Sebastian Darke: Prince of Pirates (41 page)

'Nonsense,' growled Cornelius. 'You just get us there and we'll see what's to be done.'

There was another abrupt thud as a kelfer's snout thudded against the ship's hull.

'Get away, you fiend!' snarled Donovan, and he thrust down with his oar, causing another great commotion in the water. 'If only I'd had time to pick up some weapons! One of these beasts will have us over in a moment.'

'Then let's not waste any more time,' Sebastian urged him. He grabbed another oar, and he and Donovan began to row, thrusting the oars deep into the water. The boat moved slowly at first, but then, as they fell into a rhythm, it began to pick up speed. Far ahead of them, dwarfed by distance, the
Marauder
was moving briskly across the water, and beyond her they could just make out a tiny speck on the horizon that was undoubtedly the
Sea Witch
.

Sebastian put his head down, and he and Jack Donovan rowed with every ounce of strength they could summon, propelling the makeshift boat across the surface of the water.

It seemed to take an eternity, and their arm muscles were screaming in protest by the time they'd narrowed the distance, but the
Marauder
gradually grew in size, until at last they were slipping in beneath the great towering stern of the ship; luckily nobody up there seemed to be keeping watch.

Donovan steered the boat expertly in the ship's wake and hung onto a wooden strut. Sebastian stood up and helped his friend to do likewise. He noted how pale Cornelius looked and how he was gritting his teeth against the pain in his injured leg.

'Perhaps you should wait here,' he whispered.

Cornelius's eyes widened into a glare. 'You are joking, I hope,' he hissed back.

'We're coming too,' said the Kid. He glanced sharply at his father, who stared at him for a moment and then nodded his agreement.

Sebastian shrugged and reached up to grasp the ornately decorated timbers of the stern. He pulled himself upwards and began to climb. Cornelius followed as best he could, blood still seeping from the wound in his leg. The Kid came next, climbing with all the agility of a boobah, and Donovan brought up the rear, stepping off the boat and allowing it to drift away on the wake behind him. A moment after he'd let it go, a huge white snout suddenly lurched up out of the water and turned the boat over like a child's toy. Donovan stared down into the water in absolute hatred as a long white shape sank back into the depths.

Sebastian told himself that with their only means of escape abandoned, they really would have to make this work. He glanced doubtfully down at Cornelius, half expecting him to lose his grip at any moment and plunge back into the water. The Golmiran was still climbing gamely, but even if he made it up to the deck, he wasn't going to be at anything like his best if it came to a fight. Which meant that the others would have their work cut out.

It was hard enough just trying to climb up the stern. The trickiest bit came when he reached the windows of the captain's cabin, but a quick glance inside assured him that the room was empty and he was able to shuffle along sideways until he found more handholds and ropes to the side of the glass. As he moved past, he glimpsed two familiar-looking backpacks and a jewelled sword and scabbard lying on the captain's table. For a moment he considered smashing the glass and going in after the treasure but discounted the idea. The weight of a pack would only hinder him.

He glanced down a couple of times and saw that Cornelius was still following, but moving at a fraction of his usual speed. The little warrior looked up at him at one point, breathing heavily, his face as white as parchment. Sebastian began to worry that his friend had lost too much blood: he might just faint and fall into the water, where the blood seeping from his leg would soon lure kelfers. Behind him, the Kid was not even out of breath, but his father, thin and weakened as he was, was struggling to keep up.

At last Sebastian reached the rail along the ship's poop deck and was able to peer cautiously through the gap. What he saw gave him fresh hope. Trencherman and his entire crew were gathered in the forecastle, right at the other end of the ship, as it rode at anchor within hailing distance of the
Sea
Witch
. Sebastian could see that Jenna was with them. Trencherman had an arm around her and was holding a dagger to her throat. Sebastian fought down a powerful urge to rush straight over to her and directed his attention instead to Max, who was still lying bound and chained on the main deck.

He clambered quickly over the rail and then leaned back to reach a hand down to Cornelius. Not a moment too soon, for the little warrior looked to be on the point of collapse. Sebastian hauled him unceremoniously over the rails and onto the deck. Cornelius tried to get up, but Sebastian pushed him back down again.

'Stay here and rest,' he said. 'You can barely stand.'

'I'm strong enough to carry a sword,' protested Cornelius, 'if I can only get my hands on one!'

'No. Leave this to us!'

'But . . .' Cornelius's eyelids fluttered and he sank back with a soft groan. It was as Sebastian had feared. He couldn't expect any help from his friend.

Now the Kid climbed over the rail and settled himself beside Cornelius's still form. He looked anxiously at the Golmiran and then leaned back to help his father over. Donovan crouched down, gasping for breath. He too looked pretty exhausted, Sebastian thought. A fine boarding party they made.

'You two stay with Cornelius for now,' he told them.

'What are you going to do?' whispered the Kid.

'I'm going to try and even things up a bit,' said Sebastian.

He turned away, assured himself that the attention of the crew was still fixed on the
Sea Witch
and then, on his hands and knees, crossed the poop deck, descended the short flight of steps and, pressing himself against the rail, crept towards Max. On the way there, he picked up a discarded carpenter's axe with a sharp blade. He froze for a moment when he heard Trencherman's strident tones bellowing at somebody, but the captain was simply hailing the
Sea Witch
.

'Crew of the
Sea Witch
! I have your captain as my prisoner. Throw down your weapons and raise your arms where I can see them . . .'

Sebastian ignored this and continued on his way. As he neared the tethered buffalope, he heard an unfamiliar snuffling sound and realized with a sense of shock that Max was crying.

'Max, what's wrong?' he whispered.

'What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong!' grunted Max, his head turned away. 'My master – the finest master a buffalope could have – is in the belly of a kelfer . . . and my best friend in the world, a plucky little Golmiran, is in there with him. And shortly I shall be ending my life as a meal for the scurviest bunch of sea dogs you have ever seen—'

'Max, it's all right, it's
me
,' hissed Sebastian.

'You? Who's you?' Max tuned his head and regarded Sebastian in silence for a while. Then he started snuffling again.

'What are you crying about now?' Sebastian asked him.

'Why wouldn't I cry? My own tortured mind has conjured a phantom to come and haunt me!'

'I'm not a phantom!' Sebastian glanced nervously towards the forecastle. 'And keep your voice down! We don't want to lose the element of surprise.' He laid a hand on Max's head. 'See? I'm real. I managed to escape the kelfers with the help of the Kid and his father. And now—'

'Oh, master, it really is you!' Max's eyes widened in amazement.

'Yes, now shush! I'm going to need your help.' Sebastian took the sharp-edged axe and began to saw at the ropes around Max's legs.

'But . . . where's Cornelius? Don't tell me that the kelfers ate him!'

'No, but they had a damned good try. He's lying at the stern unconscious. If anything happens to me, you must try and help him, do you understand?'

'Of course, master, of course . . .' The first strands of rope came apart and Max flexed his front legs with a sigh of relief. Sebastian looked towards the forecastle, where Trencherman was still shouting his demands; his crew's full attention seemed to be centred on the
Sea Witch
. Sebastian transferred his attention to the ropes around Max's back legs. After a few moments' furious sawing with the axe he had cut through those too.

Max clambered to his feet. 'What about the chain?' he asked hopefully. 'Did you find a key?'

'I'm afraid not,' Sebastian told him.

'Well then . . . perhaps you could pick the lock?'

'I doubt it.' Sebastian fixed Max with a disbelieving look. 'Are you trying to tell me that the mighty Max is going to be rendered helpless by a mere length of chain around his neck?'

Max frowned. 'It's not a mere chain,' he protested. 'It's solid metal.'

Sebastian shrugged. 'Metal or not, there was a time when it would have been no problem to you. Perhaps you're getting old—'

'Old? I'm not old!'

'Well, I tell you this, Max, with or without you, I'm about to attack that rabble up in the forecastle.'

'You can't go up there alone!' cried Max. 'They'll cut you to pieces!'

'Maybe they will, but I have to do it anyway—'

'Wait!' Max flexed his huge shoulders, lowered his head and began to walk backwards, exerting a huge pressure on the chain. The thick timber rail to which it was fastened began to creak in protest. Max continued to pull, his expression one of grim determination. Suddenly the timber snapped in two with a loud crack, and several members of the crew turned to see what had caused the sound. There was a long, terrible moment while Sebastian stared up at them and they stared down at him. There was no time to be wasted. He vaulted up onto Max's furry back and raised his axe aloft. 'Let's go!' he yelled.

And Max leaped forward as though somebody had rammed a red-hot sword up his backside.