Fear the Drowning Deep(78)

“What are you doing?” Liss shouted over the clamor. Even with the storm hushing her words, the panic in her voice was clear. “I want to go home!”

“We have to find Da first! He’s out here searching for you!”

Our boat listed hard to the left, wooden sides creaking in protest. If we came any closer to tipping, I would have to release the paddles to help Liss. In the water, we would be easy prey for the serpent. He wouldn’t have gone far.

As we tilted farther, something bounced out of the boat and dropped into the water with a loud splash. The sound chilled my blood.

“Liss!” I gasped. She clutched the boat sides and gazed at me with wide eyes.

The waves shifted, and the boat righted itself as abruptly as it had tilted. Liss whimpered, and I thanked the stars neither of us had fallen in. Drawing a shaky breath, I guided us between two massive swells.

“Give a shout if you see Da.”

“I’ll try.” After a moment’s pause, she added, “I’m so scared, Bry.”

Manannán’s mist rolled with our boat, following us out to sea. It gave me an idea. “How about a song?”

Liss nodded, pressing her lips together as though holding in a cry.

“It was not with his sword he kept the Isle, neither with arrows or bow. But when he would see ships sailing, he would cover it round with a fog. He would set a man, standing on a hill, appear as if he were a hundred. And thus did wild Manannán protect—”

“Bridey, do you see that?” Liss pointed at something over my shoulder.

Without raising the lantern, which I’d left by Liss, I couldn’t see much of anything. “No. But do you have any idea what fell when we tipped?”

Liss didn’t reply. With a break in the waves, I turned to see her wiping strands of golden hair from her forehead and frowning. She held the lantern aloft, and I followed her gaze to the distant figure of a burly man in a large boat, riding the crest of a tall wave.

“Da?” Liss muttered.

I paddled toward him as quickly as my exhausted arms would allow.

“Da!” Liss cried again, her voice rising.

“Over here!” I shouted. If I didn’t stop paddling, we would reach his boat in a few minutes’ time.

When we were no more than a stone’s throw away, Da’s features came into focus. His worn cap, his favorite patched shirt, his broad smile. He beckoned us closer.

“We’re coming!” I called. “Liss is hurt!”

Da’s smile widened as we approached. He seemed perfectly calm. And his clothes and hair were completely dry.

I stilled the paddles.

“What’s wrong?” Liss demanded. “Why did you stop?”

Da continued to beam at us.

“That’s not him,” I murmured. “The serpent is making us see things.”

I turned the boat for shore, but a dark, scaly wall blocked the way.

“He’s gone. Da just vanished, like Martyn. He’s gone!” A scream ripped from Liss’s throat. She must have spotted the massive obstacle in our path.

The serpent’s middle was as wide as the spread arms of a grown man. Its body was covered in thick scales like plate armor. Ebony spikes ran the length of the monster’s spine. Its body writhed with the waves, but its head remained hidden.

Summoning every last ounce of strength, I paddled harder, seeking a break in the rippling chain of flesh. But the serpent had encircled the boat in seconds. My heart banged against my ribs.

“Hand me the jar!”

“What jar?” Liss cried, swinging the lantern around. “I don’t see it!”

The serpent slowly tightened its circle. Huge waves crashed into the monster’s side, glancing off its scales like water against rock. A shrill hissing reached my ears, sending a burst of cold down my spine.

“It’s the only jar on the boat!” I dropped the paddles. There was no use in steering the vessel while only a few feet of water remained between us and the serpent. The jar had vanished—it must have made the splash I heard when the boat nearly overturned.

Panic clouded my vision, but Liss’s quiet sobs kept me from falling to pieces. My sister needed me. If I kept the serpent occupied long enough, perhaps Liss could cling to the boat and drift to safety.

Through a haze, I wrapped my sore hands around the paddle. I wasn’t sure I could kill the monster, or even pierce its scaly hide, but if it showed its ugly head, I would make it hurt.

The hissing grew louder as the serpent’s giant head finally surfaced. The creature shot upward with a rumble as deep as thunder, sending a wave of chill seawater into our faces. It swayed overhead, taller than any tree. There were no cracks in its black, scaly armor, no weak point in which I could thrust the end of my paddle.

Craning my neck, I took a proper look at its head. One murky yellow eye, the size of a dinner plate, watched our boat. The lump where the other eye should have been was a swollen mass of black and purple. Morag’s handiwork.

The serpent opened its mouth, revealing row upon row of needlelike teeth. Most were stained a dull red, as they had been in Mam’s painting. The monster released a deafening screech, but still I clutched the paddle.

A thud sounded behind me. Liss slumped beside the overturned bail bucket, her eyes closed.

With another shriek, the serpent swooped toward us, jaws stretching wider as if it intended to devour the boat in a single mouthful. A blast of the monster’s cold breath pushed my sodden hair off my face.