Alex Neptune, Pirate Hunter, page 5
“The control panel is too modern,” Meri answered sheepishly. “So I thought it might be covering the original controls.”
It all felt a little too simple to Alex. He glanced at Zoey to see if she thought the same, but his best friend only looked impressed.
The floor in front of the control panel was scraped as if the metal casing had been opened before now. Alex glanced a question at Meri but she simply nodded at the hidden handle.
“We have to hurry. The lighthouse keeper will be back soon.”
The brass felt cold and brittle, in danger of breaking off. He turned it carefully, wincing as it creaked stiffly around.
Clunk.
Immediately, the lantern began to slow. The glass of the lenses rippled and shifted before flushing green as if dye was pouring inside.
Alex recognized the colour: it was the same luminous green that shone from the Water Dragon’s scales when it summoned its powers.
The lantern juddered to a halt. A steady beam of bright green light sliced decisively through the night.
“Great, you broke it,” said Zoey.
Meri sighed. “Maybe that was just the off button.”
“Who turned out the lights?” Anil called from the other side of the room.
Alex looked at them quizzically. “There isn’t time for jokes! This is it. We can follow the light.”
Zoey looked baffled while Meri watched him closely.
“But there’s no light to follow,” she said.
Alex laughed and pointed at the beam, bright enough to make him shield his eyes. “You don’t see that?”
The girls looked up at the lantern easily. Nearby, Anil stumbled into a table and yelped in pain.
“I can’t see anything!”
“Either he’s delusional or this is an ancient sea powers thing,” said Zoey.
Nobody but Alex could see the green light. It was an ancient sea powers thing. That must be why Brineblood – who had given up his magic – needed Alex to help follow the trail to the egg.
A smile broke across Meri’s face. “Where is it pointing?”
Alex stepped to the windows and pressed his forehead to the glass so he could peer past the glare. The beam angled away from town and instead pointed towards the cliffs at the far edge of the bay. The light cast a perfect round spot on the cliff face, where gulls and other seabirds flapped in annoyance at their rude awakening.
“It’s just cliffs,” said Alex. “There’s nothing there.”
But as he stared longer, a shape became clear on top of the cliff. A single square of yellow, like light in a window. Alex strained his eyes until he could make out the shadow of a large house in the darkness, set a little way back from the cliff edge.
“The Argosy house,” he said.
“It’s been empty for decades,” said Zoey.
“Not any more.” Alex pointed to the square of light. “Somebody’s put a light on.”
Heavy footsteps on the stairs startled them away from the window. There was nowhere to run. Alex hurried to grab the hidden lever and cranked it back. The lenses rippled and the green light flushed warmly yellow again. The lantern creaked and whirred back to its routine rotation.
The lighthouse keeper crested the top of the stairs, otters dangling from his arms and clinging stubbornly to his legs. “Trespassers! Meddling with my light! You cannot fathom the peril you provoke by extinguishing the lantern!”
“Actually, modern ships are fitted with GPS and electronic chart displays that—” Zoey began explaining.
The lighthouse keeper herded them down the stairs, complaining the entire way.
“There was I, hosting a dinner party for important guests, when some senseless children strand themselves on the rocks! Then while I hasten to their salvation, more senseless children go meddling with my light!”
“We’re really sorry,” said Anil. “Please apologize to your guests for me.”
“I’d petition for better security out here, but they never listen,” the lighthouse keeper continued. “First it was pirates and now it’s kids!”
Alex craned back to look at him. “Wait, when were pirates here?”
They had reached the ground floor. The keeper hustled them out of the door.
“Last week, extinguishing the lantern just like you!” He pointed across the concrete platform to where the frayed wires poked from the ground. “And they stole my backup generator!”
As soon as they were clear of the rusted steps, the lighthouse keeper let them go and stormed back inside, slamming the door behind him.
“He wasn’t as frightening as all the stories make out,” said Anil, sounding a little disappointed. “I hope whoever writes our story doesn’t just make stuff up.”
Bridget and Gene sat on some rocks, clothes dripping and hair plastered to their faces. Bridget’s mascara had run dark tracks down her cheeks.
“I’m totally getting the hang of the whole sailing thing,” she said.
The boat had been freed from the rocks and was still afloat, but the short mast was listing badly, sails torn and tangled.
“I don’t know how we’re going to get back,” said Gene.
“Don’t worry about it,” Alex said, ushering them all aboard.
Once everybody was settled on the benches, Alex dipped a hand into the water and called for help. Moments later a pair of dolphins surfaced, clicking busily, and took some trailing ropes in their mouths.
Gene gaped. “So the stories about you are true.”
“Probably not all of them,” said Alex.
The dolphins drew them carefully away from the rocks and soon they were skimming quickly towards the lights of town.
Alex turned on Meri. “Why didn’t you tell us the pirates had already been there?”
She cowered against the side of the boat, but her jaw tightened with determination. “I didn’t know. I must have still been hiding.”
“They might already be ahead of us on the trail.”
Zoey shifted to sit beside Meri, putting a hand protectively on her shoulder. “Not if you’re the only one who can see the light.”
“We can’t risk it. We have to find out why it points to the Argosy house,” said Alex. “And we have to do it fast.”
The tide was high and heads bobbed in and out of the bay, creating ripples that sparkled in the early morning sun. The school swimming club – including Anil – was racing laps around a course marked out by bright yellow buoys.
By the time they had returned from the lighthouse it was too late to investigate the Argosy house itself, but they’d wasted no time getting together the next morning to discuss plans.
“The Argosy family is probably the oldest in Haven Bay,” Alex explained to Meri. They sat on the sea wall, kicking their feet against the concrete. “They were the local lords. So they collected taxes, settled local disputes, all that kind of stuff. Every local history book is full of their names. The Argosy manor has been outside town for centuries.”
“But no Argosy has lived there for decades,” said Zoey, picking up the story. “It’s supposed to be haunted. People who go near say they can hear waves breaking and ropes creaking inside.”
“This town seems to think everything is haunted,” said Meri.
It was easy to believe about the Argosy manor. The crumbling old house sat empty on the cliffside, inspiring tall tales of what tragedy must have befallen the surviving heirs.
Yet Alex had seen a light in the window. Surely that meant somebody was finally home. And that meant it was too dangerous to go up there without finding out as much as they could first. As soon as it opened, the library would be their first stop.
“The whole town would know if an Argosy was back,” said Zoey.
“Not if they were trying not to be noticed,” Alex countered.
Shielding his eyes, he looked towards the water, trying to pick Anil out from the racing crowd. He was probably the swimmer being hampered by a seagull who kept dropping litter on his head.
“Why are they swimming in circles?” asked Meri.
“They’re training to compete against other schools,” said Zoey.
“Competing at what?”
“Uh…swimming.”
“What’s the point of that?”
Zoey blinked, momentarily lost for words. “Anil really wants to be the best.”
“My parents taught me to swim as soon as I could walk, in case I ever fell into the water. Staying afloat was more important than being fast,” Meri said matter-of-factly, before pointing towards the swimmers. “Anyway, right now he’s only fifth best.”
It was true: although Anil was clearly swimming as fast as he could, he was beginning to fall behind the pack.
Alex turned his attention to the far side of the bay. The cliffs curved away from them, the headland with the broken church at its top hiding any view of the Argosy manor.
“The Argosy family might go back far enough to have always known the Water Dragon is real,” said Alex. “Maybe they were even after the egg.”
Zoey’s eyes went wide. “And maybe they found a clue that leads to it.”
“The light pointed directly under the house. Are there caves or anything there like the dragon tunnels under the church?”
“No idea. Anil might have heard stories.”
Returning their gaze to the swimmers, they found their friend still trailing behind. As he passed the breakwater that extended out from the beach, one of the rocks seemed to separate and slip into the water. A seal, racing through the surf towards the swimmers.
“Uh oh,” said Alex.
Loaf caught up easily and ducked underneath Anil to lift him out of the water. Then the seal launched after the leading swimmers, Anil a captive passenger on his back. Loaf barrelled through the pack, leaving flailing limbs and shaking fists in his wake, before he hurled Anil forwards with so much force that he skimmed on the surface of the water over the finish line.
Zoey swung her legs off the wall and stood up. “Looks like practice is over.”
Anil protested for the entire walk to the library.
“I would have caught up by myself!” he insisted, seawater still dripping from his hair. “I was just waiting for the right moment to strike.”
“It’s usually best to strike before the race is over,” said Zoey.
“I’m beginning to think swimming might not be my special talent,” Anil said dejectedly. “So what else can I be the best at?”
Pinch thumped down onto his shoulder and nuzzled his cheek. Anil scritched the top of the bird’s head.
“You’re good with animals,” suggested Alex.
“Yeah, but stories will only talk about your magic bond with them.”
Zoey groaned. “If you care so much about stories, why don’t you tell us what you know about the Argosy family?”
“There’s not much to know. They’re super secretive,” said Anil. “There are rumours they had a hand in local smuggling, but I’ve never seen evidence to back it up. The records about the Argosy family are confidential. You’ll have to convince the library to give them up.”
A sly grin spread across Zoey’s face. “I think I can manage that.”
Shortly after Mayor Parch was kicked out of town for conspiring with Raze Callis to capture the Water Dragon, the library moved back into the building he had taken for his office. Grand columns flanked heavy double doors and tall rows of colourful bookshelves beckoned them inside. Bays of computers lined the walls and children lounged in beanbags arranged around the plush red carpet, absorbed in books and comics.
Meri’s eyes bulged. “I’ve never seen so many books.”
“Isn’t it magnificent?” said Zoey.
“They’re not wet or mouldy!” Meri gaped at the shelves like she might start stuffing books into her pockets. “I bet they don’t even have sand fleas!”
A desk at the back of the library guarded a shady doorway beyond. A sign hung from the ceiling: TOWN ARCHIVE.
Zoey slapped a small bell on the desk.
“Oh no,” drawled a voice from the other side of the doorway. “It’s her.”
Sugden the librarian ducked into view and unfolded to full height. He pushed his glasses up his nose and then snatched the bell away before Zoey could ring it again.
“How did you know it was me?” she asked.
“A shiver tiptoed down my spine and the tea leaves in my cup spelled ‘danger’,” said Sugden. “Plus nobody else in town uses my bell as if they’re trying to pulverize it.”
Zoey looked thoughtful. “Does anybody else in town use your bell at all?”
Sugden paused. “No.”
“So you should be happy that we need your expertise.”
“Oh yes, I’m thrilled.”
Zoey leaned on the desk. “We need information about the Argosy manor.”
An eyebrow twitch betrayed Sugden’s icy demeanour, the closest the librarian could come to showing open curiosity.
“What can you tell us?” Anil asked eagerly.
Sugden reached under his desk and retrieved a dog-eared book: A Long Stay in Haven Bay. The librarian flipped to a particular page and spun the book around so they could see.
“There used to be more land on that side of the bay,” he said. “A fishing hamlet. Everything but the church was swallowed by the sea years ago.”
The page showed a foggy brown and white photograph of small, lopsided huts leaning against each other. Fishermen and women posed stiffly with wooden pipes clamped between their teeth. Instead of a cliff, the land sloped smoothly down to the water, mere steps from their front doors.
“Look!” Anil jabbed a finger at the photograph. In the background, a man stood separately from the other sailors. He had a dark moustache and wore an embroidered kurta, belted around the middle with a braided sash. “I didn’t know there were any lascars in Haven Bay.”
Sugden nodded. “A handful, over the years. Indian sailors were often vital crewmen, but ship’s captains would abandon them once a voyage was over.”
“They had to work harder than anybody else to distinguish themselves and keep their spot.” Anil still looked at the photograph, but his eyes had grown distant.
“The Argosy family owned the huts and the boats these people used, but wouldn’t live too close to the rabble,” Sugden said. “They built their house far enough away that it survived the cliff fall. But most of the sailors and fishermen had no choice but to seek a new life elsewhere.”
The lighthouse beam had pointed to the cliff face underneath the house. Whoever left the trail of clues might have done it hundreds of years ago. If there had been more land there then, the light might now be pointing to something that no longer existed. But Alex couldn’t just give up.
“Do you know anything about the house?” he asked.
“It’s big.” Sugden sniffed. “And empty.”
Not so empty any more. “Are there any Argosys left?”
“If he still lives, Erasmus Argosy would be the last surviving member of the much-diminished Argosy dynasty.” Sugden smiled tightly, all too pleased about the old family’s downfall.
“I’m sure I’ve heard that name before…” said Anil.
“The Argosy clan was supremely secretive,” said Sugden. “Even I don’t know much about them and I know almost everything.”
“You must have been tempted to snoop in their records,” said Zoey. “Find all their dealings, maybe building plans for the house…”
Sugden lifted himself to full height like a bird preparing to defend its nest. “You haven’t told me why you’re so interested.”
Zoey pressed a hand to her chest as if offended. “I just want to make sure our town archivist knows his stuff.”
“Those records are confidential. Never in a thousand lifetimes would I violate such a sacred trust.”
“If you let us look at them, I’ll leave and never bother you again,” offered Zoey.
“Deal.” The librarian spun on his heel. “Let me see what I can find.” He ducked away through the doorway and into the gloom of the archives.
Alex realized that Meri and Anil were no longer beside them. He turned to find Meri with her nose buried inside a book, eyes scanning rapidly from side to side. Gasping as if she had discovered some great secret, she threw the book onto a teetering pile clutched in Anil’s arms.
“Maybe that’s enough reading material for now,” squeaked Anil, legs shaking under the weight.
Meri halted in the middle of reaching for another book. Her pale cheeks flushed when she saw they were all watching. “Sorry. There weren’t many books on the rig. Occasionally we found one in the water, but fish had usually eaten the ending.”
A howl of distress rang from inside the archive. Nobody else was supposed to go back there, but Zoey didn’t hesitate before leaping over the desk and through the doorway. Alex hurried behind.
Long shelves were lined up so close together that Alex had to shuffle sideways to move between them. Every inch of space was stuffed with heavy books and browning papers, bulging cardboard boxes and spilling files. There were no windows and the only light hummed from dim fluorescent tubes overhead. Their feet slapped thunderously on the concrete floor, kicking up dust to float hazily on the air.
A peal of piteous sobbing led them to Sugden, collapsed on his knees between shelves.
“Were you attacked?” asked Zoey, readying her fists to fight. “I bet there are feral moles in here or something.”
“My archive…ruined!” Sugden cried, lifting eyes that brimmed with tears behind his steamy glasses. “My life’s work reduced to nought.”
Alex cast around the archive for any sign of danger. More footsteps approached but it was only Anil and Meri catching up.
“Missing!” sobbed Sugden. “A whole category of records missing.”
Every inch of shelf was stuffed to bursting. But the space in front of the librarian was completely bare, like a single slice of cake taken from the whole.
“I’m so sorry,” said Anil, looking almost as stricken as the librarian.
“Maybe you moved them and forgot,” suggested Zoey.
Sugden glared at her fiercely as if she had used his oldest file as a handkerchief. “My filing system is the most rigorous ever to bless this disorderly town. If records are missing, it’s because somebody else has taken them.”
