22
About the Emeralds
The swim for shore was the longest of his life. He nearly stopped and reversed his course at least five times. Had he made the right decision? Or had he put the wrong family first? If his parents or one of his siblings ever found out what he’d just sacrificed, how many jewels he’d left behind on that deck, they’d probably never speak to him again. And yet he kept moving forward, swimming toward his friends.
Halfway to the beach, he spotted Carlo’s hand-built craft headed his way. He lifted his head higher out of the sea, cleared the water from his eyes, and spotted his friends rowing toward him. Nora was sitting next to Daniel, so she and Nate hadn’t completely mended their rift, but Fish decided that seeing them on the same vessel together was progress enough. They waved. He slipped on his goggles, dove, and swam faster. He preferred swimming beneath the surface now.
The rocks below were gray and clean, the fish small and bright. Fish thought of Scab and the countess coasting off into the distance. He wasn’t sure he’d tell his friends that it had been his idea for Scab to take the Scurvy Mistress. He thought he might leave out the part about turning down a share of the emeralds, too, though he hoped his friends would appreciate knowing that he’d chosen them over jewels. But he’d have to tell them something, and it might have to be the truth, as they all knew him far too well.
When he reached the side of Carlo’s craft, they stopped rowing, and Nate reached down and hauled him up.
“What happened out there, Fish?” Daniel asked.
“And where’s the countess?” Nate pressed.
Nora looked at each of them in turn. “Am I the only one who’s going to ask about the emeralds?”
Fish sighed, then sped through the general details, including Carlo’s secret arrangement with Risden, the pigeons, the timely arrival of the pirates in purple, and his final escape. He left out Risden’s proposal; his friends would undoubtedly extract the whole story from him eventually, but for now they watched the three ships follow their very different courses. The Mistress was sailing south and Risden’s ship north, and only the bow of the Rat Queen remained above the water now, as the sea was gradually swallowing her whole.
“I don’t truly believe in curses,” Nora said, “but it is remarkable.”
“I wonder if the Mistress will survive,” added Nate. “Didn’t you say he spent a few days aboard?”
“Never mind the ships,” Daniel said. “I can’t believe the emeralds are gone. You should’ve seen them, Nate!”
Nora’s eyes were alight. “We were so close!”
“There’ll be another one, right?” Nate asked.
“Another treasure?” Daniel asked. “The sea is filled with them.”
The four friends were briefly quiet, each lost in thought.
“We’ll need a new ship,” Fish said.
“A new strategy, too,” Nate noted, “if no one’s going to fight.”
Nora patted the knife strapped to her ankle. “I’ve made no such claim.”
“Ah, good,” Nate replied. “I’m with you.”
“We know,” Daniel noted slyly.
The optimism and enthusiasm of his friends lifted Fish’s spirits. At the same time, he couldn’t help feeling some remorse. He stared out at the escaping ships. “After all that, I can’t believe we didn’t end up with a single emerald.”
“Are you sure?” Daniel asked hopefully.
“You did say there was a whole room full,” Nora noted. “Maybe you missed a few?”
“I checked the hold,” he said. “I can dive the wreck again, but I’m fairly certain it’s cleaned out now.”
“What were they like?” Nate asked.
“The jewels?” Daniel replied.
“No, the emerald eyes,” Nate replied.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Daniel and Nora both stared at Fish.
He began, “I don’t know . . .”
“She is called the Ship with Emerald Eyes for a reason, right?” Nate pressed.
“Yes,” Daniel answered. “The stories about the ship all mentioned a figurehead at the bow with huge emeralds for eyes.”
“Right!” Nora exclaimed. “I read that in Cobb’s book!”
Nate leaned forward. “So, Fish, what were the eyes like?”
He didn’t answer at first. Then he confessed that he hadn’t thought to look.
“You need to go back down!” Daniel blurted out. “I mean, you should rest first, since you’ve been diving . . .”
“And not-fighting,” Nora added.
“Right,” Nate said, “so you must be exhausted, but—”
“What if the stories are true?” Daniel asked.
Fish could’ve slept for a day, and he was starving, too. The sunken ship was not going anywhere. Their rivals had departed. But how could he wait? How could he force his friends to wait? He had to summon the strength for one last dive. He spat into his goggles, dipped them into the sea, and thumbed the lenses clear.
His friends rowed him out to the site, and by the time they were directly above the ship, he’d regained his breath and called up some final reserves of energy. Nora told him he should rest for another moment, but he was no more patient than the rest of them. He filled his lungs with air, slipped off the craft and into the harbor, and swam down through the clear water. Near the bow he grabbed a seaweed-wrapped railing and, careful of the barnacles, pulled himself over the edge.
A beautifully carved wooden mermaid was affixed to the bow of the ship, and her eyes were two gleaming green emeralds the size of his fists. His fingers were shaking as he tried and failed to pry one loose. He rose to the surface as fast as he could, burst from the water, and grabbed the side of the launch. Then he smiled wide as he pointed to the blade strapped to his friend’s ankle. “Nora?”
She glanced at Daniel and Nate, then squinted as she replied, “Yes, Fish?”