Hunt for the Panther 3 (9781101610923) (18 page)

Yes,
he decided.
All this is amazing. And worth protecting
.

“How much farther?” Jo wanted to know.

Jem pulled his map out of his trouser pocket. “We’re about halfway. From here, we have to go south a bit.” He dug his compass out of another pocket and consulted its needle. “This way.” He pointed, and they began to jog again.

“What does the panther’s lair look like?” Jo wanted to know.

“I’m not sure,” Jem had to admit. “I’ve never seen it before. I’ve never seen the panther, either,” he added, and his stomach tightened at the thought of the creature they were going to confront. He stole a glance at Jo, who looked strangely calm. “You aren’t scared?” he asked.

She shook her head. “Maybe I should be, but I’m not. I like cats.”

Jem raised an eyebrow. “This isn’t just any cat.”

“I know. But… I’ve always admired them. They’re unpredictable, you know? Just when you think they’re going to lie by the fire all day, they find a mouse to chase, and all of a sudden, they’re wild and independent.” Jo smiled. “Under the right circumstances, they rise to the occasion.”

“I see,” Jem said, studying the girl who’d probably spent many an hour knitting in front of a fire and was now running across a tropical island in search of a wild beast. “Still, I have no idea what we’re going to do when we get there. I can’t imagine how we’re going to convince the panther to let Smitty go.”

“I’ll think of something,” Jo promised, and they picked up the pace.

Soon the ground grew rockier and hillier, and the sun began to beat down on their heads. Before long, they found themselves climbing up a small mountain, then skidding down the other side into a narrow
valley with a creek running through it.

They stopped briefly to refill Jem’s canteen, then ran along the creek bank. Jem listened to its quiet gurgling, and for the tiniest moment he was actually able to convince himself that they were just on a nice nature walk and not a quest to confront a deadly predator.

That came to an end when Jo suddenly stopped and knelt down in the dirt.

“Look,” she said, pointing at something before her.

Jem’s stomach twisted. He knew what it was even before he saw it. A big panther paw print.

“Its paws are enormous,” Jo breathed. “Just imagine the size of its claws!”

“Let’s keep going,” Jem said, not wanting to think about it.

Jo stood and shaded her eyes from the sun, surveying the small mountains on either side of them. “Look!” she said, pointing off to the right. “Is that… ?”

Jem followed her finger to a rocky ledge jutting out of the mountainside. Behind it, there appeared to be a gap in the rock that looked like it might be a cave. Or a lair. His stomach twisted tighter.

Jo lowered her finger. “I think we’re here.”

“Right.” He swallowed hard. “Well, at least there’s no sign of the pirates.”

Jo nodded, then picked up her skirt and jogged off toward the hill. Jem had no choice but to follow.

They stopped under the ledge. “You’re sure you want to go up there?” he asked.

Jo nodded. “Give me a boost.”

He complied, and she helped him up after her. Soon they were both standing outside the mouth of the cave.

“We should be quiet,” she whispered.

Jem nodded. His mouth was so parched he couldn’t have made a sound even if he wanted to.

“His name is Smitty, right?” Jo asked, and Jem nodded again.

She crept toward the hole in the rock. “Smitty!” she whispered into it.

There was no answer.

“Smitty?”

Again, nothing.

Jo straightened. “I think it’s a big cave, but it’s too dark to see inside.”

Jem racked his brain for a logical next step. Could they entice the panther outside? And with what?

“Are you all right?” Jo whispered.

“Me?” Jem croaked, finally finding his voice. “I’m fine.”

“It’s just… you’re breathing so heavily.”

“No, I’m not.” He turned to look at her.

Suddenly her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. He froze, and that’s when he heard it.

Some very heavy breathing.

Just over their shoulders.

Jo dug her nails into Jem’s wrist, but he was too terrified to even make a squeak.

Slowly, they turned around to find themselves face-to-face with a great big snarling black panther.

Scarlet led her team back to the Valley of Simmering Streams and stopped for a quick meeting.

“All right, crew,” she said. “I’m not sure when the pirates will pass through here—hopefully they haven’t already.” She thought about Jem and Jo, and wondered if they’d encountered Captain Wallace on their way to the panther’s lair. She still couldn’t believe she’d sent her Old World cousin off to face a jungle cat.

“Anyway.” She pulled herself back into the present. “This isn’t a bad place for us to wait. The pirates will have to cross this valley on the way to the panther’s lair.” They had, in fact, waited in this very spot for the pirates before, just after Lucas had defected to the
Dark Ranger.

Scarlet stared up the hill the pirates would descend and tried to imagine the ugliest, fiercest crew in the tropics appearing on top of it. She shivered. Then she shivered again to think of all the new pirates Lucas would be bringing with him. That meant that at least twice as many swabs would know about the treasure on Island X.

“We’d better hide,” she said. “A few of you can take that boulder over there. And there’s a big shrub that’ll hide at least two. Spread out and find a spot. Then I guess all we can do is wait. I doubt they’ll be long.”

The Lost Souls scattered across the valley, tucking themselves under shrubs and behind giant rocks. Within
a few minutes, Scarlet couldn’t see anyone. She joined Tim behind a nearby boulder.

“Do you think they’ll be okay?” he whispered.

“Who?”

“Jem and your cousin. I mean, neither are exactly the type to take on a panther.”

Scarlet sighed. “I know. I’m not really sure what I was thinking. But something told me—”

But Scarlet never got a chance to explain, for just then, a deep voice drifted over to them. A very familiar voice. A voice that didn’t belong on Island X. Scarlet thumped Tim on the shoulder, then peeked around the rock to watch Captain Wallace’s crew appear atop the hill.

“This is it, Captain,” Iron “Pete” Morgan announced. “Remember this valley?”

“Of course I do,” Captain Wallace puffed, clambering up next to him. “And those blasted children had better not try to stop me this time. If they do, they’ll be sorry.”

Scarlet snorted, then stopped as two towering pirates stepped up behind him. One was missing a hand, the other an eye. Three more equally fierce-looking swabs appeared behind them. Within moments, Captain Wallace’s entire crew was gathered atop the hill.

“Shivers!” Tim said.

Scarlet gulped as they thundered down into the valley. “He said he’d gather a crew to rival Lucas’s, but I didn’t expect this.” She wouldn’t have wanted to meet even one of them in a dark alley, let alone twenty.

“It’s this way, Captain.” A pirate with a compass
pointed south. Scarlet recognized him as one of the Blood Brothers.

But he’s part of Lucas’s crew,
she thought.
What happened?

“Good,” said Captain Wallace. “Let’s push on. There’ll be no resting until that stupid child is trapped inside the panther’s lair.”

“We can’t let them go any farther,” whispered Scarlet.

“You think we can take them all?” asked Tim.

“I don’t know, but we have to—”

“Stop right there!”

Scarlet froze midsentence at the sound of another familiar voice. She poked her head out again to see none other than Lucas Lawrence standing atop the hill. She thumped Tim’s shoulder again. “It’s Lucas!”

“Ow!” Tim rubbed his shoulder, then peered out. “Scurvy.”

Lucas marched down the hill, followed by another twenty pirates with even more crooked teeth and missing fingers and battle scars than Captain Wallace’s crew.

“Scurvy,” she agreed.

Captain Wallace swore, and his crew gathered around him, cutlasses drawn.

“What do you think you’re doing here?” Lucas yelled.

“None of your business!” Captain Wallace retorted.

“It is
too
my business!” Lucas shot back. “This is
my
island, and you’re trespassing!”

Scarlet choked. She would have leaped up and run out swinging had Tim not clamped on to her arm and kept her in place.

“
Your
island!” Captain Wallace laughed. “Not likely!”

“It’s as good as mine!” Lucas stabbed the air with his dagger. “And I’m telling you to leave. The crew of the
Panther
has some business to take care of.”

“You’ll have to get by me and my crew first!” said Captain Wallace.

Lucas laughed. “Easy! I’ve got the most powerful crew in all the tropics!”

“Not anymore, you don’t. Remember the Blood Brothers?” Captain Wallace gestured behind him. Blake and Blair Blood gave Lucas small guilty waves.

Lucas did a double take. “What? Blair! Blake! You said you’d be on
my
crew!”

The Blood Brothers shrugged and shuffled back into the crowd.

“You’ll be sorry!” Lucas shook his fist. Then he composed himself again. “Not that it matters. I’ve still got the meanest, ugliest crew around!”

“Hardly!” said Captain Wallace. “My men are meaner and uglier than yours. In fact, they make me sick just looking at them!” He glanced back at his men and added, “I mean that in the best possible way.”

His men exchanged glances, and Pete rolled his eyes.

“Well, I’ve got something you don’t,” Lucas taunted. “Something that’s going to knock your boots off. Or rather, tear them off with its big sharp teeth.”

“I know about the panther,” Captain Wallace said coolly.

Lucas drew back. “You do?”

“I also know you don’t have it yet,” Captain Wallace went on. “And I know you’re not going to get it, either.”

Lucas’s face turned crimson. “What?” he cried. “How?”

“Because…,” Captain Wallace faltered, obviously realizing that he couldn’t very well tell Lucas his plan.

“Because it’s ours,” Pete spoke up. “We’re going to capture the panther ourselves.”

“What?” Lucas’s eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared.

“Exactly!” Captain Wallace cried. “I’m going to be the captain of the… the… the
Big Cat
!”

“That’s a terrible name,” Tim whispered. Pete rolled his eyes, obviously thinking the same thing.

For a moment, the two captains stared at each other. Then all at once, they both made a break for it. Lucas’s men threw themselves down the mountain, and Captain Wallace’s crew took off running. Scarlet ducked behind the rock and held her breath as forty pirates thundered past, elbowing and jostling and swearing at each other.

As soon as they were gone, she popped up and motioned for the other Lost Souls to do the same.

“After them!” Scarlet commanded.

They took off, about fifty yards behind the pirates. The path was now well trampled, so Scarlet could devote part of her brain to figuring out what the flotsam they were going to do when they reached the lair.

But by the time the pirates slowed, coming to a halt under a ledge that jutted out of the side of a mountain, she still hadn’t come up with a good plan. So she motioned
for the other Lost Souls to hide behind some nearby trees. The pirates were too busy tossing insults and spitting at each other to notice.

Lucas and Captain Wallace both pulled themselves up onto the ledge, while their crews stayed down below. Not knowing exactly what she was doing, Scarlet stepped out from the trees and marched right up to them.

“Hey!” she yelled. All eyes turned to her.

“Not again,” Pete groaned.

“McCray!” Lucas’s face broke into a sneer. “I was hoping you’d come. I’ve got plans for you, too. You and your whole crew. I’ll deal with you after I finish this.”

“I’d like to see you try,” Scarlet retorted, although the look in his eye made her shiver again. It was the same look she’d seen in Captain Wallace’s when he met with Voodoo Miranda. Lucas wanted revenge.

“This is
our
island,” she told the captains, “and if you think I’m going to let any of you steal from it, you’ve got another thing coming!” She pulled her dagger out of her boot.