Skybreaker
Page 34
“Tons of it,” I went on. “Behind the wall of the secret passage. That’s where Grunel kept it.”
“You’re just trying to madden me,” Hal said.
“No. Must’ve been twenty crates. I discovered them when I went back for Kate.”
“Is this true?” Nadira asked.
I nodded, suddenly ashamed of my outburst. I’d just wanted to get back at Hal, but I saw now how this news pained her. She said nothing, but her eyes were bright with tears.
Hal was breathing heavily. For a moment I thought he might lunge across the table and strangle me. Then all the fire seemed to go out of him. “You were right there! Why didn’t you take some?”
“Heavy stuff, gold.”
“Just twenty bars would have fixed my ship and eased my debt!”
“I was rescuing Kate,” I said. “There wasn’t time.”
Nadira gave a quick nod. “You did the right thing,” she said.
Hal snorted. “Ah, yes, very valiant of you. But let me give you my opinion. Man to man, you understand. I think you may find that Kate de Vries would admire you more if you’d taken some gold.”
I found Kate in the cargo bay, sitting in the cockpit of Grunel’s ornithopter, studying the controls.
“Oh, hello,” she said, turning and looking down at me. “This really is an amazing machine, you know. I don’t think Hal appreciates it. He might be able to sell the design to someone.”
“I don’t think the pedal idea will catch on,” I said. “It was no easy thing, keeping it aloft.”
“It did feel heavy,” she admitted. “But if he’ll let me, I’d like to buy it. I’d give him an excellent price, and then at least he’d have something to split between you all.”
“I’m sure he’d appreciate that. It’s very kind of you.”
“Not at all. I feel quite attached to it.”
“It saved our lives,” I said. “With you at the helm anyway.”
“Those things Hal said about you—you mustn’t listen to him. He’s being hateful.”
“If it were my ship, I’d probably get drunk too.”
“You asked me a question earlier,” she said.
It took me a second to remember. “Oh. ‘Am I better wealthy?’ I don’t think you need to answer that anymore.”
“It still seems an important question to me.”
“You have the answer?” I asked.
“Yes. Well, no. Because it’s completely up to you.”
“Is it? Just say you had to choose. The rich or poor Matt Cruse.”
She smiled. “It doesn’t matter to me in the slightest. It never has.”
“Really?” Just looking at her, I realized she was telling the truth. “But it matters to other people,” I said. “It matters to me. More than I’d care to admit, and that’s a fact.”
“That’s important to know,” she said.
“Hal thinks I’m destined to be a chauffeur. Does that repel you?”
“Not at all,” she said. “It’s always best to be in the driver’s seat, isn’t it?”
I laughed.
“Although,” she went on, “right now, I appear to be in the driver’s seat.”
“You certainly are.”
“Climb aboard,” she said, “and tell me where you’d like to go.”
I smiled. We had the hangar all to ourselves. I saw a foothold in the ornithopter’s flank, stuck my toes in, and started to heave myself up to the cockpit. But something gave way beneath my foot with a bang, and I slipped back to the hangar floor.
“Are you all right?” Kate asked, peering down.
“It’s some kind of cargo hatch,” I said, squinting into the small compartment I’d unwittingly opened. There were two white sacks inside, and I pulled them out, one at a time, for they were heavy.
“They’re pillow cases,” I said.
“What’s inside?” Kate asked.
I opened one and stared in utter disbelief.
“Gold,” I said.
“No, really. What’s inside?”
I grinned and held it up to her so she could see the luster of the smooth bricks.
“Oh, my goodness!” she cried. “No wonder the ship felt heavy!”
“Hendrickson,” I said, “that little sneak! Grunel’s manservant filched some gold and tried to make off with it!”
“Where did he get it though?” Kate wanted to know.
I hadn’t yet told her about the store of gold in the secret passage, and as she clambered down from the cockpit, I quickly filled her in.
“How many bricks are there?” she asked.
We dumped them out on the floor and counted them. Forty. I did the math.
“That means thirty-two for Hal, and four each for Nadira and me.” My heart was beating fast. “That’s enough for Hal to fix the Saga and get out of debt.”
“And it’s a very nice windfall for you and Nadira,” Kate said. “You won’t be the richest young man in Paris, but you certainly won’t be the poorest.”
“I don’t think I’ll mind that at all,” I said.
Kate and I just looked at each other. The gold’s glimmer was nothing compared to the brightness of her face. I took her hand in mine and felt once more that sense of homecoming. I wanted to pull her tight and kiss her, but that would have spoiled it somehow, because I wouldn’t have been able to see her eyes. And as long as our gazes met we were like a current. We were electricity, and together we could have powered an aerial city. My Himalayan heart felt big as the sky, and just as strong.
About the Author
KENNETH OPPEL is the author of many books, including AIRBORN, a Michael L. Printz Honor Book and winner of Canada’s 2004 Governor General’s Award, and the bestselling Silverwing trilogy. A native of Canada, Kenneth Oppel lives with his wife and children in Toronto. You can visit him online at www.kennethoppel.com and www.skybreaker.ca.
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PRAISE FOR SKYBREAKER
“This sequel manages to delve into its characters even as it delivers yet another breakneck flight through the skies of its beguiling alternative world. More than enough material for heart-stopping action scenes that will please even the most jaded of readers.”
—The Horn Book (starred review)
“The action rarely flags in this old-fashioned adventure tale. Readers, especially those who read Airborn, will enjoy the thrilling ride.”
—KLIATT (starred review)
“Prepare to clear your schedule: you won’t be able to put down this ripping good yarn. Like its predecessor, Skybreaker is distinguished by stellar prose, engaging characters, and a minute attention to detail that makes even the most fantastic elements of the story totally believable; indeed, you’ll ache with disappointment that this world doesn’t really exist.”
—Quill & Quire (starred review)
“Creative, compelling, nicely unpredictable, and alive with nature and technology.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Thrilling. This sequel, more mystery than rousing adventure, will satisfy fans of the first book.”
—VOYA
“Skybreaker’s climactic chapters are likely to win over even cranky types, for they’re chock-full of thrills and chills, pirates, monsters, gizmos, and death-defying feats, more fun than any theme-park ride or video game.”
—Locus
“Fasten your seatbelt for some terrific reading. Its pages go far too quickly, but that’s always the trouble with stories that you just can’t wait to read.”
—The Times (London)
ALSO BY KENNETH OPPEL
AIRBORN
THE SILVERWING TRILOGY
SILVERWING
SUNWING
FIREWING
DEAD WATER ZONE
Credits
Cover art © 2005 by Danilo Ducak
Cover design by Christopher Stengel
Copyright
SKYBREAKER. Copyright
© 2006 by Firewing Productions, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Adobe Digital Edition August 2009 ISBN 978-0-06-196848-8
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Table of Contents
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About the Author
Praise
Other Books by Kenneth Oppel
Credits
Copyright
About the Publisher
ALSO BY KENNETH OPPEL