Somewhere Beyond the Sea by TJ Klune

Author:TJ Klune [Klune, TJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2024-08-21T17:00:00+00:00

Wednesday dawned warm and clear, the type of summer day when adventure called, to be followed by a well-deserved nap in a swaying hammock attached to palm trees.

Or it would have been, if this Wednesday had occurred anywhere else.

On Marsyas Island, this particular Wednesday meant something else entirely: preparing for war.

“We are not preparing for war!” Linus said for what felt like the hundredth time in the last thirty minutes.

“Then why am I wearing a battle helmet?” Chauncey asked.

“That’s the colander you nicked from the kitchen,” Linus said.

The children had decided to use Linus and Arthur’s room as a base of operations, each of them bringing what they considered necessary to face the days ahead. David wanted to wear a cape. Phee helped with it, tying the ends in a knot around his throat. Phee had a crown of flowers in her hair, made up of blooms from Talia’s garden. Talia fretted over the state of her beard until Sal brought her one of her creams to help smooth it down while leaving it with a healthy sheen. Theodore hung from the ceiling like a bat, checking in with Linus every five minutes or so to ensure a particular brass button was still hidden on his person. Calliope watched them all coolly from her perch in one of the windows, green eyes bright.

Arthur sat in his high-backed chair, shaking his head each time Lucy came out of his room with a new idea on how to greet the inspector. The first time he came out, he was over nine feet tall. It’d been disconcerting, seeing as how his body was still that of a child and his legs were now three times longer than they usually were. The second time he came out, he was back to regular size, but wearing a shirt with red lettering that proclaimed him to be DADDY’S LITTLE DEVIL.

“Get it?” he asked quite loudly. “Get it?”

“We get it,” everyone said, and Lucy beamed.

When he came back out of his room for the third time he asked, “Has anyone seen a scorpion? No worries if not. He’s one of the tiny ones, which means he’s really poisonous while also being hard to see.” Arthur sat upright in his chair, looking toward the open door that led out into the hallway.

A moment later, Zoe appeared, looking grim. She wore tan slacks and a billowy blouse, the sleeves of which hung over the backs of her hands. Arthur rose from his chair. Linus must have seen his movement out of the corner of his eye because he looked at Arthur, arched an eyebrow in a silent question, then followed Arthur’s gaze toward the door.

“What is it?” Arthur asked as the children fell silent around them. An unnecessary question because he knew. They all did.

“She’s here,” Zoe said. “Just got off the train. Helen’s picking her up. She’s going to take the scenic way around town to give us a bit more time, but it won’t be long.”

“We’re ready,” Arthur said, though it felt like a lie.

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