Lord Grimwald stood before his treasure, and his stern features softened as his gaze swept over the oceans—north to the Arctic, two feet above him, then down through the Atlantic to Antarctica and up again through the Pacific.
"So much sea," he murmured and the smile that crept into his face made him appear almost amiable. If Lord Grimwald had a heart, then it was held in the glowing sphere before him. He loved it above everything else. Alone on his rocky island, with only the globe for company, he was happy. Sometimes the memory of his wife's gentle singing caused him to look down into the waves, where she had drowned in a net, crushed by a ton of fish. And then he would think of the gold charms she had made for their son, so that he should survive the curse that lay upon their family.
It was regrettable, Lord Grimwald reflected, that if he was to live on, he must destroy his only son, now that Dagbert was twelve years old. He had proved to be a talented drowner and would no doubt become a powerful Lord of the Oceans, if he survived.
The reason for the Grimwald family curse had been lost through time. But it was as strong as it had ever been.
When Lord Grimwald was twelve he had caused his own father's death, and for his father it had been the same. But, occasionally, a father had survived a son, and the present Lord of the Oceans didn't intend to die for a long time yet.
He'll hide those charms, that son of mine, but I will find them. Lord Grimwald laughed out loud. He had a plan that involved Mrs. Tilpin's son, Joshua. The Magnet. He hoped the boy was up to the task.
The Lord of the Oceans put a scaly hand against the glass, and a white plume of water rose beneath his fingers. When it fell back, bright circles rippled away from it across the ocean, like the ripples in a pond. Only these foamy circles would appear on the real ocean as a mountain of water. Lord Grimwald was so entranced by his work, he didn't hear Manfred come into the ballroom.
"So this is the Sea Globe!" said Manfred in an awestruck voice. "It is"—he stretched out his hand—"so vast!"
Lord Grimwald turned, almost guiltily, as though caught in the act of admiring himself in a mirror. "The Sea Globe, yes. I'm pleased that it has traveled so well, despite its size. Not a wave, not an ocean out of place."
Manfred leaned close to the glass. "It defies gravity," he said with a frown.
"Why does the water not tumble to the ground? How can it possibly rise like that? The waves"—he leaned even closer—"some of them are rolling upward."
Lord Grimwald smiled with satisfaction. "It is what it is. And has always been so. I know nothing of its history. My father told me once that an ancestor in the distant past was endowed with magnetism. He attracted water, if you like. He gathered it into his arms, out of the Northern Sea, and lo and behold, a sphere of water grew out of his gatherings, dotted about with parcels of land."
"And it's with this globe that your family has been able to control the oceans?" Manfred's tone was tinged with doubt.
"For eight hundred years," Lord Grimwald replied. "It was encased in glass in the nineteenth century, to protect it from pollution, you understand."
Manfred nodded. "Naturally."
"Did you get anything out of the boy?" Lord Grimwald asked.
"Oh, a great deal," Manfred replied with a smile. "The boat was on his mind, and it has a name, Greywing. Eustacia saw it all, the sea, the night sky, and constellations upside down."
"Upside down?" The Lord of the Oceans rubbed his chin. "So they are in the southern hemisphere." He put his finger against the glass, and the waves beneath it sparkled with silver foam. "There are whales aplenty on the coasts of Australia. I'll wager our quarry is in this vicinity." He slid his finger up the eastern coast of Australia, and a line of white foam followed the course he took.
Manfred watched the long, fishlike finger with a slight frown of distaste.
"You've caused a few shipwrecks there, I imagine," he said.
"Mustn't let it run away with me." Lord Grimwald turned to Manfred. "Well, what else did this clairvoyant have to tell you?"
"The Red Knight's identity. We believe he must be my grandfather, Bartholomew Bloor, black sheep of the family."
"Why do you believe this?" Lord Grimwald asked curtly.
"Because he turned his back on us, went abroad. Became an explorer, wouldn't have anything to do with the family."
Lord Grimwald sighed impatiently. "No. Why do you believe the Red Knight is this Bartholomew person?"
"Oh, he was in Charlie's mind."
"Proves nothing. The boy doesn't know. He's guessing."
"Well, it's a start," said Manfred indignantly. "Eustacia's in top form lately. I bet she could tell me what was in your mind."
"I doubt it," muttered Lord Grimwald.
"What about this unknown endowed child that's on the loose?"
Manfred grimaced. "Charlie got away before we could ask. His friend's dog came barking through the mailbox. It broke our concentration."
"Teh!" Lord Grimwald thrust his hands into his pockets. "Not that I'm bothered, but Kapaldi wants to know. He's always in such a state, it's unsettling."
"We did find out about one of the other kids," Manfred said, a touch smugly.
"One of the girls, Olivia Vertigo. Turns out she's an illusionist, quite a good one. We had no idea. So it's a bit of a coup."
"Indeed," agreed Lord Grimwald. "Get her under control and she could be useful."
One of the great ballroom doors was suddenly pushed open and Mrs. Tilpin shuffled in, dragging Joshua behind her.
"Weedon said you wanted us," she grumbled. "I was taking a nap. Can't get a wink of sleep at night. Place is haunted."
"What's that?" cried Joshua, pointing at the Sea Globe.
Lord Grimwald stared at the puny boy disdainfully. Joshua's thin hair was covered in bits of paper, crumbs and pencil shavings clung to his sweater, and his shoes were coated with dead leaves and mud.
"I can see that you're magnetic," Lord Grimwald observed.
"But what is THAT?" Joshua demanded, his eyes never leaving the Sea Globe.
Lord Grimwald wrinkled his nose. "I suppose you'll do," he murmured.
"If you want him to do something for you, you'd better be a bit nicer," said Mrs. Tilpin, hobbling toward the globe. "Tell him what it is."
"That is a Sea Globe." Lord Grimwald tossed the words out as though the Tilpins hardly deserved an answer.
"WOW!" Joshua ran to the globe, his arms outstretched.
"DON'T TOUCH!" shouted the globe's owner.
Joshua halted within inches of the glass. "It's all wrong," he declared, staring up at the gigantic sphere. "It's impossible. The waves are going up.
How does the water do that? And how can the earth stand on water?" He pointed at the base of the globe. "Why doesn't it all fall down?"
"Because it doesn't," Lord Grimwald said crisply.
Joshua fell silent. He gazed up at the water tumbling far above him in the Arctic Ocean. His pale face was bathed in the shifting blue-green light of the great sphere, and his paper-covered hair was dappled with rainbow colors from the crystals in the chandelier. He looked at his mother and decided she was almost beautiful in sea light, and it certainly improved Manfred's appearance.
At last Joshua turned his head and stared up at Lord Grimwald. "Who are you?"
he asked.
The man beside him looked down as from a great height, and Joshua noted the crinkled, almost green hair, the chilly arctic eyes, and the grayish glimmering skin. "You look like a fish," he said.
His mother dug him in the ribs. "Behave yourself, Josh," she said. "This man controls the sea. He's like Dagbert, only more clever." She glanced at the Lord of the Oceans. "He wants you to do something for him."
"What?" Joshua stared at the stern features.
Lord Grimwald dug his hands into his pockets. "You are acquainted with Dagbert Endless?"
"He's a year above me, but I know him," said Joshua. "He's almost my best friend."
"Ah. Is he? Well, Joshua, Dagbert is my son, and you may not believe this, but he has stolen something from me."