A re you…tripping the light fantastic?” Herbie asked.

Emma shook her head. “It was weird,” she said. Her voice was shaking. “I heard things people were saying across the room. I’m pretty sure it was because of the water.”

“Dude, that is so not fair. I just heard a bunch of sailors talking about rope.”

“It was bad.”

“What did you hear?” he asked.

She told him about her mom supposedly having special powers, and that she was being brought to Hydra on a ship called the Newton Eel, which was run by the same woman who had executed her, Captain Gent. When she got to the description of her mom walking up the gangplank and shouting out nonsense, Emma choked on the words and fought back tears.

“They’re going to kill her,” Emma squeaked.

Herbie stopped walking. He looked chagrined.

“I know it sounds crazy,” she said quickly, “but I think I really was hearing their conversations and they were telling the truth—”

Herbie cut her off. “So what’s our plan for getting them back?”

“My parents?” She wiped away a tear. “Wait, you’re okay with that? I thought you wanted to go home.”

“We have to find your parents first. You can’t do it alone. And you can’t do it without the Markab.”

A faint smile broke through her gloom. “You rock,” she said.

“So do we have a plan?” he asked.

“No.”

“I think we should ask around at the harbor,” he said. “Someone might know where the ship holding your mom went…but first I think we’d better check on the Markab.”

“Good idea.”

The town was considerably busier now. It seemed that they had to push their way through crowds on nearly every street. When they reached the harbor road, they stopped to scan for navy sailors. Walking carefully alongside the water, keeping a sharp eye out, they headed for the pier where the Markab was docked.

The navy sailors seemed to have vanished, and the pier was even more crowded with animals. Emma and Herbie had to pick their way past a tangle of sheep. They managed to get within twenty feet of the Markab before spotting a navy sailor. He was sitting on a cask—a young man, maybe twenty. His uniform was brand-new, and he was almost completely hidden by a bevy of swans. The birds, which were tied together by their necks, were tugging one another and squawking loudly. The man was shooing them away halfheartedly.

He was sitting right next to the Markab.

Emma and Herbie quickly ducked behind a row of cages that were filled with chameleons and other lizards. One of the animals hissed at them.

“They found us,” Herbie said.

“We can still get to the boat,” Emma replied. “We just need to sneak around behind those swans and wait until the sailor looks the other way.” Even she thought this was risky, but they didn’t have a choice.

They slipped around the side of the lizard cages and scurried across the walkway, crouching low to stay hidden beside the swans. The birds had stopped squawking and were trumpeting angrily, putting up such a loud honking that the sailor, who was now supremely annoyed, stood up and began pushing them. They shrieked in protest. HONK HONK! The sailor didn’t notice Emma sneaking down the narrow pier and crawling silently over the Markab’s side. Herbie, who was following her, swiftly untied the Markab’s rope and climbed onto the yacht.

“Now what?” he whispered. “He’s going to notice when we start the engine!”

Emma bit her lip. He was right, and she couldn’t think of a quiet way to get free of the slip. “Not if we hurry. Those birds are loud.”

HONK HONK HONK!

“We’re going to have to make a run for it,” she said. “How are we on gas?”

Herbie shook his head. “We maybe have enough to get out of the harbor, but that’s it!”

“That’s all we need.” Emma went to the wheel. Herbie stayed crouched by the mast.

HONK HONK!

Emma started the engine, and it gave a roar. Suddenly, the swans’ trumpeting stopped.

“Oh no…” Herbie peeked over the railing. The sailor had stopped shooing the swans away and was staring at the Markab.

“Hey!” he shouted. “You there! Stop! ” He started running toward the boat, but Emma quickly put it into gear and backed out of the slip. With a quick turn, she set them on a course for the harbor and hit the throttle hard, driving the boat forward with a jolt.

“Emma!” Herbie shouted, pointing at a group of sailors running down the pier. “They’re coming after us!”

Rifle fire rang out as the Markab fled toward the open sea. Emma killed the engine with practiced hands, Herbie let out the sails, and the Markab shot forward. But they weren’t clear yet. Behind them, the navy had set off in a group of cutters, and the boats were gaining speed. Two more cutters were approaching from the side. The small ships were light and swift on the water. Their sails were much larger than the Markab’s, and they were moving twice as fast. As they approached, Emma could see the sailors on their decks. They were wearing the same uniforms that she’d seen on the Strand, and the men were aiming their rifles at the Markab.

“Herbie, duck!” she yelled. They both crouched as a round of rifle shots tore into the Markab’s mast and sides.

Ahead of them, the harbor was packed with ships. Emma was sure there were lanes of traffic, but they were impossible to make out. She turned the yacht to avoid a large, brightly colored ship, but just behind it were two freighters passing each other. She aimed the Markab alongside one of the freighters, but then gave a shriek. To port and ahead, three more navy cutters appeared.

“They’re surrounding us!” she cried.

Just ahead, a massive galleon came into view. It was sailing straight for them, approaching rapidly. It was much too wide for the narrow channels between the other ships, and as it came closer, its hull scraped at the smaller ships and sent sailors screaming for cover.

The wind was pushing the Markab right into its path.

“Herbie!”

He didn’t need prodding. He reefed the sails with lightning speed, and Emma started the engine. It roared to life, and she steered them desperately out of the monster’s path.

“Emma, hurry!”

She drove the Markab farther to port, watching as the navy cutters scrambled for safety.

They stared up at the ship. They had never seen one so large. Its upper hull was painted bright red and covered with wood carvings, gothic windows, and gun ports. There was a great lion carved on the bowsprit, and on the starboard side an escutcheon showed the name ARGH in white letters. Aside from the mainmast, mizzenmast, and foremast, there were two great masts folded against its sides like wings. Metal cannons lined the top deck from the bow to the gallery deck, and far above those, towering masts butted into the sky. The square rigging carried ratlines, and humans and monkeys were clinging there. The whole ship must have been twenty stories high.

As the great ship drew closer, another odd detail became apparent: just above the waterline, the wooden hull was covered in iridescent scales. The scales glimmered and wiggled exactly like a fish’s as it swims through the water. It was the strangest ship Emma had ever seen, and despite her pounding heart, she felt a flicker of terrified awe.

“I don’t see any navy on their deck!” she said.

The ship was nearly upon them now, its bow moving past them. If they had been closer, it would have crushed them like a giant, oblivious foot. It cut a massive seam in the water, and the waves sent the Markab juddering sideways. Herbie and Emma stared upward to a deck they couldn’t see, and all they could hear were the splashes of the waves and the strange, humanlike groaning of the wooden monstrosity.

“Come on, Emma, let’s head back to the bridge.”

“No, we have to—”

“Look out!” Herbie shouted. They looked up just as a humongous net fell over them, trapping them like fish. The net was attached to the big ship. The fibers of the net seemed to be wriggling of their own accord. They grabbed the Markab like hundreds of tentacles, attaching to its hull and sails and yanking it upward. Emma and Herbie fell to the deck. The yacht gave a lurch as it rose out of the water. The Markab hit the side of the Argh, and something crunched.

Emma scrambled to her feet just in time to see a massive door on the Argh’s side slide open. She looked around desperately for something to use to defend herself, but when her arm touched the netting, it grabbed ahold of her. She struggled to get free, but the fibers took her other arm, and she was trapped.

“Herbie!” she shouted. Straining to look over her shoulder, she caught sight of Herbie also tangled in the netting. Like a fast-growing vine, it had him by the neck and was wrapping slowly around his chest. His face turned red as he gasped for breath.