the great white. His hands were shaking violently. Char grabbed his elbow, trying to steady him.

“Don't hit her, whatever you do.”

Coreon lowered his weapon.

“I can't see her,” he said sadly.

Just as the chase reached the center point of the spine, the ocean floor began to rumble again.

Only much more violently this time.

Before their eyes, what had looked a moment before like the middle of the spine rose up out of the sand and untwisted itself. As it did, its color changed from the bone white of the whale's skeleton to a more orange hue. Great tentacles flexed and snapped out into the water, longer than two boys together.

A giant bulbous head rose from the ocean floor, opening to show a huge, parrot-like beak.

The arms of the enormous octopus lashed out like whips as the merrow swam past. It seized the great white and wrapped around it quickly, stopping it in its path, spinning it upside down.

“Blimey!” Char's thrum shouted. “I
knew
that little one couldn'a carried all that stuff!”

“Amariel!” Ven screamed again.

“Move! Move!” Coreon shouted, pushing them both out of the way of the lashing tentacles.

The boys swam as fast as they could away from the battle that was now raging on the ocean floor. The shark, caught unaware, was rolling and pitching in the grip of the giant octopus, which had wrapped at least four of its arms around the great fish's body.

The remainder of its tentacles were slashing through the water inside the cage of bones, long enough to reach any of them.

“We've got to get out of the cage,” Coreon said. “Come on—swim for it.”

“I'm not leaving her,” Ven said, his eyes scanning the green water for any sign of the merrow. “You go.”

A moment later, two screams ripped through their brains.

The first was low and raw, the sound of a sea creature battling for its life.

The second was high and piercing.

They knew the thrum instantly.

“It's got me!” Amariel's thoughts pierced the water, which was now cloudy with storms of sand from the ocean floor. “Ven,
it's got me!
”

Ven's hand went to his pocket. He patted the front of his shirt, fumbling for the button, then realized that the jack-rule's small knife would do nothing against either of the creatures of the Deep.

“Hang on!” he thought back. “We're coming.”

He tried not to look as the octopus pulled the blue-gray body into its gaping maw, then swallowed it whole.

The parrot-like beak snapped shut.

“It's been here all along.” Char's thoughts were so terrified that feeling them made Ven's head and skin hurt. “We were
leaning up against it
, for cripe's sake!”

Its breakfast consumed, the immense beast spread its arms through the water of the cage. The muscles of its tentacles rippled as it leisurely waved them around in the drift.

There was no sign of the merrow.

“Where is she?” Ven thought desperately.

“I don't see her.” Char shielded his eyes from the sand that now floated in the drift.

Coreon was counting the arms.

“Six—I think I see seven.”

“Come on,” Ven said, swimming at the edge of the cage. “We've got to find her.”

“Hold still a minute.” Amariel's thrum washed over their ears. It felt edgy, but not as terrified as it had been a few moments before.

“
Where are you?
” Ven demanded.

The gigantic orange octopus raised its eighth arm slowly over its head.

The merrow was wrapped it its coils. The fluke of her beautiful tail stuck out beneath the suckers.

“Don't panic,” she said as the boys stared at her. “She likes me.”

“She?”

“Yes, she. Octopi are very intelligent—obviously. And they apparently like merrows. She saved me from the shark—she clearly wasn't all that hungry, or none of you would be here.”

“Did—you know she was here all along?” Ven asked. He watched as the octopus turned Amariel upside down and swirled her back and forth in the drift.

“Of course not. Octopi are masters of disguise. Their camouflage is some of the best in the ocean. Do you think I would be
leaning on her
if I knew she was here?”

“Is she going to turn you loose, do you suppose?” Coreon's undersea voice sounded both relieved and cross. “I'd like to get out of this place and on toward the Festival.”

The merrow shrugged, then looked questioningly at the giant octopus. The creature seemed to sigh, its massive tentacles drooping slightly. Then, amid a great swirl of sand, it dragged the rest of its enormous body out of the whale spine and scuttled across the ocean floor toward the skull.

“Where is it taking her now?” Char whispered to Ven.

“It looks like the octopus wants to show her its garden,” Ven said.

“You obviously—
oof!
—do not realize—
oof!
—what an—honor that is—
oof!
” the merrow puffed from within the beast's coiled arm as it bounced her along. “Human treasure is very valuable under the—
oof!
—sea. Why do you think my whole school turned out when we heard your ship was sinking, Ven?”

“I thought it was for the rum,” Ven admitted. “And the apples and parsnips floating in the wreckage.”

“See? Human—
oof!
—things. If I hadn't seen the albatross circling over you, that's what I would have been—
oof!—
going after, too.”

The octopus reached over with a tentacle and brushed the sand from the shiny objects on the ocean floor. It slid the end of its arm through something and dragged it up out of the sand, then placed it in the merrow's hands.

Amariel held the gift aloft in the drift. It was a ring, with a silver band and set with a stone that looked like an enormous diamond. It seemed clear as it passed through the drift, but when the light from the surface above hit it, the stone appeared white and solid.

“A human ring—how pretty!” the merrow said to the beast. “For me? Really?”

The enormous eyes blinked. Ven could feel its thrum answer.

“Well, thank you,” said Amariel.

“Why is she givin' you that?” Char demanded. “She doesn't want to marry you or somethin' creepy like that, does she? That's what humans use rings like that for.”

“Of course not. I told you, Chum, she just likes me.”