13 They were in Its Territory Now

13. THEY WERE IN ITS TERRITORY NOW… So that was the end of the last hope of Escape from the Quest to America. All hundred and nineteen of the Wanderer Slaves escaped. But Hiccup, Camicazi and Fishlegs did not. Hiccup saved Bearcub. But who would save Hiccup? They had their work cut out over the next five hours or so, trying to prevent the great boat from crashing into an iceberg in the mist. And by the time the mists lifted it was nearly morning, they had steamed out of the land of the Icebergs and into the Great West Ocean, and the Hysterics were beginning to stir in their sleep. It was astonishing that they had all slept through the whole thing, but they had, even Toothless, who had snored happily through being chased by Polar- serpents and bumping over icebergs and submerged in ice-cold water, without so much as opening an eyelid. Red Ronald was the first to wake up, to find Camicazi pedalling the Keep-the-Boat-from-Sinkingand-Scare-Away-the-Monster-Sea-Creatures Machine.

'I won't tell Norbert, if you don't,' said Camicazi, climbing off the Machine and letting Red Ronald climb back on again. Red Ronald was so pathetically grateful he practically cried, for he knew if his Boss found out he had fallen asleep on the job he would quickly find himself on the wrong side of the Axe of Doom. Hiccup re-tied the ticking-thing to Norbert's wrist, so that Norbert would never know he had tried to steal it, and then he judged it best that the three of them should be out of the way when Norbert made the discovery that all of his slaves had escaped into the night. So, once Hiccup's clothes had thoroughly dried on the chimney, they crept back up to the crow's nest, where they fell asleep, curled around the comforting warmth of the two dragons, who gave out lovely waves of heat like two little hot water bottles. They were only awoken by Norbert's great roar of rage. At first Norbert was sure that it was all Hiccup's fault. 'THAT WRETCHED WEIRD LITTLE RED-HAIRED BOY! I SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM WHILE I HAD THE CHANCE!' screamed Norbert the Nutjob. 'HE'S MADE OFF WITH ALL OF MY SLAVES!'

Hiccup put his head over the top of the crow's nest. 'No, I haven't,' he called down. 'I'm up here…' Norbert was so furious, he swiped at the mast with his Axe as if he were chopping down a tree, taking a big slice out of it. 'WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SLAVES???!!!' he roared. 'I haven't done ANYTHING with your slaves,' Hiccup called down. 'If I had done, I would have run away myself.' This was quite a good argument, but Norbert wasn't in a listening kind of mood and he took another swing at the mast. 'Now, now,' Hiccup shouted, 'we need that mast, you know, and I'm the only one who can read the ticking-thing and get us to America, aren't I? So without me, you can't create your Land of the Nutjobs… your Empire…' With a massive effort, Norbert managed to stop himself from cutting down the mast. But nonetheless, Hiccup thought he might stay up in the crow's nest until he felt Norbert had calmed down. Toothless and Stormfly both woke up much, much later, when the sun was high in the sky, and the two little dragons had absolutely no recollection of

what had happened. The ship was way out in the Great West Ocean now. The world around them had turned to water. Nothing but water, water everywhere. It was as if a Great Flood had taken place and washed over every precious piece of land. And now there was nothing but sea below and clouds above, and their tiny little speck of a boat crawling across it, like a bug across a window pane. It was as if they had left this world entirely and were sailing through space, looking for another star. There was no way of contacting other humans. They were on their own, in a universe of water that went on for ever. And what was worse, was that the ship now seemed to be being followed by something. From high up in the crow's nest, Hiccup, Fishlegs and Camicazi saw it first. It was the white wake of a GIGANTIC Sea-Monster. 'SEA-DRAGON ON THE EASTERN HORIZON!' screamed Norbert from down below on the deck. 'GET PEDALLING!!!!! OR I'LL FEED YOU TO THE MONSTER WITH MY OWN FAIR HANDS!!!

The crew took it in turns to pedal the Scare-Away-the-Big-Sea-Creatures Machine so fast that the Machine's spokes and wheels whined a screeching, creaking, out-of-control complaint, and the trumpet-attachment thingy whirled so crazily, it looked in danger of falling off. But the Sea-dragon was not scared away. The sound the Machine made was so physically unbearable to the Monster that it kept a safe distance from the boat. But it did not stop it from following them. All of the rest of that day the Sea-dragon followed the American Dream 2, and all of the night. The crew went to sleep at their battle-stations, upright in their armour, harpoons at the ready. As they closed their eyes in sleep, it was the last thing they saw on the horizon, the long thin line of a white wake, and the great spiny back of one of the Great, Deadly Terrors of the Deep, rising and falling as it swam inexorably after them like some ghastly Fate. They were in ITS territory now… …and IT knew it. All it had to do, was to be patient. The only thing preventing the Sea-dragon from moving in for the kill, and tearing apart the American Dream 2 with its mighty jaws as if it were a child's toy,

was a dilapidated, cranky, over-worked little Machine. A Machine that was looking increasingly creaky and wonky as each crew member pedalled it furiously to death. If a screw came loose on one of those wobbling wheels, that whirligig trumpet thingy would come whizzing off and… It didn't bear thinking about. EVERYBODY had nightmares that night. And it made Hiccup's heart skip a beat or two when he woke to see the wake of the Sea-dragon on the horizon. It was still following them. Hiccup crept down from the crow's nest, and over to the Steering Deck where Norbert was staring at it too, through his looking-glass thingy. 'Norbert,' said Hiccup nervously. 'I just have a feeling that that Sea-dragon doesn't like us for some reason. Don't you think we should go home?' For a moment, Hiccup didn't think Norbert had heard him, for Norbert carried on looking at the horizon, muttering to himself slowly: 'That… is the largest Sea-Monster I have EVER seen…' And then Norbert took his looking-glass thingy from his eye and looked straight down at Hiccup. 'No dragon, however big, is going to take away