Sir Evans suddenly stopped talking and looked around. They could hear men’s voices coming towards them. Artinian men.
“Quickly! Take her! ” Sir Evans said, pushing Issy towards the other man. “She knows too much”.
Before Issy could do or say anything, the man grabbed her up with one hand, and placed the other hand over her mouth. He then sped away further into the woods.
Issy tried hard to wiggle free, but the man’s grip was too tight; and her screams were muffled by his hand over her mouth. After a while, Issy was able to bite down hard on one of the man’s fingers.
The man yelped loudly and let her go; and Issy dashed through the woods quickly. It was very dark, and Issy could hardly see where she was going; but she kept on running, for she was afraid that the man might catch her. Issy could hear him behind her.
“Get back here!” he shouted.
Soon, Issy could see come torch lights ahead. I hope those are Artinian men, she thought; for the man was now very close behind her. Then just as Issy was about to scream out to them, she felt the man grab her once more, and place a plant over her nose. Then everything went black.
…
Isla and Queen Inga returned to the store room at the break of dawn. Both of them were unharmed, except for a few minor cuts and bruises. They found Iah sitting on the grass beside the entrance, sobbing.
“What is it?” They asked worriedly “Where’s Issy?”
“I-I don’t know.” Iah said in between sobs. “Sh-She’s gone!”
Chapter 10
Traitor in our midst
“This was not a random attack!” declared Army General, Atticus. “Those men knew somehow that the kumya was to be held last night and that the Artinian army men would be off-duty.”
It was the night after the attack and Iah was peeping through a gap in the door of the royal meeting room. There, an emergency council meeting was being held, and Iah was listening to find out if they were any closer to finding Issy.
“We are always being attacked by the other islands, Atticus” said Sir Evans. “So this could just have been a coincidence”.
The seven other council men, who were also in the room, agreed with Sir Evans.
“Don’t be so suspicious General.” They said. “It was probably just a coincidence indeed.”
They were all standing in a circle, facing each other. Normally, the council would sit around a long wooden table, with Queen Inga at the head. However, the raiders had destroyed most of the furniture in the royal tree house, and left it in ruins.
“But we haven’t been attacked in five years!” said General Atticus. “Then it just happens, out of the blue? On the night of the island’s biggest event? That seems to me like it was planned.”
Sir Evans gave General Atticus a long look; then said “So what are you saying, General?”
“That we may have traitors amongst us” General Atticus answered. “And they brought those men here.”
Many of the council men gasped in surprise.
“Don’t be silly Atticus!” said Sir Evans angrily. “The people of Artinia are very loyal and trust-worthy. They would never betray us like that.”
Then a council man said to General Atticus “If there are traitors amongst us, how would we find out who they are?”
“We can ask around” said General Atticus. “Someone is bound to have noticed something suspicious”.
“No! No!” said another council man. “There is no need to make the people more upset than they already are. Like Sir Evans said, no one in Artinia would do such a horrible thing.”
Then yet another council man turned to Queen Inga. “What do you think, Your Highness?”
Queen Inga jumped a little at the mention of her name. She had a confused expression on her face, as if she had not been paying attention to the conversation. Iah immediately felt sorry for her mother. Queen Inga normally looked very beautiful and elegant, but now she looked very dishevelled, in the same dress she had worn to the party- which was now dirty and torn; and her long hair was loose and wild. She also looked extremely sad, with her eyes red and puffy from crying.
“Pardon me?” Queen Inga said.
“I asked you what you thought” said the council man.
“About what?” asked Queen Inga.
“About there being traitors amongst us, who brought the intruders to the party” the council man explained, looking annoyed.
“Well,” said Queen Inga, “if there are traitors amongst us, they will be found eventually. Artinia is a very small island. But what I am concerned about right now is finding my daughter. Do you have news about the search Atticus?”
“As you know your highness,” said General Atticus, “the entire island has been looking for Issy far and wide. But we have seen no sign of her”.
Sir Evans then walked up to Queen Inga and bowed. “My Queen”, he said. “This is so sad to say; but perhaps Issy is… dead.”
“How dare you!” screamed Queen Inga.
“My Queen” said Sir Evans, bowing again quickly. “I must be honest. Artinia is just too small for someone to be missing this long, if they were alive. A wild animal of some sort may have gotten to her.”
Queen Inga was now so furious that her face turned bright red. “I will not lose another child!” she said, pointing her finger in Sir Evans’ face.
General Atticus quickly stepped in between Sir Evans and Queen Inga. “Don’t worry Your Highness” he said. “My men and I will search for Issy for as long as you want.”
Chapter 11
Isla’s News
Iah could not stand to listen to the council meeting anymore. She let go of the door and ran back to her room. Issy can’t be dead! The thought alone was too painful. Iah sat on her broken down bed and began to cry. She had been crying all day. Iah thought that it was all her fault that Issy was missing; because she was the one in charge of watching her.
Iah suddenly heard a noise outside. She quickly ran to the window and saw that it was Isla speeding towards the royal tree house. Did she find Issy? Iah dashed to her bedroom door. She wanted to hear Isla’s footsteps when she came into the house so that she could know where she was going.
…
Isla burst open the door of the council room. “I found Issy’s sling shot!” she said, breathing heavily. “It was behind some rocks on the beach, where the raiders’ canoes were. So they must have taken her”.
“What!” said Queen Inga. “They’ve captured Issy?”
“That’s absurd!” said Sir Evans. “What would these men want with a little girl?”
“Well how do you explain her sling shot being there?” asked Isla.
“Are you sure that’s even Issy’s sling shot?” said Sir Evans.
“Of course I am!” said Isla. “I made it for her myself”. Isla then turned to General Atticus. “General, you agree with me don’t you?”
“What you say is possible” said General Atticus.
“Good.” said Isla. “So let’s send some men in canoes after them.”
Atticus thought for a while, and then said “I’m sorry Isla. I can’t. There is not enough army men to spare.”
“What?” said Isla, in surprise.
“I’m sorry Isla.” Said General Atticus. “But we can’t be certain that the raiders indeed took Issy, and my men have been through a lot already. Many of them were killed.”
“But that’s my sister!” Isla shouted. She then turned to Queen Inga. “Mom, you’re the Queen! Make him send his men after Issy!”
Queen Inga�
�s face was now wet with tears. “No one wants to find Issy more than I do Isla.” She said sadly to Isla. “I’m her mother. But I’m also the Queen, with a responsibility to protect the people of Artinia. And I cannot put their lives at risk for something that we are not sure about.
“But mom!” said Isla.
“We need the entire army here Isla. Too many of them have died already, and if they go into enemy territory, they might not make it out.”
Isla could not believe what she was hearing from her mother. “Mom, this is Issy we’re talking about!” she said. “And I thought that we Artinians didn’t leave anyone behind. We go all out to save them.”
“Please understand Isla” said Queen Inga.
“Send me on my own then” said Isla. “I can find Issy myself.”
The council men gasped in surprise.
“No!” said Queen Inga quickly. “I will not risk your life either”.
“Let me do this mom!”
“I said NO Isla!”
“But-“ Isla began.
“Not another word Isla!” said Queen Inga angrily. “You may leave the meeting room now.”
Isla stared angrily at her mother for a few seconds longer, before storming out of the room. She pushed open the door so hard that it made Iah topple over. But Isla did not even seem to notice. She continued to stomp down the long passageway.
Chapter 12
Get-Away-Plan
Isla stormed all the way to the nearby beach and sat on the sand. She was angry at them all: her mother, Atticus, Sir Evans, and even the elderly council men for remaining silent. They are the traitors! She thought. They are the ones that want to leave a fellow man behind! They want to leave…Issy.
Isla had been searching high and low in the woods, with the other army men, all day long. When night fell, and they had not found Issy, she began to panic. But then Isla spotted Issy’s sling shot on top of some rocks by the sea; and she was filled with hope again. Isla just knew in her heart that Issy had left it there on purpose, so that she could be rescued. And rescuing Issy was exactly what Isla planned to do. She just needed to come up with a plan.
Just then, Isla heard footsteps behind her. She turned and saw Yanu walking quickly towards her.
“I knew I’d find you here” he said, taking a seat next to Isla in the sand.
Here, between two big palm trees, was where Isla always came when she needed to think, or to cool off from the hot sun, or just to stare at the stars at night.
“I just came from the house looking for you” continued Yanu.
“What do you want?”
Isla did not mean to snap at Yanu, but he had interrupted her thoughts and she just did not feel like talking to anyone at the moment.
“I wanted to see how the council meeting went” Yanu said. “But Iah already told me that it didn’t go very well, so I wanted to make sure that you were alright.”
“How is she?” asked Isla. With all the confusion going on, Isla had not really thought about Iah. “She must feel awful about losing Issy.”
“She does.” Yanu said. “But I told her that it wasn’t her fault. Issy was just being Issy.”
Isla felt sorry for Iah. She didn’t want her to blame herself for anything.
“Anyway,” said Yanu, standing up. “I’ll just leave you to your thoughts Lah.”
“Yanu wait” said Isla suddenly. “I need your help with something”.
“Let me guess” said Yanu, sitting back down. “You want me to help you come up with a way to defy the General and your mom, and row out to look for Issy”.
Isla managed a little smile. “Correct” she said.
“I thought you’d never ask. When do we leave?”
“Oh, I didn’t mean for you to come with me Yanu” Isla explained; “only to help me with ideas”.
“But I have to come” said Yanu quickly. “It’s too dangerous for one person”.
“But what about your family?”
Yanu was sort of the man of his house. His father had died in battle some years ago, leaving him and Yosh alone with their mother.
“They’ll be alright” he said. “I don’t think there’ll be an attack again really soon. Besides, we’ll be back in no time, right?’
Isla smiled again. She always loved Yanu’s positive way of thinking, and she really like the company.
They spent a long while, sitting on the sand, trying to come up with different ideas; but none seemed very doable. Yanu even suggested that they try to attract a great big whale to shore and then ride away on its back. Since whales moved quickly, the army guards would not be able to catch up with them.
In the end, they decided that the only thing that they could do was to try to distract the guards and sneak away on one of the army canoes. The only problem was that they had no idea how they were going to distract the guards.
“We’ll figure something out when we get there” said Isla, ready to start.
Yanu held her back by the arm. “We can’t go now” he said. “We have to wait until later, when most people are asleep and there are fewer guards on duty.”
“OK” said Isla, disappointed. She wanted to get to Issy as soon as possible. “We’ll meet back here in two hours?”
“Yes. That sounds good” Yanu replied.
Then they both rushed off to their own homes to get ready.
Chapter 13
Unexpected Companion
Isla lay on the floor in her bedroom, staring at the hour glass beside her. Two hours had almost passed; just a few more minutes to go. Isla felt that she was ready for the journey. She was fully clothed in her army gear, with two sling shots in her pockets (In case one got broken or lost); and a large sack lay next to her with the necessary supplies: cassava bread, a few fishes, water, a wooden compass for direction and a large blanket so that they wouldn’t freeze in the canoe.
As the last bits of sand flowed to the bottom of the hour glass, Isla picked up her sack and crossed the room to the door. She then began to tip toe down the hall, as noiselessly as possible. Isla’s heart was beating very quickly; for if her mother only woke up, the whole plan would be off and she would never get to Issy.
Isla reached the front door and sighed with relief. She was just about to open it, when someone behind her said “I knew you would try to do something like this”.
Isla jumped high with fright and spun around. From the moonlight shining into the room, she saw Iah standing at the bottom of the stairs.
“You scared me half to death Iah!”
“You’re going to row out to look for Issy aren’t you?” said Iah, walking towards her.
“It’s none of your concern Iah” Isla replied. “Go back to bed”.
“It is my concern!” said Iah angrily. “She’s my sister too!”
“Shhh” said Isla. “Keep it down, will you?”
“I want to come” said Iah more softly.
“No” said Isla. Then she turned and opened the front door. “I’ve got to go”.
Isla did not want to keep Yanu waiting for too long, or he might think that she had changed her mind, and leave.
“Isla wait” said Iah, grabbing the door as well. “I’ve got to make things right”.
Isla stopped and turned to face her sister once more. “It’s not your fault Iah. Bad things just happen sometimes.”
“Still, I want to help.” said Iah.
“Iah, do you even know what you’re asking for?” said Isla. “You’re going to have to go out into the rough sea, in a dirty canoe, face unknown creatures, and fight dangerous enemies”.
“Well, I- I never really thought about it like that” said Iah nervously. Then she added quickly “But I’m willing to do it for Issy”.
“This is coming from a girl who spends half a day combing her hair, and is terrified of mosquitoes,” said Isla disbelievingly.
&
nbsp; “Haven’t you ever heard of people who miraculously change when their loved ones are in danger? Huh?”
Isla raised an eyebrow.
“Come on Isla, please.” said Iah, clasping her hands together.
“Oh alright” said Isla finally. “But if you slow us down, we’re leaving you on an island somewhere, by yourself.”
“Deal!” said Iah excitedly. Then she ran back to the stairs and picked up a large, pink sack.
“What’s that?” Isla asked.
“Oh just some supplies I packed beforehand. I knew you’d say yes eventually”.
Isla rolled her eyes. “Come on, we’ve got to go meet Yanu right now”.
Chapter 14
The Journey begins
“What took you so long?” asked Yanu, when Isla and Iah finally arrived at the beach.
“We have an addition to our crew” said Isla, pointing to Iah. “She found out about our plan”.
Yanu looked at Iah in surprise. “Ahh… Are you sure you can handle this?
“Why does everyone think that I’m some softy?” said Iah, folding her arms.
“I just meant that you don’t seem much like the outdoors type” said Yanu.
“Well I can be.” said Iah.
“Ok” said Isla quickly, before Yanu could respond. “What’s our plan to distract the guards?”
“Oh I can help with that” said Iah excitedly. “Most of them have crushes on me”.
“How is that supposed to help us?” said Isla.
“Because I can just walk over and strike up conversation with them, while you two get the canoe”
“No, that won’t do” said Isla “We need something bigger”.
“Hmph” said Iah, offended.
“Well I guess Iah could pretend to be hurt or something” suggested Yanu.
“Yes! Good Idea!” exclaimed Iah “I can scream really loud in the bushes nearby, and the guards will come running, because they love me and all. That should give you enough time to row out without anyone noticing you.”
“But how will you get into the canoe with us?” asked Isla.
“Well, something you don’t know about me is that I’m a really good swimmer”.
Artinia: The Journey of Three Island Princesses Page 3