Chapter 21
“ L ights on, so he’s definitely home.”
Hook stepped off the cobblestone path and stopped a few feet in front of Garth’s door, not bothering to knock as stomping footsteps began to sound from just inside. Air whooshed outward as the door swung open.
“Not interested, so sell your wares to someone who is,” Garth growled, his eyes widening as they settled on Hook. “Wait…I might be going senile, but I could’ve sworn I saw your ugly mug just a few days back.”
Interesting. Had he seen Hook the same day Moll and I had met him?
“ Going senile? A little late for that, old man,” Hook answered, shooing him back into the house. “Important business. We need to talk.”
“It’s a bit late for guests,” he started, leaning around Hook to see who he’d brought along, “but I guess I could make a little time for ya. Just make it qui—” He cut off as his gaze fell on me, breaking into a laugh. “Gods your hair is right fucked, huh?”
“Yep, I had a real shit barber,” I quipped, hoping Hook didn’t notice the red glow blooming on my cheeks. If Moll had been here, she would’ve joined in, but thankfully, she’d opted to wait back at the inn with Xander.
Hook glanced between us, unamused. “So this is where you got that ‘disguise’?”
“I should’ve let Moll do it,” I grumbled.
“Disguise?” Paddy asked, narrowing his eyes at me. “Who’re you pretendin’ to be?”
I shooed him away with a hand. “Not pretending to be anyone. This is old news.”
“Hmm.” He sounded skeptical.
Garth groaned, pulling our attention back to him. “Come on in, lads. You’re letting out all my hot air.”
I spared a final glance at Fetch, seeing that he was still circling overhead, before piling into the house with Hook and the four O’Donnelly brothers.
Things looked much the same as last time, but little piles of old books and old mugs of half-drank tea were strewn all around the little house.
Garth gestured for us to take a seat, moving over to his own at the head of the table.
“Been on a reading kick?” I asked, pushing a book toward the center of the table as I moved to take a seat.
“Interrogating a man in his own home.” He shook his head disapprovingly. “Kids these days. But yes, if you must know. I’ve been?—”
“We’re here to learn more about The Weeping Fen,” Hook said, as if the older man hadn’t been speaking. He gestured to each of the O’Donnellys in turn. “This is Paddy, Scotty, Jacob, and Andrew. They’re Seekers.”
“I’ve heard of ‘em.” Garth’s lip curled downward as he looked them over. “Word around is they’re pretty good, too…as far as people of that generation go.”
I turned just in time to see Paddy opening his mouth to speak, then cutting off with a soft yelp as Jacob pinched his shoulder.
“The Captain tells us you’ve been to the second layer,” Jacob said. “Is that right?”
“To the very heart of her, then back again.” Garth nodded solemnly as he turned to Hook. “So what is it that you need to know, lad?”
I narrowed my eyes and studied the old man’s face. Despite his initial, gruff greeting, there was something kinder about how he spoke to Hook. Even his body language was relaxed, less combative. Maybe it was the pirate’s reputation?
Something about that didn’t quite ring true, though. Why had he called him ‘lad’?
“We’re taking a trip, and I want to gather as much information as possible,” Hook answered. “There are lots of sailors out there spinning fake tales about The Fen, so I brought these fellas to the one man I believe has actually been past the first level.”
Garth fixed him with a disapproving glare, his milky eyes threatening to drill a hole right through him. “Can’t you just leave that crap behind you? There’s more to life than vengeance, and you’re wasting precious years on?—”
“Just tell us your story, old man,” Hook cut in.
Garth leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms petulantly. “And if I don’t?”
I had only met Garth a few days ago, but I felt like I had a good read on him. “There was that other guy in town who said he’s been there.” I shrugged. “Maybe we should try interviewing him, instead…”
The old man’s head snapped sideways, and he fixed me with a glare.
“Tucker? Bastard’s more full of shit than a mushroom farm.
Couldn’t describe a single creature he saw there beyond the ones even children would know about.
” He took another glance at Hook, then let out a sigh and leaned forward.
“Bah, I guess I can tell you, if you’re so desperate… ”
Wood squeaked against wood as he pushed out his chair, jumping abruptly to his feet as he cleared his throat.
“Fifty years ago, when I was just a strapping young deckhand, and the pirate alliance was not yet a dream in Davy’s head, Captain Meldrick Flannery caught wind of the money that could be made by seekin’.
Gave up thievery and started leading expeditions into The Fen.
Many thought him the best Captain of our time; decisive, brave, and wise enough to listen to the counsel of others instead of just going off on his own, half-cocked all the time.
” He fixed Hook with a pointed glance before continuing his story.
“We started small, going just past the outer rim of the place and hauling out some big game hides, plants, and even gemstones. But we didn’t stop there.
Even the most sensible of men can become greedy when so much coin is involved.
We delved deeper each month, still cautious, but always seeking a larger prize.
He promised that we’d stop at the very outskirts to that inner layer, but it was like something called to him about it.
A last frontier for him to conquer. I talked some sense into him the first few times he brought it up, but eventually it became too alluring.
He put together a team of his best fighters, then led us into the second layer. We?—”
“Could you be a little more specific?” Scotty cut in, looking skeptical. “You said that you often stopped at the edge of the inner layer before this—what did it look like?”
“It’s like an overgrown swampland,” he grumbled with a swipe of his hand, clearly annoyed at the interruption, “with a wall of brambles cutting you off from going any further. There were holes you could get through, but they shifted constantly, and you never knew what type of beastie might be coming out of them.”
Scotty turned to his brothers with a barely discernible tip of his head.
So Garth’s account is accurate so far. Interesting.
“As I was saying…” Garth continued. “We waited for a good, safe-looking entrance to the second layer and took our chance, sliding down a long shaft and finding ourselves in what seemed like a whole ‘nother world. More like a jungle than a swamp, with gemstones we’d thought were rare laying beneath our boots with every other step we took. And the monsters,” he exhaled sharply.
“Saber-toothed tigers the size of this room. Rhinos like elephants, and snakes twice as thick as a man. We tried to leave after slaying one of the big cats who didn’t appreciate our intruding on his territory, but the exit-holes never seemed to quite line up; the way back was always just a little too steep, or would shift just as we got to it.
Almost like…” He scratched at his bulbous nose and shrugged.
“Well, almost like it wanted us to stay.”
A chill pricked up my spine at the thought of The Fen “wanting” anything. It was starting to sound like Noru was the least of our concerns.
“So we delved further down instead, pressing into the heart of the place, where the true giants live. It was a difficult trek?—”
“I’d love to hear the finer details, but we’ve no time to spare,” Hook interjected, leaning forward. “Tell us about the hydra.”
Garth’s face scrunched into a scowl, making him look like an overcooked baked potato as he muttered under his breath about ‘impatient youngins ruining a good yarn’, but he settled down quickly.
“The beast ambushed us one night, emerging from a lake and attacking us while we slept. It had a dozen heads, each one of them lethal in its own right. I chopped three off myself, and our crew fought valiantly, but we were no match. It was like battling a dozen monsters that worked in perfect harmony, each of them anticipating the next move of the others. Captain Flannery finally called for us to retreat, but only me and one other were alive to hear it. She wasn’t ready to let us go, though.
She chased us right up to the edge of the layer.
There were three narrow spaces open, and there was no time to spare, so we charged right in, each of us taking a different path.
” Garth shuddered, looking truly shaken for the first time in his story.
“The sounds…If I never hear anything like that again for the rest of my days, I’ll die a happy man.
The other holes must’ve closed or been too steep to pass through, because the monster caught up to both of them.
Tore the Captain and my crewmate to bits.
” He stopped abruptly, letting out a ragged breath.
“What else d’ya need to know more than that? ”
“Satisfied?” Hook asked, glancing at Paddy.
The younger man rubbed at his chin, nodding slowly. “Won’t lie and tell you I’m not intrigued. If he’s fibbin’, he went through a hell of a lot of trouble to learn as much about The Fen as he seems to know.”
“He ain’t fibbin’,” Andrew cut in, shaking his head vigorously. “Stake my life on it.”
I couldn’t help but agree. Garth might have exaggerated a few of the details for color, but the pain he felt when talking about the death of his crew was real.
A loud crash pulled my attention back to the head of the table, where Garth had slid a book to the ground to make room for a small wooden chest. He flipped open the lid, then spun it around to face us.
“Fib this!”
My ears exploded with pain and my temples pounded as I stared down at a walnut-sized, purple gemstone nestled on a velvet pillow.
Wait, was it purple? I blinked twice, shocked to see that the color had morphed, shifting to green.
Paddy pushed out of his chair, the scraping sound dragging me back to reality, the pain in my temples receding. “Is that a maelstrom opal?”
Jacob nodded and wet his lips. “It is. A nice little chunk of it, too.”
Hook’s hand crept toward his belt as Scotty scooted his chair closer, and I found one hand shooting into my pouch and the other to my whip.
But when Garth snapped the box shut a moment later, the tension seeped from the air in a rush, like a spell had been broken.
I let my hands fall to my sides, wondering what the hell I’d planned to do with the whip, anyway.
Xander hadn’t even taught me to swing it yet, though I knew he’d be proud that grabbing it had been my first impulse after just a day of ‘fixating’ on it like he’d instructed.
“Mighty fine piece you have there,” Paddy said, leaning back in his chair with a hearty laugh. “Gotta admit, I’m a bit jealous, I am. A wealthy patron would pay a pretty penny just for the lore of it, never mind the beauty.”
“Lore?” I asked, relieved the pressure in my head was gone.
“They say it’s the opals that make the monsters of The Fen so big and strong. They feed off the power of it.”
“I can attest to that firsthand. They want to be as close as possible to the stuff. You believe me now or you still think there’s a chance I’m lyin’?” Garth demanded, brows raised in a challenge.
“Not a chance in hell. And if there’s more like that in the second layer, we’re even more committed than before.”
Hook rose, wiping his hands together. “What else do we need?”
“I’d like to have him make a rudimentary map of the place…” Jacob started.
“Already done,” Garth answered, reaching over to his bookshelf and pulling a large, bound scroll from the top shelf.
He tossed it unceremoniously over to Jacob, who fumbled with it a few times before catching it.
“If we’re bein’ honest, you’d all be helpless as a squirrel in the sea without me, even with the damn map, so I guess I can make some time to guide you through it. I’ll have to check my schedule, but?—”
“Absolutely not,” Hook growled. “You’re too old to sail, never mind actually going there with us.”
Garth opened his mouth to protest, but settled for an audible humph. “Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth…”
“You good with that map?” Hook asked, gesturing toward Jacob. “Anything else you need to ask, get it out of the way now.”
“Nothin’ comes to mind,” Paddy answered, after a moment of deliberation with his brothers. “We’ll be heading out in the morning, and we’ll meet you all at the base camp at the entrance to The Fen in two days' time.”
“Meet us? Why not come aboard my ship and we go together?” Hook asked, his eyes narrowing.
Paddy scratched the back of his neck and wrinkled his nose.
“Well, we negotiated a fee to guide you through The Fen, not hold your hands as you sail the seas. I don’t want to seem like a naysayer, but word is Pan and Tink are on the warpath more than ever.
Why would we risk our necks riding with you lot?
It’s just not the way the O’Donnellys do business. ”
“Yeah, it’s just not the way the O’Donnelly’s do business,” Andrew parroted with a snort.
Hard to argue with them, but Hook looked like he was about to try. His jaw went tight, and he leaned close enough to Paddy that I wondered if they bumped noses.
“If you’re thinking about fucking with me or mine, I’ll run this hook into your gullet and tear it out through your mouth.
If I get so much as a hint that you’re playing both sides and talking to Pan and Tink, there is nowhere on the three seas that’ll be safe. Not now. Not ever. Is that understood?”
Paddy’s trademark dimple and easy smile were nowhere to be found. His Adam's apple bobbed up and down in time with his head.
“Understood.”
“Excellent,” Hook grunted before backing away. “Then we’re off.”
“Oh, good. Do me a favor and wait at least a few weeks before coming back to bug me next time,” Garth called as we moved toward the door as a unit.
“Can do.”
The Captain ushered the O’Donnelly’s out first, then me, while holding the door from the inside. And when he stepped outside to join us, Garth shouted a final time from inside the house. “And James?”
Hook held the door open a moment longer, turning to face the older man.
“Don’t get yourself killed out there. Not after all I done to save youse.”