Jim Morgan and the Pirates of the Black Skull (38 page)

SEVENTEEN

hen Jim saw his friends alive and well, surprise draped across their faces, a spring of joy burst inside his heart and a smile flashed across his lips.

“Hullo!” he cried, poking his head out from behind Percival’s spine, his hat in his hand. “Don’t just sit there, you lot! Don’t you recognize a getaway when you see one?”

The shocked looks on the Ratt Clan’s faces lasted only the blink of an eye. When grown-ups might have wasted time asking questions or trying understand a completely fantastic situation, the Ratts and Lacey leapt to their feet and scampered atop Percival’s enormous head without so much as a second thought.

“All aboard then, friends of Jim Morgan,” Percival said, laughing between his growls. “Hang on tight, all of you. For long has it been
since Percival the Great has gone for a swim. And he is ready to move fast!”

“Grab on!” Jim shouted. Fortunately his friends had no need to be told twice. No sooner had they taken hold of a spine each than the water dragon ducked back into the cave and launched himself and his passengers into the darkness. If Jim thought Percival had swum with speed before, he found himself magnificently mistaken. The wind whipped at his face, his eyes watered, and his heart raced like a jackrabbit within his chest.

The roar of churning water drowned out the startled cries of the clan. Jim held tight to his spine with one arm and squeezed the shell close to him with the other as Percival twisted and turned over the surface of the dark lake. The stone column and the eastward hole in the mountainside flew past in an instant. Percival dove into a hidden tunnel. He careered right and left through labyrinthine turns and around sharp corners Jim never saw coming.

Jim looked back to ensure his friends were all accounted for, and that none had been sent flying into the lake. They were all still there, with eyes wide as saucers and faces white as waves’ foam. A light appeared at the end of the tunnel, and a roaring even louder than Percival’s swimming awaited them ahead.

“I hope none of you minds getting wet!” Percival shouted, laughing his dragon’s laugh.

“What do you mean?” Jim asked. The answer came faster than Percival’s reply. The enormous waterfall that cascaded down the side of the dark mountain was the entrance to the tunnel. Percival aimed to blow right through it.

“Hang on!” Jim cried. He pressed himself against the spine and gripped the shell even tighter. The water smacked Jim like a blast of cold air as Percival burst through the waterfall. He coughed and sputtered in the torrential flood raining down on his head. But when Percival cleared the fall, and Jim felt the warmth of morning upon his face, he opened his eyes with a smile.

The sea serpent flew through the air, his long body stretched out over the river called the Mountain’s Tears. The waterfall roared behind and the whole of the island, from the dark forest to the crags, and from the field of the faeries to the beach, stretched out before. With the shell in his hands and his friends at his back, all that had frightened Jim and caused him dread disappeared. Water droplets danced in the air and caught the rising sun’s light, exploding it into a hundred rainbows. Jim loosed the wild cry of a boy with the taste of victory on his lips and the exultation of life upon his tongue.

Percival splashed down into the river. When he rose again to resume his tear to the ocean, the Brothers Ratt and Lacey joined in Jim’s whooping, crowing, and calling, heads held back and fists raised in the air.

“Jim!” cried George, shaking his head and splashing water from his long, dark locks. “How exactly did you come by your own sea monster, mate? It’s the most brilliant thing ever!”

“Yeah, Jim, that was fairly mad,” added Paul, smiling in the sunlight and nodding his head like a wide-eyed chipmunk. “Can’t be sure cause of all the water, of course, but I’m pretty sure Peter just peed himself.”

“I did NOT, Paul!”

“All of you, look,” cried Lacey. She pointed with great urgency out toward the eastern edge of the island, to the horizon. “Look at the sun. It’s almost up!” When Jim and the Ratts followed Lacey’s gaze, the bright yellow disc was indeed nearly two-thirds risen over the sea. But Percival, still roaring with joy, put Lacey’s fears to rest.

“Have no fear, milads and milady. Percival the Mighty shall not fail you! We will break through the Devil’s Horns with yet a quarter of the sun to spare.” Jim breathed a sigh of relief and patted the water dragon on the spine. But there was one more surprise when a sputtering, coughing squawk erupted from Lacey’s arms.

“I say, I say!” cawed Cornelius Darkfeather, coming to, for he had been passed out since his injuries in the cave. “I was only resting my
eyes. There was no need to douse me, sweet Lacey, I’m awake, I’m awake!”

“Oh, Cornelius!” Lacey shouted, hugging the raven close to her chest. “I was so worried we were going to lose you. And we didn’t splash you, we just swam through a waterfall, that’s all.”

“Swam through a waterfall?” said Cornelius, black eyes darting about in utter confusion. “Where are we? Back on the
Spectre
? Have you five managed to confiscate a ship of some sort?”

“Actually,” said George, grinning obnoxiously. “We’re just ridin’ on the back of a giant sea serpent if you must know.”

“Riding on a sea serpent?” cawed Cornelius. The raven took such a start that he nearly fell from Lacey’s arms. But after looking about and finding George’s description true, the bird had but one thing to say. “Well, I do believe that this is a first.” Jim and the Ratts burst into laughter and Lacey kissed Cornelius on the top of his head.

“Look at that!” said Peter, pointing with his free hand to the green field rushing beside them. Through the trees and over the rolling hills, a swarm of lights flitted and danced like a flock of glowing birds, racing to keep pace with the furiously swimming water dragon.

“It’s the faeries,” cried Jim, waving wildly. The flitting lights in the great pack blinked and bobbed, waving back as they flew.

“Faeries?” asked Lacey. George then began to babble, nearly incoherently, about everything that had happened to him and Jim since they were separated by the owls at the dark forest. While George was yammering, mostly focused on how he had carried Jim with one arm for what was now ten miles while fighting off the giant owls all by himself, Cornelius squawked urgently to Jim.

“And the shell, my boy? For all we have suffered and bled, have we at least come away with the shell?” Jim answered with only a smile. He gave Cornelius a peek at the shell, glowing bright from between the folds of his drenched coat.

“What about your hand, Jim?” asked Lacey, trying to block out George, Peter, and Paul, who were now proclaiming themselves the greatest adventurers of all time. “What happened to your hand? How
did you get rid of the poison?” Jim tucked the shell back beneath his arm and showed his open palm and wrist. His new white rose scar shone in the morning light. Lacey reached out to touch Jim’s hand. A hint of sadness lingered in her eyes, but a smile lit her face.

“It’s good to have you back, Jim,” she said, her auburn curls flying back from her face in the wind.

“Thanks,” said Jim. “Glad to be back.”

“Hold on tight one last time, friends of Jim Morgan!” Percival bellowed over the roar of the water. “The ocean approaches. And just beyond the shore, the Devil’s Horns, and home!”

“Percival!” Jim shouted. He suddenly remembered that though the adventure on the island was nearly behind him, danger still lurked through the magic gates ahead. “When we cross back into our world, you should probably know that there’s a battle going on. I think you might just surprise two boatfuls of pirates in the middle of it all.”

“Fear not, lad,” said Percival. “Must I remind you again that I am an ancient water dragon of the deep? I have no fear of pirates or battles or dangers, in this world or any world. Now on we go!”

The beach came up quickly, and the ocean a moment after. As Percival reached the Devil’s Horns, Jim took one last glance at the rising sun and found it three-quarters of the way over the horizon. But when Jim blinked, it seemed to him as though a great candle in the sky had been blown out. What had been a bright yellow, rising sun, suddenly became one blood red, setting beneath the sea. What had been a warm morning breeze turned into a cold evening wind. On the back of that wind carried the sounds of pistols and swords and shouting men. Jim and his friends had rejoined the battle upon the sea.

EIGHTEEN

he fighting raged across the decks. The green-hulled
Spectre
sat knifed into the
Sea Spider’s
flank. A mist of pistol smoke hovered over the ships. Cutlasses and knives glimmered like lightning flashes within the gray cloud. Beyond the touch of the setting red sun, both sky and sea were growing black. In the deepening dusk, Jim saw that Dread Steele and his men were hopelessly outnumbered. The Corsair pirates were gaining the upper hand. They would soon have victory within their grasp. Jim leaned on one of Percival’s foremost spines, stepping so far forward he nearly stood on the sea serpent’s scaly brow, and shouted over the din of the battle

“Percival, the green ship and all her men are with us. It looks like they’re in a spot of trouble!”

“Well then, my new friend,” growled Percival. “Let us announce your arrival and turn the tide!” Percival surged forth. He twisted and turned around the jagged rocks until he spiraled up along the
Spectre’s
starboard side. He raised his great head over the railing, teeth bared.

There was a sudden, startled silence at the sight of the monster. The battle came to stunned pause - until screams and shouts of terror broke the quiet. The Corsairs and Dread Steele’s men split apart like oil and water. Each crew fell back into the frightened clutches of their mates. All swords, pikes, and pistols were now held toward Percival, as though such weapons offered any protection at all from the strength of a water dragon. Percival turned his molten gold eyes upon the Corsairs. He let his long teeth glisten blood red in the dying sunlight. He then roared with such force at the
Sea Spider’s
men that they fell over backwards or dropped to their knees. At once they threw down their weapons and covered their faces with their arms in fear for their lives. From atop the sea serpent’s head, Jim and the Brothers Ratt shook their fists at the fallen Corsairs, hopelessly trying to match Percival roar for roar.