The Demon Collector (24 page)

‘We’re into the frozen North now, Edgy,’ Captain Boyd said to him one day. ‘Be sure to keep well wrapped up. Don’t let your bare skin touch anything here – hands, nose, cheeks or chin – or it’ll freeze and be stuck fast. Try and free yourself then and you’ll tear the flesh from your bones.’

Edgy threw himself into washing shirts, polishing boots – anything that kept him below decks and took his thoughts off the questions that jostled in his mind.
What is Salomé up to?
Edgy’s hand went to the charm.
Why have I hung it around my neck?
he wondered.
Does she honestly think I’m goin’ to summon her after all she’s done?
Is someone on board tryin’ to kill me or just stop the ship from gettin’ to its destination?

‘Trust no one,’ Mauldeth had said. But could he trust Mauldeth? Why was he so concerned about Edgy all of a sudden?

A rap on his door cut his thoughts dead. Mortesque Sokket’s grey face appeared around it. His eyes glittered and his breathing was rapid.

‘Are you all right, Mr Sokket?’ Edgy asked. ‘If you don’t mind me sayin’ so, sir, you look like you might ’ave a touch of fever.’

‘Come with me,’ Sokket said, his voice hoarse. ‘I have to show you something.’ He disappeared behind the door and Edgy jumped up, following him up on deck.

‘Mr Sokket, if it’s somethin’ important maybe I should get Mr Janus,’ Edgy began.

Sokket’s eyes widened and he waved his hands in front of him, shaking his head frantically. ‘No, no,’ he croaked, his breath billowing in the cold air. ‘Not him, not him. Just come with me.’

Edgy frowned and followed Sokket to the bow of the ship. Stars winked in the reddening sky; a brief dawn before the plunge back into darkness. Here, the full brunt of the sea hit the ship. Hissing streamers of foam leapt over the bow and into Edgy’s face. The wind tousled his thick black hair and drew tears from his eye. The horizon swung up and down, movement exaggerated by the bowsprit, a huge pole that pointed out the direction they were heading in. Ropes rattled against the bowsprit, the sheets lashed to it snapped and cracked in the icy wind. Even the pounding of the engine was lost in this storm of wind and wave.

‘What is it, Mr Sokket?’ Edgy called.

Sokket leaned over the side of the ship, stabbing his finger at the thrashing tide. ‘Porpoises! Edgy, have you ever seen porpoises running alongside the bow of the ship?’ Sokket gave a forced smile. His eyes glowed as he gestured to the side. ‘Porpoises, Edgy, look!’

Porpoises?
Edgy thought about the black shape he’d seen writhing in the water.
Could it have been a porpoise? It’s worth checking
.

Edgy shuffled next to Sokket, gingerly leaning over the side. The black water streamed past, cut by the sharp bow of the ship.

‘I can’t see –’ Edgy began.

Then a bony hand gripped his ankles and the world turned upside down. For a split second, Edgy wondered quite what had happened and then he realised he was falling towards the water.

They sewed his body all up in an old cow’s hide,

And they cast the gallant cabin boy over the ship’s side,

And left him without more ado adrifting in the tide

To sink in the lowlands low.

‘The Golden Vanity’, traditional folk song

Chapter Thirty

A Scramble for Life

Time seemed to slow for Edgy. He could hear the blood pulsing around his temples like the thumping of the ship’s steam engine. Every breath roared in his ears like a rush of steam. He noticed the craggy blackness of the ship’s hull, the barnacles that crusted the overlapping coarse planks. Huge tongues of water licked up the side towards him. Icy spray stung his cheek, the cold stealing his breath. Black, tarry ropes dangled in loops to his right and he glimpsed the criss-cross mesh of netting that swung beneath the bowsprit.

He snatched at the passing ropes. Fire seared across the palm of his hand and up his arm as he stopped with a jerk that threatened to break his grip. With a sob, Edgy snapped his other hand on to the rope, blotting out the grating pain as it cut into his hands. Seawater lashed at him, soaking him to the skin and threatening to pull him down. He scrabbled his feet against the crusty side of the ship and peered up.

Sokket stared down, his eyes wide and white against the grey of his face. He grinned mirthlessly, showing his yellowed teeth. Flecks of spit drooled down his chin.

‘Damn your black heart, Taylor,’ he snarled, leaning over. ‘Why don’t you just die?’

Gritting his teeth, Edgy swung himself to his left towards the net that rippled beneath the bowsprit. If he could get there, he might be safe. The sea slapped salty waves at him, numbing him even through his thick clothes and slamming him into the hull. The net came closer and then lurched away, grazing the tips of Edgy’s extended fingers. Edgy looked up as he swung back.

Sokket still glared down but something silver flashed above his head. Edgy gave a cry as Sokket brought the axe down on Edgy’s rope. He heard a distant, wooden
thunk
and felt his rope slacken. But he had already started on the arc of rope towards the net.

With a yell of defiance he released the useless coil that spiralled below him into the roaring sea and threw his body forward, stretching and grappling for the net. For a moment he felt weightless, blown by the wind like so much sea foam. Then the net struck him in the stomach. He had made it. For a second he lay, blinking up at the dark blue sky, desperately trying to get his breath back.

‘No!’ screamed Sokket, the axe still in his hand. He had clambered on to the bowsprit and now lay on top of it as he slid himself along towards Edgy. ‘It’s not fair. You escaped the demon in the picture and the stone crusher. Even when I drop the rigging on you, some imbecile saves your skin. But you have to die!’

Edgy groaned and rolled on to his front, dragging himself along the net as Sokket leaned down, making futile swings with the axe.

‘Don’t hurt me, Mr Sokket,’ Edgy gasped as he slipped and struggled along the net. ‘I dunno what I done but you don’t wanna kill me!’

‘I don’t
want
to kill you, poor child.’ Sokket’s face was twisted with torment. ‘But believe me, it’s best for all of us if you’re dead.’ He slipped off the pole and fell into the netting, rolling on to his back.

Clinging to the rope sapped Edgy’s strength. He glanced down at the water rushing past them below as the ship forged ahead through the waves. Water soaked him to his skin and cold gnawed at his bones. He squeezed himself into the very corner of the net where it was lashed to the bowsprit. Sokket clambered towards him like some great grey, spindly spider on a web, axe in one hand, his eyes mad and staring.

‘But why, Mr Sokket? It don’t make sense,’ Edgy panted. A crowd had gathered at the bow of the ship. Silky McFarland and some other sailors had begun to shin their way along the bowsprit to Edgy’s rescue.

‘Hold on, lad,’ cried McFarland, oblivious to the spray from the bow of the ship.

‘Nothing makes sense any more, Edgy Taylor,’ Sokket gasped as he dragged himself across the net. ‘But I’ll not rest until you’re safe at the bottom of the sea.’

He threw himself forward, raising the axe. Instinctively, Edgy raised his feet, catching Sokket square in the chest and heaving him backwards and sideways. For a split second, Sokket teetered on the edge of the net, standing full height, staring at Edgy in disbelief.

‘All you had to do was die,’ Sokket wailed. ‘Too much to hope for, I suppose . . .’ Then with a scream he tumbled down, disappearing in the foam and spray that snapped and hissed around the sharp bow of the ship.

Edgy lay, panting for breath, fingers locked around the knots in the net. He stared down at the dark waves, slowly letting McFarland loosen his grip on the ropes and drag him back along the net.

‘Steady now,’ murmured a voice as Edgy felt himself being passed from hand to hand up to the deck level. His clothes felt heavy and wet. His body ached with the cold and his teeth began to chatter.

‘Easy, lad, you’re safe now,’ McFarland said, planting him on his feet.

Edgy staggered a little and grabbed the nearest shoulder for support. Janus and Lord Mauldeth stood next to Captain Boyd, surrounded by sailors. Frost whitened their beards and hats.

‘Edgy! Are you all right? What happened? What did Sokket say to you? Why did he try to kill you?’ Janus asked, grabbing Edgy by the shoulders.

‘I d-don’t know, Mr Janus,’ Edgy stuttered. He felt numb. Sokket’s wild stare kept flashing into his mind – and the image of him tumbling into the sea. ‘He said I’d be better off dead, at the bottom of the sea.’

‘Madness,’ Captain Boyd said, his normally red face pale and drawn. ‘A terrible tragedy. But clearly Mr Sokket was unhinged. My men will put a boat out and search but I doubt very much if he survived. It wasn’t your fault, Edgy. Now get the boy below – he’s freezing to death!’

‘Thank you, sir,’ Edgy said through chattering teeth.

The cold gnawed at his aching joints and muscles now and his hands stung with rope burn. Hands dragged at his wet clothing, pulling it away as it stiffened and froze. Edgy’s vision began to fade. Someone pulled him back and put a bottle to his lips. Brandy scorched his throat, making his eyes water. He coughed and retched, shaking.

‘Edgy!’ Janus cried. ‘For God’s sake, man, get him to his cabin. He’s no use dead.’

‘Don’t go all blue on us, lad,’ said a rough voice.

A hand slapped his cheek, bringing him to as McFarland dragged him down the steps into the pulsing warmth of the ship.

The night passed miserably for Edgy. Sokket’s grey, staring face haunted his broken dreams. His hands ached and burned. He curled himself tightly into a ball on his bed, wrapping himself in blankets, shivering. The ship heaved and rolled and the engines beat time as they circled the area, searching for Sokket. Bells rang and men called to each other but there was no cry of success.

Edgy drifted in and out of sleep, tormented by questions.
Why would Sokket want to kill me? What had he meant when he’d said it would be best for all of us if I were dead? I wish Henry, Sally and Spin were here
. His head throbbed along with the engine, until he fell into a twisting dream in which the furnaces of the ship burned in his chest and pistons hammered inside him, threatening to burst out.

The cabin door crashed open, making Edgy sit up, tangled in blankets, his bedclothes clinging to him. Janus stood staring down on him. Edgy’s mouth felt dry and tasted bitter.

Lord Mauldeth appeared behind Janus. ‘You’ve been sick, Edgy. Delirious for the last twenty-four hours. How do you feel?’

‘Stiff, your lordship,’ Edgy groaned, swinging his legs out of bed. Pain lanced through his temples and he held his head in his hands, but gradually it subsided. ‘A little better, I think –’

‘Never mind that,’ Janus interrupted. His eyes gleamed with excitement. ‘We think we’ve found it.’

‘Found what, sir?’ Edgy screwed his face up and stretched his aching body.

‘The cave of Moloch, of course,’ Janus said, frowning a little as if Edgy should have guessed straight away. ‘The coastline matches the map on the skull and our charts!’

Edgy dressed, groaning at every bend of his knee or elbow. The angry imprint of the ropes he had grabbed to stop himself falling still tingled across the palms of his hands but he was surprised at how strong he felt.

‘That’s it, that’s it,’ Janus murmured, hopping from one foot to the other as he waited for Edgy.

‘Give him a chance, Envry,’ Mauldeth snapped. He looked pale, worry etched into every line on his face. ‘Don’t know why you’re so eager to show the boy anyway. There’s nothing but ice.’

The cold wind slapped Edgy in the face as he emerged on deck behind Janus. Edgy gasped at the scene. The ship’s engines beat a gentle tattoo, idling in a bay of black water. Mountains of ice surrounded them, illuminating the dark polar night.

‘It’s beautiful,’ Edgy whispered, staring at the blues and greens of the ice where it thinned near the water’s edge.

‘So, sir,’ Captain Boyd said, startling Edgy, ‘we’re at the destination you directed us to. I presume you’ll want to get to shore to begin your investigations as soon as possible.’

‘No, no, captain,’ Janus said, smirking like a child with a secret. ‘We’ll wait a couple of days, if it’s all the same to you.’

Some of the crew had gathered round and a murmur of surprise rippled through them.
A few unhappy frowns too
, Edgy thought.
Why do we have to wait? Doesn’t Janus know where the cave is?

‘Can I ask why, sir?’ Boyd said, his eyebrows arched in surprise.

‘If my research is correct, then we should see a remarkable, erm, volcanic phenomenon in the bay.’ Janus scanned the growing crowd of seamen that surrounded him.

Edgy frowned.
What’s he on about?

‘What kind of phenom . . . phen . . . What kind of thing?’ a voice called from the assembled men.

‘Volcano?’ muttered another. ‘I remember one o’ them in the South Seas. Smoke an’ fire. Damn near sank our ship.’