Orion pursed his lips. "I don't know."
I glanced over all our faces. "Then who's going to go in first?"
Nobody moved but the swirling hole. As we stared at the black chasm something flew out of it. The thing landed at our feet.
I knelt down and poked at it before I glanced over my shoulder at Orion. "It's a stick."
He furrowed his brow and stooped beside me to pick up the object. "This is the stick I threw in last night."
I glanced at my watch. "It's a little past eight, so this thing works on airline-time?"
He stood and nodded. "If you mean it's about eight hours behind schedule, then yes."
I pointed at the hole. "So if we go in there we're going to be eight hours in the future and popping out of the side of the ship?"
Toughs shook her head. "No. Portals work in the reverse. If we were to jump into this hole we would come out into the interior of the ship. I think."
I winced. "Care to restate that last part?"
Toughs' eyes widened. She spun around. "He's coming."
I whipped my head to Orion and patted him on the kneecap. "Remember me as I was, an honest, diligent reporter of truth."
He blinked at me. "So a lie?"
I nodded "Yeah. See you on the other side."
I leaned forward and fell into the hole. "Trixie!" Orion shouted as he tried to snatch me.
I twisted around and gave him a thumbs up before the darkness enveloped me. It was like falling through a river of dyed water where I didn't know up from down, one hand from the other, or if I had a piece of chicken stuck in my teeth or not. The trip lasted for about five seconds before I was spewed from the dark hole and into a dark hold.
At least, that's where I thought I was as I tumbled across rotten planks and crashed into a wooden barrel. The book in my hands slid off into the darkness. A pile of sad sackcloths atop the barrel rained enough of their mucky contents down on me to cover me up to my head.
I sat up and sputtered. Little brown sprinkles fell from my hair. I picked one up and cringed. It was a dead maggot. I tossed it away and scrambled from the pile.
A quick look around told me I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Timber beams and rotten cargo gazed back at me. Dark shadows with foot-long mold slithered from every corner. A thick layer of dust covered everything that wasn't moldy so that the landscape resembled a desert surrounded by lush tropical forests. Behind me was the swirling mass of vortex. Above me were a couple of the cargo hatches Orion and I had seen on the deck.
My stupid mind had to remember that terrible face I'd seen last time I was here. I took a step back as my pulse quickened. My eyes flickered over the hold. There wasn't any sign of the thing, but last time I had appeared out of-The face flashed in front of me. I screamed and stumbled back. My foot caught on a mess of wrapped rope and I tumbled onto the floor beneath the vortex.
That's when Orion and Toughs decided to drop in unannounced. They fell like two sacks of bricks on top of me. Our limbs got tangled in a horrible, thrashing game of Twister which we were all losing.
"Trix? That you?" came Orion's muffled voice from beneath Toughs, who was somehow beneath me.
"I'm in here somewhere," I quipped.
I tore myself from the pile and rolled onto the floor. My momentum carried me two yards from my companions and stopped me in front of a tall shadow. I looked an inch off the floor. The tips of a pair of black boots stared back at me. I followed the path up a man's heavy sailing clothing to the stern face that glared down at me.
The clothes belonged to a man with bluish skin and glowing blue eyes. A long black beard covered his chin and a mustache his upper lip. His hair was hidden beneath a broad hat that sat lopsided on his head. At his side was a scabbard. The rusted hilt of a sword stuck out above his hip.
He was also slightly transparent, and very much dead.
CHAPTER 22
I sat up and scrambled back on all fours. "Dead man walking!"
"Dead men walking," Orion corrected me.
I glanced over my shoulder and saw that a whole pale, transparent crew surrounded them. The swashbuckling, tattered undead stared at us in curiosity. Among them were a few pockets of alternate reality. A wizard in a rotten robe. A young boy of fourteen with worn sneakers and a heavy snow coat. Those two were from different times and places, but they both had the same blue eyes and skin as the sailors of old.
The ghastly face appeared in front of me again and howled. I yelped and scrambled back so my back crashed against a barrel.
"Dat is enough of dat," the tall-hatted one commanded. His accent was vaguely German, and with my limited knowledge of languages I guessed I was mistaking Dutch for its southern neighbor.
The face floated backward and its terrifying, empty eyes blinked. In place of the haunting light were a pair of haunted blue eyes. A body emerged from beneath the head and the whole thing stood on two legs. The creature now looked like another member of the crew.
He pursed his lips and glanced over his shoulder at the tall-hatted one. "But Gezagvoerder-" The tall-hatted one narrowed his eyes. My tormentor shrank back and joined the rest of the crew who hovered around Orion and Toughs.
The tall-hatted one stepped forward and scowled down at me. "You had better leave dis schip, missen. Dere isn't anyting here for you but grief."
I scrambled to my feet and swept my eyes over the scowling faces of the crew. I swallowed the lump in my throat and returned my attention to the captain. "Actually, we came here to find the captain of the ship."
He grinned. "You are looking at him and he is looking at you, missen, now what are you wanting?"
I relaxed and arched an eyebrow. "First off, if this is the Flying Dutchman then I'm wanting to know how you know English."
The captain chuckled. "And I know a little German. My speeches come from da unfortunates who have fallen trough da hole you used."
I glanced over my shoulder at the swirling vortex. "How did a portal end up on the side of your ship in the first place?"
He nodded at the wizard-robed crew member. "Dat fool slapped da spell on da side of my schip a century ago and dropped into da hold. We couldn't scare him out before da curse took hold."
I felt a rising feeling of dread. "So if we stay here long enough then-"
"You will be joining us," he finished for me.
I spun on my heels to face Orion and Toughs. "We'd better make this interview fast or we become the scoop."
Orion gently grasped Toughs' arm and stepped forward. "Captain van der Deken, we were wanting to know why you came to Apple Hollow early."
The fish-skinned fellow furrowed his brow and rubbed the long hairs on his chin. "Now dat is a mystery, isn't it? Dat vloek fog came up on us and swallowed us like it does every thirty-three years, but dis time it was early."
"It wasn't quite the same as it used to be, Gezagvoerder," one of the crew spoke up.
The captain nodded. "Ja, it wasn't. It had a strange softness to it like it and a nice smell. It reminded me of of when I was a cabin boy aboard the merchant vessels of my youth."
One of the men frowned. "I taught it reminded me of da sweet lass I left behind."
"What about apple petals?" another spoke up. Everyone paused and stared at him. He shrank beneath their gazes and nervously smiled. "Or maybe the food Moeder used to make. She was fond of apple pie."
I held up my hands. "All right, we get it, you guys were swallowed by a sweet-smelling fog. So how do we break this curse of yours so you can stop sailing the seven shoals of the river?"
The captain closed his eyes and shook his head. "It is impossible to do dat ting, missen. We are doomed to sail de waters of dese seas and rivers for all eternity."
"There is a way," Toughs spoke up.
The captain furrowed his brow at her. He tilted his head to one side and narrowed his eyes. "What is dis? Do I know dis face?"
Toughs strode forward and clasped their hands together. She looked into his face and smiled. "Do you not reco
gnize your Geliefd, my dear captain?"
Captain van der Deken's eyes widened. "Mab? My Beloved Mab? Is it you?"
She nodded. "Yes. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
He leaned down and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. I sidled up beside Orion and watched the pair of lovers try to suck each other's faces off. "Somehow I don't like this," I whispered to him.
He grinned. "That's the feeling of being a parent."
"I have the urge to get a shotgun."
"No wedding yet until we get off this thing."
The lovers parted, one gasping for breath and the deader one grinning from ear-to-ear. "Ya, you are my little Geliefd. What good kisses you have!" He brushed his finger against her cheek and furrowed his brow. "But you are younger, ja?"
She smiled and nodded. "Ja, but not for long."
The necklace around her neck illuminated with that brilliant purple light. It swallowed her in its brilliance. I shielded my eyes with my arm. The crew shuffled away from the light. The purple faded and I lowered my arm to see that Toughs had evolved into Mab. Orion and my little Pokemon was all grownup.
The captain grinned and took her hands. "Dere's my little Geliefd. It is good to see you after so long, even toe it be for a brief moment."
Mab shook her head. "We will no longer be apart."
The captain's face fell. He dropped his hand and stepped backward away from her. "You must leave. Da curse will take you, as well, and I will not see my Geliefd taken by dis monstrous ting."
Mab shook her head. "It won't take me because I found a way to free you. To free everyone." She turned to me and frowned. "Where's the book?"
I winced and looked around my feet. "Um, somewhere in here."
"Find dat book!" Captain van der Deken shouted.
Everyone scrambled over each other looking for the AWOL tome. They climbed over the barrels, ropes, crates, and each other in their eagerness to find hope for release.
Orion bumped into the young boy, and the young lad stared hard at him. "Do I know you?"
Orion shook his head. "No, but my mom knows you."
"Less talking, more looking!" I scolded them.
I fumbled through the stank darkness and stumbled over the rope that had caught me before. My butt connected with the hard wood planks. I growled and rubbed my posterior as I took advantage of my new vantage point. My eyes caught sight of something hidden in the shadows of a barrel. I crawled on all fours and grabbed the shadow. It was the book.
I held it above my head. "I found it!"
The brief letter we found earlier slipped out and one of its sharp corners hit me on the head. I caught it as it tumbled down my chest and lowered the book.
Mab took the book and I opened the love-note. "Well, this makes sense now." I held it out to Mab. "I think this is yours."
She sighed and nodded as she accepted the note. "Yes. A brief moment of depression after my captain had been cursed by this existence."
A thought hit me, and I pointed at the letter. "Does Melon-circus know about that?"
"Melicertes, and yes," she confirmed.
I turned to Orion. "I think I just found that missing puzzle piece Melon-head was talking about."
Mab pursed her lips. "Melicertes is indeed the reason for our suffering. He was jealous of our love, and when I refused him he sought revenge."
The captain nodded. "Ja. He is da scoundrel who cursed my schip and my crew to sail until da world ended."
Mab smiled up at him and patted the cover of the book. "Those days are over. I have found a way to free you and your men. I need only combine three of these spells to create a portal and navigate this primitive machine off its cursed course and through the portal."
"So why did you hide yourself as a fast-acting kid?" I spoke up.
"The spell can only be achieved on the third night, or close to it. The curse on the ship is weakest then," she explained.
"Then what are you waiting for?" I asked her as I waved my hand at the crew. "Get on with it so they can stop auditioning for the Blue Man group!"
Mab nodded and took a step forward. "Please grant me some room."
Everyone scuttled back. Orion slipped beside one of the wooden support beams close to our entrance.
I sidled up beside Orion and leaned against him. "What took you guys getting here, anyway?"
He frowned. "Nothing took us. We jumped in a few seconds after you did."
I leaned away from him and shook my head. "But you guys were a minute or two after-" My pulse quickened and my eyes widened as I remembered one tiny little problem.
"What's wrong?" Orion whispered.
I swallowed the rising fear in my throat and looked up into his worried eyes. "How close behind you was Melicertes when you jumped into the-" A stream of water blasted from the portal.
Anyone or anything in the water's path was blown against the far side of the ship. Chilling fog followed the water and invaded the hull with its foul stench of sea air.
"Everyone on deck!" the captain shouted.
Orion scooped me into his arms and leapt up. His head crashed through the rotten wood of one of the hatches and landed neatly on deck. Piles of debris landed in my lap, and I brushed them off as he set me back on my feet. Everyone else staggered up the stairs to our left with the captain and Mab at the front. Behind them came the fog.
They reached us just as a familiar chuckle echoed from the depths of the fog. The crew and we watched as Melicertes stepped from the center of the fog. Behind him marched a small army of hell hounds.
He stopped ten feet from us and smiled. "What a pleasure to see all my good friends here for the end."
CHAPTER 23
Mab glared at him. A faint glow of purple light pulsed off her body. "How dare you come aboard this ship you have cursed."
"Ja," the captain spoke up. He removed his sword from its scabbard and pointed at the railing. "Get off my schip!"
Melicertes closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't do that." His gaze settled on the book in Mab's arms. He held out his hand. "At least, not until you've given me that book."
She tightened her hold on the book and shook her head. "Never."
I frowned. "Just hand it over. You've got them memorized."
Mab winced. "No, not the last one. The rejuvenation spell is too difficult to produce from memory."
"And if you don't cast it?" Orion asked her.
She glanced over her shoulder at the captain and her face fell. "Everyone aboard would revert to their proper age."
"And your beloved captain would be nothing more than dust," Melicertes spoke up. He stretched his hand closer to her. "That is why I must have that book."
It was the captain's turn to chuckle. "Or you will do what? Will your hounds tear to pieces dat which can't be touched? Look around you." He swept his sword over his crew. "Your curse trapped them between de living and de dead. You can't hurt them anymore."
Melicertes turned his gaze on Orion and me. His lips curled into a sly grin. "No, but I can very much kill your friends." He snapped his fingers. A half dozen of the hounds hunkered down and growled at us.
Orion grabbed my arms and tired to pull me behind him. "Hell no!" I shrugged off his hands and marched to within five feet of the short man. "Who the hell do you think you are pushing everybody around like this?"
Melicertes chuckled. "I forget how little they teach in schools. You would not know I was once a human, but now changed into a god of the seas."
I crossed my arms over my chest. "Prove you're a god and not just a dog trainer and a weatherman."
Melicertes smiled and snapped his fingers. The familiar fog of horrors past parted behind him and revealed a dark void that surrounded the ship. "I willed that this ship would be trapped in this world until the end of time. Its fate would be to sale the seas on stormy days as a warning to others." He looked past me at Mab. "And every thirty-three years the ship would come to the river as a reminder of the thirty-three times Mab
refused my pleas of marriage."
I snorted. "Wow, you were desperate."
I swallowed my rising fear and straightened to my full short height so I could glared at him face-to-face. "So who died and made you a god over other people's lives?"
He glared at me. "I died. My god-hood is compensation for the unjust actions against me."
I arched an eyebrow. "Really? That's all that has to happen?"
Melicertes narrowed his eyes. "Do not treat my tragedy so lightly. My mother was forced to throw us both over a cliff to save us from danger."
I shrugged and strode a few steps in front of him. "Tragedies happen every day. It's called life. So how come you were granted the privilege of being a god?"
"Because it was a god who wronged me!" he snapped.
A smile slid onto my lips. "Really? That sounds like a familiar story." My eyes flickered to Mab and the captain. "You don't happen to have a way to communicate with gods, do you, Mab?"
She shook her head. "No, but-" Her eyes widened. She returned my sly smile with one of her own. "But within the confines of this space it may be easier to reach them."
Melicertes frowned and balled his hands into fists at his sides. "What are you going on about?"
I spun around to face him. "I'm going over your head to your boss. Somebody made you a god which means they can undo it."
Melicertes' eyes widened. "Y-you're mad! You're insane." He marched toward Mab. "Give me the book this instant or-" I cupped my hands over my mouth.
"Hey! The guy in charge up there!" I shouted. Melicertes stopped dead and spun around to face me.
"Shut up!" he screamed. He ran up and grabbed my shoulders to give me a hard shake. "Be quiet or-" We heard a soft rumbling in the distance.
I smiled and batted my eyes at Melicertes. "Did I do something wrong?"
Melicertes let me go and stumbled back. He whipped his head left and right as his hounds whimpered. They tucked their tails between their legs and retreated into the diminishing fog. "T-there's no need for your presence! I have the situation under-" Another, closer rumble sounded.
Mab stepped forward and swept her eyes over the black void around the ship. "With in this hour of my greatest need I plead with the oldest gods." She knelt on her knees and bowed her head. "Grant us protection from this false god you forsakes his duties as helper to vessels in need of guidance."