'Try to rob me, would you?' he roared. 'You two-faced lizard – I thought there was something about you that couldn't be trusted!'
In reply, Adam simply pulled back his other arm and struck Cornelius hard across the chin, making him relinquish his grip. Adam scrambled out from under the caravan and ran back towards the cave entrance where, Sebastian could see, Leonora was waiting for him.
'After them!' growled Cornelius. 'Come on, man, don't just lie there!'
Cornelius moved off in hot pursuit and Sebastian followed, still trying to get his thoughts in some kind of order. As he passed Max, he saw to his amazement that the buffalope was still sound asleep and snoring contentedly.
Adam and Leonora ran into the cave and Cornelius followed close on their heels, reaching for his sword as he did so. Sebastian experienced a powerful jolt of dread at the sight. He didn't want any harm to befall Leonora, and he quickened his pace to try and intercept the little warrior.
'Cornelius!' he yelled. 'Wait, don't do anything rash!'
Adam and Leonora raced straight through the main part of the cave and into the gloomy tunnel beyond. After running a short distance, they ducked to their left, through a small opening. The cavern beyond appeared to be in total darkness, so Cornelius pointed to a burning lantern on the wall, which was out of his reach.
'Pass me that light!' he growled.
Sebastian did as he was told and took the opportunity to speak. 'Cornelius, calm down a moment,' he said.
'Calm down be blowed! That rascal was trying to get the treasure map out of my pocket.'
Sebastian stared at him. 'But . . . how would he know about it?'
Cornelius gave him an accusing look. 'A very good question. Come on, bring that light!'
They stepped through the opening and found themselves in a small circular cavern. No other exits appeared to lead off from it and yet there wasn't a sign of Adam or Leonora.
'What witchcraft is this?' cried Cornelius in disbelief. 'I saw them come in here with my own eyes.'
'There is a way out,' said Sebastian, raising the lantern. 'Look – there!' He indicated a small opening a few hands' height from the floor. Beyond it, when they stopped to look, they could see a narrow trail leading into the forest undergrowth. Items of clothing were scattered in front of the opening and Sebastian recognized the cloak that Leonora had been wearing.
'It's too small for them to fit through,' protested Cornelius. 'Even I would have a tough time getting out.'
'Well, where else could they be?' said Sebastian. 'We both saw them come in here. And why did they leave their clothes behind?'
Cornelius frowned and turned away. 'I can only surmise that their wizardry is more powerful than we imagined.' He glared at Sebastian again. 'What happened after I went to bed?'
'Nothing! Well, not very much. We just sat around and . . . talked.'
'And I suppose you told her all about the map.'
'Of course not!' Sebastian was indignant. 'You must think I'm stupid! I never breathed a word about it.'
Cornelius was evidently far from convinced. 'Oh, so Adam just guessed that I had something worth stealing, did he?'
Sebastian shrugged. 'He must have. Anyway, he wasn't around; he went off to bed and left me alone with Leonora. So . . .' He noticed the despairing look on Cornelius's face and spread his arms in a gesture of helplessness. 'What?' he cried.
'You amaze me,' said Cornelius. 'Do you know that? One moment you're being all lovesick and pathetic about Queen Kerin, and then you're bewitched by the very first woman you clap eyes on!'
'Nonsense! I'm not bewitched. I just . . . we had a pleasant conversation, nothing more.'
'Oh yes. And what did you talk about exactly?'
'Umm . . . well, we . . . we . . .' Sebastian frowned. Now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember a single thing they'd talked about. 'It's all a bit fuzzy,' he admitted. 'Probably the wine—'
'Wine, my backside!' growled Cornelius. 'Obviously she put some kind of enchantment on you. You probably told her everything. That's exactly why I didn't want you lingering in that cave.' He turned and strode towards the doorway.
Sebastian followed with the lantern. 'Well, it's not so bad, is it?' he reasoned. 'He didn't get the map.'
'No, he didn't. But if that witch knows about the treasure—'
'Don't call her that!' snapped Sebastian. He stared at his friend in dismay. He had no idea why he'd leaped to her defence.
'You see,' said Cornelius. 'She has quite obviously bewitched you.' He shook his head. 'I don't know. All it takes is a skirt, a pretty face and you're putty in their hands.' They entered the main cave and moved towards the exit. 'Well, one thing is for certain. We dare not sleep any more tonight in case they come sneaking back for another try. We'll take turns standing guard until daybreak and then we'll be on our way.'
They emerged from the cave and walked across the clearing to the caravan. Max was still sound asleep and snoring.
'Look at him!' exclaimed Cornelius. 'Oblivious! We could have been murdered in our sleep and he'd still know nothing about it. It would be different if we'd started cooking some food though, wouldn't it?'
As if by magic, Max stopped snoring. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to look at his two companions. 'Did somebody mention food?' he asked innocently. 'A couple of those fresh pommers would go down rather well.'
Cornelius's face was a picture. He stormed off to gather some kindling for the campfire. Sebastian offered to take first watch but Cornelius didn't feel much like sleeping either, so they built up the fire to a cheery blaze and then sat close to it, talking in hushed voices and waiting for the approach of dawn.
CHAPTER 5
HASTY DEPARTURE
At the first blush of light on the horizon, they were packed up and ready to leave – though unsurprisingly, Max took some persuading.
'I haven't eaten breakfast yet!' he complained bitterly as Sebastian strapped him into his harness. 'What's the big hurry?'
Sebastian explained what had happened the night before and Max couldn't resist commenting.
'I'm not at all surprised,' he sniffed. 'Perhaps this will teach you to take more notice of me in future. I said right from the moment I clapped eyes on her, that witch was not to be trusted—'
'Don't call her a witch!' shouted Sebastian; and once again he was astonished by his own reaction. It was as though he simply couldn't stop himself from springing to her defence.
Max gave him a knowing look. 'Well, she's obviously made a big impression on you,' he observed.
'That's what Cornelius said. But I just . . . don't think it's fair to call her . . .'
'A witch! That's exactly what she is.'
'No. She . . . she's just . . . I don't think she had anything to do with that attempted robbery. Adam was probably acting on impulse . . . and she . . .'
'Didn't you say you saw her standing by the cave?'
'Umm . . . yes . . . I expect she was trying to stop him.'
'But they ran off together!'
'Of course! Blood's thicker than water – she probably had to help her brother. He probably made her do it.'
Cornelius strolled past, shaking his head. 'Forget it, Max – the poor lad's under an enchantment. He'd argue that black was white if Leonora wanted him to.'
Max looked quite shocked. 'But what of your true love, Queen Kerin?'
Sebastian felt a jolt of irritation. 'She's hardly my true love,' he argued. 'However I feel about her and however she feels about me, it's a love that can never be. So I'm perfectly free to look elsewhere.'
'Yes, but not at an old witch!'
'She's not a witch! And she's not old!'
'She could be for all you know,' argued Max. 'She could be a wizened old hag who uses black magic to make herself look reasonable. Underneath that pretty veneer could be a hideous, wart-ridden old harridan with white hair and rotten teeth.'
'Whatever she is,' interjected Cornelius, 'my suggestion is that we put
as much distance between her and us as is humanly possible. Come on, let's make tracks.'
Sebastian clambered into the driver's seat and Cornelius climbed up beside him. Sebastian saw that he was carrying his handmade crossbow, the one that slotted together from a set of beautifully engineered metal pieces. This was the same weapon that had proved so useful on their recent visit to Brigandia.
'What's that for?' asked Sebastian anxiously.
'In case,' Cornelius told him, but didn't go into any more detail.
Sebastian flicked the reins and Max started forward, grumbling every step of the way.
'Oh really, this is too much! I'm expected to pull this heavy caravan when not a scrap of food or water has passed my lips. My old master never treated me in such slipshod fashion, I can tell you!'
Sebastian sighed. Max was very fond of singing the praises of Alexander, Sebastian's father. But Max was remembering him as he was at the height of his fame, when everything was going well. Later, when he lost favour with the king and fell on hard times, the picture was not quite so rosy. There were several occasions when Max had gone without food or water because Alexander was so preoccupied with his plans for a 'comeback'. But Max didn't choose to remember them.
They travelled in silence for several hours, and at first there were no real problems. The morning mists had soon dispersed and the forest rapidly filled with the joyful sounds of birdsong, the first they had heard since entering this place. Sebastian realized that it must have been the presence of the huge tree serpent that had driven other creatures from that part of the woods and he said as much to Cornelius; but he noticed as he did so how the little warrior's eyes kept moving back and forth to survey the trees all around them.
'What are you worried about?' he asked nervously.
Cornelius shrugged. 'I'll just be glad when we're out of these trees and onto open ground,' he said.
Sebastian could understand what he meant. Even on a bright, sunny day like this one, the surrounding trees provided plenty of cover for anybody who might choose to follow them, and wherever he looked, he was aware of leaves and bushes stirring, as unseen creatures slunk deeper into the shadows. As the three friends travelled onwards, it was hard to shake off the notion that they were being watched; but by who or by what it was impossible to say.
They were moving through a particularly dense area of forest when it happened. Once again, as if by magic, the birds all stopped singing and the only sound was the restless rustling of the forest canopy high above their heads. Sebastian and Cornelius gazed around, feeling distinctly anxious.
'I don't care much for this,' muttered Sebastian fearfully. 'Do you think it's more tree serpents?'
'Who can say?' said Cornelius. 'But clearly something has changed. Perhaps we should try and—'
But he didn't finish the sentence. He snapped round in his seat and lifted the crossbow, ready for use. There had been a sudden movement in the branches of the trees away to his left.
'What was that?' asked Sebastian.
'I don't know. It was moving too quickly. Try and get that fleabag of a buffalope going a bit faster.'
'I heard that!' said Max. 'There's really no need to—'
'Shhh!' Sebastian flicked the reins and Max dutifully picked up the pace a little, but it was hard to get up much speed on these rough woodland tracks, and Max, hungry as he was, clearly wasn't inclined to hurry.
Sebastian was suddenly aware of another movement in the branches of a tree away to his right. He caught a glimpse of a long, muscular body, tawny in colour, moving through the patches of green foliage.
'See that?' hissed Cornelius.
Sebastian nodded. 'What was it?' he whispered.
'Some kind of panther, I think . . . Oh, there's another one!'
A second lithe creature had just run along a branch to their left. Cornelius raised the crossbow but was unable to draw a bead on the big cat.
'Maybe they're friendly,' suggested Sebastian.
'I very much doubt it – we need to get moving!' Cornelius turned to shout at Max's swaying backside. 'Do you think you could put a bit more effort into it?' he pleaded.
'Hmmph! You should have thought about that before we set off. A little breakfast would have helped me focus.'
'There wasn't time to eat! Now, I would suggest that you hurry.'
'Give me one good reason why I should.'
'I'll give you two. There are a couple of panthers following the caravan. Judging by the size of them, I'd say that they could drag you down and polish you off before you even knew what was happening.'
'If this is another of your tricks . . .' began Max. 'I just want to say—' But he was cut short by a low, rumbling growl issuing from the undergrowth. He swallowed noisily. 'Yes, well, perhaps it wouldn't harm to stretch my legs a bit—'
Immediately he broke into a trot and the caravan bounced forward on its heavy wheels. Sebastian slapped the reins against the buffalope's haunches and Max put his head down and picked up the pace, moving rapidly into a canter, and then a full gallop. It wasn't a great idea on this rough dirt track. The caravan bucked and shuddered across the uneven ground and Sebastian and Cornelius had to hang on for dear life. But at last they were covering the ground at a good speed.
'How much further before we're out of these ruddy woods?' shouted Max.
'Your guess is as good as mine,' Sebastian yelled back.
The caravan thundered down an incline and then hit a level stretch. Sebastian told himself that they should be all right, just so long as the ancient caravan didn't shake itself to pieces. He glanced at Cornelius, but the little warrior was peering back down the trail, and the expression on his face suggested that he didn't much like what he saw there.
CHAPTER 6
THE CHASE
'They're still following!' yelled Cornelius.
Sebastian risked taking his eyes off the track and ducked his head round the side of the caravan to look behind. As he watched, one of the big cats leaped down out of a tree. It didn't hesitate but came loping after the caravan in a fluid, seemingly effortless motion, its long tail stretched out behind it, its massive paws eerily silent on the forest floor.
'It's gaining on us!' shouted Sebastian.
'I noticed.' Cornelius gripped the side of his seat and swung himself out to take aim, one-handed, with the miniature crossbow; but the caravan was shuddering and bouncing so much, it was impossible to get in a decent shot. Moreover, the cat seemed to realize what was happening, because it immediately swung to Sebastian's side of the wagon, shielding itself from Cornelius's view.
'Drat the thing!' Cornelius abandoned that idea and started to clamber up onto the roof.
'What are you doing?' yelled Sebastian. A low-hanging bush swept at him and he was obliged to duck beneath it. It glanced off the back of Cornelius's helmet, almost knocking him from his perch. He shrugged his shoulders and continued to pull himself up.
'I'm trying to . . . get a better view,' he gasped. He was just easing one knee up onto the flat roof when a front wheel thudded into a pothole and the caravan bucked wildly. Cornelius lost his grip and started to slide. Sebastian reached out and grabbed his friend's sword belt just as he was about to fall. He hung in mid-air for a moment, his little legs kicking, but he refused to let go of the crossbow. After a few moments he managed to pull himself, one-handed, back onto the seat.
Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates Page 4