Samheed opened his mouth to shoot off a retort, but Sky caught his eye and her look stopped him. She took Samheed by the arm and led him a few steps away, whispering, “He’s upset about Simber, not you. And Florence, of course. Any chance you can let this one slide?”

Samheed frowned, but then shrugged. “I guess I could let one dumbhead remark go. Just this once.”

Alex, gazing off over the water, turned abruptly and went down the stairs to the deck below to get away from the cat and nurse his wounds—to his pride, and also to his heart from the loss of their beloved Florence.

The Quest Continues

There was little time to mourn.

After a while, Alex realized the captain was waiting for instructions. And since the volcanic activity had halted and Pirate Island stood quiet, he knew they needed to make their approach before it was too late. Florence would have wanted them to continue with the quest—Alex knew that well enough. He made his way back to the top deck. “To the island, Captain,” Alex said.

The ship, sturdy and strong as ever in spite of the hole in the main deck, was soon sailing along at a fast pace, and the subdued passengers tried to forget their shock and sadness by cleaning up the mess made by the rocking ship.

Alex ignored Simber, even though he was dying to ask him if he knew anything more about Florence—like did she breathe? But he couldn’t bear to be publicly rebuffed again, for failing to find out if everyone on his team breathed or not. Who even thinks about such things? Besides, finding out the answer now didn’t matter. She was either dead or alive somewhere in this vast sea, and either way they’d probably never see her again.

Simber flew out ahead of the ship now, perhaps so that no one could see his face. “Not that I care,” Alex muttered rather incoherently. He needed a new plan now that they didn’t have Florence.

It was with great pain to his soul that he realized they didn’t actually need Florence to punch a hole through the glass skylight. Simber could do it just as easily. So she could have stayed safe in Artimé after all. Of course, then it would have been someone else getting dragged off by the eel. Probably Simber. “Not that I care,” he muttered again, louder.

Ms. Octavia looked at him. “When people say that,” she said, “they usually mean the opposite. And I suspect you care a great deal about whatever it is you’re struggling with.” The octogator swished over to Alex. “Did I miss something?”

Alex laughed bitterly. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Alex looked at Simber. He was sure the cat could hear. The cat hears all and knows all—Alex had that ingrained in his memory well enough by now. “No, thank you.”

Ms. Octavia followed Alex’s gaze. “Ah. I see.” She put a tentacle on Alex’s arm. “He’s feeling guilty, thinking he should have saved her. They were very close friends. You know,” she said, turning to look at Alex, “I just realized how alike you two are. No wonder you’ve finally clashed.”

Alex turned toward Ms. Octavia and studied her for a moment. “You’ve lost your glasses,” he said finally.

“Yes,” she said with a rueful smile. “They’re at the bottom of the sea now. Siggy will find me another pair from his costume box once we get home, I suppose.”

Alex’s chest tightened. Tears sprang to his eyes. He remembered the last time Ms. Octavia had lost her glasses—on the day Artimé came back to life. Alex had picked them up for her, overjoyed at the sight of her yet still heartbroken because he had to tell her the news that Mr. Today was dead.

Now, with Florence gone and Simber mad, he leaned forward, elbows on the railing, and buried his face in his hands. “I’m so sorry,” he choked out.

Ms. Octavia patted Alex’s back. “There, there,” she said. “It’s just a pair of glasses! And I’ll tell you a secret—they were purely for vanity. I assure you I can see perfectly.”

Alex sighed and breathed in and out. “I know,” he said. He kept his face covered. “Mr. Today told me.”

“Oh, that Marcus, what a stinker! He wasn’t supposed to tell,” Ms. Octavia said with a laugh, but her eyes shone, and soon she was weeping openly. “And now Florence. Oh, dear Alex. You’ve been thoroughly wrung out in ways most of us will never understand.”

Alex couldn’t speak. After a few minutes, as Captain Ahab guided the ship to the south side of Pirate Island, Alex squeezed the end of one of Ms. Octavia’s tentacles and patted the top of it. “Thank you,” he said.

And then he sniffed, composed himself, and took his place at the bow of the ship to address the fractured team, for it was also his job to bring them all together once more.

The Bird’s-Eye View

It was back to business, and the first team was off to Pirate Island. Alex shoved his feelings aside, more determined than ever not to let anything get in the way of this mission. He could not mess up again.

“Do you see anyone?” he whispered a short while later.

“Not on the upper level,” Sky said. She leaned over the skylight of the reverse aquarium—the glassed-in, undersea island habitat that was built around a volcano. She scooped water and sand out of the shallow window well to get a clearer look. Crow pushed in beside her, and Carina, who had seen Copper briefly on their last visit and knew what she looked like, crouched on the other side of the glass. Next to her was a large coil of rope, just in case they had a chance to make a fast rescue.