The Princess and the Captain (28 page)

Jahalod-Rin suddenly rose from his rock. Babilas made a movement, but the old man pointed his knife at him. The giant remained at a prudent distance.

‘Play me a tune, my son!' demanded Jahalod. ‘There's a ringing in my ears. I need music!'

Orpheus was about to start playing the flute when Malva leaped at him. She snatched the instrument from his hands and held it above her head.

‘No more flute music!' she cried. ‘Here's an end to it!'

And with a little crack, she broke the reed in two. Orpheus uttered a cry, but stayed crouching by the rock as if paralysed.

Jahalod-Rin immediately fell into a terrible rage. He rushed at Malva, shouting and holding out his knife. Babilas launched himself forward and disarmed the old man. Malva took the knife.

‘Curses on you!' cried Jahalod, on his knees. ‘How dare you break my son's flute? You deserve to die!'

Staggered, Orpheus looked in turn from the old man to his companions and then the two halves of the reed. When the flute broke, something inside him had broken too.

‘Other reeds!' cried Lei suddenly. ‘On the fire, quick!'

While Babilas firmly held Jahalod by the shoulders, Malva, Lei and the twins hurried over to the pile of reeds, ran to the dying fire and threw the flutes on the embers.

‘No, not my flutes!' begged the old man. ‘My music! My son! Curses on you all!'

The reeds immediately fed the embers again. Sparks rose to the sky in clouds, like frightened glow-worms. At last Orpheus rose to his feet, dazed, and put a trembling hand to his brow.

‘Avenge me!' Jahalod ordered him, still struggling in the arms of Babilas. ‘You can see they're trying to separate us! Avenge your father!'

Zeph, who had been hauling his old hindquarters over the sand, went up to Orpheus, grunted and licked his hand.

‘I'm thirsty,' murmured Orpheus. ‘I'm so thirsty!'

Hob made haste to bring him water. He gave him a drink and then held out a friendly hand. ‘Come on, Captain. Please … it's time to leave.'

Orpheus took Hob's hand and let the boy lead him to the
Fabula
.

‘You can't abandon me!' the old man shouted after him. ‘You have to look after me! I gave you water and fruit!'

Orpheus was in a state of shock, but Jahalod-Rin's hysterical cries no longer had any effect on him. He moved slowly towards the ship. As he took hold of the rope ladder, Jahalod called to him, ‘Why did you summon me if it was only to betray me?'

Orpheus stopped in mid-movement. He turned to Hob, who was waiting anxiously down on the beach. ‘Did I really summon that man?' he asked. ‘Did I betray him?'

‘Don't listen to him, Captain,' the boy gently advised. ‘It was he who betrayed you! He'll say anything to keep you here. Climb up now. We must put out to sea!'

Orpheus nodded gravely and went on climbing. Finopico, Lei and Malva came up behind them, while Peppe dragged Zeph along by his neck. The old St Bernard, who had unearthed a remnant of meat among the ashes, was refusing to let go of his find. He growled and yapped.

At last, when everyone was on board, Babilas let go of Jahalod. He made haste to cast off the moorings before bracing himself against the hull of the
Fabula
. With a strong shove, he pushed the ship well out from the beach, and then caught hold of the rope ladder and clambered aboard.

On his knees by the embers of the fire, Jahalod-Rin was trying to save some of the half-charred flutes. He was burning his fingers, and moaned like a wounded animal. As for Orpheus, he had collapsed on deck, and was stopping his ears so as not to hear the old man's lamentations.

‘I wish he'd be quiet! I wish he'd be quiet!' he groaned, writhing in pain.

Lei had knelt down beside Orpheus. She passed her hands over his burning forehead, uttering strange, soothing words.

The twins and Finopico hoisted the mended sails. They flapped as they unfolded in the clear air.

‘Here's to a favouring wind!' cried Hob.

Standing at the stern of the ship, Malva watched the figure of Jahalod-Rin grow smaller as the island receded into the distance. What had happened to them? How had that inoffensive-looking old man been able to exert such power over the mind of Orpheus? How had a few notes of music managed to sow such discord among them all? Malva couldn't explain it, but she sensed that she and her companions had just had a close brush with disaster.

Red acid continued to drip on the Stones of Life in the Nokros. There were only seven left now.

I found my logbook under a pile of damaged maps and pieces of paper all crinkled up by sea water. I gave the spare sheets of paper to the Princess, who has told me she needs them to write a record of her travels
.

My logbook has suffered, and the notes I made in it before the storm are illegible, but it's time for me to take command as Captain again. My high temperature has miraculously gone down; I feel myself again
.

My experience on Jahalod-Rin's island obsesses me. I keep wondering about it. Lei, who knows a great deal about strange phenomena, thinks I was bewitched by the sound of the flute. So does Malva. It's true that when she broke the flute the spell was broken too. They are probably right, but I think most of all it was that Jahalod-Rin guessed my weakness. With him, I was as submissive and obedient as I was with my real father. When will I manage to shake off my childish fears?

Just now I assembled the crew on the fo'c's'le of the ship. I thanked everyone for rescuing me from Jahalod's clutches, and I apologised for the stupid things I said on the island, particularly to Malva
.

The Princess accepted my apologies, and I'm grateful to her. As far as I
can remember, I called her a spoilt child. Holy Harmony, I'm furious with myself! She, who has survived so many insults and deadly dangers recently – how did I dare? Malva is not a spoilt child, far from it. She is proud and brave, determined, upright and
…

Orpheus let his pen hover in the air above the crinkled pages. Malva's luminous face danced before his tired eyes. Her delicate features, her heavy black hair, her amber eyes. He had to admit that her reputation for beauty was well-earned. He shook his head, and went on writing.

Time is passing. The second Stone of Life has just split in two. Tomorrow night it will have dissolved
.

A moment ago Hob asked me what hidden treasure I found on Jahalod's island. ‘Catabea said there'd be one on every island, didn't she?' he added
.

I hesitated, and then I remembered that Catabea had advised us to be honest, so I made up my mind. I think I reddened before I said, ‘I found two things on that island. First, I understood that I really had lost my father, and no one could replace him. Not Jahalod or anyone else. Hannibal McBott was not a good father to me. He was my father, that's all. Now I have to lead my life without him, just as I've lived without a mother since my birth.' Then I paused. Hob and Peppe were whispering to each other, and then Peppe said that meant I was an orphan, like them. The brothers seemed very pleased to think of me being the same as themselves
.

‘And the second treasure I found on the island,' I went on, ‘was you. All of you. Without your help, I'd still be there playing that flute.'

Finopico has told me that he felt like leaving and abandoning me to my fate. I'm not surprised. That oddball has never much liked me, but I don't bear him any grudge. He calls me Captain, like the others, and I know that at heart he wouldn't hurt a fly
.

Now we have to go on wandering through this eerie Archipelago. We know that the dangers lying in wait for us may take unexpected forms, and I feel great tension among the members of the crew. At the moment it's night
,
and I suspect that no one's sleeping, except for Zeph, who has always fallen asleep easily. Babilas and Lei are keeping watch on deck. I think I'll go and relie

(sentence left unfinished)

Cries of distress came through the darkness. Terrible, raucous, deep and terrifying cries that suddenly shattered Orpheus's eardrums. He raced headlong out of his cabin, met Hob, Peppe and Malva on their way up to the deck too with storm lanterns, and when they all came up through the hatch together in panic they found Babilas and Lei crouching by the poop rail, hands over their ears. The howls were so loud that they were almost unbearable.

‘What is it?' asked Peppe and Hob in terror.

Babilas shook his head. He had no idea. His face set with pain, Orpheus took a lantern from Peppe and went over to the rail. The cries seemed to come from somewhere to starboard. He raised the lantern and leaned over the rail. Down below, phosphorescent foam was washing against the hull of the
Fabula
– and further off, in a beam of lantern light, Orpheus thought he saw a human form. It was waving its arms and shouting.

‘Quick!' shouted Orpheus. ‘More lanterns!'

Malva and the twins joined him.

‘Over there!' said Orpheus, pointing to the shape he had seen.

The others narrowed their eyes. ‘Shipwrecked sailors!' exclaimed Malva. ‘They're calling us to help them!'

In spite of the darkness, Orpheus could almost count the unfortunate men drifting a short way from the ship. But there was little that sounded human about their cries.

‘Five or six of them,' he said. ‘Take in the sails! We must help them!'

In spite of their fear, the crew of the
Fabula
obeyed his orders. Babilas took his hands away from his ears and climbed to the shrouds. The sails slackened and the ship slowed down. Meanwhile Orpheus had taken the tiller. It was still fragile even though Babilas had repaired it. He handled it gently, setting a course for the shipwrecked sailors before turning to the bows of the ship.

Finopico had just arrived, eyes puffy with sleep, hair tousled. ‘What's going on?' he grunted.

Malva pointed to the men swimming in their wake. Their cries were becoming fainter, but there were indeed six of them.

‘Throw them ropes!' Orpheus ordered.

Babilas was first off the mark. In a moment he had made fast all the hawsers and sheets he could lay hands on, and with his powerful arms he threw them overboard one by one in the direction of the shipwrecked sailors. The twins, Malva and Lei held up lanterns to give as much light as possible, eyes wide and hearts beating fast.

Babilas hauled in two men who had caught the same hawser at once. He pulled, breathing hard, pulled again, and when the two unfortunate men collapsed on deck he made haste to help the next of their companions.

Orpheus and Finopico took charge of the shipwrecked sailors, wrapping them as well as they could in old sails and offering water and words of reassurance. When the last man collapsed on deck, exhausted, Babilas coiled up the ropes and then disappeared down the steps of the central hatch.

The twins, Lei and Malva formed a circle around the men they had rescued, casting light on their soaking faces at last. They were startled to see the six dazed men open their mouths to reveal bleeding gums. They had no teeth left!

‘By Holy Harmony!' murmured Malva, turning pale.

Not only had they no teeth, some had no hair either, while others, whose eyelids were closed, seemed to be blind.

‘Their hands!' said Hob in a strangled voice, repressing nausea. ‘Look at their hands!'

The six men's fingers were curved like the claws of birds of prey, but all the same the crew of the
Fabula
could see that they had no nails left.

‘How horrible!' gasped Finopico, turning away.

‘They must have been in the water a very long time,' Orpheus suggested, trying to explain their present state. ‘How sad …'

Bravely, Lei crouched down beside the man who seemed the least exhausted. He was leaning against the rail, and although he had no teeth or nails, he still had his eyes.

‘
Ydroim fwr graich?
' asked Lei.

The man looked at her with a certain astonishment. A gurgling sound came from his throat, and a bubble of blood formed between his bruised lips.

‘
Ysgybolg fwr graich?
' Lei persisted.

This time the man just nodded. Then, making a great effort to speak, he added, ‘
Dillwisg … nozg … nozgeidim
.' And he pointed to the darkness with a weary gesture.

‘What's he saying?' asked Orpheus anxiously.

‘They sailors from Dunbraven,' said Lei, putting a hand to her troubled breast. ‘Lost in Archipelago like us. Ship wrecked on reefs, over there.'

Lei pointed the way that the
Fabula
was sailing. Orpheus decided to change course at once. He made for the tiller, calling, ‘Babilas, the sails! Quick!'

But the giant had disappeared, and did not respond to Orpheus's order.

‘We'll do it, Captain!' offered the twins, glad of a chance to take their eyes off the mutilated men.

Meanwhile, Lei went on questioning the sailor in his own guttural language. Malva, kneeling beside the daughter of Balmun, tried to understand the situation.

‘Ask him what happened to their teeth – and their nails,' she whispered in her friend's ear.

With tact and patience, Lei managed to get a few scraps of information out of the man, but he was so exhausted that he often lost track of his train of thought. However, Malva caught a few words that she knew only too well: Catabea, Nokros … Finally Lei translated what she had learnt for Malva's benefit.

‘They more than twenty men when they enter Archipelago. Catabea gave them Nokros with Stones of Life, like us. If I understood, they go through many terrible ordeals. Some sailors fight. Yesterday only one Stone of Life left, and then they driven on reefs. Nokros sink with ship. Most of the men dead.'