by Emily Rodda
‘Del is not Broome, I fear,’ Britta said with a rueful smile. But she reached up and squeezed Jewel’s hand gratefully. As she did, she noticed the golden armband gleaming in the dim light and another flicker of memory came to her.
‘Your armband is a weapon!’ she murmured. ‘You fought with it in the forest!’
‘There, you see? You are remembering more all the time!’ Jewel glanced down at the armband and shrugged. ‘Yes, the kish is useful when no other weapon is at hand. It is a pity that so many people saw me using it, though. It is supposed to be secret. I amsure that most of you will keep quiet about it, but I doubt that Vashti will.’
Britta sighed. She doubted it too. She was sure that Vashti would not keep quiet about anything.
Despite Kay’s fears, that night marked the beginning of Britta’s real recovery—in one way, at least. She could feel herself growing stronger every day, but her memories of the Hungry Isle were still just a few flickering pictures that had added little to what Jewel had told her. The rest was darkness.
Increasingly she had the nagging feeling that something important, something very important, was hidden in that darkness. But the more she strained to recall it, the thicker the darkness seemed to become, and at last she made herself stop trying.
Soon she was well enough to leave her bed, and even take short walks on deck, holding Jewel’s arm.
These walks were both a joy and a depressing reminder of what was to come. The glorious feeling of the fresh breeze on her face and the sight of the Star’s sails white against the clear blue sky filled her with deep happiness. The avid stares of the crew and her glimpses of Vashti turning quickly away, drawing in her skirts as if to avoid infection, were hard to bear.
‘Take no notice,’ Jewel advised. ‘You know what Vashti is. And you cannot blame the men for being curious about you. Officially they have been told very little, but they seem to know everything all the same. At least they do not fear you any longer—that is the main thing.’
The walks made Britta feel stifled in Mab’s dim, hushed cabin, and at Kay’s suggestion she began to spend the daylight hours sitting in the healer’s cabin next door. There she could have the curtains drawn back to let in the sun. She could also talk to her visitors without having to whisper.
It was Sky she really longed to see, but Captain Hara, shorthanded because Crow and his henchmen were locked up below, was keeping Sky so busy that it was a long time before she was to have her wish.
In the meantime, there was Jewel and, of course, Collin of Illica. Collin came bubbling over with thanks and bursting with pride about the overthrow of the mutiny.
‘It was all Vorn’s idea,’ he told Britta. ‘When you and the others were put overboard I thought we were doomed. But Sky had told us that the boy Davvie and Grubb the cook were to be trusted, so Vorn decided we should show ourselves to them and ask them to help us drug Crow’s rum. The plan worked to a marvel. Vorn is always right.’
As he was leaving, he said he was very sorry that his parents had taken Britta’s sunrise pearl. ‘I wish I could give you ours to replace it,’ he added, nodding earnestly. ‘But, as Vorn says, it is all we have, and we will need it to buy tools and such when we get to Del. We are going to build and repair boats, you know. That is Vorn’s plan.’
He was so happy that Britta could only nod and force a smile. But she was glad to see him go. The thought of her lost pearl made her feel ill.
Captain Hara’s visit, some days later, was more surprising and very much shorter. He did not even come into the cabin, just loomed in the doorway, regarding Britta without a flicker of a smile. His neck was still bruised, but otherwise he looked as fit as ever.
‘I came to tell you something,’ he said abruptly. ‘It’s been on my mind, and now you know what Mab was up to, there’s no reason for me to keep quiet about it any longer.’
Seeing him standing there, burly and serious, made something click in Britta’s mind.
‘It was you who attacked me and locked me up in Del that night, Captain Hara!’ she burst out.
The corner of Hara’s mouth tightened in surprise, and he nodded.
‘I suspected everyone else, but never you—not until this moment,’ Britta went on. ‘But—but why did you do it? Were you trying to stop Mab from—?’
‘Hardly,’ Hara growled. ‘I was following Mab’s orders—or thought I was. You, Vashti, Jewel and Sky had equal scores, and at that time we all thought there could be three finalists only. You had to be one of them. The easiest way to be sure of that was to put one of the others out of the way. Vashti’s parents would have raised an almighty stink if anything happened to her. Jewel would have put up too much of a fight. So—’
Light broke. Britta almost laughed. ‘You took me for Sky!’ she exclaimed. ‘Because I’d disguised myself in old clothes like his, and let my hair hang loose! You thought you were pushing Sky into that cellar!’
‘That’s it,’ Hara said. ‘It was dark, and from behind you looked ... Anyhow, I thought all was well, and I told Mab so. Then, blow me down, Sky turned up at the Traders Hall with Jewel, and there was no sign of you.’
He shook his head in disgust. ‘Mab was beside herself! I caught on to what must have happened, and went back for you. By all the serpents and little fishes, I’ve never run so fast! For a while there I thought the whole plan had run aground.’
‘It might have been better for all of us if it had,’ Britta could not help saying. ‘But thank you for telling me.’
Hara shrugged. ‘If the wind stays fair we’ll be in Del in a couple of days. I wanted you to know before we landed and the hullabaloo began. Put in a complaint to the Trust, if you like—it might get you some sympathy. I won’t have a future with the Rosalyn fleet after this, anyway. And without Mab as the Trader I don’t want one. I can’t see myself serving under Vashti, even if she’d have me.’
He gave Britta a curt nod, and left her.
14 - Two Days to Del
Two days to Del! The news had stunned Britta more than anything else Hara had said. She felt panic-stricken. Her illness and the long, slow weeks of her recovery had made her lose all track of time. Why had Kay and Jewel not warned her that the voyage was so nearly over?
Because they did not want you to fret and worry, the voice of reason told her. Because they know you have made some sort of plan for your family, and are as well prepared as you can be.
Yes, Britta thought dismally. But I had so hoped—
A tap on the door made her jump.
‘Come in,’ she called, and her heart gave a strange little lurch as Sky of Rithmere slouched into the cabin, bringing with him the smell of the sea.
‘Sky!’ she cried, half-rising from her chair.
Sky seemed not to see her outstretched hand. He perched on the edge of Kay’s bunk and looked around the cabin.
‘So, Britta—how are you feeling?’ he asked, as casually as if they had seen each other just the day before.
Plainly he had not missed her at all. Grateful that she had not betrayed herself by saying something stupid, Britta let irritation swamp her disappointment.
‘In two days, everyone in Del will know I am Dare Larsett’s daughter,’ she snapped. ‘My mother and sister will be disgraced along with me. We will have to leave the city and start again—in Broome, if I can persuade Mother to agree. Soon I will lose the Star of Deltora—to Vashti! I am so weak that I cannot totter the length of the deck without a rest, and I have a black hole in my memory. How do you think I feel?’
‘Not so well?’ Sky murmured.
Britta snorted with angry laughter. ‘Not so well. And you?’
Sky’s thin lips twisted into a crooked smile. ‘Things could be better. I lost the treasures from Bar- Enoch’s cave—they must have fallen from my pocket during the fight in the forest. Just my luck. You lost the odi shell clip, too, I hear, and Crow and his louts smashed Jewel’s trade from Two Moons, so we are all returning to Del empty-handed.’
Britta bit her lip. Jewel had said nothing about losing her trade. But that was typical of Jewel.
‘Still, at least I have had some ocean sailing experience now,’ Sky said with a shrug. ‘Later I might be able to get work as a deckhand on some ship or other, if the captain is not too choosy.’
‘Hara seems to think well of you,’ Britta replied coolly. ‘Perhaps you could sign on with him, wherever he goes after this.’
‘Perhaps.’
There was a short silence. Britta pressed her lips together, determined not to be the one to break it.
‘Do you really remember very little of Tier, Britta?’ Sky asked abruptly, in quite a different tone.
‘Very little.’ Britta sighed, forgetting for the moment to keep her cool mask in place. ‘Kay says it is a blessing, but I keep thinking that among all the other things I have forgotten there is something very important. It is driving me mad!’
Sky hesitated, then seemed to come to a decision.
‘I think I can help,’ he said. ‘I confess I was tempted not to tell you—to let the whole thing go, or at least to leave out the part concerning me. But perhaps if I grit my teeth and tell it all ...’
Flashing pictures of white foam boiling on black sand came to Britta as she listened to Sky’s story of what had happened between them on the shore of the Hungry Isle. She was shivering by the time he fell silent.
‘This explains some things I did not understand about Jewel’s story,’ she said in a low voice. ‘I knew the Staff would not have fallen to dust just because Father died. And I could not think why I went to the shore with the wraiths, or why they were released from the island only then. But Jewel seemed to have no doubt—’
‘I did not tell anyone what you did—even Jewel,’ Sky broke in. ‘I did not want the word to spread. Many people would condemn you for destroying the Staff— as I did, before I came to my senses. I squirm when I think how I raged at you.’
He grimaced, staring down at his hands. ‘This can go down in history as the first time I ever felt ashamed of anything. Shame and guilt have always seemed a waste of energy to me.’
Very moved, Britta touched his arm. She felt the muscles tense beneath the thin fabric of his sleeve.
Sky looked up. ‘Sadly, my confession was wasted, it seems. I gather that none of this has helped to bring back the memory that has been troubling you.’
‘I am afraid not,’ Britta admitted reluctantly. ‘The feeling still nags at me. I have begun to think that it is something only I know, that no one else can tell me. But thank you for what you said, Sky. It must have been hard.’
‘The hardest thing I have ever done,’ said Sky. ‘And that includes fighting savage orchids with nothing but my belt and one of Jewel’s earrings.’
That night, Mab was very restless. Kay tried in vain to soothe her, and at last padded over to Britta.
‘Mab is keeping you awake, my dear, and you need your rest,’ she whispered. ‘I am going to ask Jewel to come and help you back to your old cabin. You are well enough for that now, and Jewel can keep an eye on you for me.’
She hurried out. Mab mumbled and moaned. There was a tiny click, and the next moment the goozli was bouncing on the sheet beside Britta’s cheek.
‘Did you hear, goozli?’ Britta whispered. ‘I am going back to my old cabin. Stay hidden, but be sure to keep track of me! We land in two days.’
The goozli frowned and tapped its tiny foot.
‘Yes, of course you know what to do.’ Britta sighed. ‘I wish I did, goozli! Jewel keeps telling me things will be easier to manage than I think, but oh, if only Mab would get well!’
The goozli tilted its head enquiringly.
‘Mab would speak for me to the Rosalyn Trust Committee. But even more important than that—I have to get my mother and sister out of Del quickly and quietly, and Mab has the power and gold to arrange it. If she was well, she would surely agree to help—she owes me something for what she did. But as things are ...’
She sighed again, and glanced over at Mab’s bunk, at the muttering old woman lying there. She thought of Maarie and Margareth, peacefully sleeping above the shop with no idea of the storm that was about to break over their heads. She thought of Jantsy—of how it would feel to part with Jantsy again so soon, and this time, perhaps, forever. She could not imagine it.
‘Jantsy will do all he can for us,’ she murmured, swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat. ‘Captain Gripp will, too. Neither of them is rich, but perhaps between them they can raise enough to buy a horse and cart. The stock in the shop will go a little way towards paying them back—we will just have to owe them the rest. And if I can persuade Mother to go to Broome, Jewel will lead us. We would be very welcome in Broome, Jewel says. No one will despise us there ...’
Her voice trailed off as she imagined her mother coping with a move to a place that she would see as foreign, savage and wild. Kind, even-tempered Margareth would be happy anywhere, but Maarie ...
For the third time Britta sighed. ‘It is not much of a plan, is it, goozli?’ she said ruefully. ‘But it is all I have.’
The goozli smiled and tapped the side of its tiny nose. Then, as Kay’s footsteps sounded outside, it sprang back into hiding, leaving Britta to wonder what the smile had meant.
Two days quickly became one. The Star buzzed with activity as the crew scrubbed, polished and stowed, preparing for the landing the following morning. Sitting in a quiet corner on deck, watching the sun set and trying to keep out of the way, Britta reflected that time had a way of flying just when you wished it would slow to a crawl.
‘Vashti can hardly wait to land,’ Jewel had commented sourly the night before, when she returned from dinner. ‘She is plainly bursting with the tale she has to tell. Ah, if only I had thought to push her out of the landing boat! Then we could tell any story we liked to the Trust Committee. Mab is too ill to speak, and Hara would not give us away. He has too much to lose himself.’
‘We would have to bribe the whole crew to silence if we were to get away with a false story, with Vashti or without her,’ Britta had replied dryly.
And of course the ship’s log will tell much of what happened, Britta thought now, letting her notebook fall onto her lap. Hara is loyal to Mab, certainly, but surely he would not tell lies in the log—even to protect her and save his own reputation.
Or would he? A mere five years as captain of the Star of Deltora had been enough to bind Hara so closely to Mab that he had been willing to risk his life and his career for her.
So here is another poor fool hypnotised by Mab! Another pet dog who has allowed himself to be used in return for crumbs dropped from the Trader Rosalyn’s table!
Britta stiffened as the harsh whisper pierced her thoughts like the hiss of a snake. Her heart thudding painfully, she stood up and began to pace the deck, her notebook gripped tightly in her hand.
She wanted to remember all that she had forgotten, she really did! But if only the memories would come back to her quietly and in order, instead of in these sudden flashes that took her by surprise. She focused on the chilling voice, hoping that more of the scene in the cavern of the Staff would come to her. But as usual nothing happened.
She turned as Davvie came panting up to her with Black Jack at his heels.
‘Sky says to tell you that Healer Kay asked Grubb to send a proper dinner to the chief trader’s cabin tonight, instead of just broth,’ Davvie whispered. ‘Kay didn’t say nothing, but Sky thinks it means that Trader Mab has woken up!’
Britta caught her breath. She remembered the goozli smiling and tapping the side of its nose when she wished that Mab would get well. Was this just chance, or—?
Or had she failed yet again to understand the extent of the goozli’s power? Did the goozli have some fragment of the life-giving magic of the turtle man Tier—some power to heal? Britta’s own recovery had been a miracle, according to Healer Kay. Perhaps the goozli had roused her! And now it had worked the same miracle for
Mab ... crept to Mab’s bunk in the night while Kay was drowsing, and managed to do what it knew Britta wanted.
As Davvie ran cheerfully away, the cat stalking after him, Britta turned and moved as fast as she could to the stern.
Her heart was filled with hope as she made her way down to the chief trader’s cabin. Hope swelled as through the door she clearly heard Mab’s voice raised in complaint, and Kay’s voice calmly replying. But when she knocked, complete silence fell and the door did not open.
She knocked again. ‘Mab,’ she called softly. ‘Mab, it is Britta! Please may I talk to you?’
She heard voices muttering and pressed her ear to the door.
‘Send her away!’ she distinctly heard Mab say. ‘Tell her I am far too ill to see anyone! Tell her I am dying! Curse you, Kay, where is your loyalty?’
There was a moment’s silence, then the door opened a crack and Kay peered out, her face red with anger.
‘I am sorry, Britta,’ she said stiffly. ‘Mab cannot speak to anyone. You had better run along.’
The door closed. Her dashed hopes falling like cold rain around her, Britta crept away.
At first she felt merely stunned and unhappy. By the time she reached her own cabin she was furious with herself. What a fool she had been to think that Mab would help her! Mab was a cunning, ruthless woman. Of course, the moment she awoke she must have begun thinking about the best way to protect herself from any claim that she had deliberately sought out the Hungry Isle. And of course the first thing she would decide was that she must cut herself off completely from any contact with the daughter of Dare Larsett. So, to save herself, she had cast Britta adrift.
Still, I am no worse off now than I was before Davvie gave me Sky’s message, Britta told herself. I did not have Mab’s help then, and I do not have it now. I still have my plan, for what it is worth. And I will not tell Jewel about this, or she will go storming to Mab’s cabin and cause a fuss. That would do me no good and might do Jewel a lot of harm.
She kept her resolve all through the evening, and even managed to smile at Jewel’s wicked imitation of Collin praising Vorn to the skies all through dinner. But her thoughts were bitter as she lay in her bunk later, imagining the goozli faithfully continuing to strengthen Mab, in preparation for the day to come.