Touch the Sky (Young Underground #8) (12 page)

             
“
You come back visit again, boy?
”
inquired the captain before Peter had a chance to follow Matthias. Peter could only nod and smile.

             
“
The seas, they are bigger now,
”
the captain warned from above them.
“
You will be more careful with that airplane.
”

             
Matthias and Peter huddled in the hallway once they had made it past the galley and far enough away so no one could hear them.

             
“
Did you add it up?
”
Matthias asked seriously.

             
“
Twenty
-
two,
”
reported Peter.
“
There
’
s one more somewhere. You think he
’
s the one I saw before?
”

             
Matthias held up his hands.
“
You tell me. Look, we can
’
t even tell the captain who we
’
re looking for. But maybe he
’
s in one of these rooms here.
”

             
Peter looked nervously up and down the hallway, wondering behind which of the five or six doors the man could be.

             
“
One way to find out,
”
he told Matthias. Peter took a deep breath and hurried down the hallway, knocking on doors with both hands.

             
“
Peter, what are you doing?
”

             
Peter motioned for Matthias to follow him, and they stopped in the dining room where the man with the magazine was still sitting. They looked back to see one of the doors opening. A short man in a white T
-
shirt looked out.

             
“
Yeah?
”
the man said, looking straight at Peter and Matthias and scratching his chin. His face was scarred and clean
-
shaven. Matthias looked at Peter, and Peter half waved to the man.

             
“
Uh, sorry,
”
Peter mumbled.
“
We were looking for someone else.
”

             
They turned and hurried out on deck once more, where the wind caught them in the face.

             
“
No match?
”
asked Matthias.

             
“
That wasn
’
t him, Matthias. A couple of these guys look almost like him, but he
’
s not here.
”

             
Matthias crossed his arms and frowned.
“
I was afraid of that. He
’
s not on the ship at all. Whoever is following me is still out there.
”

             
“
So what do we do now?
”
Peter looked out at the waves, still gentle and glassy, but bigger than before.

             
“
I
’
ll get you home before the wind picks up so much that we can
’
t take off.
”

             
Matthias hurried over to the knot of crewmen by his plane and began pointing the way for
them to lower the plane back over the side, the way it had come.

             
“
Okay, Peter, inside,
”
he said, and Peter pulled himself into the plane.

             
After the safety of the big, old ship, he bit his lip as they lifted the airplane over the side. Matthias rode on the top of the wings again, but they seemed to swing around more than they had on the way up. There was nothing for Peter to do except hang on and watch. High above him, Peter caught a quick glimpse of the Greek captain, his arms folded, watching them intently.

             
“
Easy!
”
Matthias yelled from above as they neared the water. A moment later, they were bobbing in the ocean and Matthias swung around into the cockpit like a gymnast.

             
“
Let
’
s go!
”
he told Peter. The plane scraped lightly against the rusty side of the freighter before Matthias brought the engine to life and guided them away from behind the enormous black shadow. Using the protected pathway of flat water the big ship had carved out of the ocean, they headed in the direction of home, picking up speed.

             
“
Hang on,
”
said Matthias, but Peter didn
’
t need the advice. He was already tightly gripping the handle next to him while the pilot worked the controls of the small plane, trying to keep steady as they picked up speed and started to hit bigger and bigger waves.

             
“
Is this okay?
”
Peter wondered aloud. They knocked into the top of a small wave with a burst of spray, and it seemed to slap them to the side.

             
“
No problem,
”
Matthias assured him.
“
I
’
ve taken off in a lot worse.
”
They hit another wave.
“
Only I can
’
t remember right now when that might have been.
”

             
Peter closed his eyes and held on. Another jolt, and he felt the spray cover the airplane.

             
“
You swim, don
’
t you?
”
asked Matthias.

             
Peter snapped open his eyes and looked over at the pilot, who was grinning.

             
“
Sorry, bad joke.
”
Matthias pulled back at the controls, and the plane roared into a steep climb to the left. Peter was afraid to look at their left wing, for fear they would catch another wave. Without thinking, he lifted his feet off the floor, and Matthias laughed.

             
“
I used to do that, too. Perhaps it makes the load a little lighter, do you think, Peter?
”

             
Peter slipped his feet back down to the floor and relaxed a bit. Through the salt spray, he could see Denmark. They were headed in the right direction.

             
Neither said anything for the next twenty minutes as the steeples and roofs of
Helsingør
came into view. Matthias pointed the nose of the plane toward the safe, calm waters of the harbor, then glanced over at Peter.

             
“
I want to thank you for your help back there,
”
he said, studying Peter
’
s face.

             
Peter shrugged.
“
We didn
’
t find him. I wasn
’
t much help.
”

             
“
Ah, but you were. Now I know one place where we don
’
t have to look for this fellow.
”

             
“
But he knows what you
’
re doing. You think he
’
s just going to go away?
”

             
Matthias shook his head.
“
No. But listen. If you see that character here in town while I
’
m gone, stay out of his way. Don
’
t try to be a hero.
”

             
“
That won
’
t be hard,
”
replied Peter.
“
At least he doesn
’
t know who we are
—
I mean, Henrik and me.
”

             
“
That may be,
”
said Matthias.
“
Unless he
’
s seen you with me and makes a connection.
”

             
I hadn
’
t thought about that
, Peter worried as Matthias set the plane down just inside the harbor and taxied quickly back to the same place at the dock where he had tied up before. Elise ran down from the boathouse, a basket in her hand. Peter saw his mother and Mrs. Melchior hurrying behind her.

             
Peter opened the door on his side of the plane, but Matthias let the engine run and motioned for Henrik
’
s mother to come closer.

             
“
There you are,
”
said Mrs. Melchior, leaning across to help hold on to the plane.
“
Did you... ?
”

             
Matthias shook his head but patted Peter on the back.
“
He was a great bloodhound, but the fellow isn
’
t on the ship
...
which is good, in a way.
”

             
Peter looked at the empty dock.
“
Is Henrik around?
”

             
Mrs. Melchior handed across the basket Elise gave her and a paper sack Peter
’
s mother offered.
“
He
’
s still back home,
”
she answered, then turned to Matthias.
“
We put together a few more snacks for you, Matthias. And Peter
’
s grandfather had the idea to send you off with one of the pigeons.
”

             
“
Pigeon? But
—”

             
“
Take it,
”
urged Mrs. Melchior, pushing the basket into Peter
’
s lap.
“
The kids have had so much fun with flying messages around. Just take him out of the sack and let him go with a message when you get to Bremen.
”

             
Matthias hesitated, then looked up at Peter
’
s grandfather standing by the boathouse and nodded.
“
Sure, why not? It
’
s going to take a few weeks to get the ship loaded.
”

             
Peter held the basket, thinking about all the times they had taken their homing pigeons on trips to let them fly home. They hadn
’
t spent much time with the birds in the last couple of years, but it had still been fun once in a while to take them out.

             
“
I can
’
t stay,
”
Matthias said, waving up at the others on the dock.
“
So I
’
ll see you?
”

             
Peter felt as if he was in the middle of a private conversation, which he was, but Mrs. Melchior didn
’
t seem to mind.

             
“
I
’
m going with all the Andersens to the coast, just like we planned,
”
she told Matthias, then looked back at Peter
’
s mother and smiled.

             
“
Well, that
’
s fine,
”
Matthias assured her.
“
As soon as we
’
re loaded, we
’
ll turn right back this way, sail around Denmark, and head south for the Mediterranean. I can have the ship stop off the coast near Ho on the way.
”

             
Mrs. Melchior pressed her lips together, as if she didn
’
t know how to answer. Peter wanted to squirm out of his seat, but his seat belt was still buckled and Henrik
’
s mother was standing in the way.