by James Erith
‘Look, Sue,’ he began, ‘one of us had better have a kip – we’re going to need to sleep at some point and there’s not much room. If we do it this way, the other can keep look-out.’
Sue hadn’t thought of this. ‘Good idea, brain-box. On sailing boats, I think they do four hours on and four hours off. Want to give it a try?’
‘Sure,’ Gus said. ‘It’s five-fifty now. Have a sleep till half nine – if you can. Then I’ll look out till one and do the early morning shift at four or five. Sound OK?’
With a bit of a shuffle, Gus pulled the planks he’d stowed from the bottom of the boat and made up a bed – of sorts – where at least one of them could lie down. Gus unfolded a plastic sheet and laid it on top of the wet boards so they wouldn’t lie in the wet. Sue lay down and he spread the dust sheets over her. It wasn’t great, but it would have to do.
Sue closed her eyes. She didn’t really feel like sleeping, but having a rest now after all that bailing out was welcome. And Gus was right, one of them needed to be on look-out – especially if there was a place they could land – and it would be a disaster if they were to miss out while they slept.
Gus moved out to the bow of the boat and breathed a big sigh of relief. Quite amazingly, it seemed, they had got over the worst and the makeshift canopy he’d erected had saved their lives. He laughed. He’d have won the DT prize for that; just goes to show what you can do when the pressure’s on. He wondered if Sue had any idea how close it had been, and then he thought of his mum and dad. Mum would be worried sick, but his dad would be chuffed to bits with him, he reckoned. He hoped they hadn’t gone looking for him – there was nothing he could do about it if they had. Anyway, what a surprise it would be when he got home.
He caressed his temples. At least they had food and water and could keep dry. And so long as the boat held together they had every chance. Plus they made a good team. He took a deep breath as the last gasps of daylight started to eke away. Yeah, they made a very good team.
If only they had some way of telling where they were. He thought for a minute if it wouldn’t be worth dropping the oars and trying to make it to land by rowing hard to one side. Or maybe he could drop an oar at the back and use it as a rudder. But, then again, what if he didn’t have the strength to handle it and dropped the oar into the water. No, it wasn’t worth the risk. He wiped the rain, which was now bearable for more than a minute, off his face. Best keep on and hope the boat might bank somewhere where they could make off to safety.
He ducked inside and, as Sue dozed, he slipped past her, grabbed a bucket and started the process of bailing the water out all over again. How long would the rain continue? Perhaps they were over the worst, but what if the deluge came back? He shivered. They had been lucky – astonishingly lucky, he’d never seen anything like it – but he didn’t fancy their chances if it happened again.
At the change-over, the boat continued to float freely, bumping into driftwood and other debris being washed out. Occasionally, The Joan Of spun and pitched, but not with the same force as earlier. Gus wondered what they were going to eat for supper, before resisting the temptation to devour a Mars Bar. He headed to the front of the boat where, every so often through the drizzle, he imagined he could see a spark of a light in the distance.
When Sue woke, they tucked into a cold pork pie and shared a few pieces of chocolate. Gus was very strict on the rations, stating that until they had some idea where they were, they needed to conserve every morsel. Sue complained bitterly, but Gus made it quite clear that this was non-negotiable. By the time they had given each other a few more teasers, and told each other stories about their childhoods, it was ten o’clock. Gus reluctantly lay down on the planks while Sue kept look-out.
At midnight, Sue was frozen. And she was bored of looking out onto the dark sky and being spat on by the rain while the boat bobbed along. She climbed under the canopy and shivered. A big yawn engulfed her and, instinctively, she lay down next to Gus, who was fast asleep. She nestled up to his warm body, rearranging the dust covers over herself and inhaling the boyish smell of his clothes. Before long, the gentle rocking of the boat sent her fast asleep.
The Joan Of rocked gently one minute and then seemed to climb up a bank and then skid down. For a minute, Gus thought he might be at a funfair. But what was that terrible screeching noise? He yawned, opened his eyes and found himself looking into Sue’s sleeping face. He smiled; what a very pleasant way to wake up. She must have got bored in the middle of the night and slipped under the dust covers. Oh well. And then he wondered what his breath must be like. Probably gross. Heck.
Trying not to disturb her, he shuffled down to the end of the boat, popped his head out, closed his eyes, stretched his arms and took a huge lungful of fresh air.
Then he opened one eye and peered about. Then the other.
His head felt dizzy. OK, so this was interesting.
He pulled himself right out of the boat, and stood on the step while leaning on the canopy. Then he whistled.
Sue was stirring inside the boat and Gus could hear her yawns.
‘Good morning, Captain Sue.’
‘Oh, morning, Gus,’ she said rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. ‘Everything alright?’
He popped his head down. ‘Fine and dandy-ish.’
‘Any idea where we are yet?’
‘Ab-so-lute-ly none. Have a peek for yourself.’
Sue crept down to the other end and leant out.
‘Oh!’ she said calmly. A moment later she ducked her head inside, her eyes wide open and her face as pale as milk.
‘Oh? Is that it?’ Gus said.
‘Yes, Oh!’
‘We’re miles out to sea with no way of knowing where on earth we might be and all you can say is “Oh”.’
‘Yes, oh,’ Sue began. She took a deep breath. ‘Right, Gus. I’ve never sworn at anything or anyone before in my life – but I’ve heard my mum do it and I think this is the perfect time to finally give it a proper go.’
Gus looked a little confused. ‘Oh?’ he said.
‘You see,’ Sue continued, ‘every time she swears, it always begins with, “Oh”.’
Gus raised his bushy eyebrows. ‘Oh,’ he said again.
And with that, Sue returned out of the canopy and screamed at the very top of her voice. ‘OH $*%@!’
42
The Bubbling Pool
Old Man Wood had the presence of mind to remove his coat, hat, socks and boots before he dipped his foot in the water. It was beautifully hot and felt silky and sparkly at the same time, like a winning combination of champagne and cream. Ever so slowly, he lowered his body into the pool and the water bubbled up around him. He closed his eyes and let himself drift under. Almost immediately, he felt the bubbles caress his aches and pains, as though targeting each one individually. When he resurfaced and opened his eyes, the children were beaming at him.
Old Man Wood laughed out loud. ‘You did it, you survived! And how? HOW in apples’ name … how? And are you better – Daisy, Archie – truly?’
The children floated over and hugged him.
Old Man Wood inspected Archie, looking for the cuts and bruises on his head and on his hands and body. He did the same with Daisy, but their skin was clear and smooth. It was as if the battle through the storm had never happened.
‘I can’t believe it. I simply can’t believe it,’ he repeated. ‘In all the world I thought you were as good as dead, you twins. Battered to bits you were and now look at you. It’s a miracle.’
The children looked at each other blankly. It was indeed strange that their cuts and bruises had all but gone, but maybe they hadn’t been hurt that badly. Anyway, wasn’t that what thermal springs did, heal? This one, they decided, must be a pretty good one.
Isabella asked. ‘So how did you find us?’
Old Man Wood hesitated as he tried to work out how much he should tell them. ‘I was up at the cottage watching the storm blasting out of the sky and thinking to my
self that if you were trying to get home you’d be in a spot of trouble. There wasn’t a word from the school so I thought I’d better try and, er, find you. It took a while, mind, slipping and sliding. By the looks of you lot when I found you – you know exactly what I mean.’
‘It’s odd, but I can’t remember much,’ Daisy said, playing with her hair, ‘apart from being very cold and very tired. That’s it really. Oh and holding on to a branch for dear life and some big, nasty flashes.’ Her eyes sparkled. ‘Did we win the football?’
Isabella laughed. ‘Really, Daisy, of all the questions. You don’t remember?’
Daisy shook her head.
‘Well, I’ll tell you. With the last kick of the game, you hit possibly the worst free kick the world has ever known,’ she raised her eyebrows. ‘Still not ringing any bells? Fortunately for you, the ball was deflected by a thunderbolt into the goal and, in the process, fractionally away from Archie’s brain, short-circuiting his hair.’
The four of them roared with laughter, while Archie tried to bend his strange mace-like hair.
Archie piped up. ‘Where did you go, sis?’ he asked Isabella. ‘One minute you were there and the next you’d vanished.’
‘I was swept downstream,’ she replied. ‘When I landed, I struggled up towards this ledge, although at that time I had no idea it was here. I had to crawl uphill as fast as I could just to keep pace with the rising water. Next thing I knew, there was a landslide and I thought I’d had it, but I’d crawled just far enough towards the cliff face and it passed over me. For a while I had no way of knowing where I was, but I managed to climb up onto the ledge,’ she pointed to the entrance, ‘when two huge thunderbolts crashed out of the sky nearby. I reckoned they were directed at you, like the others had been, so I thought one might be coming after me. So I threw myself off the ledge. When I pulled myself out, the boulder I’d been leaning on was broken and I found Daisy looking pretty much dead on the ledge.’
The mention of the thunderbolts coming after them and Daisy lying dead had made them silent again.
‘Daisy,’ Archie said, a tone of uneasiness in his voice, ‘could you actually hear the thunderbolts coming? I mean you kept looking up and screaming INCOMING and then diving out of the way. And the bolt would hit the position where we were.’
‘Yeah,’ Daisy said. ‘Couldn’t you?’
The others shook their heads.
‘Oh.’ She seemed genuinely surprised. ‘It was a funny crackling noise miles up in the sky, the sort of noise you get when you put wet leaves on a roaring bonfire. It was quite easy to recognise after a while. Are you sure you couldn’t hear it?’
There was an awkward silence.
‘Anyway,’ Isabella continued, trying to sound a little more cheerful. ‘The next thing I can remember is seeing Old Man Wood. After that I must have fallen asleep. And when I woke up I was sitting in a wonderful thermal bath with you guys. I thought we were, you know, in Heaven.’ The children laughed. ‘And all my aches and cuts and bruises had vanished.’ She opened the palms of her hands, ‘Apart from these.’ She showed them her hands.
The black burn marks had gone, but the indents were still there with the hole through the middle.
‘Ow!’ Daisy said. ‘How did you get that?’
Isabella winced. ‘I think I managed to deflect a lightning bolt.’
‘You did what? But that would have killed you.’
‘I know, I put my hands up to protect me and …’ Isabella was confused. It didn’t make sense to her, and furthermore, she didn’t want to elaborate. ‘Anyway, we haven’t heard from you, Archie, what happened to you?’
‘I honestly don’t remember a great deal,’ he said as a cheeky smile grew on his face. ‘Did I really punch one of the Chitbury players?’
‘Punch?’ Daisy said her eyes wide, ‘yeah, big time, you went bonkers, like you were possessed.’
‘Blimey.’ He fell quiet. ‘I’ve never hit anyone before.’
As he tried to recall the moment, the image of Kemp and Cain came flashing back and a dark scowl crept over his face. ‘Can’t remember much more – apart from pulling that massive branch off the lane and getting tangled up in the rope, and then I think I got whacked in the head.’ He inspected his head. ‘Feels fine now.’
Archie ducked under the bubbles and when he re-emerged he blew the water out of his mouth at Daisy. She retaliated by flicking water at him and a water fight developed, which was a welcome break from telling their awkward survival stories.
But there was one thing Daisy wanted to know. ‘Archie, do you remember you said just before the storm broke – that it was going to come at us and wouldn’t stop until the sun went down? How did you know? I mean, that’s exactly what happened. All those thunderbolts came at us, didn’t they? And Isabella told us the heavy rain stopped just as the sun disappeared.’
Isabella leant in. It had been playing on her mind too.
Archie felt pretty uncomfortable. He didn’t want to start going into the detail of his dream let alone delve into the conversations he’d had with Cain and Kemp. Thinking about it made him go cold. How could he explain it without sounding like an idiot? Maybe he’d tell them later. He just wanted to eat something and go to sleep. He yawned. ‘I dunno,’ he said and shrugged his shoulders. ‘Just a hunch, I suppose. I’m starving.’
‘You’re hiding something, aren’t you, winkle?’
‘I hate it when you call me that,’ he said and splashed his twin with water.
But the girls knew there was something he wasn’t telling them.
Old Man Wood listened attentively, noting that they had survived direct strikes from lightning bolts. It was impossible – so how had they done it? He rubbed his chin; there must be something special about them – was this what his dreams were trying to tell him? And what was it about the awkwardness in Archie’s face – it was the same expression he’d seen when he handed him the coat. And what was it about the “Cain” person he’d called out for? He wondered if Archie would ever elaborate.
He remembered the apples. ‘I’ve got just the thing,’ he announced, rummaging in his coat pocket. ‘You must be starving, so I took the liberty of bringing you something. Afterwards, it’d be a good idea to grab some rest. After all, we’ve still got to figure out how we’re going to get out of here.’
Archie cupped some of the water. ‘The delicious water in here’s filled me up a bit,’ he said, ‘but a nice chocolate brownie – preferably with chocolate custard – would hit the spot.’
‘Or a huge plate of Peking duck pancakes with plum sauce, cucumber and spring onions,’ Daisy said.
‘Or a huge slice of banoffee pie, with thick cream,’ Isabella added, licking her lips.
Old Man Wood pulled out the apples.
He could see the disappointed looks on their faces. ‘Now, before you start complaining, these are my special apples, so make sure you eat the whole thing, understand. Pips and all. They’ll fill you up. Trust me. Don’t know why or how, but they will.’
He threw an apple at each one of them. They all bit in hard and were rewarded with the taste of golden syrup, honey, apple pie and raspberries flooding their mouths. Delicious.
The children pulled themselves out of the pit and wrung-out their tattered clothes. The cave was beautifully warm and their bodies – now devoid of cuts and bruises – quickly began to dry. From the multicoloured glow of the water, which seemed to generate its own light, the children searched the room for somewhere to lay their tired heads and bodies. It soon became evident that there were four ledges, like stone benches, off the floor, as though individually made for them.
Daisy sat down heavily on the one in front of her and, in the next movement, she pulled her legs up so she was lying down. ‘This is lovely,’ she announced, scrunching her hand in the soft velvety texture. Daisy sank into it and, before long, she was snoring loudly.
The others did the same, and they too experienced the extraordinary sensation of the warm silk
y powder, softer than feathers, that moulded perfectly around their bodies.
Within moments, the Heirs of Eden and Old Man Wood were fast asleep.
43
The Walls Of The Cave
As the gentle colours of dawn rose up over the Vale of York, a thin, hazy light squeezed through the entrance of the cave. The children stirred.
Isabella sat up, stretched her arms out wide and yawned. For a moment, her heart nearly missed a beat. Where was she? Her eyes darted around the room. The whole thing had been true. She rubbed her eyes, disappointed that the familiar beams across their bedroom and the curtain in front of her were only in her imagination.
The events of the previous day came rushing back like a sudden chill. The terrible storm, the lightning. Crawling on her hands and knees. She inspected her skin. There were no blemishes at all – had the water cured them? Yes, that was right. It had done. Then she remembered her hands and saw the holes. She trembled. Did she really repel a lightning bolt with just her hands? She raised her hands to the mouth of the cave and her two holes radiated a beam of light. And when she thought about it, how had she guided them to the bridge through the extraordinary torrent, or scrambled up the bank? Magic? No, magic didn’t exist, it was all illusion – a sleight of hand here, a helping hand there. Perhaps it was her will and guts that had saved her. But even those qualities couldn’t repel thousands of volts passing straight through her and frying her to bits. And how could she explain the extraordinary healing powers of the well?
A thrill passed through her as she tried to work it out, realising that whatever had occurred was either an enormous slice of luck, or more likely some new physics she wasn’t aware of. And as for the water, well, she was determined to take some samples back. It must have a combination of remarkable volcanic, organic, healing rock properties that were as yet unknown. She would be a scientific hero! She clapped her hands together. Yes. That was it; she would find out how it had been done using straightforward science as proof. She made a mental note to return with some beakers, and then she wondered whether her hands would contain particles in them that might help unlock this extraordinary secret.
