But where was Ruby? Matt looked around. He couldn’t see her. Had they somehow left her behind? They couldn’t have. She had stayed on Blossom. Only Corey had jumped to the Vermillion.
Then he spotted her. Or her hands at least. She was hanging off the edge of the wing! Her two hands were clinging for dear life to one of the poles.
The plane rattled and dipped. They rose up and then plummeted again. Matt felt like his stomach was being twisted and flipped inside out. But he had to get Ruby. Slowly and carefully, he made his way to her. Ruby looked up at him with pure terror in her eyes. Holding tight to a pole with one hand, Matt leaned down and shouted in Ruby’s ear, “Swing up a leg!” She swung a leg up enough for Matt to catch it and pull her over the wing. Ruby wrapped her arms tightly around Matt’s neck, but then the plane tilted, and Ruby grabbed on to one of the poles.
They were flying a little lower now. Matt could see skyscrapers and bridges and the ocean. They were soaring over New York. Home. That was all Matt could think of in those last moments. He just wanted to go home with his family.
They were headed toward the Brooklyn Bridge. There was clearly something going on there. Matt thought he could see quite a bit of commotion, like traffic had come to a full stop on the bridge, but he couldn’t see what had caused it. Maybe there had been an accident.
They flew on, wrapping around the Statue of Liberty. A giant bird was circling the crown. Its wingspan was enormous. What kind of bird was that? An eagle? A condor, maybe? It looked bigger than any bird he’d ever seen. The bird landed on the crown of the Statue of Liberty, stretched and folded its wings. Matt squinted, studying the bird’s profile. It sort of looked like a pterodactyl. But that was impossible.
The plane circled around the Statue of Liberty again. Matt could tell Uncle Chuck was trying to decide where they should land. Water or land? If they landed in water they could crash and drown, and if they landed on land they might crash and burn, not to mention possibly injure or kill innocent people.
The plane dipped, then raised a bit, then dipped again. They got lower and lower. It looked like Uncle Chuck had decided on a water landing. As they first touched the water, Matt thought perhaps he should turn the dials again, see if he could nudge Blossom to transform into a boat or ship, but it seemed Blossom was one step ahead of him. After the first few splashes, Blossom began to shift. The plane’s wings folded in like a bird landing on water. The body of the plane stretched and widened into a long boat. A mast shot through the center, right in the place where Corey was tangled up with his parents. A single square sail unfurled and puffed out in the wind. The boat rocked violently. Water splashed over the sides, soaking Matt’s already wet shorts and sneakers. Gaga was curled up in the fetal position on the bottom of the boat. Uncle Chuck tried to stand and take a few steps, but instantly fell down and stayed there.
Matt braced himself on a bench and turned all around, searching for any signs of Captain Vincent or the Vermillion. A water taxi approached, and he almost thought he saw the compass and V symbol on the side, but it was only a white life preserver with a few red stripes. He kept his fingers poised on the dials of the compass. He jumped at every movement, any boat, ship, or ferry, near or far. He searched for the symbol of the Vermillion.
Someone touched his shoulder. Matt flinched and whipped around, breathing hard. But it was only Ruby. “It’s okay,” she said. “It’s just me.”
Matt nodded. “You okay?” he asked. Ruby’s face was flushed, and chunks of hair had been pulled free of her braid, but she didn’t look hurt.
“I’m fine, thanks to you.”
Matt looked around one more time. No Vermillion. No Captain Vincent. No time pirates. He took a breath as though it was his first in ages and slumped down to the floor, overcome with exhaustion and dizziness. He felt as though he’d been put through a shredder and then hastily glued back together. It was all very tenuous. He could fall apart at any moment.
Ruby knelt down beside him. “Matt, your face . . . What happened?”
Matt touched his cheek and felt the sting. He looked at his fingers, saw the blood. Somehow the sight of it made the pain bloom everywhere. His arms were cut up, too, and his shirt and shorts were in shreds. It was a miracle they were still on his body.
His mom was suddenly there, and Corey and his dad. His mom’s hair had been ripped free of its ponytail and was a wild mess. His dad’s hair was also crazy, his glasses askew, and his face extremely pale. Matt automatically looked at his throat, searching for any sign of injury from where Captain Vincent had pulled that watery material. His time tapestry. He couldn’t see anything, but he couldn’t believe it hadn’t had some effect.
“Dad,” Matt said. “You okay?”
“Yeah, buddy, I’m okay.”
“You sure? Count your ABCs and sing your numbers.”
His dad gave him a funny look. “I think the one we need to worry about is you, bud. You look like you’ve been in a war zone.”
Matt winced as his mom brushed his cut-up face, frowning. “Oh, Mateo, what happened?”
“The rain,” Matt said.
“The rain?”
“It was sharp.”
They all looked at each other. “Maybe he’s talking about the window at Gaga’s house,” Ruby said. “It shattered, remember? Matt was right in front of it.”
“Plus he always gets really bad time sickness,” Corey said. “Maybe
