Adventures of Captain Xdey Read Free Page A

managed to stay intact in the human ladder.
    Nadine wasn’t too thrilled though. “Mal!”
    He grinned sheepishly at his sister’s anger. “Sorry.” He yanked down the far right lever. The aircraft clicked upward about ten paces before it was once again level.
    Mal and Nadine scrambled out of the ladder, off the floor, and out on deck. “Mom! Dad!” he yelled in desperation.
    Nadine clutched her brother. “They’re fine. We’ll find them.”
    He pushed her away. “How? How are we going to find them? They could have fallen into the ocean.”
    Xoey narrowed her eyes on a peculiar rubbing within the grain of the wooden floor. She pointed out the charred marking. “Has this always been there?”
    Nadine had long loose curls that she tied back at the nape of her neck. Her petite mouth tightened into a fine line as she took in the burnt pattern. “Certain contraptions are not meant for particular substances. The pattern that is embedded into the wood is due to the exhaust tail angled toward the ground therefore it is either a Swooper Heli or a Glider Bike.”
    Mal chimed in, “No way can it be a Swooper. Bugger is too long for the deck’s hold…and very few are precarious enough to ride the Glider Bike.” He seemed rather proud of using precarious in a sentence.
    Nadine shrugged her shoulders. “Well, the only way we can find out is to search, and since I am the oldest, I say we start at Yorego. We’re close enough to where they might have seen something.”
    Xoey could feel a lump in her throat. She wanted so much to protest, but the only sign of an impending tantrum was in her clenched fists.

    The ship trudged on toward Grittle. Xoey could see a wall separating Yorego from the rest of Grittle. The only access aside from the port was by way of a bridge. She could feel a twinge of anger as it was the very village that cast her out as an infant. There were the infinite questions as to why, and as the craft sailed closer to the port the more she visualized what she would say.
    The three walked down the gangplank. The village was miniscule in size. Cavernous rocks gave the impression of height from above, but the houses were built against the rock face. It lacked pattern within the grain of the stone. Xoey wondered if a five-year-old threw splattered paint, and wherever it landed there would be a house. Fish and saltwater was all that tickled her nose. As the three walked, the pale villagers disappeared into their tiny homes and pulled their shutters tight. Xoey shrugged. “Well, that was fun. Time for another plan.”
    “You should not be here,” a voice cried out from behind. Xoey turned to find a woman hunched over from the burdens of age. What kept her stride in a balanced motion was the thick red-wood cane and upon it were inscriptions Xoey could not read. Her face was haggard with wrinkles that were set in contrast to a pair of vibrant orange eyes that seemed to take in their souls, weighed them, measured them, and spit them back out. Her blue-tinted spider web-like hair was wrapped in coils with small trinkets woven in. A shiver crawled up Xoey’s spine, but she dared not move a muscle. “You.” She was speaking directly at Xoey. “Should not be here. Not yet, at least.”
    Nadine stepped forward, rather bravely. “We’re looking to see if anyone saw a bike soar overhead.”
    The old woman kept her gaze upon Xoey. “The scrolls called for two decades to pass. Why the shift in your paved path, Xoey?”
    Mal inhaled sharply.
    Xoey tilted her head, removing her hat. She didn’t want to admit she was as lost as her two new friends. She could hear doors opening, followed by the hushed murmurs of the occupants.
    The pirate furrowed her brows. “The only reason I am here is to find out answers about their parents.” She cocked her thumb in Nadine and Mal’s direction. “Pirates don’t have paths.”
    The Elder narrowed her eyes. “A pirate…already. What of your father?”
    She found herself