The Path of the Storm (20 page)

Searching the huge vessel would take time, so Miro decided to search level by level until he reached the hold. Planks creaked beneath his feet as he heaved open a hatch and descended.

Discovering this level empty, Miro found steps leading down and searched the next level. Also empty.

The next deck below was cramped. Miro saw strange tubes of bronze, now rusted, each leading to one of the wooden shutters visible from the outside. Once, rollers enabled the bronze tubes to be pointed out the side of the ship. It was yet another mystery.

Avoiding the rotten sections of the planks, Miro finally found the hold. Given the cavernous storage area Miro wondered how large the ship's crew had once been. Now, it was apparently as empty as the rest of the ship.

Miro walked almost the entire length of the ship before he saw them: a score of small barrels, kegs really, each marked with the symbol of a flame.

Miro's breath caught. Long ago, Toro Marossa once stood in this very place.

Some of the kegs had a second symbol beside that of the flame. It was a skull, an additional warning to stay clear. Next to an open keg black powder sat in a small pile.

Miro stayed clear of the barrels, but knew he'd found the poison. He searched the hold again before he gave up. It was always a long shot.

Just because he'd found the poison didn't mean there was a cure nearby. It was the people who'd once lived here he wanted to find.

With a sigh, Miro decided to return to the shelter.

~

I
T WAS
hours past sundown and Miro was worried. He didn't have the means to build a fire but the light cast by a crescent moon outlined the white beach. He watched the beach relentlessly, desperate for a sign of Amber. If she walked on the beach, he would see her.

Should he leave the shelter and head towards the second settlement? What if he missed her?

Miro's fists clenched and unclenched. He should never have let Amber go out on her own. Who knew what she'd found? He'd almost put his foot through the rotten planks of the ship more than once. What if she was stuck somewhere? Perhaps a roof had collapsed on her, or she'd been attacked by a dog. She could have come across some of the island's inhabitants, perhaps someone violent.

As Miro's thoughts turned darker and darker, he finally saw a figure in the distance. Miro leapt up and he began to run.

She made slow progress, dragging something behind her, something large and square, obviously heavy.

"Amber!" Miro cried.

"Here, help me with this," she gasped.

"What is it?"

"Tell you later."

The light was low, and Miro only saw it was a piece of wood the size of a large door. She must have laboured for hours to bring it.

"Here," Miro said, "let me take one end. You take the other."

Between the two of them, they managed to get it off the ground and stumble with it back to the shelter. Finally they dropped it to the ground with a thud, and both sank to the ground, puffing and wheezing.

"What… is it?" Miro panted.

"Can't see now." Amber coughed. "Show you in the morning. I'm exhausted."

After drinking greedily from the water barrel and then eating the handful of oats and dried fruit Miro gave her, Amber fell down and was instantly asleep. Miro burned with curiosity as he lay down beside her, yet he knew he needed to let her rest.

The fronds that made their bed felt like soft linen and the rough canvas sack made a warm blanket. As Miro thought again about the strange things he'd seen, it started to rain, the heavy drops of water splattering against the canvas roof with a steady patter.

They'd survived their first day on the island. They were warm, and they were dry.

Miro fell asleep.

~

"
L
ORD
of the Sky," Miro breathed, as he looked at what Amber had brought, now revealed by the bright light of morning.

"I thought you'd want to see right away."

"So you brought it with you?"

Amber shrugged. "Time is marching on."

It was a map.

"I thought it was a removable panel, but then I found the drawing was part of the wall, engraved into the wood itself. The wood was weak, so I decided to bring the wall. The part with the map, that is."

"That's obviously where we are now." Miro pointed to the three islands. "Wherever Altura is, it's not on here."

"But now we know where these people came from," Amber said, "and most likely, where they are now."

Near the islands, further to the west, lines marked out a coastline, stretching along the height of the wall.

Amber had discovered a land mass on the other side of the Great Western Ocean. It wasn't just big, it was immense.

The map showed them a great continent to rival their own.

18

T
HE NEXT
day Miro left Amber to rest while he searched the town and the huge ship again. He finally returned at the end of the day, convinced there was nothing new for them there.

Amber's search had uncovered little besides the map. That night, Miro and Amber compared what they'd seen, deciding that the town he'd found was the larger of the two, while Amber had probably explored a small fishing settlement. Yet the discovery she'd made was incredible.

"This new land is closer by far than Altura. Our best bet is to try to make it there. Amber, we still have a chance of finding these people, and finding a way home. Our main problem is we'd never survive the open sea in the longboat," Miro said. "So if there aren't any workable ships on this island, our only option is to try the next."

"What about the ship you found?"

"Too damaged," Miro said. "The bow was smashed up when the foremast collapsed, also the two of us would never be able to work a ship that big."

"How will we get out of here, then?" Amber asked.

"Well, we know these people knew about this poison, and we have a good idea where they are now. When they departed it was planned and intentional; they left nothing behind. We don't know why they left, but most important of all, stuck on this island we're not doing Tomas any good. We need to find a ship."

"What makes you think a ship will still be in any condition to travel?"

"The dry dock kept that huge ship in pretty good condition. A sailboat that's smaller, yet big enough to sail on open water, might be out there." Miro smiled without humour. "Unless you have a better idea?"

"How far do you make it to the next island?" Amber asked.

"Far enough that I think we should take everything with us," said Miro. "We can always build another shelter, but if something goes wrong and we can't come back, at least we'll have our provisions."

"When do we leave?"

Miro looked out at the lagoon. "We'll get the longboat ready at first light. Tomorrow we can row it around the headland and bring it to the closest part of this island to the next. We can then beach it and get another night's rest, before trying to make the crossing first thing the following morning."

That night, Miro and Amber slept for the last time in their shelter. They dismantled it at dawn, folding the square of canvas and pulling the six oars out of the ground.

After yet another breakfast of oats and dried fruit, they left the longboat unloaded and spent the next hour pushing it down to the water's edge, turning it around so it faced the water. Amber then sat in the boat while Miro handed her barrels to stow, followed by the oars and the square of canvas.

Miro had considered making the canvas into a sail, but with no keel they wouldn't be able to sail across the wind. He held the option in reserve, although he hoped that with both of them rowing, they wouldn't need to use it.

Amber jumped out of the boat and they both pushed at it until waves lapped against the wood, finally lifting up the bow as the water came underneath.

"Jump in," Miro said.

Amber climbed over the side and immediately fitted a pair of oars to the rowlocks. With the water nearly at Miro's waist, he gave one last heave and clambered aboard. They were away.

"Remember," Miro said, "today is about getting around the headland. We can worry about making the crossing tomorrow."

Miro took a set of oars and the sound of splashing and wood grinding against wood broke the morning stillness. The sun shone on their faces, and even though they were rowing against the current, Miro was glad to be moving.

As soon as they began to navigate the channel between the headland and the reef, Miro realised the foolishness of his plan.

He could now see sharp rocks poking their tops through the water on the far side of the promontory, an expanse of hazard Miro knew would be perilous to navigate. He'd intended to travel in that direction but he now realised it would be impossible. There would be no way to tell where safety lay.

Facing backwards to row meant they couldn't see where they were going, and as they exited the channel Miro stopped rowing momentarily so he could turn around and look ahead. Wavelets formed little crests where two currents collided, and Miro now saw the misty mountain on the second island as their path took them past the reef and into open water.

The longboat rose and fell on waves that grew larger the further out they went. The current picked up, and now it was taking them away from both islands, out to sea.

"What is it?" Amber said, stopping when she noticed Miro had ceased rowing. "Shouldn't we be turning?"

"Scratch it," Miro cursed. "The current's too powerful to row against, and it's taking us out to sea."

"What do we do?"

Already the longboat was hundreds of paces from the channel.

"We're going to have to head for the second island. If we row with the current at a slight angle, we might make it. Row harder with your left than your right. Come on."

Miro pulled at his oars, feeling his back strain and wood rub against his palms. He and Amber both had their backs to their destination, making it hard to check their progress, but he could now see the retreating island Toro Marossa had named Valetta in full.

He quickly turned his head. They were speeding through the water, desperately fighting the current as they tried to head for the island and its tall mountain.

Miro saw a beach, and could make out the structures of the second island's abandoned settlement.

"We're going to make it!" he cried. "Keep going!"

Amber groaned and pulled at her oars, while Miro's muscles felt as if they were on fire.

Miro turned again. The mountain loomed down; the turquoise lagoon beckoned.

There were some breakers ahead.

"Dear Skylord," Miro whispered. He thrust his oar into the water to turn them, but it was too late.

The longboat ran onto the reef.

Immediately water surged through a widening gap between the planks of the hull. The collision threw Miro from his bench and nearly tossed Amber out of the boat.

A wave hit the side of the longboat, pouring over the sides in a torrent.

"Amber!"

"I'm fine!"

"Ditch everything!" Miro shouted. "We're going to have to swim to shore, but we have to be careful of the reef. When the next big wave comes, jump out, and try to ride with it over the coral."

"Here it comes!" Amber yelled.

At the last instant, Miro grabbed the cutlass, wrapping it in the woollen sailor's vest and holding it close.

"Ready. Go!"

Miro leapt into the water and felt the swell pick him up. Behind him, he heard a splintering sound as the longboat broke into pieces. His bare feet touched coral, and he felt pain as something sliced his foot.

Then he was over, with a second wave carrying him into the stillness of the lagoon.

Miro looked frantically for Amber. He saw her clinging to an oar with her hair over her face. She pushed at the water with her free arm, bringing herself closer to him.

Miro's foot stung where he'd hit the coral and he struggled with the bundled sword. "Are you hurt?" he asked Amber.

"Not a scratch. What about you?"

"Cut my foot."

Miro tucked the bundled sword under his arm and brought up his foot, trying to look at it through the water. He saw a thin gash where the skin had parted. Blood welled up, instantly diffused in the water.

There was a dark shape down below. A sinuous creature, swimming in lazy circles, a deadly form made for power in the water. Its length was greater than that of the longboat.

Amber saw Miro's expression, and her face turned white. "What is it?"

"Amber," Miro said quietly, as if somehow noise would make it charge. "Let go of that oar, and swim to shore, as quickly as you can."

Amber moaned with fear and, letting go of the oar, she began to kick with her legs, swimming in an over-arm stroke. Miro's heart sounded loud in his ears, while he was suddenly terribly aware of his legs, the part of him deepest in the water. He looked ahead at the distant shore; it now seemed infinitely far away.

He realised there was no use watching the shark. If it decided to attack, it would attack. Yet he couldn't fight the sensation that even now it was coming for his legs; he could almost feel the jaws closing around his calf.

Miro shifted the bundle to his left hand and began to swim using his right arm and kicking legs. He was a strong swimmer and had spent his childhood in the water, but the waterlogged vest wrapped around the sword slowed him down.

Amber was ahead, frantically paddling for shore.

A dark triangular fin pierced the water between them. It carved a path through the water before lowering again, disappearing below.

Miro's pulse raced and a chill ran down his spine. He didn't know if it was the same shark he'd seen below.

There were probably more.

He'd stopped swimming at the sight of the fin but he now resumed paddling with all his strength. Struggling, he took the hilt of the cutlass in his right hand and let the wrapped vest fall away.

Expecting to feel the lunge of gaping jaws at any instant, Miro saw he'd halved the distance to shore. Amber still splashed ahead of him, and then Miro touched the sandy floor of the lagoon with a foot.