Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy (19 page)

Dargo was
walking around the sick ward when I showed up with Estevan. He handed a sick
man a bowl filled with orange liquid. The man drank it and lay back down. Dargo
looked up at us as we entered the room.

“Josh,” Estevan
said as he ran up to Dargo. “I was worried about you, man.”

Dargo allowed
himself to be jostled around a bit, a smile on his face. He gently held Estevan
at arm’s length so he could study his face. “It’s lovely to meet you. I assume
you’re Joshua’s friend.”

I hadn’t told
Estevan that Josh wasn’t Josh anymore. I still had trouble believing it.
Estevan looked back at me, not knowing what to make of the words.

“What are you
talking about?” he asked Dargo. “I’m
your
friend.”

“Oh, I see.
Astrid hasn’t told you. I’m not Joshua. I’m using his body for the moment.
Here”—he handed him a bowl of the cure—“drink this. It will rid you of the
plague.”

Estevan took
the bowl, still clearly confused. “If you’re not my friend, then who are you?”

The other boy
smiled. “Call me Dargo. I’m responsible for all you see around you and am now
king of this island. Please, drink up. I promised Joshua I would take care of
his friends. Now that you’re on the island, you are under my protection.”

Estevan drank
his cure, still skeptical. “I hope you have enough for the rest of Texas,
because the plague is spreading on the mainland.”

Dargo’s smile
vanished. “Texas will have to go wanting. I have no intention of curing the
rest of the world. I will let my birds spread the plague.”

“I killed the
rest of your birds,” I blurted out before I could stop myself.

He looked at
me. “Really? How unfortunate. Oh, well, I shall make more.”

“What about the
rest of Josh’s family?” Estevan asked. “His parents.”

“No more. I
will only cure those that are here.”

“Where is Josh?”

“He’s still
here, just no longer in control.”

“Can he hear
us? See us?”

“Yes.”

“Can we speak
to him? Just for a minute. We want to know he’s okay.”

Dargo narrowed
his eyes at him. “Very well.” He closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then
opened them. “Kill me!” he shouted. “You have the cure—”

His mouth
closed and a slow smile crept onto his face. “There, now, none of that.” Dargo
was back. “As for killing me, I think you’ll find that difficult to do.
Joshua’s life-leaching ability will come in handy, I think.”

Things changed
very quickly on the island. In a single day, Dargo was able to reform some of
the laws I’d grown up with. No one was allowed to leave via the train without
his permission (he stationed soldiers to watch it).

Though Aneela
was allowed to stay in the palace, she chose to move in with us. She no longer
had any power and wanted to be as far away from Dargo as possible.

Victor, now
cured of the plague, stayed in his own home and refused to see Mom and I
whenever we tried visiting. Whether it was due to the changes or the loss of
Champagne, I wasn’t sure. Either way, he wasn’t doing well and I felt terrible
for him.

It had only
been two days since Dargo took over Josh’s body, and all I could think about
were the people on the mainland who were suffering from the plague. They didn’t
have much time left, and Dargo said he would create more birds to make the rest
of the world sick.

Mom tried to
get me to stay in the house, but I was going crazy being cooped up like that,
so I rode my horse to Dargo Plaza. I checked out the bookstore a mile away from
the palace. Josh loved coming here….

I browsed the
fiction section and saw a couple of books by Donovan Scott, one of Josh’s
favorite authors. I grabbed one and walked to another section. One thing that
hadn’t changed was the island’s economy. People were still allowed to buy
things with the money they earned, but with Dargo’s dream of world
annihilation, I doubted any new merchandise would make its way to us in the
future. No more new books, movies, clothes…

We were about
to become self-reliant, and that scared me. The thought of being completely
alone in the world scared me, with nothing beyond the Edge of the World but
death.

“Hello, sweet
thing,” a voice said behind me. “You look lovely even as an old woman.”

I spun around
and saw Dargo grinning at me. He wore a red robe with gold buttons. He held his
arms behind his back once again. If I’d been startled by his voice, that didn’t
compare to the shock I got when I saw he wasn’t an old man. This was the first
time I’d seen him during the day; he’d been locked away inside the palace,
doing god-knew-what.

“How…how are
you still young?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m just
full of surprises. Nalke’s old curse doesn’t affect me. Rockne taught it to
me.”

“Why would he
do that?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“After your
grandfather cast him out and Rockne found his way to this island, we became
friends. We practiced magic. I could lift the curse from you as well.”

It was a
tempting offer, but I wanted nothing from him. I could live with the curse. “No
thank you. You were friends? I find that hard to believe, considering what he
did to you.”

He nodded. “It
was a long, long time ago.”

“What do you
want?” I asked.

He looked at my
book. “Donovan Scott. Is he any good?”

“I’ve never
read him. Why don’t you ask Josh; he loves him.”

“I might just
do that.” He took a step closer. “What, exactly, is the nature of your
relationship with Joshua? I would have thought you two would be betrothed by
now.”

I laughed
uneasily. “Why would you think that? He and I are—were—just friends.”

“Why is that?
Do you not find this”—he indicated his face—“attractive?”

“He’s cute, but
I’ve never thought of him in that way. And he only likes me as a friend.” I
studied his short brown hair, his green eyes, and dreaded the fact it just
wasn’t Josh.

“Well, is there
anyone you do think of in
that
way?”

“Why are you
asking?”

He took another
step closer. “Because I find you very attractive, Astrid.”

“Well, that’s
unfortunate.” I tried to swallow the lump in my throat. I wasn’t sure if Dargo
wanted me to be flattered, but he only managed to make me angry. “As long as
you’re possessing Josh, I’ll never be interested.”

“Oh, so you
would be interested in Joshua if I wasn’t around?”

I knew that was
what it sounded like as soon as I said it. “I’m saying I wish you weren’t
around.”

“If I weren’t
around, the plague would still be running rampant and your fellow islanders
would be dead.”

“I can’t
believe you. You’re the one who made the plague.” I walked away from him as
fast as I could. That feeling of hopelessness grew stronger.

Dargo grabbed
my hand and spun me toward him. “I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I was imprisoned
for over a hundred years. That much isolation can make you cranky.”

“You didn’t
have any visitors?”

“Andor’s
great-grandfather. I only saw him once.”

“How did he
find the island if Rockne hid it?”

Dargo looked at
me from the corner of his eye. “Do you really care, for my sake, or are you
trying to get information that will benefit you?”

I didn’t care
about Dargo, and had been trying to get helpful info out of him, but he seemed
to figure me out. “I really care.”

“You’re good,
sweet thing. But I’m better.”

He walked past
me, but I stopped him when I said, “You don’t talk like someone who was
imprisoned for a hundred years.”

He looked at me
over his shoulder but said nothing. “I’m off to the school to see what the
children have been taught about me. Until next time, sweet thing.”

Dargo Island had
only one school, and it was located inside the palace. I’d been taught there as
a child. I’d hoped Dargo wouldn’t recognize me as an old woman, since he didn’t
appear to have any of Josh’s memories or knowledge, but now I knew I couldn’t
rely on that as a disguise.

I went to the
palace anyway. If Dargo wasn’t going to cure the mainland of his disease, I
would. He may have locked down the train, but I didn’t need it to get away from
the island.

I was horrified
to find two soldiers hanging by their necks outside the palace gate.

I walked
through, seeing all Aneela’s former soldiers. They still wore the same
uniforms, but now their face paint was red instead of blue and yellow. I
remembered from school that the original colors represented peace and honor. The
first islanders had no language, though they possessed the ability to speak. In
order to represent their overall mood, they used the juices of plants and
fruits.

Blue and yellow
together meant “peaceful”; yellow meant “ready for war”; blue meant “sad.” And,
well, red just meant “defiant.” The soldiers were showing their distaste for
Dargo’s forced leadership. I remembered the guards hanging outside the gate had
their faces painted red.

I looked inside
each classroom I passed, trying to locate Dargo. I found him in a history class
and walked away as quickly as possible. I heard him say to a student, “That, my
dear, is entirely not true.” I had no idea where the cure was, or if there was
any more left, but I wasn’t going to leave until I at least tried to find it.

I searched the
now-empty sick ward that had, just two days ago, been filled with dying people.
Champagne died in this chamber. It still smelled of death and decay, but at
least it was empty. I saw the bowls Dargo had filled with the cure, but they were
empty now.

Next, I went to
the kitchens but found nothing but cooks. I smelled baked bread and seasoned
meat.

“Can I help
you, dear?” a plump, elderly woman asked. She had blue-and-yellow paint on her
face.

I didn’t know
if I could trust her with my quest. I had never met her before, and I doubted
she knew I was actually nineteen instead of seventy. “No, thank you.”

“Well, I’m
Verna, the head cook, and I don’t like strangers wandering my kitchens. Out
with you.”

I left the
kitchen and headed upstairs, toward Aneela’s bedchamber. She told me Dargo had
taken her room. I couldn’t imagine a better place to store something secret
than your own bedroom. I’d done it for years.

There was a
soldier standing outside the large doors. He had blue-and-yellow paint as well,
and I recognized him as Commander Rhys. Just my luck. I walked up to him. “I
see you’re not wearing the red paint like the others.”

He stared at me
for a moment before replying. “King Dargo killed two of my men the other day.
When they showed up with the paint, Dargo challenged them to a duel. He said if
they defeated him, Aneela could retake the throne. I tried to take my men’s
place in battle, but Dargo put a spell on me. I couldn’t control myself.

“He made me
kill my own men and threatened to make me kill the rest if we defied him
again.”

“Oh my god.
That’s awful.” I grew nauseated.

“My comrades
talked about rebelling last night, but I talked them out of it. I can’t kill
any more of my own men. The king scares me more than anything I’ve ever faced.”

“He scares me,
too. That’s why I’m here.” I got closer. “Do you know where he keeps the cure?”

He instantly
started sweating. “I do, though he doesn’t know I know.”

“Where is it?
Is it nearby?”

He wiped his
mouth. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Where? Please
tell me.”

He said
nothing.

“Do you know
what’s happening on the mainland? The plague is killing people, just like it
was here. I can help them, but I need to get a hold of the cure.”

“How can you
get to the mainland? The train is shut down.”

“I have my
ways. Please tell me where the cure is.”

He jerked his
head backward so slightly that I barely noticed. He then looked down the hall.
“What was that?”

“I didn’t hear
anything.”

“Well, I should
check it out.” He ran down the hall, away from Dargo’s room.

It took me
longer than I care to admit to understand what was happening. “Thank you,
Rhys,” I whispered before opening the door and stepping inside.

The room was
brightly lit due to the open balcony door. I could see the new island just
outside. Next to the door was a birdcage. Inside the cage was large red bird.

Dargo had made
another one.

It stared at me
with milky eyes, its large, sharp beak shining like a knife’s edge. I walked
over to a wardrobe across the room. I found a small green bottle full of orange
liquid in a drawer. It was sealed with a cork.

The cure.

“Why are you
not at your station?” Dargo asked from outside the room.

“I apologize,
My Lord. I thought I saw something at the end of the hall. I checked on it.”

“Did you find
anything?”

“No, My Lord.”

I crawled inside
the wardrobe just as the chamber door opened.

“Let me know if
you hear or see anything else,” Dargo told Rhys as he closed the door behind
him.

Though I
couldn’t see him, I could hear him cross over to the balcony. “Hello, Birdie,”
he said. “How are you today? Not great, I suppose. You’ll be ready, soon, my
pet.”

I waited,
listening. I prayed he didn’t come to the wardrobe, because I didn’t know what
he would do if he found me here.

Suddenly, the
left door opened and light shined on something next to me. I was still hidden
behind the right door.

“Ah, still
safe,” Dargo said to the skeleton beside me.

He closed the
door again. I wanted to scream; I was trapped in a wardrobe with a skeleton.

After what felt
like ten minutes, I heard nothing outside.

I heard loud
snoring a few minutes later and figured Dargo was asleep. He must’ve been a
slave to the limitations of a human body after all. I waited ten more minutes
before opening the wardrobe slightly. I saw him on the bed, his eyes closed.
The sun had gone down a little, soon to set. Was Rhys still at the door, or had
the shift changed?

I had to get
the cure out of here, but I couldn’t risk opening that noisy chamber door or
running into another soldier. I looked at the balcony; the door was still open.
I stepped out of the wardrobe, and the sunlight showed me the skeleton’s skull
again. I was happy there was no decayed flesh on it, but I still felt creeped
out because it had been so close to me for nearly twenty minutes.

I grabbed the
green bottle, which was filled to the top, closed the wardrobe, and walked onto
the balcony. The birdcage had been covered with a sheet, so I didn’t have to
look at that hideous bird. I looked back at Dargo and watched him sleep
peacefully. It hurt so bad seeing someone who used to be my friend and knowing
it wasn’t him.

I was many
stories up and couldn’t even imagine jumping from here, but I had a better
idea. It was something Dad taught me a week ago—my first lesson, in fact. I
called on the wind and it came.

I jumped, and
it caught me, carrying me away from the palace. I landed just outside the
courtyard. Most of the islanders had gone home, so no one saw me fly or land,
luckily.

I hopped on my
horse, placing the bottle in a saddlebag, and slowly trotted home so I could
put my plan into action.