D. MacHale - The Pilgrims of Rayne

When we got back to the hut, Telleo gave me a warm hug. “Sleep well, Pendragon. I’ll bring you some food in the morning.”

“Thank you. If there’s anything I can do for you…”

“Maybe there is. Perhaps tomorrow you can tell me the truth about who you are. That is, if your amnesia isn’t still a problem.” She gave me a sly smile, as if to say she didn’t believe for a second that I had amnesia.

“Good night,” I said.

“Good night.”

Telleo ran back along the path toward the mountain. I watched her until she disappeared into the palm trees and twinkle lights. I liked Telleo. She was smart and caring and didn’t have an ounce of cynicism in her. Maybe she was right. Maybe you shouldn’t mess with something that seemed so right. Unfortunately, that led me to another thought. A darker one. Messing with what seemed right was what Saint Dane lived for. Whatever the past of Ibara was, whatever the future had in store, I had no doubt that Saint Dane was going to try and bring it all down. It didn’t matter if I agreed with the tribunal or the Jakills, one thing was clear: I had to know what was out there.

I dragged myself into the hut, kicked off my sandals and fell onto a cot, ready to sleep like the dead. I wasn’t horizontal for more than thirty seconds before dropping into oblivion.

I can’t say how long I was out. Six hours? One hour? Two minutes? All I know was that one second I was closing my eyes, and the next second someone was gently shaking me awake. I wasn’t surprised, or scared. My body was too numb for that. My brain wasn’t far behind. I had enough trouble trying to focus on who it was that was disturbing my rest.

Looming over me in the dark was a figure. I didn’t jump up. I didn’t try to defend myself. If this person meant me harm, I’d already be dead. It suddenly hit me that these huts didn’t have locks. I didn’t move. All my energy went into focusing my thoughts.

‘Are you awake?” came a familiar voice.

“Siry?” I croaked. “What the-“

I tried to sit up, but he clamped a hand over my mouth and eased me back down.

“Ready?” he whispered, and took his hand away. “For what?”

“We’ve got an hour until dawn. It’s time to take our ship.” “Now?” I whispered loudly. “Tonight?” “You have other plans?” he asked.

“I thought you wanted to wait until all the Jakills were healthy,” I stammered.

I heard a squeaky voice from across the hut say, “You didn’t think a little bump on the head would slow us down, did ya?”

I looked through my feet to see three more people in the room. The tall blond thief named Loque, the sniffy girl named Twig, and the little rat-eyed guy who now had a bandage around his head. Rat boy stepped forward and banged his bandaged head with the palm of his hand. “Pain keeps me alert.”

Freak.

“This was the plan all along, wasn’t it?” I asked, reality dawning. “You were always going to take the ship during the festival.”

Siry shrugged. “The party is still going strong. It’s the perfect time.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t trust you,” Siry answered. “I still don’t. Prove me wrong.”

The four Jakills looked down at me. They were ready to go. So was I. It was time to steal a ship.

(CONTINUED)

We traveled quickly through the predawn silence of Rayne. I could hear the sounds of the all-night party in the distance. Everyone was either still dancing, or asleep. Everyone but the Jakills, that is. And me. I had to shake off the grogginess while trying to keep up with these stealthy rebels as they moved quietly toward their target.

I was having second thoughts. If we failed and were caught, I had no idea what punishment the tribunal would slam on the Jakills. For me it was different. I was an outsider. If outsiders were executed for being outsiders, I didn’t want to think about what they’d do to one for trying to hijack one of their cool new sailing ships. Had I made a mistake? Was this the best way to hunt down Saint Dane? I decided it was too late to worry about it.

Everyone seemed to know exactly where they were going. Everybody but me. We moved silently along the shore and into the jungle. The narrow trail wasn’t much wider than my shoulders. Thick vegetation clawed at me from either side. If not for the light coming from the sky full of stars, it would have been impossible to see anything. As it was, the only way I could stop from running headlong into the jungle was to keep my eye on the silhouette of the Jakill in front of me.

The trail led us around the rock outcropping where Siry and I had stood the day before to view the colorful fleet of ships. Instead of climbing, we stayed at sea level. After about twenty minutes of dashing through the dark jungle, the silhouette in front of me slowed to a walk. We were approaching the beach. As if on cue, everyone stopped and crouched down. The Jakill in front of me tugged on my shirt and silently motioned for me to move forward on my own. I crouched low and moved quickly to the front of the line.

Waiting for me was Siry. He knelt on the edge of the jungle, scanning the rocky beach with an intensity I hadn’t seen in him before. The cocky rebel was gone. There was no fooling around here. He had his game face on. Or maybe he was just scared. Whatever. This was serious. Waves crashed against the volcanic stone, creating a steady white noise that would hide any sound we made.

“We all know how to sail,” Siry said softly. “All we need to do is get on board and the ship will be ours.”

“What’s the plan?” I asked.

Siry motioned for me to follow him out onto the beach. He looked back quickly to the others and motioned for them to wait. He crept ahead, staying close to the edge of the jungle. I followed right behind. We got only a few yards when he stopped and pointed. I looked to see the first of the five long piers about a hundred yards farther up the shore. Tied along our side was a ship with its bow pointed out to sea. In the starlight it looked to be a light yellow color.

“Each ship is guarded by five men,” Siry explained. “Three on the pier, two on board. There are sixteen of us, including you. Ten will get in the water and swim to the ship, using blowguns to stay low and breathe.”

“Like snorkels.”

“Like what?”

“Never mind, keep going.”

“The ten swimmers each have cords with hooks, to climb aboard. I’ll be with the second group onshore. As soon as I see the swimmers start to climb, we’ll move into position near the pier. When I’m sure the swimmers are on board, we’ll use the blowguns to knock out the guards on the pier and board the ship. From there we know how to get under way. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“What do I have to worry about?”

“You’ll be one of the ten swimmers,” he explained. “You can swim, right?”

“What if I said no?” “We’d leave you here.” “I can swim.”

“Once you get on the ship, your job is to take out the two guards on board.” “Take out?”

“It was the weakest part of our plan,” Siry explained. “The blowgun darts won’t work after they get wet. The only way to get past those guards is to fight them. None of us would be able to handle one of those guards, let alone two. But you-“

Ahhh, now I knew where this was going. They looked at me like some kind of fighting-commando-dude. I didn’t.

“I’m no different from you guys,” I said quickly.

Siry shot me an incredulous look that said, “Give me a break.”

“What would you do if I wasn’t here?” I asked.

“You are here,” Siry said. “You said you wanted to help?

This is it. I don’t know where you came from or why you’re really here, but maybe this is the way it was meant to be.”