Raiders' Ransom (24 page)

“My keys!” shrieks the old woman, staring at the frayed leather string she's left holding.

She drops to her knees, searching with her eyes and hands for any sign of the two small keys. All the other slaves do the same, panicky looks on their faces. And I'm searching as well, cos I don't want to be trapped with iron cuffs on my ankles,
waiting here for Roba to come and get me! But it doesn't do any good. The hall's dark, the fire doesn't give the kind of light you can see by, and the floorboards are full of cracks and holes, covered with lumps of dirt and clumps of straw. No one can find the keys.

After a bit, the old woman sits up and starts wringing her hands.

“Ims is going to be so angry. He doesn't like any mess or things going wrong.” She glares at Cat. “You mangy thing! Look what you did!”

Cat just stares up at her and mews sweetly.

“I should give you straight to Ims, and he can chuck you in the sea!” she says.

“No!” cries Lexy. “Don't hurt the kitty.” And she grabs Cat into her arms, hugging him tightly while he wriggles and looks cross at being picked up.

“It wasn't his fault,” I say angrily. “He was just playing. You gave him the keys.”

“Humph. And now I'll probably pay with the skin off my back.”

“Will us get in trouble, too?” asks the black-haired woman, sounding frightened.

The old woman grimaces. “Don't worry, Ada. I'm high slave, I'll take the beating if there is one. I'll tell Ims the string broke and them keys fell onto the floor. Which is close enough to truth to get away with.”

The other slaves seem calmed by that. They creep silently away to their places, lying down, wrapping themselves in thin blankets, whispering quiet conversations.

“What'll happen to us now?” I ask. “How will we get out of these shackles?”

The old woman cackles. “You should take it as a blessing, little girl-boy. I'll have to get the blacksmith to come and break you out. And what with all the warring going on, he'll be too busy with swords and armor and spears and whatnot to bother with a couple of little prisoners. So they can't take you out and kill you, can they? You'll be safe till well after the fighting's over.”

Stuck in here till after the battle? But I was going to stop it! If I could get Lexy to her pa, the battle wouldn't happen, and Andy would be safe. Now I can't even move more than a couple of feet in any direction.

Me and Lexy and Cat lie down after a bit. Even though it's hard boards, and a thin blanket to get wrapped up in, I'm so tired from everything my eyes close by themselves. I start to drift, but every time I'm nearly asleep, I get woken by a scrabbling, scratching sound. Mice? Rats? Probably other things as well in this place. I turn over, trying to sleep, but the scratching goes on. I think of a rat running over me, and then I'm not sleeping at all, just waiting for the next scratching sound. In the end, I sit up. Next to me, Lexy's sound asleep, her little face peaceful instead of frightened.

“Come on, then, you rats,” I whisper, “where are you?” But, peering about, I can't see anything. There's the muck and straw on the floor, the rough plaster walls behind, the red smoky glow of the fire in the middle of the hall. No rats. Maybe Cat's chased them off? I look about for him, and after a little bit I see his gray feet, pattering and scratching at something. Every few moments one of them disappears into the wall.

“Have you got a mouse?” I whisper to him. He flicks me a look, and then goes straight back to what he's doing.
Scrabble, scrabble
go his paws. It wasn't a rat keeping me awake, it's Cat.

“What are you doing?”

I shuffle over to him. His tail's flicking about like a whip, his face buried right up to the wall. His paw pulls back and there's a little flash of something. Something metal.

“You've found the keys!” I whisper, and I have to clap my hand over my mouth to keep myself from laughing. Cat looks at me, smiling out of his seaweed eyes.

“Prup!” he says smugly and, with a little flick of his paw, pulls the metal hoop and the keys out of the crack. He pats them about for a bit, like he wants to keep on playing, then looks bored and bats them over to me.

“Cat,” I say, “you're a genius. You couldn't have done things better if you planned it!”

Father's shouting. “What do you mean it ran off! I'm going to battle at next tide, and you've lost my seacat?”

Geir, the old sniveler, is groveling and making excuses.

“Boss, it was like a writhing octopus with claws, soon as I opened the basket. I tried to keep hold of it, but it legged it straight out the chamber and off. I searched until gone sundown for it. It must have fallen into the marsh and got drowned.”

“Get out! And find me my seacat!”

Geir grovels again, then legs it out of Father's Talking Room, and Ims comes bending through the door.

“I've sent messengers to all the guard boats,” he says, “and to all the low Families to get their warriors and boats ready. But the tide won't be high until late night, so it'll be full daytime before they all can get to the edge of the marshes.”

My father shrugs.

“Ain't a problem. We got the rockets.” Father smiles. “It's time to stop fighting in and out of the marshes, playing cat and mouse.”

“Randall's in for a surprise,” says Ims. “Now we got something to match his cannons.”

“We'll beat them easy!” I say proudly, and my father chuckles.

“You're right,” he says. “You know, back in Lunden, I had times when I wondered if the rockets was worth all the haggling with that smuggling pig-son Daniels. Acting like he's so much better than us for being Scottish, when his own people'd ship him out to the nearest prison camp if they ever caught hold of him. But he wasn't so high and mighty that he wouldn't take the Scottish money we got for raiding that village. So now I've got the rockets
and
the girl
and
the jewel.” He laughs. “I got everything!” He reaches over to me and ruffles my hair. “Thanks to you. My highborn son, growing up. I thought you was a stupid kid when you got lost in Lunden, but you came back blazing. You're getting near to being a warrior, the way you're going. In fact, I reckon you shown you're good enough to be a shield-bearer.” He winks at me. “Fancy it?”

Do I? I can hardly speak I'm so chuffed!

“Thank you! You won't be sorry.”

“I better not be.”

Ims claps his hand on my shoulder.

“You're doing good, Zeph,” he says, and I'm so proud I reckon my heart's gonna pop. Except … there's things I can't get out of my head. Things like Lexy curled up in the slave hall. And Lilly looking so scared. It ain't fair! Why do they have to be in my head making me feel bad?

Roba pokes his head round the door.

“What's the runt doing here?” he asks. “I heard he peed in his pants when he found we'd left Lunden without him.”

“I did not!”

“Enough!” snaps my father. “Zeph did well to get back so quick from Lunden, and with a boatload of loot as well.” Roba looks like he's going to say something, but Father's got a hard look on his face.

“Sorry,
little
brother,” mutters Roba. “I shouldn't go upsetting your tender
little
feelings.”

One day I'm gonna kill my stinking, lowborn half brother.

“Zeph's gonna be a shield-bearer in the battle,” says Ims calmly. Which makes Roba look like he's taken a smack.

“What're you doing that for, Father? You don't want a little runt getting under everyone's feet.”

“I ain't a runt!”

My father keeps that hard look on his face.

“No, Roba. He ain't a runt. He's my highborn son, so he outranks you, in case you'd forgotten.”

Now Roba looks like he's been punched. “But he ain't done nothing,” he whines,” just brought in some stinking
little fisher. I'm your eldest, I been out on raids for you.”

This is one of the best days I can ever remember!

Father looks at me, then at Roba.

“Sometimes I wonder who you two are gonna kill first — each other, or me. Well, I ain't got time for your squabbling now. Out. Both of you.”

“But I only just got here!” says Roba.

“And now you're only just leaving,” says Ims, in his sword-wielding voice. “You, too, Zeph. We got strategy to work out.”

Roba. It's his fault. He ruins everything. If he hadn't come in, they would've let me stay. And as soon as we're out the door, into the corridor, he turns on me and snarls, “Runt, you think you're
so
special, don't you? Your mum so high-Family and all. Well, have your day today; it won't last. I'm a warrior, and you're nothing but a sneaking little rat-boy. Lowborn sons have ended up as Boss plenty of times, and it'll happen this time, too. And if it don't, well, you can only be Boss if you're alive …” He shoves me in the chest, like he's done all those other times. But somehow it's different today. He don't seem so scary.

“I outrank you, lowborn, just like Father said. So you'd better not make any more threats at me, coz that'd be treason. And when you're spiked through your guts on Gallows Island, then you'll have plenty of time to think about those stinking, lowborn sons who got to be Boss.”

The spots all over Roba's face go bright red.

“I weren't threatening you, runt. I was just making a point. And if you ever say otherwise, you'll be sorry.”

He shoves me again, then stamps off down the corridor.

What I want is to go back in the Talking Room, but that ain't gonna happen, so I head to get my leathers sorted for the battle. Ims says my armor plates are getting too small, and I ought to get new ones fitted.

I head out of the hall and down a nighttime walkway for the blacksmith's workhut. But when I get there, it seems like every warrior in the hall's beat me to it. They're all trying to get in, wanting swords sharpened, or spears tipped. I can't even see inside; there's too many warriors crowding at the entrance.

“Let me through,” I say. “I gotta get my armor sorted.” The half dozen warriors nearest me turn round. One of them's Gandy, Roba's mate.

“Why do you need to get your armor sorted?” he says. “Way I hear it, you'll be lucky if you ever make it past being a sword boy.”

Before, I would've been careful of facing Gandy. But not now, not today.

“Let me through, Gandy, or you'll find out what'll happen to you.” I look right in his eyes. “You should be friends with me, not my low-brother Roba. He won't get you anywhere.” Coz things is changing round here. I'm changing. Inside the blacksmith's workshop, the blacksmith and his boys are busy. All of them hammering away at weapons,
bellowing at the forge, shoveling coals, carrying water, and doing all the other things to get warriors kitted and sorted for tomorrow. So I don't get out until two bells is rung. Even then, there's still a gang of warriors waiting. And as I head off, carrying my armor, they're all shouting into the workshop.

“Come on, Shen, my sword's as blunt as a baby's backside!”

“That was two bells! Three bells and the ships is leaving.”

I gotta get ready. I gotta get to my barrack room and fit my new armor to my fighting leathers. I head past the main hall. All the lights are blazing, and the deckways are full. There's warriors running to get to their ships, women finishing banners and filling food baskets, slaves carrying bales of arrows and lances, and shouting and cheering from warriors inside the feasting hall.

But I ain't got time to join them. I go out onto the walkways, onto one that swings down past the slave house, then heads for the sword boys' barracks.

The slave house is dark. Lilly's in there. I get a flash of the knife next to her hand on the wheel, her face pale and sick-looking. She said she was just trying to help her village, and now she's chained up in the slave hall. Except there was the ghost. She was talking to a ghost. I shake my head. There ain't nothing I can do about it. Not now. But when Father's spiked Randall, he'll be in a good mood, and maybe I can get it sorted then.

Up ahead there's two people running, holding hands. One of them's about my height, and the other one's smaller. Next to them is a small shape, long tail swinging behind. When they get near the hall, they stop. The taller one looks about, like it don't know where to go. Now I'm closer, the taller one looks like a boy, and the littler one like a girl.

“Hey!” I shout. “What are you doing?”

They both jump and look round. They don't answer, just start off running soon as they see me. They leg it down a switchback that takes them to the southern deckway, then they head straight through the nearest door into the main hall. Straight into my father's sleep chambers! The mog follows, prancing about like it's having the time of its life.