PathFinder (8 page)

Skimmer

It was three o’clock in
the morning and four figures were making their way through the dunes in the darkness, heading for the sound of the gentle swells breaking on the beach. The tide was high but it was about to turn, and the ebb would take them quickly along the sandspit and out to sea. Jonas was going with them to help launch Jerra’s boat,
Skimmer
, but Rosie had stayed home with little Torr. And when the house was silent and all were gone, Rosie felt a wave of despair wash over her – her family was disappearing so fast that it felt as though their house had sprung a leak.

Skimmer
sped along, keeping close enough to the shore to see the lights from the PathFinder houses, heading for the Beacon that marked the end of the spit. The night air was cold and Tod and Oskar sat under the cuddy at the prow of the boat, wrapped in thick waterproof blankets. Oskar took the familiar tiny green felt dragon out of his pocket. “Look,” he said. “I brought this. For Ferdie. For luck.”

Skimmer
cut swiftly through the dark water and they quickly reached the Beacon. Here, Jerra tacked the boat and headed into the deep channel between outlying sandbanks, which would take them to the open sea. In the east the sky was lightening to a milky green, and they knew that soon their boat would be all too visible. This would have spelled trouble for a traditional PathFinder boat in fishing waters so near the Trading Post and OutPost, but
Skimmer
was different. Some years ago Jerra had found her wrecked upon the beach and, with the help of his father, he had spent many happy summers repairing her. And now his boat was going to come into her own, for she was an OutPost boat with an OutPost name. Jerra had been teased about this because traditional PathFinder boats were given names of stars, but he had refused to change it. “That’s what she’s called and that’s the way she stays. How will she know to answer to any other name?” he had said.

Jerra now set an OutPost ensign fluttering from the stern (which Rosie had stayed up all night sewing), spread a patterned rug from their kitchen on to the boat’s rough wooden deck and asked Oskar to nail a strip of traditional OutPost gold braid along the edge of the cuddy. “There,” he said with a grin. “Now she looks like all those other fancy-pants OutPost boats. Poor
Skimmer
.”

The misty pale sun climbed higher in the sky, a brisk breeze sprang up and the ensign – dark blue with two big gold stars – fluttered importantly as
Skimmer
headed for Goat Rock, a tiny rocky island that, if seen with half-closed eyes and a lot of imagination, was the shape of a goat’s head.
Skimmer
was well named. She skimmed across the water and soon they were near enough to Goat Rock to see an elegant little boat, its sails white against the grey granite, waiting for them.

“There she is,” said Jerra, waving excitedly. “There’s Annar!”

Through the telescope Tod saw a dark-haired girl in a thick blue fisherman’s jersey. She handed the telescope to Oskar and whispered, “She looks OK, Oskie.”

Annar and her boat,
Swan
, were waiting at a small stone quay on the sheltered side of Goat Rock, but as
Skimmer
approached she sailed out to meet them. “There’s a thick mist up there this morning,” she told them. “Follow close or you’ll lose me.”

As they drew near the mouth of the creek, a white mist came in and Annar raised a red pennant to make it easier for them to follow. Soon the wind died and both boats had to be rowed the rest of the way. They tied
Skimmer
and
Swan
together to the OutPost quay wall and moments later they were on the quayside. Annar and Jerra were hugging and smiling delightedly. Oskar raised his eyebrows at Tod as if to say,
Jerra’s got a girlfriend
.

“This is my brother Oskar and our best friend, Tod,” said Jerra, introducing them to Annar.

“Hello, Oskar. Hello, Tod,” Annar said, a little shyly.

Tod noticed that Annar was standing beneath a large board on which was a written long list, each section beginning with: “DO NOT”. One in particular caught her eye:
DO NOT land here if you are an undesirable alien. Undesirable aliens include: PathFinders, Moth-Wardens and Carminators. Penalty: not less than ten years in prison.

Across the word “PathFinder”, someone had scrawled:
fish slime
.

Annar followed Tod’s gaze. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s horrible. But we have to come here to get a pass for the creek.”

But the Quay Office was not yet open. Annar glanced around anxiously. “Let’s go somewhere quiet,” she said. She led them to a line of deserted net lofts that backed on to the high wall that separated the OutPost from the woods and the creek beyond. They sat in the sunshine, watching the Quay Office and hoping that someone would soon arrive to open up.

“I’ve got your stuff here,” Annar said. She handed Tod and Oskar two red-and-white-striped tops with
Tristan
embroidered across the back in big blue letters. “Put them on later,” she said. “No one likes the
Tristan
people here.”

Tod listened carefully while Annar described the layout of the
Tristan
. She did it so well that Tod could picture the ship as if she were there. Oskar, however, was having difficulty concentrating. He was ravenously hungry and longing for breakfast. Every now and then he glanced across at a hut with the words
SnakShak
scrawled across its black wooden planks. It sat in the middle of the quayside sporting a cheerful striped awning, and it was selling fresh bacon rolls. The smell of the frying bacon was driving Oskar crazy. As Annar once again ran through the layout of the hatches on the
Tristan
’s deck, Oskar’s stomach let out a long growl – and before anyone could stop him, he was up and away, heading towards the SnakShak.

“Sheesh!” said Jerra, leaping to his feet. “What’s he doing?”

Oskar had ducked in under the awning and was approaching the counter. Jerra looked at Annar in a panic. “He’s got to get out of there.”

“I’ll get him,” said Annar, setting off towards the SnakShak
with Jerra and Tod in tow. “Nice and slow. No drawing attention to ourselves. We just act natural, OK?”

Jerra nodded and tried to walk nonchalantly. Tod followed, confused. Oskar seemed to be behaving in the most natural way of all, she thought. What was wrong with going to get a bacon roll? Tod soon found out.

Under the awning, a young seafaring couple looked up from their breakfast. They smiled at Oskar – as people who have spent time at sea do when they reach the safety of land. They both looked windswept and sunburned. The young man had friendly, bright green eyes, and a shock of tangled straw-coloured hair with plaits and beads woven into it. The young woman, with her white-blonde hair and blue eyes, was clearly from the Land of the Long Nights; on her lap was a small orange cat to whom she was feeding tiny fish. As Annar hurried in after Oskar, the couple smiled at her too, but Annar was too preoccupied to return their greeting. She put her arm around Oskar’s shoulders and Oskar looked up irritably. He didn’t think Annar knew him well enough to do that.

“Come now, Oskar,” said Annar. “We must go.”

“But I’ve just ordered four bacon rolls,” Oskar said in his telltale lilting PathFinder accent.

“I’ll get them,” said Annar. “Go now, your brother wishes to speak to you.”

Oskar frowned. “Can’t it wait?”

“No,” Annar said sternly.

Tod saw the cook behind the counter stare at Oskar’s hand as he offered his payment of four big copper pennies. In the shadows of the awning the sheen on Oskar’s skin and red hair flashed like the shine on a newly landed fish. Now Tod understood Jerra’s concern.

The cook recoiled. “Put them there,
Fish Boy
,” he muttered under his breath, indicating the zinc counter. But still Oskar stood waiting, taking no notice of Annar.

“I’m going to get him,” muttered Tod.

As Tod joined Oskar and Annar at the counter she saw two OutPost officials wandering across to the Quay Office, their gold braid glittering in the sun and their elaborately curled white wigs bright against the black-painted sheds behind them. The SnakShak cook saw them too.

“Hey!” he yelled. “Fish slime here! Fish slime!”

Tod leaped forward and grabbed Oskar. “Run, you idiot!” she told him. With Annar on one side and Tod on the other, Oskar was propelled rapidly out of the SnakShak, protesting as he went. “Ferdie’s dragon! You made me drop her dragon!”

Tod and Jerra pushed Oskar across the quay, following Annar as she dodged behind a line of net lofts. Behind them they heard the thudding of heavy footsteps. Annar dived under a tangled pile of old fishing nets, and Tod, Oskar and Jerra followed fast. In the rank, fish-smelling gloom they listened to the sound of the pursuing footsteps stop some distance away, wait a while and then walk off. None of the officials wanted to get their finery dirty.

Many long, smelly minutes later they warily crept out.

“You idiot!” Jerra hissed at his brother. “You stupid little know-it-all. You total –”

“That’s enough, Jerra,” Tod cut in. “Oskie knows it was stupid. There’s no point fighting about it.”

Oskar was distraught. “Ferdie’s dragon. Her lucky dragon!”

“Oskie,” said Tod, “you
have
to forget the dragon.”

“Now please, follow me,” Annar said.

Oskar hung back. “But the
dragon
,” he wailed.

Jerra grabbed hold of Oskar’s top and pulled him along. “Shut up, Oskar. You nearly got us all thrown in prison for
ten years
.”

Oskar looked wide-eyed at Jerra. “Why?”

“Idiot boy. Didn’t you read the sign? We’re not allowed here,
get it
?”

Suddenly a shout from behind made them all jump. “Hey!”

They spun around and to their horror saw the young seafaring man who had been at the SnakShak running towards them, closely followed by his girlfriend carrying her cat.

“Run!” said Jerra.

“No, wait,” said Tod. “Look, I think she’s got – yes,
she’s got Ferdie’s dragon
!”

Jerra hesitated. The young woman with the cat was holding out something very small and possibly green.

“Please, Jerra,” Oskar pleaded. “Please wait.”

“Let’s wait,” said Tod. “I think they’re OK.”

Jerra was not inclined to trust his brother’s judgement, but he did trust Tod’s.

The couple reached them. “You dropped this,” the young woman said, handing Ferdie’s felt dragon to Oskar with a smile.

“Oh, thank you,” said Oskar. “Thank you very, very much!”

“It is my pleasure,” she said in a sing-song Northern Trader accent.

The young man was looking around warily. He lowered his voice and said, “I saw you were having trouble. There are some strangers who are not welcome here, you know.”

“We know,” Jerra said shortly.

“Look,” the young man said, a little awkwardly. “I think those two officials who saw you have gone to get reinforcements. They’re not going to give up the search. You have to get out of here.”

Oskar broke in suddenly. “But we can’t! We have to rescue my sister!”

“Oskar, shut
up
,
will you?” said Jerra.

The young man remembered a time when he and his little brother had been searching for
their
sister. He remembered the desperation he had felt – the same desperation he could see now in the eyes of the kids in front of him. “So where’s your sister?” he asked gently.

Jerra kicked Oskar to tell him to be quiet. No one answered.

“You can trust me,” said the young man. “My name is Nicko. Nicko Heap. And this is my girlfriend, Snorri Snorrelssen. I know this place. I know how it works. And believe me, you are in danger.”

“Which is why we’re on our way out,” Annar said, a little snappily. She pointed to the gate set in the high wall that surrounded the OutPost. As she did so four burly officials marched through, closed the gate behind them and stood on guard.

“Not that way, you’re not,” said Nicko.

“Come with us,” said Snorri. “We have a boat. We will get you out of here.”

Jerra glanced at Annar, who nodded. “Thanks,” Jerra said. “Thanks, Snorri. Nicko.”

As they approached the quay they saw another knot of officials – in their usual array of white wigs and too much gold braid upon their jackets – staring down at the boats tied up below. They had discovered
Skimmer
. As they drew nearer, Jerra could see his beloved boat being trampled in by two heavy-footed men laughing at her hand-sewn flag and her rough disguise while they tied her – and
Swan
– to an OutPost launch.

“Hey!” Annar yelled. “Leave my boat alone!” And before anyone could stop her, Annar had darted away to argue with the officials.