“That’s true.”
“It’s probably going to be very easy,” Aaron said, “like I’ve said all along. You always make things too complicated.”
Alex’s mouth dropped open. “I do not.”
Aaron gave Ms. Octavia a side-eye glance. “He does, doesn’t he?”
Ms. Octavia lifted her eyebrows and shrugged. “Yes,” she said. “Sorry, Alex.”
Alex just shook his head. “You two,” he muttered. “So I guess the biggest question is what materials are we going to use to make this happen. Because we’ll need a lot of them, and they’ll have to be a big variety of colors in order to blend in properly. We don’t want our dragon friends to look like our patch job on the ship. They’ll be our artwork on display for all the world to see.”
“Fair enough,” declared Ms. Octavia. “Though we can easily just paint the wings to match the dragons if we can’t find the right material. Why don’t you work on designing a mini-model-size wing for your 3-D drawing that will be aerodynamic and strong enough to transport its weight, and then once the dimensions are perfected, you can move on to a full size pair of wings. Aaron can help me see about some materials that will suit the job.”
Alex agreed. He showed the two his drawings to point out the various colors necessary. Aaron was appropriately impressed by the 3-D drawing that popped off the page, which made Alex feel a little more secure in his abilities. At least Aaron couldn’t do that.
Once Ms. Octavia and Aaron had had a good look, they headed off together, and Alex sat in the classroom alone with his project. It was good to be doing the thing he did best and enjoyed most once again.
Old Friends and Traditions
With so much help from sea creatures, it didn’t take much effort for Karkinos to stay afloat in his usual spot in the sea. He showed signs of tiredness from time to time, but Spike and the giant squid fed and monitored the crab to make sure he had everything he needed. Henry kept an eye on his health and strength, which improved little by little.
At first Henry worried that he hadn’t given the crab enough seaweed, and even considered making a trip to the Island of Shipwrecks to get more. But after a few days of resting and eating, Karkinos began making great strides. Indeed, he became almost playful as more time passed.
“He’s acting like his old self again,” Talon said one day as he and Henry stood at the edge of the island and watched the crab play tag with the squid and Issie. “He reminds me of the creature he was before he fell sick—which was well before your ship first landed here.”
“I’m really glad to hear that,” Henry said. It was a relief to know their efforts had paid off. Karkinos lurched to one side trying to tag Issie with his claw, and Henry grabbed on to Talon’s arm to steady himself. “I think Karkinos has a long, healthy life ahead of him.”
Talon put his bronze hand on the boy’s shoulder and looked at Henry earnestly. “I cannot possibly thank you enough,” he said. “You risked everything for us. I don’t know what I would have done if you’d been hurt.”
Henry could see the gratitude in Talon’s eyes. “But I wasn’t hurt,” the boy said. “I’m really glad we could help. You and everybody here mean a lot to us. We talk about you all the time—about how much fun we had here. You are our friends.” He grew quiet, thoughtful. Talon made him feel like he’d done something right. But there was one thing that had been bothering Henry since the time they arrived. Something he couldn’t quite shake from his conscience. He looked back to the playful water creatures and frowned.
“I’ve been meaning to do something,” Henry said under his breath, and left Talon’s side. “Spike!” he called out. He walked toward Karkinos’s reefy claw.
The whale surfaced near Henry. “What is wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” Henry said, crouching down near Spike’s face. “I don’t think so, anyway. But I need you to speak to Karkinos for me. Can you do that?”
“Yes, I can and will,” said Spike.
“Tell him that I used a medicine on him that will extend his life indefinitely . . . perhaps even forever. And I should have asked his permission first, but he wasn’t responding to you and we were about to go over the waterfall, and, well . . . there were so many lives at stake that I administered the medicine without asking him first. And I’m sorry. I hope he thinks I did the right thing.”
Spike waited until he was sure Henry was done with his confession, and then disappeared under the water. A moment later Henry could see Spike talking earnestly to the crab.
The crab and Spike conversed for a moment, and then Spike swam back to Henry.
“Karkinos says he does not wish to be dead or stuck in a rotating waterfall, and he wants to live as long as Talon lives, which is likely forever, so you have done him a great favor. He is very happy.”