Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve (13 page)

“That’s because it’s not a ship,” Oki declared, “at least not any longer.”

He pointed up to the side of the ship, and Kendra now noticed a cracked and weathered sign that read:

YE OLD RUSTY BUCKET

She drowned in the drink—and now so can ye

“I guess this boat was shipwrecked here on the rocks, so they turned it into a tavern,” Oki said.

Kendra looked up at the great boat with trepidation. “It sounds like every sailor in Ireshook is in there,” she said.

“Then we’ve come to the right place,” Jinx declared. “C’mon, Eens. Anyone for a cup of a mead?”

JINX PUT A SHOULDER to the heavy oak door, and it groaned open to reveal a cramped, dingy hall seething with thugs, ruffians, and miscreants. Kendra could tell they were sailors, for their faces were weathered by the wind and tanned by the sun, and the entire room seemed to have the distinctive reek of fish and salt. Some wore eye patches or hobbled on peg legs. Many were smoking corncob pipes, filling the tavern with a thick haze. All were drinking.

Jinx let the door close behind her and led the way into the long room. At one end of the hall there was a roaring fireplace (here a Centaur was sitting on his rump, a mug of ale in each hand), while at the other was a long bar where an ugly Gnome with crooked ears poured frothing drinks. Nearby, a strange birdlike creature (
A gryphon?
Kendra wondered) was perched over a bowl of steaming liquid, and she turned to cast the Eens a fierce glare. Three nasty-looking Fauns were playing cards in one corner. Nearby, a skinny Dwarf tinkled away on an old, battered pipe organ with only one hand (that was because he only had one, Kendra realized), while sitting atop the organ was a red-faced Gnome with an accordion. They were belting out a loud sea shanty—something about merfolk, sea serpents, and distant islands, but it was difficult for Kendra to understand the words.

“Don’t think of pickles, don’t think of pickles,” Oki murmured, coughing in the smoke. “Oh, Kendra, nothing good can come of this place.”

“Don’t fret,” Kendra said, though she herself fiddled anxiously with her braids as they approached the bar.

“Hey, lass!” the Gnome barkeep bellowed, leaning over to scowl at Kendra. “We don’t serve their kind!”

“What?” Kendra asked, dumbfounded.

“Yer pets,” the barkeep snarled, thrusting a finger at Jinx and Oki. “They have to wait outside.”

“We’re not pets,” Jinx hissed sharply. “We’re Eens.”

“Is ‘at so?” the Gnome returned, seeming somewhat surprised to hear the grasshopper talk. “I didn’t think you actually existed.”

“We don’t mean any trouble,” Kendra said. “We’re looking for passage to Krake Castle.”

“Yer fools then,” the Gnome returned. “But that’s of no account to me. The only ship I ‘ave is the one yer all standin’ in—and I reckon she ain’t ever settin’ sail again!”

“Do you know someone who can help us?” Kendra asked.

The barkeep grunted. “Most o’ these blokes be pirates, lass! They’d just as soon slit yer throats or make ya walk the plank as ferry ya across these wretched waters. Now, if you hanker a mug o’ ale make yer order—otherwise, you can stop crowdin’ me bar.”

Kendra looked at Oki and Jinx and shrugged. In truth, it had been a long day and the three friends suddenly realized that they were quite famished. So Kendra used one of their gold coins to order a plate of bread and cheese and a mug of warm wine. They shared this humble meal in the corner of the tavern, backs to the wall, so that they could watch the room with weary eyes.

“What do we do now?” Oki asked after their supper.

“Well,” Kendra said, “if we can’t hire a boat, I say we stow away on one.”

“Eek! We can’t do that!”

“Why not?” Kendra asked.

“Well, for one thing, it’s dangerous,” the mouse replied.

“It’s the best plan we have,” Jinx said. “We’re small, so we ought to be able to hide easily enough on one of those boats. Soon as it reaches port, we sneak off.”

“Then it’s agreed,” Kendra said. “All we need to do is find a ship that is headed in our direction.”

So the three companions wandered through the tavern, keeping their ears open for any talk of sailings across the Seas of Ire. They heard many a tall tale and many a bawdy joke before at last drawing near a table in a dim corner of the room, where Kendra caught these precious words: “Eh, Squaggle, so I hear ya settin’ yer sails for Krake Castle.”

This was an old wrinkly Dwarf with a gray beard, and he was speaking to a Gnome with a wooden leg and a scar that ran down one side of his face. There was no doubt that these were rough characters, but Kendra knew they had to take a chance to hear more. So, with a finger to her lips, she and friends lingered in the shadows.

“We set sail on the morn,” the Gnome called Squaggle said to the Dwarf.

“Mighty rough seas, this time o’ year,” the Dwarf commented, slurping his mead.

“The
Golden Lute’s
a fine ship,” Squaggle returned. “She’ll make the voyage. I be more worried about what’s waitin’ fer us at the other end. Krakes don’t take nicely to our kind. We’re just as likely to end up in that Rumble Pit. But you know Cap’n Dirtybeard. He would sail to the devil himself if he thought it would earn him a trunk full o’ gold.”

“An’ what’s he sellin’ that’s worth riskin’ yer necks?” the Dwarf asked.

“We’ve got our cargo,” Squaggle replied. “And it’s precious indeed. But this sellin’ business is too honest a trade, if you ask me. Hopefully we find some lootin’ and pillagin’ to do along the way!”

“Aye, that’s a pirate’s life!” the Dwarf rejoined, and he and Squaggle clinked tankards as Kendra and her companions tiptoed away.

“Charming fellows,” Jinx remarked as they headed through the tavern, towards the door. “But at least we have our ship—the
Golden Lute.
Remember that name.”

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Oki murmured.

“Stop being so jittery,” Jinx declared. “You’re starting to stress me out.”

“Eek!” Oki suddenly squealed.

“What did I just say?” Jinx snarled.

But Oki had gone quite pale and was scrambling to hide beneath Kendra’s cloak.

“What is it?” Kendra asked.

“I think . . . I think I just saw Agent Lurk,” Oki said.

Kendra gasped and Jinx unsheathed her poker.

“Where?” Kendra asked.

“O-o-over there,” Oki stammered, pointing a tiny paw at the fireplace.

Quickly, Kendra cast her eyes across the tavern, looking for some sign of the mysterious agent, but it was difficult to see through the smoke and crowd of drinking sailors.

“I think you imagined it,” Jinx said. “You’re just trying to invent troub—,”

“There!” At that very moment Kendra saw a part of the wall shimmer and move. It was like watching a shadow rise up, take solid shape, and cross the floor. It was just for one brief second, but she clearly saw the cloaked and crooked shape of Leerlin Lurk. Kendra fought back panic as his dark hood turned and looked in her direction; she felt as if his eyes were boring right into her. “He’s the one who’s been following us,” she murmured.

“EEK!” Oki screeched. He could no longer contain his fear; at once he turned and darted across the grimy floor of the tavern—only to have a Gnome step right on his tail. Oki squealed in pain; as for the Gnome, he tripped and spilled his mug of ale all over a nearby Dwarf.

“What’s yer problem?” the Dwarf snarled, rising to his feet. He took his own tankard and angrily tossed its contents at the Gnome.

“Arg!” the Gnome wailed, and he tackled the Dwarf right into the table where the three card-playing Fauns were sitting. They collapsed into a tangled heap of hooves, furniture, and warm mead.

Well, if you have ever set up a row of dominoes, you know that it only takes knocking down one tile to set off a chain reaction—and this is exactly what happened in the Rusty Bucket on this night. For a moment, Kendra forgot all about Agent Lurk and just stood there, frozen, watching a riotous brawl unfold. The three Fauns rose up from the mess and aimed their hooves at the Dwarf—only to miss and kick a Gnome right in the back. The Gnome had a hook for one hand, and he turned to swing it in retaliation, only to catch the rump of the Centaur sitting next to the fireplace. With a roar of agony, the mighty Centaur rose up and bucked so hard with his hind legs that he sent the nearest table hurling into the fireplace, causing the rickety piece of furniture to explode into flames.

The entire tavern was soon embroiled in this tempestuous fracas. The Dwarf who had been sitting at the organ pulled a long wooden club out from under his bench and he leapt into the fray, swinging in all directions. The Gnome who had been playing the accordion raised the instrument over his head and hurled it across the room (it struck the birdlike creature perched at the bar; she immediately took to the air and swooped down at her assailant with sharp talons).

If the tavern had been loud before, it was doubly so now. Kendra clutched one of Jinx’s arms and over the brays, howls, screeches, grunts, and groans, shouted, “We have to get out of here!”

“Duck!” Jinx bellowed just as a tankard went sailing by. It struck the wall behind them and ruptured into a frothy brown mess.

When she raised her head again, Kendra saw Lurk looming directly over her.

“Give me the shard!” he hissed in that empty, hollow voice as he reached out with his claws.

Kendra fell backwards; Jinx swung her poker at Lurk with all her might—but with a
whoosh
, it passed right through his cloak as if it was nothing more than air. He had disappeared from view—but only a second later he appeared right behind Kendra. He leaned down and yanked her up by the shoulder. His touch was so cold it caused Kendra to cry out in shock.

Jinx whirled around, her large bug eyes wild and wide. She dove at Lurk’s legs, and this time she struck him solidly, sending the mysterious Een toppling to the floor. Kendra wrenched free from Lurk’s grip.

“C’mon!” Jinx roared, leading Kendra through the chaos of the tavern.

Kendra cast a quick glance over her shoulder; Lurk had already melted into invisibility. But something else was troubling her: the shard. It was throbbing again, deep within her pouch, as if frenzied and excited by the fight in the tavern. Kendra suddenly felt the urge to clutch the blackened stone—but she knew she shouldn’t. She fought the temptation by concentrating on following Jinx between the maze of legs and flailing fists that filled the tavern.

At one point a full flagon of ale came crashing down over Jinx, completely covering her. With a scowl, she lifted the tin mug and hurled it across the room—but she was drenched in sticky yellow liquid.

“There’s Oki!” Kendra said, pointing to a large glass mug that had tipped over on its side. The little mouse had taken cover inside and looked completely petrified with fear.

With a growl, Jinx reached inside the mug, grabbed Oki by his long tail, and dragged him out. Oki squealed in fright, but Jinx just heaved him over her shoulder and bounded through the crowd, swinging a free fist as she went.

At last they found their way to the door, and they squeezed out into the cold night air. Jinx set Oki down, and he immediately ran over to hug Kendra. His heart was fluttering like a flag in the wind, but it was nothing compared to the agitation of the shard.

“Give me space,” she told him, pulling away.

“Kendra, what’s wrong?” Oki asked timidly.

“Nothing, I just—,”

She was interrupted by a loud crash. They all turned to see a Gnome sprawling on the ground alongside them; he had been hurled through one of the tavern windows. The strange fellow immediately jumped to his feet, grinning from ear to ear, even though Kendra could see a large dark bruise beginning to form under one eye.

“’Tis a dandy little brawl tonight,” the Gnome said gleefully.

“You call that little?” Jinx asked incredulously.

“Why sure,” the happy Gnome called over his shoulder as he darted back into the tavern to rejoin the ruckus. “You should see how wild the Rusty Bucket gets when we have a
real
fight!”