Voyage of the Owl (15 page)

No-one had found anything remotely resembling a Moon Pearl, or the Star Diamonds.

Roana felt a tingling in her hands and feet, an icy sensation, similar to the pulsating burning she had felt when she touched the Sun Gem.

‘It is here. I know it is here,’ she whispered urgently. ‘But where could it be?’

The desk and cupboards had been emptied. The bunk had been stripped. The sea trunk had been tipped on the floor. There were no signs of hidden panels or moving boards. The cabin was now a dreadful mess, with the captain’s belongings strewn all over the floor.

There was a slight noise outside the cabin. The handle turned. The handle rattled. A voice swore. Then there was a shout.

‘There are lights on in my cabin and the door’s locked!’ boomed the furious voice of the
Sea Dragon
’s captain.

‘Go,’ Ethan mouthed urgently to Roana, who raced to the window and clambered out.

The door shook and rattled as it was nearly shaken from its hinges.

Lily followed Roana out the window. One after the other, they slithered down the stern, clambering down the rope and into the wildly rocking rowboat. Everyone felt sick in the stomach. To be so close. To be in the captain’s cabin on board the
Sea Dragon
and not find the Moon Pearl. It was too devastating.

But still they were in danger. They had to concentrate to escape.

Down in the rowboat, Lily picked up the shuttered lantern and with fumbling fingers opened the shutter to reveal the flame. She stood up and started waving the lantern in the direction in which the
Owl
had disappeared.

As Saxon clambered out the window, Ethan searched the cabin wildly with his eyes, one last time. He noticed the fine red and blue rug, covering the floor, half hidden by clothing and papers.

More shouts sounded outside. The pounding on the door had grown more thunderous, as extra hands and tools were added to the job.

‘Go,’ Ethan whispered to Saxon, who had paused half in, half out of the window. Saxon obediently
disappeared from view. Fox started to climb out after him, with Mia cuddling on his shoulder.

Ethan took another look at the rug.

On impulse, Ethan ran back and pushed all the clothes and papers into a heap at the side of the cabin, revealing the beautiful rug. He yanked the rug away and threw it to the side. There, underneath, was a small trapdoor, almost invisible in the polished wooden floorboards.

Ethan pulled up a small loop of ribbon, which opened the trapdoor. Nestled under the floorboards was a small black chest. Fox climbed back in the window to help Ethan.

‘Go,’ Ethan yelled at Fox. ‘I’ll get it!’

But Fox paused by the window, his drawn cutlass and dirk glinting wickedly in the lamplight.

‘I’ll cover you,’ Fox grinned, his eyes sparkling. ‘Can’t let our precious treasure get lost at the last minute.’

The door jamb started to splinter. It would give way at any moment. Ethan picked up the chest and ran for the window, climbing out one-handed, with the heavy chest under his armpit.

The door flew open and a sallow-faced man rushed in, his night shirt tucked into his breeches, followed by an excited group of Sedah sailors and
soldiers. The leader, who appeared to be the captain, was brandishing a long silver cutlass. He checked his rush when he saw Fox insolently standing by his cabin window.

Fox was indeed a dashing figure, with his red ponytail, gold hoop earring, black shirt and breeches, those wicked silver weapons and Mia the monkey perched on his shoulder.

‘Prepare to fight, you pirate,’ shouted the captain. ‘How dare you board my ship? For that you will die.’

The captain paused just a moment then rushed forward, his cutlass raised. Fox gently lifted Mia from his shoulder and handed her to Ethan. Mia scolded loudly as she scampered up Ethan’s arm and snuggled her paws into the neck of his shirt.

Gallantly Fox saluted, then stepped forward into a lightning-fast, courtly sword dance.

Cutlasses glinted and whirled in the lamplight. The Sedah captain grunted and sweated as he swished and hacked at Fox. Fox in his turn danced lightly on his toes, feinting and parrying, darting and blocking.

The Sedah soldiers and crew stood back, crowded outside the cabin door, respectfully giving their captain enough room to fight. The soldiers
held their own weapons loosely, cheering encouragement to the Sedah champion and catcalling insults to Fox.

Encouraged by the noisy support of the audience, the captain screamed, spittle bubbling at his lip, as he lunged hard, striking down at Fox’s red head with the full force of his formidable strength.

Fox deftly blocked the blow with his cutlass and dirk crossed over his head. The steel screamed as the three weapons struck together with tremendous force. Grunting with exertion, Fox threw the captain back against the bunk. The captain launched forward, screaming with wild rage, his cutlass aimed for Fox’s heart. Ethan watched, mesmerised, unable to tear his eyes away.

Fox adroitly weaved and sidestepped, and the cutlass merely nicked his left shoulder, drawing a slow welling of blood. Encouraged by the sight of crimson, the captain grunted and lunged, planning to slice Fox’s red ponytailed head from his black silken shoulders.

Fox’s reactions were faster than thought. With a graceful glide and a twist, Fox slashed his opponent on the right forearm, drawing a torrent of blood.

The captain swore loudly and dropped his cutlass, grasping his wound between his fingers. He sank
heavily to the floor, sweat oozing from his forehead. The crowd of Sedah sailors and soldiers surged forward as one, to help their wounded captain.

Fox deftly kicked away the captain’s dropped sword, then dragged the captain with him backwards towards the window, the dirk pressed to his throat. The soldiers paused, unsure whether to hold back, or risk their captain’s life by trying to overpower the red-haired interloper.

This hesitation gave Fox just enough time. He released the captain and darted for the window. Ethan saw him coming and slid down the rope, landing with a thud in the bottom of the rowboat. Fox followed close behind, then hacked the mooring rope free with his cutlass.

Roana and Saxon cast off the rowboat from the stern of the
Sea Dragon
. The momentum of the great ship carried it away from them quickly.

‘Keep signalling. Hide the lantern with your cloak,’ yelled Fox to Lily. ‘Row for your lives, boys.’

Lily stood tall, signalling with the glowing lantern while Ethan and Saxon rowed with all their might, pulling away from the huge hull of the
Sea Dragon
.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief but it was too early. A peculiar sound whirred through the air. Fox
grunted in surprise and then screamed in agony. He slumped over, an ornately engraved hilt buried in his back.

Mia squealed in distress, flinging herself on her beloved master’s back, cajoling him to sit up.

The second dirk flew threw the air with terrifying speed. It shuddered into the seat next to Roana’s leg, while a third fell harmlessly into the sea a metre behind the small rowboat. Then the
Sea Dragon
had flown out of range, swallowed up by the shadows.

‘
Sea Dragon
… will come looking,’ gasped Fox. ‘Must … get … away …’

Then Fox passed out.

Ethan and Saxon kept rowing away from the Sedah ship in the direction the
Owl
had sailed.

‘Here, Roana,’ hissed Lily. ‘You signal, and I’ll tend to Fox.’

Roana stood up to signal the
Owl
, while her cloak hid the light from the
Sea Dragon
behind her.

Lily used the dirk embedded in the seat to cut strips of cloth from her petticoat. She used these to staunch the blood around the knife stuck in Fox’s back. She took the cloaks from Ethan, Saxon and herself to keep Fox warm.

For agonising minutes, nothing happened as they rowed and rowed, hardly seeming to move.
Then out of the darkness, like an angel’s wings, they saw the faint glimmer of pale moonlight on black sails.

Roana swung the lantern more wildy, making sure it was still hidden behind by her cloak. The
Owl
came alongside, then turned directly into the wind to slow down. Carl threw a mooring line down to the rowboat. Saxon caught it and tied it fast.

Aisha went crazy up on the deck, gambolling around and getting in Otto’s way. He aimed a kick at her, but Lily scrambled up the rope ladder at double speed to calm Aisha down.

Charcoal wandered over to watch, purring in pleasure, her long tail curled in the air.

‘Fox is badly hurt,’ Lily murmured to Carl. ‘We will need to be careful getting him on board, then I will try to treat him.’

Carl looked at Lily dubiously, but immediately called to Otto, to help haul Fox back up the rope ladder on board the
Owl
.

Otto’s inscrutable eyes took in the scene – Fox unconscious and deathly pale, Ethan clutching a black iron-banded chest, Saxon and Roana shaking and exhausted. And overlooking the mayhem, the witch with her black cat sitting faithfully at her feet.
With her pretty face, long curly hair and big brown eyes, she looked angelic. But Otto knew better. She was the cause of disaster. And only Otto could stop her.

The
Owl
was racing with the wind into the darkness, with Carl at the helm. Down below, Lily’s hands hovered over the dirk buried in Fox’s back. The blood bubbled up around the hilt. Fox groaned and shuddered, lying on his stomach on his bunk. Lily’s mind was full of confusion and frustration.

So much blood. So many injuries. She was weary of tending to people’s pain. Why wasn’t life more simple? Why wasn’t life pain-free? She couldn’t do this any more.

Fox moaned and shifted. Mia the monkey squirmed and wriggled in anxiety, lamenting softly to herself.

Aisha butted her head against Lily’s thigh and licked her gently, her forehead furrowed with concern and her ears pricked.

‘Lily?’ asked Roana in apprehension. ‘Are you all right?’

Lily’s fingers cupped the pearl she wore around her neck. The cool smoothness of the pearl soothed her mind and made it clearer. The pearl had been given to her by a Merrow maid, after the Merrow had rescued her from the Octomon.

Lily had been near death and Saxon had taken her to Mereworth to be healed by Saira the Wise. Saira had saved her life. What would Saira do now?

The cool pearl under her fingers and the memory of Saira’s calm patience helped her regain her composure. She must try to save Fox as Saira had saved her. Lily took a deep breath and began.

First she dribbled some poppy tincture down Fox’s throat, to dull the pain she was about to inflict upon him.

Then she methodically readied everything she would need – bandages, swabs, boiled water and dressings – and laid them all out neatly where she could easily reach them. In the galley Lily washed her hands carefully, using lots of soap.

Most patients died from infection, rather than the actual battle wound, so it was important to do everything she could to minimise the risk of infection. Fortunately Fox was wearing his black silk shirt, which the smugglers wore for this very purpose, as the silk did not fragment and enter the wound as readily as cotton.

When all was ready, Saxon, Roana and Ethan used all their combined strength to hold down Fox. His breathing was shallow and patchy, his back rising and falling under their arms. Lily took a deep breath, her stomach churning. Roana looked away hurriedly, remembering when she had helped Saira perform a similar operation on Lily herself.

Lily grasped the hilt of the dirk, sticky with blood, and swiftly pulled it free. It came much more easily and cleanly than she had expected, sucking out with a gurgle of blood.

Fox roared like a wounded bull, twisting and sitting upright in shock. Ethan, Saxon and Roana were thrown to the floor with the force of it and Lily jumped back in surprise, clutching the dripping, bloody dagger. She carefully placed the dirk onto a cloth on the desk. The four of them calmed Fox with a large slug of rotgut and helped him to lie flat again.

Lily then staunched the flow of blood with clean swabs, washing it thoroughly with rosemary water. The two lips of the wound were carefully and neatly sewn back together with silken thread, while Fox moaned and groaned. Lily smeared the stitches with honey, then carefully bandaged around Fox’s chest and back, until the wound was completely protected.

When all was finished, Lily sat down on the floor, her knees and hands trembling with pent-up tension.

‘Well done,’ Saxon grinned, patting Lily on the shoulder. ‘I don’t think Saira herself could have done much better.’

‘Thanks.’ Lily smiled weakly back.

‘Mama would be very proud of you,’ Ethan said seriously. ‘That was a difficult job, and you handled it beautifully.’

Lily’s eyes filled with tears at the thought of her mother, imprisoned in Tira. How Lily wished that Marnie was here now to take over the responsibility of healing Fox.

‘Come on, everyone,’ Roana laughed, excitedly. ‘Have you all forgotten the Moon Pearl?’

Saxon checked up on deck to see how the crew were faring. Carl, Otto and Jack were sailing the
Owl
at racing speed. The
Owl
was skimming away like a bird in flight and there was no sign of the
Sea Dragon
.

Back down in the saloon, the four children sat around the table to examine the black chest they had retrieved from the
Sea Dragon
.

The chest was heavy, banded with iron and padlocked. Saxon and Ethan wrestled with one of Otto’s chisels to break the padlock. Roana, Lily and Aisha crowded around, their hearts in their mouths. Only Charcoal sat apart, her tail curled around her black body as she watched inscrutably.

Had they succeeded in rescuing the Moon Pearl and the Star Diamonds of the sacred Sun Sword of Tiregian?

It took an hour of struggling and experimenting to shatter the latch but finally, with reverent awe, Saxon lifted back the timber lid. Everyone breathed in as one.

There, nestled in the black chest, were dozens of bars of gleaming gold, each stamped with the symbol of the sun. The chest was packed tightly with glinting ingots, so that there was hardly a crack of air between them.

Saxon levered out one bar, then another and another. Soon the chest was completely empty.
There was nothing there but a luminous mountain of gold ingots.

Everyone let out a deep sigh of disappointment.

‘Remember the Sun Gem,’ said Ethan reassuringly. ‘There must be a secret compartment in the lid or the base.’

Everyone took turns to prod and poke and pull and push the timber panels of the chest. They started gently, but with increasing frustration and impatience. Eventually, after several hours, the chest was reduced to a pile of mangled timber and bent iron bands.

Saxon threw his hammer across the cabin in aggravation. It fell to the floor with a loud clang. Charcoal twitched her tail and flicked her ears in annoyance. Aisha whined.

‘It’s not here,’ moaned Ethan in disbelief. ‘It must still be on board the
Sea Dragon
.’

‘What do we do?’ asked Roana in despair, anxiously twisting her mother’s amethyst locket between her fingers.

‘I am going to check on Fox,’ replied Lily. ‘Then we might as well make breakfast. It’s nearly dawn. Perhaps we could take it in turns to get some sleep. Everyone is exhausted and we can’t think straight.’

Lily stood up wearily and went to Fox’s cabin, her pack of medical supplies under one arm. The others listlessly started preparing a meal.

In Ainsley, Sniffer had been knocking on doors. Some doors had been slammed in his face. At others the occupants were taciturn and unhelpful. No-one seemed to remember seeing four children, a large dog and a kitten at the blessing of the fleet ceremony. No-one seemed to know anything.

Sniffer, however, was extremely patient and thick-skinned. Finally, he knocked on the door of a derelict shack. No-one answered. Sniffer knocked again. Eventually he heard a slow shuffle of feet, and the peeling, splintery door creaked open. An old fisherman stood there, bleary-eyed, his clothes filthy.

‘Yes?’ barked the fisherman, wafting a stench of stale tobacco, rotgut and dried herring towards Sniffer’s delicate nose. Sniffer appraised the old man. He looked as though he had been partaking heavily of the powerful rotgut, even though it was still early in the morning.

‘I require some information,’ Sniffer said quietly.

‘Don’t know nothin’,’ the fisherman barked, starting to close the door in Sniffer’s face.

Sniffer pulled a small pouch out of his pocket and trickled the contents out onto his palm, tinkling like a silver waterfall. The old man turned back and stared hungrily at the pile of silver coins, his mouth salivating in anticipation.

‘What exactly do ya need?’ the old man asked, after a slight pause. ‘Mebbe I can help.’

Sniffer jingled the coins enticingly in his palm.

‘Four criminals – children, three boys and a girl, accompanied by a large red dog and a black kitten,’ outlined Sniffer, watching the old man with eagle eyes. A flicker of recognition illuminated the old man’s face as Sniffer continued. ‘The girl has long, curly blonde hair. They were last seen at the blessing of the fleet over two weeks ago. They escaped by boat and there has been no trace of them since.’

Sniffer jingled the coins again. The old man paused thoughtfully. Sniffer started picking the coins up and putting them away in the pouch.

‘Wait,’ the old man gabbled. ‘I remember now – four kids and a dog.’

Sniffer jingled the remaining coins noisily.

‘They might’ve gone with Fox, a big red-haired captain,’ the old man cried. ‘Fox has a ship called
the
Owl
, a black ship, which makes its fortunes slipping quietly in and away, if you take my meaning. Fox was here before the blessing, but hasn’t been seen since. I heard his cook, Stumpy, swearing and carrying on down at the inn ’cause he was left behind after a brawl.’

Sniffer asked a few more questions. Satisfied with the answers, he contemptuously tossed the silver coins in the dust, where the old man scrabbled to retrieve them. Smiling quietly to himself, Sniffer set off for the port to make some enquiries about Fox and the
Owl
.

The ship could not stay at sea forever. It must return to shore soon enough, and when it did, there would be a little welcoming party ready for them.

Otto came down into the saloon of the
Owl
, wearing only a pair of breeches and a black kerchief on his head. His eyes widened as he saw the pile of gold ingots spilled across the table. It was more gold than he had ever seen in his life. He licked his lips greedily.

Aisha growled, baring her white fangs. Ethan half-heartedly quietened her.

‘What’s this then?’ Otto smiled ingratiatingly. ‘Is this the treasure you were after from the
Sea Dragon
?’

‘No,’ snarled Ethan. ‘It’s Fox’s payment for helping us.’

Just then there was a shout of alarm from up above. The children raced up the narrow steps onto the deck.

The crescent moon was still high in the sky, a pale glimmer overhead, which would not set until afternoon. The sun was just a brilliant bulge on the eastern horizon, lighting the sky with a soft rose-pink blush. It would be another beautiful day.

Ethan scanned the horizon quickly. To the north-west was a dark smudge. Land.

Then he saw what Jack had spied. Speeding behind them from the south-east was a ship. A large ship with crimson pennants. The
Sea Dragon
.

Its huge golden sails were filled with powerful wind. While heavier and less manoeuvrable than the
Owl
, the
Sea Dragon
had much greater sail capacity. In these winds, it was faster and gaining on them steadily.

‘We need to head for the islands,’ Carl ordered, having taken on Fox’s responsibility as captain. ‘We might have a greater chance of eluding them there.
There might be coves we can hide in. The wind will be flukier there and the
Owl
will have a better chance than out here on the open sea.’

‘But that’s the Nine Isles!’ exclaimed Jack. ‘That’s Sedah territory!’

‘It’s our only chance,’ retorted Carl authoritatively.

The whole crew ran to do his bidding. Only Otto moved slowly, smiling to himself. A plan had suddenly formed in his mind. A plan that would solve all his problems.

Otto ducked into Fox’s cabin, where the red-haired captain lay sleeping deeply on his stomach in his bunk.

On Fox’s desk was a long, wickedly sharp dirk. Otto picked it up and caressed the blade lovingly. Fox had confiscated it from him after he had tried to throw Lily to the Barramon. But Fox was in no position to stop him now.

The dirk twitching in his hand, Otto paused over Fox’s vulnerable back. It would be very easy to finish him off now. It would be a fitting revenge for taking the witch’s side. But Fox was asleep and there would be no pleasure in killing him unawares. Otto wanted Fox to realise who had the upper hand.

Reluctantly, Otto slipped the dirk into his boot.
He saluted mockingly at the sleeping Fox.

‘Thanks for nothing, Foxy boy,’ chortled Otto. ‘You will be meeting my dirk again very soon.’

Mia jumped up and down angrily on Fox’s pillow, pulling at her master’s red ponytail, trying to wake him. Otto left hurriedly.