Fathom L. Standage (books for 8th graders .TXT) 📖

the while, Samantha stared at me as though I’d declared a hidden hatred of baby chicks and puppies.

“I know it was my fault that Mr. Linnaeus got it,” I said. “And that Delfina died.” I swallowed. “She told me to keep it safe at all costs. And I just…tossed it aside. When we were at the park, I’d followed after Linnaeus to tell him he needed to fix his theme park, or the animals would die. But then I saw him with the vessel and—I remembered Delfina. So when I got the chance, I took it back.”

“How do you know Delfina?” Walter asked, leaning forward.

I looked up. “I don’t. She just brought me the seashell. I don’t know why she did it. I just saw her hanging around a couple times, and she brought it to me. I thought she was on drugs or crazy. I don’t know. Mr. Linnaeus had a picture of her in his office. That’s what made me think she wasn’t so crazy after all.”

Eamon’s eyes widened. “Tell us everything.”

I told him as much as I could remember about the Project Fathom file. He sat back with a frown.

“I should have known Delfina took her own life,” he said to Walter when I gave him the tragic news.

“That complicates things,” Walter replied.

I looked between the two of them. “Why would she do that?” I asked.

Eamon ignored my question. “Please, continue.”

I hesitated, but kept going, describing everything I saw while hidden in Linnaeus’ office. When I came to the part about the song coming out of the vessel, Eamon stopped me.

“This song. Do you remember any of it?”

“Um…a little. It mentioned some names. Lord and lady something. And something about life and limb on the land?”

“Were the names Nereus and Doris?”

“Yeah, that sounds familiar.”

Eamon looked at Walter, then gestured for me to continue. I went on from the song in the seashell to my narrow escape from Oceana with Calder. When I finished talking, Eamon moved his fingers to the bridge of his nose. He closed his eyes and massaged his brow for a moment. A cell phone jingled and all of us but Walter jumped. He reached for the phone.

“Andrus,” he said into the receiver. He looked over at Samantha and me, then stood and walked away. “We have it. No, but he brought us the ones who did.”

He went into the kitchen to continue his conversation. My throat felt dry from talking.

“What happens now?” I asked, looking back at Eamon.

“What happens now is I need to ask that the both of you stay here.”

“Why?” Samantha asked. “And how long?”

“Until we can be sure it’s safe to return. Linnaeus knows you took the vessel. It isn’t safe for you to be on your own right now.” He stood. “You both have shown extraordinary bravery in bringing the vessel back.”

“What is it? What’s it for?”

Eamon and Walter exchanged glances. Eamon smiled. “Nothing dangerous. But it is an important artifact. I thank you for retrieving it.”

I wanted to say, “You’re welcome,” but it sounded really stupid, so I stayed quiet. Walter walked back toward us while putting his cell phone back in his pocket.

“Uther’s on his way,” he said. “I’m curious,” he continued, looking at me. “What were you going to do with the vessel once you obtained it?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Mostly I just didn’t want Mr. Linnaeus to have it. At least now I can give it back to its rightful owners.”

“I’m glad to hear it, but we aren’t the rightful owners either.” Eamon walked into the kitchen. “Are you hungry? It is nearly dinner time.” He opened an ice chest sitting in place of where a refrigerator would have been.

Footsteps sounded on the stairway, and Natasha appeared.

“Their room is almost ready. I just need to get them some fresh towels from the garage. And we’re down to our last pack of bottled water, Eamon.”

“Calder has already gone for supplies.”

Natasha disappeared through a door in the kitchen, then came out holding a few folded towels. She smiled at us before going back upstairs.

Despite their kindness, I couldn’t help feeling powerless and trapped with these strange people who wouldn’t give me a straight answer on anything. I still didn’t understand why any of this happened. Would I ever know?

“Please,” Sam said. “Tell us what’s going on.”

Eamon looked up from making sandwiches. He and Walter glanced at one another again, passing a wordless communication they alone understood. Samantha and I could do that too. We’d been friends so long, we could almost read the other’s mind when time and place called for it. I'd never realized how annoying it must have been for everyone around us until now.

Eamon leaned on the dark laminate top of the kitchen counter. “I know this is frightening for you both. Why don’t you take your food up to your rooms and relax? After a good night’s rest tonight, we’ll talk about getting you back home tomorrow.”

Eamon gave us paper plates of food and beckoned us to follow him up the stairs. He showed us down a long hallway to a room at the very end.

“If you need anything, please help yourself,” he said. “There are snacks and water here in the bedroom. Bathroom is the first door on the landing.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.” He left us with a small smile before closing the door. Were we prisoners?

I stood in the middle of the room, holding my plate, and looked around. Like the rest of the house, the bedroom was almost bare except for two air mattresses with sleeping bags and pillows, two towels with brand new travel size toothbrushes in the wrapper, and six big bottles of water. Though it looked comfortable enough, I still felt like a captive in a cell. I moved to the window and sighed at the incredible view of the backyard ocean.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the men at the tide pools?” Samantha asked from where she sat on her air mattress. Her lunch lay untouched on