But Alex didn’t notice the sentimental exchange’his gaze had already alighted on something new, and his jaw dropped. Standing near the middle of the room, beyond an old refurbished Quillitary vehicle and a gray shack that looked eerily familiar, was an enormous pirate ship, tilted slightly to its port side. It had three masts with beautiful yet ominous-looking sails, and a deep brown wooden hull that shone as if it had been polished endlessly. Magnetized, Alex moved toward it. When he got close, he put his hands on the hull, running his fingers along the smooth wood. And then he cocked his head and stood very quiet for a long moment.
He turned to Mr. Today. “Do you hear that?”
Mr. Today smiled and touched the hull. “Yes. I’m not sure what causes it.”
“It’s whispering, like it’s coming from inside the boat.”
Mr. Today nodded. “It’s done that all along. I’ve never been able to understand what they’re saying. Can you?”
Alex shook his head.
Ms. Morning, who had followed Alex, approached. “I think they’re speaking in a different language,” she said. “I’ve tried to understand it but admittedly without luck as well. I meant to ask Siggy about a book on languages.”
Alex looked puzzled. “Languages? You mean, not what we speak? Like animal language or something?”
Mr. Today smiled. “When I was a boy, people spoke different languages depending on where they lived. They may still do so, I don’t know. I hope to find out.”
Alex looked back at the ship. “So . . . what is it for? Did you make it?”
“No, I didn’t actually make this. It washed up on the beach one day a few years ago’does that sound accurate, Claire?”
Ms. Morning pressed her lips together, thinking. “Yes, not more than five years ago, for sure.”
Mr. Today went on. “There were two pirates inside, but they were already dead’there was nothing any of us could do to save them. They wore the strangest things around their necks. . . .” Mr. Today trailed off, remembering.
“But how did you get it up here in the . . . the Museum of Large?” He liked the name, though he didn’t really know what a museum was, other than this.
Mr. Today snapped back to the present. “What? Oh, just magic,” he said. “The transport spell’do you know it?”
Alex shook his head.
“No component necessary, just envision the item in the place you want it to go. Like this.” He pulled a candy platyprot from his robe, plucked a tiny piece of lint off of it, closed his eyes, and whispered, “Transport.”
The candy disappeared, and a moment later Alex felt something in his hand. He grinned and looked at the bright yellow candy, blew on it, and then popped the tasty treat into his mouth. “Cool,” he said.
The candy in his mouth said a muffled, “Cool. Cool. Cool.”
“It doesn’t work with humans or living creatures, only objects,” Mr. Today added. “Small things transport quite perfectly, but large things can be quite tricky to place properly, so if you’re very particular about where you want something big to end up, you’re better off moving it yourself.”
“Why did you put the ship up here?”
“I was afraid our creatures would get hurt or trapped if I left it on the beach. And it was a tremendous eyesore. It was such a rotted mess, I wasn’t sure it could be saved. But I’ve fixed it up now, good as new. This is where I do a lot of my thinking.”
Ms. Morning nodded. “I remember when this washed up’it was in terrible shape! You’ve done so much with it. Are you planning to take this on your journey? I assumed you’d use the white boat.”
“I’ve thought about it,” Mr. Today said. “With a little magic I could handle this ship on my own. I’d have to change out the pirate flags for something more friendly-looking, of course.”
Alex knew a little about pirates from Mr. Appleblossom, who had singlehandedly performed (in double-time) all the major roles of a pirate musical during Actors’ Studio several weeks before. “I think you would make a great pirate,” Alex said.
“Why, thank you, Alex,” Mr. Today said. And then his eyes opened wide as if he just thought of something. “Have you noticed the whale yet?”
“Where?” Alex looked all around.
“On the other side of the ship.” Mr. Today ushered Alex around the ship to where the skeleton of a whale stood on display, put together perfectly. “This is also not of my own creation. It’s a real whale that landed on the beach and got stuck many, many years ago, when I was alone here. I couldn’t use transport magic to get it back in the water because, like I said, that spell doesn’t work on living creatures.
“Frantic, I tried everything I could think of to no avail,” Mr. Today said with a sigh. “I guess magicians can’t fix everything’at least this one couldn’t, especially back in the early days.” He scratched his head. “I might have been able to do something if it had happened now, though my healing spells still aren’t very strong. Healing has never been one of my gifts.” His voice was sad as he looked over the skeleton. “I stayed with it until the end. It was a hard moment, and it remains a difficult memory. I felt very helpless. I’d like to think the whale didn’t blame me.” He walked around to the mouth of the skeleton. “So very sorry about that,” he said in a soft voice, as if the whale could hear him.