* * *
The following day went by with many of them keeping busy mending roofs and gathering firewood and food. But that night when Washburrn and the captain entered the medic cabin, they found Shellean, Alil, and a few others standing at the bedside of a dying crew-Zac.
Moments later Alil placed a blanket over his head. “I’m afraid he’s gone, sir,” she said with a sigh before they all left the cabin.
“Two deaths yesterday … and now one today,” the captain grumbled as he went outside to find Kyhawn standing just outside the door.
Kyhawn glanced at Washburrn, with whom he had been talking earlier, and then at the captain. “We’ve been so busy, Earron, Coita and I, that I haven’t had a chance to tell you, sir.” He lowered his head. “I was sorry to hear about Dylc.”
The captain took a seat on a tree stump, then almost broke his promise he made to his wife by not smoking anymore. He packed his pipe; put it to his lips, and with haste he tossed it as far into the trees as he could possibly throw. “I don’t need that crap … bad for my health.” He took a deep breath and spoke sadly “Dylc… he was a respectful crew-Zac, a good sailor, and a dear friend. He didn’t deserve this.”
Washburrn did his best to hold back his own tears as he comforted his old friend. He knelt beside the captain. “I’m going to miss him too, but at least he didn’t die in vain. If it hadn’t been for him, more of us might have been taken down by those thieving pirates.”
Silence fell among them.
Kyhawn stared at the ground with his arms to his side, then looked at them with concern. “What about those Grongels?”
Washburrn scratched his whiskers. “There’s nothing we can do but wait. In the meantime, we should do our best to maintain our readiness for them.”
The captain slowly rose, turned his head away from them, and wiped a tear from his eye. “Don’t go away Washburrn. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Captain Joenf said as he entered the medic cabin.
Kyhawn and Washburrn sat side by side just outside the cabin alone. Kyhawn looked at Washburrn. “You told me what happened on your way up the mountain, and that Dylc and you guys found evidence the following day that indicated Zacs were up there, somewhere hiding.” Kyhawn crossed his legs and looked into Washburrn’s eyes with curiousness. “But you never told me what happened after that, I mean with those pirates …?”
Washburrn glanced at the blanket draping the medic cabin doorway, then looked at Kyhawn. “After we searched the ruins awhile, and found lots of fresh footprints, Dylc’s leg started to bother him again. To make a long story short, we decided to head back down the mountain, on the main trail. About half way down we were surprised by Luxton and his mates. Before we knew it, Romeous had been stabbed in the back. I was shot at. The pellet went clean through my cloak,” he said showing Kyhawn the hole. “Dylc got one of them with his pistol. Then before Werdna was able to disarm the female, she shot and killed Dylc.” He looked at the ground with a sigh. “She threw her pistol at me, and before she had a chance to draw her dagger, I threw my dagger at her. Well, she was facing me. The dagger did her in pretty quick. By then Treb and Werdna had Luxton in ropes.”
Kyhawn placed both feet on the ground and stared out in front of them with his elbows in his lap and his hands pressed to his chin. He nodded staring at the ground.
The captain pulled the blanked aside and rejoined them. He slapped Kyhawn’s knee as if he was in a better mood; at least he seemed to be. “So … I heard you young Zacs had quite the adventure yesterday.”
Kyhawn glanced at Washburrn with a nod as if he knew not to continue what they had been talking about, in respect for the captain. Kyhawn quickly responded. “Then you know we found the bodies of those four missing Zacs.”
Alil and Zeal came from around the corner and joined them.
The captain slowly nodded. “I know about the bodies.”
All eyes were on Kyhawn as he went on to tell Captain Joenf about their adventure, which the others had already heard. However, Kyhawn, Earron, and Coita still hadn’t said a word to anyone about their finding the colored stones and the two maps. Instead Kyhawn told him about the skeleton, and showed him the sketches he’d drawn and told him what he thought they meant. But the captain, along with the others who had already seen the drawings, couldn’t believe someone from the past could have predicted their shipwreck. For the most part, they didn’t take the story too seriously. Kyhawn not having had the opportunity to draw every panel and their disagreeing over what each panel represented didn’t help either. Kyhawn kept his thoughts about the dagger-key to himself. Like a lantern of hope, he’d begun to feel the dagger-key was a gift to him, or at least a key for his understanding of his dreams.
After Kyhawn had finished telling them the chilling story, the captain concluded that the bodies should remain in the cave. Mainly because of the ghostly yellow pirates, and how they would only endanger the lives of anyone retrieving the bodies.
“Alil.” The captain looked to her as the pillar of hope that held them all together. “What about bonfire duties—are the shifts organized?” Kyhawn helped him to his feet.
“Yes, sir,” Alil assured him. She was unhappy the bodies were to remain in the cave, but deep down she knew it’d be foolish to venture there again.
“Another bowl of that soup should do me good,” the captain mumbled. “Sweet seaweed’s good for the bones.”
Kyhawn leaned close to Washburrn with a look of excitement in his eyes and whispered. “When you’re finished here, I want to show you something else we found. Earron, Coita, and I have it hidden in one of those hollow trees behind your sleeping space.”
“Well, okay,” Washburrn said with a curious smile. “I’ll be there after I talk with Alil.”
Kyhawn rushed over to Washburrn’s sleeping space, got the lantern and lit it, then went behind the cabin to retrieve the old wooden box. “It’s starting to get foggy,” he said to himself as he went to one of the three hollow trees, reached inside, and grabbed hold of the old box. I kind of like this old box, he thought. With a curious feeling in his heart, he set the box down, opened it, reached inside, and picked up a few colored stones. He rolled them around in his hand, examining them, thinking out loud, “Some of these colored stones are smooth, and some of them are rough like the ones in our cabacs.” Whit a delightful look of contentment he dropped them back into the old box, in hope Washburrn might be able to help them sale the stones in Chamquinil on their return home.
Suddenly he felt an uncanny chill; then he felt a shield of protection rising, like the one in his dreams, shielding him from evil. He could hear Emaya’s voice inside his head, but he couldn’t understand her. He didn’t quite understand the shield’s purpose either, but it felt good he thought as he shut the lid and held the box close. But as he started back with it to Washburrn’s sleeping space, he began having doubts about getting off the island alive. He could no longer hear Emaya’s voice or feel the protective shield any longer. In fact, it was as if sadness and anger were trying to invade his thoughts, keeping the flow of good energy from protecting him.
A split second later, Kyhawn felt a hand pressed over his mouth and a dagger against his lower back. This was no dream… it was real.
“Don’t make a sound,” whispered a voice from behind him.
Startled, Kyhawn let the box loose, and it went crashing to the ground.
The Dagger-Key and The Lost Treasures of Kebadon Page 38