Blackwells and the Briny Deep Read online

  Other Weird Stories Gone Wrong:

  Jake and the Giant Hand

  Myles and the Monster Outside

  Carter and the Curious Maze

  Alex and The Other

  Copyright © Philippa Dowding, 2018

  Illustrations © Shawna Daigle, 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise (except for brief passages for purpose of review) without the prior permission of Dundurn Press. Permission to photocopy should be requested from Access Copyright.

  All characters in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Cover image: Shawna Daigle

  Printer: Webcom

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Dowding, Philippa, 1963-, author

  Blackwells and the briny deep/ Philippa Dowding.

  (Weird stories gone wrong)

  Issued in print and electronic formats.

  ISBN 978-1-4597-4106-5 (softcover).--ISBN 978-1-4597-4107-2 (PDF).--

  ISBN 978-1-4597-4108-9 (EPUB)

  I. Title. II. Series: Dowding, Philippa, 1963- . Weird stories gone wrong.

  PS8607.O9874B53 2018 jC813’.6 C2018-900291-3

  C2018-900292-1

  1 2 3 4 5 22 21 20 19 18

  We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country, and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Ontario, through the Ontario Book Publishing Tax Credit and the Ontario Media Development Corporation, and the Government of Canada.

  Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien. L’an dernier, le Conseil a investi 153 millions de dollars pour mettre de l’art dans la vie des Canadiennes et des Canadiens de tout le pays.

  Care has been taken to trace the ownership of copyright material used in this book. The author and the publisher welcome any information enabling them to rectify any references or credits in subsequent editions.

  — J. Kirk Howard, President

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  For Shawna, who asked for mermaids

  — Philippa

  For Mom and Dad: thanks for all the crayons

  — Shawna

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  THIS PART IS (MOSTLY) TRUE …

  CHAPTER ONE - THE LOST SHELL

  CHAPTER TWO - THE PHANTOM SHIP

  CHAPTER THREE - STORM-AGEDDON

  CHAPTER FOUR - FINN

  CHAPTER FIVE - SEAWEED AND FOGHORN

  CHAPTER SIX - THE DISTANT DRUMS

  CHAPTER SEVEN - MIGHT THEY BE MERMAIDS?

  CHAPTER EIGHT - ZOMBIE PIRATES FROM THE BRINY DEEP

  CHAPTER NINE - THE MERMAID QUEEN

  CHAPTER TEN - THE FIGUREHEAD GRAVEYARD

  CHAPTER ELEVEN - GOLD-TOOTH AND EYE-PATCH

  CHAPTER TWELVE - IT’S SUNDOWN SOMEWHERE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN - THE MERMAID CURSE

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN - PIRATE JONAH AT YOUR SERVICE

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN - PLEASE, WILLIAM

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN - PEREGRINE, HO!

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - RESCUE AT SEA

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - THE SEA SPIRIT

  THIS PART IS (ALSO) MOSTLY TRUE

  SAILING GLOSSARY

  MORE BOOKS BY PHILIPPA DOWDING

  ALSO BY AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR PHILIPPA DOWDING

  THIS PART IS (MOSTLY) TRUE …

  You should know, before you even start this book, that it’s a little scary. And parts of it are even a bit weird and strange. I wish I could make the story less scary and strange, but this is the way I heard it, so I really have no choice.

  It starts like this (which, by the way, is pretty much exactly how every sea story worth telling begins):

  One summer evening a long time ago, two brothers were fishing by the sea. It was quiet, peaceful twilight. Not a breath of air stirred, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, the water was still and calm. Candles were lit in homes that dotted the bay. The lights in the harbour shone, and the lighthouse would soon be lit, too, as darkness fell.

  The fish weren’t biting, but that’s not really here nor there in this particular story.

  But it does explain why the younger brother was daydreaming. He sat on the wooden dock and stared out at the peach and golden waves as the sun sank upon them.

  He closed his eyes and dreamed about mermaids and pirates, enchanted islands and sea adventures, and what it might be like to go to sea as a cabin boy (since this was in the days of such things). A seagull’s cry made him open his eyes …

  … and there, on the horizon!

  An enormous black ship!

  It had NOT been there a moment before.

  The sails were tattered and torn. Thin, ragged sailors ran along the deck. The sailboat heaved and bucked through gigantic waves. Crested plumes of spray flew from its bow.

  Then, a curl of smoke. The ship was on FIRE!

  The boy shielded his eyes and stared. The fiery ship sailed full force into the teeth of a terrible storm …

  … except there was no storm. The sea was calm, the sky was clear. But there it was. A burning ship, fighting a storm in high seas.

  “LOOK! Out to sea!” The boy called to his older brother, who at that very moment had hooked a fish, their first and only hope of dinner.

  “Do you see it? A ship on FIRE!”

  “Quiet! There’ll be no dinner if I don’t catch this fish!” the older brother snapped. His mother had told them not to come home empty-handed.

  “But look! It’s a ship in distress!”

  The giant ship leaned to one side. The flames spread quickly, soon the whole ship would be on fire …

  It’s so close, but I can’t hear the sailor’s cries, the boy thought. And I don’t smell smoke!

  The burning ship drew close to shore. A horrible wooden figurehead stared from the bow: it was half woman, half sea monster!

  The name of the ship was carved beside the figurehead: The Mermaid Queen.

  “We have to call the men!” The boy grabbed his brother’s arm, and the fish jumped free of the hook.

  “You made me lose dinner!” The older brother glared.

  “But it’s right …”

  When the younger brother turned back, the fiery ship was gone!

  “But … where did it go? I’m telling you, it was right there! A ship on fire in a storm! Going down with all hands!” The older brother marched toward home. But the younger brother stared, rubbed his eyes, and scanned the horizon.

  The Mermaid Queen had vanished.

  Like it had never been there at all.

  The only movement on the water was a dolphin. It leapt high into the air then dove beneath the waves.

  Now a storm roiled on the horizon. In moments, big dark clouds filled the sky and rain lashed the houses, docks, and boats at anchor in the harbour.

  The boy sat in the rain all night, looking out to sea. His mother couldn’t convince him to come in for soup (since his brother never did catch a fish) or for bed. She finally gave up and put a rain cape over her son’s shoulders.<
br />
  He watched all night, until the storm blew away and mild dawn broke over the water. He watched until seagulls flew past to begin their day at sea. But The Mermaid Queen didn’t reappear. There was no flotsam — no wood, no sailcloth, nothing from a shipwreck — washed onto shore the next day, either.

  Finally the next morning, as the sun rose, an old sailor limped along the dock. He stopped in front of the waterlogged boy and balanced on his wooden leg (for this was in the days of such things, too).

  “It was a phantom ship, son. A ghost ship. Destined to sail the seas, forever on fire and forever sinking, for all time. Those who see one at sea are in grave danger,” the sailor said. This particular sailor was full of strange sea stories about dolphins that turned into boys, sea spirits, enchanted islands, shipwreck graveyards, and so on.

  Most people avoided him. Or thought he’d spent too much time alone at sea and gone a little odd.

  But after seeing the burning ship, the boy wasn’t so sure.

  Time passed, and not surprisingly, perhaps, the boy never did go to sea. In fact, he became a respected lawyer. He stayed very comfortably on dry land into old age, which he spent among his many children and grandchildren.

  He was definitely NOT given to telling stories (as a lawyer, that wouldn’t do) or seeing things that no one else could see. But on certain summer nights, when the sun was sinking just so, his family might find him staring out to sea and murmuring: The Mermaid Queen, The Mermaid Queen …

  You don’t have to believe this story. But just because things are odd or a little strange or unbelievable doesn’t always make them untrue. Truth is an odd thing; one person’s truth can be another person’s lie. That’s the most important thing to remember about this story: sometimes things that seem like lies are actually true. And sometimes you never can tell.

  That’s the spookiest thing of all.

  Ahoy, Mates! You’ll find a glossary of sailing terms used in this book starting on page 136!

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE LOST SHELL

  There was no reason at all to assume the day was going to be anything but normal. The sky was blue. The winds were light. The water was calm.

  William, Jonah, and Emma had sailed across the bay alone before. A few times. Their father was waiting for them at the other side as usual. The whole trip would take a few hours.

  On any normal day.

  William walked along the dock, carrying their food cooler. Behind him, he heard his younger brother and sister arguing. Or more precisely, he heard Jonah annoying Emma. Nothing unusual there. The twins fought constantly.

  “Just put your magic conch shell in your sparkly mermaid backpack!” Jonah teased.

  “Stop it, Jonah,” Emma said quietly. She liked the shell. So what? She liked the spiral of it and the sound it made if you put it up to your ear. And her backpack was NOT sparkly. It was green, and she drew a mermaid on it with black ink. What was sparkly about that?

  “Don’t you want to wear your magical shell in your mermaid backpack?” Jonah taunted again. Emma ignored him.

  William reached their sailboat, Peregrine, and swung his long leg over the lifeline. He stepped into the cockpit with the food cooler, and a huge spider scuttled into the scuppers. He frowned. Jitters. He was always a little jumpy when he was in charge. Especially at first.

  He cleared his throat. “Quiet, Jonah. Already fighting and not even on board yet. It’s going to be a long day unless you two get along.”

  Emma shot Jonah a glare. She was definitely not looking forward to spending a whole afternoon with him. For twins, they barely got along. Jonah jumped past her onto the boat.

  Their sailboat, Peregrine, wasn’t big, but it wasn’t small, either. It had a big cockpit with a wheel for steering and two benches. It also had a covered cabin with two beds, which on a boat are called “bunks,” and a kitchen, called a “galley.” It even had a tiny washroom for emergencies, called a “head.” Pretty much everything on board a ship had a different name from what it was called on land.

  Emma swung her leg over the lifeline …

  … and for the first time in her life, she tripped getting onto the boat! William grabbed her before she fell overboard.

  But all three of them watched as Emma’s conch shell flew out of her hand. Almost in slow motion, the shell arced over the boat. It flew toward Jonah.

  Emma would remember the next second perfectly, for the rest of her life.

  Jonah could have easily reached out and caught the shell. He was a star baseball player. It would have been easy for him. If he’d caught it, then maybe the rest of the day would have been normal.

  But Jonah didn’t catch the shell. Instead, he let it sail past him. The shell landed with a plop in the deep water of the channel.

  Emma gasped. “My shell!” She turned on her brother. “Jonah, you could have caught it!”

  Jonah stood above her on the deck. He shrugged and crossed his arms. He didn’t look sorry. Emma took a step toward him. She was eight minutes older. And at almost twelve, she was taller than her twin. She’d started her growth spurt, and he hadn’t. She was winning more and more of their fights lately.

  “Jonah, you’re going to pay,” Emma whispered, taking another step forward.

  William stepped between them. He was still their big brother, big enough to make them behave. Barely. And he had to take charge, much as he hated sorting out their fights. He couldn’t have the twins rolling around on deck, trying to throttle each other.

  “Thanks a lot, Jonah,” William said, disgusted. “Once again, you never fail to disappoint.”

  “What? What did I do? It’s just a stupid shell!”

  “You know it’s not a stupid shell. Not to Emma,” William said. “And she’s right, you could have caught it. Apologize, so we can get going.”

  Jonah sneered. “No! I didn’t do anything!” William and Emma looked at him.

  “Suit yourself,” William finally said. He turned to his little sister. “Emma, I’m sorry your pirate twin didn’t try to catch your shell. I promise you we’ll find you another one, and Dad will hear about it. Jonah, you’re just mean sometimes, for no reason.” William turned his back, hoping they’d listen to him. He busied himself and took the cover off the main sail.

  Very slowly, Emma raised her hand and pointed at her brother. “You, Jonah Blackwell, are a miserable, lowlife pirate! YOU’RE A PIRATE!” she yelled.

  Jonah made a face at her, but he didn’t budge. “I’d be happy to be a pirate. I’d be the PIRATE KING!”

  “Stop, Jonah!” William shouted. “Can’t you just try to get along with Emma? We’re stuck together for the next few hours. Get your lifejackets on and get ready to leave the dock.” He stepped down the ladder into the cabin and came back up with the big binoculars.

  “Here Emma, watch for whales,” he said. Emma took the binoculars. William was trying to be nice, because unlike Jonah, he wasn’t a pirate. She put the leather strap around her neck.

  Then in total silence, and with plenty of glaring, Emma and Jonah untied Peregrine from the dock. William started the motor, and Peregrine backed slowly into the channel then headed out into the bay. When they were in open water, Jonah and Emma pulled up the sails and William turned off the motor.

  The good ship Peregrine sailed along the calm water under a bright blue sky.

  Emma could sail with her twin brother, but she didn’t have to talk to him.

  She loved that shell.

  She found it in Florida the winter that she and Jonah were eight. All day long, Jonah had teased her that she’d never find a conch shell. It was weird, but she knew he was wrong. So she stayed on the beach until after dark, digging in the sand, searching. She was about to give up when a dolphin jumped in the ocean nearby. She watched it leap in the moonlight then disappear, then … there it was. The perfect conch lay in the sand.

  It was almost like a gift from the ocean. The strangest part? It didn’t surprise her. She knew she’d find th
e shell that day, somehow. She’d never told anyone about how she found it, though, because who’d believe her?

  Emma tried not to think about the lost shell. Or what she might do to Jonah when they weren’t stuck on the boat anymore.

  Peregrine leapt forward in the gentle breeze, and the Blackwells sailed along, slowly leaving the shore behind them.

  William steered. Emma looked through the binoculars. Jonah stared out to sea. Emma swept the binoculars across waterlogged stumps, past geese and ducks along the shore.

  Then she saw it  !

  Suddenly, a long hand poked above the water. Seaweed trailed from slender fingers that held …

  … a conch shell!

  Emma stared through the binoculars. The hand — was it webbed? — held the shell above the water for a few seconds. Then hand and shell disappeared with a gentle splash below the waves.

  Emma gasped.

  She looked at Jonah and William, but they hadn’t seen what she had.

  She just saw a seaweed-covered hand poking above the water.

  And it was holding her shell!

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE PHANTOM SHIP

  Emma stared at the water. What did she just see?

  She peeked at William, at the wheel. She shot a glance at Jonah, who sat on the deck, staring at the horizon. She couldn’t tell them what she just saw. They’d never believe her. And besides, if she did tell them, Jonah would tease her all day.

  But what WAS that thing? Did she really just see a hand, dripping with slimy seaweed, hold her conch above the water?

  She clutched the binoculars and swept them across the waves. Nothing.

  It was a perfect blue-sky day. The wind blew the sailboat along. At the top of the mast, Peregrine flew her ensign: a beautiful white and grey peregrine (the bird) on a bright red flag.

  William steered, Jonah sulked, and Emma stared through the binoculars.

  This went on for a while. One thing about sailing is it takes patience to get anywhere. But there was plenty to look at. Birds. The sky. The clouds. The gentle rippling of the waves and the sun sparkling on the water.