Skyjackers: Episode 1: A Proper Nuisance (Skyjackers: Season One) Read Free Page A

and
disappeared from view. Vivian sheathed her sword and called across to him.
    “We’ll meet again, Captain Thorpe. Best of luck.” She tipped
her hat to him before turning and sprinting toward her ship.
    Jonathan picked himself up, careful to make sure he hadn’t
broken anything. He was about to summon his crew back to the Maelstrom to give the Caines chase when he noticed something rather peculiar. The patch
of earth on the far side of the chasm appeared to be rising . Startled
wedding guests dug their fingers into the grass and held on for their lives as
the rough oval of land beneath them began to lift them off the ground.
    What in the heavens is happening? Jonathan wondered.
He caught a glimpse of Vivian swinging onto the deck of her airship and giving
her crew a boisterous command. She was a wild one, to be sure; free-spirited
and crafty as ever. Had she not been the daughter of the world’s most dastardly
pirate, Jonathan would’ve sworn he was in love.
    Screams filled the air as the floating land mass carried the
wedding guests ever higher. That was when Jonathan knew he couldn’t go after
the Caines, though desperate was his desire to do so. There were citizens who
needed saving, and the safety of the people always came first. And so the
pirates fled while Jonathan and his crew remained, using the Maelstrom to rescue the guests from their flying prison and return them to safer ground.
    When he finally collapsed into his bunk late that night,
Jonathan couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking of Vivian, and of the bizarre
phenomenon that had sent an ordinary parcel of land floating into the sky. The
next morning, Jonathan would learn that the earthquake in Finustria had not
been an isolated occurrence.

Chapter 2
    The Caine family congregated in their sprawling mansion
hideaway, deep in the sweltering jungles of Azkatla. Gertrude had commissioned
an extravagant feast to celebrate another successful caper. When the wine
glasses began to ring, she stood, smoothed her skirts, and cleared her throat.
    “Isn’t it simply wonderful to be together?” she began. “We
really don’t do this often enough anymore. You don’t know how dreadfully your
father and I miss you when we’re apart.”
    Lily reached up to squeeze her mother’s hand.
    Junior broke the tenderness of the moment by prancing into
the room, decked out in the Archduchess’s crown jewels, earrings and all. The
family burst into laughter and applause. Junior took his seat with a smug grin—and
without removing a single accessory.
    “My precious babies,” Gertrude continued, teary-eyed. “You
all mean the world to me, and your father and I are so proud of each and every
one of you.”
    “Except you, June Bug.” Benedict put a teasing hand on his
son’s shoulder and gave him a shake. The girls laughed.
    “They’re proud of me most of all,” Misty said. “Right,
Mummy?”
    Junior looked at her. “You mean you least of all.”
    Misty batted the pearl tiara off Junior’s head and sent it
sailing to the hardwood floor.
    Junior’s expression passed from surprise to anger. He shoved
her. “You stupid brat.”
    Misty upended his wine glass, spilling summer red across the
tablecloth and Junior’s lap. “Dad doesn’t like you the best. He likes me the best.”
    “Now, children,” Gertrude tried.
    The argument escalated, layered voices rising to a crescendo.
    “Enough,” Benedict boomed. “Listen to your mother. And one of
you had better pick up that crown this instant, or Daddy is going to be very
unhappy.”
    Misty scowled. Junior dabbed at his lap with a napkin.
    In the end, it was Lily who slid from her chair and retrieved
the crown for her father. “Why isn’t Uncle Poleax here?” she asked.
    Caine turned the crown over in his hands. Every pearl was
intact, thank the heavens. “Poleax isn’t your uncle, Lily-Billy. He’s Daddy’s
second cousin. That makes him your second cousin, once removed.”
    “Yes, but