by Soyna Owley
‘Ah good. They’ve received our message. They’ve sent one back with Piffle,’ Ela said. The Charpoy had deployed its messenger parrot, Piffle, who circled above and skated on to Ela’s outstretched hand.
Several of the Ressuldars cheered.
‘Hullo Piffle! How are you?’ Ela said. ‘Sorry, no peanuts for you today.’ Piffle screeched and nibbled on her ear. Balsam undid the leather string from its leg and opened a small wet piece of parchment.
‘It’s the Charpoy’s coordinates. They’ll meet us in half an hour!’ Everyone cheered.
‘Yaksha.’ Agnita beckoned to Floyd. Chutney lay on the deck, wrapped in a moss blanket, wagging his tail weakly.
‘He wants to be with you,’ Agnita said smiling at Floyd. Chutney licked her hand gratefully and she patted him on his head.
Floyd’s heart sang as he hugged Chutney. ‘It’s okay, boy.’ The other Ridgebacks came up to them and licked Chutney’s nose, wagging their tails. Chutney managed a weak woof.
‘Wait! Look! On the other side,’ Naveen pointed out to the sea, a telescope dangling from his other hand.
All around them, the horizon was clear except for a small bump on the water. It was coming straight at them.
Balsam grabbed a telescope and peered through it. ‘Suffering Shiitakes! A white horse!’
‘A seahorse?’ Floyd said, squinting. He felt an uncomfortable tension between his shoulders again.
‘No—a tsunami. They’re rolling it towards us. Confounded Merrows! I knew they wouldn’t go quietly,’ Balsam replied, handing Floyd the telescope. Sure enough, a large white crested wave was moving towards the Merrow ship, gaining in size by the second. So much for thinking they were past their bad luck. The water around them had dropped.
‘This isn’t good,’ Balsam said. ‘It’s a sure sign of a tsunami.’
Naveen hobbled around the deck, running his long green fingers through his hair. ‘We’ve got to get away. As fast as we can. South-south-east!’ He pointed in a direction that was diametrically opposite from the Charpoy.
‘Floyd, what’s happening?’ Farook’s scared voice asked.
‘Not towards Volcano Brim. Naveen, are you crazy?’ Ela shouted. Gulaab clung to her arm, his long braids sprouting small black roses.
‘They’re dormant,’ Naveen muttered, scanning the sea with his telescope. ‘We can’t risk them destroying the Charpoy. We have to move away from it.’
Naveen scribbled on a roll of parchment that he tethered to the parrot’s leg. ‘Go, Piffle! Tell the Charpoy.’ The parrot flew steadily until it was a speck in the distance. The wave approached like a large, angry fist about to strike.
The ship creaked and splashed through the water, gaining momentum as the solid shelf of water approached rapidly. Floyd held on to the rail, Farook gripping his arm, Chutney whimpering by his legs. The Ressuldars attempted to reorient the sails but the huge canvas stayed fast. The green-robed figures slid down the ship’s ropes and threw their arms up in despair. No one knew how to manage this strange Merrow ship.
All of a sudden, the ship lurched towards the port side and Floyd felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. He peered over the rail and yelled.
The sea under them had hollowed. The giant wave was fast approaching. It was as if the ship was at the bottom of a bowl of water, so low that they could see the seabed. Several creatures, including an octopus and a whale, floundered on the algae-covered floor.
Agnita calmly moved all the children into a group. They had been so close to the Charpoy, to going home, and now they were facing danger again. Ahead, the craggy outline of a circle of black mountains with sharp peaks emerged.
Then the massive wall of water tipped the ship. Chains snapped and the sound of cracking stone was everywhere.
22
Volcano Brim
Floyd raised himself, holding on fast to the rail. The marble ship teetered dismally on a wall of rocks. An irregular hole gaped on the deck floor and the railing was broken in several places. It was ruined beyond repair. Miraculously, no one appeared hurt.
They were on the shore of a lagoon, at the base of a circle of black mountains with not a blade of grass or a tree.
‘EVERYONE! Off the boat,’ Ela yelled.
Several of the Ressuldars turned into long, thick creepers with knob-like projections and connected to form a rope ladder down the side of the teetering ship. Floyd and Farook carried a wan Chutney down the ladder. The children followed, climbing down the green ropes, and gingerly stepped on to the rocky landscape.
‘This is absolutely insane,’ Farook whispered. ‘I can’t believe it. We were almost there!’ The wreck of a ship perched on the rocks, creaking as the waves hit it.
Naveen wiped the perspiration running down his face and paced the gravel. Floyd wiped his own sweat away with the back of his hand. Things couldn’t be good if Naveen was worried.
The Merrows’ plan had worked and they were shipwrecked. Some of them were popping their heads above the water to look at the mess they had created. No doubt their empress’s death had been avenged.
‘We’ll never get out of here,’ Ela said, hugging Gulaab. ‘We can only survive maybe a couple of days in this heat.’ The salt from the water was drying on their clothes and skin, leaving unpleasant itchy white crusts.
‘Always with the positive thoughts, sister,’ Balsam said, scraping salt off his coat sleeve. ‘Can’t you be happy we’re alive?’
‘Alive to suffer for a day and die?’ Ela had tears in her eyes. ‘My sap is already boiling.’ Her skin was parched and had turned a pale yellowish green. There was no fresh water to be had. Chutney’s tongue hung to the side and his nose looked dry.
‘She’s right, Balsam,’ Naveen said. ‘There’s no vegetation here, no water, no nutrients of any sort. No ship can get past those rocks to rescue us.’ They sat gloomily, looking at each other.
Floyd kicked a clod of gravel. The thirst! He had never known such terrible thirst. His cracked mouth stung with drying salt.
The Ressuldars began opening cans of food from the ship, passing tinned mangosteens around. Some of them had grown vase-shaped cacti in their hair that they broke off. It contained water that was given to the smallest children—but it cost the Ressuldars. They turned a ghastly yellow. Agnita handed Floyd a small cactus bowl—it was the sweetest water he had tasted but as soon as the heavenly drop cleared his throat, it left him thirsty for more. He gave one sip to Farook and poured the rest down Chutney’s throat.
A high-pitched scream ruptured the silence, like a blade slashing a tightly stretched canvas. Everyone jumped. The shriek rang out again, echoing over the black mountains.
They turned around in the direction of the sound. On a mountain ledge, watching them, were five giant birds, the size of small biplanes, their bright orange bodies splashed across the dreary mountainside. Next to them, a rocky shelf contained a nest of thousands of twigs and dry branches.
‘Varengan!’ Naveen said. ‘Suffering Shiitakes.’
‘It has come for its feather,’ Balsam muttered.
Ela’s fingers tightened around the spear in her hand. ‘Well, I’m not going down without a fight.
‘No, I returned the feather. At Chandi Mountain,’ Floyd protested. Balsam opened his mouth as if he was about to ask a question but stopped at the sound of a smaller, plaintive cry.
It came from the nest. They stood in silent awe.
‘The Varengan protects its young fiercely,’ Ela said, her voice low. ‘They will kill us rather than debate whether or not we’re a threat.’
One Varengan spread its wings and glided off its perch. It skirred over the lagoon, circled and swooped to a descent a few feet from them. It stayed motionless as it watched them. The children screamed and the dogs barked furiously.
The Varengan had a small bald spot on the side of its belly. It was the same bird Floyd had encountered earlier. The giant avian turned its bright gaze on him and scratched the gravel with talons that could eas
ily slice through his heart. It seemed to recognize him. Then it crouched down low to the ground and looked at its back, craning its neck.
‘Wait,’ Floyd said, raising his hand. ‘It’s trying to say something.’
The Varengan craned its neck backward so its beak pointed towards its back. It repeated this action three more times.
‘Yaksha, I think she wants you to climb on her,’ Balsam said.
Floyd shivered despite the heat. Could it be that the bird was being friendly?
Ela nodded. ‘She’s grateful. That fledgling we see would be dead without the feather.’
Floyd gulped. The crouched bird did not waver in its gaze, looking steadily at him.
‘Suffering Shiitakes, get on the bird, Yaksha,’ Balsam urged.
As they watched, the remaining Varengan flew down.
‘I think they mean to take all of us!’ Floyd shouted, climbing gingerly on the back of the bird. ‘How come she’s not warm? She was melting ice the last time I saw her,’ he said to Naveen, who was hoisting Chutney on the bird’s back.
‘Varengan always lower their body temperature once they lay their eggs, otherwise their eggs would cook from a mile away,’ Naveen explained. He tied a soft vine around Chutney and secured him to Floyd and Farook. Chutney shivered but didn’t protest as they stretched his body across the back of the giant bird. He crouched his head down and rested it on the bird’s back.
Ela and Gulaab clambered on behind Farook. Agnita climbed on next, her orange eyes wary. Others cautiously climbed on too—several of the children crying at the sight of the big bird. The Ressuldars pulled the rope ladders they’d used to get the children off the Merrow ship. The other birds flew down and waited patiently as the children and Ressuldars climbed on. Soon all the children and several Ressuldars were atop the great birds. There must have been more than thirty people on the back of one bird alone. Naveen climbed on at the very end.
Floyd clutched the Varengan’s feathers as the bird bounded on the gravel. In a minute they were moving at top speed along the rocky reef, like an aeroplane cruising on a runway. Then, with a heave, the bird lifted itself into the air. It flew up a couple hundred feet in a few seconds with complete steadiness. Floyd could hear the gasps behind him. Chutney whimpered, his ears flapping.
Then the great bird thundered into the sky, reaching the puffy white clouds in seconds. Floyd squeezed his eyes shut as the bird sliced through the air. It was a completely different experience from flying on Chutney. The back of this bird was broad and flat, so there was no chance of losing his balance. The feathers felt like the softest down and the bird didn’t seem bothered by its flustered passengers.
‘Tamarind tuckers! This is insane,’ Farook yelled over the wind that flapped their clothes and whipped their hair.
‘There she is. The Charpoy!’ Floyd shouted.
The purple sails of the Merman’s Charpoy came into view, looking like a toy ship on the vast glittering ocean. Thankfully it hadn’t been touched by the tsunami. The Merrows probably thought they had finished the Ressuldars off at Volcano Brim by leaving them at the mercy of the Varengan. The Varengan made a dizzying descent and the shouts of fear on the deck of the Charpoy changed to yells of jubilation.
‘It’s Captain Naveen! Balsam! Ela, the Yaksha and his dog! They’re all safe!’
The Varengan landed on the poop deck at the ship’s stern, its great wing laid out so the tip touched the deck. Floyd swung his legs to his side, and slid with trepidation down the enormous feathery neck and on to the great orange wing of the Varengan. He fell with a thump on the deck and moved just in time to catch Chutney. One by one, Farook, Balsam, Ela and the others also slid on to the deck, laughing.
The Varengan gathered its wings, nodded and then raised itself into the sky, a mere speck in seconds. Floyd watched as the other Varengan flew to the Charpoy and slid the children on to its deck. Piffle the parrot screamed madly and circled the deck over and over again.
Kusmati came up to Floyd and hugged him, her eyes wet, her hair now only budding a few limp periwinkles. Tender green vines grew out of her fingers and curled over his shoulders. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.
Floyd hugged her back. She didn’t let go. He felt a warm glow suffuse his chest. She planted a soft kiss on his cheek and then broke away, blushing green. Floyd felt his cheek tingle where she had kissed him. He looked away, feeling shy, and when he looked up, she had disappeared into the crowd.
Smiling Ressuldars rushed to the new arrivals with thick moss blankets and steaming flagons containing hibiscus and spiced plum wine. Chutney barked weakly as he lay on the deck on a blanket, his tail wagging from side to side. He seemed to have regained some of his vigour as the other Ridgebacks crowded around him, sniffing him, smelling his ridge and licking his face. Farook simply looked bewildered. Agnita tried with no success to corral people into their cabins.
‘You will be shown to your cabins, children! Please rest. We still have a long way to go,’ she yelled. Finally a deckhand blew into a small silver whistle, directing everyone to the cabins. Grudgingly, Floyd and Farook also followed the line of children that began descending the stairs.
‘On course to Kishm Waterfall, captain,’ the ship’s first officer announced.
Floyd’s heart sank as his excitement drained and a chill permeated his body. How could he have forgotten? There was still one task to complete. The Kishm awaited him.
23
The Final Question
Soft sunlight sputtered through the bubbled glass of the porthole, churning the creamy walls of the cabin into buttery gold. Chutney snored softly in a patch of sunlight on the gleaming wood floor, his ears twitching. Floyd yawned and stretched as his sore muscles protested. He sifted the bewildering events of the previous day in his mind. The bunk bed above creaked as Farook rolled over in his sleep. Had they really thwarted the Merrows, saved a hundred lives, operated on Chutney, survived a tsunami and flown on a Varengan yesterday?
Chutney grunted and shifted his head to rest on his paws. Floyd sat up and knocked on the bed above him.
‘Mmm … do a somersault,’ Farook said.
‘Wake up, silly,’ Floyd said, smiling.
‘Over the ocean …’ Farook murmured, obviously enjoying whatever dream he was in.
Floyd flopped back to his bed. His stomach felt hollow with hunger. On the ceiling, a movement on the navigational map caught his eye. The bobbing Charpoy was approaching Kishm. Had he really slept for that long? He pulled a sweater on and bounded up the stairs. Naveen was sipping from a long glass that intermittently released a heavy, muddy smoke, which collected around his feet. His skin was a fresh green in the morning sun. By his side, Balsam delicately sipped at a gold liquid that spat bubbles and had flowers jiggling at the bottom of the glass.
‘Chamomile soda?’ he asked Floyd.
‘No, thanks. Could I get something to eat?’
Naveen clapped his hand and a deckhand appeared with warm thimbleberry tumbets and a tray of fruit that he set down on a small table. Naveen turned to Floyd. ‘How are you feeling now?’ Although Naveen spoke lightly, his face was drawn. ‘We’re approaching the Kishm.’
Floyd bit into the buttery croissant. His stomach rumbled gratefully and then went silent. He didn’t feel nervous at all. Perhaps he was too hungry, he thought.
Balsam looked at Floyd and raised his glass. ‘No worries, Yaksha. Trust yourself.’
The Charpoy lurched forward. Its sails unfurled and the mast rasped. The riverbanks were cheery with bright tropical flowers brightening the rocky cliffs on either side. Farook had come up to the deck now and stood by Naveen, examining his surroundings wonderingly. Gulaab and Kusmati came up laughing, followed by Ela, who gave Floyd a kiss on his cheek and shyly held Naveen’s hand. They had a lot to discover about each other considering they had spent ten years apart.
As Floyd surveyed all these people he knew and had come to love, the enormity of the task at hand hit him. The waterfall was goi
ng to ask him the question again. And all of them were depending on him to pass this test. What was the purpose of his journey? If he didn’t answer correctly, he would put everyone in danger. His chest tightened. He hadn’t even had time to think about this question. What if the waterfall didn’t believe him?
The cacophony of rushing water became a boom.
Farook looked on, his mouth slightly open. A watery sabre-toothed tiger yawned and crashed into the rocks as the head of a giraffe formed at the top of the waterfall and gushed below.
His head churning, Floyd tried to concentrate on the task coming up.
‘Floyd,’ Farook said.
‘Sorry, Farook. Not now,’ Floyd said. He needed to be alone, alone to hear himself think.
‘I just wanted to say I’m so lucky to have you for a brother.’ Farook hugged him. ‘You’re so brave.’
Floyd nodded absently.
‘You know, when I first saw you on that beach, I almost died with relief. I knew everything would be okay,’ Farook’s voice was strained.
Floyd turned towards Farook. ‘Farook. Thanks but—’
‘I guess you’re not as inauspicious as you thought, Floyd. You’re the luckiest boy in the world.’
Floyd felt as if a thunderbolt had struck him.
‘That’s it. That is it!’ Floyd slammed his fist on the deck rail, relief surging through him.
Farook looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
Floyd did a little jig. His heart felt light for the first time in ages.
‘HOLD TIGHT!’ Naveen yelled as the thunderous waterfall came into view, covering them all with cold spray. Floyd gasped as the ship came to a halt inches from the pelting wall of water. Its crashing clamour deafened them and then suddenly, there was utter silence. The boat floated, the water all around them moving without sound, as if someone had simply turned the volume off.
‘What’s this?’ Farook said. Although his voice was barely a whisper, it sounded loud in the lull of the moment. Floyd squeezed his shoulder.
