Isle of Fire by Wayne Thomas Batson

Author:Wayne Thomas Batson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-10-04T04:00:00+00:00

“I told you everything you need to know,” said Scully. “Why must I remain on deck?”

Father Brun tightened his grip on the rogue’s shoulder. “We are close now,” he said. “I want to be sure.”

“But I already told you, you must approach from the west. This time of day, the sun will make the island nearly impossible to see.”

Cat shielded his eyes from the descending sun with his hand and looked out toward the horizon. He was perplexed by what he saw: a curling strip of land crisscrossed with wiry vegetation and an occasional palm. But this was just the bending finger of the island. Its knuckle was a looming mound of white sand. Its fist was a great angular shelf of rock, and a forest of dark pines crowded its slope. “But I can already see the island,” said Cat.

“Do you think that massive island, mighty trees and all, disappears below the water?” Scully made a clucking noise. “No, that is Pine Island, still miles from our destination. What we seek you will not see until you are upon it and that only if you know where to look when the tide is right.”

“I don’t think he knows where it is,” said Anne, glaring at Scully venomously. “Why would the Merchant trust the likes of him?”

Scully sneered at her. “The Merchant,” he said, his eyes half-hooded and a sickly grin forming beneath his pointed nose, “has many connections, but even he has a need for information . . . the kind of information that only I can obtain.”

Cat involuntarily shivered. There was something slippery and dangerous about this man. Cat examined the ropes that bound Scully’s bonds as if, at any moment, he might slither out of his bindings and stab someone in the back. “I would not trust this man either,” said Father Brun coolly. He released his grip on Scully’s shoulder. “But there are some, ah . . . incentives for Mister Scully to be truthful here. Isn’t that right, Mister Scully?”

Scully shifted uneasily and stepped a pace back from the monk. Cat realized at that moment that Scully was not the only dangerous man aboard the Constantine.

“So what does this disappearing island look like?” Anne asked. Father Brun took a step closer to Scully.

Scully flinched and began to speak. “La Isla Desvanecente is a . . . a freak incident of nature. A long time ago, molten lava spewed up from a fiery crack in the sea floor. As the rock cooled in the sudden cold of the sea, it formed a strange spiraling chamber not unlike the cavity of a conch shell. Again and again this vent opened, each time forming a new chamber until, at last, it rose up and breached the sea. Now, bone-white coral curls over its black surface and wraps around the column of volcanic rock like the skeleton of a great snake.”

“It sounds charming,” said Anne. She started to say something more, but stopped short. “What’s that?” She pointed toward the glare of the sun and the silhouetted tail end of Pine Island.

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