Chapter 10

"Tell the Albatross"

Mona gasped.  Lucie shook her head and the Captain dropped his string.

“Oh, it’s all my fault.  She’s lost,” said Mona.

“What do you mean?” asked Mr. Hurston.

“I-I dared her to go look for a plant and gave her directions she didn’t understand.  I’m sorry.  I thought she would come back in a few minutes, but then we found the treasure and I forgot...it was very horrible of me,” said Mona. 

“Mona, I am so disappointed,” said Nanny. 

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Mr. Hurston looked away from Mona and shook his head.  Mona felt a lump form in her throat.  To disappoint Nanny stung her conscience, but she had never been reprimanded by Mr. Hurston before and it hurt badly.  A number of unpleasant thoughts crossed her mind.  She hoped Sicily was alright.  If something had happened to Sicily, it would be all her fault. 

“I have to go back to the Dog Barrens,” said Mr. Hurston.

“Prince Edward can stay here.” said Nanny, “Take Mona with you, though.  She knows the Dog Barrens better than anyone.  Take Manx, too.  Manx might be able to smell Sicily out, though he’s never been helpful with his nose before.”

“My crew’ll help ya find yer daughter, Mate,” said Captain Malarkey.

“Can I come too?” asked Lucie. 

Mr. Hurston nodded.  He was very pale.  When they heard someone was missing, a number of pirates and sailors volunteered to help look for Sicily.

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Lucie whispered sympathetically to Mona as they stepped into the Leviathan. “Don’t worry, we’ll find her.  It was just a mistake.  I should’ve remembered she was gone.  She is my sister and all.”

Soon, they arrived back at the Dog Barrens.  Thick fog clung, white as ocean foam, to the land in the evening.  They searched the Dog Barrens and called out Sicily’s name.  There was no sign of the girl.  As easy as it is for a ship to miss a harbor in the fog, the rescuers soon realized it would be easy to become separated. Each person grabbed the shirt of the person in front of him or her. It was difficult to see anything in the mist.

Sailors and pirates are a superstitious stock. They do not like the fog. The gloom of the Dog Barrens made them gruff and uneasy.

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“Fog reminds me of the spirits,” said one sailor.

“Hey, think this place’s haunted?” asked a pirate in front of Mona.

“Probably,” said Lucie, who was superstitious herself.

“I don’t know,” said Mona.  Nanny would not think it was haunted, but then, Nanny was not here in the darkening valley.  Mona shivered.

“Hope it’s not haunted,” said another sailor.

“You think that girl’ll come back as a ghost?” asked a pirate. “Ouch!” he said, as someone jabbed him in the ribs. No one wanted to talk about Sicily being a ghost.

“That old lighthouse we saw earlier would be a fine meeting place for ghosts,” said another.

“Stop yer talk,” said Captain Malarkey. “There’s no need fer sailors or pirates ta worry about ghosts.  We’re pretected from the spirits.  Just remember ta tell the albatross ta be on its way when yer feelin’ a soul too close.”

“What?” asked Mona.

“Well, o’ course, albatrosses and petrels have the spirits o’ dead seafarers in ’em,”.  There was a pause.  “Maybe, on land, it’d be better ta shoo away the meadowlarks.  I bet them birds has got dead mainlanders in ’em.”

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Mona was not sure if she followed the Captain’s logic and did not know what to do if she encountered ghosts or meadowlarks, but doubted she could see either in the fog.  Feeling a ghost was more likely, she thought, but Mona also didn’t know what a ghost felt like.  She wondered if the cold feeling in the pit of her stomach meant one was near.  She tried to summon her courage.  She hoped they would find Sicily before dark.  The Dog Barrens seemed to grow more haunted with the fading light as, in the opposite case,a plant grows well in good light.

“Let’s split up, Sir,” said a sailor to Mr. Hurston. “Then we’ll cover more ground.”  He didn’t add the next words on everyone’s mind, before dark. 

Mr. Hurston nodded.  Mona and Lucie walked with the rest of their search party, which was not the same as Mr. Hurston’s.  He had taken the swiftest with him to search the entirety of the outer peninsula.

Suddenly, Manx dashed down a dark path towards the lighthouse.  No one spoke or moved.  Mona closed her eyes and tried to sedate her mounting fear. 

“I’ll follow Manx,” she said. “I’m the one who got Sicily lost in the first place.” 

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Before anyone could reply, Mona ran down the trail after Manx.  She could hear Manx ahead of her, but she wished he was closer.  The sun had set and Mona was very scared.  She had brought a candle, but could not light it as she ran.  The night grabbed at her with shadowy fingers and tried to force a way down her throat and into her belly.  Her heart beat faster as she heard what she thought were meadowlarks calling to her from the darkness and tried her best not to think of them as ghosts.  She bristled as something hairy rubbed against her, but realized it was only Manx.  Mona felt safer.  Manx could hold off darkness.  Suddenly, Mona screamed.  She had just felt something else against her leg that was not Manx. 

“Help, Manx,” she cried.

“It’s only me, Mona.  You’re a scaredy cat, aren’t you?” said Sicily’s voice.  Though her hands shook, Mona managed to strike a match and light her candle.  Sicily’s face glowed in the darkness.  She looked poised, but pale.  Her arms were covered in scratches, and she was crotched in a bower of poison ivy.  Mona’s eyes widened and she knew Sicily would have a very bad rash in the morning.

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“Sicily!  Are you alright?”

Sicily nodded.  Mona held out her hand and helped Sicily up.  Manx trotted at their side and Sicily said nothing.  Together, they walked back down the path to where the search party waited.  The darkness on the trail made Sicily as scared as Mona had been.  They heard meadowlarks and crickets in the fields as they walked.  Mona no longer felt afraid, only relieved. 

As the girls and Manx emerged from the brush, the other half of the search party met up with Mona’s search party.  Mr. Hurston let out a joyful cry like a church bell, ran, and hugged Sicily.  Sicily smiled and hugged her father back.  It was the first time Mona had ever seen Sicily affectionate. 

“It was all Mona’s fault,” Sicily told her father as they released each other. 

“Yes, and it is also her fault you were found,” said Mr. Hurston as he put his hand on Sicily’s shoulder. 

“Thank you, Mona,” he said. 

Lucie squeezed her arm and Mona felt she had been redeemed a bit in Mr. Hurston’s eyes, but she still felt the weight of what she had done and resolved to never put someone in danger again.  The party rowed back to Pearly Beetle.  Everyone agreed that the day had been exhausting and looked forward to bed. That night, even the ocean slept soundly.

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