‘It’s a very difficult one,’ said Arthur carefully. ‘And getting more difficult. You see, I’m going to sneak into Feverfew’s secret harbour and steal something from him. Only now I guess I’d better try to rescue the survivors from the Moth as well.’
‘That would not be wise, Lord Arthur,’ said Longtayle. ‘We consider you would have some small chance of infiltration for the purpose of finding and retrieving the object you seek. That chance would be greatly reduced if you try to free slaves as well.’
‘I guess I’ll have to see for myself,’ said Arthur stubbornly. ‘What do you think, Doctor Scamandros — will you help me?’
‘Naturally I am at your service, Lord Arthur,’ said Scamandros. ‘May I ask where the fabled secret harbour of Captain Feverfew actually is?’
‘Inside Drowned Wednesday.’
Scamandros’s head fell back as Arthur spoke, hitting the pillow with a loud thud.
‘Doctor Scamandros?’
Longtayle went to the bed and looked down on the Doctor, peeling back one eyelid.
‘Fainted,’ he pronounced. Then his whiskers twitched and he peered more closely at the Denizen’s midsection. Reaching inside the Doctor’s coat, his paw came out covered in blue blood.
‘Fetch Mister Yongtin!’ he barked to one of the sailor Rats.
‘Is he all right?’ asked Arthur.
‘Peppered with grapeshot,’ answered Longtayle. ‘Strange that his coat isn’t . . . I wouldn’t have thought he’d have fainted, though, just from these wounds. He’s a Denizen. . .’
He bent down still closer and sniffed, his whiskers all aquiver. Then he recoiled and wiped his snout with a clean white handkerchief.
‘He’s poisoned with Nothing,’ Longtayle pronounced. ‘Feverfew must have doctored the grapeshot. I don’t know how he’d make it stick together —’ He stopped talking as a tall, piebald Rat wearing a long apron over his frock coat rushed in. This new arrival went immediately to Doctor Scamandros, pushing Longtayle out of the way. He sniffed at the Denizen, opened up his Gladstone bag, and began to pull out a number of instruments, including a large pair of pincers, which he laid on the table.
‘Got to get the Nothing-laced lead out of him,’ said the Rat. ‘Clear the room so I can work, Longtayle.’
‘Mister Yongtin,’ whispered Longtayle as he ushered Arthur out and across the passageway into the great cabin where he’d met with Commodore Monckton, though the commodore wasn’t there now. ‘An excellent surgeon, but no conversationalist.’
‘Is . . . do you think Doctor Scamandros will die?’ Arthur asked.
‘Probably not,’ said Longtayle. ‘It’s very hard to kill a Denizen. It depends on whether Yongtin can get the Nothing out before it dissolves too much of him. But he’ll be weak for quite a while, so I doubt you can count on him for the expedition.’
‘I hope he’ll be okay,’ said Arthur. He felt a bit bad because he knew he wanted Doctor Scamandros to recover as much for the expedition as for his own sake.
‘I’ll show you to another cabin,’ said Longtayle. ‘It might be an idea to rest, if you can. We found long ago that though sleep is not absolutely essential within the House, we mortals and semi-mortals are happier if we do rest our tired minds and bodies.’
‘I could do with a rest,’ admitted Arthur. ‘Only there’s one thing I have to do first, but I need someone to watch over me. Maybe, if it’s okay, you could do that.’
As they went into the new cabin, Arthur quickly explained to Longtayle the watching spell Scamandros had made for him so he could check that Leaf was all right. He showed the Rat the mirror and the shell.
‘I can’t watch myself,’ said Longtayle. ‘I am the captain of this ship, after all. But I shall assign someone trustworthy. They will be with you in a few minutes.’
He sounded a bit offended.
‘Oops,’ muttered Arthur to himself as the Rat left. Obviously you didn’t ask the captain of a ship to do something so basic as stand around watching a passenger stare into a little mirror.
As promised, a few minutes later there was a knock on the door. Arthur opened it and let in a familiar-looking rat.
‘Gunner’s Mate First Watkingle,’ Arthur said as the Rat saluted and opened his mouth to talk.
‘Bless me! You remembered, sir.’
‘Thank you for coming so quickly,’ said Arthur. ‘Did the captain explain what I want you to do?’
‘Stand sentry-like while you whip up some magic,’ replied Watkingle, tapping the cutlass at his side. ‘And if your eyes turn yellow and you start acting strange or yabbering peculiar, then I’m to give you a tap on the head with the pommel of this ’ere cutlass.’