Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers

by Philip Caveney

  'Could you plait a rope?'

  'Obviously not, but—'

  'Or perhaps you think we could drag the trees to the clearing and you could just lie there, eating fruit and having the occasional nap.'

  Max looked thoughtful. 'I didn't realize that was an option,' he said.

  'It's not. You'll do the dragging. End of story. Now, everyone, finish up your grub and we'll get this show on the road.' Cornelius climbed down from his perch and Max snorted.

  'Well, it didn't take him long to get back on his soapbox,' he observed. 'We'll be promoting him to King Cornelius next.' He looked at Sebastian. 'What do you think about this raft idea?

  'I suppose it makes sense,' admitted Sebastian. 'There's a strong current out there – I could feel it yesterday when I was bathing in the shallows. And it's true – it could take us many moons to cut our way through all that jungle. So long as the raft doesn't collapse under our weight, we should be fine.'

  Max gave him a look. 'A proper little ray of sunshine, you are,' he said. 'Oh well, I suppose I'd better report for duty. Don't want anybody to accuse me of slacking.' And he lumbered off towards Cornelius.

  Sebastian hastily ate the rest of his fish, aware as he did so that Keera was regarding him in silent adoration and that, on the other side of the clearing, Cal had gone back to sharpening his knife.

  They worked all through the day. The jungle rang to the sound of stone axes thudding into tree trunks. Every so often there came a cry of 'Timber!' followed by the rending and crashing of vegetation as a tall tree fell to the ground. Meanwhile Cornelius and Sebastian accompanied the two girls into the jungle to collect as many vines as they could harvest. Luckily they were plentiful and they soon had a large heap waiting to be converted into ropes.

  As the day progressed, Max started lumbering out of the jungle dragging a series of huge tree trunks behind him, and Cornelius and Sebastian rolled them into position to form a platform. Keera and Salah set to work plaiting the vines into stout ropes, and as each successive length appeared, Sebastian and Cornelius lashed it securely to its neighbour, bracing the whole structure with stout cross-pieces.

  'What I wouldn't give for a hammer and some nails,' said Sebastian at one point.

  'No need for them,' Cornelius assured them. 'The people of this jungle have been making canoes and rafts for generations without tools like that.'

  The raft soon began to take shape. Cornelius had kept things simple. All that was required was a large floating platform that could be pushed along by a series of wooden poles; but he ensured that loops of vine rope were attached so that the travellers could lash themselves down should the water become turbulent; and he insisted that deep grooves be cut into the end of every log – the ropes would then sink in and stay in place.

  They worked all through the first day, stopping only for a brief lunch of chai and the inevitable fish. Sebastian was already beginning to long for some roasted meat, but he knew there was no time to go hunting, and he was so ravenous, he wasn't about to complain. Once again, rather embarrassingly, Keera snatched up the biggest of the fish and hurried across to him with it. This time he felt that it wasn't just Cal who was glaring at him, but Galt too, who after all had been working much harder than he had. But it was pointless to try and stop her. She insisted on bringing her own lunch over so she could sit close to him.

  'What will you do when we have found the lost city?' she asked Sebastian.

  He looked at her in dismay. 'I suppose I'll be going back to my own world,' he said. He'd expected her to express disappointment at this but she just smiled.

  'I am looking forward to seeing it,' she said. 'And to meeting your Jenna.'

  He nearly choked on a mouthful of fish. 'Oh, but . . . I wouldn't expect you to leave your tribe,' he said. 'Your place is with them – and with your father.'

  'He'll understand,' she assured him. 'Obviously we'll come back and visit from time to time. But I'm your mate now; my place is with you.'

  Sebastian opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment Cornelius called everybody back to work and he was almost grateful for the excuse to get away.

  As the afternoon wore on, the raft began to look as though it might actually function. By the time darkness fell they had what looked like a serviceable platform. After supper they fell exhausted onto their bedrolls and slept like the dead. But the following morning, at first light, Cornelius was shouting to them to get up and, after a quick breakfast, they went straight back to work.

  The final parts of the deck had now been roped together. Cornelius subjected it to as much rough treatment as he could devise, kicking it, hitting it with stout cudgels, making sure that the ropes were strong enough; but Keera and Salah's blistered hands were proof of the hard work they had put into making them and they held fast. One of the last jobs was to find a different wood to make the long poles that would propel the raft along. Late that afternoon, Galt showed Cornelius a grove of maluba canes – slender sticks of hardwood that grew straight up out of the earth to an incredible height. Cornelius cut down a length and Sebastian tried to break it across his knee, but found that although he could bend it, he could not make it snap.

  'It's like flexible iron,' he observed, and Cornelius nodded, clearly satisfied with the choice. They cut six poles, wanting to have some spares just in case.

  Finally, as the sun declined on the horizon, it was time for the final test. Using a series of slim logs as rollers, they all helped to push, pull and prod the raft down to the river's edge and launched it into the shallows. The foremost logs hit the water with a splash and dipped alarmingly beneath the surface. Everybody held their breath; but then it rose again and floated easily. There was a collective sigh of relief and Galt lashed the raft to a stout tree trunk on the riverbank. The raft seemed to be eager to set off, moving easily to the end of its rope and rocking gently on the water.

  Everybody stood looking at it.

  'It looks OK,' said Cal at last. 'Mind you, it hasn't got that great fat buffalope on it yet.'

  Max glared at him. 'Have you ever considered a career in diplomacy?' he asked. 'Because if I were you, I wouldn't bother.'

  Cornelius sighed. 'It's floating well enough,' he observed. 'We'll see if it's still floating tomorrow morning.'

  Sebastian stared at him. 'But . . . we used jibara wood,' he said. 'Didn't you say it had a resin that would stop it from becoming waterlogged?'

  'I said that,' agreed Cornelius, 'but it's only an educated guess. If it does sink, we'll have to build another one with a different kind of wood.'

  The silence that followed this remark spoke volumes and Sebastian reflected that if Cornelius had to ask people to repeat the kind of work they'd done today, he'd probably have a mutiny on his hands. But he was too tired to worry about it now. The exhausted group staggered back to their places around the fire and wolfed down more chai and fish before settling themselves down for the night.

  They stretched themselves out on their bedrolls and were asleep in moments.

  CHAPTER 15

  DOWN RIVER

  Everybody held their breath as Max inched his vast bulk down the riverbank towards the raft.

  They had awoken that morning to find to their collective relief that the log platform was still floating, and after a final meal they had packed up all their equipment. Now everybody stood in the shallows, steadying the sides of the raft as best they could.

  'Right,' said Max. 'Here goes.' He put one hoof onto the wooden platform and then followed it with another. The raft tipped alarmingly in the water. 'Oops!' he said, but Cornelius waved at him to keep moving.

  'Go to the middle!' he ordered, and Max performed an ungainly scramble, his back legs kicking water into Cornelius's face as he lunged forward across the wooden platform. As he reached the centre, the raft righted itself, the leading edge coming down with a splash that swamped Cal and Galt, who had been attempting to steady it. For a moment it looked as though the logs were simply going to sink ben
eath the water, but then the platform rose again, leaving Max standing in the middle, looking decidedly nervous, his legs quivering.

  'I don't like this,' he said loudly. 'I don't like this at all.'

  'Never mind that,' Cornelius told him. 'You don't have to like it. Just settle yourself down and don't move a muscle.'

  'Yes, Chief,' said Max, and did as he was told, lowering himself with exaggerated care. He thought for a moment. 'What happens about my ablutions?' he asked.

  'Your what?' asked Sebastian.

  'You know, when I have to . . . do my business.'

  'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,' Cornelius told him unhelpfully. He looked around at the others. 'Right,' he said, 'let's get the equipment aboard. Don't worry, it's not going to tip up now that we've got that prodigious weight as ballast.'

  'Are you deliberately trying to upset me?' asked Max, but his question was lost in the general scramble as everybody threw the packs aboard. Finally, one by one, they clambered onto the raft. Keera and Salah settled themselves beside Max, and Sebastian, Cal and Galt took up their positions at three corners of the rectangular platform, each holding a long maluba cane. Then Cornelius cast off and jumped aboard, his light frame making hardly any impact. He grabbed a cane and went to stand at the fourth corner. Poles were dipped into the river, and with a couple of pushes the raft began to drift smoothly out towards midstream.

  Once there, the powerful current took it and it began to move forward at a surprising speed, needing only the occasional thrust of a pole to keep it pointing straight ahead.

  Cornelius clapped his hands delightedly. 'What did I tell you?' he cried. 'This is going to save us so much time!'

  'I wish people wouldn't say things like that,' muttered Max. 'It's just asking for trouble.'

  Salah started making a series of energetic gestures at Max.

  'What's she saying?' he asked Keera.

  'She's telling you not to worry. She's a strong swimmer – if you fall into the water, she'll rescue you.'

  'Oh, well, that's a weight off my mind,' said Max. But he bowed at Salah. 'Thank you,' he said politely. 'At least it shows that one person on this raft cares what happens to me.'

  Salah smiled and gave him a hug.

  Standing at the front starboard corner, Sebastian lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the sun and squinted down the great wide waterway ahead of them. It looked clear enough for as far as he could see; though they had all endured two horrific days building the raft, this form of travel certainly beat hacking their way through mile after mile of dense vegetation. He was even more delighted when, after a couple of hours of uneventful travel, Cornelius announced that two of the pole handlers could stand down and take a rest.

  'We'll change over every hour or so,' he said. 'For the moment two people can do the job without any problem.'

  He and Galt elected to take the first shift. Sebastian and Cal moved to the centre of the raft, and sat down beside the others gratefully.

  'You must be tired,' said Keera, looking at Sebastian.

  'I am,' he said.

  'Not as tired as me,' snapped Cal. 'Don't forget, I've been felling trees for the last two days.'

  Keera regarded him haughtily. 'You are well used to such work,' she said. 'The Chosen One is not.'

  Cal rolled his eyes. 'What else is new?' he sneered.

  'I wasn't exactly idle,' Sebastian told him. 'Cornelius and I had the task of putting this raft together.'

  'Yes, well, we'll soon see how good a job you made of it,' said Cal. 'I for one don't have the greatest expectations.'

  'Oh, there's nothing wrong with our workmanship,' said Sebastian, slamming one foot down on the trunks beneath him.

  'I'd really rather you didn't do that,' said Max nervously.

  'Relax – we've built this baby to take some hard knocks,' said Sebastian. 'She's not going to fall apart.'

  'There you go again,' said Max. 'Inviting trouble.'

  Salah started making her frenzied gesticulations and Keera translated.

  'She's saying that this is a fine raft and that the Chosen One and the little warrior are very clever indeed to have built it.'

  'Oh, for Okrin's sake,' growled Cal. He turned his back on the others and lay down on the wooden platform. 'I'm going to get some sleep,' he announced.

  'You do that,' said Keera dismissively. She smiled at Sebastian. 'Perhaps you would like me to massage your shoulders?' she suggested.

  'Er . . . no, that's all right,' he assured her. He glanced at Salah and saw that once again her hands were over her mouth, suppressing silent giggles. He turned his attention to Cornelius, who had set aside his cane for a moment and was scanning the banks on either side of the river with his ancient spyglass. 'What are you looking for?' he asked.

  'Always a good idea to keep an eye out for trouble,' Cornelius told him. 'This is uncharted territory – who knows what monsters might lurk in these regions?'

  'Monsters?' murmured Max. 'Oh, great.'

  'How long do you suppose it will take us to get to the lost city?' asked Sebastian.

  Cornelius frowned. 'Well, if Joseph's memory is correct, he was in the water for the best part of a day and a night. But I have to say, I'm puzzled.'

  'Why's that?' asked Keera.

  'The river that he described sounded like a hazardous, fastflowing one. There's a strong current here, but I'd expected to see rocks and rapids.'

  'But we found the big tree with all the hollows in its roots,' Sebastian reminded him. 'It must be the right river.'

  'I suppose it was a very long time ago,' said Cornelius. 'Perhaps the river has changed in all those years. Or perhaps his childish imagination simply got the better of him.'

  'I'm not so sure about that,' shouted Galt from the front of the raft as he pointed up ahead.

  Sebastian and Cornelius went over to stand beside him and Cornelius lifted his spyglass to get a better look.

  'Yes, now that's more the kind of thing I was expecting,' he said calmly. He handed the spyglass to Sebastian, who lifted it to his eye. Ahead he could see that the river narrowed somewhat and several jagged grey rocks stuck up from the shallows, forming a perilous opening. Around the rocks, white water foamed angrily.

  Sebastian looked at Cornelius. 'Perhaps we should put in to the bank,' he said.

  'Are you kidding?' Cornelius looked indignant. 'We've only just got going. Don't worry, this raft is strong enough to ride out a few rapids. Grab your pole – and wake Cal up.'

  As Sebastian made his way back, he was aware that the raft was already moving faster, being pulled along by the strong currents that led to the rapids. He stooped and shook Cal awake. The warrior looked irritated, but quickly realized that something was wrong. He jumped to his feet and, taking up his pole, went to stand at the vacant front corner, opposite Galt. Sebastian glanced at Keera and Salah and indicated some loops of rope sticking up from the logs beside them. 'You'd better wrap those around yourselves,' he advised them.

  'What about me?' asked Max anxiously. 'What do I hang on to?'

  Sebastian frowned as he realized that they had neglected to install any Max-sized loops. 'Er . . . you'll be fine,' he told the buffalope. 'Just . . . hang onto yourself.'

  He picked up his pole and went to stand at the rear port side, opposite Cornelius, aware as he did so of a roar from up ahead. He located his own loop of rope, pulled it up around his waist and drew it tight. Looking over the heads of Galt and Cal, he saw that the first rocks were rapidly approaching; beyond them, the river descended a series of levels as it thundered down into a valley.