Elemental by Antony John

Author:Antony John
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy & Magic, Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, Azizex666, Pirates
ISBN: 9780803736825
Publisher: Dial
Published: 2012-11-21T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 24

Our footsteps sounded deafening on the staircase, relentless and rhythmic. I brushed my fingertips along the wall as we descended and hoped it was thick enough to hide the noise.

When we reached the bottom, Alice stopped suddenly. I almost slammed into her.

“Listen,” she said.

At first, I heard nothing but the dying echoes of our hasty descent. Then voices, soft and distant. The men couldn’t be far away.

“Quick. Follow me.” She dropped to all fours and shuffled across the floor toward the corridor. Then she stopped. I could see the half-open door so close by, but the men’s voices were growing louder. Even if we could have reached the door, there would have been nowhere to hide.

“Back,” she spat. “Under the stairwell.”

I slid over to the staircase and wedged myself into the space under the iron stairs. They were reassuringly heavy, but I could feel the holes in the grating. “They’ll see us,” I said.

“It’s our only chance.” Alice pressed herself next to me, yet still managed to make sure we weren’t touching.

The three men spoke over each other, their words garbled. I knew when they’d entered because their angry voices ran along the corridor and echoed around the lighthouse shaft.

“There’s rooms here,” said one. “We should check ’em. See if there’s anything worth taking.”

“You reckon Dare would send us to get a map if there was something better down here?” said another.

“Maybe Dare don’t know everything—”

“And maybe he does. Let’s ask Jossi what he thinks.”

A grunt from a third man.

“I’ll take that as you agreeing with me, Jossi.”

“Then explain why he ain’t known nothing for months until now,” demanded the first man.

“I don’t know. But he sure knew what he was doing when he sliced off Jossi’s finger.”

“Maybe.”

“Maybe? Don’t be so damned stupid. Why do you think Dare sent the three of us out here?”

“What do you—” The first man hesitated. “No. He can’t know about that. It was two weeks ago. We was alone, the three of us. Hell, we didn’t even promise Jossi we’d back him up. We was just listening to him, is all.”

“But we both thought the same as Jossi, right? And I say the fact we’re here right now, just the three of us, is ’cause Dare read our minds as clear as he read Jossi’s. The only reason we still have our trigger fingers is ’cause he can’t afford to waste three riflemen. So how ’bout we find that map and get back. ’Cause if he exiles us, we’ll be dead within a week, and you both know it.”

“Not if we’ve got the solution.”

“That’s a big if right now.”

Jossi spoke up again: “What’s he going to do to the kid, anyway?”

“Whatever it takes. This is bigger than any of us. One dead boy is a small price to pay.”

That silenced them. They approached the staircase quickly. I willed them to keep moving, and held my breath as the first man placed his foot on the step above us.

Then he stopped.

“Why was the door open?” he called out.

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