Shipwreck Island

by Struan Murray

  ‘Well, they might, actually,’ said Kate, gritting her teeth. ‘People have been killed trying to rob Loren’s mansion before. He’s at a banquet for the Guild of Merchants tonight. If I know nobles, he’ll be there until morning, greasing palms and spreading lies. There are two guards standing watch outside his front door. The windows are all barred, so the only way in is to get past them.’

  ‘But what about once we’re inside?’ said Ellie. ‘What if he has more guards or, I don’t know, trained tigers or something?’

  ‘Trained tigers?’ Kate said, and her lips twitched.

  ‘Well, you never know.’

  Kate grinned. ‘I promise, if there are trained tigers, or bears, or an army of sword-wielding squirrels, then I will name my first child Ellie. Even if it’s a boy.’

  Ellie smiled. ‘Could we use the Seven to get past the guards?’

  Kate shook her head. ‘Then Loren will know I’m up to something. They’re not exactly inconspicuous.’

  They sat in silence, trying to think up ideas. Seth watched two of the sailors, who had leaned in close to pat each other on the back. He let out a pained sigh.

  ‘Can’t think of anything?’ said Ellie.

  Seth shook his head. ‘No, I have an excellent idea. I’m just afraid that if I tell you, you’re going to go ahead with this stupid plan.’

  ~

  Loren’s home was on the southern side of the island, where the mansions of the nobility grew round the base of the volcano like architectural fungus. Every house was trying very hard to look different from the others. There was one shaped like a peacock, another that resembled the Ark in miniature, while a third was tiered like a wedding cake.

  Loren’s mansion looked almost normal by comparison. Built like a castle, it gleamed silver in the moonlight, its battlements adorned with statues of robed men and women, frozen in a complex dance. Two guards flanked the front door, carrying tall spears.

  Kate, Ellie, Seth and Viola crouched behind a thick palm tree on the edge of the property. They wore black cloaks over their clothes, and Ellie was sweating under her coat, her leg already aching. She had left her cane at home to look less conspicuous.

  Kate rubbed her hands together. ‘You know, I’ve never broken in anywhere before.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ said Ellie, sharing a guilty glance with Seth. ‘Me neither.’

  ‘Amateurs,’ said Viola, then frowned at the others when they turned to stare.

  ‘Viola, is that a sword?’ said Seth.

  ‘Yeah.’ She pointed indignantly at Kate. ‘She said Loren’s killed people who broke into his house!’

  ‘I brought one too,’ said Kate.

  Seth rubbed his forehead.

  ‘Let’s try to avoid sword fights if we can,’ said Ellie. ‘Oh look – here they come!’

  Twenty hooded figures were hurrying along the beach, towards the mansion. Their leader was hugely tall, with massive broad shoulders. Running at his side, and struggling to keep up, was someone exceptionally tiny.

  ‘Why did your dad bring Molworth?’ said Seth.

  Viola grimaced. ‘I made the mistake of saying this was a top-secret mission for the Queen.’

  As the hooded sailors approached, the guards stared in confusion, then held up their shields as the sailors pelted them with pebbles.

  ‘Give us the grain you promised us!’ a sailor roared. ‘Give it to the poor!’

  ‘Yeah!’ came a squeak. ‘Especially innkeepers!’

  ‘Won’t this noise attract the Wardens?’ Ellie whispered.

  Kate shook her head. ‘I ordered them to avoid this side of the island tonight.’

  The two guards marched down the steps of the mansion, spears lowered. The sailors retreated, flinging more stones. Ellie bit her lip as the guards kept advancing, leaving the doors unattended.

  ‘You’re impressed, aren’t you?’ said Seth.

  ‘No,’ Ellie snapped.

  ‘You wish you’d come up with the idea.’

  ‘I am slightly impressed – are you happy?’

  ‘Come on, now’s our chance!’ said Kate.

  The four of them dashed up the stairs. On the beach, Ellie saw Molworth trip and roll, until Janssen scooped him up and placed him on his shoulders.

  ‘What if one of them gets hurt?’ said Ellie.

  ‘They’ll be fine – it’s us I’m worried about,’ said Kate.

  Ellie knelt by the keyhole, her fingers trembling as she held up two lock-picks. Seth leaned in. ‘You can do it,’ he said.

  ‘This was always more Anna’s thing,’ Ellie whispered, burying a pang of longing to see her again.

  ‘Come on, Ellie,’ called Viola. ‘They can’t have many pebbles left.’

  ‘I’m trying!’ said Ellie, biting her lip as she rattled the picks in the lock.

  ‘The guards are catching up with them!’ said Kate.

  Ellie breathed deeply. ‘I just need a bit more time.’

  ‘Smash the door down!’ Viola said. ‘Come on, all of us, on three.’

  ‘That won’t work!’ said Kate. ‘Ellie, the guards are going to turn round any moment and see us!’

  CLICK.

  ‘Hurry!’ Seth cried, as the doors swung inwards. The four of them collapsed inside, listening to the whoops of the sailors drift into the distance.

  They were standing in a giant chamber, dark orange in the light of nearly spent torches: a wide, three-storey room with tall marble columns and a glass roof framing the starlit sky. Swathes of red velvet hung from the balconies, while in the centre was an empty bath big enough for dolphins to play in, carpeted with a layer of dried flower petals. At the head of the bath stood a golden figure, lean and muscular, as tall as the room itself, with a familiar smiling, dimpled face.

  ‘Disgusting,’ said Kate.

  ‘Says the girl with statues of herself all over the island,’ said Viola.

  ‘Those don’t even look like me!’ said Kate.

  ‘Shh,’ said Seth, glancing nervously back at the door. They circled the chamber, hugging the walls. Portraits hung above them, but it was hard to be sure if they were of Loren’s ancestors, or of Loren himself in a variety of elaborate wigs and outfits.

  Ellie peered closely – framed between the portraits was a series of quotations written in an elegant, sloping hand.

  ‘Triumph is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.’

  Loren Alexander

  ‘He’s quoting … himself?’ said Ellie, sticking out her tongue. She passed a shelf of books, scanning the spines. Every one of them was written by Loren. She pulled one out, and found that most of its pages were blank.

  ‘None of this is incriminating,’ Kate said, picking up a crystal bust of Loren’s head. ‘You can’t execute someone for being self-obsessed. Hold on …’

  She pointed to a desk by the feet of the golden statue. On it was a chess set, only all the pieces were little statues of Loren.

  ‘How would you even play that?’ said Ellie.

  ‘Not that, this,’ said Kate. Beside the chess set was a quill, an inkpot, and a very large book. ‘It’s much more worn than any other book here. And look how worn the leather on this chair is – he clearly spends a lot of time here.’

  She opened the book, Ellie peering round her shoulders to see. The pages were filled with rows and rows of names, written carefully in black ink.

  Mirko Brooke – has an illegitimate child with Maria Easton.

  Desiree Smith – poisoned Alessio Carter with deadly nightshade in his wine.

  Selena Orsel – stole a prize-winning goat from Zachary Tristan.

  Some people had an X next to their names. Ellie dreaded to think what this might mean.

  ‘It’s a book full of people’s secrets,’ said Kate, in disbelief. Ellie tugged at her collar, suddenly afraid that her own name might appear.

  Viola thrust her head between Kate and Ellie, poring over the pages.

  ‘I know him!’ she said. ‘Elias Marcellino – he’s on Denzel
’s boat. “Defacing the statue of the Queen in Kaiden Square.”’ She flipped through more pages. ‘And she works in the Lorenza Mines – great story about her cabbage tattoo, remind me to tell you later. Why do some of them have an I by their name – what does that mean?’

  ‘I’m not sure,’ said Ellie.

  ‘Informant,’ said Kate sourly. ‘They’re his spies. I think Loren is blackmailing people – they have to do his dirty work or else he’ll reveal their secrets!’

  Viola turned more pages. ‘We should steal this book.’

  ‘Yes!’ said Kate, eyes wide and hungry. ‘We can use it to crush him.’

  ‘For the people!’ added Viola.

  ‘But if we take the book he’ll know we were here,’ said Ellie. She pulled some scraps of ink-smudged paper from her pockets, and a chewed pencil. ‘Viola, read out the names of the informants you recognize.’

  Viola began flicking through pages, reading names aloud as fast as she could.

  ‘Hey,’ said Kate, pointing. ‘That’s one of my servants! Loren’s got eyes everywhere.’

  ‘Wait.’

  Seth’s voice broke above them as they pored feverishly over the book. ‘Viola,’ he said, eyeing the pages like they were about to burst into flame. ‘Are any of the informants sailors? Sailors we involved in tonight’s plan?’

  Viola looked round at Seth, then at the book. She flicked rapidly backwards. She gulped. ‘Yeah.’

  There was a slam from deep below, then a rush of footsteps.

  ‘Quick,’ said Ellie, pointing to the gallery above. ‘We need to climb up there – we can unlock those windows from the inside!’

  The footsteps were coming nearer.

  ‘There’s no time!’ said Kate, shoving Ellie behind a bookcase, while Seth and Viola ducked down by a hideous centaur: the bottom half a taxidermy horse, the top half a statue of Loren.

  Ellie could feel her own pulse against Kate’s palm. She shot Seth a fearful glance, and he jerked his head at the front door. He and Viola began to creep towards it on hands and knees, vanishing from sight behind a cabinet. Kate and Ellie crawled through the maze of mahogany tables, round the tall sides of the massive bathtub. Ellie listened to the footsteps, expecting a shadow to cross her path at any moment.

  The footsteps fell silent. Kate crossed a gap between one bookcase and the next, then gestured for Ellie to follow.

  Ellie risked a peek through the gap, and saw Seth all by himself, crouching beside the statue of an angel. He glanced furtively at something Ellie couldn’t see, then beckoned for her to come towards him. Ellie tugged on Kate’s trouser leg, mouthing for her to follow. Kate shook her head vehemently, and tried to grab Ellie as she crawled towards Seth.

  ‘HEY!’

  The cry split the silence, and Ellie looked up to see a man with a sword glaring right at her.

  ‘Oh no,’ Ellie whispered.

  Kate seized Ellie’s elbow and they raced for the door.

  ‘No, wait – Seth,’ Ellie said, turning her head to search for him.

  ‘I’m right here,’ said Seth, appearing at her side with Viola.

  ‘What were you doing?’ said Ellie. ‘You led me right into his path!’

  ‘HELP!’ roared the guard. ‘There are thieves in here!’

  The front doors slammed open, and the other two guards stood against the starry sky, gaping in bewilderment.

  ‘Stop them! The master gave orders to kill any intruders! They must not escape!’

  Before the guards could react, Ellie flung a smoke bomb down at their feet. She grabbed Kate’s hand as Seth grabbed Viola’s, and the four of them tore through the hissing, billowing cloud of smoke.

  The night air was warm, the seas leaping and seething like an endless shoal of fish. They hurtled down towards the beach, but already Ellie could hear the heavy tread of the three guards behind.

  ‘I can stop this!’ sang a voice from above. ‘Ask me!’

  The bandaged child was swinging from a palm tree. ‘Someone’s going to get hurt, Ellie,’ it said seriously.

  Far along the coast, windows glimmered in the moonlight – the street that would take them up to the rest of the island. To safety. But it was so far, and Ellie’s leg was screaming in pain.

  ‘Ellie, get on my back!’ Seth said. Ellie leapt on to his shoulders, arms round his neck. Seth took off at an astonishing pace, with Kate and Viola running alongside.

  But Loren’s guards were still closing on them. Ellie grabbed a fistful of smoke bombs and hurled them at the guards, but they landed on the soft sand and didn’t explode. The sea rumbled deeply, flecking her face with saltwater.

  ‘Seth, I’m slowing you down!’ Ellie cried. ‘Leave me!’

  ‘No!’ said Kate, unsheathing her sword. ‘You three go – I’ll hold them off.’

  ‘No way,’ said Viola. ‘No one left behind.’

  ‘Shut up, all of you,’ Seth snarled. The sea rumbled again, as if echoing his words. ‘I’m trying to concentrate!’

  One guard was getting nearer. ‘Stop, thieves!’ he yelled.

  ‘Ellie,’ said Seth, panting heavily. ‘Tell me when they’re close – like a spear’s length away.’

  ‘Okay,’ said Ellie uncertainly. Tiny blue patches swirled on Seth’s arms, sweat dripping from his hairline.

  They hurtled along the beach, their feet kicking up saltwater as they dashed through the shallows. Ellie glanced behind; the guard’s spear looked sharp enough to cut skin from flesh with the merest touch. He got closer, closer, closer. He pulled his arm back.

  ‘Now, Seth,’ Ellie cried. ‘NOW!’

  The man’s arm shot forward and the spear did too, but at the same moment there was an eruption like a mountain bursting from the sea. Ellie’s vision was filled by a dark shape that glistened in the moonlight, a white patch down one side and a monstrous, tooth-filled mouth.

  A killer whale.

  The spear flew wide and the guard screamed as the whale slammed into the sand in front of him, blocking his path. Ellie laughed in shock and amazement, and hugged Seth a little tighter. Only Seth staggered, and fell to his knees.

  ‘Come on,’ she cried, leaping from his back. ‘We’re so nearly there!’

  ‘Where did that whale come from?’ Kate cried.

  Together, Ellie and Viola pulled Seth to his feet, and they hobbled and stumbled through the sand. There were wet, sloshing footsteps behind, and Ellie saw the other two guards appear from behind the killer whale as it thrashed in the shallows. One picked up the fallen spear, and was about to launch it through the air when Seth let out a wordless shout and a second killer whale burst from the sea, then a third, right over their heads. Ellie looked up to see its white belly, so close she could make out the scars on its skin, before it too crashed into the sand between them and the guards.

  Seth collapsed on his back, shivering furiously. His skin was pale, and the blue marks were spreading – obvious now even in the darkness. Ellie pulled off her cloak and flung it over him, trying to hide the marks from Kate and Viola.

  But Viola noticed, dropping down at his side.

  ‘What … what’s happening to him?’ she said, voice trembling. She put a hand to his forehead and pulled away in fright. ‘He’s like ice! He needs a surgeon!’

  ‘He’s all right,’ Ellie lied, eyeing Kate. ‘Don’t tell anyone about this, okay?’

  Kate launched herself at one of the guards as he came tumbling over a flailing tailfin. She swung her sword with a furious cry, cutting the man’s spear in two.

  ‘Leila? Where are you?’ Seth muttered. The whites of his eyes had turned blue, and his pupils had vanished, both of them like dark whirlpools.

  ‘Leila’s not here, Seth,’ said Ellie. ‘It’s me, it’s Ellie.’

  ‘They’re hurting,’ he said, then let out a moan. ‘I can hear them.’

  ‘That was a long time ago, Seth,’ said Ellie. ‘Everything’s going to be okay.’

  The other guards had joined the first, bearing
down on Kate with swords and spears. Viola growled and raced to Kate’s side, as the whales thrashed and rolled back into the sea.

  Ellie pulled Seth on to her knees. ‘Come on, Seth,’ she said. ‘We need your help.’

  Seth’s mouth opened and he let out a cry of pain.

  ‘Seth!’ Ellie cried, shaking him. ‘Please, wherever you are, come back!’

  ‘They wouldn’t stop hurting each other,’ Seth said, his voice distant and weak. ‘I had to do something.’

  One guard swung at Kate with his sword, and she struck it from his hands with a ring of metal. Another threw their spear at Viola. She leapt back, but not before it scraped her arm.

  ‘Seth!’ Ellie cried. ‘We need you now!’

  ‘They’re gone,’ Seth whispered. ‘They’ve left.’

  ‘They’re not all gone, Seth,’ said Ellie. ‘I’m here.’

  Kate fell backwards as another spear swept towards her. Ellie felt Seth wriggle on her lap.

  A rush of water struck the beach like a comet, hitting the three guards and dragging them away in a swirl of foam and darkness, far into the distance.

  Seth was standing now, his hands out by his sides. Ellie could see the veins in his arms and on his neck. His skin was milk-white, swirling with blue mist.

  Kate and Viola staggered to their feet, searching for the guards in shock.

  ‘What happened?’ said Kate, panting for breath. ‘Where did they go?’

  Ellie looked at Seth, and managed a weak smile. The blue mist had drained from his skin.

  ‘Are you okay?’ she said.

  Seth collapsed to the sand.

  Leila’s Diary

  4,805 days aboard the Revival

  Trying to get Varu to listen can be hard work.

  ‘Oi, I’m talking to you!’ I yelled. ‘Pass. Me. The. Watering. Can.’

  Varu blinked at me. ‘Leila?’ he said, like I was a dead person come back to life.

  I rolled my eyes. ‘How can someone with no memories spend so much time in his own head?’

  ‘I saw them again,’ he said. ‘That boy. Me. And that girl. They … know about us, too.’

  ‘Look, we’ve got gardening to do. It’s not fair to make the Crone do all the work. You heard what she said – the more she uses her powers, the closer she gets to dying. Maybe that’s why she’s so hideously ugly. For all we know she’s the same age as me.’