Miya Black, Pirate Princess I: Adventure Dawns (34 page)

"Come on, it's not far from here. We'll head for the town, if—oh no."

Blackport was burning. Even from here they could see the smoke rising from the eastern side of town.

"But the firebreak ... what happened? Sola, come on, we have to—oops!"

Miya almost barged into a man carrying armfuls of buckets as she burst past the stables.

"Princess!" he cried, upon turning to see her. Miya recognised him as Guy Brushwood, a carpenter.

"Mr Brushwood, what's going on? How'd the fire reach the town?"

"We don't know, the firebreak must've failed. How did you escape?"

"Escape?"

"Your mother—the queen, sorry—she's been worried sick, you should go tell her you're here, she's in the town square organising. I've got to get these buckets to the chain." Guy started off down a street, calling out as he went—"I'm happy to see you're safe, Princess!"

Miya headed down the path to the town square, Sola close behind. They heard Queen Lilith before they saw her, loud, clear commands sounding out over the other voices in the town, as well as the cannon fire from the harbour and the crackling of flames from the fires nearby:

"Terence, you and your group head up Parrot Street, around Old Graham's house. Join the chains on Three Leaf Road or Craft Street, use your judgement. Peggles, what did I tell you? I want you at the beginning of the bucket chain, near the harbour, I don't want you and those wooden legs anywhere NEAR fire, I don't care how long you soaked them in water."

Miya rounded the corner to see her mother standing on the raised platform on the north side of the square, her clothes and face a little blackened but looking as strong and commanding as she ever had.

"MUM!" Miya called. Queen Lilith turned at the shout, annoyed at being interrupted in the middle of giving orders, then she gasped, relief showing clear on her face as her daughter launched herself into her arms.

"Mum, I was so worried about you, I'm so glad you're safe!" Miya said, hugging her mother close.

"YOU were worried about ME? I wasn't the one that was kidnapped, young lady!" Lily held her daughter tight for a moment, then looked at her. "Where'd that cut come from?" she asked, touching the scar on Miya's cheek.

"What do you mean, kidnapped?"

"By Badger Pete! Hello, Sola, I'm glad you're safe, too."

"What? I wasn't kidnapped! I didn't come CLOSE to being kidnapped!"

"Well," began Sola, before a scathing glance from Miya made him shut his mouth.

"Of course you did," said Lily. "You went after your father and you were—"

"No, I didn't! I went looking for ... for my grandparents, to get them to help us. I didn't ... I mean, give me some credit, Mother! I wouldn't get—you thought that I sailed out on my own and just INSTANTLY got KIDNAPPED?"

"I ... Lars said—"

"This is EXACTLY what I—" Miya stopped herself, took a deep breath. "This isn't the time," she said. "We've got to stop this fire. Where's it worst?"

"Glebe Street, near the Cherry Bakery. But—Miya!"

Miya was already running, towards the bakery, following the line of people forming a bucket chain until she found the fire, saw the buildings of her town blazing.

"Not while I'm here," she muttered. "Come on, people! Look alive! We're not gonna beat this fire by standing around scratching our arses! Give me that bucket, I'll show you how it's done!"

Miya worked tirelessly, at the front of the chain, throwing bucket after bucket of water onto the flames, pushing hard into the hottest areas, ignoring the burns and discomfort and fatigue. She called out to others as she worked, pushing them, encouraging them, even bullying them into fighting harder. Time slowed or quickened or blurred into a constant, eternal pattern of take full bucket, throw onto fire, give back empty bucket, take another full bucket, repeated and repeated and repeated until finally, arms and back aching, face blackened with soot, burnt in a dozen places, Miya looked around, bucket in hand, and couldn't find any fire to dowse. She became aware of shouts and saw people hugging, received more than a few overjoyed, relieved hugs herself, but the faces of the people that gave them were nothing more than blackened shadows. Miya staggered away and found a wall and put her back to it, let herself slide down, let her eyes close.

"Really, Miya. You have no consideration at all sometimes."

Miya opened her eyes. Her mother was smiling down at her.

"Hey Mum," she said.

"Are you all right?"

"Oh a bit burnt."

Lilith looked at Miya a moment, then sat beside her daughter, put her arm around her. For a few minutes mother and daughter just sat, leaning against one another, silent and exhausted. Then Lily spoke:

"Where on earth have you been, Miya?"

"Fighting fires."

"You know what I mean."

Miya sighed.

"I told you," she said. "I went looking for my grandparents."

"Your father's parents," said Lilith, her voice flat. Miya smiled.

"Yes," she replied. "My father's parents."

"And did you find them?"

"Kind of."

"And?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

Lilith shook her head. "I keep wanting to scold you but honestly I'm just so relieved that you're okay."

Miya smiled for a moment, then her expression became serious. "Where's Dad?" she asked. Lilith frowned.

"That man ... as soon as he heard you'd been kidnapped he set out, crippled quite a few of Badger Pete's ships, as the reports go," she said, just the hint of a smile on her face. "Rescued a lot of islanders but found no sign of you."

"Set out? So ... so he'd come back? After—"

Miya stopped at the look on her mother's face.

"Two days ago," Lily said after a moment, her voice clipped, "he set out again. The next day, well ... this all happened."

"You've been fighting off Badger Pete for a whole day?"

Lily sighed wearily. "I suppose we must have been."

"And you've only lost one ship?"

"We've lost four, dear. Your father went out to find you alone."

"But—"

"Don't worry about him," said Lily, the worry in her voice well-hidden, though not well-hidden enough that her daughter didn't notice it. "He's the greatest sailor in these waters, you know. He really is."

"I know," said Miya. The worry in her voice wasn't hidden at all.

"Where's your brother?" Lily asked, after a few moments.

"He was fighting fires with me before. Then I think he found out there were rescued northern islanders here and went looking for them," said Miya. "I hope—"

"RAIDERS!"

Both mother and daughter looked up at the cry. Midge Young, from the school, was running down the street towards them.

"Where?" asked Lily and Miya at the same time, both standing. Midge stopped in front of them.

"From the east, coming through the jungle. Little Willy Baker spotted them, him and a bunch of others are forming a militia."

"Get to the town square, get everyone gathered there," said Queen Lilith. "Tell everyone that even thinks they'd be handy with a weapon to get one—take them from Hands' shop if you have to, tell him the queen is buying if he gives you any trouble. Go!"

Midge nodded, then ran towards the town square. Miya started to run too, towards the eastern part of town, but found herself hindered by her mother holding the collar of her shirt from behind.

"Mum! What are you doing?"

"That's my question," said Lily. She let her daughter go, and Miya turned to face her, defiance flashing in her eyes.

"I have to go fight!" she said.

"You're exhausted."

"Everyone's exhausted! Those raiders aren't going to wait for us to have a quick nap and a nice plate of cut oranges! They're going to come into this town and start looting and burning and who knows what else!"

"Looting and burning we can recover from, it's keeping people safe that's the important thing."

"Dad would understand what I mean!"

"Well it's a shame he isn't here then, isn't it."

"Yes! Yes it bloody well is!"

"Language! Miya!"

"He should be here! He should be taking charge of things!"

Queen Lilith drew herself up, and Miya knew she'd gone just a little too far.

"Need I remind you," said Lilith, "that of your two parents, the one with royal blood is NOT the ex-pirate. Despite what you may think of me, Miya, I am quite capable of 'taking charge of things'."

Miya looked at her mother a long moment, worry in her eyes.

"You said the p-word," she said, eventually.

"Well, desperate times push people towards desperate words."

"And I know ... I know you're good at bossing people around and getting them to do stuff, but let's face it, Dad's the one you'd back in a fight. And this is a fight!"

"No, it's not, Miya," said Lily. "This is a war. And like it or not, you are an important figure here. You can't just run off to fight like a common soldier—"

"I'm not a soldier! I'm—"

"You are a princess, Miya Jean Black. You are the princess of this island. And as such you have responsibilities and obligations—why can't you understand this?"

"What I understand is that if we don't stop the raiders before they reach the town—"

"And if something happens to you? What then?"

"Nothing will happen to me!"

"Oh yes? What's this?" said Lily, flicking the small scar on Miya's cheek. "What's this?" she repeated, holding up Miya's wrist, exposing the scar on her arm. "Are those 'nothing'?"

"Yes! They're nothing! Just tiny little nicks from fighting! And I'll have you know that this—" Miya pointed angrily to the scar on her cheek "—was from a duel with a master swordswoman, and this—" she held up her arm "—was from a fight with like a dozen pirates!"

"Oh, a dozen, was it? Master swordswoman, was it?"

"YES! I don't have time for this, my town's in danger—my PEOPLE are in danger! You can stand around arguing with yourself, I have to DO something!"

For a moment Miya glared at Lilith, then she turned and ran, past the burnt buildings, through ash-covered streets, leaving her mother behind.

*

Miya ran through the streets as the sun began to set, trying to ignore the fatigue in her body, the pain from her burns, and the dread she felt as she left the town and jumped over the firebreak.

Then she stopped, and walked back. She bent down and looked at the ash that filled the narrow pit.

"Having the same idea I did, Princess," came a voice from behind Miya. She stood and turned, then smiled and ran forward for a hug.

"Uncle Lars! You're okay!" she said, embracing him. "I was wondering where you were!"

"Heading back into town to round up anyone willing to fight," he said, putting an arm around Miya and holding her close for a moment. "You itching to fight some raiders too, yes?"

"Yes," said Miya, firmly. "Oh, but I've got so many things to tell you, Lars! I fought off a bunch of thugs and beat up a really big guy in like three seconds without him touching me and I held off like a dozen pirates for like five minutes and I won a duel! I won a duel with a pirate captain! He was really strong, too, not just some two-bit loser with a sword, he got me in the arm—look," she said, pulling her shirt open to expose her shoulder.

"Hey, some things you shouldn't be showing the man you call 'Uncle', right?" said Lars, with a laugh. He leant forward and examined the scar from Miya's almost-healed shoulder wound. "Hm, not bad. You cry?"

"No," said Miya, stoutly.

"What about when you got this?" he asked, touching the scar on her cheek.

"Of course not, I got that while I was duelling with my grandmother—"

"Not Jean Black? Your Dad's mother?"

"Yep!" said Miya, almost bursting with pride. "And I cut her the same, too!"

"Eye for an eye, cheek for a cheek, eh?" said Lars. He looked at Miya a moment, smiling.

"What?"

"I'm proud of you," said Lars. "Sounds like you handled yourself well. And I wonder, your—"

"My grip was unbreakable," said Miya, conveniently forgetting that her grandmother had managed to disarm her. "Thanks, Uncle Lars."

"When your back's to a wall you start thinking, maybe squeezing those rocks wasn't such a waste, huh?"

"Definitely."

"You'll have to tell me the full story later. Right now, how about this, huh?" said Lars, kicking at a burnt branch near the firebreak. Miya frowned.

"I know, someone led the fire over the firebreak."

"Some bloody traitor working with Badger Pete," said Lars. He spat. "That sort makes my damned blood boil."

"Language," said Miya, smiling. Then the smile vanished. "Do you have any idea who it might be?"

Lars shook his head.

"Maybe your father's 'second chance' policy comes back to bite him, huh?"

Miya sighed. "I hope not. Maybe Badger Pete managed to sneak a spy onto the island before the attack."

"There have been a lot of refugees coming here," said Lars thoughtfully. "Maybe with them."

Miya scowled. "Using people's kindness against them is the worst! Unforgivable!"

"Save that anger for the fight, hey? You should go find Little Willy Baker, he's organising the defence. Hope to fight beside you, Princess."

Miya hugged Lars again, and waved as he jumped over the firebreak and ran towards town. Then she turned and went to look for a fight.

*

"Back, are ya? Heard you was kidnapped."

"I wasn't kidnapped! Why does everyone find that so easy to believe? Who spread these stupid lies?"

"Didn't say I believed it," said Little Willy Baker, who was tall and broad and bald, with a long red beard. "Now. I know you can use that sword of yours, your father and uncle both boast about you every chance they get, but I'm putting you in the reserve guard, last line of defence. You stay here with me."

"What? No! I want to go fight!" said Miya. "I'll be okay, I'm not weak!"

"Didn't say you were. This is me bein' selfish. Don't none of us want anything happening to our princess, right?"

"I'm not just a princess!"

Little Willy Baker glanced around, at the men and women gathered in the makeshift warcamp, then leant down, whispering—"Look, don't tell any of the others but I'm dead scared of your ma. Don't even like to think what she'd do to me if anything happened to you. Besides, I reckon even at the back here we're gonna see some action. Lot of boats pulling up on that beach."