Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers (20 page)

'It's like flexible iron,' he observed, and Cornelius nodded, clearly satisfied with the choice. They cut six poles, wanting to have some spares just in case.

Finally, as the sun declined on the horizon, it was time for the final test. Using a series of slim logs as rollers, they all helped to push, pull and prod the raft down to the river's edge and launched it into the shallows. The foremost logs hit the water with a splash and dipped alarmingly beneath the surface. Everybody held their breath; but then it rose again and floated easily. There was a collective sigh of relief and Galt lashed the raft to a stout tree trunk on the riverbank. The raft seemed to be eager to set off, moving easily to the end of its rope and rocking gently on the water.

Everybody stood looking at it.

'It looks OK,' said Cal at last. 'Mind you, it hasn't got that great fat buffalope on it yet.'

Max glared at him. 'Have you ever considered a career in diplomacy?' he asked. 'Because if I were you, I wouldn't bother.'

Cornelius sighed. 'It's floating well enough,' he observed. 'We'll see if it's still floating tomorrow morning.'

Sebastian stared at him. 'But . . . we used jibara wood,' he said. 'Didn't you say it had a resin that would stop it from becoming waterlogged?'

'I
said
that,' agreed Cornelius, 'but it's only an educated guess. If it
does
sink, we'll have to build another one with a different kind of wood.'

The silence that followed this remark spoke volumes and Sebastian reflected that if Cornelius had to ask people to repeat the kind of work they'd done today, he'd probably have a mutiny on his hands. But he was too tired to worry about it now. The exhausted group staggered back to their places around the fire and wolfed down more chai and fish before settling themselves down for the night.

They stretched themselves out on their bedrolls and were asleep in moments.

Everybody held their breath as Max inched his vast bulk down the riverbank towards the raft.

They had awoken that morning to find to their collective relief that the log platform was still floating, and after a final meal they had packed up all their equipment. Now everybody stood in the shallows, steadying the sides of the raft as best they could.

'Right,' said Max. 'Here goes.' He put one hoof onto the wooden platform and then followed it with another. The raft tipped alarmingly in the water. 'Oops!' he said, but Cornelius waved at him to keep moving.

'Go to the middle!' he ordered, and Max performed an ungainly scramble, his back legs kicking water into Cornelius's face as he lunged forward across the wooden platform. As he reached the centre, the raft righted itself, the leading edge coming down with a splash that swamped Cal and Galt, who had been attempting to steady it. For a moment it looked as though the logs were simply going to sink beneath the water, but then the platform rose again, leaving Max standing in the middle, looking decidedly nervous, his legs quivering.

'I don't like this,' he said loudly. 'I don't like this at all.'

'Never mind that,' Cornelius told him. 'You don't have to like it. Just settle yourself down and don't move a muscle.'

'Yes, Chief,' said Max, and did as he was told, lowering himself with exaggerated care. He thought for a moment. 'What happens about my ablutions?' he asked.

'Your what?' asked Sebastian.

'You know, when I have to . . . do my
business
.'

'We'll cross that bridge when we come to it,' Cornelius told him unhelpfully. He looked around at the others. 'Right,' he said, 'let's get the equipment aboard. Don't worry, it's not going to tip up now that we've got that prodigious weight as ballast.'

'Are you deliberately trying to upset me?' asked Max, but his question was lost in the general scramble as everybody threw the packs aboard. Finally, one by one, they clambered onto the raft. Keera and Salah settled themselves beside Max, and Sebastian, Cal and Galt took up their positions at three corners of the rectangular platform, each holding a long maluba cane. Then Cornelius cast off and jumped aboard, his light frame making hardly any impact. He grabbed a cane and went to stand at the fourth corner. Poles were dipped into the river, and with a couple of pushes the raft began to drift smoothly out towards midstream.

Once there, the powerful current took it and it began to move forward at a surprising speed, needing only the occasional thrust of a pole to keep it pointing straight ahead.

Cornelius clapped his hands delightedly. 'What did I tell you?' he cried. 'This is going to save us so much time!'

'I wish people wouldn't say things like that,' muttered Max. 'It's just asking for trouble.'

Salah started making a series of energetic gestures at Max.

'What's she saying?' he asked Keera.

'She's telling you not to worry. She's a strong swimmer – if you fall into the water, she'll rescue you.'

'Oh, well, that's a weight off my mind,' said Max. But he bowed at Salah. 'Thank you,' he said politely. 'At least it shows that one person on this raft cares what happens to me.'

Salah smiled and gave him a hug.

Standing at the front starboard corner, Sebastian lifted a hand to shade his eyes from the sun and squinted down the great wide waterway ahead of them. It looked clear enough for as far as he could see; though they had all endured two horrific days building the raft, this form of travel certainly beat hacking their way through mile after mile of dense vegetation. He was even more delighted when, after a couple of hours of uneventful travel, Cornelius announced that two of the pole handlers could stand down and take a rest.

'We'll change over every hour or so,' he said. 'For the moment two people can do the job without any problem.'

He and Galt elected to take the first shift. Sebastian and Cal moved to the centre of the raft, and sat down beside the others gratefully.

'You must be tired,' said Keera, looking at Sebastian.

'I am,' he said.

'Not as tired as me,' snapped Cal. 'Don't forget, I've been felling trees for the last two days.'

Keera regarded him haughtily. 'You are well used to such work,' she said. 'The Chosen One is not.'

Cal rolled his eyes. 'What else is new?' he sneered.

'I wasn't exactly idle,' Sebastian told him. 'Cornelius and I had the task of putting this raft together.'

'Yes, well, we'll soon see how good a job you made of it,' said Cal. 'I for one don't have the greatest expectations.'

'Oh, there's nothing wrong with our workmanship,' said Sebastian, slamming one foot down on the trunks beneath him.

'I'd really rather you didn't do that,' said Max nervously.

'Relax – we've built this baby to take some hard knocks,' said Sebastian. 'She's not going to fall apart.'

'There you go again,' said Max. 'Inviting trouble.'

Salah started making her frenzied gesticulations and Keera translated.

'She's saying that this is a fine raft and that the Chosen One and the little warrior are very clever indeed to have built it.'

'Oh, for Okrin's sake,' growled Cal. He turned his back on the others and lay down on the wooden platform. 'I'm going to get some sleep,' he announced.

'You do that,' said Keera dismissively. She smiled at Sebastian. 'Perhaps you would like me to massage your shoulders?' she suggested.

'Er . . . no, that's all right,' he assured her. He glanced at Salah and saw that once again her hands were over her mouth, suppressing silent giggles. He turned his attention to Cornelius, who had set aside his cane for a moment and was scanning the banks on either side of the river with his ancient spyglass. 'What are you looking for?' he asked.

'Always a good idea to keep an eye out for trouble,' Cornelius told him. 'This is uncharted territory – who knows what monsters might lurk in these regions?'

'Monsters?' murmured Max. 'Oh, great.'

'How long do you suppose it will take us to get to the lost city?' asked Sebastian.

Cornelius frowned. 'Well, if Joseph's memory is correct, he was in the water for the best part of a day and a night. But I have to say, I'm puzzled.'

'Why's that?' asked Keera.

'The river that he described sounded like a hazardous, fastflowing one. There's a strong current here, but I'd expected to see rocks and rapids.'

'But we found the big tree with all the hollows in its roots,' Sebastian reminded him. 'It must be the right river.'

'I suppose it was a very long time ago,' said Cornelius. 'Perhaps the river has changed in all those years. Or perhaps his childish imagination simply got the better of him.'

'I'm not so sure about that,' shouted Galt from the front of the raft as he pointed up ahead.

Sebastian and Cornelius went over to stand beside him and Cornelius lifted his spyglass to get a better look.

'Yes, now
that's
more the kind of thing I was expecting,' he said calmly. He handed the spyglass to Sebastian, who lifted it to his eye. Ahead he could see that the river narrowed somewhat and several jagged grey rocks stuck up from the shallows, forming a perilous opening. Around the rocks, white water foamed angrily.

Sebastian looked at Cornelius. 'Perhaps we should put in to the bank,' he said.

'Are you kidding?' Cornelius looked indignant. 'We've only just got going. Don't worry, this raft is strong enough to ride out a few rapids. Grab your pole – and wake Cal up.'

As Sebastian made his way back, he was aware that the raft was already moving faster, being pulled along by the strong currents that led to the rapids. He stooped and shook Cal awake. The warrior looked irritated, but quickly realized that something was wrong. He jumped to his feet and, taking up his pole, went to stand at the vacant front corner, opposite Galt. Sebastian glanced at Keera and Salah and indicated some loops of rope sticking up from the logs beside them. 'You'd better wrap those around yourselves,' he advised them.

'What about me?' asked Max anxiously. 'What do I hang on to?'

Sebastian frowned as he realized that they had neglected to install any Max-sized loops. 'Er . . . you'll be fine,' he told the buffalope. 'Just . . . hang onto yourself.'

He picked up his pole and went to stand at the rear port side, opposite Cornelius, aware as he did so of a roar from up ahead. He located his own loop of rope, pulled it up around his waist and drew it tight. Looking over the heads of Galt and Cal, he saw that the first rocks were rapidly approaching; beyond them, the river descended a series of levels as it thundered down into a valley.

'It's going to be quite a ride,' said Cornelius, as if he was looking forward to it. 'Everybody brace themselves!'

The first rock reared up at them from the port side and Galt lifted his pole and fended the raft away from it. They swung wildly to starboard and Cal managed to keep clear of the next rock only by pushing with all his strength. The raft swung back to port and went over the first drop; Sebastian felt his stomach lurch. They smacked down onto the water, a great wave swamping them, and then the raft began to turn wildly to starboard as it raced along the river again. Sebastian suddenly found himself standing on the leading side and had to turn round as they hurtled towards the next obstacle, a tall grey rock with razor-sharp edges. He pushed against it as hard as he could, feeling his pole bend as he did so. But the maluba cane, though pliable, refused to snap. The raft began to spin in a dizzying circle. Now it was Cornelius who had to manoeuvre it away from a low-hanging ledge that threatened to slam into the side of them.