The Ghost Machine by Emma Young

Author:Emma Young
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2010-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

The castle was fitted with a security system, Cristina had said. But they had no choice. And they had an extremely fast boat. If it was still there.

Will’s eyes darted around the frame of the narrow door. He couldn’t see any wires to an alarm. Nothing for Ratty to get his teeth into. Through a gap where the top right edge of the door was splintered, Will made out a tiny patch of sky beyond. Stars glittered dimly. And Will heard the voice of his mother, telling him that whenever she observed the wonders of the universe, her own problems seemed small. Rubbish, Will thought.

Will gripped the metal latch in his hands. “I think we have to risk it,” he said. “Are you ready?”

“Yes,” Andrew’s voice.

“Yeah.” Gaia. More certain.

He twisted it and pushed.

If an alarm went off, they didn’t hear it. Will ran through the dark night. Gaia’s feet slipped behind him. He heard her steady herself. Across the grass, he told himself, down the slope, to the straggly beach . . .

Will hunched as he ran, hoping it would make him less conspicuous. At least the wonders of the universe hadn’t delivered a full moon that night, he thought. The darker, the better.

At last, he was at the crest of the slope. Will started to skid down it. And he saw the Venus, gleaming in the water, half smothered in vegetation.

Still there. He glanced back. They seemed to be alone. Will unlooped the mooring rope and with Gaia’s help, he pushed the black hull off the dirt-streaked sand. Andrew, his shoes soaked in lagoon mud, hopped into the front seat and cleared the branches from the windshield. Will joined him, grabbing the jetstick.

“Just a second this time,” Andrew murmured, turning his attention to his computer.

Will’s eyes jerked back. The castle was hidden. Was Cristina all right? he wondered. Was Caspian still with her?

“Hurry up,” he whispered.

“I’m working on it!” Andrew said. And added: “Yes, I know—work faster! I am.”

Gaia’s head snapped around.

Shouts.

They were moving from the castle toward the shore. But farther to the east.

Dino?

“Andrew,” Will said.

“Hold on—”

“Andrew!”

The engine kicked in. Something flickered in the corner of Will’s eye. A boy! He’d appeared on the slope. Not Dino. Younger. Red-haired. He locked eyes with Will as he lifted a walkie-talkie to his mouth and called urgently: “A boat! Three of them!”

“Go!” Gaia yelled.

Will didn’t need any encouragement. He spun the Venus into reverse, and then forward, nose toward the gap between the sandbanks. And his gaze shot to the west. Something was headed their way.

“What is that?” he yelled.

Andrew lifted his eye patch. Gradually his eyes made out two distinct figures. They were powering through the water around the curve of the island, heading right for them. “Hydrofoils?”

“Yeah!” Will squinted. Two boys, each riding something that looked like a cross between a pogo stick and a snowboard, with an engine at the back. Jets of water sprayed up behind him.

Out in front was Dino—already, Will could make out his black hair, his deathly white face.

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