The Castle in the Sea: Quest of the Sunfish 2

by Mardi McConnochie

  Annalie called Spinner as they were preparing to step aboard the dinghy. He didn’t answer so she left him a message: ‘Hey Spinner, we’re here. We’re coming ashore, okay? Can’t wait to see you!’

  She stashed her shell, wrapped in plastic, into an inside pocket and turned to look at Pod and Essie. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘this is it.’

  ‘Good luck,’ Essie said.

  ‘We won’t need luck,’ Will said. ‘He’ll probably be there on the shore waiting for us.’

  ‘This is so exciting!’ Essie said. ‘I can’t wait to meet him.’

  ‘Be careful over there,’ Pod said. ‘This place sounds bad.’

  ‘You think every place sounds bad,’ Will said.

  ‘I’m usually right,’ Pod said.

  There were hugs all round, and then Will and Annalie climbed down the ladder and into the dinghy.

  Will looked at Annalie. ‘This could be the end of the journey,’ he said.

  ‘We’ve thought that before,’ Annalie said.

  ‘I know,’ Will said. ‘But this time, if he’s not there, I’m seriously going to kill him.’ He grinned as he gunned the engine and together they headed for the darkening shore.

  They followed the deep water channel, moving through outlying debris towards the half-sunken townscape.

  ‘Remind you of anywhere?’ Will asked.

  ‘Sure does,’ Annalie said.

  At the town’s outer edges, the houses were little more than stubs, broken down and washed away by forty years of ocean storms. It looked a lot like Saltytown, the outer edge of the sprawling slum where Will and Annalie had grown up. As they wound their way up the channel and the water grew shallower, there were more and more intact houses where the signs of daily life flourished: smoke rose from chimneys, washing hung from lines, solar panels and turbines jutted from rooftops. The people here—and there were clearly a lot of people here—had stayed and made the best of things, just as they had in Will and Annalie’s home in Lowtown (the more habitable part of the slum). Here, as there, most of them probably had little choice.

  The channel was busy: dinghies prowled up and down, motors roaring; little skiffs were poled about; and there were larger boats drifting along under a single sail. A large-ish merchant boat churned past them, heading out to sea, proving that the channel was deep enough to admit quite large vessels. Will kept an eye out as they passed through, remembering Spinner’s warnings about pirates, and he saw a few people stop and watch them as they passed. But he couldn’t tell whether there was hostility in it or just ordinary curiosity.

  The channel curved, following an organic sort of path that made it seem that it had once been a river. It was not really possible to see far ahead, and so they had very little warning as they came round a bend into an open harbour and saw a boat that was quite unlike all the other vessels sitting at anchor. It was sleek and new and powerful, crowned with an expensive array of high-tech equipment, and it was sitting at anchor directly in their path.

  It was an Admiralty pursuit ship.

  Will instantly turned the dinghy around and went motoring back the way they’d come.

  ‘What are they doing here?’ Annalie said, her heart pounding.

  ‘I don’t want to find out,’ Will said grimly. ‘We’re going to have to find another way in to shore. If this place is anything like home, there’ll be other ways.’

  Back home he’d been taught the secret back ways through the Eddy. Here, he’d just be making it up as he went along. But there was no way he was crossing that water in full view of an Admiralty pursuit ship.

  ‘Do you think they’ve been tracking us?’ Annalie asked, worried. ‘Or Spinner?’

  ‘What difference does it make?’ Will said. ‘We just need to find him before they do.’ He paused, watching where the local boat traffic was going, hoping to pick up some ideas about which way to go. ‘When we get to shore, do you know where we need to go?’ he asked.

  Annalie checked her directions and her map, then looked up at the townscape. ‘That way,’ she said, pointing.

  ‘Then we’ll go that way,’ Will said.

  He dropped the engine to a crawl and took them down a flooded side street. The streets did not follow an orderly plan; they turned and twisted and wandered into dead ends. It would be very easy to get lost or disoriented here. Will puttered on, doing his best to stay on course; Annalie was keeping an eye on her compass to make sure they were going in more or less the right direction. One street they went down was blocked by a house that had collapsed into the middle of it; they had to turn and go back. On another street, a dinghy fell in behind them and followed them up the street, matching their pace. Just as Annalie was starting to get worried, they reached the end of the street and turned into the next one. The other dinghy broke off, apparently satisfied that it had seen them off, and turned back.

  At last they reached a place where the streets sloped upwards and the sea ended. Many little boats of all kinds were pulled up here; Will and Annalie tied the dinghy up, Will disabled the engine so no one could steal it, and they stepped onto dry land.

  ‘Let’s find Spinner,’ Will said.

  Spinner had given them a series of landmarks to navigate by: ‘Walk towards the white tower; find the canal and follow it until you reach the third bridge; cross over. On the other side of the canal there’s some open ground. Cross that; on the other side of it there are some factories and warehouses. Look for the old sports shoe factory—you can’t miss it, there’s a huge sports shoe on a pole above the gate.’

  They walked. It was already late in the afternoon, but they were unwilling to put off this last part of the journey until tomorrow. Why would they wait, when they were so close? Around them the busy day was in full swing and the streets were teeming with people. They found the white tower without too much trouble; it was tall enough to catch the late afternoon sun glowing across the city. A large market spread out from the foot of the tower, selling everything from fresh produce to shoes and old bits of tech, and everywhere there were stalls selling delicious-smelling food that made Will’s mouth water.

  ‘Do you suppose we’ve got time to get a quick bite?’ he suggested, looking longingly at a dumpling stall.

  ‘I’d be surprised if they take Duxish money,’ Annalie said, although she wouldn’t have minded a little something.

  ‘Maybe Spinner can get us something later,’ Will sighed.

  They kept walking reluctantly past the food stalls and continued on through the market, which was very large and confusingly laid out.

  ‘What are we looking for next? The canal?’ Will asked.

  ‘Yes,’ Annalie said. She stopped and was reaching into her pocket for her shell when Will put a hand on her arm.

  ‘Look,’ he said. ‘Marines.’

  Still some distance away from them, they saw a pair of Admiralty marines. They had stopped a man and were questioning him—it looked like they were asking him for his papers. The man was not wearing Brundisan clothes and had a vaguely northern look.

  ‘Reckon they’re stopping and searching anyone who doesn’t look local?’ Annalie said.

  ‘Uh-huh,’ Will said.

  They backed away from the two marines, hoping to be inconspicuous, but then a strong Duxish voice rang out behind them—‘Hey!’—and they knew they’d been seen.

  Will grabbed Annalie and dragged her between two stalls, and the two of them began ducking and weaving through the market, running on instinct. No one seemed very inclined to point them out to the pursuing marines, and after only a few minutes the shouts had faded and the marines were nowhere to be seen. They hid behind a stall that sold bedspreads to catch their breath.

  ‘Do you think they were looking for us?’ Annalie said. ‘Or Spinner?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ Will said, ‘but we’d better warn him. And the others.’

  Annalie tried to call Spinner; he didn’t answer. She left him a message, then sent another to Essie and Pod: The Admiralty are her
e and they’re looking for someone. BE CAREFUL.

  ‘What do we do now?’ Annalie asked.

  ‘Try and find that canal,’ Will said.

  ‘Are they coming back?’ Pod asked, when Essie had read out their message.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Essie said. ‘I guess they haven’t found Spinner yet.’

  Pod looked gloomily out to sea. ‘Everywhere we go, the Admiralty follows us. How do they keep doing that?’

  ‘Well, they do have a huge fleet, political power, tons of money, and the very best technology in the world on their side,’ Essie said. ‘But they haven’t got what we’ve got.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Agility, determination and a talking parrot.’ Essie grinned.

  The talking parrot spoke up. ‘Engine!’ he rasped.

  It took a moment for either of them to realise what Graham had said. ‘Did you say “engine”?’ Pod asked.

  ‘Stupid Pod. Listen!’ Graham said.

  They listened, and as usual, Graham was right. The distant whine of an outboard motor was carrying in bursts across the water towards them.

  Pod grabbed the binoculars. He scanned the horizon, failing to see anything at first. The sound grew louder.

  ‘There!’ shouted Essie.

  A small boat was moving towards them. Pod looked at it through the binoculars.

  ‘What is it?’ Essie asked.

  ‘Guys in a dinghy,’ Pod said. ‘With automatic weapons.’

  Guys in a dinghy

  There were two men in the dinghy, weaving through the water towards them. It took a moment for Pod to realise that this must be because there were obstacles in the water.

  ‘We’d better get out of here,’ Essie said.

  ‘I’ll try,’ Pod said. ‘But this is their home turf. They know what’s down there. We don’t.’

  Pod told Essie to bring up the anchor while he hurried to get the sails down and take the wheel. They had no chance of escaping under sail; they had to hope their motor was equal to the outboard on the zippy little dinghy.

  They drove out towards the open sea and for a few moments it seemed like they might simply be able to pull away from their pursuers. But the dinghy was faster. It came flashing across their bows, forcing Pod to spin the wheel.

  ‘What are they doing?’ cried Essie.

  ‘Trying to drive us in towards shore,’ Pod said. There was nothing he could do; he steered away from the surging dinghy and the two men on board, armed with automatic weapons, and into the debris field. Pod knew how to steer the boat, and had done so on many occasions, but never like this. Until now the really scary sailing had fallen to Will, and Pod was terrified that he was going to mess it up and sink them. ‘Keep a lookout!’ he yelled.

  Essie rushed to the bow to look out for underwater hazards. ‘I can see a lot of stuff up ahead,’ she warned.

  ‘Just tell me when to turn!’

  The dinghy was driving them ever deeper into the debris field. Pod twisted and turned, with Essie shouting directions from the bow, but the dinghy was faster and more manoeuvrable and kept sweeping in and cutting them off. The water was full of menace: dark shapes lurked beneath the water, and spars and spikes and lumps and projections stuck out all over the place. Pod realised the dinghy, with its much shallower draft, could easily ride over obstacles that would snag the Sunfish.

  ‘There’s something on the right!’ Essie called.

  Pod adjusted slightly.

  ‘And on the left!’ Essie called. ‘I’m going to need a pole!’

  The Sunfish was sliding between two dark shapes below the surface. Pod did his best to steer a straight course as the boat skimmed between the two. Essie grabbed a pole, ready to fend off.

  ‘We’re getting awfully close on this side!’ Essie called, straining with the effort as she shoved in her pole and tried to push the boat away from the underwater shape.

  ‘Are we through?’ Pod called.

  ‘Yes, but there’s more up ahead!’ Essie said. ‘This is a maze!’

  ‘I’m going to make a break for it,’ Pod said. He steered towards open sea again and pushed the engine harder.

  At once the dinghy came zooming after them, cutting them off once again. Both guys were shouting at them furiously and the one who wasn’t driving threatened them with his weapon. They couldn’t understand what he was saying, but the meaning was fairly clear: Surrender, or I’ll shoot.

  ‘Maybe we should try and talk to them,’ Essie called, frightened, as the barrel of the gun waved in her direction.

  ‘You speak Brundisi?’ Pod asked.

  ‘No.’

  ‘How’s that going to work then?’ Pod said. He aimed the Sunfish directly at the little dinghy and drove at it, full speed. The dinghy whipped out of the way, easily avoiding getting rammed, but the two men were really annoyed now. A quick burst of gunfire split the air, shockingly loud.

  ‘They’re shooting at us!’ Essie squeaked.

  ‘Did they hit us?’ Pod yelled.

  ‘Don’t think so,’ Essie said. ‘Shots went wide.’

  ‘Let’s get out of here,’ Pod said.

  He kept going on the line that he’d chosen, the engine working at top speed. Essie turned back to watch the men in the dinghy who kept whizzing around them, changing position, shouting and threatening.

  Pod noticed what she was doing and shouted, ‘Don’t watch them! Look ahead!’

  Essie turned again, and saw to her horror another looming shape in the water. ‘There’s something dead ahead!’

  Pod adjusted his heading, but they were too close, and going too fast. They stuck on something, hard. The boat shuddered and they heard a horrible crunch. The engine roared harder, but the boat was going nowhere.

  ‘What’s happened? Go see!’ Pod yelled, and Essie went scampering down below to see if they were holed.

  Pod revved the engine, hoping they might motor off, but it had no effect. The ocean swell started to slap against them.

  Pod left the wheel and went to grab Essie’s pole, hoping he might be able to push them off, but he ran right around the boat and could see nothing to push against. Whatever they’d hit, it was underneath.

  Essie came hurrying back up. ‘There’s no water coming in,’ she said. ‘I can’t see a hole.’

  ‘We must have snagged the keel or the steering,’ Pod said.

  The engine was still roaring, fruitlessly. He powered it down.

  The dinghy guys were grinning now, circling in towards them.

  ‘What are we going to do?’ Essie asked.

  ‘Maybe I can take them out with the speargun again,’ Pod said.

  ‘Wait,’ Essie said. ‘I’ve got another idea.’ She slipped below.

  The dinghy was alongside them now. The guy in the bow, who was wearing huge mirrored sunglasses, shouted at Pod and indicated he should put his hands up. His friend had his gun trained on him and he didn’t look afraid to use it. Pod put his hands up.

  Mr Sunglasses shouted at Pod a bit more, waving at him to take a step back. Then he went to the ladder at the back of the Sunfish and began to climb up, the driver still covering him with the gun. Pod waited for Mr Sunglasses to appear, his heart thumping. He’d already let the Sunfish be captured once. He couldn’t let the same thing happen again. He scanned the deck for possible weapons, his brain moving at a million miles an hour, trying to calculate his chances of success if he simply rushed the guy as he came over the side. He might be able to take out one guy, but the other one had the gun. What could he do about him? And Essie was nowhere to be seen. Whatever her idea was, he hoped it was a good one.

  Mr Sunglasses appeared at the top of the ladder, his mirrored lenses flashing in the sunlight. He grinned as he looked around the deck, savouring his prize. And then, just as suddenly, Pod heard a cry and then a splash. Mr Sunglasses had vanished.

  He whipped round and saw Essie standing there, the slingshot in her hand. She grinned at him, and for a moment Pod stared at her incre
dulously. But there was no time for explanations. The driver shouted in rage and fear and aimed a spray of bullets at them. Pod and Essie hit the deck as the driver went to retrieve his friend from the water. Mr Sunglasses was unconscious, and already starting to sink. The driver blasted another spray at them, then dragged his friend into the dinghy as quickly as possible. He was just turning to give them a third spray when Essie popped up again, slingshot at the ready, and let loose another stone. It hit the driver squarely on the forehead with a loud, horrible donk, and he toppled over sideways onto his friend.

  ‘Woah,’ Pod said, impressed. ‘When did you learn to do that?’

  ‘On the island,’ Essie said.

  Pod laughed and shook his head. ‘Man, you’ve changed,’ he said.

  Essie took this as praise.

  ‘So, what are we going to do about those guys?’ she asked.

  ‘We should tip them both into the water,’ Pod said.

  ‘We can’t do that!’ Essie said, horrified.

  ‘They were trying to kill us,’ Pod said.

  ‘They were trying to capture us and steal our boat,’ Essie said. ‘It’s different. We can’t kill them.’

  ‘What do you think they’re going to do to us when they wake up?’ Pod said.

  ‘We just need to make sure we’re far, far away from them,’ Essie said.

  ‘Okay, fine,’ Pod said. ‘But we’re definitely taking those guns.’

  ‘One thing I learnt from vids,’ Essie said, ‘is that if you have a gun and you don’t know how to use it, the bad guys are just going to take it off you and use it against you.’

  ‘Who says I don’t know how to use a gun?’ Pod said stubbornly.

  ‘I bet Annalie wouldn’t want guns on the boat,’ Essie said.

  ‘I bet Will would,’ Pod said.

  ‘Okay, we’ll find somewhere to hide the guns until they get back,’ Essie said, ‘and then we can decide what to do with them. But going back to the first question: what are we going to do with those guys?’

  The two men were still lying on the bottom of the dinghy, unmoving.