The Forbidden Land (24 page)

‘What about ye?’ she whispered anxiously. ‘Jay, canna ye climb up too?’

‘There be no’ enough room,’ he answered. She could hear the strain in his voice. ‘Come, Finn, let’s kick again.’

She kicked as hard as she could, straining to see through the darkness. Again and again a wave surprised her with a shock of cold, filling her eyes and her mouth with water, and sending her pulse hammering. Then suddenly she felt something brush against her bare foot. She recoiled with a shriek, falling off the plank into the water. Jay called her name anxiously.

‘Something touched me!’ she gasped, grabbing hold of the plank again. ‘Something scaly! Oh, Jay, what if it be the harlequin-hydra?’

Right in their ears, they heard the whistling sound. Jay raised himself up on his arms so he could hear more clearly. Then suddenly a long body thrust up through the waves, shining oddly in the darkness.

Finn leapt back, flailing her arms as the water closed over her head. Then strong arms seized her and lifted her up so she could breathe. Coughing and retching, Finn kicked out and the arms tightened, twisting her away. Finn felt silky scales against her skin and saw, frighteningly, a strange flat face with tusks curving up on either side. ‘It’s a Fairge!’ she cried hoarsely.

She stopped fighting, even though she was so frightened she thought her heart would pound right through her ribcage. She fully expected the Fairge to drag her down under the water and drown her, and there was not a thing she could do about it. This was the Fairge’s natural element, and Finn was the alien here. In a way it was a relief, to know the fight was over and she could relax and let the sea swallow her. Fatalistically she lay back in the Fairge’s arms and waited to drown.

The sea-faery held her securely, however. She could feel the powerful motion of his tail as he swam through the waves, his arms holding her high so that she could breathe easily. The two moons were rising, casting a silvery radiance over the sea. She could see the black mass of the cliffs ahead of them, and the white break of waves at their feet. Again her body tensed with fear but the Fairge quickened his speed and she felt the power of the wave as it caught them and sped them towards the shore. Then she was being flung up on the shore. She landed with a thump that knocked all the breath out of her body. The sea tried to drag her back, but Finn grasped at the wet, slippery rocks, ignoring the pain of her bruised and cut limbs. Frantically she dragged herself higher, feeling the tug of the water as it swirled back into the sea. At last her legs were free of the water and, sobbing, she glanced back. All she could see was the flash of a silver tail as the Fairge dived back into the moonlit waves.

The Skeleton Coast was a wild, inhospitable place. The cliffs reared several hundred feet from the sea, with nothing but sharp black rocks at their base. All along the coast crags of fantastic shape rose from the waves, some near as high as the cliffs themselves. The only sign of life was the sea birds, who screeched and fought and soared all about.

As the sun rose slowly out of the sea, giving the water a strange red shimmer, the survivors of the shipwreck slowly gathered together on the shore. With their clothes torn and stained, their eyes red-rimmed and their faces bruised, they were a pitiful sight but, as they all agreed, miraculously alive. Thanks to the Fairgean, not one of the crew or passengers of the
Speedwell
had drowned. The sea-faeries had even saved Jed, Dillon’s big shaggy hound.

Dide was able to light a fire for them, despite the dampness of the driftwood, and Donald cooked up a salty stew. Nellwyn the Yedda tended the worst of the injuries, as best as she could without any medicinal supplies and still so weak herself. She was astounded by the action of the Fairgean, having thought of them as implacable enemies all her life and having always used her magic to destroy them. She had heard about the jongleurs’ singing the song of love and had thought it foolish, but was now quick to admit that perhaps she and the Coven had always been wrong.

‘Who would’ve thought they would rescue drowning men,’ she said as she bandaged up cuts and splinted broken limbs. ‘I’ve never heard o’ such a thing!’

Once all were warmed and fed, there was much discussion about what to do next. Although they were still alive, they had little food and even less fresh water. Many among them were incapable of walking, let alone climbing the great height of the cliffs. The Bright Soldiers would be searching for them and it surely would not take them long to find the floating wreckage of the
Speedwell
. It was clear that an expedition had to set off in search of help as soon as possible.

‘Could ye climb these cliffs, Finn?’ Dide asked.

She nodded and shrugged. ‘All my climbing equipment went down with the
Speedwell
, so it would no’ be easy,’ she answered.

‘There is naught but a few farms up top,’ Captain Tobias said. ‘And they be strict, dour people. I do no’ think they would offer assistance willingly, no’ even to help Killian the Listener.’

The old prophet was sitting hunched by the fire, his spindly arms and legs clutched close to his body. His wrinkled face turned from one person to another as they spoke but he showed no sign of comprehension on his bruised face.

‘I wish I kent exactly where we were on the coast,’ Alphonsus the Sure said. ‘The last time I marked our position on the map we were only two or three days’ sail east o’ our meeting place with the MacCuinn. We had a fair wind and so had been managing a hundred and fifty or so miles a day. No’ matter how swiftly any party travelled, they would still be on foot. We are talking about three weeks at least afore they reach the rendezvous point. Then the Rìgh would need to travel back to reach us and that would be another week or two, even if they whipped the horses. No’ even the strongest man among us could survive that long without food and water, let alone the auld man and woman.’

There was a long silence. Everyone looked at the frail old prophet and then at Enit, who had regained consciousness but looked very sick and weak, with a great dark bruise discolouring one side of her face. All knew that she was crippled with arthritis and could not walk a step unaided. They then glanced around at the injured men lying uncomfortably on the sharp rocks and at the sea which surged and swirled a scant few paces away.

‘It’s low tide now,’ Arvin the Just said dourly. ‘Soon the waves will be rising again. Tide nor time tarries for none.’

‘Och, he’s such a joy to have along; he be like the honey bee and brings us naught but sweetness and light,’ Finn whispered to Ashlin, who choked trying to stifle his involuntary burst of laughter. Arvin turned his granite-hard countenance upon them in disapproval and both giggled again.

‘Well, happen our first task should be to find a less exposed spot in which to make camp,’ Dide said, casting Finn an exasperated glance. ‘Happen there may be a cave or grotto somewhere along here where we may get some shelter both from the elements and from anyone searching for us.’

‘Excuse me, sir,’ Tam said rather hesitantly, ‘but there be some caves along here somewhere, I do ken that. I do no’ think we’d want to be sheltering in them though.’

‘Och, that’s right,’ Captain Tobias said. ‘Ye were born hereabouts somewhere, were ye no’, young Tam?’

‘Aye, sir.’

‘Do ye ken where we are?’

‘Well, sir, if I be no’ mistaken, those two tall rocks along there, sort o’ leaning against each other, they be what folks round here used to call the Two Lovers.’

‘So do ye ken where these caves might be?’

‘Aye, sir, but truly, if the tales be true, we do no’ want to go into those caves. They say they be haunted, sir.’

‘Ye sound like a witch-lover, lad,’ Arvin the Just said sternly, ‘talking o’ haunted caves. Do ye no’ ken there are no ghosts?’

‘So the pastor used to say, sir,’ Tam replied equably, ‘but he also used to say all witches were evil and ugly, and indeed, sir, ye canna say that about young Bran, for she be a bonny lass indeed and sweet as a nut.’

His words caused Dide, Jay and Finn to start upright and Finn said indignantly, ‘What do ye mean by calling him a lass, Tam?’

The young sailor grinned at her. ‘Do ye think I be blind and foolish as a newborn pup? I been working and eating and sleeping alongsides the lot o’ ye for weeks on end now. I ken a lass when I see one, lass.’

Finn flushed scarlet and Dide laughed and slapped Tam across the back. ‘Indeed, I always kent Bran would never pass off as a lad, no’ with that skin and hair.’

‘Och, it were the figure I was noticing,’ Tam said with a grin, though he coloured up nearly as red as Finn.

‘What about me?’ Finn demanded. ‘How did ye guess I was no lad?’

‘Och, lassie, your figure be no’ so bad either,’ Tam replied. ‘Besides, I couldna help but notice how yon other lads were always looking out for ye two, and holding your hand when ye were afeared.’

‘I always said letting a passel o’ women on board would do us no good,’ Arvin the Just said gloomily. ‘We were doomed afore we even set sail from safe harbour. “All wickedness be but a wee to the wickedness o’ a woman”.’

‘Och, what is done is done,’ Captain Tobias said. ‘Is it no’ said that “a cheerful heart is a good medicine but a downcast spirit dries up the bones”? Please stop with your lamenting, Arvin, and let us think how to save our lives.’

‘We mun find these caves, and quickly,’ Dide said impatiently. ‘Already the waves are rising and we sit here and flap our jaws. We’ll worry about the ghosts when we encounter one. Tam, ye mun lead the way. Come, let’s get moving.’

They struggled over the rocks with litters made of broken planks, carrying those who could not walk, as the wildly tossing waves splashed their faces with spray and made the rocks beneath their feet even more slippery. Finn walked at the head of the expedition with Jay and Tam, the elven cat riding on her shoulder. As she walked she often glanced up at the towering cliffs, searching for a place where a climb to the top could be accomplished more easily. Several times they had to wade through deep rock-pools or scramble over great boulders near as large as a cottage, and once a wave caught one of the sailors and swept him off the shore. They managed to pull him to safety but all were shaken by the close call, and hurried their step.

At last they came to a narrow crack in the rock where a shallow stream of water tumbled out over slime-green rocks and down into the sea. Donald tasted the water and then, with great excitement, pronounced it fresh. They all drank eagerly, and no water had ever tasted as sweet as that brackish liquid from the heart of the rock.

‘How much further to these bluidy caves?’ Nellwyn asked, easing her swollen feet in the cool water.

‘We be here,’ Tam said. ‘That be the entrance. They call it Auld Clootie’s Cleft.’

The Yedda looked at the crack with disfavour. ‘The cave canna be very large. Shall we all fit in?’

‘The cave be huge,’ Tam said. ‘If the tales are true, it runs for miles and miles all along the coast and under the land. Some foolhardy lads tried to explore it with ropes and lanterns. They came out at Lucifer’s Leap, sixty miles north-west o’ here, those o’ them that survived.’

The Yedda withdrew her feet, dried them on her skirt and put her stockings and shoes on again. ‘Well, I be no’ afraid o’ ghosts,’ she said calmly. ‘Ghosts are naught but a psychic memory o’ some powerful emotional energy. They canna hurt ye unless ye let them and most can be banished by filling a place with laughter and goodwill. I swear if I can find a place to rest my weary bones I’ll be generating enough goodwill to banish a thousand ghosts, no matter how malevolent.’

Tam looked at the crack with disfavour. ‘Well, so long as we do no’ go too far in,’ he said and helped one of his fellow sailors to heft up a litter.

Dide went first so he could conjure some fire to light their way. When he squeezed through the high narrow crack, he gave a low whistle of amazement as he held up the ball of witch-light. Finn pushed her way to the front of the queue, her hazel green eyes alight with curiosity. As she clambered through, she too let out a little gasp.

The cave beyond was enormous. Dide’s ball of silvery-blue light was barely able to illuminate the furthermost reaches. It was far larger than the great banquet room at Rhyssmadill, larger than any hall Finn had ever seen. Down its centre wound the shallow stream, forming little pools here and there that glimmered blackly.

By the time all had clambered in, Dide had lit another fire, using dried seaweed and driftwood they had gathered along the way as kindling. They ate a sparse meal, and Donald tied hooks onto fishing lines in the hope they would be able to catch some fish off the rocks.

‘And I warrant those screeching sea birds wouldna taste so bad roasted over a slow fire,’ he said with a grin. ‘Lucky I made sure my bow and arrow were tucked into the long boat.’

After lunch they made further plans for an expedition to go in search of Lachlan and the Greycloaks. Now they had shelter and fresh water, everyone’s hopes had risen that they might still be able to get out of the shipwreck alive. It was decided that Dide should be the leader of the expedition, with Tam as their guide. Otherwise the exploratory party would include Dillon and his dog Jed, Finn, Jay, Ashlin, and a squad of sailors. They were to take with them most of the rope, the compass, and as much food and water as they could carry. Those left behind in the big cave would be able to hunt and fish to supplement their diet but it was unlikely that those exploring the caves would be able to do so.

The afternoon was spent resting, making torches from driftwood, torn material and lamp oil, and making up packs of supplies. At last all was ready, and the party set off with much false cheer and optimism.

They followed the stream, that being as good a place to start as any. Deep into the cliffs they clambered, sometimes having to scale high rocks where the water tumbled down in a little cascade. The roof continued lofty and elevated so they had no need to bend or crawl, which made their passage easier.

They rested often but never for long, very conscious of the need to make haste. The compass was rarely out of Tam’s hand and many times he paused to try and judge where they were in relation to the geography above ground. They had no way of telling the passage of time so far underground, and this only increased their anxiety. Soon it felt as if they had been clambering through the cave system for days on end and all grew impatient to breathe fresh air again and feel the sun on their skin.