Chapter Seventeen

Fairy Ride

While I am not sure why we are still traveling while Jamie is on the run from the law, we end up on a plane to Massachusetts. Supposedly, a Fishman saw thousands of rats jumping off of a cargo ship and then swimming to the shore of Pender Island. When local authorities boarded the vessel, they found the crew dead, their bodies in a horrible condition, suggesting they had been attacked by the rats. So, naturally, we were sent in to investigate. As we board a fairy to start making our way to Pender Island, Jamie stays behind for a moment or two, trying to either get Mitch to come with us or let her go with him. She has been almost attached to Mitch lately for some reason, it's actually kind of cute.

While she talks to Mitch, Abe, Chloe, Jackson and I make our way to the front of the ship. Jackson walks up behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, as I look out over the beautiful blue water.

"What are you thinking about?"

I place my hands on his forearms, as he rests his head on my shoulder.

"That this reminds me of the time we went to Cape Town a few years ago."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

The two of us take a deep breath looking out over the water, remembering the week we had spent in Cape Town when I was feeling homesick for the city. Before long we hear Abe calling out to us.

"Are you two talking about Cape Town and left me behind?"

Jackson stands up straight, his arms still around my waist.

"You had the flu Abe, what were we supposed to do?"

As the fairy takes off, Jamie joins us, and Jackson and I separate from each other and we all sit on the benches near us. Jamie, doesn't not, I don't know how but she is pacing on the deck.

"How did a few rats become thousands on the course of a trip across the Atlantic?"

I shrug my shoulders.

"Well, if Mitch is right, and the Mother Cell is an accelerant, it may be, by being exposed to it in a contained environment, it accelerated the reproductive nature of the rats."

Abe sighs.

"Or we could be seeing it in rats first because they have a short gestation period. What if this is just the beginning?"

Jackson nods.

"We could be facing a population explosion in the entire animal kingdom."

Abe shakes his head.

"A swarm of rats is one thing, but a swarm of lions, tigers, alligators."

Jamie stops in her tracks.

"How would we even begin to fight back against something like that?"

Jackson shrugs.

"Okay, first things first. We have to warn the people on Pender Island."

"I'm pretty sure they'd be aware."

Chloe shakes her head.

"Aside from a fisherman, no one has reported any rats at all."

"None? That doesn't make any sense."

I take a deep breath.

"What has made sense since this whole thing began?"

Jackson looks up among the group.

"We need to capture a male and a female. It's the only way to see how the Mother Cell affects the reproductive behavior."

Jamie cringes.

"So we're going on a rat hunt?"

"What's the matter, Rafiki?"

Jackson shakes his head.

"The men that died on that cargo ship were eaten by rats. It's been proven that rats that taste human blood begin to crave it."

Jamie cringes again.

"Well… that's just awesome."

The groups fall quiet before Jackson stands and walks over to the railing away from us. After a few minutes, I stand and walk over to him.

"Is something else is on your mind?"

Jackson nods, looking out to the island as we approach the coastline.

"We vacationed there… when I was a kid."

"Pender Island?"

"Before my dad got bad. He'd rent a shack on the beach every summer, on the side of the island that hadn't been built up yet. Have a big clambake, invite all the neighbors."

"See, you still have some good memories of your father."

"Sure, but the last really good ones took place on that island… which appears to have been overrun with bloodthirsty rats."