“The Lost Revenge,” read Uma.
“Good name for a pirate ship,” said Harry approvingly.
They read the rest of the text together.
PIRATE RACE
FIRST MAN TO REACH DEAD MAN’S COVE FROM THE GOBLIN WHARF WINS THE LOST REVENGE FROM THE ONE AND ONLY CAPTAIN HOOK
IF IT FLOATS, USE IT AS A BOAT!
TO ENTER: BRING TREASURE!
“This is it!” said Uma, eyes alight. “I’m winning that ship!”
“You?!” said Harry, almost choking on the word and falling off his chair. “This is a ship from my dad’s fleet! That ship should be mine!” Of course his father couldn’t just give him the ship, could he? Instead Captain Hook was using it to amass more bounty. “And you’ll need a crew to sail that thing!”
“I’ll get a crew!” howled Uma, slamming her palm on his desk. “Isle of the Lost? This is more like Isle of the Lemmings! Everyone here is just looking for someone to follow, someone to look up to, someone to fear! Now that Maleficent’s a lizard, there’s no one in charge! Why not me? I’ll have a crew faster than you can say octopus!”
“But you don’t even know how to sail!” Harry protested.
“And you do?” sneered Uma.
“Of course I do!” yelled Harry. “I’m a pirate! You’re just a sea witch!”
“I don’t care! That ship is mine!” said Uma.
“No, it’s mine!” said Harry, as they each took hold of the paper’s edge and pulled it toward him-or herself.
Uma let go of the flyer, taking Harry by surprise, and he lost hold of his hook, which rolled to the floor. Quick as Lucifer, Uma pounced on it and held it high. “It’s mine!” she said triumphantly.
“Give it back,” growled Harry, seething.
“Oh, I’ll give it back…if.” Uma said, a dangerous smile creeping on her face. She looked so much like her mother at the moment that it gave Harry chills.
“If?” he squeaked.
“If you or I win this pirate race, I’ll give you your hook back,” said Uma.
“And if we don’t?”
“If neither of us win, your hook is gone forever. I’ll throw it in the ocean. And if I win, you work for me as first mate. I can’t sail a ship, but you can,” said Uma.
Harry considered the offer. “So if you win or I win, I get my hook back,” he said. “And if you win I have to work for you.”
“Uh-huh,” said Uma with a salty smile. “Like I said, you’ll be the first mate on my crew.”
“If you win,” reminded Harry. “If I win, you’ll be my first mate.”
“You’re not going to win,” said Uma smugly, crossing her arms. “I always beat you.”
“I might,” said Harry. “I’m fast.”
“Slippery, more like.”
“Slippery is still fast,” Harry said with a winning smile.
“So it’s a deal?” said Uma, keeping Harry’s hook behind her back while she held out her hand.
“Deal,” said Harry, shaking it. “Now tell me why you really need that ship.” He knew Uma well enough to know she wasn’t telling him the whole story. They’d been pirating all their rotten lives, and she’d never been interested in a pirate ship until today.
Uma leaned in and told him an unbelievable story about a missing golden trident and how they could bargain their way off the island with it.
Harry listened attentively without yawning or interrupting. But at the end of her story he did have one question. “Okay, say we do get that ship. How are we going to find that thing in the water?”
She waved her hand dismissively like Ursula did whenever she had to cast away any doubts in her victims’ minds. “I’ll figure it out later.”
“You really think we’ll get off this island?”
“If we play our cards right,” said Uma. “Negotiation is my specialty.”
Harry scratched his cheek with a fingernail, thinking it over. He wasn’t sure exactly what he’d agreed to, but however it turned out, he’d probably get his hook back, and he already missed it. “All right, let’s go put some rafts together then,” said Harry, studying the flyer again. “The race is this afternoon.”
A merman in a gold scale-patterned uniform came flying at him, sending the ball toward the goal, but Carlos blocked it quickly, throwing it back into the melee. Jay caught the ball with his paddle and ran down the field, jumping on shields, dodging every defenseman and cannonball shot in his path, until he successfully sent the ball whizzing into the Seaside goal. Yes!
But the Seaside team quickly recovered. Carlos was still celebrating Jay’s score when another merman came barreling toward him, almost certain to score. The ball shot toward the very edge of the goal, and right when it seemed all was lost, Carlos flew up and slammed it away from the net, just as the whistle blew to end the game.
Auradon Fighting Knights 3, Seaside Mermen 2.
It was the final game of the season, and they had just won the championship against the number one seed. Carlos cheered, jumping up in the air and waving his paddle. He pointed at Jay. “You!”
“You!” cheered Jay, removing his helmet and rushing across the field to thump Carlos in the chest. They laughed and joined their team in a group hug, a sweaty huddle of excitement and adrenaline.
Then, like the good sports they’d learned to be, they joined their teammates in consoling their opponents, who were congratulating them. “Good game, good game,” Carlos said, high-fiving the defeated mermen as they streamed by the Auradon Fighting Knights.
“Yo! Bomb Goalie!” yelled Herky, a rather large teammate.
“Huh? What did you call me?” asked Carlos.
“Bomb Goalie! You’re the goalie, and you’re the bomb!”
“Ha! Nice one, thanks,” said Carlos, pounding his teammate’s outstretched fist. Herky enthusiastically tapped him back, sending Carlos flying right into the path of the Auradon mascot.
“Oof!” said a distinctly feminine voice from inside the Fighting Knight costume.
Jane! Carlos thought, rushing to see if she was all right. “I’m so sorry!” he said, helping her stand back up. Jane removed her costume helmet and shook out her hair.
“Are you okay?” asked Carlos.
“I’m fine,” Jane said with a laugh. “Risks of being the mascot.” Her dark hair was plastered to her cheeks and neck and she was all sweaty, but Carlos thought she looked sweet.
“Okay, good.” Carlos smiled. When she turned the other way, he surreptitiously smoothed down his shock of white hair. He was wearing it combed to the side these days, hoping it made him look older, more serious, and less like a computer geek.
They fell in step together off the field, Jane carrying the helmet under her arm. “Good game,” she said. “Poor mermen. They haven’t been having the best week.”
“Did you get caught in the rain too?” asked Carlos.