Ghost Ship (3 page)

“Can I do it?” she asked. “Can I change into a raven now?”

Egil’s eyebrows drew down fiercely and his eyes
almost disappeared under hooded lids. “No. This isn’t a game. Use your enchantments only when you absolutely must.”

Rollo felt his heart droop. “Why?”

“Because the transformations will make you ill and exhausted. Use them only as a last resort.” To Rollo’s surprise, Egil got to his feet and straightened his back. “There’s one more thing, children. A special present your father charged me with the responsibility of bringing to you.”

Rollo scrambled to his feet.

Her hand freshly bandaged, Asa was wary. “What present?”

“Come on. It’s down at the inlet.”

The two of them looked to Katla and she nodded. “It’s all right, children. Follow him.”

They returned through the cottage and then down the steep path from Two Hills Keep to the inlet that ran out to the Great Sea. Mist clung to the banks; the early sun hadn’t fallen into the valley yet. Katla hung back, under the shade of a water oak. Egil took the children
all the way to the edge of the inlet so that they stood on the thin strip of gray sand.

“Do you see it?” he said.

“See what?” said Rollo, peering into the mist.

Egil offered his hand. Rollo took it reluctantly: the old man’s fingers were rough and papery. Egil led him a little way up the beach and pointed directly in front of them, where the mist was thickest.

“Can you see it now?” he asked.

“No,” Rollo said.

“Good,” said Egil, and he smiled mysteriously. He pulled Rollo’s hand. “Now take a step.”

“A step?” Rollo glanced from Egil’s crooked face to the misty water below. “Into the water?”

“What have you to fear? You cannot drown.”

“But—”

“Step into the mist,” Egil said, pulling harder on his hand. “It’s what King Sigurd wanted.”

The boy swallowed. Thinking of his father made him brave and he took a step, expecting his foot to hit the water. Instead, it landed on something solid. He
looked down and realized he was standing on a gangplank. Another step into the mist and in front of him, where there’d been nothing before, was a sleek longship.

“How—?”

Egil smiled. “Welcome aboard
Northseeker.”

“Rollo!” cried Asa. One minute, Rollo held Egil’s hand at the edge of the inlet; the next, he had disappeared into the mist.

“Where is he?” she demanded, running to the spot where he had been.

Egil caught her. “It’s all right, Asa.”

She wrenched herself away from his spidery fingers. “Get your hands off me! Where is my brother?”

“I see you’re as spirited as your mother,” Egil said, and for the first time he smiled warmly. “Go on, get on board.” He shoved her in the direction of the misty water. She cried out, but then her foot struck the gangplank and a longship appeared in front of her. She gasped.

Rollo waited at the top of the gangplank. “Come on, Asa. You have to see this!”

Northseeker
was a small version of King Sigurd’s own longship. Whereas the King’s ship needed twenty men to row it,
Northseeker
was built for two. The boards and beams were all black wood, and a carved dragon’s head decorated the prow. Its fiery eyes were inlaid with rubies, its wooden teeth were bared, and its wooden tongue rolled forward. Round shields lined the sides of the boat, painted in royal reds and golds. Its two masts were straight and high, disappearing into the mist above them. The rectangular sails were spun like cobwebs, silvery and light and fluttering in the morning breeze.

Asa pointed at the sails. “How does it sail without cloth?”

Egil sat on the gangplank and considered them. “
Northseeker
is a ghost ship,” he explained. “Ragni built it from mists and shadows, and it needs no wind to help it move.”

Rollo was unwinding ropes and jiggling the carved wooden tiller. “And you can’t see it unless you’re on it. Is that right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” said Egil. “You can travel the length and breadth of the sunken kingdom and the sky patrol will never find you. Unless …” He held up a cautionary finger. “Unless the rising sun hits the mast. Then, until you are in shadow again, you will be visible.”

Asa nodded, easing the tiller from Rollo’s hands before he broke it. “So as long as we stay out of the rising sun, we’re safe?”

The corner of Egil’s mouth twitched downward. “Well, not exactly.”

She felt uneasy. “What do you mean?”

“It’s a ghost ship, Asa. Men can’t see it, nor can women or children. But ghosts can—and any of the
other spirits of the deep. And while you’re on board, you’ll be able to see them. For although it appears you travel in our world, you actually travel in the mist between the worlds. You will see things … things that may frighten you.”

“It’s dangerous, then?” Rollo said. “This journey.”

“Ghosts won’t bother you unless you bother them. It’s still Flood’s patrols that are your main concern. If you see a spirit, or a sea giant, just steer away. Fast.” He patted the long handle of the tiller.

Rollo indicated two large boxes sitting in the back of the ship. “What are these?”

“Supplies. Food and clothing, for you two and for Una when you rescue her. You’ll find maps and compasses, too. But if you become lost, don’t worry. Just let the tiller go and
Northseeker
will turn to the north.”

Asa leaned over the side of the ship and gazed down at the dark water. Although part of her was frightened by this talk of ghosts and sea giants, another part of her was thrilled by the idea of sailing off in an enchanted ship to find Una. She could hardly believe her baby
sister was still alive. It made her heart ache to think about it.

“What do you say, children?” Egil asked, his voice quiet now and respectful. “Will you go?”

Asa looked at Rollo and he nodded firmly. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that she was a princess. Indeed, one day, if Flood’s evil was ever defeated, she would be the Star Queen. For these reasons, she should be brave and fulfill her royal duty.

“It was our parents’ dying wish that we go,” she said. “Thank you, Egil Cripplehand. We’ll steer
Northseeker
from here.”

She and Rollo went ashore for teary farewells with Aunt Katla, then stepped once more into the mist and away on their adventure. Katla and Egil watched them from the edge of the inlet as the morning sun sloped down into the valley and pierced the mist. The ship was at once visible, then the children steered it into the shadow of the tall cliffs and disappeared from view.

“Can I steer for a while?” Rollo asked.

Asa turned to Rollo with an irritated expression. “I’m the oldest, I should steer,” she said for the fifth time. They had left home three hours ago and her fingers hadn’t once left the tiller.

“But if I don’t learn how to steer now—”

“You keep studying the map.”

Rollo glanced down at the map, which was spread
out across his lap. They had found it among a pile of other maps in one of the wooden boxes Egil had left on board. The map was inked in bright blues and yellows and reds, and all of the seaways between Two Hills Keep and Margritt’s tower were marked clearly. Rollo estimated they had eight days’ sailing ahead of them. If Asa wouldn’t let him steer at all, it would be a very boring eight days.

Northseeker
moved swift and silent through the water, with magic filling her sails. Rollo opened the second box and began searching.

“Egil’s thought of everything,” he said, finding a tin of barley biscuits and cracking open the lid. He offered one to Asa, but she shook her head. “Look,” he said through a mouthful. “Clothes! Some for me, some for you, and—” He held up a little blue dress. “Isn’t this too big for Una?”

Asa glanced at it. “No. Remember, we haven’t seen her for a year. She won’t be a tiny baby anymore. She’ll be walking—maybe even talking.”

Rollo folded the dress away and reached for another barley biscuit. “She’s been alive all this time and we didn’t know, Asa.”

“I can hardly believe it,” she said.

“You’ll have to believe it when we find her.”

“If
we find her,” she said sternly. “We have a long way to go, and Margritt is a witch princess who bears us no love. She’s Flood’s half sister, and while it’s said she hates him, we must still be careful.”

“You’re so gloomy,” Rollo said, and turned to stare out to sea. Asa’s dark mood took the shine off his excitement. In the distance, he could see a black rock jutting out of the silver water.

“Maybe I will have one of those barley biscuits after all,” Asa whispered.

Rollo turned his attention back to her with a hopeful smile. “Let me steer for a while?”

“Yes, all right. Just a little while.” She offered him the tiller and moved out of the way so he could sit down.

Rollo grasped it.

“Now, you pull it
this
way to turn to your right, and
this
way to turn to your left. Got it?”

He pulled it the wrong way.