The Palace Library (15 page)

Once
the figurehead was lifted, the carpenters needed to hollow it out.  The
solid piece of oak from which it was fashioned had hardened and there was
neither room nor time to spare.  Finally there was space enough for a
small boy to crawl inside.  But he needed to see, so an eye was drilled
out.  It was tunnel vision but it would have to do.  Then a hollow
needed to be made in the mouth.  This dragon disguise would not make real
flames, but it would blow real smoke.

Once
this was done, fitting the figurehead, Harry’s new ‘suit’, to the gig was
easy.  Making the gig float was not.  Great empty barrels were tied
to the bow of the gig so that the weight of the figurehead did not drown
it.  Then it floated, but it became a beast to row, especially since there
was now only room for two oarsmen as well as Harry and Edwin, who had insisted
on going.  “Someone experienced with a pipe must accompany him!” he said,
with a grim smile on his face.

It
was not until the afternoon that Harry and Grace were able to find time alone
with Eleanor and ask the question that had been in their minds all
morning.  Several times Harry had attempted to begin the conversation with
Eleanor, but someone always interrupted them.  Even Eleanor brushed Harry
and Grace away, saying she needed to prepare the Dragons’ Bane properly to make
it work in the pipe.  Periodically that morning a foul smell wafted across
the boat as she experimented on the poop deck. 

Finally,
just as everything was ready for the expedition, Harry was able to ask the
question, “What did you mean last night in your nightmare?”

“What
nightmare?” replied Eleanor looking at them weirdly.

“Don’t
you remember?” said Harry.  “You were crying out for help.”

“Yes,”
said Grace.  “You said, ‘You must be rid of her.  It is our duty to
King Louis of France!’“

Eleanor
looked at them each slowly, and then put her hand to her mouth.  “That
wasn’t last night.  And I’d completely forgotten about it.  The
horrors of the storm must have hidden it in my mind.  But it wasn’t me who
said it.”

“But
you said it last night,” interrupted Grace.

“Never
mind,” said Harry.  “Let her speak.”

“It
was in the storm.  It was Guy of Caen.”  Eleanor paused.  “I
remember now.  He trod on my hand and shouted that instruction to Eloise. 
Then something happened and he vanished.  He was one of the ones
drowned.  He was the traitor.  We never did like the look of him.”

They
all looked at each other aghast.  “But that means Eloise is a traitor as
well.” said Harry.

“But
she saved my life,” said Eleanor remembering more.  “She scratched at his
eyes and made him bleed.  That’s why he went overboard.  It doesn’t
make sense.  Why would she save me if she was a traitor?”

The
question went unanswered.  Edwin and the Captain came up to the children.

“It
is time, Harry.” said the Captain.  “Are you ready?”

Harry
looked at them with a moment of panic, driving the conversation that he had
just been having out of his mind.  “No.  I don’t think I’ll ever be
ready.”

Edwin
looked at him.  “Then you are honest and you’re a real man.  You
cannot be ready until you look your fears in the eye.  So you must
‘box
up your fears and frights’
just as St George did and you’ll succeed. 
The boat is ready.”

Eleanor
unbuckled the girdle around her waist, the belt which bore the short dagger
that Edgar the Librarian had given her.  “Here, Harry,” she said. 
“Take this with you.  You may need it to help you.”

Harry
reached out to take the dagger, but then he paused.  “No, Eleanor. 
It was a gift for you for your own defence.  Who knows, you may need it
yourself here.  Look out for each other.  We have axes and cutlasses
in the boat if we need them.”

“Hurry
please,” said the Captain, “or you’ll miss the tide!”

So
they had left the flagship, climbing down into the odd-looking little boat, a
dragon at the front, a gig at the back and two barrels strapped to the
side. 

At
that stage, a gentle southerly breeze started to blow, helping the oarsmen by
pushing the cumbersome craft towards the island and the dragons’ lair quickly. 
Everyone on The Saint George watched until the strange gig turned the headland
and went out of sight.

Eleanor
had Sophie by her side and looked at Grace, “We must find Eloise and ask for an
explanation.  I don’t understand it and it’s hard to believe. Maybe I
misheard in the storm.”

“Do
you think we should ask the Captain to help us?” replied Grace.

“No,”
said Eleanor.  “There might be nothing to it.  If it were Guy of Caen
we had to face, then certainly, but Eloise is timid.  In any case, we have
Sophie with us and I have my dagger.”

“I
agree then,” said Grace.

The
girls went to the stern of the ship and the cabins, where they expected to find
Eloise.  Outside Edwin and Harry’s door, Sophie’s hackles rose and she
started to growl.  It was a warning sign.

“Where
are the guards?” asked Grace.  Two sailors should have been standing
outside the door of the cabin, where the Sword of State was stored.

Very
gingerly, Eleanor pushed open the door of their cabin and the three of them
walked slowly in.  A strange green glow lit the room.  Eloise was
standing by the long window at the back of the cabin.  She shook her head
from side to side as if to say, “No,” but it was too late.  The door was
slammed shut and the girls and Sophie found themselves staring at the face of
Guy of Caen, who was holding the Sword of State towards them.  It glowed
brightly in his hand.

The
heat and stink of his fetid breath was felt on their cheeks as he leant in and
hissed, “I’m so glad you’re here.  I can deal with you once and for all as
well as this Sword.”

Eleanor
was shocked, but managed to speak up, “How did you survive?”

“Your
friend Eloise fed me and cared for me - just at the moment when she thought she
might be rid of me too.  I hid in the hold waiting for my moment.  I
bet you didn’t expect that!  She’s been in my power these last six months
while my true sovereign, the King of France has had her brother locked up in
his dungeon.”

“Eloise!”
said Eleanor looking up at her, but the girl only looked shamefully at the floor.

“Enough,”
said Guy of Caen.  “Eloise, break open that window!” 

Eloise
broke the long gallery window at the back of the ship.  Then with one
broad step, he turned and flung the Sword out of the window. 

Sophie
had been waiting for her chance and saw it now, during the brief moment he had
his back turned.  She pounced and knocking him over, she bit the traitor
hard on the shoulder.  Then with a single leap, she flew out of window
into the sea after the Sword.

Eleanor
took her chance and drew her dagger, wishing she really knew how to use
it.  Its blade now glowed intently as she pointed it at the neck of the
traitor on the floor.  Eloise had shrunk back against the wall of the
cabin, inert.  Grace was by the window looking into the sea and threw off
her cloak.  She was a good swimmer, but it would be freezing and
frightening.  She turned back towards Eleanor and looked at her.

“Go!”
Eleanor shouted.  And with that encouragement, Grace dived into the sea
after the dog and the Sword, but not without crying “Help!” at the top of her
voice.

Inside
the cabin, Guy recovered his breath and looked at the dagger and Eleanor. 
“Don’t think two children will stop me!”  He was fit and a warrior. 
The bite did little to stop him and with a swift move, he knocked the dagger
out of Eleanor’s hand so that it skidded across the floor to Eloise’s
feet.  Now Guy of Caen had Eleanor in a neck lock.

“Pick
up the dagger, girl!” hissed Guy to Eloise.  “At least that’s got rid of
that ridiculous dog and one of the children.  Now come here.  Finish
the job and I’ll see to it that your brother is freed.”

Eloise
came towards Eleanor looking her straight in the eye, with the dagger
drawn.  But Eleanor noticed as she did so, she shook her head almost
imperceptibly.  A signal to Eleanor.  Eleanor picked up her leg and
scraped the sole of her shoes hard down Guy’s shin onto his foot.  He
released his grip and Eleanor threw herself out of the way, just enough for
Eloise to push the dagger into his stomach, wound him and put him out of action.

That
wasn’t the end of it though.  Eloise turned the dagger to herself, looking
at Eleanor and mouthing the words,  “I’m sorry.”  She was about to
kill herself to escape the guilt of it all.  But the door was broken down
by the Captain and the sailors who overpowered both the traitors.

Outside
the boat, the water was clear.  Once she had recovered from the shock of
the cold, which was like someone punching her in the stomach, Grace could see
right down to the shallow bottom.  She hated swimming without goggles and
the salt water stung her eyes, but she ignored it and dived deeper.  Below
her, she could see Sophie struggling to pull the Sword from the sandy seabed
with her mouth.  It was cutting into her gums and jaw before she managed
to gain a grip on its hilt and pull it up towards the surface and Grace. 
When they reached the surface, breathing air back into their lungs was a
relief.  Sophie drew the air deeply through her nose, resolutely holding
onto the hilt, whilst Grace shivered, teeth chattering and lips turning blue.

A
boat had been launched to rescue them. It was only just in time to save them
both from the cold and from sinking back under the waves.

Harry and Edwin knew nothing
about the events on The Saint George.  Once at the entrance of the cavern,
Edwin and the oarsmen swapped places.  Edwin would row now, whilst the two
oarsmen were to leap out of the boat with a brazier each.  These were full
of Dragons’ Bane and would be lit from the lava and then tended by the sailors.
Meanwhile, Harry and Edwin would go into the centre of the cavern, to the
island made of treasure, guarded by the oldest and largest of the dragons.

Whilst
the sailors lit the braziers, Edwin lit up the pipe full of the Dragons’ Bane
as well.  The putrid stench of the lair and the revolting flowers combined
into a really nauseous smell, but the four of them carried on with their work,
ignoring it as far as possible.

Edwin
rowed slowly and steered with the oars.  Harry whispered instructions to
him from his strange position scrunched up inside the hollow in the figurehead.
They went round the left-hand side of the water, so that their disguised boat
would come towards what they hoped was the dragon’s blind eye.  As they
closed in, Harry puffed on the pipe, wanting to gag all the time and blew the
smoke through the wooden figurehead’s nostrils.  A trickle of smoke headed
towards the dragon.  Harry could see the smoke being drawn into the
dragon’s nostrils, and then suddenly the creature lifted its head and a great
rush of flame roared out of his mouth.  The flames engulfed the little
boat and waves rocked it.  It was a dragon sneeze!  Both Harry and
Edwin were protected from the flames by the figurehead, and they held their
breath.  The dragon settled its head down again and Harry indicated to
Edwin to pull forward, quite unable to stop his hand shaking as he did so.

“I
can’t see the oily stone,” whispered Harry.  Then he made a brave
decision.  “I’ve got to get out.  Keep smoking,” he told Edwin,
passing him the pipe.  Now Edwin had to manage two oars and the
pipe.  Even so, he reached out to make sure an axe was within easy
reach.  Harry slipped over the side and with some relief found the water
was not only warm, but shallow.  It was not rock though.  The island
was built of treasure and as Harry crept out of the water, gold and silver
flagons studded with jewels shifted beneath his feet and caused him to
trip.  Clattering of metal on metal echoed throughout the cavern. 
Harry froze.

Then
the dragon opened his eye.  It was looking straight at him and Harry
prayed it really was blind.

Suddenly,
the dragon lifted its paw and scratched its nose, just as it had the night
before.  Then Harry saw the stone.  The dragon had covered it with
his paw.  Harry took his chance and grabbed it, crouching back down as he
did so and slipping it into his jacket pocket.

The
dragon put its paw back down, and Harry slowly crept backwards.  But
suddenly the dragon was groping around, sleepily.  It knew the diamond was
gone!  Edwin blew another puff of smoke, but even in its sleep the dragon
was angry and instinctively felt what was happening.  Even the Dragons’
Bane could not keep the animal’s subconscious greed from working, and it lashed
out its paw.  An angry claw went right through Harry’s tweed jacket and
sleeve, where it struck his skin and wounded him. Harry cried out and bit his
tongue to try and stop the noise, but the pain was agony.  Then the dragon
couldn’t get its claw out and started to wave Harry’s arm around.

Edwin
was out of the boat in an instant with his axe, pipe in mouth, puffing away and
chanced his moment.  With a sudden crash, he cut off the dragons’ long toe
with one blow and shouted, “Go!”  Harry made it to the edge of the
boat.  In spite of the pain the injury must have caused the dragon, the
extra smoke must have lulled it like an anaesthetic.  It lay down to sleep
again.  But Harry was feeling so sleepy as well.  One hand slipped
off the side of the boat, and then the other, and he sank down under the water. 
Edwin grabbed the collar of his coat, picking him up by his neck like a small
puppy, and threw him into an uncomfortable heap on the decking boards.