KitFox drove Violet, Duncan, the Man With a Beard and No Hair, and Sir into the country, turning off at an unmarked dirt road. She parked in a hay field near a large haystack.
"Victorious Farms Dairy," she explained. "Our airship is here."
"Where? I don't see it," said Sir.
"Wait until I signal the driver," said KitFox.
She tapped the horn in a complicated signal pattern, and all at once the haystack began to shift. The hay slid off and a dirigible emerged. A "dirigible" here means "a lighter-than-air balloon with propellers to steer it around." It had a passenger compartment below the balloon, with a railed balcony around it.
As the group got aboard, the driver greeted them with a huge grin. "Tres bien! Violet et Duncan, bonjour!"
"Hector!" cried Violet and Duncan together. They hugged the former Bomb Voyage.
"It turned out that he's as good with airships as he was with that underground tunneler he helped you escape with," said KitFox.
"Would you tell him to stop fraternizing and get this thing moving?" said the Man with a Beard and No Hair.
Hector got the dirigible moving, and soon they were soaring over the ocean.
"Where are we going now?" Duncan asked.
"To the legendary Isle of Forbidden Fruit, home of the Female Finnish Pirates," said KitFox.
"Legendary?" asked Violet. "Do you know where it is?"
"The trouble is, the F.F.P. disappeared in the fifteenth century. They haven't been heard of since," KitFox said. "The location of their island is lost in history. But we'll dig it up eventually."
"How do we know for sure it's them?" asked Duncan.
"Isadora's cantrip turned up a knot which is a trademark of theirs," KitFox replied. "How reliable is her magic?"
"If she asked for a clue, it's a real one," said Duncan.
"I have an idea," Violet said. "Disappearing for years and re-appearing a long time later reminds me of what happened to Fiona. If pirates went through the time warp several times, or it has a variable effect..."
"I'll call the sea team," KitFox said. "We can cross-reference the location she found with nearby islands."
After a phone call and a check of the charts with Hector, Kit reported that there was an island a few miles away. The submarine, the dirigible, and the jet converged on the island.
"Radio," Hector called out. They all gathered around the radio receiver.
"Calling Syndrome, KitFox, the Man with Hair and No Beard, and the Woman with a Beard and No Hair. This island is heavily protected," said a woman's voice over the radio.
"I know that voice," Violet said. "Let me talk to her."
Violet spoke into the microphone, "Is that you, Justice Mirage?"
"Violet? I'm sorry to hear you're with them. I tried to keep you children out of it by sending a message to Mr. Poe," said Mirage.
"Who spied on the V.F.D. for you to find out where we were going?" Violet asked.
"He was trying to help you, too," said Mirage. "Jerome Sansweet gave me the information."
"Whose side are you on?" asked Violet, confused.
"I worked with Syndrome to spy on him, but my real loyalties are elsewhere. Justice Mirage is only a code name."
"Who are you?" Violet asked.
"My real name is Jenni Suutari. By your reckoning, I'm from several hundred years ago. I'm a Female Finnish Pirate."