Thunderbolt by Smith Wilbur & Wakling Chris

Author:Smith, Wilbur & Wakling, Chris [Smith, Wilbur & Wakling, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Mystery, Adventure
ISBN: 9781848128569
Goodreads: 61831600
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2021-03-04T08:00:00+00:00

28.

Mo was right in predicting the pirates would soon be moving us to a new location. Once Xander and Amelia had given their own little performances to Barrel-man – both of them reckoned they’d managed to pull off a bit of I’m-actually-OK insincerity – Flip-flops appeared in our little cell and said something to Mo which he translated as, ‘Time for a meeting with the boss.’

To begin with I thought he meant the pirate captain. But he didn’t. This boss character was nowhere nearby. To get to him we’d be making a journey by land. At least we’d have a chance to take a look at the scenery, I thought, but I was mistaken. Barrel-man appeared behind Flip-flops, a clutch of hessian bags in his sinewy hand. He tossed them down.

‘You have to put these on, like this,’ said Mo. He picked up a bag and, as if this sort of thing happened every day – who knows, perhaps it did? – he calmly pulled it down over his head.

Amelia, Xander and I looked at one another.

‘Er, no thanks,’ I said.

Barrel-man kicked the bags across the dusty floor at us.

‘I’m not sure it’s negotiable,’ said Xander.

Mo, his voice small, said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not so bad.’

‘It’s all relative, I suppose,’ said Amelia. She lifted a bag from the heap and, trying to put a brave face on things, gave me a weak smile before pulling the bag over her face. Xander followed suit.

They were right, of course. We didn’t have a choice. Still, I was seething inside as I slotted my head into the last bag available. It was damp, scratchy, and it smelled of rotten fish. But sackcloth is porous, meaning we could breathe through these bags, despite the duct tape Barrel-man and Flip-flops used to secure them, noose-like, around our necks. Using the same tape, they also secured my hands behind my back again.

I’m not exactly claustrophobic, in that I can cope with being cooped up if necessary, but I don’t like it. Plunged into the darkness of that sack, a fluttery feeling of panic rose up inside me. To head it off I closed my eyes, shutting myself inside my own head rather than staring into the blackness of the sack, and I forced myself to take long slow breaths.

Now that I couldn’t see, my other senses pressed in. The horrible fish-stink of the bag blotted out everything else smell-wise. In fact, the smell was so strong it filled my mouth as well as my nose; I swear I could taste bad fish. The sackcloth was rough and damp against my cheeks, forehead and chin, and the noise of the room was muffled but still somehow louder than it had been: scuffling footsteps, Barrel-man’s jabbering, the deeper growl of Flip-flops talking to him.

Somebody took hold of my forearm. I pulled away at first, but the fingers tightened around my wrist again, pulling me forward. Blindfolded like that, we were taken outside one by one. Whoever was leading me was actually quite gentle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.