Kendra Kandlestar and the Shard From Greeve (14 page)

SOMETIMES THE BEST WAY to cool down a hot head is to do just that—cool down. Thankfully for Kendra, the night was a frigid one, and as she set off down the dock with Oki and Jinx, she slowly began to feel the anger dissipate from the shard—and from herself. She was still on edge from seeing Agent Lurk (indeed, they all were), but they had no choice other than to proceed into the night and hope that the mysterious Een was not on their trail. It was hard to know for sure, of course—for with the aid of his magic cloak, they knew he might appear at any moment. But they saw no sign of him.

“I’m still sticky from being doused with ale,” Jinx muttered as they searched for the
Golden Lute
.

“One could say you’re
ailing
,” Oki piped up.

“You’ve obviously recovered from your scare back at the tavern,” Jinx retorted.

“Well, who knew we would be
assailed
before we even set sail?” Oki quipped, but Jinx just snarled in reply.

They now approached a large galley, rocking atop the frigid sea like some agitated beast yearning for slumber. Against the vivid light of the early winter moon, Kendra and her companions could see that the vessel’s wooden hull was battered and weathered. Along the side they could see the holes through which oarsmen, if necessary, would propel the ship, while up above they could see a tall mast, where the sail would be unfurled in the morning. Near the bow of the ship some words were written in faded letters. It took a moment for Kendra to work them out:
Golden Loot
.

“This is it,” Kendra announced. “But they spelled ‘lute’ wrong. Maybe Gnomes aren’t very good with their letters.”

“I think it’s right,” Oki remarked. “We thought it was the
Golden Lute
after the musical instrument, but I bet they named it for treasure.”

“Well that Squaggle character did say that his captain loved gold,” Kendra said.

“C’mon,” Jinx said. “We best not stand around chatting all night. Let’s sneak aboard.”

They clambered up one of the thick ropes that was mooring the ship to the dock, and in a few moments found themselves aboard the vessel.

“What a mess,” Kendra murmured as she looked around at the frayed rigging, broken bottles, barrels with rusted metal hoops, and nets that were tattered and torn. “Captain Dirtybeard runs a dirty ship.”

There was still no sign of anyone. All seemed quiet, though after a moment they heard the sound of snoring coming from the poop deck.

“Sounds like the lookout is asleep,” Jinx whispered. “Probably drunk! But it’s some luck for us. Come, let’s find a place to stash ourselves.”

They crept along the dark deck and soon came to the companionway, a rickety flight of stairs that led down to the ship’s lower decks.

“It’s dark down there,” Oki fretted. “Oh, don’t think of pickles, don’t think of pickles.”

“Shh,” Jinx warned as she set off down the companionway. “The dark is exactly what we need. We’re trying to hide, remember?”

None of them had any familiarity with ships, of course, for while Eens may be known for many things, seamanship is not one of them. As such, they made their exploration slowly. It was not comforting for Kendra to feel the floor lurch beneath her, and more than once she lost her footing. Thankfully—and you’ll know this to be the case if you have ever been on a ship—their way was narrow and crowded with supplies and equipment, which gave Kendra and her friends plenty to brace themselves against.

After some time, their noses told them that they were nearing a place used to store the ship’s food supply. They forged ahead and soon arrived in a crowded hold. Here there was a small open hatch, and by the light of the moon they could see vats of water and grog, strings of onion and garlic, barrels of pickled goods, and sacks of root vegetables, stacked so high that they touched the ceiling. There were rats too—but Jinx wielded her poker, and after a few well-placed jabs, the vermin skittered out of the hatch, presumably to find safer quarters.

“It’s our place now,” Jinx declared with some satisfaction. “We won’t have to hunger or thirst here, and there’s lots of nooks and crannies where we can hide.”

They squeezed their way between the foodstuffs and eventually found a narrow hollow created by the ship’s hull on one side and a wall of turnip sacks on the other. It was the perfect hidey-hole for their long voyage.

“I guess we can finally get some shut-eye,” Jinx said. “But we’ll still have to take turns keeping watch.”

“For what?” Kendra asked.

“Gnomes, more rats—even Agent Lurk,” Jinx said.

“Eek!” Oki squeaked. “You don’t think he’s followed us on board, do you?”

“I hope not,” Jinx grimaced.

These words seemed to offer little comfort to the mouse, but he was so exhausted after their long adventure-filled day that sleep soon took importance over all else. Kendra noticed that Jinx was tiring too, and so she offered to take the first watch. Her mind was still preoccupied with thoughts of the shard and Agent Lurk, and she very much doubted that sleep would come to her anyway. As her companions drifted into slumber, Kendra rubbed her shoulder and remembered Lurk’s icy touch. She could still hear his threatening words:
Give me that shard
.

Kendra shivered.
Just who is Agent Lurk?
she wondered.
And why does he want the shard so badly? How does he even know what it is?

But, of course, she was given no answer to these questions. She let her friends sleep on through the night, and as dawn approached, she took out the shard and cradled it in her cloak as she had done so many a night on her journey. As the meager winter’s light peeked through the nearby hatch, Kendra stared down at the shard with ravenous eyes.

Set my power free
, the stone seemed to urge.

She felt she had to appease it somehow. Looking about suspiciously, she took a long cord from her pouch and fastened it to the shard. This took great care, for Kendra was sure not to touch the stone with her bare fingers, lest it cause the ship to quake. When she was done, she placed the cord around her neck, and tucked the shard underneath her robe. She felt it pulse against her chest; just a thin layer of her undergarment lay between the stone and her skin. It was closer to her now—and she felt invigorated.

“You are mine,” Kendra proclaimed quietly. “You will do
my
bidding.”

And yet, ever so momentarily, her eyes flared hot and red—and if Oki or Jinx had been awake, they might have wondered just who, between the small Een girl and the blackened piece of rock, was master.

The next day, the
Golden Loot
set sail across the Seas of Ire. Kendra and her friends, tucked safely in their hiding place, did not witness this, but they certainly
felt
it. The ship pitched and reeled in the water, and during the first day Oki turned as green as Jinx and was sick three times. They could hear the footsteps of the Gnome sailors on the deck above and—once or twice—in the compartment where they were hiding. But the stowaways went undetected.

The days passed slowly and monotonously. When they felt brave enough and were sure no one was about, the Eens would creep out and stare through the hatch to gaze upon the sea. They found it enormous, overwhelming, and terrifying all at once—especially Oki, who was happy to scurry back to their hole after only a mere glance at the churning seas.

They spent most of their time talking or telling tales, but after a week, even this grew boring. Jinx soon became so desperate for activity that she began practicing her reading (Oki helped her as they leaned over Kendra’s books).

“This is the toughest fight I’ve ever had,” Jinx declared. “I think I’d rather mess with pirates or Goojuns than bash my head against these words.”

“You shouldn’t give up,” Kendra told her.

“Look who’s talking,” Jinx grumbled. “You hardly touch your wand these days. How do you expect to master magic if you don’t ever practice?”

“Being a sorceress isn’t all about using that stupid wand,” Kendra retorted.

“Stupid?” Oki asked in surprise.

But Kendra only grunted in reply. Against her chest, the shard glowered with glee.

Then one night, when it was once again Kendra’s watch, she heard two of the sailors approaching the hold. They were speaking in gruff voices, and her ears perked to the conversation.

“What’s ol’ Dirtybeard expectin’ us to do?” the first Gnome asked. “We can’t make the beast eat, can we?”

“We better find somethin’ it’ll swallow,” came the reply. “If it keels o’er dead, then this whole trip be a waste.”

“Fine by me; maybe then we could get back to some respectable piratin’.”

“Aye, but if it
does
keel o’er dead, Dirtybeard will have us walk the plank, that’s fer sure!”

Slowly, Kendra poked her head out from her nook and studied the two Gnomes as they rummaged through the provisions. One of them was holding a lantern, causing long shadows to be cast against the wall.

Who are they talking about?
she wondered, giving her braids a tug.

Then she saw the Gnomes select a large sack and knew they would leave the hold at any moment. Part of her—a large part—wanted to sneak after them, to investigate the “beast” they had spoken of. But she also knew that she shouldn’t leave her companions. She glanced back at them as they slept. It was her duty, after all, to make sure they were safe.

Nothing’s going to happen
, the voice inside her head told her.
Why not have a look about? Do it. You have the shard; you can do anything you want.

And that was it. Kendra couldn’t resist. She had that spark of curiosity fidgeting in her heart, the type that comes when one has been restless far too long. This particular spark now burst into resolute flames of determination, and before Kendra could quite think better of it, she found herself tiptoeing out from behind the sacks of turnips and quietly sneaking after the two Gnomes, through the cold and shadowy hold of the pirate ship.