Ocean Without End Read Free Page B

out a few faces, all strangers, all filthy and ragged. One of them aimed a blunderbuss right at me. ‘Answer me, boy!’ he hissed.
    I swallowed and tried to speak, but no noise came.
    The men took a step closer. One, bald and toothless, was glaring at me. The others peered around carefully, as if fearing an ambush.
    â€˜Ah, take him down to the boat.’
    â€˜He’ll slow us down. Just shoot ’im.’
    â€˜No noise. Cut his throat, and quick about it.’
    I jumped to my feet. ‘No!’ I tried to scream, but it came out as a whisper.
    One man, taller than the others, stepped forward, right up to me, close enough for me to smell him. He smelled rotten.
    He brandished a dagger in my face.
    â€˜Right then, son. You can show us the path to Cockle Bay, or we’ll kill you on the spot.’
    I nodded. This was no time to tell them I’m not a boy.
    â€˜I know the way,’ I whispered. ‘You’re not on the right path. It’s down there a-ways.’
    â€˜Lead on, then, and quick about it.’
    I nodded again and motioned for them to follow — to follow me away from Mama and Lucas, safe and asleep in their cave. I stumbled through the gorse, cutting around the bottom of the hill and towards the cliff that sheltered Cockle Bay.
    I could hear the strangers shuffling behind me, but they were very quiet. Two of them hauled something heavy along between them. No smugglers, these. It must be a raiding party from the ship.
    They must be pirates.
    â€˜Boy!’ called the tall man. ‘Stop a minute.’
    I waited for him to catch up.
    He didn’t have such an evil face, close up, but there was a pistol stashed in his belt and his dagger was still drawn and at the ready.
    â€˜I’ve lost my bearings, lad. You’d better not be leading us astray. Where’s the bay?’
    â€˜Down there,’ I pointed. ‘You just follow this path around the cliff and watch out for the track down over the rocks.’
    â€˜Tell me, did you ever hear of a lion cave around here somewheres?’
    â€˜We don’t have lions here, sir, not for years,’ I said. ‘But there are caves everywhere. Hundreds of them.’
    â€˜This one’s up on a hill. It’s a special sort of cave.’
    â€˜Sorry, sir, no idea,’ I shook my head. ‘Must be a secret cave.’
    â€˜All right then. It doesn’t matter. We’re late enough already. Lead on.’
    â€˜You can see the path from here,’ I said, hopefully.
    â€˜You go first. No tricks and no running off. Nobody will hear if I shoot you now.’
    I plodded ahead, trying desperately to imagine Cockle Bay and recall if there were any hiding holes in the cliffs. If I ducked behind the rocks and then dived into the water, they wouldn’t bother to chase me. Not in the dark. Not if they were already late. Late for what, though?
    We reached the track and started down the cliff, slipping and sliding on the pebbles. I heard cursing behind me as someone tripped. Nobody was bothering to keep their voices down now.
    Below us, on the beach, a knot of men waited by a small boat. One of them waved up, and the tall man whistled in recognition.
    My feet touched the sand. I had to run now, or never, before the two crews met up. I looked about me for a place to hide — there, to the left, a boulder with the waves coursing around it. I braced for the sprint.
    Something whacked me on the back of my head. Hard. There was a cracking noise in my skull, and I started to run, but my legs turned to water beneath me and suddenly I was on my face in the sand and somebody was dragging me feet first across the beach. I heard myself groan, with sickening pain circling my head and rocks and shells gouging into my skin.
    Next thing I remembered was the bottom of the boat, my face in a pool of water and what tasted likeblood. Maybe it was my blood — it was too dark to tell. When I tried to feel the