Alex blinked. Who was this person?
Kaylee looked at Sky. “All . . . all seven, huh?”
“Yes,” Sky said. “Ours is the middle one. We went west, then ended up scrolling around to the east. That’s what Samheed thinks happened, anyway, and he’d probably know.”
“Samheed,” Aaron said with a scowl.
“Aha!” Alex said, pointing at his brother. “That’s the real you.”
“Will you leave him alone, please?” Sky said. “Stop doing that.”
Kaylee watched. “I have no idea what is going on with you all, but it’s a little odd,” she said.
“Tell me about it,” said Sky. “Ignore them. And please, go on with your story. Did you see our friends on the Island of Legends?”
“I . . . um, no, I didn’t,” Kaylee said.
“Oh right, of course you wouldn’t have, because you said you didn’t go down the waterfall.” Sky knit her brows, trying to figure out what Kaylee was talking about. And then she looked up. “I have a feeling you and I aren’t actually talking about the same thing, are we?”
Alex and Aaron stopped glaring at each other and looked at the girls.
“No,” Kaylee said softly. “I’m afraid we’re not.”
“What do you mean?” Alex asked.
Sky turned to look at him. “I’m pretty sure she’s talking about coming from a different . . . place.”
Kaylee watched the faces around her as they tried to comprehend.
“Like that land on Lani’s map?” Alex asked.
“You have a map?” Kaylee asked.
Sky nodded. “The land next to the islands. It’s a real place, I’ll bet. Lani was right.”
Alex stared. “But there’s no way to get there,” he said.
Kaylee looked at Alex. “You’re . . . you’re absolutely certain? There’s really no way to get there?”
“There’s no way that I know,” Alex said. “And we’ve been around this entire world. This is it.”
“Then how did Kaylee get here?” asked Aaron, the most confused of everyone.
“The same way that thing came out of the sky and landed in the water by Artimé,” Alex said slowly. “The same way some of those boats and ships ended up shipwrecked on Ishibashi’s island. The same way all the vessel pieces and books and propellers and junk ended up in the Museum of Large. They come up the waterfall, or they get caught in a storm in the sky.” He stopped talking, trying to figure it all out, but the concept was so large. “Storms—that’s the way in.”
“Kaylee,” Sky said, turning to her, “is Ishibashi . . . and Ito and Sato . . . are they from another place too?”
Kaylee didn’t know what to say. She looked from one confused face to the next. “Yes,” she said, for Ishibashi hadn’t asked her to keep it a secret. “They got caught in a storm like me. Their ship wrecked off the Island of Shipwrecks way back in the nineteen fifties while they were searching for another scientist’s ship that had been lost at sea.”
Sky, Aaron, and Alex stared.
“Are they from . . . that same place you’re from? Am . . . Ami . . .”
“America,” Kaylee said. “No. They’re Japanese. They’re from my world, though—pretty far away from where I live.” She shook her head. “This is blowing my mind right now, seriously. You have no idea.”
They were silent for a long time, each of them trying to grasp the strangeness of the information they’d learned and trying to understand the references to places they never knew existed.
Finally Aaron spoke. “Then . . . where are we inside this bigger world you’re talking about?”
Kaylee looked at him and shook her head. “That’s the problem, friend. I have absolutely no idea.”
Talking Strategy
With the mystery unsolved and the hour growing late, the four humans took to their makeshift beds, the girls up at the bow and the boys sprawled out on the fold-down seats.
By morning, the Island of Graves was long gone and the cylindrical island was behind them as well, the speeding boat having passed by it in the early hours. There was no coiled water dragon in sight, but Alex hadn’t forgotten about his vow to help the ruler of the sea if he could find a way to make things fly.
But that was the least of his worries. Charlie had woken Alex before the others with a report from home: Gondoleery had begun to organize the Wanteds, forcing them under Strang’s leadership to join the Quillitary. Now they were learning how to use weapons and drive vehicles. And the high priest was training a protection unit made up of students from the university.
As Charlie finished signing to Alex, and Alex confirmed that he understood everything, the gargoyle indicated that there was additional information coming in on the spot from Lani.
“What is it?” asked Alex.
Charlie stood frozen for a moment as Matilda relayed the news to him. His face grew sad. He began signing to Alex, too quickly at first for the mage to understand, so he had to start over.
Alex watched intently, the sign language book open in his lap. “Lani and Samheed . . . snuck into Quill?” he guessed. “To spy?”
Charlie nodded. He signed more words.
Alex watched, then paged through the book, trying to figure out a sign he wasn’t familiar with. “Dead?” he asked, looking up. “Somebody’s dead?” His stomach dropped. “Who?”
Charlie nodded. He spelled out a name.
Alex stared, stringing the letters together. “Sully,” he whispered. “Gondoleery killed Sully?” When Charlie confirmed it, Alex dropped his head into his hands. “Oh no,” he moaned. He was sure it was their fault.
» » « «
Alex kept the news to himself for a time while the others continued to sleep, but once he got over the shock of Sully’s death, he began to focus on Gondoleery’s other recent actions. Eventually he nudged Aaron awake. He needed the former high priest’s help.
“What is it?” Aaron asked, sitting up.
Alex gave him a grim look. “Gondoleery put Strang in charge of the Quillitary now that General Blair is dead.”
Aaron wiped the sleep from his eyes. “Strang? That’s . . . an interesting choice.”
“Is he a big threat? I don’t know much about him.”
“He taught me a lot about the government,” Aaron said. “He’s very rigid about rules, but I don’t think he would want a job like that.”
“Do we have any chance to turn him to our side? Would he follow you?”
Aaron didn’t answer right away. He was reminded again how hard this job was going to be and how much he just wanted to go back to the Island of Shipwrecks.
“I doubt it,” Aaron said finally. “I wasn’t all that nice to him, but I did make him a governor again.” He shook his head. “He might listen to me, but he’s such a rule follower, he’ll most likely go along with Gondoleery—not because he approves of what she’s doing, but because it’s his job to follow the current high priest and carry out her wishes.”
Alex gave Aaron a long look. He could tell Aaron was being honest. “Thanks,” he said. “Is there any other angle we should take? Any group of people that would be more likely to join us—whether it’s you they want to please, or perhaps there are some secret Artimé supporters?”
“Nobody I can think of right away,” Aaron said. “Secret Artimé supporters certainly wouldn’t want me to know about them. I’ll keep it in mind, though.” This would’ve been a good question for Secretary—Eva, as he thought of her now. She deserved a name. “Maybe Liam would listen to me. Whatever happened to him? Still at the palace, I presume.”
Alex hadn’t mentioned Liam at all, not sure if he wanted Aaron to know about the man’s double allegiance, like Eva’s. But Aaron was going to find out soon enough.
“Liam’s . . . sort of . . . with us,” Alex ventured.
Aaron looked up.
“It’s not what you think,” Alex hurried to say. “When Gondoleery found out you were kidnapped, she snatched the title of high pri
est and sent Liam to the Ancients Sector. He was supposed to take our sisters there. But he escaped and journeyed over the ice with the twins, and finally made it to Artimé. So we took him in.”
“So it was Liam who saved the girls?”
“Yes.”
Aaron’s face betrayed his bruised feelings. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I—I was protecting Liam. In case you’d have been mad at him.”
Aaron looked out over the water. “I know it’s hard to trust me, and to believe that I’ve changed, but I have. Getting out of Quill and having a person like Ishibashi to slap you into shape—it’s like I see everything differently now. Quill . . . I don’t want to go back there.”
“And you’re not mad about Liam?”
Aaron shook his head slowly. “I’m surprised that he had the fearlessness to escape and not go directly to the Ancients Sector as he’d been ordered. I’ve never heard of anybody doing that before. I thought he was kind of weak, actually, but clearly he’s a lot stronger than me.” He turned back to Alex and looked at him thoughtfully. “Wait a minute,” he said. “That’s it! The Ancients Sector.”
“What about it?” Alex asked.
“That’s where you should start. Right away.” He thought for a moment more and said, “They won’t listen to me because I sent some people there. But find somebody trustworthy right away to recruit them. It won’t be hard to convince them, because going to Artimé is a better choice than being put to sleep.” He tapped his chin. “Like Gunnar Haluki. They’ll go with him.” He raised an eyebrow. “Especially the ladies.”
“Whoa,” said Alex. “Was that you making a joke?”
“Get used to it,” Aaron deadpanned.
Alex smiled distractedly, thinking it through. It actually sounded like a viable plan. “Charlie,” he called.
The gargoyle poked his head out of the cabin.
“Tell Matilda to find Gunnar and Henry Haluki. We need to talk to them right away.”
Charlie nodded, already transferring the message to Matilda.
“Okay, I like this plan,” Alex said to Aaron. “But how will they get past the attendant?”
Aaron nearly smiled. “It just so happens that you know somebody who has a secret code that will let the Ancients out.”
More Plans
When Sky awoke, Alex filled her in on the grim news of Sully’s death and the rest of the developments in Quill, then left her to contemplate over breakfast with Kaylee. He returned to Charlie’s side to await the meeting with Gunner and Henry.
Later, while Sky and Kaylee paged through the first logbook and discussed the amazing story of the animal-transport ship, Alex gave the order for Gunnar and Henry to release the people from the Ancients Sector.
Aaron and Alex continued their conversation about strategy. Through it, the brothers grew a bit more comfortable with each other, and while Aaron’s sharp tongue came into play every now and then, Alex slowly became convinced that the harrowing experiences of the kidnapping and near drowning, plus the time spent with Ishibashi, had truly changed Aaron.
And Aaron began to confide a bit more easily in Alex, too.
As the former high preist waited for the island of Quill and Artimé to appear on the horizon, he paced and occasionally stared out over the water. He shook his head slowly. “I can’t explain how much I don’t want to do this, Alex,” he said. “Not because I don’t want to help you. I see Quill for what it is now, and I’m ashamed of my part in that. And Gondoleery is a tyrant and needs to be done away with. Plus I owe this to Artimé. But if you decided you didn’t need me after all, I wouldn’t be sad.”
“But we do need you, Aaron,” Alex said. “I’m sorry for what you’re going to go through. I’m sure there are a bunch of people who aren’t going to be kind to you after what you did, even though you’re here to help now. They won’t be expecting you to be a different person. It’s really hard to get used to, believe me. And while it’s too bad they’re not going to trust you, and they might even be hostile, well . . . you deserve it.”
“I know,” Aaron agreed. “And I’ll do my best to take it. I’m scared, though.”
Alex had never heard his brother say those words before. “What are you scared of?”
Aaron thought for while, trying to find the words to describe his fear. “I’m scared that I’ll go into Quill and act like the person I used to be . . . and then I’ll want that life back.”
Alex shook his head. “I get what you’re saying, but you won’t. At first, when we Unwanteds were sent out of Quill, we all wanted to go back, even though we had the magical world that is so much better than Quill—believe me, it’s a million times better. But it took us a while to grasp what we had because it was so strange.” He sat up. “You won’t see it the same way you used to.”
“You say that, but the people in Artimé welcomed you. They won’t be welcoming me.”
Alex hadn’t pictured it that way, but it made sense.
“I’m just really confused,” Aaron went on. He scratched his head and turned to Alex. “Anyway—let’s talk through this plan. I’ve got some new ideas.”
“Great. Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“You’ve got Gunnar and his son on the way to the Ancients Sector to recruit them,” Aaron began. “And if Gondoleery is on the move doing unspeakable things, we’re not going to want to waste any time. So I’ve been thinking that since we’ll be arriving in Artimé sometime during the night tonight, we should strike in the morning.”
“Strike with what?” Alex asked.
“I’m getting to that,” Aaron said. “But first, can you mobilize people this evening to stealthily enter Quill and go door-to-door in the Necessary quadrant? Wait until darkness falls and all the people are home from their jobs. And tell them to meet at the amphitheater an hour before dawn.”
“So early?” Alex asked. “Why?”
“Because they can’t come during their work shifts. That would be a serious infraction that Necessaries won’t even consider doing. Remember?”
“Yeah,” Alex said, “I guess I do, now that you say it. What’ll our people say to them, though, that will convince them to show up?”
Aaron thought for a long moment. “Okay, hang on. I’m thinking this one through.”
While Aaron thought, Alex brought out lunch for the girls and Aaron and himself. “Another eight hours or so,” Alex said. “Home after dark. And then we’ll have an early morning. Early for Sky, I mean—not you, Kaylee. We’ll get you settled in a nice room so you can take a bath or get pampered and sleep for days if you want.”
“Pfft,” Kaylee scoffed. “Find me a slingshot and some stones and I can fight with the best of you. Just, ah, you know—point out the bad guys to me so I know who to aim for.” She took a bite of lunch. “And keep feeding me this stuff.”
Alex grinned. “If you insist. I’d rather fight with you than against you, that’s for sure.”
“I’ll worry about pampering and baths and getting my nails done when it’s all over,” Kaylee said. “Do you have a salon?”
“A what?” Sky asked.
“A nail salon . . . oh heck. A place where you get your nails painted.”
“Oh!” Sky said. “We don’t need a salon. You can get them painted just about anywhere, at any time of day, because half the people in Artimé are painting at any given moment.”
“Now we’re talking,” Kaylee said. “Fist bump!” She held out her fist.
Sky stared at it.
“Never miiiind,” Kaylee sang, and the girls dissolved in laughter.
Alex went back to Aaron, who was pacing in the short, narrow walkway between the seats. “Any progress?” asked Alex.
“Yes,” Aaron said. “I’ve been repeating it to myself so I don’t forget it.”
“We can solve that,” Alex said, pulling out his notebook and tapping it to produce a pencil.
Aaron shook his head. “You’re going to have to teach me that one.”
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“Maybe someday,” Alex said, and a whole new cast of worries entered his mind. What if Aaron got access to spells during this attack on Gondoleery? Would he turn on them? He couldn’t think about that now. “Go ahead.”
“Okay. The people of Artimé should knock five times. No more, no less.”
“Aah, the Necessaries’ knock,” Alex said, “so they know it’s not a Wanted at their door. Good idea.”
“And they should say these words exactly: ‘The High Priest Aaron Stowe sent me. He’s alive, and he’s coming to save you and your family from Gondoleery Rattrapp. Meet at the amphitheater an hour before dawn tomorrow. Each Necessary who comes will receive a day’s supply of fruit and nuts. May Quill prevail with all I have in me.’ ”
Alex scribbled down the words exactly as Aaron said them, cringing at the last bit. “Do they really have to say that ‘May Quill prevail’ junk?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” said Aaron sarcastically. “Do you really want them to believe you and actually show up?”
“Point taken.”
“Good.” Aaron looked at Alex. “You’ll have to have another team go to the Favored Farm and break in to get food, I suppose. We’ll need a lot of fruit and nuts.”
Alex laughed. “I think our kitchen can come up with something sufficient without actually having to do that,” he said.
“Oh,” said Aaron. “In that case, bring along a tub full of whatever that sweet thing was that I just ate. What’s that called?”
“Oh, that dessert,” Alex said knowingly. “That’s something one of the chefs found in a recipe book that washed up a few months ago. Our chef added her own special touch to it back when Gondoleery iced us. It’s called rhubapple sugarberry pie—with pecan fig-jam ice cream.”
Aaron patted his stomach. “I learned how to cook on the Island of Shipwrecks, you know. I’d like to make that sometime,” he said.
Alex stared at Aaron for a long moment. “Are you sure you’re not Lani disguised as Aaron?”
“What?”
Alex shook his head. “Nothing,” he said. “You just keep shocking me.”