My eyes flickered to Orion. "Speaking of that, doesn't that thing only appear for three nights before it goes back to its regularly scheduled program?"
He nodded. "That's its usual appearance schedule, but it might stay here longer."
Abby shook her head. "You shouldn't hope for the best. It's not good practice."
Orion sighed. "Mom, we could really use fewer old sayings and more info on how to get onto that thing."
Abby furrowed her brow and tapped her chin. "Actually, I do have a story about that. It was from when I was a girl, and involved someone getting onto the ship."
Orion and I both whipped our heads to her. "You do?" her son asked his mom.
She nodded. "Of course. You think I haven't lived her most of my life and don't know a thing or two about the ship?"
"But nobody else seems to know much about it," Orion pointed out.
She sighed and shook her head. "That's the problem with folks these days. They leave all the knowing to others and wrap themselves in narrower and narrower worlds."
"What's this story?" I asked her.
She waved her hand. "Maybe I'm making a big deal out of this, but the boys used to dare each other to go out on the ice and try to climb the walls of that old ship. That was before they outlawed anyone going down to the park to watch the ghostly galleon. Anyway, there was a group of boys about ten years older than me. At that time my parents had already passed away, so I lived in town with Aunt Snoopy-"
"Aunt Snoopy?" I interrupted.
Abby nodded. "Of course. Didn't Johnny tell you? That's how he was able to get the house so cheap. It was such a mess and-"
"You were talking about the ship, Mom," he reminded her.
"Oh, yes. Well, this group of boys-there were four of them-dared each other to go out there and try to climb the side of the ship. One of them actually accepted their challenge-he was always the most foolish of the lot. Well, the second night came and at midnight them and a could of us girls waited for the ship. The boy climbed out onto the river as far as the ice would let him and waited. I remember it was at the stroke of midnight-that ship is always precise-that the fog came and the ship came from the fog. The boy raced across the floating beds of ice-he was a were-tiger, you know-and managed to jump from one of the floating ice blocks onto the side of the ship. His claws dug in so hard we could hear the timbers snap. Well, he climbed up the steep side to the railing and was halfway over when we heard him scream."
"Did you see anything?" I wondered.
She shook her head. "Nothing, but the fog is always thick on the deck. Anyway, he screamed and fell into the water. Some adults were there watching him and managed to drag him out with rope and one of them swimming to him. When they asked him what happened he couldn't remember."
"That's it?" Orion asked her.
Abby nodded. "That's it. Well, except for him being in the hospital for a few weeks with hypothermia. Well, that and the punishment." She shook her head. "Those three boys were grounded for months after that, and that law was put in place soon after to keep some other fool from trying it."
I furrowed my brow. "You said there were four boys. Why did only three get punished?"
She leaned back in her chair and pursed her lips. "That's the strangest thing. All four of them promised to meet at the park that night, but only three of them showed up. The missing boy was an orphan like some kids are around here, so after they couldn't find him for a week he was marked down as a runaway. Some folks tried to say he left because he was afraid to face his friends, or that it was a coincidence he disappeared that night."
I glanced at Orion. "You know how I feel about coincidences."
He pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah, but do you really think he got on the ship?"
I shrugged. "I don't know, but it sounds like there's a way to do that by climbing the side."
Abby frowned and looked from Orion to me. "You two aren't seriously considering such a dangerous, illegal stunt, are you?"
Orion grinned. "If I know that rule I know they worded it so it's only illegal to approach a ship that appears every thirty-three years. Being early means it doesn't apply."
Abby wagged her finger at him. "That doesn't stop the dangerous part, and you know that, young man."
"But danger can't stop me from doing my job, and that's to give Bill a hand," Orion argued.
"By getting yourself killed?" she countered.
Orion leaned back and frowned at his mom. "What would you have me do, then? Just give up and come back to the farm, is that it?"
She nodded. "That would be a lot better than running around making enemies and trying to get yourself killed."
Orion pushed his chair back and stood. "Then you can keep dreaming because that isn't happening. I've got my own life to live, and if you don't approve then tough." He stalked out of the kitchen and I heard his footsteps go up every step.
Abby ran a hand through her hair and frowned. "What a stubborn, stupid little boy."
I pursed my lips and rose from my chair. "Maybe, but he's good at what he does, and what he does is what this town needs right now."
Abby narrowed her eyes and turned her face away from me. I left the room and went upstairs. It took a couple of tries to find the bedroom occupied by Orion and Toughs. It was Orion's old bedroom complete with dark a red cover on the bed, a couple of baseball posters on the walls, and a few random stamps eternally stuck to the closet door.
Orion himself sat on the carpeted floor with his back against the low bed. Toughs lay atop the covers, her face a picture of serenity her character would never achieve.
Orion's face was a picture of anger with a touch of the frustrated Scream thrown in for good measure. I walked over and took a seat beside him. He turned his face away from me. I leaned forward to catch his eye. "You okay?"
He scowled at the window to our right. "Damn her. I wish she wasn't so pushy about what I did."
I pushed my shoulder into his and smiled at him. "Moms annoy their kids. That's what they do." I laughed. "I think my mom makes a challenge of it. If she'd had her way I would never have ended up here."
Orion glanced at me and raised an eyebrow. "Your mom's still alive?"
I nodded. "Yeah, and my dad, but they're divorced."
He stared straight ahead and sighed. "Do they have to be so good at annoying us?"
"They've had our life time to practice," I pointed out.
He snorted and leaned back against the bed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Anyway, we can't do much about it until Toughs wakes up, or we get killed on that ship."
"So is your plan really to try to climb aboard?" I asked him.
He shrugged. "It's all I've got."
I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. "For once, I'm out of ideas, too." I raised one hand and watched it transform into a furry, clawed glove. "Good thing I've been practicing."
Orion checked his watch. "You've got a lot more time to do it, too. We leave an hour before midnight."
It was a long day, but eventually eleven o'clock at night came and we stepped out of the house. The cold, crisp night beneath the cloudy sky was dark.
I expected the door to click shut behind us, but it didn't. I turned around to see Abby slipped out behind us. Orion didn't look at her as he walked forward to the car.
Abby grasped my shoulder and stopped me from following. Her eyes looked into mine as I felt her hand shiver, and it wasn't from the cold. "Please take care of him. He's a naughty boy, but he's all I have."
I smiled at her and nodded. "No problem."
She returned my smile with a small one of hers. "It will be, but I believe you'll try your best, and for that I thank you."
"Come on, Trix. Those cereal boxes aren't going to eat themselves," Orion called from the car.
Abby released my shoulder and wrapped her arms around herself. "Good luck, and keep yourself safe."
I gave her a thumbs up and scurried down the short flight of steps to the car. Unfortunately,
I didn't feel as energetic as my thumb. She left me with quite the dilemma: I either had to protect myself or Orion. Not an easy task, as I was soon to find out.
CHAPTER 15
We puttered our way through the pitch-black night and into the deserted but lit town. An eerie calm had settled over the neighborhoods. Everyone waited for the return of the time-challenged ship with its tag-along fog.
Orion parked us at the park parking lot and we stepped out. A light mist floated over the creeping river. Large icebergs floated down its icy waters. The ice along either side of the shore stretched a third of the distance across the river, meaning there was a third of it in open, freezing-cold water. The remains of a few of the ice sculptors stuck out of the ice and water.
"We should probably leave our phones in the car," Orion suggested.
I grimaced, but nodded. "Yeah, but way to jinx us."
A few cracked giraffes and broken elephants stared at us as we slipped our way down the slope to the edge of the beach. A cool, brief breeze blew over us and made me wrap my arms around myself. The wind left, and the place was completely quiet.
I looked up and down the river. "So we just wait or do we have time to appropriate some snowmobiles and rope for this excursion?"
He glanced over the icy waters. "We'll get as close to the open water as we can and try to jump aboard like that kid did. Fortunately, the ship isn't that fast so we'll have maybe two chances to latch onto the side."
"Has anyone ever tried to wrangle this thing with magic?" I wondered.
He nodded. "Yeah, the second night of the second time it appeared. A few of the wizards and witches knitted their magic together and created a net across the river that hung off the remains of the bridge." He pointed at the two large towering concrete support pillars. "When the ship touched the net the whole thing blew up like a bomb exploded."
"And thus ended the bridge," I finished for him.
He checked his watch. "Yeah, and any other attempts at trying to capture it."
I leaned toward his wrist. "How long do we have until our own demise?"
Orion lowered his arm and looked out across the ice. "Five minutes. We should probably get into position."
I followed his gaze and winced. "You know, I've never been a very good ice skater."
Orion grabbed my hand and tugged me onto the ice. "Then now is the perfect time to learn."
I yelped and grabbed his hand. My legs locked and I found myself being towed across the ice. "Not so fast! Snails can't catch us!"
Orion glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "What's that? You want to go faster?"
I glared at him. "I said I-Orion!" He had picked up speed.
We flew across the ice, he with the agility of a swan and me with the balance of a lame duck. My stiff legs parted and came together in one failed attempt after another to do the splits. We reached the edge of the ice and I slid into Orion's back where I clutched onto his coat.
"I'll get you for that," I warned him through gritted teeth.
He looked to our right which was downstream. "Later. Right now we have a ship to catch."
I glanced down river and saw a large, familiar fog bank rise from the water and banks. The wall of white floated to within fifty yards of us and stopped. The bow of the ship burst from the fog and cut through the swift current. Its sails billowed against an unfelt wind as its ancient wood groaned beneath its own weight. The scent of sea ocean air hit my nostrils and made them tingle.
"I gotta give 'em credit, they know how to make an entrance," I commented.
"We have to get closer," Orion told me.
I blinked at him. "Come again?"
He nodded at the incoming vessel. "We're too far. Even I can't jump to the side from here."
I looked at the gap between the edge of the ice and where the vessel would pass us. It was a wet void with patches of floating ice. One false move and I'd be an ex-reporter.
I shook my head and stepped back. "Oh hell no. I'm not-Orion!" He had swept me into his arms.
"You're not going, but we are," he corrected me.
His shoes burst open as his feet extended into the long form of his wolf feet. Fur covered his toes, but his toe claws extended the fuzz and sunk into the ice. He dug his toes into the chilly ground and pushed off. His claws allowed him traction his pads couldn't provide as he leapt off the edge of the ice. The jagged edges broke off a split second after we became airborne.
"Orion!" I yelped as I clung tight to his neck.
We landed neatly on a floating chunk of ice. The iceberg dipped and tilted beneath our weight. Orion leapt from the block of ice before it flipped over on us. We hopped from iceberg to iceberg, staying one step ahead of the sinking, tipping, flipping and cracking blocks.
The ship came hard upon us, its flapping masts and creaking wood a noisy accompaniment to Orion's claws-on-ice music. All of our landings was punctuated by my involuntary yelps so between the three of us there was music enough to fill a concert hall.
"Get ready to grab the side of the ship!" Orion shouted at me.
I winced and frantically transformed my hands into their clawed states. Orion reached the center of the river just as the ship barreled down on us. He threw me at the side before he followed with a long leap. I hit the hardwood hard and had the breath knocked out of me, but I slammed my hands into the creaking, rotten boards. My claws stuck but my snow boots couldn't find a hold, so I found myself dangling from my hands.
Orion slammed into the wall two feet away from me. He was able to dig in with both his hands and feet.
"You okay?" he called to me.
"Just dandy!" I growled.
He pointed at a black spot some five feet to my left. "That must be what the wizard saw."
I followed his finger and saw a three-foot in diameter circle of swirling blackness. "Toss something into it," I suggested.
Orion pulled a small stick from his coat and tossed it into the vortex. The stick was swallowed by the blackness. We waited.
I looked back to him. "I don't think it's coming back."
He shook his head. "Neither do I."
Orion glanced up. I risked a look myself. Ten feet above us was the deck and the bottom of the three-foot tall railing. A rotten rope dangled over the side and within five feet of us, no doubt left by a careless member of the invisible skeleton crew.
"We have to jump to that rope!" he told me.
I whipped my head to him. "Do I look like I have a stunt double?"
"Do you want to climb ten feet, or jump five?" he pointed out.
I pursed my lips and glanced over my shoulder at the waters beneath us. The blue, freezing river floated past with its iceberg passengers and the occasional piece of trash.
I sighed. "All right, but I get to go first. If I fall you can try for the rope and memorialize me with it."
"If you fall I'll catch you," he assured me.
I took a deep breath and focused on my feet. Cold air broke into my boots as the seams broke open to make room for my Sasquatch feet. I slammed my clawed toes into the wood and wiggled my hands from the boards above me.
"Here goes nothing. . ." I mumbled.
I leaned down and leapt up. My claws came unstuck and I was propelled upward toward the rope. What I didn't count on was the velocity of the ship as it sped up river. My hands flailed for the rope, but it was five feet in front of me and moving quickly away. I also overdid it on the jump up and ended up with my head even with the deck.
Gravity tried to bring me back to reality. I scrambled for something to grab hold of and caught the edge of the deck. My fingernails left little shavings as my body weight slowly pulled me down.
"A little help here!" I yelped.
Orion was behind me a half-second later. He wrapped one arm around me and pressed his body, and mine, against the side of the ship. His grinning face looked down at me with twinkling eyes. "You had to be an overachiever this once, didn't you?"
"Could we talk about this somewhere
else?" I growled.
He looked up at the deck. "We'll drop anchor on the deck and take a look around."
"Let's just hope scurvy isn't catching," I added as he slowly pulled both of us through the bottom of the railing and onto the deck.
I was glad when my belly lay against the rotten wood of the vast deck. Orion was beside me and sat up. "This search could take a while."
I grabbed some air and also sat up. The deck stretched from the bow to the captain's quarters at the rear for a length of some hundred and fifty feet. Cargo hold hatches, the three masts, tangles of wrapped rope, and dozens of barrels littered the deck.
"This would not pass a government inspection," I commented.
Orion climbed to his feet and furrowed his brow. "I wonder what that kid saw that scared the memory out of him."
I glared at him. "Don't jinx-" The face of zombie flashed in front of mine like a blinking light. Its rotten, hollow eye sockets were illuminated by an unnatural bluish light that sank into my soul and filled me with dread.
I screamed and scrambled backward until my back hit the railing. The rotten wood broke beneath my weight and I fell overboard. The deck fell away and the side of the vessel flew past me. Orion appeared over the deck in a swift leap before he pointed straight down at me.
I glanced over my shoulder a split second before my back hit the ice-cold river. The freezing water enveloped me in its heavy chill that sank into my clothes and bones. The surface sank away from me as darkness enveloped my surroundings. Bubbles escaped my mouth as I twisted around and tried to get my bearings in the darkness.
The surface above me-or was it below me?-was broken as Orion swan-dived in after me. He was mostly transformed and his golden eyes zeroed in on me. His powerful arms reached me in a few strokes. He wrapped one arm around my waist and kicked downward which actually turned out to be upward.
We reached the surface and he spun me around so up was up and down was down. I coughed up a bucketful of water as he swam up to solid surface. We reached the edge of the ice where he flung us both over the chilled top.
I glanced over my shoulder. The ship sailed into the fog mist and disappeared. Two nights down, one more to go, but first I had to thaw.
"You. . .you okay?" Orion gasped.
I spit out another cup of water and nodded. "Y-yeah."