Page 93 of Suffer No Fools
"The alarm has stopped. There aren't any within a mile of the island."
Efren approached from the opposite direction. "I've set my sharks on any stragglers, but we've destroyed the only large mass of them in the ocean." He looked chagrined. "I ignored the sea's calls these past few days. The sharks tried to warn me, but I didn't know what they meant. They said a school of bait was coming, and I assumed it was a bait ball of live fish. They meant dead meat."
Hugo and Stan found Tovey resting in the shade of Petri's food stand. Thankfully, Petri had moved it away from the ships before they released the tide.
It was nearing mid-afternoon. They sat in the sand while Petri whipped up sandwiches for everyone on the beach. Hugo ate as quickly as he could, unable to shake his sense of urgency, even though the tree's alarm had stopped.
Once they were finished eating, and Vadim had a basket full of sandwiches to take to Klaus and the children, Stan tried to move the food stand back to its original place. He grunted from the strain, but it wouldn't budge.
"We've got it," Tovey reassured him. He and Petri lifted the stand with air weaves and moved it along the path before them until it rested in its usual place.
They left Petri to close the stand and followed Vadim to the sentinel oak. If people had been gathered to protect the tree, there was no sign of them now. Hugo was even angrier that Frost and Vadim's aunt couldn't be bothered to help them on the beach.
Inside the tree, the children huddled at the bottom of the stairs together. Trin was the tallest, and she had her arms wrapped around both Jasmine and Renald. They all looked up with smiles for Vadim as he ran toward them, nearly tripping on the bottom stair as he launched himself at them. He picked Jasmine up, and she laughed as he spun her in the air, watching her injured leg as they spun.
"Does it hurt?" he asked.
"Good as new, I promise." She huffed at him as he set her down and immediately went to one knee, prodding at her ankle and toes. "I am fine, Dad."
"And you two?" Vadim studied Renald's dirty face. He stood and tousled his hair before turning to Trin. "Thank you for getting them back here. Where is Klaus?"
She pointed to the conference room, where a cacophony of voices echoed off the walls. "I tried to get Frost to help, but he was too busy trying to find Elsie, and then the alarm stopped."
"It's all right." Vadim hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "You did well. Is Klaus ..."
"He's tired and grumpy." Trin shrugged.
Vadim led them into the conference room, hesitating at the door only long enough to spot Klaus in the room before he dashed around the table to sit beside him. He checked Klaus over with the same intensity he'd given the children. Hugo had wanted that once, Vadim's single-minded focus on him, but he much preferred the casual care Stan and Tovey gave him. He could feel their attention on him, but they weren't pawing at him like he was an injured animal.
"Where is Elsie?" Vadim asked once he was satisfied Klaus wasn't going to pass out or spontaneously combust, Hugo knew not which.
Elder Beatrice motioned for Hugo to sit opposite her, and the two seats beside him were also available for Stan and Tovey.Tovey gingerly sank onto the stone while Stan bounced on his seat, still full of energy.
Once everyone was seated, Vadim repeated his question. "Where is my aunt?"
"We don't know," Klaus said through gritted teeth. "She wasn't on the beach, and she wasn't here protecting the tree. When I search for her, I can't sense her on the island."
"This was all a diversion." Hugo couldn't resist setting his elbows on the table before him and rubbing his temples with his hands. "What's missing? Any of Elder Allora's enchantments?"
"We haven't checked," Elder Beatrice said. "What do you mean, diversion?"
"Coryn wanted something on the island," Hugo said. "She was upset when she didn't find it on her first trip."
"You think Coryn was here?"
"No. Fanidra said she's moved back to Stony Eel Island." Hugo had believed her, but Elder Beatrice made a face. "Someone could have stowed away on the ship that arrived this morning, the one with all the undead. Someone who could control them, like Coryn's spectral weaver."
Elder Beatrice blanched, and for a moment, Hugo was certain she would fall to the floor in a feint. "No," she whispered. She took a breath and then she staggered to her feet, gaining composure quickly as she strode for the door.
Vadim followed, and Hugo followed them both. He had a sneaking suspicion he knew their destination. Coryn had told him stories about a statue that could take power from one weaver and give it to another, and Vadim had given her proof it worked when he paraded old, weak Martiz before her, proving he no longer had healing.
When Elder Beatrice reached a dead end, she placed her hand on the wall. It opened, displaying an empty shelf.
"Elsie's taken the statue," she said. "For what purpose? She hates Coryn. She was the one who wanted to go to war against her. Without Elsie, we wouldn't have formed a pirate fleet."
"She's not balanced," Vadim said. "She couldn't have taken the statue."
Elder Beatrice gripped the wall to stay on her feet.
