Raiders' Ransom (33 page)

“What do we do now?” says Lexy, looking to Lilly.

“Head back to the island,” says Lilly firmly. “That's the safest place for now. Then after … I don't know.”

“No,” I croak. “I ain't running away. Not again. I got to get to Father's dragonboat. He's there, waiting for me. I know he is.”

Lilly looks down at me, her face all frowning. I want to sit up, make them understand, but I can't seem to move.

Lilly shakes her head. “I'm sorry, Zeph, I ain't doing it. I ain't taking you and Lexy back into the battle. I ain't killing you that way.”

There's a roaring boom from nearby, shaking the boat. Lexy squeaks and Lilly jumps.

“See?” she says, then takes the tiller and starts turning the boat, fast as she can.

“No!” I say. “I gotta get back! Everyone'll think I'm a traitor.”

But Lilly ain't listening, and I can't do anything to stop her. Can't even raise my arms. I shut my eyes, and give up trying.

I wake up to the sound of a hull crunching back and forth over pebbles, rocking in the surf. I keep my eyes shut for a bit more, trying to think where I am. Not back at the Family hall, that's for sure. In a boat. My father's dragonboat? That's where I'm supposed to be. But a dragonboat's too big to rock with the waves, and it wouldn't be beached unless it was wrecked. And then I know what's going on. We're back at No Mercy Island. I think about getting up. But my arms and legs is aching and tired, and my face is all swelled up with
bruises. I open my eyes. A fiery light gleams into them. Blue fading into golds and oranges and reds. Sunset. The sun's setting! That means I've been out of it for hours.

Lilly's face leans over me, a worried frown on it.

“Zeph? Can you hear me?”

I open my mouth, and something like a croak comes out. Water gets dribbled into my mouth. I cough, swallow, feel better.

“I gotta get back to the battle!” I say.

Her face looking down gets a bigger frown. An angry frown.

“I reckon it's over,” she says after a minute. “There's been no firing for a while now.” She folds her arms. “But I ain't stopping you. If you want to go and be a hero, go on, then. Take my boat, even.”

I stare at her, and try to raise myself up. Everything's wobbling and aching. I groan three times just to get sat up.

“Exactly,” she says. “You ain't doing any fighting today. But I can help you get to a fire. Give you something to eat, if you want.”

I turn my head to the bay, to the battle. But it ain't much like a battle anymore. There ain't any booms or roars of cannon and rockets. Just boats smoldering into ash, and boats sinking, and stuff floating everywhere. The half dozen English white sails that ain't blasted look like they're heading out to sea, and the red-sail dragonboats that still got their masts is heading back into the marshes.

What happened?

“Come on,” says Lilly. “I'll help you.”

I haul myself up, use my rubbery arms and wobbly legs to heave myself over the side, onto the pebbles. Lilly tries to hold me, but I still land like a heap of rags, skin my hands as I splat onto the beach. Lilly helps me up again, and somehow I get my legs to carry me up the beach, up to where Lexy's sat by a little fire, cuddling the mog on her lap. She leaps up and runs down, flinging her arms round me. The mog looks grumpy at being pushed off.

“You're all right! I thought you were dead!” Lexy grins and grins at me as I flop down by the fire and feel the warmth easing into me. The mog comes and looks at my legs, like it wants to sit on me.

“Who won?” I say, looking at the two girls. “Did my father win?”

“I don't know,” says Lexy. “How do you tell?”

“Looks to me like everyone's lost,” says Lilly gloomily, then picks up her mog and starts stroking it.

What am I gonna do? Father's fleet is heading back, without me. Everyone's gonna think I'm a traitor. I won't never be able to go home!

The red-sail dragonboats are passing the island now. They look battered and burned. I think about waving, but it's nearly dark, and I ain't got anything red left except my pants. Anyway, the warriors on board don't even look, just keep their boats fixed on getting back to the marshes. Except one
of them. It's the most battered of all — dragonhead blasted away, sail half tattered. But it's turning, heading straight for us, for this island. I get my legs to take me wobbly steps down to the water, start waving my arms.

“Here!” I shout. “It's me, Zeph!”

The others run down the beach behind me.

“Stop it!” screams Lilly, and piles into me, nearly knocking me over. Lexy ain't far behind.

“I don't want to be a slave!” she cries.

But it don't matter, anyway, coz there's already a rowboat being lowered into the water, and warriors clambering in. Minutes, that's all it'll be, and they'll be here. My heart starts pounding in my chest. Is it Father coming to get me? Is it Roba? I stare hard as I can at that rowboat, while Lilly and Lexy fuss and panic next to me.

“Into the bushes,” says Lilly. “We'll hide out in there, and they won't find us.”

Lexy looks white, frightened, and starts pulling at my hand. “Come on, Zeph. We've got to get hidden before they get here.”

“No,” I say, shaking her off. “We don't need to hide.” Coz I know one of the warriors in that boat better than anyone. Big; bigger than anyone, with skin dark as a seal and eyes that's always laughing.

“Ims!” I shout.

He's sat at the bow, leaning out and staring right at me. But he don't shout back.

Maybe Lilly's right? I almost leg it, but I make my feet stay still.

The boat pulls up to the beach, and Ims leaps out, running up through the waves toward me.

“Zeph!” he shouts. “You're alive!” He grabs hold of me, gripping me so hard I think I'm gonna get crushed. Then he's laughing, and he ain't crushing me, he's hugging me. And I start laughing, too, but it comes out sounding like I'm crying.

“Where's my father?” I ask, and Ims pushes me out of his arms. There's tears in his eyes, and I ain't never seen that before.

“We ain't found him,” he says, then he looks hard at me. “What were you doing, Zeph? Helping the English girl? Taking your father's hostage?”

“I ain't a traitor!” And I'm crying now. “I just didn't want them to die, not like Saera. And Aileen, she's a spy, she wanted to take Lilly and Lexy and the ghost to Scotland. But I wasn't running away, I was trying to get to Father, to tell him what was going on.”

I shake my head, coz I can't make my thoughts come straight.

“Zeph, you've always been like my own son. But I gotta say, even
I
had my doubts about you, seeing you out there today. And you ain't got much of a story to explain it all.” “I ain't a traitor! I ain't!”

Ims puts his hand on my shoulder. “I know you, Zeph. So I'm gonna believe you weren't betraying Medwin. But there's plenty who won't, and they'll be looking for blame on why Medwin got blasted instead of coming back in glory.”

Ims looks out at the bay, at the wrecks and fires. His face goes like steel. “If Aileen was a spy, if this is her doing, then it'll be worse for her.”

“Father's dead,” I whisper, but saying it don't make it easier to believe. And I want to scream, and cry, and shout. But I don't. Coz Father's dead, so I'm Boss now. And the Boss don't do that.

“You could stay,” says Zeph. He doesn't look quite so like a corpse now, but there's purple and red bruises coming up all over his face.

“My father's dead.” He pauses, swallows. “So it means I'm Boss. I can pardon you. I can give you outcast kinship.” He looks at Lexy. “Both of you. You can stay here, with the Family.”

Ims looks surprised. He looks worried. “Zeph, you're only an age to be a shield-bearer. You ain't even a full warrior. And everyone knows you was out in a boat with these two English.”

“But I'm Father's highborn son. First in line. Rightful heir. Ain't I?”

Ims frowns.

“It won't never be that easy for you. Not now. There's plenty who'll favor a lowborn son who's a proven, trusted warrior.”

“Not if you stood by me.”

Ims looks carefully at Zeph, like he's sizing him up for something.

“You're right there. Not if I stood by you.” He shakes his head. “This war's gonna be a long one. And it won't just be the English, now that your father's dead. There'll be half a dozen Bosses who'll want to try and take us down.”

Something hard settles in Zeph's pale face.

“Angel Isling ain't gonna go down. Not if I have anything to do with it.”

I stare out over the bay. At all the leftovers of the battle. At the bodies and the wreckage. At Medwin's dragonboat, waiting by this island. Or is it Zeph's dragonboat now?

“What about it, Lilly?” says Zeph, turning to me. “You know you're more Family than anything else.”

I think about Zeph, and the life he leads. I think about Aileen and her plush bedroom. I think about trial by knife, and the slaves back in the hall.

“We gotta go,” says Ims, quiet but firm. Zeph nods, and Ims smiles at him. Then he turns his eyes on me and his smile gets less, but it ain't completely gone.

“So, Lilo. Or is it Lilly, the wicked English witch? Or Lilly Melkun, the foolish, good-hearted fishergirl? Are you gonna join the Family? Is that what you want?”

“I don't know what I want anymore,” I say.

Ims snorts, but I don't think he's laughing.

“You coming?” says Zeph. “I can make good my word, you know I can.”

But I think about all them blue-coated soldiers lying out there in the water, and Andy marching toward the raider lands, a sword at his back. And I think about Andy's pa, locked up back at home, waiting to be hung. I shake my head.

“I can't, Zeph.”

“I want to go home,” says Lexy. “I want to see Dougal.”

Ims frowns. “Zeph, you're gonna keep hold of Randall's daughter, ain't you? Think what she's worth.”

“No,” says Zeph, and all of a sudden there's something of his pa in him. “Things is different now. This ain't my father's war anymore, it's mine. And I ain't warring against a little girl.”

Ims looks at Zeph like he's measuring him.

“That ain't what your father would've done. Nor Roba.”

“I ain't nothing like Roba!” cries Zeph.

“No,” says Ims, “you ain't. And I know who I'd choose out of the two of you.”

I reckon he's going to say a lot more, but out in the bay there's a roaring, booming explosion, and a plume of smoke and fire pours into the sky.

“We gotta get going,” says Ims, sounding worried. “I told you the war ain't over.”

“We'll go, and we're leaving Lexy,” says Zeph firmly. “And I don't want to argue it.”

Ims looks at him, and I reckon there's something like respect in his face. “And that
is
how your father would've dealt it,” he says.

Zeph nods, and starts heading for the dragonboat. But he only takes a couple of paces when he turns round.

“You gonna be OK?” he asks. “You got a long way to go.”

“I got the sail fixed up. We'll wait here, and by tomorrow it'll be safe to get going.” And I hope it'll be that easy.

Zeph looks like he ain't sure, either, but he just says, “You be careful. And you let me know if you ever need help.”

And then, for some reason I ain't sure why, I run over and give him a hug.

“Good luck, Zeph,” I say, and he grins at me.

“Good luck yourself … Lilo bar Angel Isling.” Then he's climbing with Ims into a rowboat and being sailed out to the dragonboat.

Me and Lexy walk back up the beach and settle ourselves by the fire. The sun starts to set, and out in the bay the burning ships are lumps of sooty orange against the darkening sea. Cat jumps on my lap and curls himself up. We're all sitting quiet when we hear a sound.

“System ready, system ready,” comes a little voice. And I know just what it is this time.

I take out the jewel, and as soon as I touch it, the head pops into the air. It takes one look at me and lets out a groan. “What now? Will I
never
get away from you?” It looks around at the island and the smoking wreckage out in the bay.

“What happened? Why aren't I on my way to Scotland?”

“Our boat got hit,” says Lexy, “after Jasper got you to shut down for safety.” The head looks horrified.

“You mean I went in the water? Am I all right? What about my drive unit, is it damaged at all?”

“You're still here, ain't you?” I say.

“Jasper didn't want you to get wet,” says Lexy, “so he put you in a watertight case. Then he gave you to me, and I held on to you through everything. But I told Jasper you'd been lost in the sea, so he went away.”