Chapter 24
THE MESSAGE WAS MYSTERIOUS AND THE lionfish rude. Barkley
was hiding in the thick greenie, watching the Goblin Shiver homewaters.
The patrol routes and patterns had changed, and he was determined to make
sure he knew the schedules. Even Goblin wasn't so thick as to not make a
few adjustments after his attack on Jetty Shiver. Probably afraid someone
will come looking for him, thought Barkley just before the arrival of his
strange messenger.
"Hey, dogfish," the lionfish said after swimming around him once.
"Your name Barkley?"
On the whole, lionfish were impressive fish, and this one was no
different, having neat, two-toned brown stripes separated by white ones. Its
fins were almost featherlike (he knew about feathers from seeing landshark
birds hunt in the ocean) and stuck out everywhere in a dazzling display. But
lionfish were also deadly, having poisonous spines in those feathery fins.
Barkley backed from the fish slowly, ready to streak away. "Maybe.
Who wants to know?"
"I do. That's why I asked."
"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" Barkley said. This was a
mistake.
The lionfish's spikes went rigid. He fluttered them menacingly and said,
"That's on a need-to-know basis. AND YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW!"
He went on in a quieter tone. "What I need to know is, are you or are you
not Barkley? And since I asked first…SPIT IT OUT!"
"Fine, yes, I'm Barkley."
"Good, because I was looking for you."
"Yeah, I figured as much."
The lionfish stretched his spiky fins menacingly before continuing. "I
have a message for you from a shark, big fin who calls himself Gray." This
definitely got Barkley's attention, and he swam closer to the lionfish.
"What did he say?"
"He wants to talk with you. And he wants you to ask everyone if he can
come back."
"Gray said that?"
"Are you slow or something?" the lionfish asked. "I wouldn't say it IF
HE DIDN'T TELL ME TO SAY IT! He says meet him by the half-moon
rock North of the homewaters at high sun." The lionfish came closer to
Barkley and whispered, "And he says to come alone."
And that was exactly how Barkley told the rest of Rogue Shiver.
"Never believe a lionfish," said Striiker. "Anything poisonous is a liar."
Snork nodded seriously. "I've heard that, too."
"Why would he lie?" asked Barkley. "Maybe Gray's in trouble."
"Goblin and the shiver will be leaving for the Tuna Run soon,"
commented Shell. "It would be a good time to sneak away. But why trust a
lionfish with such an important message?"
Mari nodded and swished her tail in thought. "Did Gray use to talk with
dwellers at your reef?"
"Yeah," Barkley told her. "Not a lot, but sometimes."
Striiker harrumphed. "If you ask me, I'd say he's been poisoned by
Goblin first, and by the lionfish second. We can't trust him."
Barkley shook his head. Striiker had never been warm to Gray, but now
it was even worse. Mari looked thoughtfully at the greenie swaying in the
current. Barkley knew she was smart, so he asked her, "What do you
think?"
"It's odd he told you to come alone," she said. "We should go with you
in case it's a trap." Barkley didn't like not trusting Gray, but this seemed
like a good precaution.
Striiker spun in a quick, angry circle. "Do not tell me you are actually
thinking of going! It's too dangerous!"
"He was our friend," said Snork in a quiet voice, not wanting to anger
Striiker.
"Was is the key word there!" yelled the great white. "I've never trusted
him!"
Mari swished her tail in agitation. "And that's part of the problem! But
if he's in trouble, shouldn't we help? Shouldn't we get him away from
Goblin?"
Shell had been very undecided until this. Now he nodded to himself.
"I'll go."
"Well, I won't!" shouted Striiker. "You guys go ahead and talk with that
big, ungrateful flipper if you want! Not me!" And with that, he swam away.
Barkley and the others did go to the appointed place after the sun rose.
He insisted on getting there early so they could pick a good spot to secretly
survey the area. They saw nothing suspicious, so they went forward. The
half-moon rock was so named because of its crescent-moon shape. The area
surrounding the rock was flat, barren sand, with no greenie. And no place to
hide.
Was Gray afraid that Striiker would attack him? Possibly, which didn't
make Barkley feel any better about exposing himself and the rest of the
group. But if there was a chance Gray was in trouble, Barkley owed it to his
friend to show up.
The time of high sun came and went and shadows began to lengthen by
the crescent-shaped rock. Barkley's spine tickled the way it did when he
became anxious. He definitely didn't like being out in the open even though
this area was beyond the patrol routes of Goblin Shiver.
"Maybe he's not coming," Mari said.
"Or couldn't get away without being seen?" added the sawfish in a
whisper.
Both of those statements could be true. But waiting around any longer
would be foolish. Barkley was about to say as much when he heard a voice
come from behind the other side of the half-moon rock.
"What do we have here?"
Barkley grew cold. He knew that voice.
"A cluster of traitors!" said Thrash triumphantly as he glided from
behind the wider edge of the rock formation. Streak and Ripper were with
him.
It was a trap!
Streak's eyes blazed. "I hate traitors," the sleek blue shark growled.
There was a meanness about her that Barkley had never liked. Ripper just
grunted menacingly.
"Swim!" cried Mari. The group tried to dart away in different
directions, but Shell bumped Snork, slowing them both down. Mari swam
right into five more sharks from Goblin Shiver. Barkley turned in the
direction they'd come from, but ten other sharkkind hemmed him in. Others
were descending fast from above. There was nowhere to go!
Ripper barreled into Shell, knocking him senseless. Snork was so
scared, he tried to burrow into the ground. The shiver sharks all laughed as
they rammed the sawfish.
"I'm going to enjoy this!" said Thrash, zooming toward Barkley.
Barkley didn't even feel the tiger's impact on his side. Suddenly he felt
the water cool and sweet, and he was floating by the Coral Shiver reef.
"How did I get back here?" he wondered