The Book of Wonders (18 page)

Rhidan nodded.

The herald flickered and finally faded and the emerald became dull once more.

Zardi was suddenly struck by the absolute strangeness of it all. “I can't believe you didn't tell me about this before.”

“I didn't want to get your hopes up,” Rhidan explained. “I thought I'd find the other emerald first.”

A horrible thought occurred to Zardi. “You don't think it got washed away, do you?”

Rhidan shook his head. “The brass rider was nowhere near the sea when you took his second eye out, but I don't know where else to look.”

She rubbed her chin. “Maybe it isn't so surprising that you can't find it. We live on an island filled with pirates. They like shiny things. If there was an emerald to be found, maybe it's been found already.”

“And maybe we need to start asking a few questions,” Rhidan added.

Zardi nodded. “I told Musty we'd go to the west side of the island with him to gather more coconuts. A few of the others are going as well. We can start investigating straightaway.”

M
usty led their party westward through the forest, the sun his only compass. Along the trek they were joined by Sinbad, and as the trees thinned out they found themselves atop a ridge. From this height Zardi had an excellent view of the island. Unknown landscapes spread out before her, valleys, lakes, rivers, and hills bathed in a soft, reddish light. To her left she could see spray being thrown up and hear a thundering noise. Peering over the edge, she saw a waterfall flowing down into a valley covered with yellow moss.

They climbed down the vale, the waterfall cascading beside them, throwing out plumes of mist. “It's beautiful here,” Zardi said, bending down and drinking from the river that led from the bottom of the waterfall. Like the sea, the water here had a purple cast to it. Its clarity and brightness reminded her of Rhidan's eyes.

“It is beautiful indeed,” Musty replied. “But we won't find coconut palms here; we need to head out for the coastline.”

“Let's split up,” Sinbad suggested. “We'll cover more ground that way.” The captain pointed to those that were standing closest to him. “Zain, Tariq, Ali, and Mo, you're with me.”

Zardi groaned inwardly; this meant Nadeem was with her, Rhidan, and Musty. She almost wondered whether Sinbad had done it on purpose.
He probably thinks he can force us to get along
, she thought to herself.
He's wrong
.

Musty looked at his map. “You take the northwest part of the island and we'll explore the west. We'll meet here by this river when the sun is at its highest.”

Walking westward, Zardi could see that this part of the island was a patchwork of apple-green peaks and troughs. Her group walked in silence, and once again Zardi became aware of the absence of any wildlife. There was no bird cry in the sky or sign of creatures on the ground. Zardi remembered what Lina, the leader of the Roc, had said about the Queen of the Serpents and how she wanted to kill everything on the island. Wherever this serpent queen was, Zardi hoped she'd stay away from the
Falcon's
camp.

“Let's ask them about the emerald,” Rhidan whispered in her ear. “But we'll have to be subtle.”

“All right, I'll take Musty, you take Nadeem,” she murmured back. Rhidan looked sourly at her and she shrugged. There was no way that she'd be able to get anything out of Nadeem.

Zardi caught up with Musty, while Rhidan fell into step with Nadeem. “Hey, Musty, can I ask you a question?” she asked.

The shipmaster's face was flushed. “Go on, then. It might take my mind off this awful walk. This hill is as steep as the pyramids of Kemet.”

Zardi smiled to herself. The hill was only slightly sloping. “I was wondering, how did you become a pirate?”

Musty sighed. “For sure, this life is not what I imagined for myself, but it was tragedy that threw me into Sinbad's path.” His voice was soft, and sadness seemed to hang around him like mist.

“I'm sorry, Musty. You don't have to talk about it.”

“It's fine.” The shipmaster took in a deep breath. “Many years ago I had a wife and a daughter; they were taken from me by a fever.” Musty's eyes were dull. “I started to drink, and soon the captains of ships refused to take me on. I thought I'd never sail again until I met Sinbad. He didn't judge me but merely said he respected my experience. I gladly became his shipmaster and said good-bye to the numbness of drink.” Musty stood straighter. “Sinbad gave me back my life and a family of brothers. For those two gifts I can live with the fact that we spend some of our time pretending to be things that we're not.” The shipmaster smiled at her. “The
Falcon
is my home.”

Zardi nodded. Despite everything that had happened, the
Falcon
had become a home to her and Rhidan as well.

But it was not their real home. Home was a place where Zubeyda sang while picking mint from the garden, where Nonna would offer embraces when words wouldn't do, and where Baba would teach her and Rhidan the calligrapher's art and the importance of a steady hand to make a smooth stroke with a reed.

She probed on. “So, you're not a pirate for jewels and riches then?”

Musty honked with laughter. “What would I do with jewels and riches? I have no one to buy things for—”

“Enough!” snarled a voice from behind her. She whirled round. Nadeem was glaring at Rhidan.

“Fine,” Rhidan said. “There's no need to get upset.”

“Don't play dumb.” Nadeem's lips were a thin line. “Why are you asking me all these questions?”

“I was just trying to make conversation. Excuse me for even bothering.”

“You're excused,” Nadeem spat back. “Don't do it again.”

“Shhh!” Musty stopped abruptly. “I can hear the sea. We must be close to the shore!” He ran to the crest of the hill with Zardi, Rhidan, and Nadeem right behind him. They halted as the valley dropped away into sheer cliffs that overlooked a churning violet sea. There were no soft sandy shores here. No palm trees.

“We've come all this way for nothing,” the shipmaster groaned. “Not a coconut to be seen.”

“Maybe Sinbad and the others will have better luck,” Zardi said hopefully.

The shipmaster rubbed at his forehead, leaving a red patch. “I hope so. We've got to make more rope if we are going to finish repairing the ship.”

They trudged back toward the meeting point in silence, the mood bleak. As they got closer to the lake, Zardi quickly told Rhidan Musty's story.

“I don't think he has the other emerald,” she finished.

“Are you sure?”

“Certain,” Zardi responded. “What about Nadeem? Why'd he get so riled up?”

“It was weird. We were getting along quite well at first. He wanted to know a bit more about my magic, why I had it, why I'd lost it. I told him that I didn't really understand what was happening with me and that's why I wanted to find my real parents.” Rhidan crinkled his brow. “Nadeem said he never wanted to see his family again, that if Sinbad hadn't saved him they would have sold him to the first person who came along.”

Zardi thought of the anger that always seemed to bake beneath Nadeem's skin. “That explains a lot,” she said.

Rhidan nodded. “Then I said how nice it must be to have a permanent home on the
Falcon
, especially with all the treasure he gets to see from other ships. That's when he got all mad.”

“Do you think he has the emerald?”

“Hard to tell,” Rhidan said. “Nadeem's always defensive.”

“Well, there are still plenty of people to ask. We need to find that emerald eye.”

They arrived back at the river just before midday and waited for Sinbad's party to appear. Zardi was lying on the grass, gazing up at a cloud that looked a bit like a Roc, when she heard a holler of greeting. Zain was running toward them, his long braid streaming behind him, his face as red as a chili pepper.

“What's wrong?” Nadeem asked as soon as Zain was in earshot.

Zardi jumped to her feet. “Where are the others?”

“Diamonds,” Zain managed to get out. “We found diamonds.”

Zardi, Rhidan, and Nadeem stared at Zain in amazement. Musty was the one to break the silence. “What do you mean, diamonds? Have you found any coconuts?”

Zain waved his hand dismissively. “Musty, we found a valley full of diamonds. We weren't going to search for any silly coconuts after that.”

“You can't be serious.” Nadeem's voice came out as a squeak.

“Come on, I'll show you,” Zain said. “Sinbad sent me to get you all.” He laughed maniacally. “Don't forget your bags. Your pockets won't be deep enough.”

He tore off, heading northwest. The others followed him. “If only Zain would move this fast when working on the
Falcon
,” the shipmaster muttered.

“Diamonds would make most people run,” Rhidan replied wryly.

Musty pursed his lips. “But will diamonds get us home?”

They finally reached the edge of a hill dotted with golden bell-shaped flowers that swayed gently in the light wind.

Zain pointed down to the valley. Thousands of diamonds, some big, some small, some sharp, some smooth, lay on the floor of the gorge, sparkling in the afternoon sunlight. Many of the jewels were shot through with pinks and yellows and poked out between their crystal-clear cousins. Zardi squinted against the light and saw that the valley slopes were pitted with holes that led to darkness. The openings in the rocky surface reminded her of the brass rider's gaping eye sockets. She felt a chill slice through her even though the sun shone brightly above.

“They can't be diamonds!” Rhidan exclaimed, his eyes fixed on the translucent stones rising upward.

“Trust me, young one.” Sinbad's voice boomed from somewhere down in the valley. “I've seen enough diamonds in my time to know.”

Zardi peered over the edge of the crest to see Sinbad, Tariq, Mo, and Ali waving at her. They were already halfway up the valley's slope, their backs bowed by the weight of sacks stuffed full with jewels. She couldn't help smiling: Mo had adorned his turban with tiny diamonds.

“Welcome to our fortunes.” A grin split Sinbad's face as he and his companions reached them on the crest and put down their heavy bags.

“Diamonds aren't going to fix the ship,” Musty growled.

“Oh, Musty, stop being such a grump! We'll send another excursion party to find your precious coconuts. For now, you all need to come and help us gather as many diamonds as you can carry.”

“Wait till we show the others at camp,” Mo said eagerly.

“We'll be heroes!” Ali added.

Zain winked at Nadeem. “No need for you to be so precious about that emerald you found now, is there?” He laughed, sounding drunk on happiness. “There are plenty of jewels for us all to share.”

For a stunned moment, Zardi and Rhidan stared at Nadeem.

Great!
The boy who hated them down to the very soles of his sandals held the key to the djinni's prison!

Z
ardi looked up. The yellow ball of the sun was slowly beginning to melt into the pink of dusk. She rubbed the back of her neck. The day had almost finished and she was thoroughly fed up with harvesting diamonds. Her back ached from being stooped over for hours and her head throbbed from the dazzling light that the jewels gave off. Even more annoyingly, neither she nor Rhidan had been able to speak to Nadeem about the emerald eye as he was never far from Zain's or Tariq's side.

Zardi felt a nudge in her ribs and turned her head to see Rhidan holding up a diamond the size of a fist. “You know what? After you've seen a hundred of these things they kind of lose their appeal.”

“Well, they haven't lost their value,” Sinbad said, coming up behind them. “Come on, one last push. The sun is going down fast.”

As Zardi bent down to scoop up yet another diamond, a strange hissing noise, like oil sizzling in a pan, filled the gorge. She stopped still. Out of the gaps that pockmarked the walls of the canyon, a dozen black and gold snakes the length and width of three men lying head to toe slithered into sight. Their jaws opened to show the ruby velvet of their mouths and the absolute white of sharp, long fangs as they glided closer to them.

Screams erupted all around Zardi. She remembered what Lina had said about the Queen of the Serpents. This had to be the queen's army.

“Run,” Sinbad commanded. He grabbed a flat, sharp diamond from the heap in front of him. He held it out like a dagger, his eyes fierce. “No one is dying today.”

Zardi and the others formed a closed cluster in the middle of the valley.

“We're not leaving you, Captain,” Musty said.

Mo, Ali, and Nadeem grabbed some large diamonds and hurled them at the fast-approaching snakes, but the creatures didn't slow down. They began to hiss again, and Zardi's blue stone blazed against her skin as her mind tried to grasp at what the snakes were saying. But it was not words that ripened in her head, rather images—of fangs sinking into human skin, of coiled muscle crushing bone. Zardi gritted her teeth and tried to close her mind against the force of the snakes' desire to rip them apart. A high-pitched squawk came from the sky, and Zardi understood it immediately as the words
“We'll protect you
.” She looked up. A flock of Rocs filled the air. They dove into the valley, talons flashing, their beaks open in harsh cries.

With a hiss the snakes fell back, watching their enemies with unreadable eyes. “The Rocs have come to help us,” Zardi yelled, pointing to the birds as they landed, kicking up a flurry of diamonds. Sinbad nodded, eyes wide as he took in the sheer size of the Rocs.

Zardi had told the captain all about the Rocs and the incident with the egg, but from the looks of it, hearing about the giant birds hadn't prepared him for actually seeing them.