“Since you say there were icebergs,” Mr. Hudson said, “I’m thinking we should focus our efforts on the Arctic or Antarctic, but the time . . .”
“Maybe he took them to the Ice Age,” Ruby suggested. “Like Tui.”
Mrs. Hudson ground her teeth. Fatoumata, or “Tui,” had been one of her crew when she had been captain of the Vermillion, someone they thought they could trust. But in the end she’d been working for Captain Vincent all along. She’d been the one to turn Matt over to Quine in order to give the Aeternum to Vincent. Turns out she never forgave Mrs. Hudson for leaving her crew to go off and get married and have kids. Matt wondered what had happened to her after that moment in Asilah, when they’d all been flung back in time and space. Had Captain Vincent gone back to get her? Or did he leave her there, her uses dried up?
“Did you see any woolly mammoths?” Corey asked. “Penguins? Polar bears?”
“No,” said Uncle Chuck. “No animals. Just water and lots of ice. I’m sorry, that’s all I got.”
Jia suddenly gasped and covered her mouth.
Matt jumped and hit his funny bone on the table. “Ah! What? What is it?” he said while rubbing at his fizzing arm.
“I think I remember your grandfather,” she said. “And you.” She nodded toward Uncle Chuck.
“What?” Matt cried. “When? Where?”
Jia shook her head. “I don’t know. It was so long ago for me, and you looked so different then, but I remember we brought a man on board at one point. Someone the captain didn’t like, but the man seemed confused. He was scared. And then another man showed up, younger. It was you, I think.” She nodded to Uncle Chuck. “And then he discarded you. It was the only time I’d seen him discard anyone. Before you, at least.” She nodded to Matt, referring to the time he, Corey, and Ruby had been discarded on a barren island. Definitely one of the worst moments in Matt’s life.
“You were the one who dropped the rope!” Uncle Chuck exclaimed. Matt remembered he had told them that someone had dropped a rope from the Vermillion. He had escaped by grabbing ahold of it before the Vermillion disappeared, but he never did find out who had helped him. Until now.
Jia nodded. “I wasn’t sure it would do any good, but it didn’t feel right, just leaving you there.”
“Thank you. I owe you my life.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t have done more.”
“Perhaps you can,” said Mr. Hudson. “Do you remember where or when Captain Vincent discarded them? Did you hear them speaking about it? Any details at all?”
Jia shook her head. “No. Nothing Chuck hasn’t told you already. I’m sorry.” She hung her head a little.
“Oh, Jia, chérie, don’t be sorry.” Mrs. Hudson put a hand on top of Jia’s. “You’ve done so much for us, for my children, I only wish there was something we could do to repay you. And Pike too. You’ve both been such a help to our family!”
Pike barely looked up at the sound of her name. She was sitting at the table, fiddling with her knotted rope while staring at an open book. It was the book about famous scientists Matt’s parents had given him for his birthday. Matt hadn’t even cracked it open, but Pike seemed to like all the pictures. Occasionally, she glanced at Matt and his compass, like she was wondering when they were going to travel again.
Pike was still a mystery to Matt. She’d somehow stowed herself away inside of Blossom on their return from Asilah, bearing a note from Marius Quine saying she was “on our side.” She was just as silent with them as she had been on the Vermillion. Matt was thinking there had to be more to Pike’s story than what met the eye, but they had very little clues. They had no idea where she was from. Or when. Mrs. Hudson had guessed she was from a Nordic country, given her white-blond hair and fair skin, maybe Finland or Denmark. She had tried speaking a little to Pike in Finnish and Dutch. Pike had cocked her head like a curious kitten but remained mute.
“Is Pike her real name?” Mrs. Hudson had asked Jia.
“Oh, no,” Jia said. “It’s just a nickname. I have no idea what her real name is.”
Matt had never considered this, but of course that made sense. According to Jia, shortly after Pike had boarded the Vermillion, she caught a huge pike fish with nothing but her rope and a string of paper clips. Brocco started calling her “Li’l Pike” and it stuck. Matt felt a range of conflicting emotions at this tale. Brocco had nicknamed all the kids on Captain Vincent’s crew. Matt was “Li’l Professor.” He had liked Brocco a lot, right up until that moment he found out he was helping Captain Vincent try to destroy his family. Maybe even then he was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, until he shot Corey and almost killed him. The lines had been clearly drawn.
Mr. Hudson kept studying the globe, and everyone continued to offer different theories about where or when Captain Vincent could have taken their grandfather. The table started shaking. It jerked so hard, a table leg hit Matt in the knee.
“Corey, quit it,” Matt said.
“Quit what?”
“Quit shaking the table.”
Corey lifted his hands. “Dude, I’m not even touching the table. Back off.” He glared at Matt, but the shaking stopped. Matt shook his head. Of course it had been Corey. He was always fidgeting, rattling things and knocking things over, but Matt didn’t see any point in arguing with him. Corey had been a bit touchy since their return from Morocco. He hadn’t joked nearly as much. He’d been through a lot, too, including getting shot in the arm. He said it was fine, good
