“That makes me feel better.” Toby refused to look at her, keeping his eyes fixed instead on his fingers where he still tried to commune with the engine, pleading for it to just break down, run out of fuel, anything. “Peel give up anything good?” he asked in the end.
“Nell thinks so.” Ayla touched the bars. “She’s letting them out to fight.”
“Great,” Toby muttered.
“I-I don’t know what to do,” Ayla said suddenly. Toby’s head jerked up. Her eyes and nose were red and her hair in disarray. Beads were missing from her braids and her mouth moved as if she tasted something nasty. “Nell’s my mother and my captain. I don’t even know how to disobey her.”
“But…?” Toby rose carefully to his knees.
“This isn’t right. We should be working together, like you said.”
“I’ve been thinking about it.” Toby edged towards her. “The traders wouldn’t have stood a chance against both of us.”
“We fought well together, you and I.”
“Our ships could fight together, too.” Toby leaned closer. “With those maps we stole no government could touch us. And imagine if we were first to find the island – to make the rules.”
“I don’t know what to do,” Ayla said again. “If Nell destroys the Phoenix or kills you in front of Barnaby, it’s over.”
“So what will you do?” Toby was afraid to push her too far in case he lost his chance at getting out of the brig.
“Nell isn’t thinking clearly. We can’t go on like this. It isn’t in the best interests of the Banshee to wipe out the Phoenix.” She wiped her nose and Boudicca wove around her feet. “I’m second in command, I have to make the right decision. I’m going to let you out. Take Birdie back to the Phoenix and run.”
As Ayla produced keys and opened his cell, Toby held his breath, terrified that she might change her mind. When the door creaked open, she stepped aside and he ran out. Boudicca hissed and her hackles rose. Toby ignored her. “Polly?” he asked.
“Nell still has it.” Ayla shook her head. “She’ll know you’re out if I take it. You’ll have to leave it behind.”
“Her. I’ll have to leave her behind.” Tears of frustration pricked Toby’s eyes. “This was a mistake, I should never have followed you.” He backed away. “I should never have…”
“Never have what?” Ayla swallowed.
“I should never have trusted you,” Toby said quietly.
He ignored her outstretched hand, turned and ran down the passageway. At the end he stopped, not sure which way to turn.
“This way.” Ayla strode to his side.
Toby nodded. Together they followed the maze of passageways towards the deck.
“What are you doing?” A tattooed crew member glared at Ayla with his hands on his hips.
“Out of the way, Harris, I’m taking the prisoner to the captain.” Ayla shouldered him aside and, head held high, she grabbed Toby’s elbow and guided him ahead of her. “Don’t interfere with my business,” she shot back over her shoulder.
Harris said nothing as Ayla dragged Toby to the final door.
“Ready?” Ayla whispered and Toby nodded. “Head port side and you’ll find Birdie. Get in and I’ll lower her as soon as I can.” She shook his arm hard. “Don’t get caught, or she’ll make an example of us both.”
She spun the lever, cracked the door and looked out. “The crew is readying the trebuchet and cannons so it’s all clear. She’s expecting me in the bridge, but I’ll follow you as soon as possible. Go.” She pushed him out and Toby turned. He thought she might say goodbye, but the door was already slamming in his face.
Toby sped along the deck, keeping close to the housing. Sure enough, Birdie had been winched into the same place she had occupied the last time he had been on the Banshee. Wren, the little lifeboat Peel and Crocker had arrived on, swung a few bollards further on.
He was running to the boat when movement on the other side of the bridge caught his eye. He froze as Crocker and Peel rounded the corner. Both had been newly shaved and their heads glistened with oil and flecks of blood.
Beside Toby, there were a pile of weighted lines, used to gauge sea depth. Before he knew what he was doing, he had swept up the shortest and was running, not towards Birdie, but towards Peel and Crocker.
A cry slipped from his lips, and the line whizzed above his head as he swung it round, faster and faster.
Peel turned and his eyes widened. Crocker staggered backwards, lifting one arm to protect his face. They were not alone. As Toby sprinted, too late to change his mind, Nell stepped out from behind the housing, thrusting a rolled-up map into her coat pocket.
“Now this is copied, I will be locking the original up below,” she said.
“Toby, stop!” Crocker shouted and he ducked as Toby swung viciously at his head. The line smashed Peel in the shoulder and the monster staggered sideways.
“Take that, you traitors.” Toby bared his teeth and pulled back the rope.
Three more Banshee crew saw what was happening and raced to join them. Nell held up a hand, making them watch the former Phoenix crew members fight.
“Toby, you fool. Stop!” Crocker yelled again, as Peel grabbed a knife out of the belt of the nearest Banshee pirate.
“Backstabbers!” Toby could barely see past a veil of red that had descended over his eyes. He burned with rage. Every muscle was tense, ready to fight. The anger of the last few days compressed to a diamond-hard point, aimed directly at Peel.
“I may be a dead man,” Toby howled, “but you’re coming with me.”
“Stop it!” Crocker ducked again. “This isn’t what was supposed to happen.”
“Yeah, you thought you’d be living the high life on the Banshee, while the Phoenix dies. Well, guess what, I’m here to make sure that before we go, you do, too.”
Toby’s rope weight was racing in a figure of eight now. Peel was dancing on his rubber soles, passing the knife from hand to hand, searching for an opening. Crocker awkwardly threw himself backwards and the weight whistled past his head.
“You don’t understand.” Crocker held his hand up again, but pulled it back as the rope skimmed skin from his wrist. “We’re here to help you!” he cried eventually.
“Shut up!” Peel spat.
“Is that so?” Nell’s head snapped up and in one movement she drew her knife and stabbed.
“Peel!” Crocker’s cry was torn from his heart and, as Peel dropped to the deck, clutching at the knife in his belly, so did Crocker.
“What do you mean, you’re here to help?” Toby’s rope slowed and he paled.
Crocker ignored him; instead he pressed his hands to the blood seeping from his brother, trying to stem the flow.
Toby got between Nell and the two Phoenix crew members.
“Tell me!” he yelled, swinging the rope as fast as he could.
“Everyone knows how you an’ us are,” Crocker sobbed. “The captain thought it’d be most convincin’ if we came over. If you didn’t believe we was here to rescue you, then Nell wouldn’t either. We were meant to distract her, while you were released from the brig.”
“You mean there’s someone else on my ship?” Nell shrieked. She turned to her crew. “Find them and bring their body to me.”
Toby swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry, the adrenaline starting to ebb, leaving him shaky once more. “Who is it?”
Peel shook his head urgently and Crocker fell silent.
Nell stalked closer to Toby, her eyes on the swinging rope. “I wanted to kill you in front of your father, boy, but you can die now, as you seem to prefer it that way.”
She drew a second knife and the blade flashed in the sun as she traced a pattern. He was hopelessly outclassed. Nell was going to kill him.
He tried to step back, but Peel and Crocker were in his way. Frantically he kept swinging his rope, seeking some way out. There was a flash of movement from Nell and the rope flew sideways to smash into the deck housing. Toby stare
d at the cord fraying in his hands. Nell had sliced it in two. Now she advanced and Toby was defenceless.
Although he knew it was futile, he threw the rope at her and dropped into the basic fighting stance he had seen Ayla use – one fist protecting his sternum, the other his face.
“Toby,” Peel rasped. Toby spared a swift glance to see Peel pulling Nell’s knife from his belly. He shoved it into Toby’s unresisting hand. “A fairer fight,” he gasped.
Toby lifted the knife in front of him and turned back to Nell, who was sneering with cold humour. “It only prolongs the inevitable.”
Toby stepped over Peel’s outstretched legs as Nell prowled closer. His eyes flicked from the knife in her hand to the map curled in her pocket. He was going to die, and yet his mind was racing, trying to come up with ways to take back the most valuable thing he had ever heard of.
“Toby, what are you doing?” Ayla ran along the deck, her coat flying, her face a picture of panic. “Captain, don’t hurt him.”
The watching crew of the Banshee laughed and a burly woman sneered, “Looks like Ayla’s got a fancy boy.”
Nell glared at her daughter and Toby took the opportunity to leap over Crocker and give himself some space. Nell saw him move and followed. But as she stepped over Peel, he caught her legs, dragging her off her feet. After the briefest hesitation, Crocker caught her arms and Peel met Toby’s eyes over her struggling form. “Run, stupid!”
Already the Banshee crew were pulling Crocker off their captain. But Toby couldn’t leave; his eyes were glued on the map. While Crocker held Nell’s knife hand, Toby dived forwards, grabbed the map and scooted back.
“What are you doing?” Peel cried as he tried to roll Nell over, but she kicked at his legs and he groaned in pain, more blood running from his stomach wound.
“You’re no longer of use,” she screamed, as Harris and the red-faced pirate finally pulled Crocker away. “Keelhaul him,” she howled.
Toby clutched the map, backing through the closing gap towards the boat.
Nell stalked towards Toby once more.
“Don’t!” Ayla hurdled Peel and threw her arms around her mother from behind.
Toby glanced at the gap behind him. Then he growled with frustration, threw himself at the injured Peel and started trying to drag him along the deck, but Toby could barely shift him.
“Get off me.” Peel tried to push him off, but Toby dug his fingers into his shoulders and pulled harder.
“I’m not leaving you, so you might as well help me.”
Peel cycled his legs to get purchase on the deck, but he was too heavy and too badly injured to move quickly. He shoved Toby as hard as he could and Toby lost his grip, slipping on the bloody deck and falling backwards.
“Get out of here, Toby,” Peel groaned.
Nell opened both her arms, while simultaneously slamming her head backwards. Ayla saw the move coming and tilted her own head, but still caught a blow on the chin. Her arms loosened and Nell spun free. She clutched the knife in one hand and with the other she knocked her daughter across the deck. Ayla spun in mid-air and Toby winced as he saw her land on her cast. The colour fled from her face and she cried out in sharp pain.
Nell stopped in her tracks. She turned.
Ayla was lying on the ground, cradling her broken arm, shaking with agony. She stared up at her mother, ignoring the rest of the crew. Boudicca wound herself around her mistress, eyes narrowed, hissing wildly.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Ayla pleaded. “We should be working with the Phoenix. We can share the solar panels and look for the island together. Why destroy everything?” Tears were running freely now and she rolled on to her knees. “We could start a fleet. Think, Captain, the traders wouldn’t stand a chance. And imagine if we could surprise the Greymen for a change. Take them on and win. We could do that with two ships.”
The crew murmured as she spoke and all eyes pinned on Nell.
“She’s right. We could work together.”
Toby gasped as Captain Barnaby pushed his way to Toby’s side. “I see you’re no longer in the brig.” He nodded at his son. “Sorry it took me so long to find you. It’s a maze down there. Where’s Polly?”
“She has her.” Toby nodded at Nell and Barnaby clasped his son on the shoulder as he passed, taking a position between his son and his rival.
“We’ll need to get her back,” he said, lowering his voice. Then he spread his hands, showing that he had no weapon. “Your daughter and my son are right, Nell. Why not work together? We could be great – the Banshee and the Phoenix, rulers of the waves.”
Nell snorted, but Barnaby pressed on. “We were friends once, Nell. We worked well together. Why can’t we do so again?”
Ayla lurched to her feet, wiping her eyes. She sidled past Crocker, where he struggled against the rope wrapped around his waist, and came to a stop next to Barnaby.
“Captain.” She held out her hand to her mother. “We can change our future.”
“Change our future?” Nell was shaking and Toby realized with sudden horror that her laughter was sharp-edged with hysteria. “The only way to change our future is to change our past. You think you can change the past, Barnaby?”
Barnaby shook his head. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“Don’t you?” she spat, suddenly serious. “The only satisfaction I’ll have out of today is carving your son into pieces and making you watch.”
“At least tell us why,” Ayla cried. “Why do you hate them so much?”
Nell stopped, her head on one side. Her jaw tightened and she pursed her lips. Then she shucked off her coat, lifted her knife and held it to her own throat.
As Ayla opened her mouth to scream, Nell pulled her collar up, dug the knife into the thick, waxed material and, with a ripping of cloth, sliced her tunic from throat to stomach. As it fell open Toby gaped and Barnaby’s own gasp cut across the sudden silence.
Nell stood still, her chest bared.
Ayla stepped closer to her mother. “I-I didn’t know. I’ve never seen—” She raised a hand and let it fall. “Does it hurt?”
“Of course it hurts.” Nell turned slowly, giving the crew a clear look at the hideous scarring that covered her whole left side, from just below her ear to the top of her trousers. The burn still looked agonising, as if it had barely healed.
“Some of you may be thinking that my second in command is right.” She spread her arms, showing herself. “Some of you might be asking yourselves if it would be good to have a fleet.” She spat the word. “To work with the Phoenix, who, after all, was once strong enough to fight us to a standstill. Well, do you really think it is a good idea to trust the man who did this to a woman he called friend?”
TWENTY-SEVEN
“Liar.” Toby jumped from behind Barnaby. “My father never touched you.”
Barnaby nodded. “The boy’s right.” He put a heavy hand on Toby’s shoulder, holding him back. “I never did that.”
Nell started to shudder and when she turned back to them Toby flinched at the expression on her face – she looked like a goddess, burning with fury.
“Years I’ve waited for you to see what you did to me, for you to feel my pain.” She talked only to Barnaby. “And now you deny it.” She raised her knife and stabbed it into the air, as though she was stabbing him in the eye. “You say you did nothing? You did this to me as surely as if you set the fire yourself.”
She turned back to her audience. “You know that I worked for St George. You know that I worked with this monster.” She pointed at Barnaby. “You know that he called me friend,” she sneered.
“We were friends.” Barnaby strode forward, but Harris dropped Crocker and moved to block him.
“We were never friends.” Nell shook her head and spoke to her crew. “Barnaby argued with the Greymen. They wanted him to use his genius to make weapons for St George, but he wouldn’t. I was working late and I overheard them when they decided to take his son and hold him
hostage to force Barnaby to do as they asked.”
“That never happened.” Toby shook his head.
“You wouldn’t remember, Toby,” Barnaby whispered.
Toby stared at his father, eyes wide.
“I told Barnaby their intention and he made a plan to escape,” Nell continued. “He was going to collect Toby from school and run with him to the Phoenix. I was to find his wife, take her to the shipyard and get her on board. He wanted me to join them, too, but I loved my job.” She shook her head incredulously. “I didn’t want to go on the run. So I planned to return to my own family afterwards and pretend I knew nothing.”
Ayla swallowed, never taking her eyes from her mother’s lips. “Family?” she murmured, but Nell ignored her.
“His bitch wife worked security for the facility. I found her but had to wait for her to leave her post before I could take her to the meeting point. Once there we found that Barnaby had already left in the Phoenix with his son. He didn’t wait.”
“I had no choice.” Barnaby choked. “They were on to us. I tried to go back for her. For you. But sailing back into St George would have meant giving ourselves up. Once we were safe I tried to contact her, but I had no way of knowing if my messages were getting through. We never heard from her again.”
Nell ignored him. “When I realized he had abandoned her, I hid Judy in my own home. I thought Barnaby might get a message to me. I still thought to reunite him with his wife. Ben wasn’t happy. He said I was putting him and the girls in danger, but I disagreed.” Now Nell laughed, bitterly. “I said there was no way the Greymen knew I was involved.” She shook her head. “And it was true – they didn’t know I was involved. Not until Judy told them.”
Barnaby staggered backwards as if he’d been punched. “She didn’t.”
Nell sneered. “Judy decided that she didn’t fancy a life on the run any more than I did. She wanted you caught and your son returned to her. So she waited until we were asleep, went back to the facility and gave us up. The soldiers came at dawn. Ben was already dead and the house on fire when I woke. Freya burned in her bed.” Her voice was shaking now, barely comprehensible. Toby leaned closer, unable to stop listening, but nauseated with horror.
Phoenix Rising Page 24