Raiders' Ransom (30 page)

“Of course, the child will have to come with me. By virtue of her being the great-great-great-great-granddaughter of my designated user, I am now security-locked to her. And before you ask the question, she does need to be alive. It really will be terribly awkward for you if she isn't there.”

The Scot looks at Lilly like she's a fish he's just caught. “If that's necessary, then we'll take the child as well. Would you like that, Lilly?”

“She can't go!” says Randall. “She's a little traitor! I intend to have her hung up with the rest of her village.”

“No, Daddy, don't!” cries Lexy, pulling at Randall's arm. “She helped me. She saved me.” He looks cross and slaps her across the face.

“Don't contradict me!” And Lexy looks scared, but not surprised. Like she's used to it.

“We need the girl,” says the Scot, glaring at Randall. And him being a spineless lapdog, he drops his eyes and nods.

“She can go with you,” he says.

“So, we have a settlement. Let's get out of here.”

And before you know it, Lexy's in a crowd of English soldiers, and I'm with Father's warriors.

“Good-bye, Zeph!” calls Lilly, waving at me. I smile a bit, and raise my hand to wave back. Roba punches my arm down.

“Don't wave to the witch, you traitor,” he growls.

“I ain't a traitor!” I say, and he punches me again.

So here I am. On my own while Zeph and Lexy get taken by their fathers. I'm scared for both of them, but what can I do? And I'm scared for me as well, cos what's going to happen when I go to the Scots? What will they do to me?

Jasper has a word with the Prime Minister, who nods. Then he crunches across the beach toward me. He's got the jewel in his hand, and the head looks well happy about it, not like it ever did with me.

“Well then, are you coming?” And I nod without saying a word, cos I feel lost. I got the Prime Minister's daughter back to him, but he still wants to fight, and he still wants to hang us. Back at the village, the Prime Minister told us if his daughter said we weren't traitors then the village would be spared. But she just told him I wasn't a traitor and he didn't
believe her. So what now? What about Andy and the others? Out with the army. Marching and being beaten. But maybe they won't have to fight, anyway? Maybe this battle will sort everything out …

Jasper puts a hand on my shoulder. “I'll get you to a sunship. Then you'll be safe, out of harm's way until the fighting's over. Just think how wonderful that will be. Seeing a solar sail close up.”

I don't get a chance to reply, cos there's a wailing, heaving, moaning howl coming from behind us, in the trees. It rises up from low to so high it sounds like a gull being skewered. Everyone — soldiers, raiders — starts looking around, trying to work out where it's coming from.

“By the devil, what's that?” says Prime Minister Randall.

I know exactly what it is. I turn around, and there's Cat, pushing his way out of the bushes. He sits back on his haunches and starts wailing again, giving me a cold fear inside. Cos even though I sometimes don't know what he's meaning, I know just what this is.

“There's something bad coming,” I say. “Cat was like this before the really bad storm last year, the one that washed away Grimmers Street.”

“Of course something bad is coming!” Jasper laughs. “We all know that! But if you want to believe you've got a magic 'seacat,' then go ahead.”

“That ain't no seacat,” says Roba. “It's just a stupid mog!” He picks up a stone, throwing it hard and fast, straight at Cat.

“Mreowl!” His grand wail cuts off in a squawk, and in a flash he's disappeared back into the thicket.

Randall motions to his men.

“Enough. We're leaving.” He turns to Medwin. “Don't forget the truce.”

Medwin nods, but like he ain't very happy about it. Then him and his warriors jump quick-snap back in their boat, and push away from shore.

Jasper smiles at me. But I don't like it much.

“On the sunship there'll be white bread, cakes, and fruit. There'll be all sorts of lovely things you'd never get back home. You'd like that, wouldn't you?” And I would like to eat some nice white bread, with jam or honey on it.

“Cat!” I call into the thicket, but there's no sign.

“I ain't leaving without Cat,” I say. “He's around, it won't take me a minute to find him.”

“Hurry up! What are you waiting for?” shouts Randall from the shoreline.

I run to the thicket, push my way in.

“Cat. Where are you? We've got to get going.” I get a sight of gray fur, away behind some green sprouting willow stems. I go in a bit farther, but when I get to them willows, Cat's gone. Now he's sat on a boulder, away up the slope.

“Yawp,” he says, shutting his eyes at me. Then he flicks his tail and disappears off down the far side of the rock.

“Cat! What are you doing?” I shove on again, twigs catching my hair, branches slapping my arms.

“Lilly, we've got to go!” shouts Jasper, sounding cross.

But I can't leave without Cat. Can't leave him on an island to starve like them sheep did.

“Come here!” Now I can't see him anywhere. I'm pushing about in them clumps and stands of trees, brambles hooking at my clothes, but I ain't getting anywhere. And every twig in my face just gets me crosser.

“Right!” I shout. “I'm going!” I turn round, heading back down the slope. Cos sometimes Cat'll follow if he knows you won't do what he wants. But it doesn't work this time. I keep looking back, but there's no sign of him.

I break out of all that greenery, onto the shore, and Jasper grabs hold of me.

“I ain't going without Cat,” I say.

The head starts bobbing about.

“I can't go anywhere without her!” it says, sounding worried. “If you take me and leave her, I'll be offline for who knows how long. What are the chances of finding another descendant of my designated user? You've got to get her to come along!”

“Your cat will be all right,” says Jasper, pulling at me. “He can catch mice or something. But if you don't leave now,
there won't be time to get the computer to a sunship before the battle starts.”

“I can't leave Cat; he chose me. I've got a boat, I'll follow you after, I promise.”

“If the child's not going, I can't go,” cries the head.

“You stupid, willful girl!” snaps Jasper. “If it was just you, then you could stay here with your beast. But this computer is more important than any of us. Certainly more important than a cat.”

“This man is right,” says the head. “I am more important than a cat.”

“You ain't more important to me!” I cry.

Jasper starts pulling me down the beach toward the waiting boat. I'm struggling, but he's got such a tight grip, there's no way I can get out of it.

“Wait!” I say. “The head said someone else could start it up, if I said they could.” I turn to the head. “Don't you remember — you told Aileen.”

The head startles, then says, “Of course! Oh dear, I must be malfunctioning if this child can find the obvious solution when I can't.”

Jasper stops pulling me.

“What are you both talking about?” he says.

“I am locked to this child because her ancestor paid Sunoon Technologies for the rights to me — a standard contract for an AI such as myself. And to prevent me from being stolen,
cloned, or used against my will, I was security coded to the DNA pattern of this child's ancestor. But the primary user can designate another person to have access. It isn't the full access she could provide, but it would certainly do until she can catch up with us. In fact, even if she didn't make it, we could still get by.” It looks pleased. “I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner.”

Jasper stares at me, then at the head.

“Give it to me!” says Jasper, giving me a hard shake. “Make it so I can control the computer as you do.”

“She doesn't control me,” says the head, sounding huffy. “I have my own mind, you know.”

Jasper ain't even listening, he's just squeezing my arm, tighter and tighter.

“Hurry. There isn't much time.”

“I give permission for …” I look at the head.

“For the secondary user to be …” it prompts.

“For the secondary user to be …” And something just pops into my head then. “Lexy — I mean, Alexandra Randall.”

“What?” squawks Jasper.

“You take her to a sunship!” I say. “Then she'll be safe from the battle. And you won't need me, either.”

“You stupid girl,” hisses Jasper and he squeezes my arm so tight I think it'll fall off.

“No, no,” says the head, sounding happy. “The other child will do perfectly well.”

Jasper lets go of my arm.

“We'll go, then,” he says, and marches away without a second glance.

“Good-bye,” trills the head, bobbing above the jewel in Jasper's hand. “It was very interesting to meet you. You really have provided a wealth of new experience!”

And then it's just me, all alone on the beach.

I know it was only pulling, but Jasper must have learned some raider tricks or something. Cos even after he's let go, my arm feels like it's nearly been snapped. And it's while I'm bent over rubbing at my hurting arm Cat comes trotting back. He brushes about my legs, purring and prupping like he's never been so happy.

“What did you do that for?” I cry, and for the first time I can ever remember I'm angry with him. I flop down on the muddy pebbles, and Cat climbs onto my lap. I think of pushing him off, but then I don't. Who else have I got? So we sit there together, watching everyone else sail away. Lexy and the head in Randall's boat, Zeph in Medwin's. Heading away from each other, back toward the white sails and the red, with Medwin's boat farther off, looking tiny on that choppy sea, under the darkening sky.

“Why wouldn't you come out of them bushes before?” I say to Cat. But he only turns his seaweed eyes up at me and pushes his nose into my face.

“Meow,” he says lazily, like when he's just been fed or he's sat by the fire.

Medwin's dragonboat is sat waiting for the little boat Zeph's in. But the English ship ain't waiting for Randall. It's raising anchor, unfurling its sails. It starts to move.

“What's going on?” I ask Cat.

In this gloomy light, the cannon ports on Randall's ship look like lines of black mouths. Them hungry mouths turn first toward this island, and I'm looking at them dead on. But the ship keeps on with its slow, wide circle, keeps on till them black holes are lined up against the little boat making its way back to Medwin's dragonboat. I stand up, and Cat leaps easily off my lap. On the raider rowboat, there's someone standing as well, pointing at Randall's ship. Now the dragonboat starts moving, oars flying, trying to reach that little rowboat. But even with all them oars, it ain't fast enough. On the English ship, there's a flash from one cannon port, then another, and another.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Smoke billows out. Shot flies out from the black mouths of the cannon, down to the dark face of the water. For a second, Zeph's boat is still there, looking tiny on the waves. Then it's gone, lost among three spouts of foaming white water.

Zeph!

The waterspouts fade into spray, and when they've finished, there's no boat. Just broken pieces that might be wood, might be bodies.

“Zeph!” I scream. But he can't hear me.

“You said there was a truce!” I scream at Randall, but he can't hear me, neither.

All the English tall ships have started now. There's the booming sound of cannon coming from all about, flashes and smoke from everywhere. Around the raider dragonboats, plumes of white explode from the water as the cannonballs miss, and plumes of fire and smoke burst out from their decks when the cannonballs hit. Now there's small boats being launched from Medwin's dragonboat, heading out for the wreckage, but even as that's happening, the English ship lets out another barrage from its cannons, and them small boats explode into smoke and flying wood.