“Kira’s life could depend on us. If you have any doubts about helping us, then tell me right now and we’ll find another way.”
“It’s not Kira I’m worried about,” she stared daggers at me, “but yea, I’m sure. And if Phoebe and that girl Curly or Cartman-“
“Carmen,” I corrected her.
“Whatever. If they cause any trouble, you’re on your own. Got it?” I didn’t like this one bit.
But from what I could see, this mean self-centered devil girl was the only way I was getting to the Fortunate Isle.
Chapter 29
Twenty minutes later, the three of us stood on the empty boardwalk at the Marina waiting for Carmen and Willow. In front of us was yet another yacht, only smaller. I didn’t know how long it would take to get to the Isle, but I was suddenly thankful we’d be taking the journey in style. I needed rest, and Phoebe needed to sleep off her drunken stupor so she didn’t lash out at Olivia and get herself thrown overboard.
“There they are!” Phoebe waved frantically at them as they made their way toward us. They eyed Olivia warily but stayed quiet. It looked like Willow had packed for a month-long journey at sea, until I figured out what exactly she was carrying. She had gathered up some clothes for us along with a ton of snack food. I could have kissed her right then and there. My body had been in this dress long enough and I was starving. We all followed Olivia towards the back of the yacht. We could actually step down onto the deck, except for Phoebe who was already looking a little green. I jumped on the deck and held my arms out to her as she clumsily threw her body over the rail.
“This is my parents’ yacht and I’m not supposed to have anybody on it without asking them, so don’t mess anything up unless you want to pay for it.” She turned on her heel and we all looked at each other in disgust.
She walked us through the first level of the boat, which housed three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Phoebe and I claimed one room, while Carmen and Willow claimed the other. I changed into the jeans and t-shirt Willow had brought for me and collapsed onto the soft queen sized bed. The rooms were cozy with a small chest of drawers and an arm chair. The walls were a pale yellow color that reminded me of a sunrise. There was one small window looking out on the water. I glanced over at my twelve black roses sitting on the dresser. There was already a vase in the room with fake flowers in it, so I had replaced them with mine instead. They made me think of Finn and the amazing night we had, and my entire body went numb with delirium. The last thing I heard before I went to sleep was Phoebe throwing up in the bathroom. Something about Phoebe puking on Olivia’s personal property made me smile.
When I woke up, sunlight was streaming in through the window above my head and it took me a couple of minutes to remember where I was. My scalp was in pain from the fifty bobby pins in my hair. I reached up and tried to fish some of them out, with no luck. Phoebe’s side of the bed was empty and I had no idea what time it was, so I got up and searched the other two bedrooms. Both empty. I climbed a carpeted spiral staircase at the end of the hall to the second level of the yacht. An immaculate living room opened up before me, surrounded by windows looking out over the ocean.
Carmen and Phoebe had made themselves at home on two enormous half moon shaped leather couches facing each other in the middle of the room. Their attention was on a 60’ flat screen TV that retracted down from the ceiling. They were wearing matching fluffy, white terrycloth robes with fuzzy slippers. A tray of donuts, cinnamon rolls, strawberries, and scones sat on the coffee table along with a pitcher of orange juice.
Carmen grinned up at me, “it’s about time you woke up.”
“What time is it?” I asked groggily, still trying to find those elusive bobby pins poking into my skull.
“Just 10:30.”
“10:30? Where are we? Where are Willow and Olivia?”
“Yes, don’t know, and upstairs,” she rattled off the answers in order. I observed Phoebe, who was not looking very good this morning. The hair that was so eloquently styled last night was now in one big knot on her head, and her face was drained of color. The bags under her eyes were apparent even from far away.
“How’re you feeling Phoebs?”
“I’m never drinking ever again.” She craned her neck to see me from the couch, squinting from the light coming through the windows. I bent down and gave her a quick hug.
“You want to take advantage of the witch’s money with us?” Carmen asked with unrestrained satisfaction and snickered.
“That’s okay; ya’ll seem to be doing a fine job of that already.” I leaned down closer and raised an eyebrow, “Ya’ll better behave or she’s not going to help us. At the moment she’s all we’ve got.”
“We’ll try our best, but if I see a shark swim by, there’s a good possibility she’ll accidentally fall in the water and get eaten.” They collapsed into a fit of giggles. I shook my head at them and walked up the staircase to the third and top level of the yacht. Speaking of sharks, I wanted to call Finn, but I definitely didn’t have any cell phone service out here. I would feel much better if he were here with me. I had no idea what I was doing or what I was going to do once we arrived. What if we couldn’t find the Isle? What if we got hurt? What if Kira got killed? I tried to force all of those morbid thoughts out of my mind as I stepped in to what looked like the yacht’s control room. There were two large plush chairs facing a litany of keyboards, buttons, and levers that I hoped Olivia knew how to operate. There was a small leather couch at the back of the room where Willow and Olivia were engrossed in a laptop. I spotted Nicolet’s poem on the small table in front of them.
“Hey Stasia!” Only Willow looked up at my entrance. She patted the cushion beside her for me to sit, “How you feeling?”
“I’m okay. I’ll feel better when we find the Isle. Have you guys had any luck?” I peeked at the laptop screen.
“Well we’re already locked in on the coordinates and heading straight towards them.” She shared a stressed look with Olivia, “Our problem isn’t finding the Fortunate Isle, though. It’s the whole getting on the Fortunate Isle that we’re worried about.” I could tell they had been at this for hours. Olivia took a swig of Diet Coke, stood up and stretched.
“You thirsty? Hungry?” She was looking at me, but I was having trouble reconciling her nice tone with the person saying them. No sarcasm at all.
“Um, sure. That would be awesome.” As she walked away I raised both eyebrows at Willow and she shrugged her shoulders. She was eyeing my hair and already taking out the bobby pins I couldn’t find on my own. She gave me a grave look while she worked.
“Like I was saying, we think we’ll be able to find the Isle just fine. We should be there by tomorrow. But making it onto the island is a whole different issue.”
“Are there walls or something? High cliffs? A crocodile-infested mote?”
“No, worse; a protective shield. Just like the one around Lorelei except this one keeps everything and everyone out. You have to be approved to go on to the island.” Well, this was definitely a major road block.
“Approved?” I asked, slightly frustrated. Was there a secret knock we needed to know or something?
“Not everyone is allowed admittance. And we have no idea what those specific qualifications would be. We’ve been studying the poem and we think we’ve figured out a couple of things, but executing them might be a challenge.”
“Why is the island so protected? What’s so special about it?”
“The Fortunate Isle is an island the Nerieds have lived on for centuries,” Olivia explained as she came up the stairs with a glass of orange juice and jelly toast. “Mostly it’s used by the more… important ones.” She set the food down in front of me and I dug in immediately. Willow nodded.