Grip of the Shadow Plague (Page 82)

"They have the bowl!" an outraged naiad noticed.

The voices became lower and more urgent.

"Hurry!"

"Gather everyone!"

"Not a moment to lose!"

The voices trailed off as Patton and Kendra entered the boathouse. The inside looked much as Kendra recalled. Two rowboats floated on the water, one broader than the other, alongside a small paddleboat outfitted with pedals. Patton tromped across the boathouse, selected the largest pair of oars, and placed them in the broad rowboat. Then he laid one of the next largest oars in the boat as well.

"Sounds as though our underwater antagonists mean to give us a rough time," Patton said. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Do you think you can get me to the island?" Kendra asked.

"I am confident that I can," Patton said.

"In that case, I have to try."

"Do you mind retaining the bowl?"

Kendra held it up. "I’ve got it. I’m sure you’ll have your hands full."

Patton pulled a lever beside the damaged door, and then started turning a crank. A sliding door on the far side of the boathouse gradually opened, granting direct access to the pond. Patton untied the rowboat and climbed inside. He held out a hand for Kendra and helped her into the craft. The boat wobbled as she stepped into it.

"You made it to the island in that little dinghy?" Patton asked, nodding at the paddleboat.

"Yes."

"You’re even braver than I thought," Patton said with a smile.

"I didn’t really know how to use oars, but I knew how to pedal."

Patton nodded. "Remember, lean opposite from the direction they try to tip us. But not too far, or they might reverse tactics and tip you out of the boat the other way."

"Gotcha," Kendra said, glancing over the side, expecting naiads to accost them at any second.

"They can’t bother us while we’re in the boathouse," Patton said. "Only once we pass beyond these walls." He slid the oars into the oarlocks and held them poised to stroke.

"Ready?"

Kendra nodded. She did not trust her voice.

Beneath the water just ahead of them, Kendra heard a giggle. Several voices shushed the laughter.

Dipping the blades of the oars into the water, Patton propelled the craft out of the boathouse. The instant the rowboat passed through the door, it began to pitch and rock. Grimacing, Patton wielded the oars aggressively, fighting to keep the boat steady. Bucking and tilting, the rowboat spun in tight circles. Kendra tried to position herself toward the center of the small vessel, but the violent jostling kept her lurching from side to side, clinging to the bowl with one hand while attempting to steady herself with the other.

"I’ve never seen an effort like this," Patton growled, jerking one of his oars out of a naiad’s grasp.

The right side of the boat tipped alarmingly high, as if many hands were pushing it up. Patton lunged to the right, jabbing at the water with an oar. The right side dropped and the left tipped high, nearly rocking Kendra overboard.

Patton flung himself in the other direction, steadying the boat.

The battle raged on for several minutes, the naiads tirelessly striving to capsize the rowboat and simultaneously towing them away from the island. The oars were instantly seized whenever Patton dipped them in the water, so he spent much of his time wrestling one or the other from an unseen grasp. Meanwhile, the boat twirled and swayed like a carnival ride.

As time passed, instead of dwindling, the attack became more brazen. Webbed hands reached up out of the water to grip the gunwale. During a particularly bad bout of tilting, Kendra toppled against the side of the boat and found herself staring into a pair of violet eyes. The pallid naiad had boosted herself out of the water with one hand and grasped at the silver bowl with the other.

"Back, Narinda!" Patton barked, brandishing an oar.

Baring her teeth, the determined naiad hauled herself farther out of the water. Kendra held the bowl away from Narinda, but the naiad caught hold of her sleeve and began pulling her overboard. Patton brought the oar down sharply, slapping the naiad on top of her head with the flat of the blade. Shrieking, the frenzied naiad released Kendra and vanished with a splash. Another hand grabbed the gunwale and Patton instantly brought the oar down on the webbed fingers.

"Stay in the water, ladies," Patton warned.

"You’ll pay for your audacity," snarled an unseen naiad.

"All you have felt is the flat side of the oar," Patton laughed. "I’m spanking, not wounding. Keep this up and I’ll deal out more lasting injuries."

The naiads continued to hinder the progress of the rowboat, but they no longer reached up out of the water. Patton began using quick strokes that skimmed the surface of the water, throwing a great deal of spray with each pull. The rapid, shallow strokes were harder for the naiads to grab, and the rowboat began to make progress toward the island.

"Chiatra, Narinda, Ulline, Hyree, Pina, Zolie, Frindle, Jayka!" Lena called. "The water has never felt finer."

Kendra turned and saw Lena sitting at the edge of the pier, smiling serenely, feet dangling in the water. Seth stood behind her, an eager look on his face.

"Lena, no!" Patton called.

Lena began humming a lazy melody. She kicked her bare feet gently, making small splashes. Suddenly, Lena yanked her feet out of the water and danced a step back from the edge of the pier. Groping webbed hands broke the surface of the pond nearby.

"So close," Lena lamented. "You almost had me!" She skipped a few steps back along the quay and dipped her toe in, again hopping away just in time to avoid another grasping hand.

"The naiads have never made such a unified, persistent effort," Patton muttered. "Lena is trying to distract them. Chop at the water with the spare oar."

Kendra set the bowl in her lap and picked up the extra oar Patton had brought. Gripping it at the middle of the handle, she began stabbing the blade briskly into the water at either side of the boat. Occasionally the tip of the oar struck something. Kendra began hearing grunts and complaints.

Patton began dipping his oars deeper, and the boat surged toward the island. Encouraged, Kendra jabbed the water more frantically, breathing hard with the effort. She became so intent on hacking at naiads that she was caught off guard when the rowboat ran aground on the island.

"Get out," Patton ordered.

Laying down the oar and picking up the bowl, Kendra stepped to the prow. She hesitated for a moment. Having survived the island once was no guarantee she would survive again. What if her confidence was misplaced? Others who had dared to tread on the island had been instantly transfigured into dandelion fluff. The moment her foot came into contact with the muddy bank, she might dissolve into a downy cloud of dandelion seeds and drift away on the breeze.