Voyage of the Owl

by Belinda Murrell

  The bo’sun’s store was well stocked with rope, timber and tools. It would be a laborious job to mend the damage to the Owl and make her ready for the long journey home.

  Everyone set to work – sewing, gluing, hammering, sawing, splicing and knotting.

  Without Otto, the repairs were slow and painstaking. Much of the rigging had been sliced, and needed to be spliced back together again. Spars and booms had snapped, and needed to be lashed together or replaced. Sails had ripped and needed to be sewn and repaired.

  Fox still lay semi-conscious in his bunk. Lily changed his dressings and dribbled water down his throat periodically.

  That evening everyone fell into their sail nests leaden with tiredness, but it was impossible to sleep, their minds churning with turmoil, their hearts sick and their mouths tasting of bitter failure.

  Over the next few days, all four children grew even more weary. The work was monotonous and tedious. They were unskilled at boat building, and much of their work was clumsy and needed to be redone. All day, the sun beat down. Bodies were drenched in sweat. Tempers frayed.

  On the third afternoon of repairs, Ethan stomped towards the bow carrying an armload of newly spliced rope. His fingers ached from long hours of fiddly work. His fingertips were rubbed raw. His eyes ached from squinting at his work. His head ached from the sun beating relentlessly down and the light shards bouncing off the sea.

  Up above, Saxon and Carl clambered in the rigging, adjusting ropes and knots. Jack and Lily sat in the stern, folding sails. Fox was still recuperating down below, watched over by an anxious Mia.

  Ethan cursed softly under his breath as he stubbed his bare toe on a hammer lying on the deck.

  Limping forward, he discovered Roana curled up with Charcoal in a nest of sails, fast asleep. Ethan swore again, dropping his armful of ropes on the deck.

  ‘Roana!’ he roared. ‘By the mighty Sun Lord!’

  Roana started with a jump. Her eyes flew open.

  ‘You’re supposed to be mending those sails! Not sleeping on them!’

  Roana tossed her head fretfully. The effect would have been much more eloquent if she still had her long golden ringlets, instead of short, cropped hair.

  ‘I needed to rest,’ Roana retorted sulkily. Charcoal stretched, arching her back and yawned prettily, staring at Ethan with her big green eyes. She started to wash one paw nonchalantly.

  ‘Oh, your highness needed a rest while the rest of your lackeys have to work!’ Ethan shouted sarcastically. ‘Poor little highness! Did you ever think that we may never get back to Tiregian if we don’t all pull together and help get this ship sailing again?’

  ‘I do not care,’ Roana replied, leaping to her feet, and staring at Ethan defiantly. ‘I cannot keep stitching these dreadful sails a moment longer. I am tired!’

  ‘And you think we are not?’ Ethan cried. ‘We are all tired, and sick to death of working on this ship. But we need to get home! You have to help too.’

  ‘I shall not.’

  ‘You have to.’

  ‘I will not. You cannot make me.’

  Ethan leaned forward to grab Roana by the wrist. Roana slapped him hard across the face.

  Ethan gulped in shock. Roana went white, then red. A large red welt bloomed up on Ethan’s cheek.

  Neither one spoke for a long moment.

  ‘I am not one of your maid servants to be slapped in a temper,’ Ethan said softly. ‘We are all supposed to be working together equally – working as a team.’

  Ethan swung on his heel and stalked off, his head held very high.

  Roana felt sick and her eyes smarted with tears. She felt furiously angry. Angry with Ethan. Angry with herself. Angry with the whole world. But underneath the anger was a flicker of shame, because she knew that Ethan was right. Roana defiantly climbed back into her nest of sails and scooped Charcoal into her lap for a stroke. Charcoal kneaded her paws happily, gradually soothing Roana with her contented purring.

  Lily and Saxon had heard the commotion and come forward tentatively. Aisha whined, hating the tension in the air.

  Lily and Saxon had a whispered consultation.

  ‘Let’s just leave them both alone for a while,’ advised Saxon. ‘They’re better working it out themselves. You know what Ethan is like when he’s angry. He’s like a bear with a sore head, lashing out at anyone, and I’d rather it wasn’t me!’

  Lily reluctantly agreed, so they both went back to their jobs. Roana defiantly stayed in her bags of sails, stroking Charcoal vigorously. Gradually the anger evaporated, leaving Roana feeling ashamed. Eventually she picked up her needle and thread and started sewing sails again, while rebellious thoughts churned around in her head.

  By dinnertime, Ethan’s anger had also cooled, leaving him with an icy resolution not to talk to Roana, perhaps ever again. Roana threw together a quick meal of cold meat, cheese and bread, which they all ate hungrily.

  Dinner was a very solemn affair, with Roana and Ethan ignoring each other, each sitting in a glum silence. Lily and Saxon chatted brightly, but they were also tired and fed up, and soon lapsed into silence as well.

  Carl noted the long faces and silent tension.

  ‘Cheer up, mates,’ Carl cried. ‘The repairs are coming along beautifully. We should be able to sail the Owl home to Tiregian in another day or so.’

  Lily and Saxon offered a weak grin. Ethan scowled. Roana tossed her head and pursed her lips.

  ‘That is, if the Sedahs don’t find us first. And if Rowan and Ethan here are able to settle their differences,’ Carl added. Ethan scowled more ferociously and Roana went even redder.

  ‘You know, sailors have a creed that helps make shipboard life bearable,’ Carl continued. ‘Ships are too small to contain a quarrel for very long. So sailors always say that you should never let the sun set upon an argument. Squabbles only fester and grow worse overnight. That would make the journey impossible. Anyway, think on that.’

  Carl went to keep Fox company in his cabin. Jack climbed into his hammock and started playing a mournful tune on his harmonica. Lily went to feed the scraps to the animals. Saxon hurriedly jumped to his feet to help tidy up.

  With a loud clatter, Ethan gathered up the bowls and trenchers from the table, and carried them outside to wash at the stern. Roana sat alone at the table, thinking.

  Finally, she stood up and strode off to the small sail locker where they all slept, banging the door after her.

  At the stern, Ethan sloshed and scrubbed, venting his frustration on the dirty plates. The hard work gradually calmed him and his thoughts turned from the churning tumult in his head to the peaceful beauty of the night around him. Overhead stretched the huge sky, blazing with thousands of brilliant stars and the perfect scythe of the waxing moon.

  He heard the continuous sound of the waves rolling on the beach. He felt the gentle rocking of the boat. He smelled the fresh, cool air with its salty tang.

  A small noise caught his attention. Behind him stood Roana, her face flaming.

  ‘Ethan. I wish to apologise for my behaviour today,’ Roana said in a rush, her voice haughty but low. ‘It was unforgivable of me to strike you, and I was wrong to sleep while everyone else laboured. I hope you will accept my apology.’

  Without waiting for a response, Roana turned and ran back the way she had come.

  Ethan sat, stunned.

  ‘Roana, wait!’ he called after her. ‘Roana. It’s all right, and I’m sorry too! I guess it’s just that we are all so devastated that we didn’t find the Moon Pearl. We all need a really good night’s sleep.’

  Roana heard and waved in awkward acknowledgement. She felt like a large load had been lifted from her shoulders.

  Ethan sat on the stern, looking up once more at the iridescent heavens. He swayed with tiredness. A huge feeling of frustration welled up inside him. They had escaped from the Sea Dragon for the time being, thanks to the help of the Merrow maid.

  But they had failed in what they had set out to
achieve. Now it looked as though the Moon Pearl and the Star Diamonds had sunk to the bottom of the sea with the wreck of the Sea Dragon.

  The prophecy Saira had revealed to them came back into his mind.

  ‘Five travellers true, a treacherous journey to take

  A princeling to save, a kingdom at stake,

  Fire, plague, sea and snow must test,

  To the ends of the land they make their quest,

  To fetch sun and moon and blade

  so the bright magic is whole again made.

  The sun is dimmed under Tira to seek

  The blade is hidden in the caverns deep,

  The moon and stars under sea lost their power.

  The princeling imprisoned in a snowy tower.

  When all is done the five may rest

  When ice is conquered to win their quest.’

  With a loud click, Ethan’s mind changed gears, and a thought came to him that seemed so obvious, he wondered why they all hadn’t already thought of it.

  He raced back into the brightly lit saloon, where the others were dispiritedly sitting around the table.

  ‘The moon and stars under sea lost their power,’ burst out Ethan.

  ‘What?’ asked Saxon in surprise.

  ‘The pearl and diamonds are under the sea,’ said Ethan patiently.

  ‘Yes,’ replied Roana, her forehead furrowed in confusion. ‘Probably still somewhere hidden in the captain’s cabin.’

  ‘Well, the verse Saira gave us says we have to seek them under the sea,’ Ethan explained. ‘We were always supposed to look for them under the sea, so there must be some way of getting down to the wreck of the Sea Dragon and finding them.’

  A look of understanding crossed everyone’s pinched faces.

  ‘We could ask our friend Serena, the Merrow maid,’ Lily suggested. ‘She might be able to help us. Ethan could call her on his pipe again.’

  The four friends went up on deck, a new spring in their steps, with Aisha at their heels.

  Ethan sat on the back of the boat and softly started to play his Merrow pipes. He played a merry, happy tune of thanksgiving. The tune wandered out into the night, mingling with the distant crash of surf and echoing from the high cliffs.

  Lily, Saxon and Roana leant against the rails, their eyes heavy with tiredness. Lily gently rubbed the large Merrow pearl around her neck, thinking about the exquisite Merrow maid who had befriended them. The music washed and flowed over them, bringing a sense of wellbeing.

  The music played on and on. After about half an hour, Ethan trailed off.

  There was a gentle splash from the water below. Everyone peered over the side to see a dark shadow.

  The Merrow maid spoke in her soft, musical tongue. Lily felt her Merrow pearl at her throat and once more she found the words taking shape in her mind.

  ‘Ethan, brother of Lily, you play the Merrow pipe with great skill,’ Serena said.

  ‘Serena of the sea, we wish to thank you with all our hearts for saving our lives,’ murmured Lily in reply.

  ‘It was my honour and pleasure,’ Serena replied. ‘I promised Ethan, son of the earth, that I would come if you needed my help. Do you need my help once more?’

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Lily. ‘We seek the Moon Pearl and Star Diamonds, which were stolen by the Sedah from the sacred Sun Sword. We believe that they are still on board the Sea Dragon. Somehow we need to get down to the wreck and look for them. We hoped you could help us.’

  Serena nodded thoughtfully, stroking the soft head of her baby, Hagen.

  ‘Pearls are very powerful talismans,’ Serena said. ‘Pearls bring the wearer wisdom and power, and increase the force of the mind. The Sedahs also believe that pearls bring wealth and longevity to the owner.

  ‘The Moon Pearl is particularly powerful. It was given to your people by my people as a sign of friendship hundreds of years ago. It does not belong to the Sedah.

  ‘The Star Diamonds are also very important. Diamonds bring good luck and true love to the wearer. They are the most prized of gems. Their power is useless under the sea. It is truly a valuable treasure which you seek.’

  Lily nodded thoughtfully. ‘We seek it not for ourselves,’ she replied. ‘We seek the gems to restore them to the Sun Sword, and thereby help defeat the Sedah who have invaded our land. Please help us!’

  ‘We will go at dawn, before low tide,’ Serena decided. ‘I will come for you then.’

  With a quiet plish, she was gone.

  Down in the dungeons Lord Mortimer was burning up with a fever. His throat felt as if it had been slashed with a razor blade, and he had a hacking cough that shook his wasting frame. Willem had tried to tend to him, but he had no herbs, no medical supplies, no blankets.

  Since Queen Ashana had been moved to the cottage, the gentlemen had not been allowed up into the herb garden. Willem called once more to the guards, pleading with them for help.

  ‘Tell Captain Malish that Lord Mortimer may not make it through the night, unless he has medical attention,’ begged Willem. ‘My wife Marnie could tend to him. If anyone could save his life, it would be Marnie.’

  Finally Lieutenant Foulash bestirred himself to share this latest development with Captain Malish. Captain Malish feared the wrath of Governor Lazlac if anything else went wrong, and Lord Mortimer had at one stage been integral to the Sedah’s invasion plan.

  ‘All right then, get the herb woman to tend to Mortma,’ barked Captain Malish irritably.

  So Lord Mortimer was carried up out of the dungeons, groaning and thrashing, and settled in a proper bed in a small cell. Marnie was ordered to take her herbs and tinctures, and tend to him.

  ‘Captain Malish wants the miserable rat’s life saved for some reason,’ ordered Lieutenant Foulash. ‘So you had better save him, or it’s more than your life is worth.’

  ‘Well, you had better get someone to build a fire in here and bring me some fresh water,’ replied Marnie smartly, undaunted by these dire threats. She set about making Lord Mortimer comfortable, sponging him down with cool water and trickling a soothing warm honey tea down his throat.

  Lord Mortimer sipped eagerly. ‘Not so dismissive of my foul goops now, are you, Lord Mortimer?’ murmured Marnie to herself. ‘Perhaps if you had partaken of my goops before, you would not be so ill now.’

  Lord Mortimer groaned and coughed, feeling immensely sorry for himself. His feverish nightmares were filled with the face of his bride, Princess Roana, dressed all in white, with clouds of veil floating around her beautiful face. Princess Roana smiled sweetly and meekly at him. Her smile turned to laughter, to a sneer, then she was running away, dressed like a grubby village urchin, waving the Sun Sword victoriously above her head.

  Lord Mortimer’s fever flared again, raging through his body.

  ‘Princess … Roana,’ murmured Lord Mortimer deliriously. ‘Must … find brat … marry her … I’ll be king.’

  Marnie stiffened by the fire, her mind whirring.

  As the eastern horizon glimmered a soft rose-pink the next morning, the four friends gathered on the deck. Each one was armed with weapons – bows and arrows, daggers and dirks. Each one wore a warm cloak against the early morning chill.

  Lily had her pack with medical supplies. Roana had made hot tea, which they sipped from their mugs. Saxon had packed a bag of supplies – dried fruit, bread and butter, boiled eggs and water. They had explained to Carl that they would be gone for a few hours, but would return as soon as possible.

  Aisha hated the rowboat but she was not going to be left behind this time. Even Charcoal seemed prepared for the journey, carefully licking her white paws and grooming her whiskers.

  ‘You are not going to take Charcoal, are you, Lily?’ asked Ethan impatiently. ‘Why don’t you leave her here with Carl and Jack?’

  ‘Of course I’m taking her,’ Lily replied patiently. ‘We are all in this together.’

  All six were safely in the rowboat with their gear stowed when Serena arrived, with bab
y Hagen and her long spear tipped with razor-sharp coral.

  Lily and Ethan took first turn at rowing, following Serena’s wake. They were all quite adept with the oars now. The wreck of the Sea Dragon was about a half hour’s row away, on the next island.

  There was still some flotsam from the wreck floating on the gentle sea. The water was clear and pale green. As the sun slowly rose they could see down to the sandy white seabed and the dark shadows of the shipwreck. Small bubbles of palest blue floated on the top of the water, gleaming like large sapphires.

  Serena gestured for them to anchor the boat over the wreck. She fetched two large rocks from the island and dumped them in the bottom of the rowboat.

  ‘The tide is nearly at its lowest ebb,’ Serena explained to Lily. ‘The rocks will help you sink quickly. Two of you can dive down with me to the wreck, while the other two keep watch and guard the tubes.’

  Serena pulled two long coiled tubes from the bag around her neck, while Lily quickly translated Serena’s instructions.

  ‘The Merrow people use these for extended dives,’ Serena explained. ‘Like humans, whales and dolphins, Merrow need to breathe the air above the sea. While we can hold our breath for many long minutes underwater, sometimes it is easier to breathe with a tube. Luckily the wreck is not very deep down, so you should manage it fairly easily with the tubes.’

  Serena uncoiled one of the long, narrow tubes to demonstrate how it worked. The tubes seemed to be made of a narrow, hollow yellowy-orange sea plant. Roana and Saxon would stay up in the rowboat, on guard for Sedahs, and to ensure that the top of the tubes stayed above the water, sucking in air.

  Lily and Ethan would swim down with the tubes to the wreck to search for the gems with Serena and Hagen. Lily and Ethan shivered in the cold morning air, as they dropped their warm cloaks and stripped down to their black silk shirts and underwear.

  Both of them buckled on their belts, with their daggers carefully sheathed. Aisha whined nervously as she watched them preparing to dive.

  ‘Lastly, smear your bodies with this,’ Serena ordered, passing up a jar from her bag. The glass jar was filled with a clear, thick ointment that smelt of minerals and grease.