by Zuheb Alep
Edgar kept quiet as usual. He wasn’t the talkative type.
“I’m fine, don’t worry,” Benjamin reassured them. “But Sebastian and Jordanna know I’m here now. I’ve just been caught and I had a fight with them, so they sent me to one of their cabins with those guards. That’s why we were locked in.” His siblings frowned at this unwelcome piece of information.
“Sebastian and Jordanna know you’re here?”
“Yes.”
“Well, when you see them, don’t tell him we’re here, okay?”
Benjamin nodded. “I want to rescue the children, but Sebastian won’t let me.”
“Hey!” Herman seized both his arms. “We’re here now. We’ll rescue them together. Forget what Seb and Jordanna said.”
“I knew you’d be like this. I was right! That’s exactly what I told them. Where are Mama and Papa?”
“They’re at home. We wrote a letter, explaining everything.” It was Edgar who said this.
“I left a note to say I was leaving, too,” said Benjamin.
“Yes,” Edgar told him, nodding. “We saw yours, and I wrote that all four of us had gone to rescue the children. As the second eldest, I take responsibility for all of you except Seb and Jordanna; they can look after themselves.”
Chapter 9
Brightlake
Benjamin, his siblings and Musab headed for the supply room. His companions had already returned there, and Ruby almost screamed when she saw him with his escort.
“You’ve been caught!” she wailed.
Benjamin nodded but reassured her that there was nothing to worry about. Although he had been caught by Sebastian, Herman was on his side. After he had introduced his family to the group, he asked, “Did any of you find out anything interesting?”
No one nodded. They seemed to have wandered about briefly before returning to the safety of the supply room. Benjamin looked at Amberina, whose gaze was cast down. She seemed troubled.
Before he could ask her what was wrong, Nadine interrupted. “What do we do now?”
“We wait till we reach the Far South. Musab and I will need to go back to Sebastian’s cabin later,” Benjamin told her. “We just came here to check on you all.”
“Better go to my cabin for the moment,” said Edgar. “It’s safer and more comfortable. Then you can go back to Seb’s later.”
“You have one?”
“I paid for one.”
They changed back into their old clothes and left once more, safely this time. There was no need to creep around, as the eldest siblings were dressed in Aradian armour and anyone who might look twice at the children would assume that they were with Edgar, Herman and Nadine. Edgar’s cabin was large, big enough to hold thirty people. Three black sofas encircled a tea table in the middle of the room, and on the other side there were doors to a bathroom and bedroom.
Benjamin made sure that the others rested in order to be fresh when they disembarked. Some sat on the floor and others went to sleep. He knew he should have been in Sebastian’s cabin, but he was rebellious since he felt Sebastian had been unkind to him.
He walked to the window and watched the bright blue sky become paler and paler while the atmosphere grew colder.
They were almost there.
*
Hours later, Benjamin felt the engine of the ship throb to a halt. Through the window he could see all eight ships docking in the port of an old town called Brightlake. They had arrived. Soldiers pulled out wooden gangways, their edges clanging loudly against the dock. Local people were standing on the steps, jostling to get a better view.
Benjamin thought he’d like to look around for a bit, so he left the cabin and climbed to the upper deck. His companions followed, while his elder siblings kept a look out for trouble. The sun had risen hours ago and it was a cold, bright day.
“It’s freezing!” said Musab, shivering.
“Well, what did you expect? We’re in the Far South,” said Benjamin, his teeth rattling. The others shivered uncontrollably. Wrapping their shawls around themselves provided only a little warmth. Suddenly Edgar, Herman and Nadine stepped back to conceal themselves behind a pile of barrels.
Benjamin realised they were hiding from Sebastian, who had just emerged from the doorway ahead. Jordanna was trailing along on his right. His colleagues were quiet, subdued by Sebastian’s bad mood.
“He thinks we’re in his cabin,” said Musab.
“Well, that’s good,” replied Benjamin. Sebastian caught sight of him, raised a finger and pointed it towards the ground, indicating that Benjamin should stay on the ship. Benjamin nodded back with a vague smile.
As soon as they’d left, Benjamin turned to his companions and said, “When he’s out of sight, we’ll go ashore too.”
“But your brother said to stay on the ship,” said Musab.
“No, we’re going ashore,” said Herman firmly. He’d left his hiding place with Nadine and Edgar, and they all looked around once more for anything that might get them into trouble but found nothing.
Musab shrugged. “Well, he’s your brother too.”
“Let’s get a move on!” Benjamin flicked his fingers, leading his siblings and his band down the gangway to enter the large, cold town.
*
Mountains and lands covered with white ice stretched to the south, and the town of Brightlake sat in front with the sea spreading to the north. Several tall, pointed buildings of fresh dark wood made the town resemble an old Victorian settlement. The roads were made of brick, and everything was wet from the melted snow of the previous night. The roads were bustling with foreign traders bargaining for precious accessories as well as the fresh vegetables that lay stacked up on the stalls in the busy markets. It was rare to find space to move about at this time of the day. Beautiful and historic as this town seemed to be, the smell here was awful. Once again, the stench of fish made some of Benjamin’s friends nauseous.
They explored the town, but found nothing relating to the kidnappings. Halamaband being relatively near their own home, they found it strange to see how many children were running around.
Isn’t it strange that these children haven’t been kidnapped? Benjamin thought as he traipsed through a market. He asked the citizens of Brightlake for any valuable information regarding the missing children, but received none. They asked some of the children, too, but they only giggled and ran away. No one spoke the language of the common tongue, only the arctic language. Nobody understood a single word they said. To his dismay, Benjamin found they were getting nowhere, but he still kept a sharp eye out.
After a long and fruitless afternoon, they felt in need of a drink and went into a small pub. Benjamin pulled up a stool at the front of the bar. He looked around and saw that the place was dark and musty. The only source of light was a couple of candles hung upon brackets. A scruffy barman who spoke the common tongue asked if he wanted a drink, and Benjamin requested a bottle of Coca-Cola; some asked for the same and some for glasses of orange juice. Herman went to sit at a nearby table with Nadine, keeping an eye on the children. Edgar strode to the front, asking the barman, “Are any of the drinks here non-alcoholic?”
Benjamin was taken aback as the barman roared loudly with laughter.
“It tastes funny,” Hamish said with a grimace, putting down his orange juice. The others agreed once they’d tasted theirs. Benjamin drank some of his cola and almost retched. It tasted like burnt metal.
“All the drinks are alcoholic! This is a bar!” yelled the bartender.
There was a foghorn of raspberries as the children spat out their drinks in horror.
“So that’s why it tasted so bad!” said Hamish, retching noisily.
“Are you thick?” shouted Benjamin, wiping his mouth.
“We’re too young!” cried Ruby, pushing the glass away.
“How can you pu
t alcohol in Coca-Cola and orange juice?” asked Kelindra.
The barman continued to laugh, watching the children make their way to the door.
“What a way to run a business!” scoffed Herman.
Walking back to the street, Benjamin felt disappointed. He’d just arrived to this town, and this was the welcome he received? He wouldn’t live in this place, not for a million dollars. He followed the others to another pub around the corner, but this time they asked before they ordered. The barman, who was more pleasant than the previous one, told them that some of the drinks were alcoholic while some were not, including orange juice and Coca-Cola. They ordered and tasted their drinks, which were fine. Edgar, Herman and Nadine had a Bluewhisky each.
“It’s a shame,” said Kelindra, “that we haven’t found those children yet.”
“Don’t worry, we will,” said Ruby. “Don’t lose hope.”
“Did you notice something?” asked Musab. “There are no lonely children.”
“Probably they’ve been kidnapped too,” said Hamish.
“Then we’ll rescue them when we go to Halamaband,” said Ruby.
“Without fail,” said Amberina. “We’ve got a whole army with us!”
They left soon afterwards when they’d finished their drinks and paid their bill. The sky was clear; the misty clouds had blown away to the east. They were now able to see the glimmering stars. Strung onto metal bars attached to the houses were yellow bulbs which lit the roads, banishing the darkness of the night. There were rows of tall black lampposts with fiery orange lights inside glass balls. The markets were empty and the streets quiet, so Benjamin and his companions strolled easily back to the ship.
Chapter 10
Kelindra’s Inheritance
Benjamin woke up the next morning with Musab in Sebastian’s cabin. They got up and went to Edgar’s cabin to rouse everyone from their long sleep. When they had all taken off their nightclothes and washed, they put on clean clothes and went ashore into the bustling town. They had washed their dirty clothes in the bathroom the previous night.
First they stopped at a large museum to learn about the wild snow cats which had been mentioned by the four men in the lobby. If these beasts were to be their allies, they should find out all they could about them.
At the museum of arctic inhabitants, Benjamin found that these wild cats were called the Orellions, and a mighty race they were. They originally came from the rainforest of Brazil, but after the flood of 1741 they had migrated to the Far South on a large boat to breed and had lived there ever since. As time passed, they had adapted to the cold conditions which made their fur turn white. The lion form represented bravery and was used for fighting in wars; the leopard form meant agility and was used for balancing on narrow obstacles; vigilance was in the form of a tiger, mostly taken for hunting food in the wilderness; the cheetah form represented speed and was rarely used as the Orellions were fast in the first place.
Herman told Benjamin something he’d learnt, that the Orellions were kind and good to humans. They had good bonds of friendship because they had been allies in a war with enemies from other worlds a long time ago. Benjamin went off to do more research about this, and came across a young Orellion prince named Chamillion who favoured the form of a tiger, while his father King Renzillion took the shape of a lion as a royal Orellion tradition. He reminded Benjamin so much of Prince Adam that he decided to examine the huge tapestry detailing the family tree of the royal house of Aziz.
Realising they were hungry, Benjamin and Edgar withdrew some money from a nearby bank and took everyone to a shabby and cheap café they had noticed earlier, specialising in grilled fish and shellfish. Filled with good food that cost much less than they had expected, they set forth with fresh energy to explore the market. It was sunnier than the previous day, cold enough for the tips of their ears to turn red but not unpleasant. Inside the deep and bustling market, Benjamin joined Hamish at a stall that sold fascinating weapons. Laid out in front of them were rifles, shotguns, pistols, blunderbusses, swords, pen-knives, daggers, long swords, shields, clubs, bows and arrows and numerous others. They would have liked to feel the weight of a real gun, but the owner shooed them away. He and his friends were too young to buy such things.
“I don’t need those, anyway,” Benjamin said. “I’ve got my own knife here.” He took out the long knife hidden down the back of his shirt and showed it to the others.
“Wow!” exclaimed Hamish. “Nice,” he commented, taking it into his hands. “Looks like a war sword to me,” he commented.
“It’s a knife,” Benjamin corrected him.
“But the blade is quite long,” Musab pointed out. When Hamish had passed the knife over to him, he tested the smooth blade with his finger. “It’s much better than any of those weapons on the stall. Look at those flowery designs, the studded gold and those rubies on the crossguard – and that red stone at the hilt. I think they’re all real jewels. Where did you get it?”
“Herman gave it to me,” Benjamin told them. “He said he’d got it from someone who wanted to give it to me, but he wouldn’t say who.”
The boys exchanged concerned glances. The knife had lost their attention.
“Your brother gave it to you?” Hamish queried, finding his voice and raising a questioning eyebrow.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Benjamin reassured him. “These are unusual times, and he knew I might be in danger.”
Musab returned the knife. “Be sure to look after it well,” he cautioned. “Maybe it has a history, or it might even be a special weapon created just for you.”
Benjamin didn’t understand what he meant but nodded anyway. He joined the others, who were buying a pair of sheepskin jackets at a different stall. Ruby and Hamish seemed to be getting along well with each other. Since they were both hearing-impaired, they spoke mostly in sign language. Benjamin wished he knew what they were saying and sometimes tried to communicate with them, but failed. It was hard to remember the finger movements when you weren’t used to it.
Amberina was as silent as a mouse. What had she seen yesterday in the cabin?
“Are you okay?” he asked her. “Did you see something in the cabin yesterday?”
“No,” she replied quickly with an awkward glance at the ground. “I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all.”
Benjamin would have liked to insist but thought it best not to mention the matter again. He didn’t want to make her any more frightened than she was.
Dusk fell after a long day of bargain-hunting. Benjamin and his companions went to the same pub that they’d visited yesterday. It was nice there, not dark or musty like the previous one, and it was lively, with foreign music playing. This time the previous bartender’s wife was working behind the counter, dressed oddly with an apron covering her dark head. She wore a white shirt stained with splashes of beer and a pair of skinny jeans. When she had served the party, she wiped the table with a foul-smelling cloth and asked Benjamin, “How’s it going?”
“Sorry?” Benjamin looked enquiringly at her.
“You’re one of those child rescuers, aren’t you?”
Benjamin nodded. No one was listening to them; they were all chatting away as usual.
“I bet you don’t know where those children are,” the bartender said.
“Yes, I do,” said Benjamin. “They’re near here, in a place called Halamaband.”
“Do you know where that is?” asked the bartender.
“No,” replied Benjamin. “Do you know?”
She stopped scrubbing the table. “Yes. It’s beyond the mountains, south of Brightlake. I can show you, if you like.” She left the counter and beckoned him towards the creaking door. “I’d like to help. Bring along a friend, too, if you want.”
Benjamin nudged Kelindra to follow him. They left their drinks and went outside where the sun was setting, spilling it
s rosy colours across the sky. The market traders were packing away their stalls. The whole town seemed to be preparing itself for a quiet night in.
The bartender was ahead of them, walking towards the end of the road overlooking the southern edge of the town. Far across this stretch of land, beyond the southern edge, lay a huge lake covered in thick, rosy ice.
“There was a lake here,” the bartender said when the pair had caught up with her. “It’s frozen now. The three big mountains in the middle are the kingdoms of the Orellion race.”
Past the lake, Benjamin could see huge snowy mountain peaks. Squinting his eyes, he could make out the three mountains in the middle, the only silver ones.
“Do you know who they are?” asked the bartender.
Benjamin nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Members of the royal family of the house of Aziz. They’re snow animals who take up the form of wild cats.”
“Exactly.” The barwoman seemed impressed by Benjamin’s knowledge. “Halamaband is beyond that mountain, in the middle of nowhere.”
“How do you know?” asked Kelindra. “Have you been there?”
“No, but I have a brother who works there. We don’t talk to each other anymore, though. I don’t agree with his work, and he doesn’t agree with mine. I’m an aeronaut.”
“I see.” Benjamin frowned in thought. There was a brief silence, broken by his next words. “I don’t suppose you’d consider taking us there, would you?”
*
Shortly afterwards, Benjamin headed back to the ship with the rest of his companions. They were hiding in the darkened bedroom of Edgar’s cabin, locked securely away. The fire burned warmly as the children fed it with coal.
Clearing his throat, Benjamin began, “Tomorrow we might leave, just the six of us, but I’d like to hear your opinion on the matter.”
“Leave? What do you mean, Benjamin?” asked Ruby.
“We met this lady at the pub,” Kelindra began, telling them what she and Benjamin had learnt from the bartender. She went on to relate Benjamin’s request for the lady to take them to Halamaband and back.