It was her first visit to the docks. The noise and smells were overwhelming. Tilting her head back, she tried to take in the giant ship. The name was carved into the side in great ornate letters. She studied the scrap of parchment that Bardo had given her with the name of his ship printed on it. The letters seemed to match.
Sailors scrambled across the deck. An endless stream of dock workers toiled up the gangway. Crates, water barrels, cages with squawking chickens, and even a goat were being loaded. Everywhere she looked, fruit and vegetables hung from the rigging and filled every available corner.
At first the voyage was exciting as she woke each morning to clear skies and warm breezes. Her duties as cook's helper were mild compared to her labors at the Dolphin. Days ran together. She lost track of how long it had been since seeing land. The fresh vegetables had been eaten. Water in the barrels was no longer clear, and it smelled stale.
Then the weather turned. They were assaulted by a fierce storm. It raged for three days. When it finally abated, they had been blown off course.
That morning Bardo called the crew together on the rolling deck. A cold breeze ruffled Amari's hair. It pierced her thin clothing making her shiver. The skies had cleared, but white caps dotted the water.
The captain's speech was brief. Supplies were running short. It was late in the year. The cold breeze foretold of more bad weather. Their battered ship might not last though another gale. They could never make it to port before the next storm.
He held the men with his unwavering gaze. With a steady voice he proposed they make a run through the Misty Way - that narrow channel that separated them from the shadow world. The winds were not likely to pick up before nightfall.
There was loud talk and bickering. Amari could see fear and rebellion in the eyes of the strong, daring men. In the end they knew there was little choice. Rather than face another storm on the open sea, the crew voted to risk the Misty Way. They spent the rest of the day making repairs and preparing the ship.
CHAPTER 17 - THE MISTY WAY
As the sun sank below the horizon, the wind began to fill the sails. Thin wispy clouds skidded across the darkening sky. They were hopeful of a quick and smooth passage. Bardo had called for Amari, and sent her up to the crow's nest.
Dread settled over her. One by one the stars faded. Remembered warnings of the sailors in the inn taunted her. She strained her eyes looking for the creatures they had described. Fog closed in, surrounding the Sea Hawk. It blocked all but faint glimpses of blue light from the sensors.
She pulled her worn jacket tighter to her thin frame. At times the ship beneath her disappeared in a shroud of fog. Voices of the sailors wafted up to her from far below like ghosts from lost vessels. The crow's nest floated through the frightening vapors like a basket adrift on the sea.
The tip of something poked though the clouds, startling her out of her dark thoughts. It was gray and stretched taunt like the skin of a bat. It dipped and swayed through the mist. She caught a glimpse of claws gripping an object. Its surface reflected blue light from the sensors. Dark moisture dripped from the claws.
She heard a terrified scream, and realized it was coming from her throat. She clutched the rail and yelled, "Sea monster off the bow!"
Frantic footsteps rattled across the deck. Shouts of alarm broke the stillness. The ship rocked in the calm waters. The mist cleared. Amari saw Captain Bardo fall to the deck as the wheel was wrenched from his grasp by a hidden force.
She was thrown against the railing with her face plastered painfully against the bars. Then she saw it clearly. It was not a wing. It was a sail on another vessel. The other ship had a figurehead of a woman on the front. Dirty water ran down the rigging and dripped onto the figure's fingers. They clasped a polished globe that still flickered blue with reflected sensor light. It looked like lightening had been captured inside its depths.
Released from its constraint, the Sea Hawk veered toward the other vessel. It pitched wildly. Her perch swung in a wide arc. As the dark sea came rushing towards her, she threw up her arm to shield her face. Crying out, she clutched for the railing. Her hand slipped on the wet wood.
The floor was wrenched from beneath her feet. She screamed as she tumbled through the air. Her shriek was cut short as she slapped the water's surface. Hot pain from the impact was instantly replaced by numbing cold. The water swallowed her. She frantically waved her arms and legs trying to escape the sea's death hold. Her lungs burned. She fought the water. Finally, her head broke the surface. She tried to shout, but water filled her mouth making her sputter and cough.
The two ships lumbered toward each other. Her faint calls blended with the cries of terrified sailors. Rigging from the other ship slid over the sensor sending blue flames of light shooting into the air.
The hulls collided with a sickening grinding and scraping. A resounding boom echoed across the water when a piece of timber broke off. The plank tumbled though the air towards her, and fell with a loud splash.
Once again she fought for air as the wave swept over her head. She grabbed for the floating debris. Her fingers tightened around the splintered wood. When she came to the surface the area was bathed in blue light. The pole holding the sensor caught on the other ship's rigging and bent. With a loud crack and pop, the pole snapped sending the sensor spinning through the air. Amari choked, and tried to call out as the Sea Hawk disappeared into the heavy mist.
She heard a shout. A boy leaned over the railing of the other vessel. The sensor lay at his feet casting blue light up into his face. Their eyes met. His ship turned, and started to move away. His voice was urgent as he called to her, but she couldn't understand the words. He threw a rope, and called out again. It slapped the water a few yards away. Frantically she swam towards it.
The wind shifted. A cloud of mist engulfed the ship. "Come back," she cried.
His voice blended with the shouts of others. A flicker of blue pierced through the mist. Then nothing. No light. No sound. She was left in cold, wet darkness.
Somehow she found the floating debris, and pulled herself on top. The cold worked its way deeper into her as she drifted through the waves. She lost track of time. Her throat was dry from shouting. It was difficult to concentrate. She drifted in and out of consciousness. Thirst was ever present.
She opened her eyes. There was a soft glow. The water was warmer, and she was caught in a gentle current. A murmuring sound became voices. The glow got brighter. It was coming closer.
"The sensor has passed beyond, and it is for us to reclaim it."
"I want to rescue the girl."
"You're risking the lives of all our merchants. The sea lanes will be plagued with storms as long as the sensor is in the shadow world.
"Patience Bali. The girl can help, and I will not just leave her."
"Hurry Nalani," said Bali. "While you linger over her, the sensor is moving through time. It becomes more and more difficult to trace its path. We must make haste."
"Then wait at the door, Bali. I will push her past the threshold."
Amari felt soft wet fingers touch her brow. She was engulfed in the spicy scent of the sun flower, and knew no more.
CHAPTER 18 - WATERMELONS
The silence was uncomfortable. Meredith stared at the floor. What Amari was saying couldn't be true. It sounded like the plot from an old science fiction movie that her parents would watch. Maybe Amari's parents made her watch old movies when she was little. Or maybe there was more to the cup than Amari was telling.
Tony stretched and cleared his throat. "It's a good story, but.."
"You don't believe me," Amari finished. "I don't blame you. I only half believed your world existed until I found myself here."
"Just how did you get here?" Meredith asked.
"I told you. The water wisps rescued me and brought me here."
Maybe it was all an act, and Amari was laughing inside. She could be acting strange so people would believe her story. But mayb
e she wasn't really all that different.
"I don't know what kind of clothes they have in your world," Meredith said, "but the stuff you're wearing looks like it was bought at a discount store five years ago."
"Discount store?" Amari raised her eyebrows.
"Okay, so where did you get those fashionable clothes?"
"From the clothes box."
"The what?" Tony said.
"The big yellow box where people put clothing for those without money."
Meredith scrunched up her face. "You stole from a clothing donation box?"
Amari shook her head, and looked confused. "The woman told her daughter they were for people who couldn't afford to buy clothes."
"Wasn't the box locked?" Tony asked.
Amari frowned. "There was no key. Just a latch with numbers. Anyone could open it. You just turn the knob to line up the mechanism and it opens. Is that not how it is done?"
Meredith was stunned. "You picked the lock."
"That's a pretty neat trick," Tony said, "but you shouldn't let people know you can do that. It will make them suspicious of you."
"I needed clothes," Amari said.
She played the part well. The story even fit what Meredith had seen in the cup. Could Amari have overhead when she was telling Tony about the image she had seen? She thought back to the twig breaking. Could it have been Amari listening?
"I saw you in the water," Meredith said.
Amari smiled. "Now you think to tell me a story."
"No really. I filled the cup with water. There was a mist over it. When it parted, I saw a girl floating in the water on a piece of wood. It was you wasn't it?"
"That cannot be. The sensor does not show pictures. It warns of danger and contact with the shadow world."
"I think this is your shadow world," Tony said. "And she's right about the pictures. I saw the ship's figurehead. The one in the picture with the boy."
Amari stared at him.
"Maybe it has more powers than you've told us." Meredith said.
"I thought the water wisps brought me here, but maybe it was the sensor."
"It does move things. It moved us to this room from the gazebo during a storm," Meredith said.
"Storms," Amari said. "There will be more storms. They will get stronger if we don't get the sensor back to my world. That much the water wisps have told me. I have to find it."
They heard a far off thump of a door opening. Heavy footsteps clumped up the stairs.
A muffled voice said, "Next time we get take-out food from the Clipper. That lunch was terrible."
The workmen stopped in the hall outside the closed turret door. Meredith held her breath. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want them to know they were there. Glancing at the others she placed a finger over her lips.
The floor shook slightly as something heavy was dropped outside the door. A clattering noise of metal against metal was followed by muttering.
"Careful with those tools," the voice said. "What are you looking for?"
"Electrical caps. They were in that blue cup from the shed. I put it in the corner of the toolbox."
"Oh that. Last time I saw that cup it was on Spencer's jacket by the front door. He dumped the caps into his Styrofoam coffee cup and left it on the table."
"Well that's a fine thing. More tramping on the stairs with my bad knee. What did he want with that old cup anyway? It didn't even have a handle."
"Who knows why Spencer does anything."
The voices faded as the two men thumped back down the stairs.
"Guess there's no sense looking for the cup now," Tony said. "Sounds like Spencer took it with him."
"Let's get out of here before they come back," Meredith said.
As they made their way back to the road, Meredith kept glancing at Amari. Was she lying or did she really believe that stuff about another world? Could she really pick a lock? Or was the cup some kind of high tech device from an ancient civilization like Spencer's Atlantis? She stopped in surprise. Maybe Spencer took it because he thought it was from Atlantis. She hurried to catch up.
They reached the main road as an old, run down truck full of watermelons labored past. When the driver saw them, he swerved and shifted gears with a grinding racket. A watermelon perched on the top of the pile wobbled. Then it bumped down the stack and rolled out the back.
It hit the grass with a dull whop and a sharp crack. The truck lurched out of sight. Tony dashed over, and picked up the melon.
"Good thing it landed in the grass. Just cracked the shell." He grinned. "Who's for watermelon?"
Meredith grimaced at the idea of an unwashed, dripping watermelon and sticky hands. But she was thirsty, and the idea of cool melon was enticing.
She dug in her pocket and triumphantly pulled out a wipe. "Wait a minute," she called and hurried over.
Tony had placed the melon on a large flat rock and was opening his pocketknife. She handed him the wipe and said, "Here, clean the blade first."
Tony laughed and took the wipe. With exaggerated care he ran it over the blade, then looked at her questioningly. "Ok?" he asked.
She shrugged. "You might want to do your hands too." She pulled out another one and wiped her own fingers.
They sat under a tree and stuffed the juicy ripe fruit into their mouths.
"Too bad there's no seeds," Tony said. A trickle of juice ran down his chin. He wiped his mouth on his shoulder.
"You want to plant more fruit?" Amari asked.
"Nope. Watermelon seeds are for spitting. I can shoot one several feet."
"That's a noble talent," Meredith said. "Must be a big hit at parties."
"Well," he shrugged, "there may be some that's better."
"This fruit would be a favorite with the sailors at the Flying Dolphin. We do not have anything like it," Amari said.
"You've never eaten watermelon?" Tony asked.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "No. Is it a delicacy?"
"Hardly," Meredith said. "More the other way around."
"It is wonderful. It would be highly prized at the trade market. The inn where this was served would bring a nice profit to the owner."
They didn't talk much on the way home. By the time they reached the condos it was getting dark. Amari headed back to the Clipper. She was scheduled to work that evening.
"Do you think that stuff she said is real?" Meredith said.
"I don't know, but I think she believes it."
"I don't know what's more scary. Another world and a cup that is making storms here - or hanging out with someone who makes those things up."
"The idea of another world with misty creatures is more scary, and it may be true. Something moved us from the gazebo to Murky the other day. If the cup didn't do that, what did?" He shrugged. "See you tomorrow."
He strolled up the street with his hands in his pockets. The sound of his off key whistling made her smile. His casual confidence was reassuring. Maybe he was right. The logic was sound. She watched until he was out of sight.
Leaves rustled as a chilly breeze passed through the branches. She took a deep breath and caught the familiar scent. Cinnamon. Her stomach tightened. She hoped it was donuts, but she knew it wasn't. In the twilight, color had faded from the world. Houses and cars were indistinct and mysterious. Then she saw it. Mist separated from a group of trees and floated off in the direction of Murky Manor. She dashed inside.
CHAPTER 19 - SEARCHING THE ANTEDILUVIAN
Meredith panted as she tried to keep up. It was already mid morning, but the air was not getting any warmer. She should have just told Tony no when he stopped by to suggest going to the marina. As they hurried down the pier, she glanced at the small walkways next to each boat.
"What are you going to do when you get there?" she asked.
"Check out Spencer's boat. He has to have the cup." Tony said.
"We don't know that for sure. You can't just search his boat. It's breaking and entering." He
r face felt hot even with the cool breeze coming off the water.
He grinned. "I wasn't planning on breaking anything."
"You know that's not what I meant."
"Let's just see if anyone's on the boat first. Then we'll decide what to do."
He stopped at the Antediluvian's dock. Meredith was breathing hard. Her hair clip hung loose letting her hair fly about. She knew she looked awful. With a vicious yank, she pulled it out and a few hairs came with it. Tears burned her eyes, but she quickly brushed them aside.
Now that they were standing still she could hear voices. The air had a hint of cinnamon. Tony put a finger to his lips.
"Be quiet yourself," she whispered and pushed him aside.
"Find the floating bell." It was a woman's voice. Faint and thin. "The sensor will take you through the door. Time is short. The worlds are converging. When the sensor becomes clear, the storm will descend. Before that happens, you must return with it to your home."
"But I don't know where it is."
Taking care to be quiet, Meredith crept around the boat. A column of mist hovered over the water in front of a girl. She sat at the end of the walkway with her feet dangling over the edge. Meredith was sure it was Amari. Tony bumped into her.
She stumbled and the clip rattled across the walkway. Amari scrambled to her feet. The mist sank into the water and disappeared.
"Who were you talking to?" Meredith said.
Amari put a finger to her lips. Clattering footsteps were coming down the pier where they had just been.
"Come on, Bart. I tell you Pirate is sleeping down on the other pier. It's easy pickings down here."
"Easy for you to say, Smiley. Pirate's got it in for me."
Tony jerked his thumb towards the sailboat. "Quick," he whispered. "Before they get here."
He flung his leg over the side of the boat. "Come on," he said and held out his hand.
Meredith's fingers closed over his, and she stepped over the side. Amari was already leading the way into the dark cabin. Meredith pulled the cabin door most of the way closed. Through the crack she could see Bart and Smiley as they came around the corner. They stopped and looked toward the boat.
"I thought I heard someone," Smiley said.