Ghost Ship

by Kim Wilkins

  What a sensation! Her shoulders hunching together, her bones and muscles contracting, her fingers elongating and growing light. Her chest tightened, but it wasn’t painful. A feeling of weightlessness gripped her and she flung out her arms to find they were actually black wings.

  She took to the sky.

  A giddy rush as the air surrounded her and she shot out of the cloud of mist around Northseeker and into the pale blue sky. She tried to laugh, but only a raven’s caw came out and, watching the clouds spin above her, she dipped and dived on the wind.

  And then there was something else. Something black and hissing. A sky patrol.

  Her blood turned to ice.

  She dropped down and back to Northseeker, but the balloon was moving fast and gaining on her from behind. Her tiny bird’s heart began to beat in a panic as she plummeted through the sky.

  Sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

  The mists parted around her and she was back on Northseeker. She let her breath go and her wings dissolved. Her own body, feeling heavy and stiff, gathered around her once more.

  “Sky patrol,” she gasped.

  Rollo was staring at her. “That was amazing!”

  “Sky patrol, Rollo!” She wondered why he wasn’t panicking.

  Rollo turned his face upward. The balloon was directly overhead now. “Why are you worried, Asa?” he said. “They can’t see us.”

  Of course. Why hadn’t she thought of it? She was so used to hiding when she saw one of the dark balloons, but Northseeker was invisible. She began to laugh, with relief and with the thrill of having changed into a bird.

  Rollo laughed, too, and then poked his tongue out at the balloon. “You can’t see us,” he teased in a singsong voice. She joined in, and they laughed until the sky patrol had gone ahead, over the cliffs and into the distance.

  “I don’t feel ill at all,” she said. “Maybe Egil was making it up.”

  “Probably trying to scare us,” said Rollo. “Trying to stop us having any fun at all so we’re just as miserable as him.”

  She agreed and they kept sailing.

  But by nightfall, after sailing the twisted course between the islands, she was feeling distinctly queasy.

  “I don’t think I can sit up any longer,” she said.

  Rollo was picking at his plate of cheese and pickled fish. “I feel sick.”

  “And exhausted,” she added. “Like my arms and legs weigh a ton.”

  “It hurts to breathe. Like my ribs are bruised,” he groaned.

  “This is what Egil meant, isn’t it? We’re sick because we used our magic powers.”

  “I think I’m going to—” Rollo was suddenly on his feet, leaning over the side of the ship and throwing up.

  Asa steered into the shelter of a bay and dropped anchor. They were so close to Margritt’s tower, but they weren’t going to make it tonight. Even though it was early, they would have to sleep.

  Asa laid the bearskin in the bottom of the longship and Rollo snuggled next to her.

  “I feel terrible,” he said.

  “A good night’s sleep will help,” she said, pulling the blankets over them. She closed her eyes and tried to fight the queasy feeling.

  “Do you regret it, though?” Rollo said.

  Asa was just on the edge of sleep, and smiled. Regret turning herself into a bird and feeling those magical sensations? Never. “No,” she said.

  “Nor do I.”

  And they both fell into a deep slumber.

  So it wasn’t until early morning, with the low line of an island to shadow them, that they sailed into sight of a thin black spire on the horizon. Dark clouds gathered around it and the water was black beneath it.

  Rollo frowned. “That looks creepy.”

  “It’s Margritt’s tower,” Asa said. “We’ve arrived.”

  CHAPTER 6

  THE TOWER OF THE

  WITCH PRINCESS

  Margritt’s tower had once been the finest tower in the north. Even though the base was now half submerged, the tall peak still rose higher than the ragged black cliffs around it. Northseeker came to rest against a narrow spine of stairs that wrapped around the tower. Asa could see the stairs continued deep under the water and wound high up above them. An icy wind chafed her face as she measured the distance upward with her eyes.

  “Is that the only way in?” Rollo asked.

  “Unless you want to go under the water.”

  He smiled. “I could.”

  “But I couldn’t. And we have to stick together.”

  She grabbed his hand and they left Northseeker behind. The stairs were slimy with algae and there was no railing to hold on to, so they picked their way up carefully. Above, Asa could see a collar around the tower. It had once been a bulwark, but now it was the entrance.

  “That’s where we’re going,” Asa said, pointing.

  “Will they let us in?”

  “I hope so. Egil Cripplehand said that we had to ask for Margritt and to say we were friends of his. No matter what happens, don’t tell anyone we’re the Star Queen’s children. We don’t know who we can trust.”

  He nodded and they continued up the narrow stairs. Asa’s heart was thumping, from the effort of climbing as much as from excitement. Somewhere in this tower, according to Egil, was their baby sister.

  Finally, they reached the bulwark. It was now a wide, muddy courtyard. Once they were on level ground, Asa and Rollo found their way barred by a heavy iron gate lined with spikes. Beyond it, they could see a cobbled path and men in long, hooded cloaks moving around in a stony garden.

  “Hello?” Rollo called. “Hello?”

  One of the hooded men turned to them. His face was in shadow.

  “We’re here to see Margritt,” Asa said.

  The man approached the gate. “Who are you?”

  “Friends of Egil Cripplehand.” Asa was careful not to admit to her true identity. “Can you tell her we’re here?”

  “Wait,” he said, then crossed the courtyard and disappeared.

  An hour passed, then another, and Asa started to think they had been forgotten. Rollo sat on the muddy ground drawing pictures with a stick, and Asa paced. They were so close to Una now. She couldn’t bear this long wait.

  Finally, the hooded man (or another—they all looked the same) opened the gate without a word and led them through. A twisted black tree, bare of leaves, stood in the center of the courtyard. Ugly carved gargoyles crouched on the corners, their evil eyes and sharp stone teeth decorated with spiderwebs. Asa and Rollo entered a long, low hallway, where only the faintest glow from a lamp lit the way.

  “Go right to the end and wait,” the man said, and left them.

  Asa’s heart fluttered. Rollo reached for her hand and they walked the long corridor in silence.

  “There are a lot of spiders in this place,” he said.

  She glanced around. He was right. Every corner was spun with webs. It made her flesh crawl. A particularly large spider sat on the highest point of a nearby arch and Asa could have sworn it was looking at her. “I’ve never much liked spiders,” she said.

  “Maybe you’d feel differently if you changed into a raven,” Rollo said cheerfully. “Some birds eat spiders, don’t they?”

  “Well, I know I’m not a spider-eating bird.”

  “You might be. Mmmmm,” he said, rubbing his tummy. “Tasty spiders.”

  “I’m not! I’d never eat spiders.”

  Rollo wrinkled his nose at her. “Hey, it’s a joke. I’m only trying to cheer you up.”

  “There’s nothing cheerful about this situation, Rollo,” she said. “It’s no time for jokes.” She immediately regretted having snapped at him. “I’m sorry. I’m just so tense and I want to see Una and go home safely.”

  Rollo squeezed her hand. “We’ll be fine. You’ll see.”

  Ahead at the end of the hall, a heavy wooden door stained with mold waited for them.

  Rollo took a deep breath. “We’ll see her soon, won’t
we?”

  “I hope so.”

  He opened the door and they found themselves in a dim room. The stone floor was bare and cold, and flickering candles hung in rusted iron brackets on the walls. A fire burned in the grate and a plump servant stood in front of it, boiling water. An uneven wooden table and two chairs with torn covers had been set up near the fire. Only a narrow window let in a little light. Firelit shadows danced on the walls.

  “Hello?” Asa said.

  The servant turned. At first she had a smile on her lips, but when she saw them, her expression changed. She only had one eye and she narrowed it at them suspiciously. “You’re the guests?”

  “I … I suppose so,” Asa said.

  “Margritt told me to bathe you and feed you.” She came closer, trying to make them out with her one eye. Her nose wrinkled. “I’m Hallgird.”

  “Very pleased to meet you,” Rollo said, though he probably didn’t mean it.

  “What are your names?” she said.

  “How long before we can see Margritt?” Asa carefully avoided introducing herself.

  “I said, what are your names?” Hallgird demanded.

  “We’re friends of Egil Cripplehand,” Rollo said smoothly.

  “We’ll only answer questions from Margritt,” Asa said.

  Hallgird picked up Asa’s hands in her own sweaty fingers and spread her arms apart. She considered Asa in the gloomy light, the pupil in her glassy eye narrowed to a pinpoint. “You look familiar.”

  “I’m sure I don’t, because we’ve never met.” Asa pulled her hands away. “Where is Margritt?”

  Hallgird huffed and turned her shoulder. “She’ll be along in her own time. Sit down, eat. Then I’ll draw you a bath.”

  She served them a plate of limp vegetables, then filled a bath with the same water she had boiled the food in. Asa smelled like a carrot afterward, and the food didn’t sit well in her still-queasy stomach. Hours and hours passed. Asa paced; Rollo watched the fire. Hallgird bustled in and out, and so did other servants, who were friendlier and gentler with them. But nobody would tell them where Margritt was or when she would come. Outside the narrow window, the sun grew low in the sky again, and Asa began to give up hope. Margritt wouldn’t come. Una wasn’t here. Their journey had been in vain.

  “Cheer up,” Rollo said, smiling at her. “We’ll see Una soon.”

  “What if we don’t? What if we—”

  At that precise moment, the door creaked open and a long shadow crossed the threshold ahead of a tall, thin woman. In a self-important voice, she dismissed all the servants, including a wary-eyed Hallgird.

  “Quickly now,” Margritt said, clapping her hands together. “Out, out! I want to speak to my guests in private. You, too, Hallgird. I’ll call if I need you. Make sure Nanny Freya is told of my plans.”

  When they were alone, she closed the door carefully behind her and turned to consider the children.

  Margritt was striking, with raven-black hair pulled away from her face and trailing in a long sweep at her back. Woven among the black strands of her hair were hundreds of tiny star-shaped diamonds. Her eyes were icy blue and her mouth turned down sharply. In the candlelight, dark shadows flickered across her face and made her look hard. Her robes were black and she wore a collar of spiderweb lace around her throat. Every finger bore a glittering ring and they flashed as she moved her hands.

  “Asa? Rollo?” she said at last, her face expressionless.

  Asa smiled, extending her hand. “We’re so grateful to—”

  “Hush!” Margritt said sharply. “I’m not your friend. I hated your parents, but I hated my half brother more. It’s the only reason I did what I did. I suppose you want to see your sister?”

  So Una really was alive! Asa was so overwhelmed she couldn’t speak.

  “Please, ma’am,” Rollo said respectfully, “we want to take her home with us.”

  Margritt arched her eyebrows. “And what will you give me in return? As payment?”

  Asa found her voice. “Payment?”

  “You don’t think I’m just going to hand her over. If she’s worth something to you, you’ll pay me.”

  “She’s our sister!” Rollo cried angrily. “We’ve traveled for days and days and—”

  Asa touched his shoulder. “No, Rollo. Don’t argue.” She turned to Margritt. “What do you want?”

  Margritt flicked her long ponytail over her shoulder. “I’m quite fond of diamonds.”

  Asa looked down at her own hands. They were worn and callused from managing the ship’s tiller, and that cut still hadn’t healed properly. She wore a little gold ring her father had given her for her ninth birthday, three years ago. As she had grown, she had moved it along from one finger to the next. Her smallest finger was the last place it would fit. Nestled in the center of the ring was a round diamond.

  “But Papa gave you that.” Rollo had guessed what Asa was thinking.

  She pulled the ring off and held it out to Margritt. “Will this do?”

  Margritt plucked the ring from Asa’s palm. She strode to the nearest candle, held it close to the flame, and examined it carefully. At first her mouth turned down, but then it broke into a smile.

  She turned to Asa. “It’s a Great Sea Diamond.”

  “Yes, found under the rocks at the Deeps.” Asaremembered her father telling her that he had found the diamond himself while diving to rescue his brother from a sea giant. How she had loved the story, and how she had loved the gift. It hurt her to have to give it up. “It’s rare,” she said. “It’s priceless.”

  Margritt’s fingers snapped shut around the ring. “It will do nicely, then. I’ll fetch the child for you.” Her nose wrinkled. “I had a mind to train her as a witch’s apprentice, but she’s a noisy, smelly little thing.”

  The witch princess went to the door and threw it open. An elderly nanny with a kind face stood there. In one arm, she held a brown paper package. In the other, she held a squirming infant.

  Asa would have recognized the little girl anywhere: she had her mother’s piercing green eyes and her father’s gentle smile.

  “Una!”

  She and Rollo descended upon the little girl, who cried at first but then soon warmed to the tearful cuddles and kisses. Una couldn’t speak yet, but her delighted giggles said exactly what she was feeling. Asa couldn’t remember a nicer sensation than the tender contentment of holding her baby sister in her arms at last. It made her feel whole.

  “You had best spend the night here and set off in the morning,” Margritt said when calm had returned. “Hallgird will fix you some supper and show you the way.”

  The one-eyed servant entered the room and smiled knowingly at Asa. She felt a worm of discomfort. What had Hallgird overheard?

  Their bedchamber was a drafty room of gloomy corners cluttered with all manner of carved monsters and thick spiderwebs. Hallgird served them more limp vegetables (cold this time) for supper, but neither Asa nor Rollo could concentrate on eating. After Hallgird had left, they all flopped on the big four-poster bed together. Rollo tickled Una, who laughed and squealed happily. Asa picked the string off the brown paper package.

  “Can you say anything, Una?” Rollo asked.

  “Gaaaaaaaah!” she said happily.

  “Why doesn’t she know any words?” he said.

  “Perhaps nobody has taught her any.” Asa opened the package. Inside were the clothes Una had been wearing the night she was stolen. Also a little book, a cotton rabbit … she sorted through them all, Una’s belongings from before the flood.

  Rollo bent over their baby sister. “Can you say Rollo? Rol-lo?” he said slowly.

  “Aaaawoo!” she said.

  “Did you hear that, Asa? I think she’s trying to say my name.”

  Asa gasped as her fingers turned over the last item in the package: a little pair of white knitted socks. Something shiny had dropped out.

  “Oh, Asa,” Rollo said, picking it up. “Do you remember this?”
<
br />   “The Moonstone Star,” she said, and her face lit up. “It’s Mama’s. The royal symbol of the Star Lands, and it’s full of magic.”

  Rollo caressed the Star gently. “She wore it all the time.”

  His eyes brimmed with tears and Asa ruffled his hair.

  “Imagine,” she said. “Margritt fussed so much over that diamond, when a far greater treasure has been here under her nose the whole time.” She took the Star from Rollo and tucked it once again into the little white sock. “I guess moonstone isn’t shiny enough for her.”

  Rollo turned his attention once again to Una, but she had fallen asleep.

  “She must be tired,” he said.

  Asa nudged him. “I’m tired, too,” she said.

  “I don’t know if I can sleep in this creepy place,” Rollo said, slipping into the bed next to his sisters.

  “Me neither,” Asa said, nervously eyeing the cobwebs. “Do you think the spiders might crawl on us in the night?”

  He wriggled closer, so that their knees were touching. There was Una on her back between them, her soft little face turned to the right, her lips parted. “Perhaps if we all snuggle up really close, everything will be fine,” he said.

  He was right. Once the three of them were curled up tightly together, the warmth of family seemed much stronger than the cold kiss of shadows. Sleep came, soft and restful.

  But outside, on the muddy stairs, Hallgird was doing her best to bring the shadows closing in.

  CHAPTER 7

  RETURN TO

  TWO HILLS KEEP

  Rollo woke to a hiss.

  His eyes flew open. Sky patrol!

  “Asa?”

  But she was already scrambling out of bed, clutching Una to her chest and throwing open the shutters.

  “It’s a balloon and it’s landed behind the tower. We have to run,” Asa told him.

  They turned as the door to their chamber was flung open. Hallgird blocked their path.

  “Don’t leave so soon,” she said, breaking into a wicked smile. Her single eye crinkled up in delight. “Not when you have visitors.”