Quest for the Sun Gem

by Belinda Murrell

  ‘Good girl, Aisha,’ Ethan praised. ‘What are you doing here?’

  She wagged her tail furiously and licked Ethan’s face. He found the note rolled up into a tight little spiral under her collar and unfurled it.

  ‘Ylil dna xas. Evoc niocdlog fo tsae setunim ytnewt evoc llams eht ot ahsia htiw emoc. Taob a dnuof evah ew. Nahte,’ he read.

  ‘What strange language is that?’ asked Roana in surprise. ‘I thought I knew all the major languages, but I have never heard that one before.’

  Ethan laughed. ‘It’s a very simple one. It is simply written backwards. Sax and I always used to send each other little notes like this.’ Ethan pointed his finger to the last word and started reading backwards.

  ‘Look, this is what it says: “Ethan. We have found a boat. Come with Aisha to the small cove twenty minutes east of Goldcoin Cove. Sax and Lily.’

  ‘Ingenious,’ marvelled Roana. ‘A secret code could come in very handy!’

  Half an hour later, Roana and Ethan clambered down into the secret cove, carrying their packs.

  ‘I think we should make plans and preparations first then have a good sleep,’ said Ethan when they reached the others.

  ‘Good idea,’ agreed Saxon. ‘I’ve been thinking about our options and think we should approach the ships from the seaward side.’ He sketched out a quick map in the sand with a twig. Aisha sniffed at his map inquisitively, her eyebrows twitching in curiosity. She started to dig a hole in the sand, following his example. Saxon pushed her away impatiently.

  ‘Approaching from the sea might help us because if they’ve set a guard, they are likely to be watching the beach. They probably won’t be expecting anything to come from the seaward side. We will need to row as silently as we can and head for the bow of the Glory of Sedah – the biggest ship. I think that’s where they’ll be holding everyone.’

  The others nodded thoughtfully, seeing the sense in Saxon’s plan.

  ‘We should leave here on the ebbing tide, just before low tide,’ Saxon expanded. ‘Then we will have the outgoing tide to help us on the way out, and the incoming tide to help us on the return trip. That’s also good timing because the tide takes roughly twelve hours to do a full cycle from low tide to high and back again, and it’s roughly an hour later each day. That means tonight, low tide should be at about three o’clock in the morning, when everyone should be in their deepest sleep.’

  ‘We should go barefoot so our boots don’t make any sound on the deck,’ Ethan suggested.

  ‘We’ll need to be camouflaged as well as silent,’ Lily added. ‘We need to darken our skin to make us less visible in the dark – I can use some charcoal to do that. The black cloaks and fishermen’s caps should hide us really well.’

  ‘Luckily the boat is black – that will make it hard to see,’ said Saxon. ‘I guess it suits the smugglers to be invisible as well.’

  ‘You seem to know an awful lot about smugglers,’ joked Lily, poking Saxon in the ribs with her elbow. ‘Any particular reason why?’

  Saxon just grinned cheekily, shrugging his shoulders.

  ‘Well, thank goodness for the smugglers – all this stuff will come in very handy,’ said Ethan. ‘Especially the daggers. We should each take an extra, so we have a spare dagger in case we need it. We won’t take the bows – they don’t like getting wet, and they might be a bit cumbersome when we’re sneaking around on boats.’

  Roana blanched at the thought of needing a couple of daggers but simply nodded in agreement.

  The four continued to discuss the planned strategy, each adding in their own ideas and suggestions.

  ‘So it’s settled,’ Lily said firmly. ‘Let’s get to work.’

  Roana and Saxon used a couple of the smugglers’ cloaks to wind around the rowlocks to muffle the sound of the oars.

  Lily charred the end of a stick, using the tinderbox to make a small flame. She used the charred end to smudge black charcoal over everyone’s faces and hands to camouflage their pale skin.

  Roana wrinkled her nose in disgust. ‘Yeek. I smell like a chimney sweep.’

  ‘You look pretty foul too,’ Lily giggled, adding a dab of black paste to Roana’s aristocratic nose. ‘Ahh, much better!’

  Ethan sorted through the stockpile of weapons and chose swords and extra daggers for everyone. He stowed a couple of thin, strong ropes in the boat. Aisha sniffed around curiously, generally getting underfoot.

  ‘Oh, Aisha, I know you’re only trying to help, but can’t you help everyone by staying out of the way?’ scolded Lily, running her fingers along Aisha’s golden flank.

  At the back of the cave, Ethan found some thin black shirts, made of silk.

  ‘Why don’t we all wear one of these silk shirts?’ Ethan suggested. ‘They’ll be a lot less visible than our white ones and they’re loose and easy to move in.’

  When everything was ready, they tossed a coin to see who would take each watch.

  ‘Roana shouldn’t be on watch,’ whispered Ethan to Saxon. ‘She’ll probably just fall asleep and ruin everything. It would be better if we three share it.’

  Saxon nodded. ‘We won’t tell her, though, or she’ll probably make a fuss.’ In a louder voice he said, ‘So Ethan goes first, then Lily, then me, and Roana goes last. Now, everyone except Ethan, try and get some sleep. We’ll need it.’

  Ethan took first watch, his hand resting gently on his bow, while the others slept, curled up in the long black smugglers’ cloaks. The cloaks smelt a bit musty and faintly fishy, but they blocked out the sunlight and made a cozy bed on the soft sand.

  Sniffer found the small clearing above Goldcoin Cove where the children first saw the sea. He found the flattened grass where his quarry had lain down to spy on the Sedah fleet below, torn grass where horses had grazed, and the four sets of tracks, splitting and heading both east and west.

  Which way should he go? Sniffer looked up at the sun – it was now late afternoon. He scanned east, then scanned west, thinking quickly. He made a decision. The trail to the west showed two sets of boots – one larger and wider, the other small and narrow, with a rounded heel that dug deeply into the sand in a slightly uneven print.

  It was a girl wearing high heels, who was limping slightly. It must be the injured Princess Roana with the older boy. The trail was sometimes smudged over by pawprints following – that dog! Sniffer polished his dagger lovingly, keeping it ready in his hand.

  Sniffer followed the trail west, towards the sun, with the sea to his left. It was harder to follow the tracks on the stony cliff tops. At last he seemed to lose the trail altogether. Sniffer continued walking, searching for clues – a kicked stone, a print, a broken twig, anything.

  Sniffer moved on slowly, his nose furrowed in concentration, breathing deeply. His fingertips brushed the tops of the stones, as if he could read something there with his fingers.

  At last he had to admit he had lost the trail. Patiently, he retraced his path until he found signs of his quarry again. Sniffer searched carefully. Then he found it.

  The quarry had doubled back to the east, taking a more direct route, slightly inland. Sniffer picked up pace now. This trail was easier to follow. He snuffled happily as he trotted back to the east, away from the setting sun. Close, so close now.

  It was nearly dusk when Sniffer arrived back above Goldcoin Cove. The light was dimming rapidly. He looked out across the water to where the ships were moored, lanterns burning merrily on the rigging. Should he follow the trail to the east and risk losing it again in the growing darkness? Or should he report to Captain Malish with everything he had discovered so far?

  Sniffer thought about the flattened patch of grass in the clearing above the cove. The quarry did seem very interested in the ships. Why had they doubled back to Goldcoin Cove? What were they doing here?

  Sniffer thought of his options. Perhaps he had better report to Captain Malish and Governor Lazlac. They did get unreasonably impatient. These things take time. Even a tracking genius like him
self, with an almost perfect tracking record, needed time to find all the clues. A tracker needs infinite patience, which Sniffer did indeed possess.

  Sniffer made his decision. He would report to his superiors. He had a strong feeling that his quarry would be returning to Goldcoin Cove very soon. And he would be waiting.

  Sniffer entered Governor Lazlac’s sumptuous cabin in the stern of the Glory of Sedah, following Captain Malish. Lazlac sat at his large desk, writing a report with a black feather quill, surrounded by charts and papers.

  The cabin was brightly lit with lanterns and several golden candelabra. A wide bench, covered in crimson leather upholstery, ran along the back wall below the windows. The berth was wide and comfortable, with soft cotton sheets and red velvet curtains, a far cry from the rough canvas hammock that Sniffer had slept in during the long voyage to Tira, down in the airless hold.

  Sniffer stood silently, his face impassive, until Governor Lazlac deigned to notice him. This took several minutes.

  ‘Aaah, Sniffer,’ Lord Lazlac sighed. ‘Where are these troublesome brats? Please do not tell me that you have failed to find them. You know how much I detest failure.’

  Sniffer bowed hurriedly.

  ‘My lord. There are four of them, riding horses, with a dog,’ Sniffer replied. ‘It seems the infidel princess is one of them – she is limping. By dusk I had trailed them to this very cove. They were spying on our ships, and they seemed to be searching for a hiding place nearby. I suspect they may even be planning to return to the cove this evening.’

  Lord Lazlac laughed, a harsh, guttural sound that was totally lacking in mirth.

  ‘Do you really mean to tell me that four snivelling children and a mongrel dog have been spying on the finest warships of Sedah? Do you think they mean to board us and seize our ships! I hope not. They may pollute my deck with snot.’

  Lord Lazlac grimaced at his own joke. Captain Malish chuckled ingratiatingly.

  ‘Captain Malish, prepare a welcoming party to be waiting on the beach. Remember that Mortma wants his precious princess preferably unharmed. I don’t care what you do to the rest … as long as it is very painful.’ Lord Lazlac grimaced again.

  ‘Yes, my lord. At once, my lord,’ barked Captain Malish, bowing low.

  ‘Sniffer. You had better get some rest,’ Lord Lazlac added. ‘If those brats don’t turn up as suggested, then I want you to find them first thing in the morning, and bring them to me here. They have already wasted enough of my time.’

  Sniffer bowed low and scuttled after Captain Malish, before Lord Lazlac changed his mind and made him search all night.

  It was completely dark and very cold when Ethan woke Lily for her watch. She sat huddled in her cloak, eyes staring into the darkness, stomach clenched with nerves. She stroked Aisha’s sleeping body beside her to give her courage and nestled closer to her for warmth.

  The time seemed to crawl by. Lily made up stories in her head to help the time pass. She tried to avoid thoughts of home, her parents or the night raid ahead.

  Instead she thought about the forest where she lived and the animals who lived there – the gentle deer and rabbits, snuffly hedgehogs, and the dangerous wild boar and wolves. While she did not like shooting animals, she loved tracking them and watching them play.

  Suddenly a soft splash caught her attention.

  Aisha woke immediately, her head raised, hackles up and her ears pricked, listening for the source of the sound. A soft growl rumbled in her throat. Lily put her hand on Aisha’s neck to calm her.

  Adrenalin rushed through Lily’s blood, making her scalp tingle and her heart thump. By this time her eyes were quite used to the total darkness. She crept forward away from her sleeping companions, with Aisha stalking beside her.

  At the water’s edge she paused, searching the darkness. There was nothing to be seen except the distant glimmer of white surf outside the cove and the soft shimmer of stars overhead. Shadows loomed large and strange in the gloom.

  Her ears could detect nothing except the constant rumble of waves on rock. Then Lily heard a new noise, a soft eerie sound almost like music, yet like no music she had heard before. A haunting, piping melody, only half heard above the waves. The music made Lily’s heart surge with love, happiness and inexplicable longing. She moved closer.

  ‘I wonder … I wonder if that could possibly be …’

  Aisha barked loudly, snapping at the soft little ripples of water on the sand.

  Immediately the music, if that is what it was, stopped.

  ‘Shush, Aisha,’ cried Lily sorrowfully. ‘It’s stopped. That beautiful music. I wanted it to go on forever …’

  There was a sudden movement from the rocks at the mouth of the cove and a shadow slipped into the water with a gentle splash. Lily laughed softly, patting Aisha.

  ‘What could it be? Did I dream it? Was it just a seal or something else?’ she murmured to the dog. But there were no more noises, and eventually she walked back to the others and sat down to watch the waves. When at last the half moon rose in the eastern sky at midnight, Lily woke Saxon and curled up to sleep again.

  Saxon sat whittling a piece of driftwood with his dagger, his eyes peering into the darkness. He felt like someone or something was staring at him from the inky blackness of the rocks or the sea. He shook off the feeling, putting it down to nerves and the slow, boring wait.

  The tide crept out, bit by slow bit. The waning moon crept up in the sky, bit by slow bit. The waves crashed in and out, in and out, in and out. From fighting nerves, Saxon now had to fight boredom and sleep and impatience.

  When the half moon was finally a quarter of its journey through the star-sprinkled heavens, Saxon woke the others.

  Roana was furious.

  ‘Why did you not wake me up for my watch!’ she whispered irately. ‘I suppose you thought I would slumber and not wake you! I bet you let Lily do her watch.’

  Saxon, Ethan and Lily glanced guiltily at each other.

  ‘You were sleeping so peacefully, I couldn’t wake you …’ mumbled Saxon.

  ‘I thought we agreed that I was not to be given special princess treatment,’ Roana said, glaring at everyone. ‘I am just as capable of staying awake as any of you. I will not be left out. We are all in this together!’

  Aisha started whimpering at the anger in Roana’s tone. She nudged the princess with her nose, trying to placate her.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Saxon soothed. ‘We weren’t sure. You know you aren’t used to doing some of the things we are. But we won’t leave you out again.’

  ‘Come on,’ said Ethan gruffly. ‘We should eat something and get going.’

  They all sat silently, nerves strung taut as wire, while they ate bread and cheese, washed down with water. Ethan unstrung the bows and stored them with their boots, spare clothes and quivers in the back of the cave.

  When they were finished eating they dragged the boat down to the water and stowed the oars. Aisha ran back and forth, tail wagging in excitement. She tried to jump into the boat after the oars.

  ‘No, Aisha, you’re not coming with us this time, girl,’ Ethan said firmly, rubbing the dog’s ears. ‘You stay here and guard our things.’

  Aisha’s tail drooped mournfully, but she obediently walked back up the beach to the boulder hiding the cave and sat there watching. Her left ear flipped inside out, as it always did when she was displeased.

  She whined softly as the four children pushed the boat off the sand into the lapping waves. Roana and Lily pushed the boat from the sides, splashing through water up to their thighs, then jumped in the boat and crawled to the bow, shivering at the chilly air on their wet clothes.

  Ethan and Saxon pushed the boat from the stern, out past the gently breaking waves, then leapt in after them. They sat on the middle bench, facing the beach, and started to row. Aisha watched them for a while, then turned around and around in a circle three times before curling up to sleep, her ears still cocked to listen for any unusual sounds.

/>   ‘Good girl, Aisha,’ called Ethan softly. ‘Wait for us, we’ll be back soon.’

  The boat surged forward strongly in the calm water. The sheer walls of the cliffs soared on either side as they slipped out of the cove. Immediately the motion changed as they hit the sea swell.

  ‘Keep your weight forward,’ Saxon called to the others.

  Saxon and Ethan had to row harder to propel the craft against the force of the surf. Towering waves crashed into the boat, drenching them all with salt spray and filling the hull with water. The boys strained and pulled, panting for breath.

  The boat sat still despite the rowing, motionless against opposing forces. Another huge wave loomed over the boat, threatening to engulf it. The boys heaved again and the boat jerked forward with a loud sucking noise and shot forward into the air, landing with a loud thwack on top of the water.

  Lily clung to the gunwale with clenched knuckles, her heart in her mouth. Both she and Ethan could swim strongly in the river at home, but that seemed so tame compared to this rough, black sea. She refused to think of the deep, dark water below the hull, and what might be lurking there.

  In a few moments the boat surged into the relatively calmer water past the breakers.

  Roana and Lily bent to bail out the water with tin cups. The boys pulled strongly, their backs already aching with the strain.

  ‘Ssshh,’ Lily hissed as she caught sight of the mouth of Goldcoin Cove, where the Sedah ships were moored. The boys slowed down their rowing. No-one dared to breathe.

  The six ships bobbed menacingly in the dark water, only visible as black shadows against the brighter starry sky. A lantern flickered at the stern of each ship, and candles glowed through the windows of the cabins.

  By this faint light they could see the name of the three closest ships carved in gold curly letters: the Sea Dragon, the Black Pearl and the largest ship – the Glory of Sedah.

  The boys steered the boat silently towards the dripping rope of the Glory of Sedah’s anchor line. Roana and Lily grabbed hold of the line, fending the boat away from the hull with their arms. Saxon secured the mooring rope to the anchor line.