Witch Doctor - Wiz in Rhyme-3 (38 page)

One of the barrels wavered, waxed, and transformed itself into a monster. "Aye," the Gremlin answered. "Let this trip be quick, Wizard! I mislike so much water!"

"I'll make certain they have a favorable wind," I assured him. I tried to remember what I'd heard about the Finnish recipe for summoning a breeze.

The ship tossed and heaved, and the Gremlin was green from top to toe. On the other hand, that wasn't that far from his natural color.

"Wizard, you have given them too much wind!" I held my hands out, palms up. "Not a bit! They were doing fine without me; I didn't even whistle!"

"Yet mayhap," Angelique gasped, "you could find a way to slacken their progress some little."

Chartreuse was definitely not her color, I decided. How she was managing to be seasick without a body, I didn't know; must have been psychosomatic. "I know it's rough, but try to stick it out. Ships always pitch and heave a lot, especially little ones like this." Gilbert turned away, his hand over his mouth. I decided that I shouldn't have said "heave."

The Rat Raiser frowned at us, puzzled. "I do not ken it. There is excitement in this, truly, but no cause for discomfort."

"It's all right for you," I retorted. "You've got friends here!" But the Rat Raiser shook his head. "No longer, Wizard. My little furry ones have sought their holes in the keel beam." I sat bolt-upright. "They have? Then something must be really wrong! " A huge blast of thunder answered me from above. I frowned upward; I seemed to hear yelling.

'Tis a tempest," Frisson moaned.

The trapdoor overhead wrenched open to show the captain's face, laring down at us in the light of a lantern. "What ill luck besets my

ship?" Then he saw Angelique, and his eyes went wide. "A woman!

Know 'ee not 'tis bad luck to bring a woman aboard ship?"

"Not really," I said. "She's a ghost." Then I bit my tongue, but I was just a second too late.

"A woman and a ghost!" he howled, wide-eyed with sudden fright.

"Small wonder my ship is beset! Now could my bark founder and all my crew drown on her account!"

Gilbert forced himself to his feet and stepped over to stand-or sway-in front of Angelique.

"Don't plan anything rash." I scrambled to my feet. "Here, let me take a look."

But the captain pushed me back, though not before I had seen a couple of hulking sailors behind him, glowering with resentment and trembling with fear. "Are you daft, man?" the captain demanded. "It is hard enough for a seagoing man to hold his feet above decks. A landlubber would certainly be lost to the waves!"

"You can lash me to the nearest mast," I offered. "Believe me, I can help."

"Oh, aye," one of the sailors sneered. "And who do you think you be-the Old Man of the Sea?"

"No, but I'm sure we'd be on speaking terms, if we met. You see I'm a wizard."

Their eyes widened, and they shied away. Even the captain was startled just long enough for me to push past him. He came back to himself quickly enough to lurch after me, trying for a tackle, but I sidestepped and threw myself toward the mast.

The wind hit me like a sandbag, and thunder blasted my eardrums. Lightning dazzled me; I almost did go into the sea. But I managed to grab a rope and haul myself up against the sudden wash of icy water

as a wave broke over the little vessel. I came up gasping, shivering, and chilled to the bone, but still aboard, and pulled myself a little farther until I could get an arm around a belaying pin.

"See you not the folly of it?" the captain roared in my car; I could just barely hear him. "Do you not see you can do naught to aid?

Nay, get below! "

"Not ... yet," I gasped, and dredged up Kipling's words, with a few quick adaptations:

"The tempest caught us out at sea, and built its billows high, Till we heard as the roar of a rain-fed ford, The roar of its wind and sky.

Till we heard the roar of its wind and sky Rise up, die down, and ceaseAnd the heaving waves did all subside Till we sailed on a sea of peace."

It might have been my imagination, but I thought the wind abated ù

fraction.

ù 'Tis not enough!" the captain called. "It will still drag us under!"

"We must throw the ghost-woman to the waves!" the first mate shouted. "Then will they be appeased!"

Nice to know who was the vice of the piece.

"Give it time," I shouted back. "It didn't fall on you out of a clear blue sky, you know."

The mate and captain exchanged looks. Then the master called out,

"Indeed it did! One moment, we sailed in fair weather-the next, the sea heaved and a gale struck us like a huge hand, with a torrent of rain in it!"

I stood immobile, hanging on to the rope and staring at the sea.

"Wizard?" the captain called, scowling.

"Yeah, I'm here." I turned to look at him. "That means the storm was set on you by a sorcerer."

"Beset by a sorcerer?" the captain cried, "Aye, because of the woman! "

"No-because of me." I turned to scowl out at the waves, muttering, "Now, how the hell did she find out where I was?" -but So I missed the startled glance between the mate and captain I turned back in time to see the way their faces hardened with put pose as they advanced on me. I was in time to see their fists coming UP, too.

I raised my hands and started spouting nonsense syllables. They stared, appalled, then lowered their hands.

I smiled with bitterness. "I may have a better way. it'll take a little time, of course, because I'm battling a sorcerer, not just a storm-but it'll bring back the sun." Then I turned back to the waves and started singing.

"Peace, we ask of thee, 0 ocean, Peace, peace, peace!" The racket began to subside. The mate and captain looked up at the sky, startled-but the wind had already abated enough for them to hear each other without shouting.

"He is a wizard," the mate said.

"Who is this who has sailed with us?

But the captain frowned.

Then the wind hit us like an earthquake, and a tsunami towered over us.

They shouted and grabbed at belaying pins as the water fell on them. It drained away as the wave lifted the little ship crazily toward the sky, and the horizon dipped and rolled around us. The captain coughed out some unintelligible remark, and I stopped my singing long enough to call back, "I know-it's going to take more than that!" And it certainly would-I'd almost lost my hold on the rope!

A new wave smashed down on me, and I held on for dear life, very close to wishing I would never have to see another drop of water. Then the wave washed by, and there was shouting all around. I gasped for air, searching my memory frantically. I didn't dare take out my packet of Frisson's verses; I had to rely on remembering them.

"Built straight by a worthy master,

Staunch and strong, a goodly vessel, That shall laugh at all disaster, And with wave and whirlwind wrestle!

Small showers last long, but Sudden storms are short; The waves reach high in play, And with the winds disport.

Domain of soaring gull and diving pike, The winds are wanton, and the sea is like A lass flirtatious, whose lover is ginnedOft shifts her passions, like th' inconstant wind, Sudden she rages, like the troubled main, Now sinks the storm, and all is calm again!" I chanted through to the end and, when I'd finished, started from the beginning again. As I chanted, the wind slackened and the waves began to subside.

Then a fresh gust hit us, and I knew Suettay was calling in more power from somewhere.

Well, I had reinforcements of my own. "Saint Brendan," I cried out,

"Patron of they who sail in ships!

Aid us with the power of prayers from your lips!

Patron of those who sail on sea and air, Aid us now with the power of your prayer!

Then I sang on.

The storm slackened again-and kept on slackening. As I chanted the hymn over and over, the wind died down and the waves subsided until the sailors could tell it was raining. Then the rain itself died, and the clouds drifted off to the west. A sunbeam lanced down, and the sailors bellowed a cheer, waving their caps.

I left off singing with a cough. "A drink! I've sung myself dry."

The mate dashed away, still bellowing for joy.

Even the captain grinned, but his eyes were shadowed with con cern. "What if the sorcerer strikes again, Wizard?"

"Then I'll have to start singing again," I croaked. "I feel sorry for you. Get me that drink, quick!" Silently, I breathed a quick thankyou to Saint Brendan, the holy Irish sailor who had set out to explore the Atlantic in a cockleshell of a boat, and who may have found

North America.

The mate shoved a wooden tankard into my hand, and I drank

gratefully. It was warm, bitter beer, but at that point, it tasted heav

enly.

A long, triumphant cry split the air above us.

"Land!" cried the sailors who had gone aloft to unfurl the sails again. They pointed off toward the west, crying, "Laaaand!"

"Aye, 'tis land." The captain shaded his eyes, following the sailors' pointing arms. "That storm has lent us wings indeed, if'that coast be

Crete.

I1 'Tis an island!" the lookout cried, but the men cheered anyway.

"Land is land," the captain said, his face closing into a mask.

"You paid us to take you to an island off the coast of Allustria, Wizard, no

more. " "Yes, I did, and we'll count the contract fulfilled." I couldn't rightly put him and his men into peril again-and after that ride, I a travel. I'd make a magic carpet, or was definitely set against se something. "And, uh, might I suggest that after you drop us off, You go find another island to visit for a week or so? you might want to give Suettay time to forget who brought us this far."

-after all, the storm hadn't been The longboat pitched and tossed over all that long-and Gilbert and Angelique were still looking rather green; but they managed to summon up the energy to wave good-bye to the retreating ship. The sailors raised a shout and waved back. I didn't doubt that a sourpuss or two among them might remember who had gotten them into the storm in the first place-but to most of them, I was only the hero who had saved them.

Then the ship slipped below the horizon, and I turned back to rowing. We didn't even need the sail; the waves were carrying us

toward the island on their own. I needed the oars mostly to steer. Then the bottom rose up to meet us, and the longboat ground into the sand. I jumped out, trying to remember that my jeans would dry out, and threw all my weight against the bow. Gilbert muttered something about incompetence, dragged himself over the side, and all but fell into the water. I leapt to help him up.

"I thank you, Master Saul," the squire gasped. "Aid me to stay upright, here." With my help, he tottered toward the bow.

"Look," I said, "seasickness is sickness, no matter how you slice it! You're in no shape to . . ."

Gilbert grunted as he yanked on the bow, and the longboat slid up the shingle till its forward half was clear of the water. Gilbert leaned against the side, gasping and swallowing.

I1... exert yourself," I finished. I tried not to stare. Gilbert slumped, hanging onto the side of the boat and gasping like a beached whale.

Angelique was over the gunwale and at his side in a second, although she was still looking somewhat bilious herself. "Are you?

...

Courage, valiant squire! It ... it will ... pass. Gilbert hauled himself upright. "I draw courage indeed, from your gallant example, maiden." He forced himself to step away from the side of the boat, but kept a hand on the gunwale. "Into what ... mannet of country are we come, Wizard?"

"Rock and scrub, mostly." I frowned, looking around me. "Not exactly the most hospitable beach I've ever seen." The beach itself was gravel, turning quickly into flat, shelving rock that mounted upward in steps, like the seats of an amphitheater, toward a fringe of grass adorned with the occasional stunted, twisted tree. Its cousins grew here and there about the rocky shelves, interspersed with boulders and thickets of scrub.

"Are there ... any folk about? "Not that I can see." I cocked my head to the side, listening for the mewing of the gulls. "Nor hear, for that matter."

Up high, a goat leapt down onto one of the rock ledges and let out a bleat.

I grinned. "Well, there's life, at least. Come on, folks. Let's see if we can find a spring. We deserve a little R & R before we shove off for Thyme's island."

Aye Gilbert agreed, "water He pushed himself away from the boat and stumbled after me.

Angelique, whose pride ran in different directions, was quite willing to lean on Gilbert's arm, especially since she wouldn't tax his strength any, not weighing anything.

jealous? Who, me?

The Rat Raiser brought up the rear, frowning as his eyes flicked from side to side; he didn't trust the outdoors. If the Gremlin was still around, he gave no sign.

Perhaps with good reason; we hadn't clambered up more than three stony shelves before a dozen men stepped out from behind rocks and bushes, gathering silently in an arc before us, arms akimbo. I stared, totally taken aback.

Then I whirled, thinking about the longboat ...

Another man stood by it, and six more stood along the gravel beach between us and our transportation.

"I think," I said slowly, "we've definitely got the wrong islandand I think we've been trespassing."

The Rat Raiser grunted. "I might have known. Where there are goats, there are people."

"Let us have at them," Gilbert groaned, pulling himself together. I glanced at the squire. If Gilbert had been in shape, I might have chanced it-but even without him, I could unleash Frisson ...

"Wizard," the poet said, "let me speak-" "Nay, do not!" the Rat Raiser said sharply. "Work magic so near to Allustria, and Queen Sue-the queen will know our placement to the inch!

"I think she's already pretty close," I said, "but I hate to shed blood when it isn't necessary."