A boat, drifting in the courtyard. Sailing and bobbing right in the middle of the school.
Jonathan and Sebastian and a few others ran to the windows, standing a couple of cautious steps back and squinting into the darkness outside.
Lightning flashed again.
“It’s empty!”
“That’s the mail boat. The one the guy came in.”
“The gate must have blown open!”
Jonathan looked down the row of terrified faces.
“It’s floating out there,” he said. “There’s enough water inside for it to float.”
They looked out at the boat, rocking its way through the storm toward them, rising and falling with the waves.
“It ain’t just puddles out there,” Walter said.
“It’s flooded. The island’s underwater.”
They looked down at the water, now above their ankles.
From behind them came a wrenching, shrieking sound, followed by a thunderous bang. It rang out from the doorway that led into Slabhenge and for a moment overpowered even the sound of the storm raging around them.
Jonathan splashed through the water to the doorway. He took one step into the lightless corridor and listened. He heard echoes of banging, and rushing, and a wet slurping roar.
“It’s the Hatch!” he screamed, the wind whipping the words out of his mouth. “It opened!”
The boys came out from behind and under the tables. They gathered in the middle of the room, feeling for each other in the darkness. A few were crying. Questions were shouted by shaking voices.
“Everyone settle down!” Sebastian’s harsh command silenced the rising voices. “Just shut up, everyone! Let me think! We’re all fine!”
His words shook Jonathan with a realization.
“All!? What about Colin! He’s lower down than we are! We have to go save him!”
Sebastian shook his head.
“No way! We’re not going past that Hatch if it’s open!”
“We have to! He’ll drown!”
“So will we if we go after him. We’re staying right here until the storm stops. We can sit up on the tables.”
“No, Sebastian, we have to—”
“No, Johnny. We can’t save him.” Sebastian’s voice was as hard as the sword glinting in his hand. “We’re not gonna die trying.”
Jonathan swallowed. His whole body was trembling. With cold. With anger. With fear. He rubbed his arms with shivering hands, feeling the burns and scars through his wet sleeves. He imagined he could hear Colin crying for help. In his mind he saw soggy, water-ruined paper birds. Rain-soaked flowers.
“I’m going,” he said, and his voice was soft but at least as hard as Sebastian’s.
Sebastian blinked and breathed hard through his nose. His jaw muscles rippled.
“Fine. But you’re going alone. And you can’t save him.”
“Yes, I can.”
“Don’t go!” Tony said.
“Don’t do it, man,” Walter pleaded.
“It’s crazy!” Gerald yelled. The water was halfway up their calves now.
“Let me have a lantern,” Jonathan said into Sebastian’s eyes. Sebastian glanced quickly around.
“We only have three left.” Sebastian said. Jonathan kept his eyes locked on Sebastian’s, unblinking. After a moment, Sebastian blinked. “Fine. Take one. Better bring a candle, too.”
Without another word, Jonathan jerked a lantern out of the nearest kid’s hand. He yanked a candle out of the holder by the doorway. He was two steps into the corridor when a sudden thought stopped him.
“Patrick!” he exclaimed. “The coal room is flooding.” He looked to Roger and Gregory. They didn’t look tough at all. They looked soaking wet and scared. “Go get him and bring him up.”
The two boys didn’t move, except to look at Sebastian. After a moment, he nodded. They turned and jogged toward the coal room.
Jonathan adjusted his grip on the lantern’s slippery handle and took off into the darkness as fast as he could through the rising water.
“Good luck!” Walter shouted after him. Then another kid shouted the same thing. As he sprinted around the first corner and out of earshot, Jonathan heard a chorus of scared voices shouting the same thing. Their voices echoed behind him, following him into the black, flooded maze of Slabhenge.
“Good luck!”
As he ran, Jonathan tried to retrace in his mind the path they’d taken when they’d returned from leaving Colin to the rats and shadows. Rising up was all he remembered clearly. And passing the Hatch. He made his way there, holding the lantern out in front of him.
He ducked under the rope and started down the stairs, then cried out and slid to a stop.
Three steps down, the stairs disappeared into black, bubbling water.
The lantern nearly slipped from his fingers. He caught it and fell against the stone wall, panting.
The Hatch had cracked open. And the ocean it had been holding back had broken out of the dungeon.