by Susan Moore
The canoe she was clutching in her left hand began to push against her palm, forcing her fingers open. It inflated, propelling her up through the water to the surface.
Nat came bursting out, the canoe beneath her. She lay back, gulping in fresh air like a floundered fish on a Kowloon sampan deck.
Her ears were filled with the roar of the river. The canoe was bouncing along in its flow. Her clothes were soaked through and her teeth started to chatter badly.
Fizz came clambering onboard the canoe.
“Don’t burst it!” she said, seeing him grip on to the edge with his talons.
The roar of the river grew deafening. She clapped her hands over her ears to block it out.
“Exit approaching!” shouted Fizz.
The moment the words were out the canoe went flying out of the tunnel, leaving the water behind and sailing out into a night sky for a split second, before beginning to drop like a stone.
“Ai yahhhhhhhh!” screamed Nat, clinging on to Fizz.
The canoe disappeared into the dark void.
Fizz unfurled his wings.
“Climb on my back!” he shouted.
Nat put a hand around his neck and heaved herself up. He started beating his wings furiously, slowing their descent.
“Do you think that’s it? This is all there is in the game?”
Fizz flew off into the nothingness. “There’s only one way to find out.”
Nat was drifting in and out of sleep as she lay on his back, her arms wrapped around his neck. All about was silence, but for the beating of his wings. She was wondering if they should give in and logout…
“Light ahead,” announced Fizz.
She lifted her head. In the distance she could see a faint twinkling in the darkness.
It became brighter and brighter.
“Tiger’s teeth, it’s a real star!” she said, seeing the perfect pointed star shape growing bigger with every wing-beat.
Fizz flew right up to it and perched on its edge. It was hollow inside. Nat climbed off him and walked into its warm centre. It was no bigger than a large doorway. She stood waiting for something to happen.
Nothing.
She suddenly became aware that they were not alone. Something came fluttering in, coming in to land next to her. She turned to find a ghostly outline with beautiful flowing hair.
Nat thought she might faint. It wasn’t, it couldn’t be…
“Hello, darling,” said the figure. “It’s Mum.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
MO YE
Nothing could have prepared Nat for this. She stood transfixed, staring, lost for words. Her mum’s body was all bright light; her hair flowing gold. She stepped forward and put her arms around her. Nat melted into the warmth. Peace and comfort like she hadn’t known since she was a little girl came flooding back to her. She wanted this feeling to last forever.
“You made it, you clever girl,” said her mum in her soft Californian accent.
She stepped back and smiled. “You are twenty-one now. How I wish I’d seen you grow up! But I know that if you are here with me now then I have died, more than likely a long time ago.
“Jamuka will have brought you up and taught you all you need to know to prepare you for what I am about to reveal to––”
“But I’m––” Nat interrupted.
Her mum carried on talking. Nat’s heart sank. This was only a recording, an avatar of her mum. Of course she couldn’t still be alive.
“This is the first stage of discovery for you. If you complete this task, then we will meet again.”
She paused and took hold of Nat’s hands.
“This is a path that will lead you to solve one of the greatest mysteries of mankind. It will lead you to the lost world of Atlantis. You will be able to finish what we were only able to start. But there are many who are searching too. You may have already encountered them. The path is fraught with danger. Trust no one. For your safety I will only give you one task at a time.
“You must recover the sword of Mo Ye. This sword is one of a pair forged in a fire that was fuelled by humankind itself.
“Mo Ye’s husband was a blacksmith. His king commanded him to make him a sword on pain of death, but when the blacksmith couldn’t get the fire hot enough to forge the metal, Mo Ye threw herself on the fire. She sacrificed herself out of love, saving her husband from being put to death.
“The heartbroken blacksmith forged two swords from the fire and called them Gan Jiang and Mo Ye. They are swords of love and they have been missing for centuries.
“Your father and I have found Mo Ye. It is the same sword that was used by King Arthur at Camelot. You will need to recover it from its hiding place in Cornwall, in the Emerald Cave. Once you have it in your possession you will find a code embedded in its hilt, which will unlock the next part of BlackCod, and the quest for the sword of Gan Jiang.”
She pulled Nat into a hug.
“You now have the location. Be swift and secret about it. Above all, be careful. Store the sword under the boards of our cabin. You will find a specially designed SPIN lock-safe there. Jamuka will be with you. I will be with you in spirit.”
She hugged Nat more tightly and then vanished. The light faded from the star to black.
Nat blinked behind her glasses. She was back in the lab. She turned her head to find Fizz removing his glasses with his talons.
“Hey, the heiress returns,” said Zixin, looking up from the console desk.
He stepped over and helped disconnect Nat’s suit from the chair.
“Philippe’s gone to get drinks. He’s been picking my brains on some system stuff,” he said, yawning. “It’s doing my head in, this BlackCod. Anyway, it’s a good job you’re out; we’ve got to get back to Boxbury.”
“We can’t go to school! We need to go to Cornwall. I’ve got to find a sword hidden in a cave…”
Even as she said it, she found herself wondering if the whole thing was one big game, or some kind of joke. Fizz swooped down on to her shoulder.
“I’ve checked the location and we have to access the cave by water,” he said. At least he seemed to be convinced.
“A cave in Cornwall? Hang on, chill your jets!” said Zixin. “If we don’t go back to Boxbury now, Limpet’ll have the cops after us. We’ll be tracked down and locked away. If it’s that important we can go at the weekend, leave after school on Friday, when it’s exeat.”
Nat’s head was so full of information about what she must do and not do that she thought it might burst.
Philippe came walking back in with two steaming hot mugs in his hands.
“What did I miss?” he said.
Chapter Thirty-Three
INTELLIGENCE
Beetlebot Alpha scuttled into Ivy’s bedroom and jumped up on to the four-poster bed. He scurried across the fur bedcover and hopped on to her pillow where she was lying open-mouthed, snoring loudly.
“Baroness, I have important news,” he said.
Ivy snorted, snuffled and opened an eye.
“What?”
“I have been on Boxbury night surveillance. Natalie and the Zixin Smith boy escaped the building after lights-out in the dorms and travelled across the town to the City, to Leadenhall Market, where they entered the Bean Invaders café. I waited outside for them until they exited forty-two minutes ago and returned to Boxbury undetected. They took a GrooveCab both ways. I hitched a ride there and back and succeeded in gathering certain intelligence, which is of a time-sensitive nature. They entered their dorms and are now asleep.”
Ivy propped herself up on her pillows. “Play me your recordings.”
Natalie’s voice started to play faintly over Alpha’s speakers. It was coming through the metal of the cab door, which Alpha had magnetised himself to. Ivy had to lean in to hear better, but it was the news she’d been waiting for! The sword! It had been found!
Ivy swung herself out of bed and went to her mirror. The tired face that looked back at her wo
uld soon be transformed to one reflecting everlasting youth. She’d become the all-powerful warrior queen she dreamed of being.
“Call Limpet and cancel my tea with the girl, Alpha. We shall prepare instead for a voyage to Cornwall. The girl and her dragon are going to lead us straight to the prize!”
Chapter Thirty-Four
HENRY
Nat crawled into her bed just before dawn. She pulled the duvet over her head and fell into a deep dreamless sleep.
“Natalie, Natalie, wake up!”
Someone was shaking her by the shoulder. She half opened her eyes to find Mrs Stalick frowning down at her.
“I thought you were never going to wake up!”
Daylight was streaming in through the window next to the bed.
“What time is it?” asked Nat.
“Midday. I decided to let you sleep in a bit, bearing in mind all that you’ve gone through but I was getting worried when I couldn’t wake you. How are you feeling? I know how hard grief can be, taking its toll and all that. Your dragon robot told me you’d had a terrible night’s sleep, tossing and turning.”
Fizz winked at her from where he was perched on the end of her bed.
“Yes, I was very hot and restless.”
Mrs Stalick put her hand on Nat’s forehead. “You do feel a bit feverish. Stay in bed and I’ll have some food sent up.”
She disappeared out of the dorm.
“Zixin has gone to lessons. Vesperetta called to say he is very tired. Mrs Trogalming announced to the class that you will not be attending today due to sickness.”
“Good.”
There was a loud knock.
“I came to check on your welfare,” said Mr Limpet, sticking his head round the door. “Mrs Stalick tells me you are sick.”
Nat nodded.
“You poor thing. Just as well the baroness has cancelled your tea today. She said she had some things of a pressing nature to deal with.”
Zoinks, that was a stroke of luck! thought Nat, instantly feeling much better.
Mr Limpet coughed. “Now then, if you’re feeling up to it I have a visitor for you. He’s been waiting in my study for the last half-hour.”
She rubbed her eyes. A visitor?
“Nat!!!!”
A boy with red hair came sprinting in through the door. He flung himself on to the bed, on top of her duvet, squashing her.
“Arghh, Henry!” exclaimed Nat.
He was grinning from ear to ear. “I got them to drop me straight here from the airport. I can stay for the rest of the day as long as I’m back for tea.”
She hugged him close, squeezing her eyes shut to hold back the tears.
“Ahem, I’ll leave you two to get reacquainted,” said Limpet, taking his leave, his pig trotting after him.
“The flight took forever. We had to travel in economy class. Mummy tried very hard to get an upgrade but they would only do it for a lot of money. Dad said no way would that be happening until the guardianship was resolved. He got really cross with Mummy saying that the trip, and our flat in London, was using up any spare cash we have. Prissy’s furious because she doesn’t want to come here anyway. She says it’s full of Victorians and she definitely doesn’t do Victorian fashion. It was a very fraught flight – well, those were the words Dad used when we got off and he had to get on a conference call for work straight away. Anyway, this is my first trip to London and I’m really happy. Here.” He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small box wrapped in tiger-striped fabric. “It’s from Wen.”
“Thanks,” said Nat, undoing the orange ribbon.
She pulled off the fabric to reveal a flat box. Inside lay a jade medallion on a long gold chain. Someone had carved a girl dressed in kung fu clothes doing a flying kick into the jade. She smiled and turned it over. On the back were the words “Jade Babes Rock”.
Nat fastened it around her neck. “Thanks, Henry.”
“Wen said we have to call her no matter what the time. She tried to persuade her mum to let her come with me, but her mum said no, she still has to go to school, but she can come over at half-term.”
“Shall I dial her number, my lady?” said Fizz in his posh English accent.
Henry giggled. “I want to get that accent for NutNut.”
He pulled his squirrel out of his other pocket. It opened its eyes for a second, before closing them and keeling over on to the bed.
“He needs a power-up. They won’t do them in economy. Prissy was furious.”
Wen appeared on Fizz’s screen. She was lying on her bed cutting a shirt into strips with a pair of scissors.
Nat smiled at her. “Thank you for my necklace, Wen. I love it. It’s ding.”
Wen gave her the thumbs-up. “Got it made through a contact of Ken’s. He’s really sad about Jamuka. He cancelled all classes at the studio yesterday to make a pilgrimage to a shrine on Lantau to honour him.”
Nat took a deep breath. Henry squeezed her hand.
“Zoinks, that’s kind.”
Wen leaned into screen. “What have you been doing to your eyes?” she said. “You’ve got goggle shadows on them. Have you been in the BlackCod again?”
Trust Wen to notice VR goggle shadows.
“Last night.”
“Ai yah! Tell us everything and don’t spare any detail. I’m all ears.”
Chapter Thirty-Five
ATLANTIS FASHION
Henry ate up all Nat’s school lunch of boiled ham and cabbage.
“I can’t believe you actually enjoyed that,” she said, finishing the duck wrap that Ah Ping had smuggled in for her.
“It’s better than Mummy’s cooking. Since she came back we’ve had to eat from her old weekly menu recipes. It was better when she was in the clinic and Dad ordered noodles for us most nights from Shrimp Moon. Do you remember her Hawaiian Tropical Sardine Delight?”
Nat’s stomach heaved at the memory. “Yes.”
The dorm door opened and Charlotte stomped in, glowering over at her and Henry sitting on the bed.
“Hello!” said Henry brightly.
Charlotte said nothing. She scowled and turned away. She tossed her books on to the bed and started to rummage through the clothes in her bed box.
“She’s not very nice,” whispered Henry.
“Ignore her,” said Nat.
Charlotte groaned, slammed down the top of her bed box and kicked it back under the bed.
“Now I’m going to get another detention,” she moaned.
“Why?” asked nosy Henry.
Nat nudged him in the ribs.
“Because I’ve lost my games shirt, AGAIN!”
Charlotte kicked her bed box again before stomping towards the door.
“Take mine,” said Nat.
Charlotte swung around. “I suppose you wouldn’t miss it, would you, seeing as you’ve got five hundred of them!”
The words were spat out.
“Actually, I only have one of them. But you’re welcome to borrow it if it will save you from detention,” said Nat.
Charlotte folded her arms across her chest. “Why?”
Nat shrugged. “What do you mean why? Why not?”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “Limpet said to make sure you’re all right. He doesn’t care a fig for the rest of us. You’re his special heiress. You get visitors. You get lunch served up here. I’ve been boarding since I was eight and I’ve never been allowed a BIRD in my room!”
She stomped off towards the door again. Quick as a flash, Nat leapt out of her bed and blocked the doorway. She was bubbling over with anger.
“How DARE you talk to me like that!” said Nat. “I might be an heiress but have you thought for one second that I might not want to be? I’d give anything for a normal life, with parents, in a happy family. I had a guardian who was my family and he’s now DEAD. That’s why I have a BIRD because it was his and now it is under my charge. Limpet is my guardian now, because there is NO ONE ELSE to look after me, while my aunt and
uncle fight my guardian’s clan for my custody and my fortune!”
She was shaking from head to toe. Tears pricked her eyes. She blinked them away. Charlotte was staring at her, wide-eyed. Nat stepped out of the way.
“Sorry,” she said, her head bowed. She’d lost it; so un-ku.
Charlotte walked past, closing the door behind her. Nat found herself unable to look at Henry in case she cried.
The door opened again and Charlotte reappeared. “If the offer’s still open, please may I borrow your shirt?”
Nat pulled out her bed box and handed over her shirt.
Charlotte took it from her.
“I’m sorry too. I’m sorry your guardian died, and I do like your bird. She sings nice songs.”
She turned and ran out.
Henry whistled.
“It’s more dramatic here than at our flat back at Wetley Towers!”
“Hellllloooooooo!” Wen was back on Fizz’s screen.
“What are you wearing?” said Nat, sitting down next to Henry.
Wen started to twirl. Her silver and aqua-blue cape fanned out as she spun faster and faster. The way she’d stitched the two fabrics together made it seem as if the whole cape was a series of ocean waves, rising and falling. She spun off camera and then there was a loud crash.
“Ai yah!”
Wen’s rabbit robot, Fu, moved her lens across the room to where Wen lay in a heap of cape underneath her 3D printer.
“Zoinks! Are you all right?” said Nat.
Wen’s head popped up. She was grinning.
“Like my Atlantis look?”
“It’s ku!”
“I’ve been doing the research. You really have to find this Atlantis place. It’s some ancient underwater city. No one knows exactly where it is, or what it was like, or who lived in it. How’s that for a creative clean slate? I am INSPIRED!”
Wen jumped up, ran across her bedroom, cape flying, and grabbed her drawing sheet off her desk.