Grimsdon (15 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

‘Griffin, wake up!'

Griffin dragged his eyes open and squinted against the dull morning light, until he realised it was Xavier leaning over and shaking him.

He sprang upright and flicked Xavier's hand away. ‘What are you doing here? Isabella told you you're not welcome.'

‘Isabella's gone, and so is the Aerotrope.'

‘She's gone?' Griffin pushed past him and pulled a coat over his pyjamas. ‘Have you checked her bedroom, the kitchen, what about the greenhouse?'

‘Everywhere. I think she's gone to fight Sneddon.'

Griffin stopped. ‘She said she wouldn't,' he whispered. ‘We talked for hours last night. I asked her and she promised.'

‘She probably meant it, but it must have been too much. Thinking about Sneddon and all he could have done to stop the floods, to save her dad.'

Griffin felt his chest tighten.

‘Come on, let's go.' Xavier tugged his sleeve but Griffin snatched it away.

‘Why should I go anywhere with you?'

‘Because Isabella's in danger. She's angry and not thinking straight ... and I owe it to her because of what I did.'

‘We ready?' Raven stood at the door.

‘What are you–'

‘We came to get the Aerotrope and have it out with Sneddon, but Isabella beat us to it.'

He handed Griffin a knife and belt. ‘Take this.'

‘I'm not very good with–'

‘You'll be fine.' Raven's voice was final. ‘Xavier told me you're good in a fight.'

They ran into the corridor where they were met with a bleary-eyed Bea and Raffy, followed by Jeremiah. ‘What's going on?'

‘We can tell you later,' Griffin said.

‘Is it Isabella?' Bea asked.

Griffin knelt down before them. ‘She's gone out and we're going to get her.'

‘Is it because of what Sneddon did?'

‘We think so.'

‘I worried this might happen.' Jeremiah twisted the cords on his coat. ‘My fault, my fault,' he murmured.

‘Can we come too?' Raffy asked. ‘We can help.'

‘I know you can, but the most important thing you can do now is look after each other until we get back. Can you do that for me?'

Fly appeared behind them carrying a sword.

‘Don't mind if I do.' Raven tucked it into his belt.

‘Will you bring her back?' Fly's eyes trembled with tears. Jeremiah placed his hands on her shoulders.

Griffin smiled. ‘In time for a very big breakfast.'

The boys raced to the window leading down to the landing and Xavier's Velocraft.

Isabella struggled to control the Aerotrope. It was battered through the skies by wind and rain, lashed this way and that, swinging at impossible angles. Her arms ached with the effort of trying to keep the machine level. She snuck quick looks at Xavier's compass attached to the handles and the harbour that wrestled in tangled waves beneath her.

Sneddon's ship appeared through the harbour mist. Another slap of wind forced the Aerotrope sideways and Isabella slipped from her seat. She gripped the handles and pulled herself back on, the pain burning into her arms and hands.

She pedalled furiously, her fingers tense and her skin raw from the biting cold, but the ship was now in reach. She leant forward and brought the flying machine lower. It swooped and lurched like an injured bird until, at just the right moment, a small window of calm slipped between the flurries and Isabella landed with a jolt on the deck of
The Sea Serpent.

She collapsed forward with a heavy sigh and unhooked her frozen fingers from the handles. But before she could move, the sharp point of a knife found its way to her neck and her arm was held in a vice grip.

‘A visit to us!' Tyran slurred with glee, his hair bustling wildly around his head. ‘Captain will be so pleased, especially as this time you have brought him the machine.'

‘Yes, he will.' Mouse bowed ever so slightly and held out his hand. ‘Milady?'

‘Take your hand away from me if you don't want to lose it.'

Mouse looked offended. ‘But I was only trying to be nice.'

‘You could try for the rest of your life, but you'll never achieve nice.'

His voiced hardened. ‘Now you're just being mean.'

‘Where's Sneddon?'

The ship lurched. Tyran almost lost his grip of Isabella.

‘That's “the Captain” to you.' Tyran tugged her arm and the knife jabbed into her neck, piercing the skin so that a trickle of blood dripped onto the deck.

‘You've got quite a talent for picking on kids. It must make you feel very powerful.'

Tyran shoved his face close to Isabella's so that his putrid breath spilled all over her. ‘Push it too far, little girl, and we'll show you just how good we are.'

‘Show me then.' Isabella twisted out of his hold and kneed him in the stomach. He collapsed to the deck in a wheezing clump. She flicked a snap-kick at Mouse's face, sending him stumbling backwards clutching his nose, blood dripping between his fingers.

‘My nose!'

Isabella snatched her knives from her ankle and waist and aimed straight at them. ‘Now, if we've finished playing, I'd like to see Sneddon.'

‘Well, you're in luck.' Sneddon stepped out of his cabin on the upper deck and held out his hands. ‘I'm here.' Albert was coiled around his neck, his tail dangling into Sneddon's front pocket.

The Captain stepped down to the main deck, holding the handrail ropes as the ship was rocked by the wind.

‘My nose!' Mouse whined through muffled sobs. ‘Captain, she...' He caught sight of his bloodied hands and passed out.

‘There go your good looks,' Sneddon mumbled and walked over to the Aerotrope. ‘And you've brought my flying machine! That's a good girl.'

Tyran managed to stand in a hunched pose. ‘But she–'

‘Is far more useful than either of you ever have been.'

Sneddon revealed a covetous smile as he circled the machine. ‘Ah, she's a beauty. What can I give you? I have some lovely diamonds, a tiara – oh, maybe a sapphire ring.'

‘All I want is the truth.'

‘The truth?' He sniggered. ‘Wouldn't a sapphire necklace be much more–'

‘I know about your part in the floods.'

Albert's head shifted towards Isabella.

A wave heaved beneath the ship. Sneddon lost his balance momentarily.

‘The floods?' Tyran scoffed. ‘How could the Captain have anything to do with that?'

‘By doing nothing when he was told it would happen.'

‘Nonsense.' Sneddon laughed.

‘You've hidden on this boat all these years gathering jewels and antiques – and it was only last night I realised why.'

‘Can I help it if I like nice things?'

‘You're going to use them to buy your way back into a very nice life inland. That's why you needed Xavier's Aerotrope.' She turned to Tyran. ‘And he's going on his own.'

Tyran frowned. ‘The Captain would never do that. He said we were all going.'

‘So it's true?' Isabella asked Sneddon.

‘That we've had enough of this watery prison, yes, but your accusation about the floods only proves you've read too many of those ridiculous books.'

‘I have evidence. From Parliament House. Boxes of it. I am going to show the whole world what you did. People lost their city, their homes and their families because of you.'

Sneddon put on his best politician's voice. ‘The floods were just a monumentally unfortunate case of bad luck.'

‘And you are a monumentally bad liar,' Isabella said. ‘Jeremiah Pain told you, but you ignored all his warnings, all the research, all the
evidence.'

‘Jeremiah who? I simply don't know what you are talking about.'

The wind caught in Isabella's coat. Her fingers closed even tighter around the knives in her hands. ‘Oh, you remember. The scientist who threw the shoe in parliament?'

Sneddon hesitated momentarily. ‘Oh, him ... raving madman.'

‘Despite everything he and the other scientists said, you advised the Minister to vote against strengthening the city's barriers.'

‘There's no point getting yourself upset over–'

‘Despite what my father told you!' she shouted.

‘Your father?'

‘Almaric Charm, the Head Controller of the Flood Barriers.'

Albert raised his head higher.

‘Ahhh.' Sneddon pretended pity. ‘Terribly sorry about–'

‘You're not sorry at all! You're worth nothing after what you did.'

A wave splashed against the hull of the ship, exploding over them in an icy spray. The Aerotrope stumbled onto one wing. Sneddon calmly moved his soggy and slightly flattened bouffant from his eyes. ‘Which is just about how much you were worth to your father.'

‘You know nothing about my father.'

‘I know that if your father was so convinced about the city's destruction, he mustn't have thought much of you if he didn't send you somewhere safe.'

The swell lifted the clipper so high that Isabella teetered across the deck. The Aerotrope skidded into the railing. Sneddon tried to reach for it but stumbled backwards when the ship descended down the wave, grabbing onto the mast for support. Albert tucked his head into the Captain's coat.

‘He cared about this city and the people in it!' Isabella cried.

Sneddon leant forward and smiled. ‘But not about you.'

Isabella charged at him, knives raised above her head, ready to bring them down, when her feet were snatched from beneath her. Her body smacked against the deck, and her knives went spinning away. Her head stung and her chest felt as if it had been crushed. With Mouse's hands firmly around her ankles, Isabella's body felt drained of all its energy. Her eyes grew heavy and the world blurred – everything went black.

‘Glad you could join us again, Mouse.'

The slightly groggy Mouse smiled, his broken nose swollen and out of shape. ‘My pleasure, Captain.'

CHAPTER THIRTY

‘Go faster!' Griffin shouted over the wind.

Xavier pedalled, the muscles in his legs stinging with pain as the Velocraft crashed into waves that kept belting them back. Raven sat in the rear, his teeth clenched as he pulled harder on the oars.

Griffin held up the binoculars. ‘We're almost there.'

Sneddon's clipper swayed on the harbour, enveloped by a creeping mist.

‘Can you see Isabella?' Xavier asked.

‘Not yet, all I can see is – wait, something's happening.'

He watched as a gate flung open from the deck of Sneddon's ship and a long wooden gangplank extended.

‘What can you see?' Raven asked. ‘Is it Isabella?'

Griffin struggled to speak. ‘They've got her tied up and have forced her onto the plank.' The ropes were wound tightly around Isabella's body, digging into her arms and legs. She drew what breath she could into her lungs.

Another wave rose beneath the ship, sending it tipping and swaying. Isabella stumbled along the plank before finding her balance. She bent her knees, ducking with the movement to avoid being thrown into the water.

Tyran stood beside Sneddon within the safety of the ship's railing.

A blast of thunder filled the skies.

‘Any last words?' Sneddon stroked Albert.

‘You never knew any bounty hunters, did you?' Isabella asked.

‘Only the ones who made the mistake of coming here and found themselves on the bottom of the river. Now we need to say our goodbyes so we can begin packing.' Sneddon looked around. ‘I'm finally leaving this place – and not a miserable moment too soon.'

‘I'll follow you inland and tell everyone what you did.'

Sneddon leapt onto the plank. Isabella staggered before regaining her balance.

‘You will lie on the bottom of this river like all the others who can't speak. Including your father.' He stood before her defiantly, the wind whipping through his hair.

Then, for a small moment, it looked like his resolve might weaken. ‘It didn't have to be like this. You could have simply given me the machine and–' He turned away. ‘Close the gate, Tyran, and finish her.'

Tyran nodded. He locked the gate and took an oar from the deck, slowly extending it towards her. He tried to give Isabella a small push. She swerved, avoiding the jab, and kept her feet firmly planted. He pushed harder. This time she stumbled back – a little. He sniggered and came at her again so that inch by inch she was forced along the plank until, with her last step, she felt nothing beneath her heel. She was poised on the edge, leaving very little between her and the frenzied waves.

‘Bye bye, now,' Tyran said. ‘I hope you enjoy the –
aaahhhh!'

The oar spilled from Tyran's hand, smacking onto the plank and tumbling into the harbour. He fell back, crashing against the deck, clutching his leg, his face twisted in pain. A spear attached to a rope stuck out from his thigh.

Sneddon spun to face the quarterdeck, where Xavier stood holding the spear gun and Raven a large sword with a gold hilt.

‘Walk the plank?' Xavier reloaded the gun and pointed it straight at Sneddon. ‘Isn't that a bit Captain Hook?'

‘Mouse!' Sneddon yelled. ‘Get them!'

‘I'll deal with the big guy,' Raven said to Xavier.

‘Do your worst.' Xavier released the first spear and reloaded.

The ship swayed as the wind picked up and the waves pounded the hull. Isabella jostled forward, her toes poised over the edge of the plank, her breathing panicked as she managed to inch back to the centre.

Raven leapt from the railing of the quarterdeck and landed squarely in front of Mouse. He held up his sword. ‘Bet you thought you'd seen the last of me.'

Mouse growled and tried to grab him, but Raven jumped back and swung his sword, cutting the hulking man's arm. Mouse winced and his face twisted into a poisonous scowl.

Xavier stepped down the stairs to the main deck, edging towards Isabella, the whole time aiming the spear gun at Sneddon. ‘Don't make any sudden moves.'

Another gust of wind rushed across the deck. Sneddon toppled forward and Albert was thrown from his neck to the floor where he slithered away to safety.

‘Albert!'

Mouse snapped a rigging pole and, grabbing it with both hands, swung it at Raven who blocked it with his sword. Mouse came at him with renewed force. Raven parried again and again but was slowly forced backwards. Mouse swung lower but Raven jumped, pulling his knees to his chest.

‘You'll have to do better than that.'

Mouse swung the pole harder and faster. Raven dodged and blocked, the force of each blow vibrating through his arms, until his back smacked into the railing and he lost the grip of the sword.

It clanged to the ground just out of his reach.

Mouse swooped on it with glee. ‘Look what I found.'

Xavier stopped. His attention flicked between Raven, Mouse and Sneddon, whose eyes were searching the deck.

Mouse whisked the sword above him and brought it tearing down. Raven jerked his body aside and watched as the sword hacked into the wooden railing. Mouse tugged a few times, but it wouldn't budge.

‘Shame.' Raven shook his head and dived under Mouse's legs, racing across the deck followed by the giant.

When Xavier looked back, Sneddon was gone. He scanned the ship. There were barrels, cabins and manholes leading down into the hull. But there was also Isabella. He leapt across the deck.

Raven easily outran Mouse, leaping over piles of coiled rope and between strands of rigging. He sprang up stairs to the upper deck and, pulling his knife from his belt, cut through a rope attached to the topmast. He swung out Tarzan-style and, with his legs outstretched, rammed into Mouse's chest, sending him sliding backwards along the floor, head slamming into the bottom of the mast, knocking him out.

‘That took a little longer than I expected,' Raven cried. ‘I'm all yours, Xavier.'

He hurried towards Xavier, who had reached the gate leading to the gangplank.

‘Sorry I couldn't get here sooner,' he threw down the spear gun.

‘I'll forgive you,' Isabella smiled.

As Xavier flicked aside the lock, Sneddon appeared from behind a barrel, holding a gun. ‘That'll be as far as this little rescue is going to go.' Sneddon stepped over a whimpering Tyran, still clutching his injured leg. He had Raven and Xavier in his sights. ‘I am leaving this ship, on that flying machine, and I am going to take my rightful place back in civilised society with, as you guessed Isabella, the jewels you've been collecting for me over the years.' He took careful aim at her. ‘So sorry you won't be able to join me.' His finger tensed on the trigger.

Xavier's eyes shot to the spear gun but, before he could move, a sudden wave lifted the ship, rolling it to the side. Isabella stumbled. Raven and Xavier were thrown hard against the railing.

Sneddon was tossed backwards, the gun flying from his hand, the weight of his body coming down heavily on the tail of a concealed Albert. The snake sprang round, sinking its fangs into his leg. Sneddon screamed as another wave quickly followed, this one bigger than the last.

The ship lurched sideways. Isabella tried to regain her balance, but her feet slipped and her body twisted. Bound by ropes, she plumme ted from the gangplank and hit the water with a stinging slap.