“Thank you,” said Shifa for the fourth time since they’d set off.
The man nodded in amusement. He was a fisherman from a village up the beach from them. “I was curious when I saw the fire. It gave me quite a shock. I never expected to be rescuing anyone stranded there.”
“We’re so glad you did,” said Shifa. “My, er, brother and I are very grateful.”
Zheng smiled and nodded. Shifa had asked him not to talk at all.
The man seemed a bit sceptical but didn’t question it.
“Um, I was wondering.” Shifa twisted the end of her hair. “I was just wondering if anyone else had been rescued from the sea recently.”
Zheng listened with interest.
“Not that I know of,” said the man.
Zheng leaned back in disappointment. It wasn’t necessarily bad news, though. The man wouldn’t know everything.
“It’s funny you should ask,” continued the fisherman. “There was a boat that was found drifting in the sea. It was a good thing it was marked with the name. There was a painting of a turtle on the side too.”
“Do you, um –” Shifa licked her lips – “do you happen to know what happened to it? The boat, I mean.”
“The people who found it returned it, of course. Took it back to the person it belonged to.”
“Was there anything in it?” asked Zheng, before he could stop himself. Shifa kicked him on the shin.
The boatman frowned as he rowed up to the shore. “In the boat? I don’t know. Why do you ask?”
“Just wondered,” answered Shifa for him, and Zheng went back to smiling and nodding again.
He exchanged a look with Shifa behind the boatman’s back. Was the dagger discovered?
“Just there,” said Shifa, pointing to Turtle Beach. “That’s where we live, drop us there.”
“Are you sure?” said the man. “I didn’t think anyone lived here.”
“Oh, we do. We like the, er, isolation,” said Zheng, before he remembered he wasn’t meant to talk.
Shifa glared at Zheng and he was sorry at once. He wished he didn’t find it so hard to keep his mouth shut.
“He means the peace and quiet,” said Shifa.
The man looked a bit suspicious. “OK. I can’t think why you’d lie so I’m going to drop you off here. Make sure you run off home now. Your family must be worried about you.”
They hopped off the boat and splashed into the water, running up to the shore and waving to him. He sat watching for a while so they ran inland, then hid behind a tree, waiting till he rowed away.
“OK, he’s gone,” said Shifa. “Let’s go to the hut and think about what to do next.”
Going into the hut felt like coming home to Zheng. The bundle of clothes that Razi had given him was still in a corner of the room.
“You stay here,” said Shifa. “I’m going to slip out to town and see if there’s any news of Razi. I can’t go home, of course, because Mother would never let me leave, but if … if anything bad’s happened I’d get to know.”
“OK, I’ll be here.”
Shifa was gone for a couple of hours. Zheng was starving so he went out and got some king coconuts, breaking them up like Razi had done and eating the inside pulp.
“No luck,” said Shifa, when she got back. She looked glum and anxious. “There’s no sign that Razi’s been home but that doesn’t mean he’s not hiding out somewhere too. Here, I took some food while I was there and left a note for Mother saying we’d be back soon and not to worry.”
Zheng took the parcel from her. “You know the boat that Razi and you were using? When did you say the owner was coming back?”
“Two weeks,” said Shifa, looking out of the window at the beach.
“So there’s a chance the dagger might still be in it! If the fishermen who took it back to Nathan’s didn’t notice anything.”
Shifa turned back from the window. “Yes. And if Razi’s here, he might be thinking the same thing.” A glint of hope had come into her eyes again.
“Let’s go and find the boat!” Zheng got up and bounded to the door.
“Wait! The boats are on the beach right where the fishermen’s houses are. We can’t go there now without attracting attention. It’s going to be dark soon; we’ll go then.”
As soon as it was dark Zheng and Shifa set off soundlessly, swishing through the sand in their bare feet. The sea was rough that night, roaring in the moonlight as they walked to Galle.
As they got closer, the bright lamps of the town blinked into view. Coconut palms swayed in their wiry gentleness, flanking the row of modest fishermen’s houses facing the beach.
Zheng had a memory of a different part of the world when he saw it. He felt a pang of homesickness for his previous life, of docking in the most strange and marvellous places and having the most amazing times. The world was so similar and so different at the same time.
“There,” whispered Shifa, pointing.
At this time of night all the boats were on the beach. In a few hours the fishermen would come out to go to sea. Zheng could make out the turtle painting on Nathan’s boat even in the moonlight.
“Come on,” said Shifa.
The children crept quietly up to the boat and squeezed into the gap between it and its neighbour.
“I’ll keep watch,” she said quietly. “You go and check for the dagger.”
Zheng leaned stealthily into Nathan’s boat. He groped around in the dark, his fingers seeking out the box. The reassuring solidness of something wooden greeted him. He felt the grooves and ridges of a carving and knew it was the lotuses on the lid.
Suddenly there was a loud shout.
“Who’s there?”
Shifa gasped. “That’s Nathan’s father,” she whispered. “Hurry!”
Zheng snatched up the box but it was too late. A light shone down on them from a lamp held aloft by an old man.
“What are you doing?” he said. “Up to no good, I’m sure.”
“Not at all,” said Zheng quickly. “We were, er, looking for something.”
“We’re just leaving,” said Shifa.
“It’s Shifa, isn’t it? Who’s this boy?” said Nathan’s father, bringing the lamp really close and making Zheng flinch from the heat. He turned towards the house. “Hey, Yasmin, come here and look at this.”
A woman came bustling down to the beach. “What is it now?”
“Let’s go,” whispered Shifa.
“Not so fast, you two,” said the woman, stopping the children in their tracks. “What were you doing? First our boat goes missing, then it’s found abandoned in the ocean and now you two are sneaking around here in the dark. All a bit suspicious, don’t you think?”
“What’s that?” said Nathan’s father, pointing to the box in Zheng’s hand.
Zheng promptly shoved it behind his back. “What’s what?”
Shifa stepped in. “It’s nothing. Just an old box of lace-making supplies I left there by accident. I wanted to come and get it before I get a scolding from my mother. We’re going now.”
“No, you’re not,” said Yasmin. “You’re not going anywhere. First you steal my husband’s boat; now you’re trying to make off with something that’s his.”
A small crowd had gathered round them, lamps held aloft. There were shouts on the beach and more people came up to see what was going on.
“We didn’t steal it!” said Shifa. “Nathan said that Razi could take the boat.”
“Well, I don’t see Razi here,” said Yasmin.
“There they are!” came a voice. “The box is mine! I’ve been looking for it all over!”
Zheng was stunned. Marco! How did he get there? And making his way over with him, bold as brass, was Cook.
“He’s lying,” said Shifa. “These people are dangerous.”
“Nonsense,” said Marco. “As you can see, this boy is a liar.” He grabbed the box but Zheng clung on to it like a leech.
“Give it up, boy!” Marco twist
ed Zheng’s arm away from the box. Pain shot like fire down Zheng’s arm and he flinched and dropped the box, straight into Marco’s hands.
“Hey!” Yasmin cried. “You’re hurting the boy.”
Marco didn’t care. He took the box victoriously and turned hurriedly to go.
“Stop him,” yelled Shifa. “Tell him to show you what’s in the box.”
Marco pushed through the crowd faster at that, knocking Nathan’s father to the ground.
The crowd gasped, and a group of people helped the old man to his feet while others surrounded Marco and Cook, stopping them leaving.
Then came more shuffling on the beach, and more running footsteps. A curly-haired figure jostled into the crowd and swiped the box from Marco’s hands. Marco roared but the figure squirmed away and ran down the beach.
Razi!
Shifa cried out with happiness and she and Zheng ran quickly after her brother.
On the moonlit beach, Shifa launched herself at Razi. He hugged her to him, and then put out an arm to hug Zheng too. The three children clung to each other joyfully.
Razi felt like his heart would burst with relief and happiness.
But then they heard shouting and the sound of feet pounding across the sand towards them.
“They’re coming!” cried Shifa. “Run!”
The three of them set off down the beach again, Zheng carrying the box under one arm.
“Where are we going?” asked Zheng.
“Not the hut,” said Razi. “Anywhere else.” The hut was the first place Marco would look for them now.
“This way,” said Shifa, darting away from the beach near the reef and leading them through a vast coconut grove. They zigzagged through the wavy trunks at speed, with the lumbering Marco and Cook struggling to keep up in the moonlight. High above them, the ropeways of coconut-pluckers criss-crossed between the treetops.
Cook ran into a tree and knocked himself to the ground, then Marco tripped over his sprawling body. He cursed loudly as they untangled themselves.
This gave the children the opportunity they needed. They slipped behind an open outhouse. Oversized cooking pots sat empty on unlit stoves, ready for the process of turning coconut milk into oil the next day.
Zheng put the box down at their feet quietly and shook out his arm. The children leaned against the wall and caught their breath. The sweet scent of coconut oil came from the empty vats.
They waited until Marco and Cook stumbled straight past, still cursing. The children grinned at each other.
“I can’t believe we’re back together!” said Razi. “We were all in the middle of the sea last. Me inside a whale! I felt like I was in one of Zheng’s stories.”
Zheng guffawed loudly. “How did you get free?”
“I thought I saw Maalu spit you out,” said Shifa.
“She did. If I hadn’t been panicking so much, I’d have remembered that blue whales aren’t physically able to swallow anything close to my size.” Razi told them the rest of the story, shrugging as he explained how he’d fished Marco and Cook out of the sea. “I couldn’t believe I’d had to leave you, Shifa. But somehow I had this unshakable feeling that you were alive.”
“That’s amazing,” said Zheng. “Shifa said the same when we were on the islet. That she thought you were alive.”
“You were on the islet?” Razi was flabbergasted. “How did you get there?”
“Oh, don’t even ask,” said Shifa. “We have no explanation.”
Zheng snorted and sat down by the box. Shifa laughed with him. Seeing them, Razi began to laugh too, even though he had no idea what was so funny.
“It is amazing we’re all alive now,” grinned Razi.
“Thanks to each other,” said Shifa, squatting down next to Zheng, “and with a bit of help from a certain whale.”
Zheng lifted up the dagger. “And look who has the Dagger of Serendib now!”
Razi and Shifa grinned as Zheng turned it over in his hands, the lion’s head gleaming in the moonlight.
“You know what?” said Zheng. “Right back at the beginning, you could have just left me to it. But you didn’t. And I’ll never forget that.”
Shifa smiled. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. You’re right, you know. There is a great big world out there that I don’t know about. I wish I’d been more like Razi and had some faith in what you were saying.”
Razi shook his head. “And I’m going to be less blindly trusting! Seriously, if Shifa hadn’t swapped the maps over, I dread to think what would have happened to you. I would have never forgiven myself.”
“It’s over now,” said Shifa soothingly. “We need to take the treasure to the authorities and then Marco and Cook will never get their hands on it.”
“They shouldn’t just get to walk away, though,” said Zheng. “I want them to be caught red-handed. I want the world to know what they did. I want the captain to be recognised for what he did.”
“How, though?” said Shifa.
A gleam of excitement danced in Razi’s eye. “We have something they want very badly. All we have to do is use it as bait to lead them on a wild mongoose chase and straight into the lion’s mouth.”
Shifa twisted her hair as she frowned. “How are we going to do that?”
“I’ve an idea,” said Razi, leaning forward, a grin slowly forming on his face. “And we have the whole night to make a plan…”
Early the next morning Razi sneaked away to find a cart. After a night of plotting, it was time to set things in motion.
On the path outside a little house on the road to Galle, he had some luck. A carter had just finished loading a consignment of coconuts and was sitting by his cart, eating spicy chickpeas from a paper cone. The ox yoked to it looked fed up and tired, as if it were sick of life itself.
Razi sighed. It wasn’t ideal but it would have to do.
He went up to the carter and smiled. “Hello, mister. Could I, er, borrow your cart for a bit?”
The man munched his food. “I’m just getting ready to use it myself. But you can hire it another time.”
“I, er, I wasn’t thinking of hiring it as such. I was thinking of just using it for a bit. Like, as a favour. I’d be so grateful. I’ll load the coconuts for you.”
The man looked at the cart. “I’ve already loaded them.”
“I’ll unload them then.”
“Why would I want them unloaded?”
“So that I could, er, borrow the cart.” That came out all wrong and Razi blushed.
The carter glared at him. Razi decided to be super polite. “I meant, I could unload them for you at your destination.”
“A hundred miles away? Are you sure?”
“Oh no!” said Razi hastily. “I wouldn’t be able to go quite that far. Do you have any other job I could do in return?”
“No,” said the carter. He threw a handful of chickpeas into his mouth. Razi’s stomach grumbled.
“Please. I really need it. The cart, I mean,” he said hastily, as his stomach gave another growl. “Not your chickpeas.”
The man considered Razi. “You’re that boy, aren’t you? The one who slapped Nalaka with a fish?”
Razi started. “Well, yes. But I-I don’t think slapping is a good thing. I don’t condone it or any—”
“Good for you,” said the man. “He was rude. I knew your father. He was a good man.”
“He was, thank you. He was the best.”
“Are you trying to run away from someone?” The carter tipped the last of the chickpeas into his mouth.
“Yes. Two men who tried to kill me.”
“What!” The carter scrunched up the paper and stared at him.
“They kidnapped my friend and tried to kill him too. They left my sister and me on an islet in the middle of the sea to drown in a storm. And they threw us out of our boat too, and I was almost eaten by a whale.” Razi made his eyes go a little wider, to look innocent. He was hoping a little sympathy might get him the cart.
The carter looked at him narrowly. “Are you making this up?”
“No! I swear I’m not.”
The carter looked up and down the path. “OK,” he said. “Take it.”
“Take what?” asked Razi, hardly daring to hope.
“The cart. But bring it back in one piece within the hour.”
“Oh, thank you!” Razi made to unload the coconuts but the carter looked annoyed at that so he changed his mind. What were a few coconuts, he thought. And they needed to get going. They were on a deadline.
Razi jumped on the cart and took the reins. He had very little experience driving ox-carts but how hard could it be?
Getting the ox to move turned out to be pretty easy. With a slow, plodding movement, the cart started grinding down the path back towards the beach.
“Come on!” Razi yelled at Shifa and Zheng as they waited by the beach. He made sure not to go on to the soft sand where the wheels might get stuck but stayed on the hard path instead.
Shifa and Zheng came bolting up to the cart.
“What on earth?” said Shifa, stopping short. “What’s with all the coconuts?”
Razi shrugged. “We can’t have everything. I got a cart, didn’t I?”
Zheng had already climbed in and was pushing the coconuts around to make himself comfortable. He set down the treasure box and dragged a branch of coconuts over it to keep it hidden. “This reminds me of the time our crew got caught in—”
“Not now, Zheng,” said Shifa, jumping into the cart. “Let’s go!”
Razi moved off again, the ox plodding grumpily towards town.
“Where do you think we’ll find Marco?” he said five minutes later. “It’s so typical – he’s always on our backs but when we’re actually looking for him he’s nowhere to be seen.”
They rode on the main road, keeping within sight of the beach so that Marco would see them if he was still there.
And, sure enough, within minutes, Marco and Cook had materialised. They stood by the side of the beach road and glanced at the children coolly, as if they weren’t bothered by the sight of them riding in a cart full of coconuts. The two men seemed to be deep in conversation with a woman from town.
The Boy Who Met a Whale Page 9
