That though I sing of Vampirates,
I never one shall see.
Yea, if pirates are danger,
And vampires are death,
I’ll extend my prayer for thee —
That thine eyes never see a Vampirate . . .
. . . and they never lay a hand on thee.
His song finished, the boy stood there, staring at the swimmer, who had stopped just a few paces short of the table. Now others turned around to see what had caught the boy’s attention. Suddenly, they were all looking at him.
He opened his mouth. “I’ll tell you a tale of Vampirates,” he said.
And then panic combined with exhaustion and hunger and his vision blurred. And everything went dark.
Connor looked down at the stranger, as Bart poured another drop of rum into his mouth. The man was soaked through. Where had he come from at this time of night? His clothes were strange, out of place and time. And he had looked so strangely at Connor as he’d sung the Vampirate shanty. Perhaps it had distressed him and that was why he had fainted.
With a splutter, the man came back to life, turning to spit out the rum.
“Here, buddy, have some more, it’ll do ya good,” Bart said.
The stranger shook his head and turned his face away. “No more.”
“Would you rather have some water?” asked Cate, close by.
“Nothing,” the stranger said slowly.
And, curiously, now that he had returned to consciousness, he did seem to have fully recovered. He even shunned their offers of help to lift him, easing himself up and onto the bench nearby.
“What’s your name, stranger?” Captain Wrathe asked. “Where have you come from?”
The stranger said nothing, but turned back to look at the ocean.
“Have you come from another ship?” Bart asked.
“Give him time to answer,” Captain Wrathe said. “He seems to be in shock.”
“It was the shanty,” Connor said. “He heard me singing about the Vampirates.”
At the mention of the word, the stranger spun his head toward Connor.
“Vam-pi-rates,” he said very slowly.
Connor could not breathe, such was his anticipation.
“I’ll tell you a tale of Vampirates,” the man said, his voice low and cracked.
Connor could not hold back any longer. “I’m looking for a ship. The Vampirate ship. Have you come from it?”
Connor felt the locket vibrating against his pounding heart. This had to be the breakthrough. This had to be his way back to Grace.
But the man looked at him with wide, empty eyes.
Connor could not let go. “I think my sister is on that ship. She’s my age. We’re twins. Her name is Grace.”
The stranger’s expression had altered even before Connor had finished speaking. His mouth had broken into a smile at the mention of Grace. A smile of recognition, perhaps. And now he was looking into Connor’s eyes and nodding. “You’re twins. Grace.”
He did know something. Connor was so full of questions, he did not know what to ask next. Before he had a chance to speak, he heard Cheng Li’s voice.
“Tell us about the Vampirates,” she said. “How can we fight them? Will they try to take our blood?”
The stranger looked at her in wonder, frowning, as if in pain. Then he nodded.
“Did they take your blood?” she asked, with a rare softness. “Is that it? Were you a prisoner of the Vampirates? Did they take your blood before you escaped? Is that why you’re so weak?”
“Blood,” was all he said before his eyes closed again.
“No,” Connor cried. “Please, sir, don’t let go now. We need you to tell us where that ship is. We need to know if my sister is there.”
“Grace,” said the stranger, then, “danger.”
“Come on,” Captain Wrathe said. “There’s no time to lose. Round up the crew and prepare the ship. We’ll take him with us.”
Captain Wrathe looked down at the poor stranger, whose eyes flickered for a moment, then closed.
“They must be terrible demons to weaken such a strong man as this,” Captain Wrathe said sadly. “If only we knew the chink in their armor. If only we had a clue.”
The stranger’s eyes flickered again and he clutched Connor’s arm with his hand.
“He has something to tell us,” Bart said. “Maybe if I try some more rum?”
The stranger shook his head and squeezed Connor’s arm again. Though he was weak, his grip was strong and Connor flinched at the pain.
“What is it?” Connor asked. “What is it that you want so badly to tell us?”
“Attack when night becomes day . . .” He seemed to struggle to get the words out. “At their weakest in the light.”
The effort of the words was too much for him and his eyes closed and once more he slumped back against the table.
Connor thought he would explode. At last, at last he had his clue to finding Grace! But what if it was too late? What if they had feasted on her and weakened her like this? What if they had left only a fragile shell?
“Connor,” Captain Wrathe said, spotting his concern. “You keep steady, do you hear me? Believe that she’s all right. And trust me, my young friend, we will take our revenge for whatever they have done to her. This man has given us a great gift. He’ll take us to their ship and we’ll do the rest. We’re going to find your sister, my boy, and we’re going to destroy these demons.”
Lying there on the bench, his eyes shut tight, Sidorio wanted to do nothing so much as laugh. These poor fools had swallowed his performance hook, line, and sinker. He had forgotten how much fun it could be playing with mortals’ minds. And he couldn’t wait to see the Vampirate captain’s reaction when a ship of vengeful pirates arrived at daylight. Could revenge really be so easy as this? For the first time in a long, long time, he awaited dawn with delicious anticipation.
35
IT BEGINS
Lorcan and Grace stood on the deck of the ship. Grace had been reluctant to return directly to her cabin after what had happened there with Sidorio.
“We could go back to my cabin, if you prefer,” Lorcan said, “but we must go back inside soon.”
“No, no, I’ll be okay. I have to go back there sometime. Just a few minutes more, though,” she said. “It’s so beautiful tonight with all the stars.”
“All right, but just a few minutes more. It’s getting late and the sky is beginning to lighten. We must be inside before Darcy sounds the Dawning Bell!”
Grace nodded. She remembered how he had cowered from the light in her cabin before. She would not put him through that pain again.
The Diablo coursed through the open waters, in pursuit of the Vampirate ship. The stranger had recovered sufficiently to give the captain directions, though he had struggled to remember his own name. At last, he had turned to Captain Wrathe with a flicker of a smile and said, “Caesar.” Now “Caesar” was at the captain’s side, while Connor, Bart, Cate, and Cheng Li stood close by.
The deck was packed tight with members of the crew. News had spread fast that Connor’s twin sister was alive but in grave danger, and every pirate was preparing for the fight of their lives. Connor was touched by their unwavering support.
“You’re one of us now, Connor,” Captain Wrathe told him, “and every pirate looks out for his brother.”
Cutlass Cate and Cheng Li gave the crew a joint briefing, telling them to beware of an enemy they knew next to nothing about. Cate had pressed Caesar for what information he had, but he just kept repeating, “Attack as night becomes day and victory will be yours.”
At last, they saw the shadow of a ship up ahead. That must be it. The captain turned to Caesar expectantly. He nodded. Connor’s heart was beating fast. Bart placed a hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Not long now, buddy,” he said.
The deck of the ship seemed to be quiet. Captain Wrathe slowed the speed of The Diablo to reduce the noise. He wanted to make the most of t
he element of surprise. The cannons were loaded and the Three Wishes were half-suspended in readiness. Soon merry hell would break loose — but until the last possible moment, he wanted silence.
Finally, the captain turned to Cate. “Please make the final preparations for attack.”
“Not yet,” interrupted Caesar. “Too dark.”
“We can’t take the chance of waiting any longer,” said Captain Wrathe. “You’ve been wonderfully helpful, Caesar, but we’ll take our chances now.”
“Besides,” Cheng Li said, “look, the light is coming from the east.”
Caesar trembled, his eyes flickering again as they had at the tavern.
“Are you all right?” Cheng Li asked.
“I’m a little cold,” he said, his eyes almost shut. “Perhaps if my work is done, I might go inside for a while and rest.”
Captain Wrathe nodded.
“I’ll help you to a cabin,” Cheng Li said, reaching out her arm and leading the poor, broken invalid across the deck.
Captain Wrathe turned to Cate again. “Make the preparations, Cate. Now.”
“No.”
Connor stepped forward.
The others turned to him questioningly.
“Look, the deck is almost deserted. I can see only two figures and I think one of them is Grace. Let’s do things differently. Let me go in there alone.”
Cate shook her head. “You can’t do that, Connor. I’m sorry, but you just don’t have enough experience of combat. And besides, we don’t want to lose you.”
“I’m sure that’s Grace,” Connor said. “If we charge in, it will scare whoever’s with her and who knows what he’ll do. Maybe if I just go in myself, I can quietly take him out without alerting the rest of the crew.”
“It’s too dangerous,” Cate said.
But Captain Wrathe shook his head. “It’s Connor’s call. It’s his sister on that ship and we must do things his way.”
Connor smiled at the captain. “Thank you,” he said, immensely grateful.
“How about I come along as backup, buddy?”
“No, Bart. Thanks for the offer, but this is something I must do alone.”
“At least take this,” Cate said, passing Connor her precious rapier.
“I can’t,” Connor said.
“Don’t make me pull rank on you,” Cate said, placing the handle in Connor’s gloved hands.
“Thank you, thank you all.”
Cate went to tell the waiting pirates that there had been a change of plan.
Connor stood at the front of the ship, between Captain Wrathe and Bart.
“The moment I saw you, Mister Tempest, I knew you were a hero in the making,” said the captain. “But you know what? You already are one.”
Connor heard the words but could not respond to them. The ship was almost alongside its neighbor now and he had to stay utterly focused on the deck ahead. Everything he had been through had brought him to this moment. He had seen Grace, at least he was pretty sure he had seen her. But now the deck was utterly empty.
Above him, the pirates carefully drew down one of the wishes. They had oiled it after the last attack and it was much quieter now. Still, every scrape of metal made Connor’s skin crawl. Nothing must alert the Vampirates that he was coming. Nothing must lessen his chance of success.
As soon as the wish was horizontal, he turned toward Captain Wrathe, Bart, and Cate, who had rejoined them. There was no time for dramatic good-byes. Besides, he’d be back in a short time. Wouldn’t he?
“Get a bloody move on,” said Bart. “We want to meet your sister while she’s still a young woman!”
With a smile, Connor jumped onto the wish and ran across it to the other deck.
“What was that?” Lorcan asked Grace.
“What was what?”
“That noise.”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
Lorcan frowned. “Someone’s out on deck. I heard footsteps.”
“It’ll be Miss Flotsam,” Grace said. “She’ll be off to ring the Dawning Bell.”
“No, Darcy’s more fleet-footed than that. Those are a man’s boots. There’s a man out there.”
Grace’s eyes widened. “Not Sidorio?”
“I pray not,” Lorcan said, “but I’d better check.”
“You can’t go out now,” Grace said. “It’ll be light in a few minutes. I don’t know where Miss Flotsam can have got to.”
“Something isn’t right,” Lorcan said. “I’m going out. You close the door and stay here.”
He pushed open the door of Grace’s cabin and darted out onto the deck. She followed him.
Connor continued along the deck, as quietly as he could. It was still empty as far as he could see, though he could hear muffled noises across the other side. He heard a girl’s voice.
“Grace,” he said, unable to stop the word coming out.
“Connor?”
She had called his name. As clear as day. She was alive! He was in time. He ran around the side of the ship.
There she was.
“Connor,” she said, raising her hands to her head in disbelief.
It was then that Connor saw the man at her side. No, not a man — a Vampirate. He gripped his sword in readiness and ran toward them.
Lorcan was troubled to find Grace had followed him on the deck, and even more so to see a stranger running toward them, sword in hand.
“It’s Connor,” Grace called breathlessly. “It’s my brother. He’s found me at last!”
It took a moment for Lorcan to compute her words, and then, as the lad came closer, he saw that it all made sense. They were twins. They were not identical, but there was a clear resemblance. Lorcan stepped back as Grace leaped into Connor’s arms and the reunited brother and sister hugged one another.
Lorcan glanced away. The light was starting to lift in earnest now and he’d have to go inside. But although the light was coming, they were losing visibility as a mist had started to rise. But wasn’t that a ship next to theirs? It was! How else could the boy have made it onto theirs? And now, as he looked through the deepening mist and the gathering light, Lorcan saw hordes of men standing alert on the opposite deck, armed with swords.
He looked back at Grace, who was still holding tight to her brother. This couldn’t be a trick, could it? Was the other ship about to attack theirs?
Just then, a door opened and Darcy Flotsam stumbled out onto the deck.
Glancing up at the sky, she ran toward the bell. Without losing another precious moment, she began to toll it. As she did so, she noticed Grace and Lorcan and . . . a stranger. What was going on? Why was Lorcan here at this time? Who was the stranger? If only she hadn’t overslept.
“Lorcan,” cried Miss Flotsam, “go inside. It’s dawn.”
As the bell began to sound, Connor pulled back from Grace.
“What’s happening?” he said.
“It’s okay,” Grace said. “It’s called the Dawning Bell.”
Back on The Diablo, Connor’s friends struggled to see through the mist how things were going on the other deck.
As the bell started to sound, Bart gripped Cate’s shoulder. “What’s that?”
“I don’t know, Bart. Some sort of alarm?”
“Connor needs our help,” Bart said, grabbing his broadsword.
“You don’t know that,” Cate said.
“I’m not waiting here to find out,” Bart cried. Without another word, he ran across the wish, blinded momentarily by the settling mist.
He felt the deckboards under his feet and broke through the mist, seeing figures up ahead.
There was Connor, and a girl. That must be his sister. He could see the resemblance. Connor smiled. But there was another lad and a girl, too. And, as he ran up toward them, the lad darted forward and drew a cutlass.
Bart lifted his broadsword and swung it up to meet the face of the cutlass.
“No,” cried Grace, confused by the attack. “Connor, stop him, stop him
! Lorcan hasn’t done me any harm.”
“Lorcan, go inside!” cried Miss Flotsam.
But Lorcan ignored her, his attention focused only on the sword of his attacker. There had been some trick. Whoever had brought Grace’s brother to the ship had come prepared to do battle with the Vampirates.
The light was starting to hurt his eyes now, but he was a good swordsman and he managed to land a direct hit on his attacker’s arm.
Bart jumped backward. He wasn’t used to being in the direct line of attack. Usually he encountered only fellow broadsworders, not vicious rapier bearers.
Connor pushed Grace aside and leaped in front of Bart, waving his rapier in Lorcan’s face.
“Connor!” Grace cried. “No! Lorcan’s my friend!”
“And Bart’s mine,” Connor cried, not daring to check over his shoulder to see if Bart was okay.
“Lorcan!” cried Miss Flotsam. “You must go inside. I need to take my position.”
“Take it, Darcy,” he cried. “Take your position and leave me be. I said I’d protect Grace and that’s what I mean to do.”
Sobbing, Miss Flotsam raced across the deck and jumped into her position as figurehead. Grace watched her quickly transform from living flesh to painted figurine.
Connor saw it, too, unable to believe his eyes.
“Lorcan, please go inside.” Now it was Grace’s turn to plead. Light was streaming onto the deck now and she could see the effect it was having on him. His eyes were closed and he was lashing out with his rapier to little effect.
“There’s a ship of them, Grace,” he cried, weak of breath. “They sent your brother to get you, but there’s a horde waiting to follow. Like this one.”
He pointed his sword at Bart.
“That isn’t true,” Connor said, “it’s just me. They brought me here to get Grace, but that’s all I want. I don’t want to harm you.”
Vampirates: Demons of the Ocean Page 20
