Tally pulled a pair of opera-sized binoculars out of her pocket. "He looks angry."
"That"s his look of concentration."
"Or constipation," Tally said out of the corner of her mouth, pa.s.sing Evelina the binoculars. "Check it out."
Evelina squinted one eye, peering through the binoculars. "Wow. He looks intense." She swung the binoculars left, then right, taking in the other three ma.s.sive war canoes. When she spied Frankie a few seats in front of Cliff her hand froze. Frankie appeared just as serious-gold eyes narrowed, paddle poised in the air, ready for battle.
"No magic allowed," Abby said. "It"s all muscle."
"And skill," Tally chimed in.
"And determination," Evelina added.
The conch horn blew.
The canoes shot forward, gliding across the rippling surface of the water.
Paddles flew.
The course appeared to weave in a Z around giant white buoys, before cutting back to the finish.
Oceana and White Water sliced through the surf, bow to bow.
Then, Oceana plunged ahead.
They were out in front.
But the Swamp Hogs were moving up fast.
They appeared to have a sudden surge of power.
Then, Something crazy happened.
The Swamp Hogs pulled out in front.
Evelina couldn"t believe her eyes.
No, No, NO!
They couldn"t win!
She held her breath.
Abby sucked in air between her teeth.
Tally grabbed Evelina"s arm, squeezing it like a stress ball.
Only a few feet to the finish line.
A cheer rose up from the Swamp Hags on the beach. They jumped up and down. They whistled and shouted, slapping each other on the back.
The Swamp Hogs had won.
"Too bad, suckers!" one of the Hags yelled.
Sneers and snickers followed.
Disgust twisted in Evelina"s belly. Not that she should be surprised. The Swamp Hags weren"t exactly known for their sportsmanship.
Evelina trekked back to the tree fort with Tally and Abby in silence. No dirges or pontificating-just serious contemplation-three suffering souls weighing the ramifications of the Swamp Hogs victory.
Frankie and Cliff were waiting when they arrived.
They didn"t look happy.
"Tough luck, dude." Abby punched Cliff on the shoulder. "But ya" put up a good fight."
"Sorry, guys. It sucks." Evelina didn"t know what else to say. "How could they have come from behind so fast?"
"They cheated!" Cliff wore a look of outrage. "That"s how."
"Probably." Frankie sounded resigned. "But, we don"t have any proof."
"How else could they come up on us so fast? They were in third place, and then wham!" Cliff made a sliding motion with hands. "There they were."
"It seems very unlikely." Tally rubbed her chin. "They"d been trailing from the start."
"Something isn"t right," Frankie agreed.
"Yeah!" Cliff boomed. "They"re partying and we"re not!"
"We were right in sync." Frankie scowled. "I wonder how they did it?"
"Maybe it wasn"t magic." Evelina had a sudden brain wave. "Maybe it was something they did to the boat-that didn"t involve magic at all."
"That"s it!" Frankie"s gold eyes sparked. He grabbed her by the shoulders, then kissed her square on the lips. "You"re right!"
"You think it"s the boat?" Cliff perked up. "It could be."
Evelina tingled with curiosity, or maybe it was the sudden shock of Frankie"s warm mouth touching hers. "I think we should check it out."
Tally"s eyes went round like an owl. "Now?"
"Why not?" Abby agreed-as usual, game for anything. "Let"s do it!"
"I"ll wait here." Tally stifled a yawn with the back of her hand. "In case Burble shows up."
Frankie took Evelina by the hands. "Ready?"
A tingle raced up her back.
She nodded.
Poof!
The next thing she knew she was standing in a grove of palms staring at a moonlit beach.
The Swamp Hog"s camp.
It resembled the Swamp Hag"s, with a crude shack on stilts and a rickety dock leading up to it.
Hooting and hollering could be heard from within. The place was rockin". No doubt they were celebrating their win. Seaweed and driftwood littered the beach all around. The scent of burnt marshmallows and dead fish, tangled in the breeze.
"Sounds like they"ve moved the party inside," Frankie said peering through the cattails.
"Can you see the boat?" Cliff poked his head between them.
"Over there." Abby pointed through the palms, to the right of the shack. "Pulled up on the beach."
The mustard-colored war canoe sat in the sand, a few feet away from the smoking embers of an abandoned fire.
"Come on." Frankie arched his hand in the air. "Let"s check it out."
They raced across the beach to the war canoe.
It took all four of them to flip the canoe over.
Evelina gasped.
"What is it?"
"It looks like metal fins."
"Shhh!" Abby made a slicing motion across her neck. "Someone"s coming!"
They raced for the cover of the trees, then huddled down between a palm and a pink flowering acacia.
Frankie crouched so close to Evelina their shoulders touched.
His breath tickled the little hairs on the back of her neck.
Every molecule vibrated.
"Are you cold?" Frankie whispered.
She took a long, shuddering breath. "No." If anything she was hot, but she wasn"t about to tell him that. "I"m good."
He smiled.
Her belly did a flip.
"Good."
"But... thanks for asking."
"No problem."
The Dirty Diaper Gang, minus Wendell, sauntered down the sandy path toward the dock.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you," Frankie said keeping his voice low. "I did some digging and found out the captain of the Six Doubloons was Rafe Lefever, who just happens to be a very dangerous Time Pirate."
"Why is he so dangerous?"
"He figured out a way to keep his powers when he time skips."
"Maybe he has something to do with the Reef Hag."
"Hard to say."
"But he could have."
"I don"t know. Morwitches are usually his demon of choice."
Evelina ground her teeth. Boy, when Frankie had something in his brain it was good and stuck. Well, she wasn"t ruling Lefever out. It was too much of a coincidence that she ended up on that ship. Whoever sent the Wave Wire led her there for a reason.
"Evening, folks." A voice said behind them in the dark.
Evelina spun round.
Wendell Barnes.
She should have known he wasn"t far behind.
At the sound of his voice, Ronny and Donny sprinted toward them.
Wendell"s mouth curled in a smirk. "Out for a little stroll, are we?"
Frankie stood. "We came to have a look at your canoe."
Wendell crooked one auburn brow. "Did you now?"
"That"s right." Cliff"s voice boomed in the darkness.
"You cheated!" Frankie"s mouth curled in disgust.
"No we didn"t," Wendell scoffed. "The rules said no magic. We used good old ingenuity."
"Technology that doesn"t exist yet."