He hoisted his body from the chair and, with his back to Tyran, replaced lengths of gold chain into a wooden jewellery box and pressed the padlock shut. When he turned, Tyran, who had never quite become used to the sight, flinched at the tiger snake curled around the Captain’s shoulders.
‘You’ll understand, of course, Tyran,’ Sneddon’s voice was like the low rumble of an approaching storm. ‘If I get up and find you have wasted so much as a second of my time, you’ll be spending another night below deck with Albert and his delicious rats.’
Tyran’s face went pale. ‘Yes, Captain.’
Albert raised his head and stared at Tyran with cold, lidless eyes.
Sneddon looked into a small, rounded mirror and ran his hands along either side of his hair, sweeping it upwards in a smooth, wave-like quiff. ‘Now, are we going to see this startling curiosity that is going to astound me, or shall I stand here and simply imagine it?’
Tyran, still clearly thinking about Albert and the rats, shuffled backwards. ‘No, Captain. I mean, yes, Captain. Um, follow me, Captain.’
The cabin door opened onto the upper deck of the clipper, The Sea Serpent. The ship was anchored in the middle of a harbour that was once part of the Grimsdon River but whose shores were now buried beneath the floodwaters.
On the main deck, beside a large telescope, was another man. Taller, broader, his shoulders created a man twice the size of Tyran, with hands as big as two dinner plates. His face, though, was no less grubby, and his hair and beard ballooned around his head in a dreadlocked clump.
‘Ah, Mouse,’ the Captain intoned with a raised eyebrow. ‘This day just keeps getting better.’
‘Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.’ The man called Mouse smiled, revealing a yellowing mess of teeth with a gap where his front tooth was missing. He looked through the brass-rimmed eyepiece and lined up what he was looking for. ‘It’s over there, sir.’
The Captain’s shoes echoed off the deck like the crack of a whip. He lowered himself in line with the telescope, closed one eye and peered with the other.
Albert swung his head around to meet Tyran, who quickly shuffled away to join Mouse.
Sneddon sighed. ‘It’s the usual dreary, watery, forsaken–’ Then he stopped as he caught sight of something very much not the usual.
‘What do you think it is, Captain?’ Mouse leant over Sneddon’s shoulder.
‘Something I’d be able to concentrate on more clearly if I didn’t have your fishy breath steaming up my ear.’
‘Sorry, sir.’
Through the lens the Captain spied a winged machine that flapped through the air like a mechanical bird with wheels.
‘A flying machine. How very fortuitous.’ He followed its route as it swayed through the sky. ‘They’ve landed on that building where the kids live.’
He watched a group of figures step onto the Palace rooftop and lift a bulging sack from the back of the machine.
‘It’s Isabella and Griffin.’ The Captain squinted as a third figure jumped from the machine. ‘And it seems they’ve made a friend.’
The Captain smiled covetously. ‘They’ve been out collecting.’ He straightened up from behind the telescope. ‘I think it might be time to pay a little visit.’
‘But, sir, we’re not due to visit again until–’ Tyran was quietened by the hissing lunge of Albert. ‘Yes, sir.’ Tyran saluted.
‘Right away, sir.’ Mouse followed with his own messy salute.
‘And Tyran?’
‘Yes, sir?’
Sneddon ran his hand along Albert’s back. ‘Make sure they remember our deal.’
CHAPTER NINE
Courtesy of Byron P. Sneddon
‘You should have seen her.’ Xavier scooped up a spoonful of mashed potato. ‘She was amazing. When Raven pushed Griffin to the ground, she went for him – and this guy’s a lot bigger. Just wham! There wasn’t time for me to even think about rescuing her.’
‘Isabella doesn’t need rescuing.’ Griffin jabbed at a piece of broccoli. ‘None of us does.’
‘Raven pushed you over?’ Bea asked quietly.
‘It didn’t hurt.’ Griffin shot a look at Xavier.
The wind picked up outside.
‘What happened next?’ Raffy asked.
‘Raven went on the offensive.’ Xavier shoved another spoonful of stew into his mouth.
‘He attacked Isabella, too?’ Bea asked.
‘With a sword – but she fought him off with his own scabbard and had him pinned to the floor before he knew what happened.’
Fly held out her notepad.
‘What did I do?’ Xavier read. ‘I tried to help, but I was held back by these four huge guys and, like Griffy said, Isabella doesn’t need rescuing.’
‘Four huge guys?’ Griffin asked.
‘Gorillas, they were.’ Xavier polished off the last of his stew. He patted his stomach and sank into his chair. ‘The only thing that would make that meal perfect would be a large slice of pecan pie with cream.’
‘Pecan pie,’ Raffy said dreamily, ‘with chocolate fudge sauce.’
Bea nudged him in the ribs and gave him a frown. ‘We’re not supposed to do that.’
‘Do what?’ Xavier asked.
‘Mention foods we can’t have anymore.’
‘But I was just thinking I’d have the fudge sauce, too.’
‘Well, that’s too bad,’ Griffin said through gritted teeth.
‘Fly?’ Xavier asked. ‘What would you like?’
Fly looked sheepishly at Griffin before she looked down and began to draw a rich brown chocolate cake with a thick layer of cream in the middle, speckled with strawberries.
‘I love chocolate cake,’ Bea sighed.
‘Anything else?’ Xavier teased.
‘Ice-cream and custard.’
‘Now you’re talking!’ He clapped his hands.
‘Smoked ham.’ Raffy rubbed his stomach. ‘I know I’m full, but I could find room for that.’
‘This isn’t helpful since there’s no way we can have any of it,’ Griffin warned Xavier.
‘Isabella?’ Xavier ignored him. ‘What would be perfect for you right now?’
‘Come on, Isabella? It’s fun.’ Bea jumped to her knees and leant across the table.
‘If you imagine it hard enough, you can almost taste it.’ Raffy licked his lips with a loud slurp.
Isabella smiled. ‘A large mango, where the juice runs down your arms, no matter how hard you try to stop it.’
Raffy flopped forward in a dreamy haze. ‘Why didn’t I think of that?’
‘And for you, Griff, my old mate?’ Xavier asked.
‘I’m not your mate, and I’m not doing this.’
‘I know,’ Bea exclaimed. ‘Christmas pudding.’ She turned to Raffy. ‘Do you remember how Mum used to make it with her secret spices?’
‘You could smell it all the way down the street. No-one else’s mum made it as good as she did.’ Raffy slipped back into his chair, eyes filling with tears.
Bea snuggled up and put her arm around him.
Griffin shot Xavier a cold, I-told-you-so stare.
‘I bet it was the best,’ Isabella said.
‘Better than anyone’s.’ Raffy nodded.
Fly wrote in her notebook and held it out to Xavier.
‘Why don’t I use the Aerotrope to leave?’ he read. ‘I like it here.’ He threw out his hands. ‘I get to decide everything. No-one tells me what to do or when to go to bed. It’s all up to me.’
‘That part is good,’ Raffy said.
‘What have you been doing since the floods?’ Isabella asked.
‘Exploring, scavenging, building the Velocraft and the Aerotrope, reading–’
‘Reading what?’ Bea asked.
‘Alice in Wonderland, Narnia, The Wizard of Oz.’
Raffy sat up. ‘We’re reading The Wizard of Oz. They’re about to enter the Emerald City.’
‘Actually, Griffin reads it to us,’ Bea corrected. ‘
He does the voices better than anyone.’
‘Griffin’s talents just don’t stop, do they?’
Fly flinched as four loud raps came through the wall. Two men with wild, rumpled hair and long coats slid into the room through the broken window Xavier had jemmied open.
‘Well, well, well.’ Tyran stuck his thumbs in the waist of his oversized trousers, which were held up with a snakeskin belt. ‘This looks very cosy.’ He flicked his fingers at the brim of a cowboy hat so they could see his yellowed smile and dark, lifeless eyes. ‘Mind if we join in?’
His buckled boots scuffed and jangled as he swaggered across the floor. He lay his hat on the table and leant over the pot of stew. He took a big swipe with a grubby finger and shoved it in his mouth.
Fly screwed up her face.
Mouse hurried to the table and did the same. ‘That’s real good.’ He picked up a spoon and shovelled in great mouthfuls, hardly stopping to breathe.
Tyran flopped on a chair. ‘So, what have you got for us today, Queen Isabella?’
‘Nothing. You’re not due until next week.’
Xavier shrugged. ‘Who are these goons?’
‘Goons.’ Raffy laughed into his hands.
Tyran shot him a silencing look. ‘Watch it, little man.’
Bea pulled Raffy closer.
‘These gentlemen are Mouse and Tyran,’ Isabella said. ‘They live on the lone boat in the harbour.’
‘Sneddon’s men?’ Xavier asked.
‘You know Sneddon?’
‘Tall guy. Ridiculous hairdo. Thinks he’s some kind of Lord of the Harbour.’
Tyran’s lip lifted in disgust and he moved in close. ‘What’s your name?’
Xavier reeled back and held his nose. ‘Xavier Stone, and you ought to do something about that breath.’
Tyran stabbed Xavier’s chest with his finger. ‘Sneddon is the guy who very graciously saves these kids from being turned over to the authorities.’ He sniggered before adding, ‘For a fee.’
‘You don’t pay these guys, do you?’
‘We made a deal and it’s none of your business,’ Griffin warned.
‘But there are no authorities,’ Xavier said.
‘You’ve heard of the government, I presume,’ Tyran protested.
Mouse nodded, too busy with his potato and stew to say anything.
Xavier laughed. ‘The government gave up any chance of saving Grimsdon years ago.’
‘How do you know that?’ Isabella asked.
Xavier was momentarily stumped. ‘I don’t know, obviously, but I don’t see any more rescue boats or any rebuilding.’ He turned to Tyran. ‘How exactly does Sneddon save these kids?’
‘The government stopped sending troops to look for survivors in the first year, then secretly employed bounty hunters to do their work. Each time they found someone, the government used it to prove how they hadn’t given up finding the lost – when that’s exactly what they’d done. The kid got a new home, the bounty hunters got paid, everyone was happy. Except some of you kids don’t want to be found.’ He patted Fly’s head. She pulled away and moved beside Isabella. ‘That’s where we come in.’
Tyran ran his good hand over his knotted beard. ‘The Captain does a deal with the bounty hunters, who agree to leave these kids alone. And each month they bring us goods for our services. We get what we want, they get left alone.’
‘It’s called, offering protection.’ Mouse revealed a jagged-toothed grin.
‘It’s called blackmail,’ Xavier shot back.
Tyran held his arms wide open. ‘Does it look like they’ve been captured to you?’
Xavier shook his head. ‘There’s the occasional thief crazy enough to enter the city looking for riches, but there are no bounty hunters and you know it.’
‘Maybe because they’ve been paid off,’ Griffin said with a warning tone.
‘He’s smart, that little professor.’ Tyran’s smile was smug.
Mouse wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and burped. ‘Captain thinks it’s a very fair deal.’
‘He also thinks that flying machine should be part if it,’ Tyran added.
Xavier sprang to his feet, sending his angel-winged chair smacking to the floor. He slammed his hands onto the table, flattening Tyran’s hat. ‘That flying machine is mine, and I’m not part of any thieving deal you have with these kids. You even think about touching that machine and I’ll come after you, I promise.’
Tyran laughed. ‘What are you, thirteen, fourteen years old?’
‘Nearly fifteen,’ Xavier answered.
‘And what are you going to do to me?’
‘It won’t just be me. I’ll be bringing my friend, Raven.’
Both men flinched. Tyran tucked a hand in his pocket.
‘So you do remember him.’ Xavier’s tone had a mischievous tinge.
‘You’ve had your say, Tyran,’ Isabella said. ‘And as today isn’t collection day, it’s time you left.’
Xavier lifted the squashed cowboy hat and tried with a few quick tugs to pull it back into shape. ‘Don’t forget this.’
Tyran snatched his hat with his good hand. ‘The Captain won’t like what you’ve had to say.’
Mouse lifted his bulky weight and lumbered after him.
‘You think it’s smart upsetting those guys?’ Griffin asked after they’d gone.
‘Those two can’t even manage to brush their teeth.’ Xavier picked up his chair and sat heavily. ‘I wouldn’t be worried about them.’
‘But what about Sneddon?’ Raffy asked. ‘He’s over three metres tall, wears a patch where he lost his eye in a fight with a shark and carries six different types of knives in his belt.’
‘He’s so strong,’ Bea said, ‘he can crush a tin can in his hands.’
Xavier frowned. ‘I think you’ve confused Sneddon with a character in your books.’
‘Why did you mention Raven?’ Isabella asked.
‘Sneddon’s men tried to take over the Haggle. They caused a bit of damage, too, until Raven and the kids made sure they ended up in the river, with Tyran missing part of a finger as a warning never to come back.’
He wore a mischievous grin. ‘What if you refuse to pay?’
‘We can’t do that,’ Griffin said.
‘But Griff,’ Xavier threw his hands into the air, ‘we don’t owe anybody anything. Not after what we’ve been through.’
‘Sneddon said if we didn’t pay him, he’d destroy us.’
‘Destroy you?’ Xavier laughed. ‘You make it sound like some kind of bad-guy film. The trouble with you, Griff, is that you’re not willing to do anything you’re afraid of.’
‘And you just want to be a hero,’ Griffin shot back.
‘Adults are the reason we’re in this mess, which means they don’t get to tell us what to do anymore.’
‘And I don’t want to be on the end of a fight we can’t handle.’
‘But we’re smarter than them, so we’d be ready for anything they dished up.’
‘It’s true, Griffin.’ Raffy jumped from his chair and held up his fists.
‘We’d outfight them and outsmart them.’ Bea circled her brother and wrestled him onto the floor.
‘We can let him know we won’t be bossed around anymore,’ Raffy wheezed from Bea’s headlock.
‘Sneddon better watch out if he ever comes across you two.’ Xavier laughed.
‘This is serious,’ Griffin cried.
Bea released her brother and they climbed back onto their chairs.
‘Ask Raven about him,’ Xavier said. ‘He’ll tell you Sneddon’s not as dangerous as you think.’
‘There’s no point talking to Raven,’ Griffin said. ‘Everything has been fine making payments to Sneddon, so why stop now?’
‘What do you think, Isabella?’ Xavier asked.
Everyone turned to her. ‘Maybe we should think about it.’
Griffin’s eyes widened. ‘Why?’
‘Xavier’s right, Griff
. None of this is our fault. Maybe it’s time we looked after ourselves.’
Sneddon clenched his hands behind his back and stared out at the flooded waters of Grimsdon. Albert was asleep around his neck. ‘Is it my poor eyesight or have you returned without the flying machine?’
‘Your eyesight, Captain, is topnotch but, you see, there’s this new kid living at the Palace. Acted all bossy.’ Tyran looked at his squashed hat.
‘He’s the one owns the flying machine,’ Mouse explained. ‘Said he won’t part with it.’
Albert began to stir. Tyran shifted to the other side of Sneddon. ‘Seemed to know we have no control over the bounty hunters.’
Sneddon stroked the snake’s back. ‘Have I ever told you that one bite from a tiger snake can cause paralysis and even death in as little as thirty minutes. Isn’t that extraordinary?’
Tyran gulped. ‘Ah, yes, Captain. You had mentioned–’
‘You wouldn’t think an animal this beautiful would be one of the deadliest snakes in the world,’ Sneddon tickled Albert under the chin. ‘And that the only way to save the victim from that swift and painful death is a special antivenene.’
Sneddon reached for a chain around his neck that held a vial of liquid.
A gentle lulling of waves pushed against the hull of The Sea Serpent.
‘Who is he?’ Sneddon asked.
‘Huh?’ Tyran had turned deathly pale.
‘The new kid. Who is he?’
‘They called him something like...’ Tyran screwed up his face. ‘Damian?’
‘No, that wasn’t it.’ Mouse said. ‘It was more like Raymond or–’
‘Fraser.’ Tyran pointed at Mouse. ‘Wasn’t that it?’
Sneddon closed his eyes and sighed.
‘I’ve got it!’ Mouse interrupted with a toothless grin. ‘Xavier.’
Sneddon lowered himself down to the telescope and trained the lens on the Palace.
He whispered just one word: ‘Xavier.’
CHAPTER TEN
Something in the Distance
The giant rolled its huge eyes around again, then declared. ‘I will give you my answer now. In my country, we do not do favours for each other. Everyone must pay for what he or she gets. Therefore, I will not send you to Kansas until you have done something for me.’
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