The Island of Whispers (19 page)

‘
That’s how we rid ourselves of dung,’ growled the stranger.
Neck-Snapper’s blood was on his fangs. Blood was also seeping from
a long gash on his left flank.

There was a
loud squeal from among the mates and youngsters, and then
Bone-Cruncher rushed forward. She nuzzled into the stranger and
licked at his wound.

‘
Is that you?’ she asked. ‘Is that really you?’

Before he had
time to respond, the stranger was distracted by the sudden
spectacle of the drenched figure at the top of the cliff. Slayer
had materialised there once more. His fur was plastered to his
body, accentuating the sleekness and muscularity of his small
frame. His wide grin confirmed that Jagged Fangs had been disposed
of.

Fat One looked
at Slayer and then at the carcass of the white bird, which still
lay where the slave-King had dropped it earlier.

‘
I could do with some of that,’ he groaned. ‘I’m
starving!’

Although the
whole group had participated in the feast, it was clear that Fat
One had managed to eat the largest share. He looked much leaner and
tougher than when they had last seen him, but he was still the same
old Fat One as far as his appetite was concerned. It was only when
there was nothing left but bones and feathers that he stopped to
relate his tale.

‘
I know it was foolish of me,’ he began, ‘but I just couldn’t
come with the rest of you until I had at least tried to help Sharp
Claws.’

‘
It wasn’t foolish, Fat One,’ interrupted Bone-Cruncher,
nuzzling into him. ‘It was a very brave thing to do.’

‘
Anyway,’ he continued, ‘by the time I went back down the
escape tunnel, it was too late. The place was full of Rulers and
Protectors. They had all escaped from the Common lair. Long Snout
was there. I’m afraid that the old tyrant killed Sharp Claws ...
just picked him up by the throat and bit his head off
...

‘
When I saw that, I was terrified. I went as fast as I could up
the tunnel, but I nearly didn’t make it. I got this from the
Protectors who came after you lot.’

He stopped to
show them the wound along his flank.

‘
There was a Two-Legs at the other end of the tunnel. I managed
to get out just in time, but its presence stopped the Protectors
from coming any further. I found one of my hiding places among the
rocks. That’s when I saw the Two-Legs kill Digger ... with a big
rock. After that, everything went black. The next thing I knew it
was light and there was a heck of a racket going on all around.
After a while, I passed out, but only to be woken by the noise of
the Two-Legs creature exploding above me. I thought the whole
island was going to blow up. I really thought that I was going to
die then ...’

Fat One
paused. He wondered why none of them seemed to be surprised about
the exploding creature.

‘
Anyway, the explosions just went on for ever. Then they
stopped, and everything went quiet. I could see that it was dark
again. I waited for a long while before I came out of the hiding
place and headed back down to the waters. That’s when I saw those
two thugs we’ve just dealt with. They were following you ... and I
was following them ... and ... well, you know the rest.’

Twisted Foot
didn’t say much in response to Fat One’s account. There would be
plenty of time ahead to tell him about their own adventures. For
the moment, there were important things to take care of before they
could call this place their new home, before they could really feel
safe. They still had to find water for a start. And then they
needed to make a proper lair. Perhaps among the trees back there.
Deep under the soft earth ...

Long Snout was
still angry; in fact, he was almost apoplectic now. He was standing
on his hindlegs, glaring at the glowing giant. When the Two-Legs
had come and removed their creature from the world above, he had
thought that everything would return to normal. How wrong he had
been! Here they were, practising their evil again. And it was
because of that evil that the white birds had gone. One Eye’s
report of these matters only moments ago had forced him up here
once more. To cap it all, there was still no sign of Jagged Fangs
and Neck-Snapper. Without them and the cripple, there could be no
Assembly. Without the white birds, there could be no feast
afterwards, no celebration of his new regime. He snorted and
continued to glare at the giant.

–
o –

–
Chapter Forty-Two –

Just as he had
done when he first set foot on Inchgarvie, Tam Proudfoot stood on
the jetty, lit his pipe and slowly surveyed the island. He had to
admit that he was totally puzzled by this business of rats living
and even breeding on the place. When Charlie had come to see him
last night and had shown him the dead rat, he had immediately
dismissed it as yet another stray visitor from a passing ship,
especially given the size of it. But then Charlie told him about
seeing others of a similar size. From the tone of Charlie’s voice,
he knew that the man’s claim was no exaggeration. So he had agreed
to come out here on Charlie’s boat to look again. It was clear that
a more thorough search than before was required if they were to get
to the bottom of the mystery.

Tam stroked
his short grey beard and took a long pull at his pipe, the
billowing smoke from it momentarily enveloping his face.

‘
Okay, show me,’ he said to Charlie.

‘
Come on, Nipper,’ he added, motioning to the little Jack
Russell prancing at his feet.

The two men
and the dog set off round the island. When they entered the gloom
of the monastery ruins, Charlie was nervous. It felt to him as if a
thousand eyes were watching them from underneath those stones.
Keeping to the edge of the ruins, he pointed roughly to the spot
where he remembered hitting that first rat. Nipper understood
immediately. Following the direction of Charlie’s outstretched arm,
the dog rushed towards the spot. In moments, it had sniffed out Fat
One’s hiding place and the trail of his blood spots. Excitedly, it
followed the trail out of the monastery and down to the point of
the island. Although the trail vanished at the water’s edge, the
dog picked up other scents there, some of which led it back across
the rocks.

Tam and
Charlie were clambering down from the monastery, still trying to
catch up with Nipper. Hearing their approach, the dog stopped
sniffing the ground, looked up and locked eyes with the large brown
rat, which stood on its hindlegs, hissing and spitting, barely a
yard away.

His anger had
gotten worse as time went on. He hadn’t slept because of it. He was
impatient for his reign to begin, but it couldn’t begin until the
cripple had paid. So he had paced the lair, waiting for those two
halfwits to return. But nothing. Nothing. He had watched as Fire
Eyes continued to sleep soundly, unperturbed, safe. He had almost
killed that soft, fat piece of dung there and then, but he had
forced himself to stop, to come out here. Even though it was light
again, there was still a chance that they could appear with the
cripple. The thought of the cripple made him boil and seethe
inside. Ever since his traitorous plot had been discovered,
everything had gone wrong. It was his fault! All of it! That’s why
he had to pay!

Long Snout
stood erect, glowering at the giant again. He felt like he was
going to explode. He began to hiss and spit and snarl. That’s when
he saw the strangely coloured, yapping Four-Legs. He wanted to vent
his rage on this noisy intruder.

Being roughly
the same size and weight, and with equal degrees of unbridled
aggression, Nipper and Long Snout were well-matched. Neither of
them flinched when they rushed headlong at each other. In a
split-second, they were transformed from two adversaries into a
single growling, whirling ball of fury. But when the two Protectors
outside of the sacred tunnel raced to the aid of their Chamberlain,
the fight was suddenly weighted in Long Snout’s favour. And when
others streamed from the tunnel to join them, the fight was
resoundingly lost by Nipper.

By the time
Tam and Charlie saw the dog, it was surrounded by eight or more
snapping black-furred assailants, and its fierce growls had turned
into pleading yelps. The men shouted and stamped, but it was only
when they began to throw rocks that the Protectors ceased their
attack and retreated to the underworld along with an injured Long
Snout.

Tam was in
tears when he reached Nipper. The dog was lying on its side,
whimpering softly. Every part of its body was torn and bleeding.
Then it seemed to give out a final sigh before going completely
still, its eyes wide open. Tam didn’t say a word. He looked down at
the place among the rocks into which the rats had disappeared; it
was as if he was stamping that place on his memory. Then he knelt
down, lifted up Nipper’s body with both hands and carried it back
to Charlie’s boat. Charlie hurried after him, immensely relieved to
be getting away from there.

–
o –

–
Chapter Forty-Three –

Twisted Foot
knew the dream so well. There was a clearing among the trees. It
was far away, deep in the woodlands. The sun was shining. They were
basking in its warmth. Grey Eyes was there; and young Soft-Mover,
his jet-black coat glistening as he moved through the tall grass.
Fat One was dozing under a tree. His other companions were in the
clearing with their mates and young ones. There was an aura about
the place, a deep glow of happiness. It seemed that if he reached
out from the dream he could touch the glow, let the warmth course
through him.

Then he waited
for the shadows to fall, as they always did. He waited for those
familiar, cold, dark images to come and oust the brightness. He
waited for those blurred, frightening scenes of Long Snout towering
over the clearing, the blood of newly born young congealed on his
enormous fangs; of Neck-Snapper hissing and spitting death, green
pus festering in his ragged eyehole; of Grey Eyes surrounded by
snarling Protectors, her small body lacerated and bleeding. But
nothing came. The sun continued to shine. That warm glow
persisted.

With a jolt, he snapped out of it. His mind had been
wandering. He hadn’t been dreaming at all. That clearing among the
trees was real, and he was in it. Grey Eyes and Soft-Mover were
there, too, and all the others. And the sun really was shining, as
it had done during the last few days; it was as if the Cold Cycle
had suddenly come to an end and the Warm Cycle had begun again.
Their lair was at the edge of the clearing. It had been dug out a
long time before by other creatures – probably by those Four-Legs
with the short tails and large, pointed ears – and then abandoned.
It was
their
lair
now, their underworld. Here on the world above, a little spring
trickled out from the rocks on the other side of the promontory, so
they didn’t have far to travel to lap water. And, of course, the
teeming cliff-face beyond the trees provided a constant supply of
bird flesh.

Twisted Foot
sighed. For the first time in as long as he could remember, he felt
at peace. This was their new home, their new society – and it was
perfect. And those dark images that he had just seen in his mind:
they were just shadows from the past. As he had done on many
occasions since coming to the place, he wandered away from the
clearing, through the trees and out to the end of the promontory.
From there, he slowly scanned the waters below, the giant
straddling the waters and the little island tucked in at the side
of the giant.

There was a
lot of commotion on the island today. He could see a gang of
Two-Legs spread out along the length of it. Their bodies – even
their heads and faces – were covered in white. It looked like most
of them were searching among the rocks. Others were erecting a
creature on the high ground, just like the Two-Legs had done
before, although this new creature seemed much less elaborate than
the one which exploded. He could also see a number of Two-Legs
vessels on the other side of the island. Standing on the jetty
beside the vessels was a familiar figure. It was the long Two-Legs
with the silver fur on its face, the one which had come with the
strangely coloured Four-Legs, the one which had used its cunning to
kill the slave-rats when they escaped from the underworld. He
wondered if all those Two-Legs and all that activity over there
spelled discovery of the society; the end of it, perhaps.

‘
They’ll never trouble us again, comrade.’

Long Ears was
suddenly at his side. He didn’t know if his companion had actually
spoken those words or if he had crept into his thoughts again. It
didn’t matter either way; he just hoped that Long Ears was
right.

They crouched
at the edge of the cliff for a long time. Even after the Two-Legs
had gone from the island, they remained there, scanning and
re-scanning the terrain. They were Watchers, after all; it was in
their blood.

Old One Eye
was perplexed. He shook his muzzle in frustration as he came out of
the Protectors’ lair and began to pick his way through the rotting
corpses which still littered the floor of the Common lair. He had
told the Chamberlain about the many Two-Legs on the world above and
about what they were doing up there, but all that Long Snout had
done was to ask whether the cripple was back. There had been
nothing else: no instructions; not even an angry outburst. One Eye
shook his muzzle again. While the whole of the underworld trembled
in fear, Long Snout was still obsessed about that wretched cripple!
He would return to his own lair now, tell his warriors to stand
down, to rest with their mates and young, to await the worst.