The Dragon's Gold

by Alex English

  A message! It had to be from Lil. She must have found Echo’s postal pigeon in her cabin on the Scarlet Margaret and known that it would be able to find her by homing in on her hairpin.

  Echo gripped the porthole with both hands and rattled it, but it was no use. It didn’t open at all. She cast round the room for something to break the glass, but there was nothing that could help her. Gilbert ran down her leg and nudged at her boot.

  Of course! She grabbed Stinger from its scabbard and tried to prise the frame away, but the window was sturdy and ridiculously strong.

  Echo flung the sword down in frustration ‘Oh, how can I let it in?’ she wailed.

  Gilbert leaped on to the wall and peered out of the porthole, a perplexed expression on his scaly face.

  Outside, the mechanical pigeon continued to keep pace with the airship, periodically diving towards the window, despite being tossed this way and that by the wind. But, however much Echo struggled with it, the window stayed firmly shut.

  As the minutes passed, the little bird began to lose height. Echo watched in dismay as it was buffeted about, until finally it spiralled down towards the ground and disappeared from view.

  ‘No!’ Echo pressed her nose to the porthole, but no matter how hard she looked, the postal pigeon was gone.

  She slammed her fist against the glass before flopping back on to her bunk, letting the tears of sadness and frustration roll down her cheeks. How long could a postal pigeon fly? And what would happen when its clockwork finally wound down? Would it just drop on to the ground, smashing into pieces, never to be found again? Echo squeezed her eyes shut and let the tears flow.

  ‘Perhaps it will just return to sender,’ she mumbled eventually.

  Gilbert gave her an encouraging nudge on the shoulder with his snout.

  ‘I know, Gilbert. We’ll find a way to get Horace back somehow. I won’t let anything bad happen to him.’ Echo lay back on the bunk as Gilbert ran up to the porthole to peer out again. But even she had to admit that she had no idea how she was going to get out of the mess she’d made.

  Gilbert gave a sudden chirrup, as if to say, Look.

  ‘What is it?’

  The little lizard had his front feet up on the rim of the porthole and was peering out intently.

  Echo got to her feet, but there was a bang and the ship rocked, sending her crashing backwards on to the floor.

  ‘Ouch!’ she said, rubbing her elbow. ‘What in all the seven skies is happening out there?’

  She staggered to the porthole and gasped. A familiar shark-shaped airship hovered up ahead of them.

  ‘Obsidian!’ Echo exclaimed. They’d found it. And that meant they’d soon find Horace! She spun round, newly determined. ‘Come on, Gilbert! We’ll catch up with them soon. I do hope he’s okay…’

  There was another bang and the whole ship shuddered. ‘Are they shooting at us?’ She dived back to the porthole, just in time to see a ball of orange flame shoot forward from beneath their ship. No, the Thunder Sharks weren’t firing at Anaconda. Miranda was firing at Obsidian!

  Echo staggered to one side as the ship dived downwards. Gilbert clung to the bedclothes and Echo’s knapsack tumbled off the bunk, spilling its contents across the floor.

  ‘Oh no! What is she doing?’

  Fear froze Echo’s heart as the ship lurched. If Obsidian crashed with Horace onboard… But she couldn’t think about that now. She had to do something!

  Echo raced to the door and rattled it again, but it was locked tight. She pressed the numbers on the keypad at random, but in vain. The pad just gave out an electronic bleep, and the door remained firmly closed.

  She glanced across the floor at her scattered possessions and got down on her hands and knees to hurriedly pack them back into her knapsack. There had to be something among them that would help her. She threw in the jelly beans and the library card the librarian had given her. But, as she put her hand into the bag, she felt the silky threads of one of the aethernets run over her fingers.

  The aethernet crackled with some remnant of thundercloud electricity and an idea hit Echo like a mini bolt of lightning. If she could just get the door-control panel open.

  She went back to the door and examined the panel. ‘What do you think, Gilbert?’ she said. ‘Will it work?’

  Gilbert bobbed his head encouragingly as Echo reached into her boot and drew out Stinger. For the first time, she was pleased not to have a full-sized cutlass. Stinger felt just right in her hand, light and slim, and the razor-sharp blade tip was slender enough to wedge into the joint where the cover of the control panel was attached. Echo pushed it in and levered the cover back a fraction. There was another rumble from below and the ship rocked as a volley of deafening cannon fire blasted out of Anaconda beneath her feet. Echo was ready for it this time though, and she braced herself against the door frame until the ship steadied.

  Once it was still, she buried Stinger deep into the joint and levered the cover off with a pop. She re-sheathed Stinger and looked at the lock workings. They weren’t like anything she’d ever seen before. She frowned. It seemed like a lifetime ago that she’d learned about clockwork with Jimmy Mainspring at the Mech Market in Port Tourbillon. But none of that old knowledge seemed to help. This wasn’t clockwork – it was electronics. She gritted her teeth. Horace was in danger. She had to try.

  She slung her knapsack over her shoulder, ready to make a quick getaway, then reached inside and closed her fingers round the shadowy filaments of the aethernet. She carefully drew it up and flung it at the wiring inside the control panel. There was a flurry of sparks and a bang. Gilbert’s crest stood up on end and Echo sprang backwards, coughing as a cloud of foul-smelling smoke billowed from the panel.

  As the smoke cleared, the ship rocked to the left and Echo pumped her fist in the air as the cabin door slowly slid open.

  She stuffed the aethernet back into her knapsack and shoved Stinger’s scabbard into the side of her boot. She had to stop Miranda before something terrible happened to Horace.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Echo raced to the cockpit, Gilbert clinging to her shoulder. The whole airship rolled as Miranda fired the cannons again, and Echo fell to one side, slamming into the wall and almost dislodging Gilbert, who let out an indignant squeak.

  Echo righted herself and stumbled to the cockpit doorway. Miranda had her back to Echo, and was leaning forward over the control deck, her long white fingers flying over the keys as she got her target in sight. There was a faint smell of gunpowder in the air and, through the viewscreen, Echo saw a smoking hole in the side of Obsidian.

  ‘Stop!’ Echo shouted.

  Miranda turned in surprise. ‘How did you…?’

  ‘Stop firing!’ Echo’s voice shook. She put her hands on her hips and tried to steady herself. ‘Horace is onboard that ship.’

  ‘I don’t care who’s onboard. They’re not going to get that cutlass before me.’

  Miranda turned her steely eyes to the viewscreen again and fired another volley of shots at Obsidian.

  Echo raced forward and grabbed Miranda’s sleeve.

  ‘Get off me!’ Miranda snatched her arm away. ‘How dare you!’

  ‘But you said you’d help me find him. You promised!’

  Miranda ignored her. ‘Did I? I forget.’

  Echo took another panicked glance out of the viewscreen. Obsidian was tilting dangerously to one side and flying low above the river. There was a crackling of shots and Miranda yanked on the altimeter. Echo staggered back as Anaconda barrelled upwards and a cannonball whizzed past the windscreen.

  ‘Ha!’ Miranda wheeled Anaconda round. ‘If Old Gus thinks he’s going to find that cutlass first, he’s mistaken. Let’s see who’s leader of the seven skies now, eh?’

  Echo steadied herself on the dashboard. Miranda wouldn’t listen to her. But she had to stop her somehow. If Obsidian went down with Horace on it… Echo couldn’t bear to think about it. Her hand went to Stinger and she drew th
e blade from its scabbard with a swish. Warmth spread through her fingers and she felt a low thrum as Stinger’s hilt settled in her palm. ‘Stop,’ she said. ‘Or I’ll… I’ll—’

  ‘Ha!’ Miranda turned to look at Echo. ‘Or you’ll what?’

  Echo made a forward lunge, but Miranda was quicker. She drew her cutlass and blocked Echo’s blade with one swift swipe of her own. The blow reverberated up Echo’s arm, but she held tight to her sword and wrenched it away from Miranda’s. Miranda advanced on Echo, a ferocious grin on her face, and swung her blade again.

  Echo parried Stinger and their blades clanged together.

  ‘A fighter, are you?’ Miranda’s cutlass flashed as she hacked at Echo.

  ‘Yes, I am!’ Echo quickly sidestepped, setting Miranda off-balance. The cutting edge of Miranda’s blade bit into the Anaconda’s dashboard, sending sparks and chunks of metal flying across the cockpit.

  Echo made a running attack, but Miranda’s blade was longer and heavier and sharper. Miranda regained her balance and, with a final deft wrist-flick, sent Stinger spinning out of Echo’s hand and across the floor.

  Echo leaped across the cockpit towards her blade. She grabbed the little rapier and managed to scramble to her feet, but Miranda was on top of her with the razor-sharp edge of her cutlass to Echo’s throat.

  ‘Nice try,’ said Miranda, with a grimace. ‘Seems I do need to relieve you of your sword after all.’

  ‘No!’ The blade was sharp against Echo’s throat. She leaned backwards, but she was right up against the control deck. She reached a hand behind her, inadvertently grabbing a lever to steady herself. Anaconda seemed to suddenly drop out of the sky.

  Miranda let out a yelp and fell backwards as the ship nosedived towards the water. She shoved Echo out of the way and grappled with the controls as they dropped out of the sky. Below them, Echo saw Obsidian stranded on the side of the canyon, its balloon rapidly deflating and its crew spilling from emergency exits and scattering among the smoke and flames.

  Horace! Echo’s chest clenched. She scanned the wreckage, but she couldn’t see him through the rubble and smoke. She had to find him. What if he was hurt?

  She stumbled as Miranda righted the ship and they flew out low across the open water of the river. Echo’s eyes alighted on the triangular golden button on the dashboard. Could she do it? There was only one way to find out. She made a run for it. BANG! She hammered the button with her fist.

  Miranda turned, her mouth open. ‘What are you doing…?’

  But Echo was already across the cockpit and at the trapdoor as it slid open.

  ‘Come back here! You can’t—’

  ‘Watch me!’ Echo stuffed Stinger into her boot, held her knapsack tight with one hand and Gilbert with the other.

  And she jumped.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Echo clutched Gilbert to her chest as she tumbled out of Anaconda and plummeted through the air. The river below rushed towards her and for a terrible moment she thought, What if it’s not deep enough? What if my brains are dashed out on rocks, or I break all my bones, or I—

  The rushing air took her breath away and the fall was over all too quickly as she plunged into ice-cold water. The outside world was suddenly muffled as she sank into the blue-grey depths. She stretched her arms out and kicked her legs, fighting against the weight of her wet clothes and the knapsack and Gilbert, who was still clinging tightly to her shoulder. Echo’s lungs burned. She kicked harder and struggled to the surface, bursting out of the water with a gasp and gulping greedy lungfuls of air. Gilbert shook himself and snorted spray from his nose.

  Echo coughed up a mouthful of water and bobbed, panting, on the surface. Above her, Anaconda was whirring away, still firing at Obsidian, which lay beached on the slope of the canyon, keeling drunkenly to one side.

  Echo got her breath back and positioned Gilbert on her head. She set out for the riverbank, and Obsidian, and Horace.

  There was a whoosh and something white shot past Echo, hitting the water with a fizzling splash. She glanced up at Anaconda and realized with horror that a stray cannonball had almost hit her. Obsidian fired its own blast from where it lay wrecked. Further out, on the horizon, Echo could see yet another airship arriving. Some other sky-pirate clans must have got wind of the location of the treasure. Among the chaos, a flare of hope lit in Echo’s heart. Did that mean Lil and the others would be on their way too?

  But there wasn’t time to think, as another rapid burst of fire erupted from Anaconda’s cannons. Echo had to get to safety! She’d never save Horace or find Lil if she got herself killed.

  ‘Hold your breath!’ she shouted to Gilbert, before diving into the water.

  More missiles plunged into the river centimetres away from them and Echo almost gulped in a mouthful of water as the cannonballs shot past. She held her breath and swam onwards. Up ahead was a partially submerged rock, and she kicked out for it with all her strength, her lungs and limbs burning. When she could hold her breath no longer, she finally dared to pop her head up, and lifted Gilbert out too. They both floated, gasping for breath, close to the rust-coloured rock.

  Above them, Anaconda circled the helpless wreck of Obsidian, which lay motionless on one side and was emitting plumes of black smoke.

  ‘Come on,’ whispered Echo.

  She quietly withdrew to the far side of the rock, so she was shielded from view. Gilbert paddled ahead of her, before scrambling on to the rock and shaking water from his scales. Echo didn’t dare emerge just yet, but clung to the lichen-clad surface with her fingertips, watching and waiting until Obsidian’s cannons finally juddered to a halt and Anaconda buzzed away.

  Once Anaconda was out of sight, Echo swam to the riverbank and dragged herself out, sopping wet. She lay panting for several minutes, rivulets of water running from her clothes and hair. When she’d recovered, she raised her head and squinted up at the wreck of Obsidian, which lay further up the canyon wall. The Thunder Sharks swarmed all over it, flinging buckets of water and sand at the many fires. But where was Horace? Echo took out her spyglass and scanned the canyon side. She couldn’t see him anywhere, but she could make out a dense clump of thorn bushes below the line of sight of the Thunder Sharks. It looked like a good place to hide where she wouldn’t be spotted.

  As Echo crept closer up the side of the canyon, she saw that Obsidian was almost destroyed. Its metallic sides were dented and blackened, its balloon wilted sadly and its tail fin had snapped off and lay in pieces in the dust.

  The blue-clad Thunder Sharks ran here and there, starting to make repairs to the stricken ship. Echo spotted Stanley wielding a bucket of tar and Mei doling hammers out to the other crew members. But Echo could see that they wouldn’t be patching Obsidian up in a hurry.

  Gilbert gave a sudden squeak of recognition and, as Echo watched, she saw a familiar blond mop of hair among the many others.

  ‘Horace,’ she whispered. ‘Oh, thank the seven skies he’s okay.’

  She crept forward through the thorny bushes as far as she dared.

  Horace seemed to be collecting pieces of debris from where they were strewn across the ground. Echo willed him to come close enough to hear her, but, just as he started walking towards her, he spotted something on the ground and knelt to examine it.

  ‘Horace,’ Echo hissed. But he didn’t hear her. He picked up whatever it was, turned and walked away again.

  Echo sighed in exasperation. How could she get his attention? She rooted in her bag and found the parchment with the riddle on it that Old Gus had given her and the remains of the paper bag of jelly beans.

  Gilbert opened his mouth expectantly.

  ‘Okay, but just one,’ said Echo. ‘I’ll need the rest.’

  Gilbert gulped down a purple jelly bean and his tail curled up in delight.

  Echo rolled the parchment into a tube, then shuffled forward as far as she dared, careful to keep hidden.

  Horace came back over, his eyes on the ground. When
he got closer, Echo raised the paper tube to her lips, inserted a pink jelly bean in the end and blew.

  The jelly bean flew through the air and landed on the stones a metre away from Horace’s boots.

  Gilbert took one look at the pink sweet and raced after it.

  ‘Gilbert, no!’ Echo’s heart seemed to jump into her throat as the little lizard ran across the rocks, his golden scales gleaming against the reddish ground.

  ‘Gilbert!’ Horace jerked his head up in surprise. ‘What are you doing here?’

  He glanced around and scooped Gilbert up in his hands. Gilbert jabbed his tail in Echo’s direction.

  Horace took a quick look over his shoulder, then darted over to where Echo was hiding. He flung himself down next to her.

  ‘Echo!’ he said. He threw his arms round her in a hug, then hurriedly backed away. ‘You’re drenched!’

  ‘Are you okay?’ Echo felt so relieved to finally find him she was almost dizzy. She moved back for a moment to look him over. ‘You’re not hurt, are you?’

  ‘Me? No, just a few bumps and bruises when that other ship attacked us. What happened to you? How did you find me?’

  ‘It’s kind of a long story,’ said Echo, with a smile. ‘How about you?’

  Horace grimaced. ‘I can’t say being a Thunder Shark agrees with me, but I’m still in one piece. They’ve mostly had me learning facts about dragons from a load of ancient books. Old Gus isn’t a big reader.’ He looked at her. ‘So what’s the plan?’

  ‘I didn’t have time to make a plan,’ said Echo, explaining her hurried free-fall exit from Anaconda.

  ‘Horace! Where is that boy?’ There was an exasperated shout from one of the Thunder Sharks and Horace paled.

  ‘They’re looking for me,’ he said.

  ‘Let’s go,’ said Echo.

  ‘But where?’

  Echo shrugged. ‘Not sure, but I guess the first thing we should do is get away from here. Come on.’

  She scrambled off back down the canyon, with Horace skidding along close behind her.