Sepron the Sea Serpent Read Free Page A

small fishing boat lay on its side, not far from the edge of the water.
    “It’s the only one left,” said Calum despairingly. “And it’s got a hole in it.”
    “I’ll help you mend it if you like,” Elenna offered. “My father is a fisherman. He taught me how to do it.”
    Matt and Calum looked at each other. Matt shook his head doubtfully, but a spark of hope appeared in Calum’s eyes.
    “We’ll mend it, father,” Calum said. “At least it’s something to do. We shouldn’t give up hope yet.”
    “All right,” agreed Matt reluctantly. He trudged down to the water’s edge and stood scanning the sea, looking for the serpent.
    Tom wished he could reassure Matt, but he couldn’t tell anyone about his quest. And he certainly couldn’t tell anyone that the Beast was under an evil spell! The most important task at the moment was to mend the boat. Then he andElenna could borrow it to row out and find Sepron.
    “Let’s get started,” Elenna said. “We need wood for a fire, and rope and tar to mend the hole.”
    Calum glanced around. “There’s wood scattered all over by the flood,” he said, “but it’s all wet.”
    “We’ll have to go to higher ground for dry wood,” said Tom.
    “Okay,” agreed Calum. “And I know where to get some tar.” He went off and disappeared into one of the cottages.
    While Elenna gathered all the dry twigs and leaves she could find, Tom led Storm up to the trees where there was long grass for him to eat. While Storm grazed, Tom collected fallen branches.
    Once he had several large pieces of wood, he lashed them together with rope and tied one end to Storm’s saddle. Then he led his horse back to the village.
    When he returned, Elenna was already heapingsmall scraps of wood together to start the fire. Calum came back from the cottage carrying a pot of tar. Over one shoulder, he had a coil of thick rope. Silver followed behind him with another length of rope trailing from his mouth.
    Calum set the tar down near Elenna’s pile of wood and handed the rope to Tom. “That’s the last of the tar,” he said quietly, before going to look for more wood.
    Tom crouched down.
This isn’t fair!
he thought as he started to unravel the rope. The coarse strands tore at his fingertips but it felt good to be doing something.
    Elenna knelt down next to a small pile of leaves, twigs, and frayed bits of rope. She wrapped the string of her bow around a small stick and bent over the tinder. She drew the bow back and forth with practiced strokes, and the little pile began to burn. When the fire was ready, Calum brought an armful of bigger branches and laid them on top.They crackled in the flames. Matt looked on approvingly.
    When Tom had finished unravelling the rope, he and Calum turned the boat over so that they could reach the jagged hole in its side. Tom noticed that the oars were lashed together under the seat. At least they were lucky enough to have those. A boat without oars wouldn’t be much use.
    Under Matt’s watchful gaze, Elenna packed the strands of rope into the hole while Tom put the pot on the fire and found a stick to stir the tar. When the tar was bubbling, Tom used a long ladle to scoop some out and carry it over to the boat. Quickly, Elenna used a scrap of driftwood to plaster the hot tar over the rope strands, inside and out.
    Suddenly, Tom heard the fire roaring louder and felt a fierce heat on his back. He spun around to see flames shooting up around the pot. Some of the tar must have spilled and fuelled the fire.

    “No!” shouted Calum. “That’s the last of the tar. If it burns we won’t be able to fix the boat!”
    But it was too late. Smoke billowed out of the fire and the branches hurled out bubbles of hot resin. Sparks shot into the air, almost landing in the pot of tar. One landed on the ground just beside the boat. Matt stomped on it to put it out.
    Everyone flinched back from the fire as it burned fiercely. Tom had to get the flames under control —