by Alex English
‘We can’t climb up the ladder; we’ve got no idea what we’ll find at the top and we’ll be too exposed. The hold’s the best place to hide.’
Horace nodded stiffly. ‘Okay, I suppose—’
‘Shh.’ Echo quietened him with a wave as the sky pirate with the scar emerged from the ship’s jaws empty-handed and returned to the main entrance of the fortress, with its tall silver portcullis. ‘Now!’
She ran forward, keeping to the shadows, with Horace close beside her. There was a clatter from behind them just as they reached the ramp and they ducked below it as another pirate approached. The gangplank rumbled above them as she stomped her way onboard. As they waited for her to re-emerge, Echo took in Horace’s stricken face. Was this really going to work? She steeled herself. It had to. There was no other way back. Lil and the others had no idea where she and Horace were. And, if Obsidian left Shark’s Fin Peak too, they really would be stranded on a mountain of ice with no way home. This was the only way out.
She waited until the pirate had stamped back down the gangplank. ‘Come on,’ she whispered to Horace, and they heaved themselves on to the gangplank and into Obsidian’s gaping mouth.
Echo scurried into the ship’s hold, where she ducked behind a crate marked sky biscuits, pulling Horace behind her. They were just in time, as more footsteps heralded the arrival of another group of barrel-rolling pirates.
Echo and Horace were deep in Obsidian’s windowless belly and Echo had to blink as her eyes adjusted to the gloom. As she did so, she saw that the hold was packed with weapons, barrels of gunpowder, boxes marked HATCHETS and CROSSBOWS and a huge crate that said SHARK CHOW in lurid red letters.
Echo remembered with horror Flora’s tales of the Thunder Sharks. They say their leader, Old Gus, keeps a shark tank in the hold of their ship. And if someone crosses him… he feeds them to the sharks! Was there really a tank of ferocious creatures down here? She glanced around nervously, then shrank back further as the footsteps got closer.
‘Reckon we’re ready?’ asked a gruff woman’s voice.
‘Ready enough,’ said a man. ‘Old Gus wants to leave pronto. Get a head start on the others.’
‘That’s assuming they haven’t left already.’
‘They’ve gotta get back to their crews first, remember?’
Echo’s heart twisted as she thought of Lil heading back to the Scarlet Margaret without them. When would she notice Echo was gone? Would she look in her cabin when she returned from Shark’s Fin Peak in the morning? Echo bit her lip with worry. They’d just have to get back before then. They’d be in with a chance if they ended up somewhere near Sleepy Palms.
Echo jumped at the sound of something heavy being hefted, the floor reverberating with the weight of it.
‘That’s it then,’ said the woman. ‘Onward to the Aqualiber Vaults.’
The Aqualiber Vaults? Echo wracked her brains, but she couldn’t remember ever seeing that name on any of Lil’s charts, or Professor Daggerwing’s map back in Port Tourbillon.
She looked over at Horace, but he shrugged and looked as mystified as she was.
‘Let’s close her up,’ said the man.
The footsteps faded away down the gangplank again, then there was a clank, and a grinding sound, and the little light there was gradually dwindled to a sliver, before disappearing completely and leaving Echo and Horace alone in the gloom.
‘Echo, I don’t like this,’ said Horace. ‘Someone’s bound to find us.’
Echo swallowed. She knew he was right. Here they were, stuck in the dark, in an enemy airship teeming with vicious pirates, heading for who knew where! When would they get back to the Scarlet Margaret? Would they get back to the Scarlet Margaret? She shook her head. There had to be a small chance that they’d make it.
She forced a smile on to her face and patted his arm. ‘Stop worrying,’ she said. ‘We’ll be fine. Do you still have the glow jar?’
Horace fumbled in his satchel and passed the jar over, shaking it gently to wake the little bugs inside.
Echo held it up, blinking in its light, and took in the barrels and crates around them. On the opposite side of the hold, a huge sheet of glass caught the light and Echo jerked back.
‘What’s that?’ said Horace.
‘I don’t think you want to know,’ said Echo, creeping closer. It was an enormous tank, twice as tall as Echo was, and it was full of water, but she couldn’t make anything else out behind the dark glass. She peered so close her nose was almost touching it.
Gilbert emerged from her collar and sniffed at the tank too.
‘I think it’s empt—’
BANG!
A huge white snout loomed out and thudded into the glass right in front of Echo’s face. She shrieked and leaped backwards and the shape disappeared into the gloom with a flash of razor-sharp teeth and the flick of a huge, pointed dorsal fin.
‘W… what was it?’ Horace had arrived beside her.
Echo shoved him away. ‘Shark,’ she whispered.
‘What? A real—’
‘Yes.’ Echo marched past him. There was no need to show Horace how scared she was. ‘Let’s hide.’
Echo was still shaking with terror as they crept back to their hiding place behind the sky biscuits crate. She hugged herself tightly and stroked Gilbert’s scales, which were white with shock. They would be just fine as long as they kept hidden, she told herself. After all, the shark was in a tank and they were out here. Just as long as they didn’t get caught by Old Gus, that was.
There was a rumble of engines from the rear and Obsidian shuddered into life.
‘We’re off,’ said Horace.
‘But to where?’ Echo replied. ‘The Aqualiber Vaults, that pirate said. Have you ever heard of them?’
‘No.’
‘I suppose it doesn’t matter where they are,’ Echo said, with a shiver. ‘Anywhere on land is better than being trapped in here.’
Horace nodded stiffly, but didn’t say anything.
Echo took in his exhausted face. ‘We should try to get a little sleep too, while we can. I’ll take first watch.’
Horace settled himself behind a crate of gunpowder and lay down, his eyelids drooping. Gilbert curled comfortably round Echo’s neck and closed his eyes too, but Echo kept herself propped up with her back to a barrel, the glow jar on her knees. She had to stay positive. With any luck, they’d moor somewhere near Sleepy Palms and she and Horace would be able to sneak out and find the Scarlet Margaret. They were due some good luck, weren’t they?
The floor tilted and Echo felt Obsidian shudder and lift into the air. She glanced at Horace, who had already given in to sleep and was snoring softly. Guilt suddenly twisted in her stomach. He’d come to stay for a relaxing break and she’d put him in danger. Again. They were flying, but where to? And what would they do when they got there?
Echo’s throat tightened. Why had she ever thought this would be a good idea?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘Echo, we’re slowing down!’
Echo felt a tug at her sleeve and shook herself awake. For a moment, she’d forgotten where she was, then she took in the barrels and crates that filled the hold of Obsidian and the panic of the night before flooded back.
Horace’s worried face peered down at her in the weak light of the glow jar. ‘I think we must be here.’ He looked around nervously. ‘Wherever here is.’
Echo staggered to her feet and blinked the sleep from her eyes.
Gilbert shook himself and stretched on her shoulder.
The hold was eerily still without the rumble and roar of the engines at full power, and, every time the ship let out a creak, Horace jerked his head around in panic.
There was a clank and this time they both jumped as heavy boots rattled down a ladder. Horace quickly pocketed the glow jar and they shrank back behind the crates as lamps flickered into action and the hold was flooded with light.
‘Where do you think we are?’ whispered Horace.
‘Let me see.’ Horace stood up and squinted as the overhead lights lit up the hold.
Footsteps rang out on the metal floor and Gilbert froze on Echo’s shoulders, his scales glowing scarlet for danger.
Echo shrank back behind a crate as a pirate came towards them. His dark hair was twisted into greasy spikes and he wore the shark-tooth collar of the Thunder Sharks round his throat, although his face was hidden in shadow. His heavy boots made the floor shake and his knuckles glinted with solid silver rings.
With a jolt, Echo realized Horace was still visible from where he stood, staring in horror at the pirate.
‘Horace!’ she hissed. She darted forward and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back behind the crate.
‘No!’ Horace whispered. They both watched in horror as the glow jar flew out of his jerkin, as if in slow motion, and sailed through the air.
Echo’s heart clenched as the jar spun away across the hold before disappearing from view. She could hear it still rolling across the riveted metal floor.
The rolling stopped.
The pirate’s footsteps stopped.
There was a pause and then a gruff voice said, ‘What’s this?’
No! Echo’s eyes widened in horror.
Gilbert’s scales paled to white.
Horace put both hands over his face.
More footsteps came down the ladder. ‘It’s a glow jar,’ said another voice, a woman’s this time.
‘But where’s it come from, Mei?’ The first voice sounded angry. ‘There’s someone in here.’
Horace gave Echo a stricken look. She glanced around, but there was nowhere for them to go.
Loud footsteps marched towards them. Echo cowered behind the crate as the two pairs of feet came closer. There was a crash and scuffling as crates and barrels were heaved aside.
‘I know you’re in there’ yelled the man’s voice. ‘Better come out now, before we drag you out.’
Echo gripped Horace’s hand.
Gilbert hid himself in her collar.
The footsteps came closer and Horace squealed as the crate they were hiding behind swung away with a gritty scrape.
The pirate’s ferocious, stubbly face leered down at them.
‘What do we have here?’ His face twisted into a grin. ‘Couple of kids!’
The second sky pirate, the one he’d called Mei, joined him. She was a big woman with swordfish tattoos up both arms and a head of black curls. ‘You two are gonna regret this. Who’re you with?’
Echo opened and closed her mouth. Should she tell them Lil was her mother? Would that scare them off? She took in the pirates’ ferocious faces with a shiver. No, that might put them in even more danger. All the sky-pirate clans were rivals now the hunt was under way. She folded her arms and tried to look nonchalant. ‘We’re not with anyone.’
‘How’d you get in ’ere?’
Echo shrugged.
Mei turned to Horace. ‘You got a voice?’
Horace stared at the floor. ‘We just needed a ride.’
Mei glared at them both, then turned to the first pirate. ‘Check nothing’s missing. I’ll take ’em to Gus.’
Echo glanced at the closed gangplank, but there was nowhere to go and, before she had a chance to attempt to run for it, the woman pirate had grabbed her and was holding her cutlass to Echo’s throat.
‘No funny business,’ Mei snarled. She looked at Horace. ‘One wrong move and your friend gets it.’
The first pirate grabbed a coil of rope from one of the store piles and bound Horace’s hands behind his back, before turning to Echo and doing the same.
‘Move,’ said Mei, prodding Echo between the shoulders with the tip of her blade.
Echo trudged up the ladder, blinking in the artificial light. Throughout the ship, pirates hurried here and there, readying Obsidian for landing, only pausing briefly to stare at Echo and Horace as they were marched past.
They were ushered through a maze of narrow corridors with walls of hammered metal plates before finally arriving at a closed steel door. Furious shouting came from inside.
‘Sounds like the boss is in a great mood,’ said Mei, with a twisted smile.
As she pushed open the door, Echo saw Old Gus standing in the ship’s cockpit with his back to them, waving his huge hands in fury.
‘Well, grease ’im!’ he bellowed. ‘Do something. He goes down that vent by hook or by crook!’
The rest of the Thunder Sharks murmured among themselves and turned as they heard Mei approach with Echo and Horace.
Old Gus jerked round, the tails of his tatty blue furs flying.
‘Something wrong, Cap’n?’ asked Mei.
‘Damn boy won’t fit down the ’ole.’ Old Gus waved a hand at a shivering Grub, who was being held by the ear by another ferocious-looking Thunder Shark. The pirate clutched a tape measure in his other hand. ‘I knew we were being too generous with ’is rations.’
‘We could starve ’im, sir?’ suggested the pirate with the tape measure.
Grub let out a whimper and his chin trembled.
‘We can’t wait around for that!’ Old Gus screamed, spittle flying through the air.
‘B… but, Cap’n. The others won’t ’ave solved the clue as fast as yerself. They’re not clever like you are.’
‘Hmm… I suppose that is true.’ Old Gus stroked his bristly beard.
‘And they won’t even know about the vent,’ chipped in another pirate, who stood trembling by the ship’s wheel. ‘They’re not wise and knowledgeable like you.’
‘All right, all right.’ Old Gus seemed to have calmed down. ‘Nothin’ but water until ’e fits.’ The pirate suddenly noticed Echo and Horace, who were cowering behind Mei. His eyebrows knitted together in rage again. ‘What is the meanin’ of this?’
‘Found ’em in the hold, Cap’n,’ Mei said. ‘Hiding behind a crate. What should I do with ’em? Slit their throats first or feed ’em to Charlotte as they are?’
Old Gus considered them for a long moment. ‘They’re small,’ he said eventually.
Mei looked confused. ‘Well, they’re children, boss. I’m sure they’ll still taste all right. Charlotte’s not exactly fussy.’
‘No, no, don’t feed ’em to her. They’re just what we need, as it turns out,’ said Old Gus. He looked at Echo and Horace in turn. ‘Line ’em up next to ’im.’ He pointed at a quivering Grub.
Mei shoved Echo and Horace over to stand by Grub. Echo gave Horace a quizzical look, but he looked just as confused as she felt. What was going on?
Old Gus prowled up and down in front of them. ‘They’re small,’ he said again. ‘Perhaps small enough.’ He gestured at the pirate with the tape measure. ‘Size ’em up, Stanley.’
He turned to Echo. ‘How’d yer like a chance to earn yer freedom?’
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Echo looked at Horace, who was wide-eyed and frozen with fear, then turned back to Old Gus. ‘W… what do you want us to do?’
Old Gus towered over them, the shark’s-tooth collar round his neck glinting dangerously.
Gilbert trembled from where he was hidden down the collar of Echo’s shirt.
‘Now, listen up,’ Old Gus said. ‘I’ve got a job for one of you two. Do it right and you’ll win yer freedom. Do it wrong and…’ He drew his cutlass and mimed drawing it across his throat. ‘Understand?’
Echo and Horace both gave shaky nods.
He sheathed the cutlass. ‘We’re lookin’ for a map to…’ He thought for a moment and cleared his throat. ‘Doesn’t matter where it’s to. It’s a map and we need it. We’ve worked out that it’s hidden in the Aqualiber Vaults.’
‘What are those?’ Echo clapped her hand over her mouth as the words popped out without her meaning them to.
‘Keep yer mouth shut,’ snapped Old Gus, stepping forward menacingly. ‘The Aqualiber Vaults are an underwater library containin’ all the world’s knowledge.’ He pointed a black-stai
ned finger at Horace. ‘You are gonna go in there and bring the map back to me.’ He glared at Echo. ‘You’ll stay here, as insurance.’
Echo stiffened, her fears forgotten for a moment. Why should she have to stay? She was the sky pirate – surely she should be doing the map-hunting? She folded her arms. ‘I’d be much better at finding the map than him.’
Old Gus glared at her, then a smile twitched at his lips, although it didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Oh, would yer? You’re gonna get it for me, are yer? A little girl?’
Echo bristled. How dare he? ‘I’m not little.’
‘We… we could go together,’ said Horace, his voice shaking. ‘We’d find it quicker that way.’
‘Oh no, no, no.’ Old Gus shook his head, making his plaited beard swing back and forth. ‘And how would I know you’d come back?’
‘You’d have our word,’ said Horace, sticking out his chin.
‘Your word!’ Old Gus let out a guffaw, but his eyes were fierce. ‘Pull the other one, boy. No, one of yer goes and one stays here. Who’s it gonna be?’
Echo shivered. Her plan to sneak out once they’d reached land had gone horribly wrong. How were they ever going to find their way back to the Scarlet Margaret now the Thunder Sharks had them? She glanced at Horace for a moment and guilt flooded her as she took in his tired face. She needed to think of something. She’d got them into this mess, and she was supposed to be a sky pirate after all. The first step had to be to get away from the Thunder Sharks, and to do that they needed to find the map for Old Gus.
But what would Lil say if she heard that Echo had helped a rival crew? She frowned. She would just have to make sure she got a good look at the map, then she’d be able to help the Black Sky Wolves find the treasure first.
She set her jaw. ‘I’ll go,’ she said.
* * *
‘This is Aqualiber,’ said Old Gus, pointing through the viewscreen as they drew closer to a coastal city of pale stone buildings built round a network of canals. He and Echo were standing by the ship’s wheel, at the fore of the cockpit, Horace having been marched off to a cell by Mei. As Echo gazed out of the oval windows, she realized they were looking through the eyes of the shark-shaped ship.
