Alex Neptune, Pirate Hunter, page 7
“It’s so creepy here,” whispered Zoey. “I think I love it.”
The old house was a warren of shadowy doors and tapering passages that promised secrets. Alex’s ears popped as power pulsed around him. Ripples of it collided in the air, stirred from different places all over the house. If it were wielded against him, Alex didn’t know if he’d be able to seize control of that power to help them. There was no ocean to wet his hands. It made no sense for the power to be here.
Grandpa pulled them all close as they walked. “I won’t let nothin’ happen to yer.”
“Maybe he just wants to talk,” whispered Alex. “It’s been a long time since you knew him.”
“Some people don’t change.”
Erasmus guided them through a high-ceilinged room haunted by furniture cloaked in grubby dust sheets, chunks gouged from the walls to reveal the timbers of the house beneath. A drooping doorway brought them to a staircase, each step groaning in a different key as they climbed.
Yet another hallway at the top was lined with closed doors. Paintings hung between them at irregular heights: portraits of stuffy-looking men with their noses lifted proudly, each sporting the same feeble moustache as Erasmus Argosy. Other paintings depicted the manor in better days, the lands around it still intact and crowded with huts and livestock, before the sea rose to devour them.
“I should commission a portrait of myself,” Zoey mused.
Anil looked thoughtful. “Maybe I could be a great artist and make epic paintings of our adventures.”
“Do you know how to draw?”
“I drew a really good horse once,” Anil said. “The problem was, I was trying to draw my uncle.”
Everybody passed the doors without a second glance. Apart from Alex. He slowed and fell behind the group. The hum of power was louder here. The sea called to him from behind the doors. Wind whistled through the keyholes, carrying the bite of salt and the slimy pungency of seaweed. It beckoned him closer. Dreamily, he reached for the nearest handle.
A hand caught his wrist. Alex looked up sharply to find Argosy standing over him.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” the old man said. “Remember what happened when you tried to force my front door?”
It felt like a warning rather than a threat. A small sign that he might not be against them.
Grandpa seized Argosy’s arm and wrenched it away. “Don’t you dare touch my grandson.”
Erasmus nodded what might have been an apology before he turned to continue leading the way.
“The house has fallen into disrepair, much like my family line,” he said, stopping at a door towards the end of the hall. “Leave anything untended near the sea for too long and it will atrophy. Decline.” He fished in his pocket for a key and fitted it into the lock. As he swung the door open, he glanced at them with a sad smile. “Just look at me, eh?”
Argosy ushered them into a drawing room that must once have been luxurious. The ceiling was high enough that Alex had to crane his neck to see its swirling pattern and golden borders, defaced by flaking paint and thick wads of cobweb. The walls were divided into large square sections, each painted with sea creatures wreathed in flowers. The colours had blanched and succumbed to the spread of black mould. Moth-eaten curtains hung like scruffy capes beside tall windows that offered a sweeping view of the overgrown estate, the cliff edge outside the walls and the ageless sea beyond.
Argosy waved them to a collection of ornate chairs with wide armrests. Dust puffed from the upholstery as they each took a seat. Grandpa was the last to sit, first peering suspiciously around the room as if scanning for hidden attackers.
“You have a lovely home,” said Anil, whose manners would never be daunted by personal danger.
“Yer always did think you was fancy,” said Grandpa. “It never impressed my wife like yer thought it should.”
Erasmus settled into a single wing-backed chair that faced them all. “There were a lot of things I wanted your wife to think, but she never did see things my way.”
“And what’s that supposed to mean, you lecherous old—”
“Stop!” Alex had to hold Grandpa down in his seat. There was still a chance to get the information they needed. Argosy knew about the power of the ocean and maybe he could even control it. That could mean he also knew about the dragon egg and the whereabouts of the next clue that would lead them to it. But they still didn’t know if they could trust him. Alex had to be careful.
“Why have you been following me?” he asked.
Erasmus paused a moment as if choosing his words carefully. “I heard you had power and I had to make sure you weren’t going to cause any trouble.”
Keep your powers hidden. There will be others who will try to take them. The warning echoed in Alex’s mind. If Erasmus Argosy did want to steal his power, maybe Alex could exploit that desire to get the information they needed. He just needed to keep his cool.
“I’m sorry we tried to break in,” he said. “Has anybody else tried recently?”
Argosy looked faintly amused. “You mean pirates?”
“You must have seen them attack the town,” said Alex.
“They should have no reason to knock at my door,” said Erasmus, “and the house is well protected if they do. Self – what do you call it? – preservation is one thing my family always got right.”
“This protection…” The hum of power still tugged at Alex’s mind. “It isn’t…normal.”
Again, Argosy smiled. “You don’t have to be so coy. It’s important you realize there are other ways to possess the magic of the sea. Though I must admit that nothing we have here compares to the power at your fingertips.”
Alex squeezed the arms of his chair with both hands. All at once he felt exposed and in danger. They had been playing a game of cat and mouse and now Alex feared he might be the mouse.
“Yes, I know what you are.” Argosy winced apologetically. “That is to say, I know what you can do. Quite remarkable. No need for trinkets, no scraping the barrel of the past. Yes, powerful indeed, if you know what to do with it.”
“Please stop trying to be so mysterious. It’s boring!” Zoey groaned. “Just tell us what you’re hiding under the house!”
Alex glared at her as Argosy stiffened. Abruptly, the old man fumbled at the table beside him until a hidden panel slipped out. He pressed a button underneath.
Metal cuffs snapped from the armrests of their chairs, clapping over their wrists to bind them in place. Alex tried to pull free, but the thick bands of metal didn’t budge.
Argosy held up a small key. “This is the only way to release them, so you can save your struggling.” He tucked the key away into his jacket pocket.
“Let us go right this second!” bellowed Grandpa, straining against the cuffs.
Zoey appeared transfixed by their restraints. “Obviously I’m annoyed to be captured, but also these are really cool.”
“Underneath this house is the Argosy family crypt,” said Erasmus, continuing the conversation as if he hadn’t just taken them prisoner. “Generations of my ancestors were interred there after lifetimes of fighting to protect the world from the old sea magic.”
Zoey gave Alex a meaningful look. A crypt, underground where the light had pointed, would be the perfect place to hide a clue.
Erasmus was still talking. “All the way back to Emmett Argosy, who was bonded to the Water Dragon.”
Alex’s amazement made him stop pulling at his cuffs. “You’re descended from the people who lived here before the bay was formed.”
“Just like you,” said Argosy. “Emmett Argosy was granted long life at the same time as your grandmother. But he gave it up, along with his control of sea magic, far sooner. He retired to the land shortly after Brineblood’s demise.”
“Whose side was he on?” Grandpa asked bitterly.
“You mean, did he help steal the egg in the first place? I can assure you, he was every bit as horrified by the theft as your wife. They survived the dragon’s destruction of their home together and dedicated themselves to finding the egg so it could be returned. But unlike your dear wife, Emmett actually found it.”
Grandpa moaned as if he had been struck. Alex shook his head, sure it had to be a lie. Grandma had spent centuries fruitlessly searching for the egg while she avoided the Water Dragon’s wrath.
“If he found the egg, he would have returned it to the dragon,” Alex said.
Argosy shrugged. “Brineblood was still – what do they call it? – at large, hunting the dragon and the egg so ruthlessly. It was safer to hide the egg away where it couldn’t be used for evil.”
Sickness roiled in Alex’s gut. The Water Dragon had been devastated by the theft of its egg and had spent centuries grieving its loss. The ocean – the world – had been pushed to the edge of destruction. Long ago there had been enough dragons to keep the seas protected. Gradually they dwindled as people littered, polluted, overfished. Now there was only one Water Dragon left to try and defend the entire ocean from everything that threatened it. No new dragons could be born.
All because one man – one family – had decided to keep the egg secret.
“He had no right.” Alex’s voice was almost a growl.
“Emmett Argosy left a trail that only somebody imbued with sea magic could follow. That’s why he gave up his own power: so that nobody could force him to retrieve the egg. A most noble sacrifice.”
“So you want to use Alex to claim the egg for yourself,” said Zoey. “That’s why you’ve been following him around.”
Argosy blinked. “I don’t desire power. Unlike your friend, Raze Callis, I never resented my ancestor for surrendering his sea magic. My family has worked for centuries to keep that power out of the wrong hands.”
“So it’s your duty to help us,” said Alex. “Brineblood is back and after the egg. We have to get to it first so we can return it to the Water Dragon.”
Argosy shook his head. “I can’t just give up the egg to the first person who asks. Too much is at stake. Emmett Argosy took the secret to his grave!”
Movement on the carpet caught Alex’s attention. A small jug made of cloudy green glass lay upside down. Alex was sure it hadn’t been there before. As he watched, the jug wobbled and began to move steadily across the carpet towards Argosy’s chair.
“My family has made sure the old sea magic wasn’t used for evil, even as it slowly faded from the world.”
The jug continued its journey across the carpet. Its movement snagged Argosy’s attention, forcing Alex to speak quickly and distract him.
“Most of the people with powers were wiped out when the dragon attacked.”
“This is why you can’t be trusted. You don’t understand the extent…” Argosy sighed, looking away from the jug. “Haven Bay is a place of power, linked to the Water Dragon. It never used to be the only one: when there were many dragons, they were each linked to a place, one of many all over the world. Their magic spread around the globe and bonded with people who understood its importance. When the oceans began to suffer, when the magic began to decline, those people found a way to bottle it up and store it inside artefacts so it wouldn’t be entirely lost. My family could never harness the magic directly, but we have collected as many of those artefacts as could be found and stored them safely here.”
“That’s the power I can feel inside this house,” said Alex. “You can use the magic inside the artefacts.”
Argosy nodded. “Only if it’s necessary.”
Once again, the movement of the jug caught his eye.
“Smuggling!” Anil shouted.
The exclamation successfully snatched Argosy’s attention, a frown furrowing his brow.
“I read that your family helped smugglers,” Anil continued. “Wreckers, too. Stealing from ships run aground in the bay.”
“Now just hold on a minute, where did you read…?” Argosy blustered.
“The Water Dragon’s egg isn’t an artefact,” Alex said. “It’s the last chance for a new dragon, of turning the tide against the destruction of the ocean.”
Argosy refocused on him, but now he was flustered. “The egg is too dangerous in the wrong hands. It must remain hidden.”
The jug knocked against the leg of his chair. Argosy shifted to peer towards the sound.
“There’s lots of famous smugglers!” Anil said quickly, making their captor look at him in confusion. “Maybe you can help me write the first history of the dishonourable Argosy smuggling ring?”
“There was never any such thing!” Argosy exclaimed, launching into a tirade defending his heritage.
Meanwhile the jug rolled onto its side. A collection of sandy-red, armoured legs reached from the opening and set about climbing the chair, pulling the jug up after them.
“And that’s why my family can be called many things, but they were never – well, they were rarely – smugglers.” Argosy finished his rant, took a deep breath and focused on Alex again. “I’m sorry it has to be this way. I despair to think of everything that has been lost, that faded away under my family’s watch. I can’t lose what little we have left.”
Anger threatened to boil over inside Alex, but he fought to keep it from his voice. “The magic isn’t lost. The Water Dragon awakened my power because it trusts me to do the right thing. We can bring the magic back from the brink and give the ocean the protection it needs.”
The jug reached the chair seat and settled beside Argosy’s jacket pocket. Gingerly, a crab claw extended from the jug and reached inside. It plucked out the key for their cuffs and stashed it inside the jug.
Argosy was shaking his head. “You will only bring destruction.”
A tremendous boom rocked through the house, making the windows rattle in their frames and chunks of plaster rain from the ceiling. They tried to duck but couldn’t lift their arms to cover their heads.
“That was an explosion,” said Zoey. “I should know, I’ve caused a few.”
Argosy sprang from his seat, knocking the jug to the floor as he rushed to the window. Beyond, the edge of the cliffs gave way to the ocean, where a single ramshackle ship had turned its flank to face them.
“The Flying Dustman,” said Alex.
Another blast shook the walls, almost knocking Argosy off his feet. The floor rumbled but the building remained intact. From such close range, the ship could easily flatten the house. It was almost as if it was aiming somewhere else…
“They’re trying to blast their way inside the cliffs,” Alex said.
Zoey gasped. “So they don’t have to deal with the protections on the house!”
“But how did they know?”
Argosy wheeled around to face them. “You led them here!”
“There’s still time!” Alex pleaded. “Take us to the crypt before the pirates get there first.”
“No, I’ll deal with this myself.” He sounded resigned, as if forced into a decision he’d spent a long time trying not to make. “It’s my duty.”
Argosy hurried away, slamming the door behind him, leaving them all trapped in their seats as another explosion made the whole house quake.
The green glass jug rolled over on the floor and Sheldon’s beady eyes poked from its top.
“We’re saved!” crowed Anil.
The hermit crab’s legs unfurled upside down from the jug and waggled helplessly in the air.
“As soon as somebody saves him,” said Zoey.
An explosion jolted the room hard enough to roll Sheldon back onto his feet. He tapped each leg experimentally against the carpet as if checking they were still attached before launching into a crawl towards them.
“Now we’re saved!” said Anil.
Alex frowned. “Was he always so slow?”
The green jug shell was dragged ponderously along the carpet, the crab stretching each leg cautiously ahead before heaving its weight forward. The key must have made it too heavy.
“The house will be rubble by the time we get free,” Zoey groaned.
“And the pirates will have found the next clue,” added Alex, anxiously watching the hermit crab’s leaden progress.
“Hang on,” said Anil. “If Sheldon is here, doesn’t that mean—?”
The door banged open. Meri hurried into the room and scooped up the crab. Two firm shakes of the jug made the key drop into her palm.
“We thought you’d run away,” said Alex, as she set to work freeing them from the chairs.
“I wouldn’t leave my—” Meri cut herself off, focusing instead on Grandpa’s cuffs. Alex wondered if she was going to say friends. “I’m not part of your usual group so I hoped Argosy wouldn’t realize I was missing.”
“You can’t just disappear—”
“She’s here now!” Zoey shouted as her hands were freed. “If she hadn’t hidden, we’d still be stuck in these chairs. When are you going to stop thinking the worst of her?”
Alex stayed quiet and avoided Meri’s eyes while she released his cuffs.
“I knew that old gasbag was up to no good!” Grandpa blustered, face turning purple. “All this time he knew the egg was safe and sound and he let yer grandma keep searchin’.”
Another blast made the windows rattle. Outside they saw a cannon flash from the deck of The Flying Dustman. The shot pounded the cliff face and a cloud of dust billowed into the air like a fog bank.
“What do they think they’re doing?” shouted Meri, outraged by the dust and plaster that rained down on her head. She pushed Sheldon back into her hair.
Alex rushed for the door. The hallway outside was empty, blisters of plaster scattered across the carpet. Every other door remained firmly closed.
“Argosy will try and move the clue before the pirates get inside,” he said.
“Or he’ll destroy it,” added Zoey.
“We have to find the way down to the crypt.”
The old house was a labyrinth of passageways and rooms tucked behind rooms. Even if they could remember the way back to the stairs, they could spend hours trying to find the right door.
