Mal felt the prize slipping away from her, but at the very last second, she chanted the spell again, forcing her immense will on the trident. Suddenly, it hurtled toward her like a missile.
Mal gasped as the trident slammed into her palm, and she clenched her fist around it. It jerked and twisted in her grasp, and Mal could see powerful energy waves around it, attempting to pull it in the opposite direction. Mal tried to hold it with both hands, but the energy from Uma’s necklace pulled off her left glove, sending it soaring away.
Mal yanked the trident through the hole in the barrier. “I’ve got it!”
“The barrier!” Carlos reminded her.
“Elf and gnome, close this dome!” she yelled, and the hole in the invisible barrier shut with a snap. The magnetic energy around the trident immediately disappeared, and her hand dropped suddenly as the tension vanished. The shock of it sent her flying into Evie, who fell overboard.
Mal clutched the trident and crouched on top of the boat, searching the churning ocean. “EVIE!” she screamed. “EVIE, NO!”
Jay steered the boat around the waves as they frantically searched for their friend.
“EVIE!” called Jay.
“Evie, come on!” yelled Carlos.
Come back to me, Mal thought fiercely, hanging on to the edge of the railing. Come back, Evie. She wished so hard, she thought her head would explode; still there was nothing but the raging sea and the crash of thunder and lightning.
“You guys,” said Jay. “The storm is just getting stronger. We’re going to sink.”
“I think I saw her over there!” yelped Ben. “Circle around!”
“EVIE!” Mal cried. “Where are you?”
But still there was nothing. The largest wave they’d ever seen rose from the ocean and slammed hard onto the boat, throwing them against each other.
“I can’t keep us afloat much longer!” Jay cried.
Just when it seemed they were going to capsize, Evie emerged from the water, her arms flailing. Mal was spent from using her magic, and fell limply against the railing. “Help her! I don’t know what to do,” she cried, keeping a tight grip on the trident.
But her friends picked up the slack, moving with precise urgency. “We’re too far away for her to swim,” said Ben. “Quick, Carlos, grab a life ring. Jay, you have the best arm, throw it to her!”
Ben took the wheel of the speedboat while Jay tossed the orange floatie as far as he could. “EVIE! GRAB IT!”
Evie caught the ring with one hand and held on, keeping her head above the waves.
“PULL!” yelled Ben, steering the boat as Jay and Carlos tugged mightily on the rope, bringing Evie back despite the waves and the rain, inch by inch, until at last she was floating by their side.
“Evie! I thought we’d lost you!” Mal cried joyfully, tears of relief falling down her cheeks and mingling with the rain as she leaned over to help Carlos and Jay haul her back onto the boat. “Are you okay?”
“You’re okay, you’re okay,” said Carlos, smacking Evie’s back to help her cough up seawater.
“Here,” said Jay, handing Evie a warm towel he’d run to grab from belowdecks and helping Carlos drape it over her shoulders.
Evie leaned on Mal, still shaky on her feet. “I’m okay, thanks to you guys.”
Mal gave Evie a tight hug. “I don’t know what I would do without you! Don’t ever scare me like that again!”
“You scared all of us,” said Ben, letting Jay steer the boat once more. “That was intense. But you got it, Mal?”
“I got it,” she said, handing him the trident.
“We did it,” Ben said.
“We did it,” she said, not quite believing it, as Ben held the golden trident in his hands.
“We did it together.” He nodded. Then he turned to Jay, who was back at the wheel. “Come on, let’s get out of here before we sink.”
“Where did it go?” yelled Uma, as the trident disappeared right before her eyes, and she was thrown backward onto the rowboat, falling hard on her back. Her hat tumbled off her head, and she scrambled to catch it before recovering her balance. “Where’s the trident?” she screamed, looking for it on the floor of the boat, even though she knew it was gone.
Lightning flashed overhead, and waves crashed against the boat, dumping water all over them. The necklace’s chain had snapped, and she almost lost hold of it. The rain was relentless, and the whirlwind doubled its speed, spinning them around in a dizzying spiral, obscuring their vision.
“Do you have it!” cried Harry. “Uma! Where’s the trident?!”
Uma scanned the waters frantically but saw nothing. “It was mine!” she howled. “I almost had it! It was right there!”
“Where?” yelled Harry. “I don’t see anything!”
“I don’t know!” she yelled back.
“Do you have it or not?” screamed Harry, as six-foot waves roared and crashed over the little dinghy. He had to fight to hold on to the oars and steer the boat back to the Lost Revenge.
But Uma was too dazed to answer; she was still trying to get back up and resume her balance.
“Gil!” Harry cried, just as the boat lurched upward and slammed back down, throwing Gil overboard.
“Where’s Gil?” yelled Uma, trying to be heard above the whistle of the wind.
“I don’t know! He fell over!” cried Harry, as he lunged to grab an oar that had slipped from its hold, before it could be lost to the sea as well.
Without hesitation, Uma jumped off the boat and into the churning water to save Gil.
Harry saw a brown hat bobbing up and down in the froth. “He’s over there!”
“Help!” screamed Gil, scrambling in the waves. “Help!”
Gil went under, and Harry feared the worst—but suddenly, Uma’s turquoise head appeared by his side. Slowly but surely, she swam them back to safety.
When they reached the dinghy, Harry leaned over and hauled them both back aboard. Gil coughed and choked and spewed water all over the deck.
“Ew,” said Uma. “You’re welcome.”
That was too close. They needed to get back to the ship if they were going to survive, so she motioned for the boys to start rowing. Fighting against the thundering waves, the pouring rain, and the howling winds, they finally reached the Lost Revenge, where the other pirates threw a rope ladder down the side.
“Captains first,” Harry said, giving a hand to help Uma climb the rope.
Uma nodded and hoisted herself up. Gil went up next, and Harry last.