The Goblin's Gift (4 page)

Worthless.

Perhaps.

‘Good day to you,' says the Duke. ‘I believe you know who I am. And you … you are from Port Fayt, I take it?' He pours gunpowder into the barrel of his pistol.

‘No, sir. Begging your pardon, sir. I'm just a smugg— a sailor, sir. From the Old World. Azurmouth.' The man's eyes flicker from side to side, as if in hope of escape. But there is none. Just the smooth golden sand stretching away from them.

‘Indeed?' The Duke pulls back the hammer. ‘From Azurmouth. And yet you sail on a vessel with the Demon's Watch.'

The smuggler licks his lips.

‘I – we came to spy on your fleet, sir, if truth be told. On the League. It was Newton who sent us. Captain Newton of the Watch.'

‘I have heard of the man.'

He sights down the barrel again. Another bird has landed in the branches of a tree, even closer this time. It is almost too easy.

‘What of the others? Your fellow … “sailors”.'

The smuggler swallows.

‘Our ship was pulled down below. By merfolk, sir.
They took Captain Clagg and most of the crew. And the watchmen. I don't know why. You have to believe me, sir.'

Merfolk.

Interesting.

‘Well then. That will be all.'

He swings the pistol round, resting it against the man's forehead. At once the smuggler begins to whimper, weeping and begging.

He savours it.

‘My friend,' he says softly, ‘you are scarcely worth the waste of shot.'

The man's eyes go wide as the pistol is removed. As the Duke lets the hammer go and steps back. There is shock and gratitude in his eyes. Hope.

Delicious.

Even as Major Turnbull slides the sword out of its sheath.

Even as it glints, held high in the glorious sunshine.

Even as it flashes down.

THE MERFOLK WERE
signing amongst themselves, their hands dancing as they conveyed messages in their silent language. At last one of them swam forward into the shallows – a slim mermaid with short blonde hair sticking up in clumps. She had a bonestaff on her back, and another in her hand.

‘Fayters,' she said. Her voice sounded strained, as if this was the first time she'd ever spoken. ‘Which of you is king?'

‘She means leader,' explained Hal. ‘Which of us is the leader.'

Paddy slapped a hand on his brother's shoulder.

‘We'll be the king today,' he said. ‘So tell us, why are we here?'

The mermaid drew herself up and spoke, her voice ringing out like a town crier's.

‘Very well, troll kings. Today we have rescued you from certain death.'

‘Now hold on,' said Frank. ‘ “Certain” might be a bit strong, missy. I think we really had a chance back there.'

The mermaid carried on as if he hadn't spoken. ‘The men in white have come. You saw for yourselves. They have sailed over the ocean, and they will kill you all. They have many ships and many men.' She gestured to her companions. ‘We are here because we merfolk can help you. Together, our people will defeat the men in white. We will pull their ships below. We will smash them to dust. We will turn the very ocean against them. We will—'

‘Great,' burst out Tabitha. She stumbled to her feet and strode towards the water's edge, her cheeks burning with anger. ‘That's just wonderful. But did you really have to drag us halfway across the Ebony Ocean to explain that you're going to help us?'

A humourless chuckle sounded behind her. It was Clagg, sitting on a boulder. ‘There's a catch though, ain't there?' he said.

There were movements among the merfolk. Hunching of shoulders; narrowing of eyes.

The mermaid who had spoken smiled a tight, cold smile.

‘A catch,' she repeated.

‘Shark pits,' said someone. Tabitha turned to see Joseph standing, his eyes wide. He looked a little embarrassed when he realized that everyone was looking at him, but he carried on anyway. ‘I mean, is it to do with the shark pits? You want us to get rid of them?'

Shark pits
. Tabitha had never been to one herself, but everyone knew they existed all over Port Fayt. Criminal dens where lowlife went to watch vicious man-eating sharks in combat with merfolk. To the death. Usually it wasn't much of a fight though. It was no wonder these people were upset about it.

‘The little grey boy is right,' said the mermaid. ‘You take our people like fish from the ocean, for your' – she scowled – ‘s
hark pits
.'

‘You have to understand, the shark-pit owners are criminals,' said Paddy. ‘We try to stop them but—'

‘Silence.' The mermaid glared at him. ‘Each new king of Fayt promises an end to these shark pits. It has never come to pass. And now you have taken the greatest pearl in the ocean.' She drew back her arm
and hurled the bonestaff she'd been holding. It arced through the air and buried itself in the beach, quivering. In spite of herself, Tabitha was impressed.

‘This is the bonestaff of Pallione.' The mermaid folded her arms as if she had said something conclusive. The Fayters all looked blank. She flicked her tail impatiently, sending a gout of spray crashing across the surface. ‘Pallione is our king's daughter.'

This time a murmur ran among the smugglers. Hal and the twins exchanged glances. Tabitha hadn't heard of Pallione, but she'd heard of the King of the Merfolk all right. From his seat in the south, he ruled over all the merfolk in the Ebony Ocean. He was said to be older than the sea, and almost as powerful.

And now, apparently, some idiot had kidnapped his daughter.

‘What do you want from us?' asked Frank.

‘An end to your barbarism. You must close the shark pits down. But first, bring us Pallione; only then will we fight. You must find her. She has hair white as the clouds and eyes green as seaweed. She is beautiful.'

The other merfolk nodded seriously.

There was a burst of laughter. Tabitha turned to see Phineus Clagg doubled up.

‘You fish folk are a riot! What can you do to help,
eh? The League've got guns, matey. It'll take a bit more'n a few swimmers with white sticks to—'

Instantly the mermaid had her bonestaff off her back and levelled at Clagg. The air blurred and shimmered, and the smuggler was jerked off his feet, as though picked up by the hand of some angry seraph.

‘Wait, no, I didn't mean—'

The mermaid made a circling motion with the bonestaff, and Clagg was flipped upside down. His flask of firewater went tumbling down to land with a clink on the stony beach.

‘All right, I've learned me lesson now – no need to—'

The bonestaff jerked to the right, and Phineus Clagg went with it, swooping out over the water like some sort of ugly sea bird.

‘Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorr—'

The staff came down hard, thwacking the surface of the sea. Clagg dropped like a stone, splashing into the deep water. Once again the merfolk let out their strange braying seal noises. But this time Tabitha joined in.

‘All right,' said Frank as the smuggler surfaced and began to flounder back to shore. ‘I reckon you've made your point. We'll go back to Fayt and speak to the governor – I mean, our king.'

‘No,' said the mermaid. ‘You will stay here on this island, as our captives. Only one of you will go back. The weakest, most insignificant, most valueless among you.' She pointed with her bonestaff. ‘Him. The little grey boy. He will go.'

‘Me?' said Joseph stupidly.

Tabitha felt her chest tightening. Of course the mermaid was right about Joseph being the weakest. That was obvious. But she'd been a watchman for longer than he had, and she never got to do anything fun. Now this tavern boy had shown up – a tavern boy Newt had made a watchman after barely a day – and he was the one who got to go back to Fayt and deliver the mermaid's message? While the rest of them stayed on this sun-forsaken rock?

‘No,' she said, surprising herself.

Everyone, on shore and in the sea, turned to look at her.

‘I don't … er … I don't think Joseph should go.'

‘I understand,' said one of the mermen – a big brute with long, wild hair tied back in a ponytail. ‘The angry blue-headed girl cares for the little grey boy.' He grinned.

‘No,' snapped Tabitha. ‘That's not it. I mean, it's just … If he's so weak, how's he supposed to deliver the message? Let alone get back.'

She regretted it as soon as she'd said it. She turned to see Joseph looking half confused, half hurt. She felt her cheeks burn.

‘She is red!' roared the merman. ‘I am right. See? Her face is red!'

‘All right,' said Paddy. ‘That's enough. Joseph can't go on his own. Tabs neither. They're just children.'

‘Very well,' said the big merman, putting on a straight face. ‘If that is so, let them go together. The little grey boy and the angry blue-headed girl. Like a man and his wife.' He threw back his head and bellowed with laughter, so hard Tabitha thought he might do himself an injury. In fact, she hoped he did.

‘Fine,' she said, stepping forward. Whatever it took to make this bilge-brain shut up. ‘We'll go together.'

‘Tabs …' said Paddy, a note of unease in his voice.

‘Then it is decided,' said the mermaid with the spiky blonde hair. ‘The two children, or nothing.'

Paddy took Tabitha by the shoulders and leaned down, bringing his big green face close to hers. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Frank doing the same with Joseph. The tavern boy still looked a little sorry for himself. Why couldn't he see that she was only saying those things to help him? And he knew he was a weakling anyway, didn't he?

So why did she feel so bad about it?

‘Tabs, are you sure about this?' said Paddy.

‘Of course.'

He sighed. ‘Then look after yourself. And take my hat. And my cutlass.'

He pressed them into her hands and at once she almost dropped them. There was no way that cutlass would be any use. She could barely get her hand round the grip, let alone swing it properly.

‘Umm – I don't think—'

‘No, you're right. Sorry.' He took them back and stood there, looking uncomfortable.

Tabitha realized that he was anxious for them. She felt a sudden urge to say something nice. The kind of thing Joseph would say.

‘Don't worry,' she said. She tried to make her tone light and breezy, but that made her sound like a child. She coughed and tried again, going for gruff this time. ‘We'll be fine. How hard can it be to deliver a message? I'm more worried about you lot, stuck on this rock.'

‘Ah, we'll be all right. Long as it doesn't rain.' They looked up at the grey clouds on the horizon. ‘Well. We can't get much wetter than we are already, anyhow.'

‘We'll be quick,' she promised. The troll nodded and gave her a punch on the arm – gently, for once.

Tabitha smiled at him and strode down the beach
to join Joseph. He was waiting for her by the water's edge, not quite meeting her eye. She tried to ignore it.

‘How do we get back?' she asked. ‘I don't see a boat.'

‘There is no boat,' said the mermaid. ‘We will carry you. As we did before.'

‘Oh,' said Tabitha. ‘Perfect.'

THERE WAS A
sinking feeling in Newton's stomach, and it had been there for days. He took a deep breath.
After all, how much worse can things possibly get?

‘So you're the captain?' he asked.
Please say no
.

The imp nodded eagerly, his big eyes glued to the shark tattoo that adorned Newton's cheek. He looked like he was barely sixteen, and a glance at his red velvet coat and smooth pink hands was enough to tell Newton that he was no seafarer.