بخش 15

CHAPTER 70

ALMOST THERE

SLANK CAREFULLY WATCHED the two auburn-haired mermaids swim back toward the rock where Peter stood. When they were nearly there, he addressed Little Richard.

“Turn the dory over and put the trunk in it,” he said.

“What about them?” asked Little Richard, gesturing toward Alf and the boys, who were facedown on the sand.

“They won’t be no trouble,” said Slank. “Unless they want the little lady here to get her neck shortened.”

He kept a firm grip on Molly as Little Richard waded out to the dory. The big man turned it over easily, and Slank was gratified to see that, other than the half-moon-shaped piece bitten from the transom by the mermaid, the little boat appeared undamaged. It would certainly get them to the ship. If necessary, he could try using the starstuff, but that could prove dicey: trying to fly the boat, and the trunk, and Little Richard, and the girl. Especially the girl: she concerned him most of all. A Starcatcher by blood, she might be real trouble once near the starstuff.

Secretly, Slank had no intention—none at all—of letting Molly go. The boy was a fool to believe otherwise. Instead, Slank could see himself returning to Rundoon as a hero: he would be bringing with him not only the largest harvest of starstuff in human memory, but also a member of a legendary Starcatcher family, the daughter of the great Leonard Aster. King Zarboff would be very pleased. The King loved pretty girls—he was sure to reward Slank heavily.

Little Richard loaded the trunk into the stern of the upright dory.

“All set, sir,” he said.

Slank dragged Molly through the water and lifted her into the bow of the dory. He crouched next to her, knife still poised. Little Richard pushed off, then climbed into the middle seat and took up the oars.

Slank kept his attention fixed on the rock where Peter stood surrounded by the mermaids. None of them appeared to have moved.

“Remember our bargain, boy!” he shouted.

“I remember,” replied Peter.

Fool, thought Slank.

The oars dipped, pulled, rose; dipped, pulled, rose. Little Richard’s powerful strokes, aided by the seaward current, pulled them rapidly away from the beach, toward the wide mouth of the lagoon. Slank kept his eyes on the rock, but still saw no sign of movement. As it finally slipped from sight in the distance, Peter and the mermaids were still positioned exactly as they had been.

Slank switched his attention to the water, watching for the dreaded Vs. He saw nothing, heard nothing, except for the swirling eddies caused by Little Richard’s steady strokes.

In ten minutes’ time they reached the mouth of the lagoon, and began to round the rocky point. Slank now fixed his attention on the masts of the Jolly Roger and considered what he would do with the ship’s crew. They’d likely be unhappy, having been tied up all these hours. Some he would have to throw overboard. Some he would keep to sail the ship, using Little Richard—and the power the starstuff would give him—to control them.

Out of the lagoon, and into open sea, Slank checked the water’s surface again: Still no signs of mermaids. He began, for the first time in many hours, to relax. He released his grip on Molly’s mouth. She spat, as if disgusted by the taste of his hand.

“There now, young lady,” he said. “I’m not so bad, once you get used to me. Which you will, on our voyage to Rundoon.”

Molly glared at him, but said nothing.

“He’s a fool, your trusting little friend back there,” taunted Slank.

“He’s a good person,” said Molly. “He did what he thought was right. You wouldn’t understand that.”

As they approached the Jolly Roger, which sparkled in the moonlight, Slank could see the inert forms of the hog-tied pirates slumped over the booms, just as he and Little Richard had left them.

“Almost there,” he said to Molly. “Welcome to your new home.” CHAPTER 71

A GOOD THING

BLACK STACHE SLOGGED TO SHORE, his sword drawn, his men in front of him, where he could see them—especially the ones he’d thrown off the boat. They’d been muttering and grumbling among themselves, and he sensed mutiny in the air.

As they reached dry land, he decided that, given the unusual circumstances, it was time for a little motivational speech.

“Now, men,” he said. “I know some of you might be unhappy with the way things has been going.”

The men stared sullenly back at him. Stache continued: “But if I hadn’t shoved you off the boat back there, you’d be lost at sea now, wouldn’t you? We’d all be lost! Think about it, men!”

The men frowned, thinking about it. Stache pressed on.

“So it’s thanks to me you’re standing here, isn’t it? Without your captain, you’d all be dead. Am I right, men? Well? Am I?”

Some of the men were scratching their heads now. A good sign.

“Of course I’m right,” said Stache. “That’s why I’m the captain. And that’s why you men do what I say. And right now, I say we march back around to that beach, and kill them buggers what took our treasure, and get it and ourselves back to the Jolly Roger. Well? Then, let’s go, men!”

And with that, he passed through the group of them and strode off in the general direction of the waterfalls. From there they could continue on around to the beach. After a few strides, he glanced back: his men, led by Smee, were following. They looked none too happy, but they were coming. Stache looked forward, and smiled.

Pirates, he thought. It’s a good thing they’re idjits. CHAPTER 72

CHANGE OF PLANS

SLANK COULD NOT STOP TALKING. He was almost giddy now, as the dory drew near the Jolly Roger. He felt confident that, with the power in the trunk, the crew would be his. It pleased him to have Molly to boast to, to taunt.

“D’you fancy snakes?” he asked her. “Because King Zarboff has a big one. Don’t get too close to it, though. It fancies tender young morsels like you.” Slank laughed.

“You’ll never get to Rundoon,” said Molly, her voice even.

Slank cut his laugh short. “Who’s to stop me?” he said. “You? Your little trusting friend, back there on the rock?”

“No,” said Molly. “My father. He’s coming, and he’ll find you.”

Slank laughed again.

“And what if he does?” he said. “Even if he manages to find me, do you think he’s any match for what’s in that trunk?”

Molly tried to remain expressionless, but Slank caught a flicker in her eyes.

“Ah,” he said. “I see that you see my point.”

“Yes,” said Molly, although that was not what she had seen, not at all. What she had seen, and almost betrayed, was the dark shape coming across the water from the direction of the lagoon mouth, low and fast. She saw it because she was facing the stern; Slank, facing her, did not see it.

“Yes,” she said, “I suppose you might be right. There must be a great deal of power in that trunk.”

“Oh, indeed there is,” said Slank, enjoying the fact that his prize captive was talking now. “More power than has ever fallen to Earth, at least in human times. That’s what they say. Power enough to change the world.”

“What will you do with it?” asked Molly, desperate to keep Slank’s attention, to keep him from turning his head toward the shape in the sky. She worried, too, about Little Richard, who was facing the stern, but his head was bent forward, his attention focused, for now, on his oarwork.

“What will we do?” said Slank. “Why, we’ll change the world, of course! We’ll command the world, we will. Once we kill off you Starcatchers.”

The flying shape was close now.

“Do you really think you can do that?” said Molly. “The Starcatchers have a great deal of knowledge, you know. And power.”

“True,” said Slank. “But we’re about to…”

He stopped abruptly, staring at Molly, and in that instant she knew that her eyes, tracking the flying shape, had betrayed her. Slank whirled and shouted as he saw it hurtling toward him. Little Richard saw it, too, and raised an oar to hit it, as Slank raised his knife to stab it.

“PETER!” shouted Molly.

“MOLLY, JUMP!” shouted Peter.

And jump she did, launching herself off the bow of the dory, just as Peter swept overhead, his right hand stretched down and reaching for her. She, too, reached up for him, but his hand only brushed hers for an instant, and he was gone. Molly fell into the water.

Slank roared in fury and reached overboard for Molly, grabbing her by the hair; but then he heard Peter’s shout. The boy, having turned, was coming back around, diving toward him. Releasing Molly, Slank spun and raised his knife, timing his lunge as the boy swooped in closer, closer, and…

Missed.

Peter swerved at the last instant, leaving Slank stabbing the air, and Little Richard swinging his oar at nothing.

Slank looked back at the water, and saw that Molly was…

Gone.

He cursed, then checked the stern.

The trunk was still there.

“Out of my way!” he shouted, struggling in the little dory to get past Little Richard without capsizing. With the girl gone, he would take no more chances: He would use the starstuff now. CHAPTER 73

“JUST WATCH”

MOLLY SANK, FARTHER AND FARTHER DOWN. The moon, at first bright and yellow on the rippling sea surface above her, grew dimmer, and greener. She churned her arms and legs, but made heavy by her clothes, could not swim. Her lungs burned. She was going to drown.

Her right hand tingled with warmth.

Her hand was tingling where Peter had touched her.

Molly held her hand before her face, and, in the watery dimness, she saw the faint glow, and she understood: Peter hadn’t been trying to lift her off the boat; he’d been trying to put starstuff on her hand. But was it enough? They’d touched for only the briefest instant….

Forcing herself to ignore her aching lungs, Molly raised her right hand over her head and closed her eyes, focusing on the tingling feeling, willing it to spread, and to lift her.

Please be enough, please…

She opened her eyes, but couldn’t tell if she’d sunk deeper or not; she was close to losing consciousness. Once more, she closed her eyes.

Please, please….

And then she felt it, the familiar warmth. She opened her eyes underwater and looked up to see the moon, the lovely moon, brighter and less green, much more golden, coming nearer to her now, and nearer, and then…

AAAAAHHHH…Molly’s head broke through the surface, and she leaned back and sucked in all the salt air she could grab with one breath, and…

“THERE SHE IS! GET HER!”

It was Slank’s voice, coming from behind her. Molly twisted—the starstuff had lifted her halfway out of the sea, so the water was now at her waist—and she saw the dory not twenty feet away, saw Slank hunkered over the trunk, pointing to her; saw the huge man tugging on the oars, turning the dory toward her.

I need to get higher, thought Molly, straining upward. Come on, come on…

She felt her body rising, but slowly, slowly—too slowly, she saw, as the dory was almost upon her, the giant swinging the stern around, so that Slank, in the stern, could reach for her, and…

“Molly! Here!”

Peter didn’t just touch her right hand, this time; he grabbed it. Joining hands, he pulled her upward, and she burst free of the water just as…

“GOT HER!” shouted Slank, taking hold of Molly’s ankle. He yanked down hard and Molly screamed in pain as her arm felt as though it was coming out of its socket. Peter hung on desperately to her right hand as the far more powerful Slank slowly dragged her down by her left leg, Molly hanging between them, suspended over the water at the stern of the dory.

“GRAB HER OTHER LEG!” Slank yelled to Little Richard, and the big man let go the oars. Molly knew that once the giant took hold of her, she was doomed. She realized she had one chance—just one—as she drew back her left foot and…

“UNNH!” Slank grunted in pain as Molly drove her left heel into his nose, blood spurting instantly, the shock weakening his grip just enough for Molly to yank her right foot free of his grasp just as Little Richard reached for her, his huge grasping fingers just brushing her leg and…

She was free!

Released from Slank’s weight, Peter and Molly shot upward together, still holding hands, tumbling, tumbling in the moonlit night sky.

They let go of each other, spreading their arms, steadying themselves, both of them veteran fliers now. In a strangely calm moment, they hovered, catching their breath, about fifty feet above the water and the dory where Slank cursed, holding his bleeding nose.

“Are you all right?” said Peter.

“I’m fine,” answered Molly, although in fact her whole body hurt from being a human tug-o’-war rope. Then, stiffly, she added, “Thank you for saving me.”

“I owed you one,” said Peter, studying her face, surprised by her tone. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong? Everything is wrong,” hissed Molly. “Peter, you let Slank have the trunk. I appreciate your heroics, but all we’ve done, all we’ve gone through, counts for nothing if that man”—she pointed down at the dory—”has the starstuff. I thought you understood that.”

“Molly,” said Peter, “I…”

“YOU’RE BOTH GOING TO DIE!”

Peter and Molly looked down; Slank, blood streaming down his face, was in the bow of the dory again, glaring up at them, knife in hand. His voice was choked with rage.

“ENJOY YOUR LAST MOMENTS, LOVEBIRDS!” he screamed. “I’M COMING FOR YOU NOW!”

Slank bent to the trunk lid. He’d already bashed one of the hinges off with a rock; now he slid his knife blade under the other hinge, preparing to pry it off.

“Peter!” said Molly. “We must stop him!” She began to lean forward, into a dive, only to be stopped by Peter’s hand grabbing her arm. They floated above the sea and the dory.

“Let GO!” she shouted.

“No!” said Peter. “Just watch.”

Slank pulled on the knife handle. The trunk hinge popped off easily, as if it had been barely attached, and clattered to the bottom of the dory. Slank looked back up at Peter and Molly, a look of triumph on his face, then turned back to the trunk and lifted the lid.

The trunk was empty.

For two seconds, three, four, Slank remained absolutely motionless. A drop of blood fell from his nose and spattered on the rough wooden bottom of the trunk. Then with a scream of inhuman rage he stood, looked up, drew back his arm and hurled his knife skyward, straight at Peter. It was a perfectly aimed throw, and Slank knew, as he released it, that it would find its mark.

And it would have, except for the starstuff’s power flowing through Peter, enhancing his senses, slowing the world down for him. He saw the blade leave Slank’s hand, saw it turning in the moonlight, the turns perfectly timed so that the knife’s sharp point would penetrate deep into the center of his chest; and Peter saw that if he shifted his body just slightly, and brought his hand up just…Now…

As Slank gaped in disbelief, Peter plucked his knife right out of the air.

“Thank you!” shouted Peter.

Slank, a strangling sound coming from his throat, looked around furiously for something, anything, to use as a weapon. But there was nothing in the dory, nothing but the empty trunk, mocking him.

“Mr. Slank,” said Little Richard. “We’re moving. I mean, something’s moving us.”

Slank looked at the water; it was true. Although Little Richard wasn’t touching the oars, the dory, as if acting on its own, was moving away from the island.

Slank looked at the water astern, and there he saw them: the telltale Vs of the mermaids. The dory was picking up speed; the island was receding.

“Good-bye!” called Peter, waving.

“Bon voyage, Mr. Slank!” called Molly.

Slank, too stunned to answer, slumped to the bottom of the dory, his back against the empty trunk. He stared back at the boy and the girl who had somehow defeated him.

A boy and a girl.

They waved at him one last time, then, holdings hands, they turned, leaned forward, and swooped down, then up, in a graceful inverted arc, heading back to the island, as Slank and Little Richard, helpless, continued being pushed out to the open sea, in a little boat with an old trunk that had once held the greatest treasure on earth. CHAPTER 74

THE GOLDEN BOX

MOLLY FLEW CLOSE TO PETER, SO he could hear her over the sound of the air rushing past as they swooped and soared over the sea, heading back to the island.

“What did you do with the starstuff?” she shouted. “How did you do it? Where is it now? Who…”

“Wait!” laughed Peter. “One question at a time!”

“Is the starstuff safe?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “I’m taking you to it now.”

“Oh, Peter, thank heaven,” she said. “But what happened? Where were you? After you left us to climb over the point, we came ’round the long way to the beach, and you weren’t there.”

“Right,” said Peter. “I waited for a while, but there was some kind of fight going on up the beach. So I went up to have a look.”

“You were supposed to wait for us,” said Molly.

“I know,” said Peter. “I didn’t intend to get close, but then I saw…”

Peter hesitated.

“You saw what?” said Molly, impatiently.

“I saw a mermaid,” said Peter. He looked sideways at Molly, who was staring at him.

“You don’t believe me,” he said.

“No,” she said, slowly. “I do. Do you remember when I told you about the strange things that starstuff does to animals? The minotaurs and such?”

“Yes,” said Peter.

“Well, that’s where mermaids come from,” said Molly. “The trunk must have leaked starstuff into the water.”

“Maybe it did,” said Peter. “Well anyway, I found this mermaid on the beach, and she was hurt, bleeding from the head, and I had your locket, and there was a little starstuff left, so I gave it to her. I’m sorry, Molly, but I was afraid she would die, and she was so…beautiful.”

Molly gave Peter a very sharp look, but he missed it.

“Go on,” she said, coolly.

“After that,” Peter said, “things happened so fast. The starstuff healed the mermaid, and there were these other mermaids, and they were all excited about something, and I followed them along the beach, and there was the trunk! With nobody around it! So I ran up to it, and…and…”

“And what?”

“I’m not sure,” said Peter. “I think somebody hit me, because I had a raging head pain when I woke up, in the water, and Teacher was holding me.”

“Teacher?” said Molly.

“The mermaid I saved,” said Peter. “Molly, she saved me.”

“How do you know her name is Teacher?” said Molly.

“I dunno,” said Peter. “I just know. I can feel her thoughts, and she can feel mine. Isn’t that incredible, Molly?”

“Yes,” said Molly, sounding quite unhappy, although Peter didn’t notice.

They were at the mouth of the lagoon now; Peter, with Molly following close, altered course slightly, leaning slightly to the right, toward the jumble of rocks at the base of the waterfall in the center of the curving beach.

“So anyway,” continued Peter, “I was in the water, with Teacher and the others keeping me afloat, and Teacher told me—not by speaking, you understand, but by…”

“Yes, by thinking, you told me that,” said Molly.

“Right, by thinking, she told me that she knew about the trunk! She called it Creator. And we decided to find it, so we went back to the beach, and we saw the fight going on, with you and James jumping on Slank, and Alf fighting that huge man. And we saw the trunk was unguarded. And that’s when we came up with our plan.”

“You and Teacher,” said Molly.

“Yes,” said Peter. “She’s very clever. You’ll like her.”

“I’m sure,” said Molly.

“While you were fighting,” said Peter, “we grabbed the trunk and carried it quickly—you won’t believe how fast the mermaids can swim—out to the rocks. My biggest fear was that we wouldn’t be able to open it, but somebody had already bashed at the hinges, and it was easy. And there it was, inside—Molly, it was amazing—and I took it out, and hid it behind the rock.”

“You touched the starstuff?” said Molly. “Peter, in that quantity, it could have killed you!”

“I didn’t touch it directly,” said Peter. “It was in a locked metal box, a yellow box, like gold. It’s very powerful, Molly; much more so than the locket. I only held it in my hands for a moment when I lifted it, and I nearly fainted from that. Anyway, I think the box must have leaked, because there was loose starstuff in the wooden trunk. That’s why the trunk glowed so much. I dumped the loose starstuff onto the rock, next to where I hid the metal box. Then I put the wooden trunk on the rock and yelled to Slank.”

“A good thing, too,” said Molly. “He was about to stab me.”

“I know,” said Peter. “I was scared to death he’d figure out the trick, but he believed me, and took the trunk. Of course he took you, too; I hadn’t expected that.”

“I bet Teacher did,” muttered Molly.

“What?” said Peter.

“Nothing,” said Molly.

“But I had the loose starstuff,” said Peter, “so I waited a bit, figuring Slank would let his guard down, then I came after you, with the mermaids following, to make sure Slank didn’t come back.”

“Thank you, again,” said Molly.

“It’s nothing,” said Peter. “Ah, there’s the rock.”

Just ahead was the flat rock from which Peter had stood with the wooden trunk. From this, the seaward side, Molly could see that the rock had a ledge just above the water; on that ledge rested a gleaming gold box, radiant in the moonlight, almost too bright to look at directly. Next to it was a small glowing pile, the remains of the leaked starstuff.

As she swooped close, Molly saw mermaids in the water, and several more sitting on the rock. Peter swooped in and landed lightly among them; he had become quite an accomplished flier. Molly alit next to him. The mermaids studied her with frank curiosity.

“Molly,” said Peter, “this is Teacher.”

She was, as Peter had said, beautiful, her long blond tresses flowing elegantly down her front. Molly felt hideously dowdy in contrast; her dress was wet, her hair a tangled mess.

“I’m sure you two will be great friends,” said Peter.

Molly and Teacher eyed each other in the manner of two young women who will never, ever, be great friends.

“I must take care of the starstuff,” said Molly. “We’re rid of Slank, I hope, but there are still those pirates about.”

She bent down to examine the gold chest, only to draw back quickly when two mermaids lunged toward her, hissing.

“They’re guarding it,” said Peter.

“Well, tell them to stop,” said Molly.

Peter turned to Teacher, and they exchanged a look that nearly drove Molly insane with jealousy, though she hid her feelings well. Then Teacher, looking none too happy, grunted something, and the two hissing mermaids retreated.

“You can touch it now,” said Peter.

“Thank you,” said Molly coldly.

She bent to examine the chest, putting her hand on it, then quickly pulling it away, overwhelmed by the power she felt emanating from it. Peter was right; it was much stronger than her locket had been.

Molly was worried. She finally had the starstuff, but what could she do with it? How could she get it off this rock? And if she could, where should she move it? Would it be any safer on the island, with the pirates, and the savages?

Molly felt tired and cold, and no match for the crushing burden of responsibility for solving a problem far beyond her limited Starcatcher training. She wanted to cry, but she did not want Peter to see her cry, and she especially did not want Teacher, with her flowing hair, to see her cry. And so she stood and turned toward the sea, and felt the burn of tears, and, not wanting to be seen wiping her eyes, blinked them, first in irritation, and then again in amazement, as she saw it, coming around the point on the right side of the lagoon: a longboat, four oars per side, moving swiftly, guided by the familiar, graceful, arcing form of Ammm…

“AHOY!” called a deep voice from the longboat, and Molly didn’t care now who saw her cry, because she knew that voice better than any other in the world: the voice of her father.