The Purging of Ruen by Thomas Corfield

Author:Thomas Corfield [Corfield, Thomas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: aesop, cat, dog, spy, adventure, furry, funny, humour, secret, agent
Publisher: Scribl
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

28

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“WATCH out, you pillock!”

“Don’t call me a pillock, you wretched animal!”

“Then don’t get tangled in my rope!”

“I tell you what, why don’t you take your rope and go and get fluffed?”

The animals’ shouts became drowned in thundering surf. It was a moonless night, and black, were it not for the flaming torches wrenched at by wind. Upon cliffs below the castle, waves thrashed and burst against granite as a horde of animals toiled in preparing for the night’s haul.

“Hey, Mister Tappen-Noo!” the first yelled. “Are you listening to this idiot? He’s blaming me for his incompetence! What a pillock!”

“I am not a pillock!”

“Then don’t get tangled in my rope!”

Sedervitz ignored them. They knew he refused to acknowledge their vulgarity. The argument continued until a torrent of expletives was exchanged. He growled with disdain, being so far above their crassness that he was in orbit.

He watched the Spicy Cabanari while waves showered him in cold, wet salt. Their spray did not bother him. Having grown up upon this coast, sea was familiar and he knew its shape almost as well as the Pyjami. He scanned the sea’s frothing black, waiting for a launch to arrive, indignant that it wouldn’t ferry him to the yacht’s luxury, but instead to an industrial barge. The Spicy Cabanari would remain anchored, safe from the pending calibrations, while he’d return to Ruen on a vessel that had travelled back and forth along this coast for the past six months, and would do so tonight for a final time. He wiped at sodden fur. The calibrations would prove his brilliance as a schematician and he was eager for the launch to arrive.

When another animal called, he turned. The horde had stopped their labour to watch the cliffs. From their rock, a black mass slunk into surf, compressing waves with a weight that rivalled the very cliff it emerged from. It moved slowly, with a throb that was felt, rather than heard. Despite the night’s black, the vessel was darker still, having no lights to make certain its voyage went unnoticed. Its huge bulk required expert navigation from where it had been berthed, and once clear of cliff, it eased into deeper water, rising upon swell with indifference to the sea’s fury.

A high pitched whirr bit through pounding water and a launch appeared. It chopped around the barge and headed towards him, before slowing on approach and allowing swell bring it closer to shore. When waves split across a jut of rock, its engine flared to ensure it wouldn’t do the same. The launch rolled closer as Sedervitz readied to board. When it fell level, he leapt nimbly and settled in its stern. Another flare of motor had it spin around, slap across waves and head back toward the slinking monster. He ignored the pilot and watched distant sea split starlight. When the launch slowed, the pilot negotiated black water and cold steel until bumping alongside the latter. Sedervitz stood and readied a mooring rope until a cry from above had him throw it high.

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