Legend of the Lost by Ian P. Buckingham

Author:Ian P. Buckingham [Buckingham, Ian P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Book Guild
Published: 2018-08-09T00:00:00+00:00

Now return what you have stolen

to the powers that be

lest thou suffer for ever

the worst of me.

Then nowt but savage shall thy fate see.

“James was furious and before the onlooking villagers, in a rare fit of rage, burned the boat and everything in it.

“But from that night and for every night onward, the worst sea storm ever blew in, clouds arriving like feral black cats to haunt and harass the modest folk of Mousehole.

“No ships could be launched and many a great sailor died trying in vain, including some of our ancestors.

“James even took his best men and tried a jump launch from the harbour wall. But they all but drowned were it not for the safety lines.

“Mousehole was now completely cut off from other villages by the treacherous weather in the valley.

“What with the failed crops and no fish to be had, people survived on rock limpets, mussels, shore crabs and whatever they could scavenge.

“But in the end the mood of some inevitably turned. And it turned against the Trelgathwin family.

“One particularly dark night, a group of the villagers, armed with a pack of mangy dogs driven half mad by starvation, stormed the Trelgathwin family home.

“A fierce fight ensued between the mob and those who remained loyal to Lord James. They fought hard but there were just too many and the position became hopeless.

“After subduing them, the villagers allowed the family to pack a few trunks of possessions, then they marched them down to the harbour where James’s ship, his pride and joy, was docked.”

“The Romany Soul,” cried Holly, hands to her mouth.

“Indeed,” whispered Ziggy, his cruel scar glowing a little with the excitement of the telling.

Nelson picked up and continued the tale, his voice also soft and respectful, like he was talking in church.

“The family were ushered aboard by the angry group of Mousehole villagers who had hog-tied Lord James’s loyal men, hungry hounds snapping at their heels.

“Faced with no other choice, the father and mother secured their children below decks. They wrapped them in the blood-red cloak Elouisa always wore and comforted them as best they could.

“Between them, the adults then mustered as much sail as they could handle before steering that beautiful golden vessel straight down the throat of the hellcat storm where it rose once, high above the gaping crowds, but then disappeared beneath the gigantic waves never to be seen again.

“That was also the last seen of the family. The last, that is, until now. And we should knows.”

“Why?” blurted Savannah, forgetting herself at the excitement of knowing.

“Why? Well, you see, we were there, that fateful night many, many moons ago,” said the pirate leader. “And so, oh fair one, were both of yous, I reckons.”

It is a well-known fact that the werewytch kind can sniff out faerie folk as certainly as a hungry child can taste a chocolate cake in the air while it is still baking.

Back in the dark cabin in Ashridge Forest, Mother paused at the threshold, an unmistakably sweet scent invading her nostrils like a footpad creeping through the fog.

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