by John Booth
Jalia answered as she continued to seek a solution to the problem. “Because we had no choice. Their gold at Brinan was lost, but that didn’t stop the Association coming after us to get it back. They tried to torture the location of the gold out of us twice before we realized we had no choice but to stop them. It was a matter of survival, us or them, and we much preferred to stay alive. Besides which, they were slavers, and I hate slavers.”
“I see, I think,” Sila said as she emptied her cup. “Well then, it’s all done with isn’t it? A woman like me can always get by provided she keeps a little money in reserve.” Sila patted the carpetbag protectively. “So come and rescue me, hero, because I am certainly in need.” She held her hand out to Jalia.
“Can you tie yourself to this rope if I lower it to you?”
“I think so,” Sila said cautiously. “But a mite of a girl like you could never lift me up. Not with my bag, and I’m not planning on leaving without it.”
“I’m going to try something dangerous. It could well get you killed if I get it wrong.”
“As opposed to dying down here if you do nothing?” Sila laughed. “I shall take my chances with my hero’s plan, however dangerous.”
Jalia worked out how much rope Sila would need to tie around her body and then added a few feet to that length. She tied several knots in the rope at this point to produce one big wide ugly knot. When she had completed that task, she lowered the end of the rope down to Sila. Sila looked at the big knot suspiciously.
“What’s this for?”
“That’s your brake. If it doesn’t work you will be dragged to a watery grave.”
“Sounds fair to me.” Sila tied the rope around her waist and held on with her bag’s straps over her shoulder. “What do I do now?”
“Just wait. If there are any gods you believe in, you might want to start praying to them.”
Jalia heard another cheer and looked up to see that Alin had been pulled aboard the Steam Dragon. Don was right behind him. Jalia watched until he too was back onboard the ship. That being satisfactorily accomplished, she got on with her plan.
There was another hold cover next to the one she had removed. She tied her end of the rope to a lashing point on the cover. Then she began to lever the cover off.
The cover tipped off its mounting and slid down the deck to the river. Sila’s weight was nothing compared to the weight of the cover and it pulled her up from the hold. Jalia stepped to the far side of the hole and watched as the rope ran up from the hold. The cover reached the water and gathered speed. The friction of the rope against the lip of the hold was so great that the wood started to smoke as Sila’s head reached the opening. Then the knot Jalia had tied snagged against the lip of the hold.
“Grab onto the side,” Jalia shouted as she sawed through the rope with her knife. Sila did not understand what was going on and began to pull herself out of the hole. Her actions allowed the knot to lift over the lip.
Sila was dragged from the hold as soon as the knot came free. Jalia grabbed hold of her and tried to keep hold, as the cover was pulled downstream by the fast flowing river. Her fingers began to slip as Sila screamed.
The rope parted at the cut Jalia had started. Sila fell on top of Jalia as the drag vanished. Jalia held on to the lip of the cover hole for her life. Then she felt the ship begin to tilt further into the river.
She heard the sound of the mooring line dropping into the water as it was cut by the Steam Dragon’s crew.
Sila turned over and was able to assess their situation.
“We are going to die, aren’t we?”
Jalia was tempted to nod, as she could see no way out of their predicament. Then she heard the sound of something crashing onto the deck. Jalia turned in response to the noise, trying to figure out what had just happened.
High up on the viewing platform on the Steam Dragons funnel, Jalia saw two small figures swinging a rope towards them with a weight attached to its end. She saw at once that the two were Hala and Nin. They had tied their end of a rope to the safety rail and were leaning over it to assist its swing. They pulled the rope up as it came back towards the Steam Dragon before letting it down as it flew down towards the wreck.
“Come on.” Jalia dragged Sila to the higher part of the ship where the weight had previously hit. They scrambled up the incline as the ship shuddered beneath them.
The weight came back towards them and Jalia grabbed it as it landed for a second time. She dropped down the deck towards the mast, towing Sila behind her. Seconds later, she had tied the rope around the mast.
The Steam Dragon was once again tied to the ship and in some danger as a result. Jalia saw the Captain his crew rush towards the funnel to cut the rope. She and Sila didn’t have much time to make their escape.
“We have to climb the mast and take the rope with us,” Jalia told Sila, who nodded her understanding. As they climbed the sloping mast, they could reach higher up the rope. The end of the rope would still be tied to the ship, but that wouldn’t matter.
Jalia kept an eye on Captain Toren, who was now halfway up the steps to the viewing platform.
“We need to hurry. Drop that bag of yours, it’s slowing us down,” Jalia told Sila, who ignored her.
Jalia cut the rope below her as she saw Hala holding the Captain at bay with her knife. Sila grabbed hold of her as she wrapped the rope around her hands. She let go of the mast and the women swung towards the Steam Dragon.
They crashed into the hull of the Dragon with their feet in the water. Willing hands pulled the rope up as the women clung on for their lives. Jalia was sure her arms were being pulled from their sockets. She couldn’t believe how heavy Sila was.
Then hands grabbed them and lifted them up onto the deck. Jalia turned in time to see the sailing ship slip beneath the water.
She got to her feet, seeing that it was Cara and Don who had rescued them.
“Glad to be able to do something to help,” Cara said apologetically. “I’m hopeless at climbing ropes and I’ve never learned to swim.”
“You need to go on a diet,” Don said. “The two of you were so heavy I wasn’t sure we were going to be able to pull you up.”
“Thank you. I especially owe a debt of gratitude to you, Don. It took a lot of nerve to follow me over to the ship and get Alin back to the Dragon.”
While they were talking, Sila staggered to her feet. “You all have my thanks and I will say them again when I am less the worse for wear. Right now, I must go and see to my secretary.” She walked unsteadily towards Alin. Jak was examining Alin’s leg, still hidden by the hooded cloak he always wore.
“I gather the hooded one is a healer,” Cara remarked. “He must get hot in that cloak in this heat.”
“It looks like you have more trouble coming, Jalia,” Don said and nodded his head at something behind her. Jalia turned to see Captain Toren and some of his crew bearing down on them. Hala and Nin were being pushed along behind the Captain, their hands pinioned behind their backs.
“Lady Jalia,” Captain Gil Toren spat out a greeting, his eyes showing his anger behind his large black beard. “This one is yours, I believe?”
Hala was unceremoniously pushed forward. Jalia grabbed the girl before she fell over the side.
“She is the first person to pull a knife on me on my own boat and live to tell the tale,” Toren said, spittle flying through the air. “Keep her out of my sight for the rest of this voyage. If it wasn’t for your heroism I would have already thrown her overboard to feed the fishes.”
“Her actions saved my life and that of the Lady Sila,” Jalia said in an icily calm voice. “No thanks to you when you cut the rope.”
“She endangered the Steam Dragon. This boat is protected by magic, but it is not indestructible. She and Nin risked our lives to save yours.”
“I very much doubt that a rope that thin risked the Steam Dragon,” Jalia retorted. “The worst you faced were a few scrapes on the hull if the mast had been dragge
d towards you. The rope would have broken long before the Dragon was at risk. And I would have cut it myself before that point.”
“A captain’s word on his boat is law,” Captain Toren told her, his fists clenching against his side. “And a member of my crew risked the Dragon without seeking my permission. He is going to live to regret that.”
As Jalia looked at Nin’s face she saw he was already regretting it. He looked as though he was going to wet himself. Before she could say anything more, Lady Sila interrupted the proceedings.
“And I for one would never interfere with the Captain of a ship and his rule. Though I am grateful to these children for what they did, of course. Is there accommodation I can buy for Alin and myself? The best you have, naturally.”
Captain Toren changed immediately into business mode. He gave Sila his most charming smile and rubbed his hands.
“I’m afraid the situation in Slarn has forced us to raise prices steeply to make ends meet. We have a guest suite available next to Lady Sorn, but the price will be six pieces of gold, I’m afraid.”
Jalia’s jaw dropped at the ridiculously high price. It made the rate they had been charged seem almost reasonable by comparison. However, Sila did not bat an eyelid. Alin Bredan arrived behind her, his leg properly splinted. He had been given a stick to walk with and seemed to be managing quite well with it.
“Pay the good Captain, Alin,” Sila instructed and Alin reached into a moneybag on his belt and handed over six coins. The coins glinted as if newly minted and had the six islands of Telmar on one of their faces. Jalia recognized it as Association minted gold. There was nothing particularly special about that as they had mined a lot of gold. It was unusual to see it look so new. Most of it had been around for some time.
The Captain weighed the gold in his hand and looked satisfied. He ordered one of his crew to escort his honored guests to their suite before he turned back to Jalia.
“You have profited more than a little as a result of Nin’s actions,” Jalia pointed out. “Perhaps for another three or four pieces of gold, you could see your way clear to overlooking his trifling error. He is only a child, after all.”
“You can’t buy him out of his punishment. He will have to answer to me and to the crew for his actions,” Captain Toren retorted and walked away. Nin, clearly terrified, was dragged away by two burly crewmen.
“You have to save him,” Hala said, jumping up and down in frustration.
“I have to get cleaned up first,” Jalia replied. “And I need time to think. What would you have me do, Hala? Kill all the crew, including his father to protect him from them?”
“It isn’t fair,” Hala said, stomping her feet.
“Life rarely is,” Jalia said. She led a reluctant Hala back to their cabin.
They opened the door to the sight of Daniel back on his feet and dressed. He grinned at Jalia as she walked in. Daniel had trouble speaking clearly, as his mouth was full of their supplies.
“There you two are. Has the Steam Dragon sailed yet? I’m starving hungry for some reason. I wasn’t sure if I saved Hala or not, but when I saw the way her bunk had been slept in and the absence of any blood I was pretty sure she came through in one piece.”
Hala ran to Daniel squealing in delight and hugged him tight while Jalia just grinned at him.
“It’s been nearly two days. Don’t you remember anything?”
Daniel looked startled, but then shrugged his shoulders cheerfully.
“The last thing I remember was pulling the crossbow bolt out of Hala. Blood spurted out of the wound and I put my hand over it. Then the world went white and the next thing I remember was waking up here in my bunk about half an hour ago.” Daniel cast his eye over Jalia, “Have you been practicing been pulled through hedges backwards? Or have you been out causing trouble again?”
Jalia pouted, “I never cause trouble and you know it. It just follows me around wherever I go and jumps right on top of me. We came across a Telmarian sailing ship floundering in the river and I jumped over to it and saved a couple of survivors. I got a little dirty doing it, but it was simple task really.”
“Daniel, it was incredible,” Hala said excitedly. “Jalia jumped over to the mast of the ship and got a man with a broken leg out of its innards. Then Don went down a mooring line and brought him back. And then, Jalia rescued this woman in the hold by tying a rope to a massive cover thing and pushing it into the river. And then the Captain of the Dragon cut the mooring rope so Jalia couldn’t get back. And then, me and Nin swung a rope over to her from the top of the viewing platform. And then Jalia swung back onto the Dragon with the woman using the rope. And now the Captain is going to do something terrible to Nin and we can’t stop him.”
Daniel listened with interest. When she finished, Hala found she had lost the ability to speak as she had to do some breathing, Daniel turned to Jalia. “So it was a simple rescue?”
“Hala does make a bit of a fuss,” Jalia turned on the hot tap and filled a bowl with water. She pulled her jerkin over her head, stripping naked to the waist. Daniel saw the bruises on her back and shoulders and reached for the ointment in his bag.
“Who is Nin?” Daniel asked as he came up behind Jalia and began to apply the ointment to her skin.
Jalia turned her head and kissed him as he moved in closer. “That would be Hala’s boyfriend. I’ve put her on Gintel leaves before they get up to anything sticky.”
Hala gasped, her mouth opening into an ‘O’ of embarrassment.
“He is not my boyfriend,” Hala spluttered in outrage. “And I did not need Gintel leaves.”
“I see you acted just in time,” Daniel remarked straight-faced. “She has it bad, doesn’t she?”
“First love,” Jalia replied as Daniel started to apply the ointment down her back and towards her buttocks. “By the time you’ve had as many lovers as I have, it wears off. It all comes down to performance in the end.”
“And how do I rate on your well-populated performance scale?”
“Oh I don’t know? So-so I would say… Ow, that hurts!” Jalia protested as Daniel brought his hand down onto her buttocks, hard.
“Just checking for any damage down below,” Daniel told her dryly. “None there…. yet. I would say.”
“Not in front of the child, Daniel,” Jalia said primly and stepped away from him. “But we do have a problem.”
“We always do,” Daniel said and sighed. He sat on the bunk as Jalia explained about Nin.
“I’ve tried bribing the Captain and that failed. I don’t see how taking on the crew will help either.”
“There may be little we can do,” Daniel agreed. “But we can at least make sure the boy is not about to be murdered.”
“They wouldn’t,” Hala cried out in horror.
“What would Mallon have done to Nin?” Jalia asked quietly.
Hala’s face paled as she realized that he would have already been dead had he been in Taldon’s Fort. Mallon Taldon did not tolerate disobedience and would have cut the boy’s head from his shoulders with one blow of his sword. In the few weeks since leaving the fort, Hala had somehow become civilized and put those horrors behind her. It was a shock to her to find such things existed out in the world.
“Well, we are not going to find out anything sitting around here, are we?” Daniel pointed out. He pulled his sword harness from his bunk and started to fasten it onto his back. “There really isn’t any rest for the wicked, is there?”
“Well you have just had plenty. It’s me who’s been running around all over the place.”
“Isn’t that just what I said?” Daniel asked innocently.
4. Developments
“Hala should stay in our cabin while we find Nin,” Jalia said as she went to the door.
“I want to come. I need to come with you,” Hala pleaded. They couldn’t leave her in the cabin, it just wasn’t fair.
“She’s earned the right,” Daniel said much to Hala’s relief. “Besides which, if
you need your life saving again and she’s not there I might have to do it myself.”
Jalia punched Daniel lightly on the arm. “I would have found another way to save myself. It was only a river after all.”
“Probably,” Daniel agreed. “But she persuaded Nin to help her and that’s why he’s in trouble now, so we all need to go.”
“Where do we start looking?” Jalia said, conceding the point.
“Wherever they steer the boat from,” Daniel replied. “We are underway and there must be a crewman there who knows what’s going on.”
“That would be the bridge,” Hala said enthusiastically. “I know the faster way to get there, follow me.” Hala set off down the corridor at close to a run.
Jalia watched Hala disappear out of sight and turned to Daniel. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
Daniel shrugged. “It’s not about doing what is safest; it is about doing what is right.”
Hala kept on running ahead, impatient with Daniel and Jalia for walking. She was terrified they would be too late and find Nin dangling from a rope, dead as a doornail with popped out eyes and blackened tongue. Ever since Jalia had mentioned what Mallon would have done she couldn’t get images like that out of her head.
When Hala reached the door to the bridge, she looked through the little round window in the door and saw a single crewman on duty. Jalia and Daniel took forever to catch up. Hala would have sworn they were walking slowly just to annoy her.
“I’ll talk to him. You stay out here,” Daniel said as he stepped past Hala and reached for the handle of the door.
“Why you and not me?” Jalia asked belligerently.
“Because nobody is mad at me and because I am much better at diplomacy.”
Jalia gave a shrug and Daniel entered the bridge alone.
“I’m sorry, sir. Passengers are not allowed on the bridge unless the Captain authorizes it,” Hal Patin said as he saw Daniel. Hal turned back to steering the boat. This particular section of the river was difficult to traverse as the waters ran narrow and fast. In another mile of so they would enter a slower moving and wider part of the Jalon.
