Voyage of the Owl

by Belinda Murrell

  Everyone reluctantly shuffled out into the sunshine. The back of the cart was piled high with palace rubbish – rotting cabbages, soggy tea leaves, slimy potato peelings, chicken bones, carcasses, entrails, carrot tops, broken glass, powdery ashes, smashed crockery, soggy tomatoes and eggshells. The smell was already rank in the early morning sun.

  Cookie pushed Saxon forward impatiently. Jake jumped down from his perch. Wordlessly he used a pitchfork to lift up a mound of soggy rubbish, just behind the driver’s seat. He shrugged, indicating that the space was for the children. Everyone took a deep breath and climbed up into the stinky rubbish.

  Only Aisha leapt up with alacrity. Lily cuddled Charcoal in her arms, quietening her with soft strokes and murmured endearments.

  ‘Farewell to you all,’ Cookie murmured, her eyes bright with worried tears. ‘I hope we can meet again in better circumstances. My brother Albert should be able to help you find safety.’

  Cookie grabbed Roana by the hand and pressed something into her palm, squeezing her fingers tightly around it.

  ‘Princess, please give this to my brother. Don’t let anyone else have it. Destroy it if you must.’

  Roana glanced down at her hand. There was a tightly scrolled ribbon of paper, about five centimetres wide, with a few seemingly random letters visible. Roana squeezed Cookie’s hand in return, nodding her agreement. Cookie stepped back.

  Jake draped filthy sacks over the five of them, then piled up rubbish over the top. Underneath, Roana thought she was going to gag. She pulled a fold of her embroidered nightgown over her nose to filter the smell. The others closed their eyes, thinking of pleasant things to take their mind off the smothering stench of mouldy sacks and rotting waste.

  ‘Quiet, girl,’ soothed Lily, stroking Aisha gently to keep her still.

  Jake grunted in satisfaction as he checked the cart load. There was no sign of the illicit passengers.

  Cookie pressed her second sack into his hand. Jake opened it and sighed with gladness. Inside were three loaves of freshly baked bread, a jar of honey, fresh tomatoes from the kitchen garden and a brace of rabbits. Jake’s family would be well fed tonight, for the first time in weeks. How his wife would shriek when she realised the sack held plentiful fresh food instead of the mouldy crusts and vegetable parings he usually salvaged from the palace rubbish bins.

  Jake saluted in gratitude, then clicked mildly to his sway-backed nag. The horse shambled forward, straining with the load. Their progress was painfully slow. After a few minutes a harsh voice demanded that the cart should halt. Ethan, Lily, Roana and Saxon all held their breath anxiously.

  ‘Who goes there?’ demanded the Sedah guards on the palace gates. ‘We have orders that no-one is to pass out of the palace without good reason, until further notice.’

  ‘’Tis Jake Garbageman,’ replied the driver in a low voice.

  ‘And what have we here?’ came the response. ‘Is anyone on board?’

  The four children hunched down into the splintered boards of the cart. Ethan and Lily both pressed down on Aisha’s neck warningly. Aisha quivered with the effort of keeping quiet, while she could smell danger and blood all around.

  ‘Kitchen filth and garbage,’ replied Jake enthusiastically. ‘Like as not I have a few rats on board as well. Would you like me to check?’

  He picked up the pitchfork and tossed a handful of pumpkin peelings down near the soldier’s feet.

  ‘Thanks but I’ll do it,’ replied the guard, wrinkling his nose against the smell.

  He grabbed the pitchfork and jabbed it vigorously into the mound of rubbish. He jabbed the sack of filthy clothes, speared Ethan’s cloak, missed Lily’s foot by a whisker and thrust his way down the cart load, murdering cabbage heads, entrails and fishbones. Roana gasped involuntarily as the pitchfork grazed her leg.

  ‘What was that?’ demanded the guard immediately, turning rubbish more vigorously. ‘I heard something on the cart.’

  ‘Just the rats,’ laughed Jake. ‘Look, here’s the little blighter.’

  Jake rummaged in the pile behind his seat and hauled out a large brown rat by the tail. He waved it towards the guard’s face. The rat’s eyes and teeth gleamed in the sunlight. The guard leapt back in shock.

  ‘Do you want me to park my cart just over here until your orders say I can leave the palace?’ Jake asked eagerly, pointing to a shady spot right beside the guards. ‘I could do with a little nap.’

  ‘For Krad’s sake, get out of here,’ ordered the Sedah guard in disgust, holding his nose.

  Jake tucked the brown rat into his pocket and clicked to his nag, looking disappointed at missing the chance to have a nap. The palace gate clanged shut behind them. The sound of the city came in waves, muffled by the sacks and garbage above the children’s heads.

  Roana kept her eyes closed tightly, imagining the cart crawling with ravenous rats. A terrifying flashback came to her of the swarming mountain of rats they had encountered in the underground tunnels below Tira. The cart swayed and rumbled through the city streets. At last it pulled up and stopped.

  The children stayed still. The cart shook as Jake clambered down. There was the rumble of a low voice as Jake calmed his horse, then the scraping of pitchfork on wood as their hiding place was revealed.

  Jake gestured to them to climb down. The children now saw the brown rat that had disgusted the Sedah guard. It was peeking out of Jake’s pocket, twitching its whiskers curiously. The cart was parked in the cobbled courtyard outside a prosperous-looking inn. A brightly painted sign creaking in the wind announced this to be the White Horse Inn.

  The four children scrambled down with Aisha at their heels. They stared around apprehensively. An officious ostler bustled out of the inn door, rubbing his hands at the sound of a potential customer. When he saw four filthy children, a large dog and a garbage cart he scowled furiously.

  ‘Be off with you beggars,’ shouted the ostler, flapping his leather apron at them as if he was shooing chickens. ‘Begone. We have nothing to give you. And get your stinking garbage cart out of my courtyard!’

  Jake the Garbageman whispered in the ostler’s ear, shrugging over his shoulder at the children huddling by the fleabitten horse. The ostler stared at the children in total disbelief.

  ‘Master Drummond isn’t here,’ the ostler pronounced rudely. ‘You lot will have to come back later if you wish to see the Master.’

  ‘Do you have that bag of gold we picked up in your father’s treasure chamber?’ Saxon whispered to Roana. ‘Pass me a couple of gold crescents.’

  Princess Roana fumbled in her pack, found the small leather pouch, and drew out two gold coins, emblazoned on one side with a flaming sun and on the other with the crescent moon. Saxon took the coins with a quick grin of thanks. He sauntered confidently over to the ostler and tossed him one gold coin.

  ‘My friends and I require two rooms for the night, the best you have, hot baths, and make sure the sheets are clean, if you please. We have had a rather uncomfortable and smelly journey.’ Saxon smiled sweetly at the ostler.

  The ostler took the coin and bit it with one chipped and yellowed tooth, to see if it really was gold. The tooth left a small dent in the soft metal. He rubbed the coin greedily and slipped it into the pocket of his apron.

  ‘Of course, sir. Right this way, sir,’ he replied, bowing obsequiously. ‘Would you like me to take your luggage, sir?’

  ‘No, thanks,’ replied Ethan, clutching his pack closer. ‘We can manage.’

  Saxon gave the other coin to Jake the Garbageman and shook his grimy hand vigorously, thanking him profusely for getting them safely out of the palace.

  Jake was overcome with excitement at the soft shine of the precious metal. It was the first time he had held real gold in his fist. He shook hands eagerly with each of the children and laughed uproariously when Aisha sat and lifted her paw politely. He shook paws with her in great delight.

  ‘Wait till I get home and tell Maisie,’ he muttered, shaking hi
s head. ‘She’ll never believe me. A sack o’ tucker and a real gold coin! The Sun Lord smiled on me this day!’

  ‘Excuse me, Jake,’ asked Lily tentatively, gesturing to Jake’s pocket. ‘The rat …’

  ‘Oh,’ chortled Jake, revealing his blackened teeth. ‘This is me little mate Percy. Keeps me company on the rounds. He’s a real little character, Percy is. Gave that guard a fright though, didn’t he?’

  The children all laughed in relief and shouldered their packs.

  Jake scrambled up onto the cart, waved cheerily at the four children, clicked his tongue at the horse and plodded off.

  Roana swept into the taproom of the inn with her head held high, as if she was entering a royal ball. She seemed to forget that she was dressed in a filthy nightgown, secondhand boots and a stinking riding cloak. Saxon sauntered in whistling, his eyes darting around to take in all the sights.

  The taproom was dark and smoky, with only a couple of customers sipping ale at this early hour.

  Lily stumbled, overcome with weariness, her chocolate brown eyes clouded with pain. Her shoulder and calf ached where she had been wounded by the Sedah soldiers just a few brief weeks before. She had nearly died in the clutches of the fearful Octomon sea monster, and then in the clutches of fever. She had been saved first by the magical Merrow folk, who lived under the sea, and second by the careful nursing of Mereworth’s healer, Saira the Wise.

  Her recuperation, however, had been short. The four children had ridden their horses across the land of Tiregian, chasing after the Sedah soldiers who had taken Ethan and Lily’s parents, Willem and Marnie, Roana’s mother, Queen Ashana, and her brother, Prince Caspar, when the Sedahs had attacked the sacred royal dawn ceremony in the forest. The children had discovered the secret tunnels under the city of Tira, which Roana knew led up into the palace dungeons. There they had found the prisoners languishing in pitiful conditions, under heavy guard.

  They had escaped time and time again from the enemy soldiers who sought them, and especially from the terrifying tracker, Sniffer. Now Lily was so tired she just wanted to sleep, even if it was in a corner of the smoky, noisy taproom. Ethan saw her stumble and came to help her, offering his arm. Aisha pushed her nose against Lily’s leg, nudging her with concern.

  The ostler noticed the beautiful red-gold dog, with her black-tipped ears and nose, and the white star on her chest. He snorted in disgust.

  ‘No dogs allowed,’ he ordered. ‘You can lock it in the stables.’

  Roana dug in her pack and pulled out another gold coin. She pressed it into the ostler’s palm. She smiled dazzlingly.

  ‘I am sure you can make an exception for this dog,’ Roana murmured. ‘You see, she is our guard dog, and becomes uncontrollably vicious when she is separated from us. We would not wish for any of your staff to be injured. I can assure you, you will all be quite safe if she stays in our room.’

  The ostler looked torn, staring first at the large dog in the taproom, then at the small gold coin in his palm. Greed won. He nodded, glancing at Aisha with grudging respect. Then the ostler shouted for the serving wench, who bustled out of the kitchen, wiping her damp red hands on her skirt.

  ‘Peg, show our young guests up to our finest chambers,’ ordered the ostler. ‘Make sure you get them anything they require – especially those baths. We want to make them very welcome at the White Horse Inn.’

  The young serving wench looked surprised at the filthy new arrivals, but bobbed a shallow curtsey and led the way out of the taproom, up some narrow, dark stairs and along a corridor.

  Peg showed the children into two tiny rooms under the eaves, each with two narrow beds. It was nothing much, but compared to sleeping in tunnels and on the forest floor, it was more than adequate.

  ‘I’ll run you all a hot bath downstairs,’ murmured Peg. ‘I’ll be up in a tick to fetch you when it’s ready.’

  ‘Do you think you could organise someone to wash our stuff?’ Saxon asked with a winning smile. ‘It is all disgustingly filthy!’

  Peg wrinkled her nose in silent agreement and left the room, carrying the sack of filthy clothes and a big pile of cloaks smeared with rotting vegetables and blood.

  ‘Saxon, by the blessed Moonmother, what do you have on your boot?’ exclaimed Lily, laughing.

  He lifted the hem of the white nightshirt to look at his boots. Perched precariously on his left foot was a grey and bloody piece of unidentified offal. Aisha sniffed it appreciatively.

  ‘Oooh, yuk,’ moaned everyone.

  ‘Aisha, no,’ warned Lily.

  Saxon grimaced ruefully, and bent and removed the disgusting item from his boot, throwing it in a waste bucket in the corner.

  ‘I wonder what this is?’ Roana asked, opening her hand to reveal the crumpled, damp scroll of paper that Cookie had given her. The children looked at it curiously. Roana partially unscrolled it to reveal more jumbled letters.

  ‘The letters certainly don’t seem to make any sense,’ Saxon said, reading over Roana’s shoulder. ‘It must be some sort of code.’

  ‘Well, we may discover what it means when we meet Cookie’s brother,’ Roana remarked, taking off her boots and carefully hiding the scroll in the toe of one. ‘I do hope Master Drummond is as lovely as his wonderful sister.’

  ‘I am sure Cookie wouldn’t have sent us here unless she was sure he would help us,’ Lily reassured her.

  ‘Let’s hope Sniffer hasn’t picked up our trail,’ Ethan added, peering out the window.

  Ethan scouted out each room and examined the corridor, his brow furrowed in concentration. Roana bounced on the bed, testing its hardness.

  The four children gathered in the girls’ room to discuss possible plans while Aisha sprawled on the floor, fast asleep. Very quietly, almost under her breath, Lily recited the verse that had been revealed to them by the rose quartz crystal, while Saira the Wise had been in a trance.

  ‘Five travellers true, a treacherous journey to take

  A princeling to save, a kingdom at stake,

  Fire, plague, sea and snow must test,

  To the ends of the land they make their quest,

  To fetch sun and moon and blade

  so the bright magic is whole again made.

  The sun is dimmed under Tira to seek

  The blade is hidden in the caverns deep,

  The moon and stars under sea lost their power.

  The princeling imprisoned in a snowy tower.

  When all is done the five may rest

  When ice is conquered to win their quest.’

  Everyone shivered at the mysterious power of these enigmatic words.

  ‘Well, we found the Sun Gem dimmed under Tira,’ Lily murmured. ‘Now we need to seek the Moon Pearl, the Star Diamonds, the Sun Sword itself, and rescue Roana’s brother, Prince Caspar. All with that horrible Sniffer on our trail, and his Sedah soldiers.’

  Her head began to ache with tiredness and hopelessness.

  ‘Not all today!’ laughed Saxon, his black eyes sparkling. ‘Let’s enjoy our success for a few minutes at least.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ethan agreed. ‘But Lily’s right. Lazlac and his henchmen will be on our trail in no time. We can’t risk them finding the gem, or Roana. We need to hide the Sun Gem really well.’

  ‘Could we hide the Sun Gem somewhere here in the inn, such as up the chimney, or under the floorboards?’ Roana suggested.

  ‘If the Sedahs track us here and search the rooms they could find it,’ Ethan replied. ‘Or one of the staff might find it when they’re cleaning the rooms.’

  ‘Could we hide the gem inside my pack, wrapped up in one of the bandages?’ Lily offered. Ethan and Saxon both shook their heads.

  ‘Too risky,’ Ethan said. ‘A pack is easily stolen and it is probably the first place the Sedahs will search if they catch us.’

  The children racked their brains for further suggestions but nothing seemed ideal.

  ‘We shouldn’t stay here too long,’ Saxon mused. ‘Once we have res
ted and prepared – and eaten, of course – we should head out to try to find the Sea Dragon.’

  Lily laughed. ‘Sax, you are always thinking of your stomach!’

  ‘Well, it’s hungry work being tracked by Sniffer and chased by Sedah soldiers and escaping in garbage carts,’ Saxon retorted ruefully. ‘What hope would we have if my growling stomach gave us away at the crucial moment?’

  ‘None at all the way your stomach growls,’ laughed Lily.

  ‘Sax, let’s have another look at that note you pilfered from Lord Lazlac’s desk,’ offered Ethan.

  Sax pulled out a crumpled piece of parchment, which was covered in scrawled numbers.

  22 10 2 3 14 1.

  24 1 13 14 1 2 15 4 21 15 18 21 21 14 13. 12 18 16 10 1 2

  6 18 3 17 23 24 3 14. 21 4 23 10 1 22 24 3 17 2 3 10 1 2

  24 23 2 14 10 13 1 10 16 24 23 3 6 24 13 10 8 2.

  21 10 9 21 10 12

  Folded inside the parchment was another piece of paper with the message they had deciphered. Each number stood for a letter of the alphabet, starting with R for 1, and following on from there.

  The message read:

  Master,

  Orders fulfilled. Cigars with note.

  Lunar Moth Stars on Sea Dragon two days.

  Lazlac.

  ‘Well, we certainly found the cigars,’ said Roana.

  Everyone smiled when they remembered how frustrated they had been to find that the puzzle box held seven smelly cigars, until they had discovered the tiny compartment hidden in the lid where the Sun Gem was concealed.

  ‘Now let us hope that we are right in supposing that the Lunar Moth Stars might mean that the Moon Pearl and Star Diamonds are on board the Sea Dragon and will be sailing for Sedah in two days,’ Ethan added, with a warm grin.

  Suddenly Aisha leapt up and ran to the door barking, warning them that someone was approaching. It was only Peg, coming to tell them that a hot bath was ready and that their clothes were being scrubbed, beaten and boiled in an attempt to make them clean again.

  For the second time that morning, they all took turns to have a hot bath and wash the grime of their adventures from their skin. For the second time that morning, they all climbed into clean sheets, and pulled feather comforters up to their chins. This time there was no pillow fight, no excited whispering, no interruptions.