D. MacHale - The Pilgrims of Rayne

I shot Siry a look. “Where did you hear that?”

He shrugged. “It’s something my father always said.”

How could I argue with that? Though I didn’t like being thought of as some kind of professional “muscle.” Loor gave me training and tools to defend myself, not to go around “taking out” people. That couldn’t be the way it was meant to be. Could it?

Siry continued, “We’ve got to be quick and quiet. If the other guards hear trouble, they’ll come running and people will get hurt.”

“We don’t want that,” I said.

“We really don’t want that,” Siry echoed. “They’ll think we’re Flighters.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“They’ll kill us.”

Oh.

“Understand?” he asked. I nodded.

He motioned for the others to come forward, then reached into a cloth sack he had strapped to his back. He pulled out one of those short blowgun weapons and a small coil of rope that had a three-pronged hook tied to one end. He held them both out and gave me a dark look. “Don’t cross us, Pendragon.”

I took them. “Don’t worry.”

The other Jakills had reached us. They sat crouched along the edge of the jungle. Siry faced them and whispered, “Once we start, there’s no going back. We’ll be criminals. We may never be able to return to Rayne. If anyone has second thoughts, this is your last chance.”

Nobody spoke. Siry smiled.

“There’s a huge world out there. It’s ours to explore.”

Everyone exchanged excited looks. They were ready.

“Be careful,” Siry added. “Be smart. Let’s go.”

There was no cheering, obviously. The Jakills moved quickly and quietly forward, creeping along the edge of the jungle toward the pier. I felt a tug on my arm and saw the blond thief, Loque.

“You’re with me,” he said, and kept moving.

I gave Siry a quick look. He nodded. I followed Loque. When we got halfway to the pier, Loque motioned toward the water. Instantly he and eight more Jakills split off from the main group. They got on their bellies and crab-walked toward the ocean. I went belly down and followed. The distance from the edge of the jungle to the ocean was about forty yards over rock. I was feeling pretty good. Physically, I mean. The bee stings weren’t bothering me anymore, and my strength was back. It’s amazing what a little food and sleep will do. It also helped that I was bursting with adrenaline. We got close to the water and dropped down behind low rocks a few yards from the crashing surf. We looked to the ship. There was no movement. No alarm had sounded. So far so good.

“Now what?” I asked Loque.

“Now we swim” was his answer. “Time the waves. Get in quick and move out beyond the break.”

Yeah, no kidding. The waves weren’t huge, but they were breaking directly on the rocky shore. If we didn’t time this right, we’d get thrown right back onto the rocks. Getting bashed would end the mission very quickly. Everyone had their wooden weapons gripped between their teeth and their cords wrapped around their waists. I did the same. They had practiced this. I wished I’d been to a few of those practices. Loque crept closer to the water, scanning the surf. A big set was coming in. Three waves bashed the shore, one after the other.

“Now!” he called out in a strained whisper.

We all ran the last few yards across the rocks and dove into the water. I did a fast crawl to get past the break before the next set came in. It was a jumble of thrashing arms and kicking legs. A couple times I got rapped in the head, but it wasn’t the time to stop and complain. A few seconds later we were all floating beyond the break.

With no further instruction, everyone started doing an easy breaststroke toward the ship. We made very little sound. It was more about silence than speed. The breaststroke might not be fast, but it’s quiet. As we slowly approached the ship, I wondered how I had gotten involved with this crazy commando mission. Here I was with a bunch of kids who weren’t even as old as I was, and who were going to hijack a ship and head off across the sea in search of something they weren’t even sure existed. We were about to become outlaws and traitors. Was I nuts? The only thing I could hang on to was that Siry was a Traveler, whether he liked it or not. Whatever was going to play out on Ibara, Siry would have to be part of it. I had to believe that his passion for learning the truth about their history was justified. I just wished we didn’t have to go on such an extreme adventure to get there.

When we were about twenty yards from the ship, the Jakills took their weapons out of their teeth and put the ends in their mouths. They did it without a command or signal. Again, they had practiced this. I followed their lead. The wooden tube wasn’t the best snorkel in the world, but it allowed us to keep our heads low in the water. That was good, because I caught sight of two people walking on the deck of the ship. The guards. They didn’t see us or they’d probably have been pointing and shouting. Instead they looked to be walking casually and not all that alert. Why not? Nobody had ever attacked one of their ships before. Until tonight.

Five of the swimmers broke off and made their way toward the bow of the ship. I shot a questioning look to Loque. He took the snorkel out of his mouth and whispered, “Five on this side, five near the bow on the far side. On my signal swim to the ship and wait. I’ll stay here to observe the guards. When the deck is clear, I’ll signal to toss the hooks on board. Climb up as quickly as you can. Once you get on board-“

“Yeah, I know. Take out the guards.”

“Watch,” he said, pointing to the ship. “They walk the same route. From the bow to the stern and back again. All night. Once they leave the bow, I’ll signal. You’ll have until they reach the stern and turn back to get yourself on board.”

I looked to the ship to see exactly what Loque described. Two guards walked toward the bow. They weren’t in any hurry. Maybe they were bored. They were going to become unbored very soon. When they reached the bow and started back, Loque gave the command.

“Go,” he whispered.

Four of us swam quickly and quietly toward the ship. We reached it in no time and hovered there, treading water. The swell from the waves wasn’t too bad, so we were able to hang there without getting thrashed against the hull. Looking up, I guessed the deck was thirty feet above us. It wasn’t going to be an easy climb. I followed the others’ lead as they gripped their snorkels in their teeth to free their hands and unwrap the cords from around their waists. We spread apart along the hull so we wouldn’t catch one another with the hooks when we tossed them. Siry made it sound so easy, but as I bobbed there I wasn’t even sure I could throw the hook high enough to catch the deck. Why did I agree to this? What was I thinking?

I kept my back to the hull and watched for Loque’s signal. He looked like a dark bubble bobbing on the surface. I hoped I’d be able to recognize his signal when it came. I don’t mind admitting that I was getting jittery. We must have floated there for five minutes, waiting. Waiting made me nervous.

Finally I saw a quick movement near the dark bubble. Was that the signal? I looked to either side to see the Jakills throwing their hooks up to the ship. It was time. I grabbed my hook, did my best to wind up, and tossed it. It barely reached halfway up to the deck. It make a lame arc and fell right back toward me. I had to cover my head to avoid getting hit by the falling hook. Pathetic. I tried again. While kicking my legs to get as much of my body out of the water as possible, I held the cord in my left hand while dangling the hook with my right. Like a lasso, I wound up and let it fly. This time the hook hit the hull with a thunk and fell back into the water.