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A way out of this island prison.
A way out of stagnation and broken dreams, endless routine, and a future that went nowhere.
Harry was shaking his head. He slammed his fist against the nearest table, sending the plates and cups jumping. “It’s not here.”
He’d given up, and Uma felt the same pain run through her. It just wasn’t fair, to come this close only to be missing one miniscule little piece.
Uma took the seashell in hand and looked at it carefully. “Maybe we don’t need the missing piece,” she said. It was a chip barely larger than a hairline crack. That was all.
“I don’t know,” said Harry. “It looks incomplete.”
“What about your locket?” asked Gil. “Didn’t you say there was something in there?”
Uma gasped. She’d almost forgotten about the locket she always wore. What had her mother said when she’d given it to her? It’s all I have left. All Ursula had left of what? They were about to find out. Uma swung the chain over her head and held it out so everyone could see it. Then she carefully pried open the top with her fingernail. It flipped up with a snap, revealing a sliver of gold.
“That’s it!” said Harry.
“I think it just might be the last piece,” said Uma. It looked to be the right shape, but she wouldn’t be sure until they’d fit it into place. Her heart skipped a beat as she lowered it into the opening.
It fit perfectly. “Gil, sludge me.”
Gil handed her the bucket of sludge, and they all watched, holding their breath, as Uma glued the final piece onto the shell. She could have sworn there was even a flash of light, but maybe it was just the gold reflecting off the moonlight through the window.
It was done. The shell was complete.
“There,” Uma said with satisfaction. “I think that’s it.” She studied her handiwork. The shell glittered in her palm—history, legacy, and tragedy in each curve of its shape. She held it up for everyone to see. “Ursula’s necklace!” she cried.
“Put it on,” said Harry.
She nodded, undid the clasp, and draped the necklace over her collarbone. The gold was warm against her skin, and she felt a faint echo of its former power. It had the sense and shape of her mother’s wrath. One of the greatest treasures of the sea, and it was in her hands.
“All right?” said Harry.
Uma nodded. “I can feel it,” she said, holding the gold seashell between her pointer finger and thumb. “It’s almost like it’s alive.”
“Excellent,” said Harry. “Where to, Captain?” he asked, a hand on the wheel.
Uma whispered to the seashell, “Find me the trident.”
She felt the shell tilt slightly to the right, like a compass, just as Cook told her it would. The necklace and the trident, as the most powerful objects from the underwater kingdom, were linked. Drawn to each other like magnets.
“West,” she said. “It’s due west of us.”
“West it is. To the trident!” cried Harry. “Avast, me hearties! Flip up the jib! Haul anchor! Let’s go!” he ordered, rushing around.
“To the trident!” cried Gil. “Um, what’s a trident?” he asked.
Uma took the scope and looked through the lens. In the distance, she could see Auradon, the mainland. Soon, she thought. Soon she would have Triton’s trident, and she and her crew would be off this cursed island forever.
Uma scanned the horizon. Countless waves dotted the sea, crashing higher and higher, curling into whitecaps, the wind catching the water and throwing it into the air. The sky was dark with clouds, but even so, she thought she saw something in the distance, headed toward them from the opposite side of the bay—the Auradon side. She thought it might be driftwood at first, but it was moving quickly against the wind. “Do you see something over there?” she asked, focusing on a small dot that she could barely make out through the wind and fog.
Harry picked up a telescope. “Yeah, I see it. It’s on the other side of the barrier, and it’s heading toward us.”
Uma gnashed her teeth, annoyed at this unexpected arrival from an unknown party. “What does it look like?”
“I don’t know. We’ll need to get closer, but it must be some sort of boat,” said Harry.
“They’re moving against the wind, which means they’ve got a powerful speedboat of some kind,” said Uma.
