Free Secrets of the Deep by E.G. Foley Page B

Nixie. “Boiler? That sounds a little dangerous.”
    “Normally, yes,” she agreed, then glanced proudly at Archie. “But as it happens, your cousin has solved two of the biggest problems of undersea travel at one go—propulsion and air supply.”
    “Now, now, I didn’t make it up,” Archie protested with a modest blush, though obviously eating up her praise. “I borrowed the solution from a little-known Catalan inventor, Señor Monturiol. It’s really quite amazing—”
    “Ahem,” Jake cut him off before he went into some mind-boggling scientific explanation. “Main question: is it safe?”
    “ You’re asking that?” Isabelle murmured in amusement.
    “That’s a first,” Dani agreed.
    “It’s very safe,” Nixie answered on behalf of the renowned Dr. Bradford. “Rest assured, if we have any problems, I’ve got spells at the ready. But we’re not going to need them. You see, Archie built a chemical furnace into the tail end—”
    “Stern, dear,” he corrected.
    “Of the Turtle ,” she continued, sending him a stern look, indeed. “Instead of burning coal, which would turn the sub’s interior into an oven and basically roast us alive—”
    “Which can ruin your day,” Maddox muttered.
    “ And burn up all your oxygen,” she agreed. “But Archie’s design uses a chemical reaction instead of coal to produce the energy.”
    “Brilliant,” said Jake.
    “We combine potassium chlorate, zinc…and what’s the other one?” she asked.
    “Manganese dioxide,” Archie said, beaming, as if any of them had a clue what that was.
    “Right,” Nixie continued. “You put these three ingredients together, and voila! The chemical reaction creates enough heat to boil water, which in turn runs the little steam engine. The most brilliant part of all?” She grinned. “The reaction gives off oxygen as a byproduct, supplying us with all the air we’ll need down there so we don’t suffocate.” The black-clad witch slung her arm cheerfully around Archie’s shoulders. “Isn’t he magnificent?”
    They could do naught but applaud the boy genius, and he turned quite red.
    “So we’re not gonna die, then,” Dani said.
    “Absolutely not,” Archie assured her.
    “Well, that’s good,” Jake said with a grin. “Wouldn’t want to miss out on the party tonight and the chance to meet more of these Italian girls. Bellissima!” He kissed his fingertips in the Italian style, and Dani promptly smacked him on the back of the head.
    Why this made him happy, Jake did not know. But, secretly, it was the delight of his life teasing her.
    The other two boys snickered, and the girls just looked at them, unamused.
    It was quite true, however. Their Grand Tour so far had proved that, indeed, the Italian girls were just as pretty as the French ones.
    Jake liked Europe well, indeed.
    “Shall we?” Nixie asked in a lofty tone.
    “Not yet. We’ve got to christen her, of course!” Archie said. “First time out and all that. It’s a seafaring tradition! Izzy, would you like to do the honors?” Ever the little English gentleman, he offered his miffed elder sister the bottle of root beer he had put aside for this occasion. “Adults usually christen ships with a bottle of champagne, but I thought this should do nicely for us.”
    Isabelle smiled fondly at him, but shook her head. “Let Nixie do it, Arch. She deserves it. She’s been helping you on this one far more than I have.”
    “Oh, could I?” Nixie clapped her hands. “I love bashing things!”
    “Be my guest. Not yet!” Archie scolded affectionately, pausing before he handed her the bottle of root beer.
    Those two, Jake thought, mystified every time he watched them together. They weren’t officially sweethearts or anything like that, as far as Jake knew, but they were certainly two peas in a pod.
    Nixie had brought Archie back from a horrifying brush with death, and in return, Archie’s boundless good cheer had overcome Nixella Valentine’s