Quest for the Sun Gem (10 page)

‘I wonder … I wonder if that could possibly be …’

Aisha barked loudly, snapping at the soft little ripples of water on the sand.

Immediately the music, if that is what it was, stopped.

‘Shush, Aisha,’ cried Lily sorrowfully. ‘It’s stopped. That beautiful music. I wanted it to go on forever …’

There was a sudden movement from the rocks at the mouth of the cove and a shadow slipped into the water with a gentle splash. Lily laughed softly, patting Aisha.

‘What could it be? Did I dream it? Was it just a seal or something else?’ she murmured to the dog. But there were no more noises, and eventually she walked back to the others and sat down to watch the waves. When at last the half moon rose in the eastern sky at midnight, Lily woke Saxon and curled up to sleep again.

Saxon sat whittling a piece of driftwood with his dagger, his eyes peering into the darkness. He felt like someone or something was staring at him from the inky blackness of the rocks or the sea. He shook off the feeling, putting it down to nerves and the slow, boring wait.

The tide crept out, bit by slow bit. The waning moon crept up in the sky, bit by slow bit. The waves crashed in and out, in and out, in and out. From fighting nerves, Saxon now had to fight boredom and sleep and impatience.

When the half moon was finally a quarter of its journey through the star-sprinkled heavens, Saxon woke the others.

Roana was furious.

‘Why did you not wake me up for my watch!’ she whispered irately. ‘I suppose you thought I would slumber and not wake you! I bet you let Lily do her watch.’

Saxon, Ethan and Lily glanced guiltily at each other.

‘You were sleeping so peacefully, I couldn’t wake you …’ mumbled Saxon.

‘I thought we agreed that I was not to be given special princess treatment,’ Roana said, glaring at everyone. ‘I am just as capable of staying awake as any of you. I will not be left out. We are all in this together!’

Aisha started whimpering at the anger in Roana’s tone. She nudged the princess with her nose, trying to placate her.

‘I’m sorry,’ Saxon soothed. ‘We weren’t sure. You know you aren’t used to doing some of the things we are. But we won’t leave you out again.’

‘Come on,’ said Ethan gruffly. ‘We should eat something and get going.’

They all sat silently, nerves strung taut as wire, while they ate bread and cheese, washed down with water. Ethan unstrung the bows and stored them with their boots, spare clothes and quivers in the back of the cave.

When they were finished eating they dragged the boat down to the water and stowed the oars. Aisha ran back and forth, tail wagging in excitement. She tried to jump into the boat after the oars.

‘No, Aisha, you’re not coming with us this time, girl,’ Ethan said firmly, rubbing the dog’s ears. ‘You stay here and guard our things.’

Aisha’s tail drooped mournfully, but she obediently
walked back up the beach to the boulder hiding the cave and sat there watching. Her left ear flipped inside out, as it always did when she was displeased.

She whined softly as the four children pushed the boat off the sand into the lapping waves. Roana and Lily pushed the boat from the sides, splashing through water up to their thighs, then jumped in the boat and crawled to the bow, shivering at the chilly air on their wet clothes.

Ethan and Saxon pushed the boat from the stern, out past the gently breaking waves, then leapt in after them. They sat on the middle bench, facing the beach, and started to row. Aisha watched them for a while, then turned around and around in a circle three times before curling up to sleep, her ears still cocked to listen for any unusual sounds.

‘Good girl, Aisha,’ called Ethan softly. ‘Wait for us, we’ll be back soon.’

The boat surged forward strongly in the calm water. The sheer walls of the cliffs soared on either side as they slipped out of the cove. Immediately the motion changed as they hit the sea swell.

‘Keep your weight forward,’ Saxon called to the others.

Saxon and Ethan had to row harder to propel the craft against the force of the surf. Towering waves
crashed into the boat, drenching them all with salt spray and filling the hull with water. The boys strained and pulled, panting for breath.

The boat sat still despite the rowing, motionless against opposing forces. Another huge wave loomed over the boat, threatening to engulf it. The boys heaved again and the boat jerked forward with a loud sucking noise and shot forward into the air, landing with a loud thwack on top of the water.

Lily clung to the gunwale with clenched knuckles, her heart in her mouth. Both she and Ethan could swim strongly in the river at home, but that seemed so tame compared to this rough, black sea. She refused to think of the deep, dark water below the hull, and what might be lurking there.

In a few moments the boat surged into the relatively calmer water past the breakers.

Roana and Lily bent to bail out the water with tin cups. The boys pulled strongly, their backs already aching with the strain.

‘Ssshh,’ Lily hissed as she caught sight of the mouth of Goldcoin Cove, where the Sedah ships were moored. The boys slowed down their rowing. No-one dared to breathe.

The six ships bobbed menacingly in the dark
water, only visible as black shadows against the brighter starry sky. A lantern flickered at the stern of each ship, and candles glowed through the windows of the cabins.

By this faint light they could see the name of the three closest ships carved in gold curly letters: the
Sea Dragon
, the
Black Pearl
and the largest ship – the
Glory of Sedah
.

The boys steered the boat silently towards the dripping rope of the
Glory of Sedah
’s anchor line. Roana and Lily grabbed hold of the line, fending the boat away from the hull with their arms. Saxon secured the mooring rope to the anchor line.

All four faces stared up at the menacing hulk of the black ship towering up there. There was something strange up there, just below the bowsprit – a terrifying shadow, poised like a large animal ready to pounce. But it was like no animal they had ever seen – a monster! They all froze, silently watching. The creature did not move, just swayed gently with the rocking of the waves.

As their eyes strained in the darkness, they could make out the ugly creature better. A large ferocious head, its mouth open in a silent roar, its many sharp teeth gleaming softly. Red eyes flickered in the darkness.

Long, sharp claws reached out to rake the enemy’s face. Powerful hindquarters quivered with the exertion of staying still, while a long tufted tail curled languidly down the bow of the ship.

The children stared up, terrified, mouths dry, hearts beating and muscles pumped with adrenalin, ready for flight. Still the creature did not leap. Ethan quietly moved forward to untie the mooring rope and push off, back to the relative safety of the sea. Saxon moved to help him, and then paused, staring up at the monster.

He muffled a nervous giggle. ‘It’s all right,’ Saxon whispered. ‘It’s only the figurehead. We usually carve beautiful women for ours, but the Sedahs prefer monsters!’

Lily’s knees went weak and trembling with relief. She took a deep breath.
Of course it was just a carving,
she thought.
It is amazing how shadows play tricks on the mind
.

Ethan climbed up the anchor line, swinging arm over arm. He swung up into the shadows on the ship, then snaked down a coil of rope that he had attached to a stanchion. Lily tied this rope around her waist then climbed up the anchor line, as agile as a monkey. The rope came snaking down again.

Saxon grabbed it before it splashed in the water
and passed it to Roana. She hesitated then tied it round her waist. She carefully took hold of the rope and looked up into the dark shadows above.

The boat rocked alarmingly and the anchor line creaked and groaned. The ship towered above, rocking slightly with the motion of the waves. The ship and boat moved as if in a formal dance, rocking together, then wrenching apart.

Roana swallowed, the pit of her stomach lurching with nausea. She tried not to think of Octomons or sea serpents lurking in the depths below.

‘Come on, Roana. You can do it,’ hissed Saxon under his breath.

Roana took a deep breath, then climbed hand over hand up the anchor rope as Lily had done. But Roana was not as fit as Lily, nor as used to climbing. Her arms ached with the strain of taking her weight. She reached halfway up the rope. Her muscles started to burn and her arms shook uncontrollably. The effort became greater and greater. At last Roana could not let go of the rope to climb any further.

She hung suspended over the boiling black sea, frozen with fear. Her hands were slick with sweat. She could feel the rope slipping from her grasp. Ethan and Lily felt the guide rope stop, so together they took the slack and hauled with all their might,
winding the rope around a timber strut to stop it from slipping back.

Roana was dragged, dangling and kicking, up onto the deck. She collapsed panting in a heap. Ethan untied the safety rope and lowered it down to Saxon. In a moment Saxon was clambering on board too.

In the bow they all crouched, hardly visible in the darkness with their black cloaks and charcoaled faces. They paused for a few minutes, gathering their breath and their courage and their bearings. At a nod, they crept forward, one after the other. Roana lead the way as she was the only one who had ever been on a ship of this size. From the stern they could hear low murmurs and the smell of pipe smoke.

They found the ladder leading down into the deep, cold hold. Hearts thudding, they climbed down and down and down into the very belly of the ship. They crept through the darkness, fumbling their way with their hands.

The hold was filled with crates and barrels of stolen loot. Animals were penned in makeshift stalls, snorting and panting at the unfamiliar rolling of the ship. Further on, they came to a couple of doors with small barred grates and heavy padlocks.

Peeping through the first grate, they saw dozens of Tiregian soldiers in red livery sleeping on the floor in dirty straw. A strong stench of stale vomit and sweat wafted through the bars.

Peeping through the grate in the next door, they saw a smaller room with just a handful of people curled on the floor. One man dozing close to the door had a very familiar shape.

‘Dadda?’ Ethan whispered. The man stirred fitfully. ‘Dadda!’

The man started and struggled to his feet. He limped to the door. Willem had a dirty bloodstained bandage around his head, and his arm in a sling. His face looked puffy and bruised, as though he had suffered a recent fall or blow.

‘Ethan. Ethan, my boy. Is that you? Have the devils caught you too?’ he cried in despair.

Ethan whispered through the grate and briefly explained how they had come to be there and how they had rescued the prisoners from the barn at the royal hunting lodge. Willem pressed his fingers through the grate and gripped Ethan and Lily’s fingers in his own.

‘How is Mama?’ asked Lily fearfully.

‘She is well, she sleeps right here. I must wake her – she won’t believe her eyes to see you both
standing here of all places, as bold as brass, with young Saxon! She has been very worried. And who is this black-faced lad with you?’

‘That
lad
, Dadda, is the Princess Roana.’ Ethan laughed softly as he saw the incredulous look on his father’s face. ‘Can you believe it?’

‘The queen will be so relieved to hear the Princess Roana is alive,’ Willem whispered. ‘Lord Lazlac told the queen that the princess had been thrown from her pony and killed.’

Roana pulled herself up tall. ‘Lord Lazlac will find I am not so easily disposed of,’ she said haughtily.

‘Don’t worry, Dadda,’ Ethan added. ‘We will soon have you all free.’

‘No, you must go,’ Willem cried urgently. ‘You must not be caught. Please, children, escape before it is too late.’

‘No.’ Ethan shook his head vehemently. ‘We can rescue you.’

He started digging at the padlock with his dagger trying to pick the lock, but to no avail. Saxon and Roana tried to chip away at the heavy chain and the iron rings buried in the door and jamb.

Willem tiptoed across the cell and woke Marnie and Queen Ashana. The two mothers wept with joy
and fear to find their beloved children alive and here. They gripped fingers with each child through the bars.

‘Your father is right,’ whispered Marnie urgently. ‘It is too dangerous for you to be here. Please go at once.’

A couple of bodies stirred in the cell. Everyone froze.

A man’s voice called from the darkness, quivering with suspicion.

‘Who is there? What are you doing!’

‘Shhhhhh,’ hissed Willem over his shoulder. ‘It is nothing, Lord Mortimer. Go back to sleep.’

‘Don’t “nothing” me, Willem of Kenley,’ cried Lord Mortimer. ‘Do not speak to your betters like that. I tell you someone is there. Who are you talking to? Someone is trying to break in!’

From overhead came a thud, then the sound of hurried footsteps.

‘Go,’ hissed Willem through the grate. ‘Hide yourselves.’

‘Take this, Dadda,’ Ethan replied as he slid one of his daggers through the grate. Lily immediately pushed her spare dagger through as well. Saxon and Roana ran back through the hold and were crouching behind piles of crates and barrels, hiding their faces in the folds of their cloaks.

‘What’s happening?’ called a woman’s voice, high with fear. ‘Who is here?’

A number of the prisoners had woken with the shouting and were now crowding around the doors, yelling and shaking the bars of the grate, rattling the padlock chains.

Ethan grabbed Lily’s hand and they ran to hide themselves in the shadows. Two guards clumped down the ladder, carrying lanterns that bobbed and swayed, casting a flickering red glow over the towers of crates.

‘Be quiet,’ one guard roared. ‘What is all this noise about? Go to sleep or it will be the worse for you all.’

Saxon and Roana took the opportunity to creep back up the ladder when the guards’ backs were turned.

‘There was someone here,’ replied Lord Mortimer. ‘Someone trying to break in.’

‘Nonsense,’ bellowed the guard. ‘There is no-one here.’

‘There was,’ insisted Lord Mortimer. ‘Someone creeping about and fiddling with the lock.’

‘That’s impossible,’ barked the guard, raising his cudgel in anger.

The other guard picked up his lantern and started shining it around the hold, brusquely
searching the shadows. Ethan and Lily shrank back deeper into their cloaks. The first guard unlocked the padlock with a large key, using his cudgel to threaten the prisoners back into the corner.

‘The key!’ Lily mouthed. Ethan nodded. ‘Let’s try to surprise him.’

Both children drew their remaining daggers. The second guard was now searching the hold closer to the ladder, with his back to them. Lily and Ethan crept out from their hiding place and tiptoed back to the cell. Peering through the open door, they saw several courtiers cowering in the corner around the queen and the prince, with the first guard shouting at them.

‘You stupid scum, what is all this nonsense? Perhaps I can beat some sense into you!’

Lily and Ethan made a shhh signal. Willem saw them and started, his face pale and grim. Marnie immediately spoke up.

‘Of course there was no-one here. How could there be? The poor fool merely suffered a nightmare.’

The courtiers stared at the two children outlined against the dimness of the hold. The guard saw them staring and turned around, holding his lantern aloft.

‘What the devil …?’ he began.

But he was knocked flying as Willem jumped on him from behind. The lantern flew across the cell, landing in a pile of damp, putrid straw. The glass broke and flames licked out into the straw. The guard struggled and yelled as Marnie joined in the fray, a dagger clutched in her hand. Ethan and Lily ran into the cell to help their parents, their weapons raised.

The prisoners ran forward to stamp out the flames, led by Queen Ashana. The second guard ran back in, knocking Lily out of the way. The cell was filling with dank, acrid smoke, adding to the confusion.

‘What’s going on?’ the guard yelled, wielding his sword ferociously. He used the flat of the sword to beat back the prisoners crowding around his fallen colleague.

‘They’re the ones. They shouldn’t be here. They’re the ones who tried to break in,’ yelled the fallen guard hoarsely.