Chapter 165

All Together

I clutched the taffrail of the tenth sloop that I scoured for Slime-tooth. I could barely stand. My chest was heaving faster than ever before. I panted like a dog under a summer sun. My throat was raw from screaming. My muscles burned with every move I made, and I couldn’t help but wince. Every wince squeezed salt into my eyes. I had such a hard time catching my breath that I felt dizzy. Not to mention my salt stung bite marks, and the many bruises I got from diving through mobs of goblins.

On my knees, clutching the taffrail, I gazed out at sea. There was Gabby’s flag again! It wasn’t on the Hand-O’War this time. It was on one of my galleons. Among a hundred goblins I couldn’t even try to recognize, I caught glimpses of Old Wrinkle-twinkle and Soft-song. They pushed back goblins that tried to force their way below deck where the hoard most definitely was stashed. And the galleon slowly turned and sailed for shore.

Goblins meanwhile dripped from passing fireflies. Many more were carried away. At least 40 goblins riding fireflies flew over the Mist Hidden wall.

Was Slime-tooth on one of them? Maybe he was still on a sloop. I scanned the thousands of flags for Slime-tooth’s flag, just in case he captured a hoard. A tan flag had an image of flopping green ears on it which could only belong to Ears-back. A striped flag was all the proof I needed that Stink-skunk was alive and well. Callous-kicker’s flag was colored like a bruise blurred beneath a peel of thin skin. Oh, and there was a flag depicting a drop of slime! But as the flag waved, and I also saw a sleeping goblin’s mouth, I realized it was Nap-drool’s flag.

Two sloops crashed together behind me. One of the sloop’s Captains was riding a firefly over the deck. She brandished her own fist as the firefly bucked.

“That’s right,” she said. “Captain Bee-bee! I finally got a piece of the pie!”

AS goblins erupted from the hatch, the flag stained to a cross of bones over a mean skull. Cross-no had captured the new hoard. Bee-bee’s firefly bucked, and then it sped off over the woods.

The flag of the other sloop that had crashed wasn’t Slime-tooth’s either. I hauled myself up to my feet, but I fell back down. I tried again, and I fell. I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t throw myself overboard.

“Slime-tooth…”

He needed me. So, with a shouted grunt and spit flying from my teeth, I forced myself up and I toppled over the taffrail. I hit the water belly first and the wind was knocked out of me. It floated up in bubbles. I was sinking. My arms wouldn’t move right. They were too heavy, and my muscles didn’t want to keep working. I kicked, and I rose. I kicked, and my lips and nose breached.

“Slime-tooth!” I gurgled.

My wide eyes tried to peer at the sloops, but the sea kept rolling over my head. From underwater I could only see a flashing show of blurry flags changing colors. Come on, Barnacle-eyes! You can do it! But my arms—

I found myself suddenly on shore. I was floating above the sand. At least a hundred humans were swimming out and saving goblins from drowning. Hundreds of goblins choked and coughed water ashore.

“What happened?” I said. “What’s going on?”

I was cradled in Hawkin’s arms. The only thing that could explain it was that he had been drinking Slow Time beers. That’s why the goblins had been vanishing in the sea! He’d been saving them. I looked up at his beard and chin.

“I’ve got you,” he said. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

“Where’s Slime-tooth?” I rasped.

“We haven’t found him.”

I scrambled in his arms. He had to let me down because I had to go back out to sea and continue my search. “I gotta go find him!”

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“We’ll find him. But you’re out of strength. If you go back out there like this, you’ll drown. And I have to follow the Admiral’s orders. She made it very clear that I have to keep goblins from drowning, okay?”

I wasn’t going to let him hold me back. I kicked and I scratched until he dropped me. After stumbling and sliding on the sand a few times, I forced one green foot in front of the other and ran to the sea. A blur tackled me. It was Abigail, and we rolled in the sand.

“Let me go!” I said.

“Wait, wait!” she said.

“Get off of me!”

I chomped on her arm and tried to grind my teeth in her flesh. Somehow, she endured it.

“Barnacle-eyes! Stop that! Ouch! I’m trying to help you. Let me give you strength. I have fortification beers. It’ll keep your stamina and strength up.”

I pulled my teeth from the holes they made in her arm. She dropped a few beers in the sand and I rushed to pop their corks out. With each sip, I felt renewed of strength and stamina and fire!

I then bolted for the sea. “Sorry I bit you!” I said, and I hoped she and Hawkin understood that I had to keep looking no matter what.

A giant brown hand made of beer with fingernails of beer foam wrapped around my torso. It lifted me up, and I craned to see that it was the hand from Abigail’s Third Hand attribute.

“We’ll help look for Slime-tooth.” she said. “Which ship are you going to?”

As soon as I pointed to a sloop, I found myself on its deck by the helm. The flag snapped in the wind. The illustration on the flag was of two round cheeks squeezing a small smile. That meant Cub-cheeks had captured the hoard.

On the sloops around us, I saw a purple and green flag with a set of long eyelids on it. I couldn’t see Droop-lids on deck, so he was probably below deck with the hoard. Slime-tooth wasn’t there either. Another sloop had a brown flag with strokes of black lines which belonged to Tangle-beard. One of the flag’s had a grey tooth! Oh, but that was Grey-tooth’s flag, not Slime-tooth’s. Another flag stained with a new image. It was an entire mouth surrounded by bouncing teeth. It belonged to one of three Captains, most likely Cackle-laugh.

Below, Remember-not and Knot-knuckle paddled a jolly boat. Boggo and Ella were with them, and they headed straight for the dark ship which I had earlier searched.

I cupped my hands around my mouth. “He’s not aboard that ship! He’s not aboard that ship!”

I tried calling out again because it seemed as though they couldn’t hear me above the pandemonium. Waving my hands didn’t work to catch their attention. Neither did jumping in place.

As soon as the jolly boat collided with the hull of the dark sloop, Boggo and Ella leapt onto the materials of the hull and slipped through. Just then, the ship’s flag change to show an image of a crusty booger with wings.

A crowd of goblins lurched into me and I was flattened against the helm. We were then all pushed starboard, and the goblins that hit the taffrail first toppled overboard. I elbowed goblins off of me and pushed them off of my feet. I checked to be sure that none of the goblins who fell overboard were not Slime-tooth. It broke my heart to see their terrified faces.

I turned away and ran for the hatch to search below deck.

“Slime-tooth!”

Just as I took the first step down, a goblin came up running straight at me. We grabbed each other by the arm to stop from colliding.

“Barnacle-eyes!” he said.

“Stink-lip! Have you seen Slime-tooth?”

“No, not here.”

“Do you know where he could be?”

“He’s on the dark ship.”

“I checked there already. Are you sure he’s not on this ship?”

“Sorry Barnacle-eyes, I haven’t seen him.”

“I gotta go find him.”

I turned and started running, but Stink-lip grabbed my arm.

“Wait! Barnacle-eyes, wait!”

“You know where he is?” I said.

“I never believed anything they said about you. I couldn’t believe it. The poisoning, the poaching, the mind control—none of it made any sense. That’s not the kind of goblin you are.”

“Thanks, but I gotta go.”

“Wait! You were my only friend. I’m sorry I went on Meat-fist’s ship.”

“It’s the way of things, but I gotta go, Stink-lip. Slime-tooth might be in danger.”

“I’ll help you! I’ll help you look for him! I’ll check this way.”

Stink-lip bounded across the deck. He flung himself overboard. I ran port side and flung myself overboard. As I fell, I thought about all the humans and goblins helping me.

Hawkin and Abigail were saving goblins and helping to look for Slime-tooth. Pinky-chew and Stumble-not were out there pulling snots out of the sea. Remember-not and Knot-knuckle were clearly on a mission to find Slime-tooth. Thrush was doing a Thrush job of things. Gabby and Old Wrinkle-twinkle and Soft-song were looking after one of my galleons. Even Stink-lip was helping!

They were what was left of my family, and their help was sure to help Slime-tooth turn up. Just that thought gave me more strength than any of Abigail’s beers.