Secrets of Stone and Sea, page 13
Peter sagged. “Can’t we just take a break for one night?”
“With only days left?” Kai tapped the papers. “Here’s the next clue:
Devils play in stonework grim,
As righteous folk to monsters turn.
Mirror and egg, a simple trick
Returned stony press and the water’s test.
Then voices taunt and needles prick,
And visions, both wicked and stern,
With twisted words the mind bedim.”
Kai slid the printout of the spooky Massachusetts locations toward Peter. “Here. You cross-reference. Do we see anything in there about devils?”
But Peter didn’t move. “Are we sure we’re doing the right thing?”
Kai looked up, frowning. “What else should we be doing? We have to stop the Sea.”
“Why?”
Kai stared blankly and gestured to the rain slapping against the window.
Peter raised his hands. “Okay, I know why. But, then, from doing what? We don’t even know why the Sea wants to attack us so badly. And that’s not all. These seals … all these defenses are against us, not the Sea. So maybe there’s no way to stop this. Maybe we should just warn as many people as we can and prepare for the flood.”
“The flood? Like the one that sank an entire island?” Kai glanced back at Grandma, and then dropped his voice. “The Sea is dangerous, Peter! It will destroy Seaspire. Grandma’s home. And it might not stop there. I don’t know why the seals are guarded like they are. Maybe it’s to prevent humans from trying to raise the Sea.”
“But that doesn’t make any sense! We raised the Sea by accident. Now that we’re trying to bind him again, why are we facing all this trouble?”
“I don’t know!” Kai scratched his neck, his gaze distant. “Maybe it’s a ‘pure of heart’ thing. This could be a test, to make sure we’re worthy of our quest.”
Heat bloomed in Peter’s chest. “This isn’t a quest, and you’re not a knight.”
Kai scowled. “I could be, and so could you, if you weren’t so ready to give up all the time. Like when we went rafting.”
“Oh, you mean when ‘giving up’ and calling for help would have kept us from going over a waterfall?”
“We were fine, and now we have a story to tell.”
“You can’t tell stories if you’re dead!” Peter clenched his fists. “These seals are dangerous,” he said. “What if they’re more dangerous than the Sea?”
“Then that’s a risk we have to take. It all comes down to this: Do you want the Sea to flood the land?”
No, Peter didn’t want that. So he sighed, and picked up the printout. “Massachusetts has a lot of devils,” he said a few minutes later.
Kai glanced over. “No kidding. A devil’s footprint? Do you think that’s the one?”
Peter scanned that entry. “It doesn’t say anything about mirrors or eggs. I don’t think it’s our solution.”
“Grandma?” Kai said. “You okay?”
Peter looked up to see Grandma staring out the window, the platter hanging loosely from her hand. She turned around, brow furrowed. “Did you say ‘mirrors and eggs’?”
“Yeah, he did.” Kai held out the paper. “It’s in the riddle. Why?”
Grandma set down the platter and limped to the table. She sat down and took the riddle from Kai. “Righteous folk to monsters turn,” she read. “And mirror and egg.” With a laugh, she added, “I should have guessed you’d go there eventually.”
As the twins waited, Grandma looked up. “In 1692, two girls, Betty Parris and Abigail Williams, tried to see the future with a mirror and egg. Soon after, they began having fits and complained of being poked and pricked with pins. They blamed these seemingly supernatural attacks on witches, particularly three women in the town.” She eyed the boys. “Do you know where this happened?”
Peter searched the paper. “Salem,” he said. “It started the witch trials.”
Kai slammed a hand on the table. “So the next seal is in Salem!”
“Looks like it.” Grandma rose from the table and grabbed her sword cane. “I’ll take you there tomorrow. I’d been planning a day trip to Salem since you arrived. Just don’t leave without me.”
Kai and Peter nodded, and Grandma went to the hall. “I’d better see if the others are willing to come down for dinner. If not, we’ll just order pizza. I’ll call early; I don’t want the poor driver to feel they have to rush in this storm.”
She disappeared, and Kai grinned at Peter. “Salem. That was easy.”
“Good thing Grandma knows so much about history.”
“So that’s settled.” Kai pushed the riddles aside and picked up a picture.
Peter glanced over. “What’s that?”
“A scan Mom sent me. She found more Atlantean writing on her dig, so she sent me pictures so I can translate them. They look like they came from some kind of monument.” Kai started making notes in the margins with a blue pen.
Peter picked at some dried egg on the tablecloth, but soon got bored. “Okay,” he said. “Tell me what it says.”
Kai shrugged. “Just a lot of stuff about glorifying the island of Atlantis, ‘which shall be written in sunlight.’ Huh,” he said, bringing the paper almost to his nose. “That’s strange.”
“What?”
“The symbol for island,” Kai said. “It has a secondary meaning. It also means ‘twins.’”
“Also?”
“Yeah. Several other words in Atlantean also translate to ‘twins.’ Like ‘sea,’” Kai explained. “I wonder why so many words have that meaning.”
Twins. Two people. Like how the ritual required twins to toss the bloodied hot dog into the water.
Kai tapped the pen against the picture. “Maybe they’re talking about us,” he said, beaming. “We’re twins. Maybe it’s our destiny to stop the Sea and save the world.”
Of course Kai would think that. But Peter had come to another conclusion. “Twins means two,” he said. “More than one. Kai, what if it wasn’t the Sea that destroyed Atlantis?”
Kai frowned. “What are you talking about?”
“Twins. Two! Something else could have been involved.”
Kai’s eyes widened, but then he smiled gently. “No way. The Sea told us that it destroyed Atlantis, right?”
Peter sank back in his seat. “Yeah, that’s right.” The Sea had promised to not fail this time. It had done something before. It must have been the one to drown Atlantis.
Still, the feeling that something was wrong here lingered.
How could Peter hunt down another seal when he was sure he didn’t know the whole story?
Not knowing got people hurt.
Kai was still admiring the scan. “It’s amazing,” he said. “This copper plate has to be hundreds of years old, if not thousands, and it’s really well preserved, for how old it is. No corrosion at all.” He laughed. “Maybe the Atlanteans used mayonnaise to keep it clean, like Grandma with her platter.”
“Maybe it’s magic,” Peter said sarcastically. He got up, leaving Kai to his translations. Not long later, Grandma’s pizza came by way of a sopping-wet teenager and everyone trickled through the kitchen, one by one, to pick up a slice and go back to their separate corners as another storm pounded the house.
Peter sat in his room, eating a slice of pepperoni piece by torn piece, and thinking about Kai’s words. Twins. Two. Could there be another threat out there? One that was worse than the Sea?
Then he heard a scream from the bathroom. Dropping what was left of his pizza, he rushed into the hall.
Sophie was backing out of the bathroom. When Peter looked inside, he saw why.
The shower sprayed ice-cold water. It smelled like salt. Seawater.
The toilet gurgled with more seawater. As Peter watched, seaweed slopped out of the bowl with a wet smack.
In the sink, more water bubbled out. Peter tried to plug it with a towel, water hammering against his hands and spilling out over his elbows. It held for a second before the water shot the towel at the ceiling. Peter cowered as the sink became a geyser.
“Grandma!” Peter yelled, coughing on water. Sophie had already run downstairs.
“It’s happening down here, too!” Grandma called.
Seaweed floated in the growing tide in the bathroom. Peter spotted several silver fish and even a sea star.
He shut the door, but even as he did, the hall had already started to flood.
Peter splashed downstairs, where Sophie kicked water uselessly out of the front door, and more seawater gushed out of the kitchen sink. Grandma shoved handfuls of rags into the disposal. “It started without warning,” she said. “This has never happened before.”
There was a yell and splash upstairs as Dad discovered the bathroom.
“Sophie, honey, can you go give your dad a hand?” Grandma said. Sophie, face pale, nodded and went upstairs, struggling against the river pouring down the stairs.
Kai ran into the kitchen. “Got it!” he said, holding up a can of quick-setting foam.
“Great. Give it here.” Grandma sprayed the foam into the sink. For a moment, the water slowed, and then it stopped.
The boys and Grandma watched the makeshift plug. But then, like the towel, it shot out of the sink like a blown soda cap and water geysered into the kitchen.
“Plan B,” Grandma said. “Grab the essentials and get out of here.”
Kai ran to his papers and shoved them into his backpack. Peter ran upstairs to grab clothes. Sophie and Dad were trying to hold the bathroom door against a tide of water that sprayed out through the crack.
“We’re evacuating,” Peter told them. “Grandma says get your stuff.”
Sophie, wet hair sticking to her face, abandoned the door and rushed to retrieve her laptop and textbooks. Dad braced against the door, wincing as it shuddered against his hurt arm. “The Sea,” he said. “It really hates you.”
Peter had to agree. He scooped his clothes and personal belongings into his bag. By now, his toothbrush would be submerged in salt water.
With a loud shatter, the storm broke the windows. Water ran down the walls. In the hall, the door burst open and tides of water rushed out to fill the bedrooms.
Grandma’s house was flooding.
Peter fought the waist-high current as he went downstairs. Dad was by the door, a backpack over one shoulder. “Here!” he called, waving Peter to the door.
Once Peter was out of the house, Dad escaped behind him and tried to push the door shut, but gave up because the water was too strong.
Kai, Grandma, and Sophie were waiting outside. Seawater spilled over the lawn as they crowded into Grandma’s car.
Together, they fled the rising sea.
“There’s a place here in Seaspire we should be safe,” Grandma said. “The Widow’s Walk. It’s not far.”
“It better be far enough,” Dad said, eyeing the ocean.
As they drove through the storm to safety, Kai threw Peter a grin.
Why? What possible reason did Kai have to smile? First Dad, now Grandma’s house. Did Kai enjoy seeing his family get hurt because of their actions?
“The Sea is angry. We must be getting closer,” Kai whispered.
So that was it. The stupid quest again.
Kai never thought about the consequences. He never thought ahead. And Peter was left to see the bad choices made and pick up the pieces. He simmered as rain pounded on the top of the car.
CHAPTER 16
WELCOME TO SALEM
KAI
“The Widow’s Walk” turned out to be a touristy bed-and-breakfast on the inland side of Seaspire. According to Grandma, it had a history that went back beyond the Revolutionary War. It certainly smelled like it.
Kai felt ready to go when he climbed out of bed the next morning. They knew the next seal was in Salem, Massachusetts, so no matter what the Sea threw at them, they had the power to take action. And in such a well-known town, whatever guarded the seal couldn’t be as deadly as the Hoosac trap.
Still, Kai felt a twinge of unease. What Peter had said, about the seals being protected by traps that seemed designed to stop humans, not the Sea itself, made a little too much sense. Why set them if you wanted people to send the Sea away?
Stories change over time. Things are lost, misunderstood.
No. There had to be a reason. The Sea was dangerous, and it apparently didn’t like the seals. That was good enough for Kai to keep searching for them and have Peter activate them.
Dad was the only one waiting in the dining hall when Kai and Peter came down for breakfast. “Where’s Grandma?” Kai asked.
“At her house, seeing how damaged it is.” Dad sighed. “I hope we can save the foundation.”
Kai hoped they could save her weapons.
“And Sophie?” Peter asked.
He was answered by Sophie pushing past them, in her work shirt. “I’ve gotta go,” she said.
“Are you okay?” Kai called.
“Fine, just fine!” Sophie ran out the door.
“I guess she’s not coming,” Kai said. “We can meet Grandma at her place. She said she’d take us to Salem.”
The corners of Dad’s mouth drooped. “I think … I think it’s best if we let Grandma deal with her house today. She has her hands full. I’ll take you to Salem.”
“Really?” Peter asked. “Are you sure you’re up for this?”
Dad’s eyes flicked to his cast. “I am. I know this is something you need to do. But listen to me right now. No lingering, no playing the hero. We find the seal, Peter activates it, and we leave. Got it?”
“Got it.” This was another win for the good guys!
“Okay. Now, let’s order and eat. We have a long day ahead.”
After the boys placed their breakfast orders, Peter said, “Maybe we should go help Grandma.”
“We are helping her,” Kai said. “By finding the fourth seal and activating it.”
“Yeah, but her house flooded. The Sea attacked her, trying to get to us. You care about that, right?”
Kai thought about how Peter acted after Hoosac. Sure, he felt bad about Dad, too, but Dad would be okay. If they hadn’t gone, hadn’t activated the seal, much worse would have happened to Dad, and Grandma and Sophie and everyone else. It was for the greater good.
“Of course I care. But if this means the Sea is scared,” Kai said, “then I say it’s a good sign.”
Peter dropped the subject with a huff, and they ate breakfast with minimal conversation.
After Dad paid the bill, they left the bed-and-breakfast. They still had to go back to Grandma’s house to borrow her car.
Clumps of seaweed surrounded the door at Grandma’s house. Her furniture, patterned with sand, had been brought outside to dry. Grandma herself was hanging a rug on a line to dry next to a crate of old knives.
When she saw them, she smiled. “With your dad today, then?”
Kai nodded. “Sorry.”
“Me too. But it’s for the best. I’ve been meaning to clean house for a while. None of my weapons were harmed. Would you like to borrow one?”
Dad blanched. “No, Mom!” As Kai reached for the knife she offered, Dad pushed him back. “But we do need your car.” After a second, he asked, looking at the house, “How bad is it?”
“We’ll see. I called someone to come by and look at the damage. I should know tonight.” Grandma smiled again, but sadly. She held out her keys. “Go make the Sea pay.”
Dad accepted them. “Come on, boys.”
Peter turned to leave, but Kai hesitated and peered inside the house. Wet sand and seaweed speckled the floor. Water damage marred the walls and floors. Everything smelled like salt and rotting fish. Could anyone fix all that up?
“Go, Kai,” Grandma said, and Kai climbed into the car, vowing revenge on the Sea.
Peter was silent on the drive to Salem. This didn’t bother Dad, who spent the drive explaining the history of Salem.
Kai had heard of Salem, Massachusetts, before. Who hadn’t? It was a famous place, the location of the infamous Salem Witch Trials. And Grandma had explained about the mirror-and-egg trick. But as they rode to Salem, Kai looked it up on Dad’s phone.
“It says here the accused witches who didn’t confess were executed,” Kai said. “But the ones who did, and named other witches, were set free. That doesn’t make any sense!” Kai added, looking at his dad. “If they were innocent, why would they confess to something that wasn’t true?”
Dad shrugged. “It was the culture of the place, and the time. The people of Salem believed in repentance over truth, in this case. But it meant that the women accused could easily save themselves by accusing someone else, and then that woman, or man, would have to either confess or be executed themselves.” Dad sighed.
“‘More than two hundred people were accused. Twenty were executed,’” Kai read. “Why did it happen?”
“Religious and social culture.” Dad smiled sadly. “We covered this in my class, when we read The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which is about the witch trials. First, you have to understand that the people of Salem really believed in witchcraft. It was as real to them as, well, Grandma’s Damascus knife is to us. And Salem was a very divided place. There were plenty of disputes over land, and there were feuds, and other issues that gave the people reasons to want others tormented or dead. With that, it was easy to believe your enemies were using witchcraft against you. And it was easy to get rid of those enemies by accusing them of witchcraft.” Dad cocked his head. “Rebecca Nurse, one of the figures in The Crucible, was accused and executed as a witch, likely because of a feud her family had with her accuser’s family.”
Kai sank back in silence. It didn’t seem real that a whole town would suddenly turn on one another, accusing friends and neighbors of dark magic. For a moment, Kai wondered if the location of the seal could have influenced them in a similar, if darker, way, like the way the gate at the lighthouse influenced him and his brother. He wondered if the “dark magic” in Salem was the very thing they were trying to find, and if the accused people were innocent of any real crime.
But then Kai looked at Peter, who hadn’t spoken a word to him since they left the Widow’s Walk. Peter had seemed angry with Kai even without the influence of dark magic, before this whole mess started.
