DarkIsle, page 15
“At least, they found parts of it,” she added.
Mephista leaned forward and whispered in Morag’s ear, “You don’t want me to think you’re a terrible waste as well, do you?”
“No, ma’am,” mumbled Morag as she started to tremble with fear.
“I’m glad we understand each other,” she said.
Then her mood changed as if someone had flicked a switch. “Lewis,” she said, smiling. “Ready my bath. I have an important day ahead of me.”
“Very good, ma’am.”
At about the same time, out at sea, Kyle the Fisherman woke Bertie and Aldiss.
“Come and see this—it’s unbelievable!” He pointed excitedly as the dodo and the rat rubbed the sleep out of their eyes.
Ahead, on the horizon, rose the dark towering cliff faces of an island that lay unseen by most mortals. It was that early part of the morning when there was light, but the sun had not yet risen. A white mist obscured the high hills of the island, but the storm had died and the wild seas around it were now relatively calm. The three stared at the island as it emerged through the low clouds and morning fog.
“Murst,” Kyle whispered. “It’s incredible. I mean, my father talked about it, but I wondered if such a place really existed. I never thought I’d ever see it for myself.”
“Someone should wake Shona,” suggested Aldiss.
“She wouldn’t want to miss this,” agreed Bertie. “This will be the first time she ’s seen her home in decades.”
But they didn’t have to wake her. Shona was already sitting up on the deck, gazing wistfully at the island where she was born. Tears stung her yellow eyes as she remembered how she had been tricked into leaving the island by Devlish, only to be trapped and turned to stone.
She had been the last pygmy dragon of Murst. The last one to have survived. And he had taken her life from her for thirty years. Anger burned in her heart as she remembered the sneer on Devlish’s face as he cast the final spell that had kept her prisoner for so long. Shona closed her eyes and thought about all the nasty things she would like to do to Devlish when she caught up with him, and how she would punish him for what he had done. All sorts of horrible thoughts flew through her head, becoming more and more awful as they went on.
Then she realized that she was allowing her anger to overtake her and she made a conscious effort to relax. She breathed deeply, in and out, in and out, slowly calming the fire rising within. There was no point thinking about it just now, she thought, when there was a job to do. Her vengeance could wait.
She instructed Kyle to drop anchor for a while at the north side of the island, out of sight of the castle. They needed to go over their story again. They rehearsed what they were going to do and what they were going to say at least five times before everyone was happy.
“What are we going to do with that stinking Klapp demon while we’re away?” Kyle, who didn’t want the creature on board his boat, asked.
“He’ll have to stay where he is, I’m afraid,” replied Bertie. “We don’t have any choice. He won’t get out; he’s shut in tight. But we’ll have to make sure we’ve fastened the portholes tightly. It would be a disaster if he were to escape.”
“Fine,” said Kyle, a little grudgingly. He was not too happy about harboring the dirty creature any longer than he had to.
“Everyone ready?” Bertie asked nervously. Everyone nodded. “Okay, Kyle, take us round.”
Kyle hoisted the anchor on board and started up the engine of the fishing boat. The engine sounded unnervingly loud as the boat chugged around the peninsula, past the imposing gray battlements of Murst Castle. It didn’t take them long to arrive at the shoreline, and Kyle carefully docked the boat at the wooden pier.
There was a flurry of activity on the shore as the boat moored. The giant guards, who had been sleeping peacefully on the beach, all jumped to attention at the sound of the arrival of the fishing boat. They gathered up their pikes and swords and ran one after the other along the pier, their footsteps thundering along the planks. They lined up neatly in front of the boat.
One spoke: “Who goes there? What’s your business on Murst?”
Kyle was busy bending over a wooden post as he tied up the boat.
“I am Kyle the Great,” he said with a grin, straightening up. “And I have come here to buy supplies and to provide the most magical of entertainments to all within the great castle.” He motioned toward the towers beyond with a theatrical sweep of his arm. It caused the already agitated guards to flinch.
“Entertainments? What sort of entertainments?” said the guard. He was a great ugly brute, with straggly hair and a wart on the end of his nose.
“Suspense is part of the fun, gentlemen,” replied Kyle mysteriously. He leapt lightly from the boat onto the jetty. The guards all lowered their pikes in a threatening manner.
“And you wouldn’t want me to ruin the fun for you, would you?” he went on. “I’m not here to do anything other than to amaze and entertain. Now, who’s in charge of this great place? I need to speak to him.”
“The Master’s not here at present,” said the guard. Bertie and Aldiss, who were hiding out in the bridge, sighed with relief. At least that was one evil person they didn’t have to deal with.
“Well, who’s in charge when he’s not here?” Kyle asked.
“That’ll be Her Ladyship you’ll be wanting,” replied the guard.
“Great, then I’ll just gather up my creatures and you can take me to her.”
“Creatures? What kind of creatures?” The guard looked uneasy. “Think you’d better leave your creatures on board your boat, sir. For health and safety reasons.”
“And disappoint the Lady?” replied Kyle the Fisherman coolly. “I don’t think so. Give me a minute. It won’t take me long to unload them. Why don’t you tell this lot to go on up to the castle and we’ll be along presently?”
The guard, taken aback by Kyle’s confidence, did so and followed his fellow troops up the hill toward the castle gates, where they waited impatiently at the great doorway for this stranger and his mysterious creatures.
Kyle jumped back onto his boat and pulled the tarpaulin off Shona, then called Bertie and Aldiss to come out from their hiding places.
“Let’s go, we’re on!”
Bertie, Aldiss and Shona scrambled off the boat and followed the fisherman up to the castle. Kyle did his best to be confident, and strutted up to the gates like he owned the place, but inside he was feeling tense and a little worried. If this plan was to go wrong, they would be in grave danger. He wasn’t the only one to be concerned. The others were equally nervous, so much so that the little rat couldn’t even speak. Presently, the four met the guards at the great gates of Murst Castle. Kyle looked at the first one expectantly.
“Well, aren’t you going to let us in?” he demanded in a loud voice.
The first guard looked at his fellow guards and there was a bit of whispering between them.
“I’m waiting,” said Kyle with mock impatience.
There was some more whispering and then the first guard spoke again.
“Very well, follow me,” he said. “I’ll take you to the main hall. But I’m warning you, if there’s any trouble, you’ll never see daylight again.”
He eyed Shona suspiciously. “Shouldn’t that thing be tied up or muzzled or something?”
Shona glowered at the guard and opened her mouth to reply, but was stopped by Kyle, who held up a hand and patted her lightly on the snout.
“No, not necessary,” he said warmly. “She ’s very well trained. It’s the bird you’ve got to watch.”
On cue, Bertie crowed and snapped his beak at the guard. The guard blinked in surprise, looked at Bertie closely and then shrugged.
“I’m sure I can handle a budgie,” he said with a snort of laughter. Bertie frowned. “Especially one as stupid-looking as that one.” He chuckled, and his fellow guards erupted into laughter. Kyle glowered at them all.
“I’ll have you know that that bird is the extremely rare and ferocious Wooka Wooka bird of Papua New Guinea,” he lied. “It’ll have your head off as soon as look at you,” he continued. Bertie tried his best to look fierce and obviously succeeded because all the guards were eyeing him with a new wariness.
“Oh!” said the first guard, knocking loudly on the door of the castle. He looked at Bertie again, this time with a little trepidation in his eyes. “Well, shouldn’t he be tied or caged or something?”
“No need,” replied Kyle. “I have him well trained also.”
The great wooden door of the castle swung slowly open and the guards ushered them inside. They led them into the outer cobbled courtyard, where there was another grand wooden doorway that led to the hallway decorated with weapons and tapestries, where Morag herself had been the night before. They were taken through the door at the end of the corridor and into the largest room any of them had ever seen.
Fires raged in the grates of three immense stone fireplaces. In front of them a vast oak table laden with breads and fruit spanned the length of the Great Hall of Murst Castle. Low oak benches lined the table and at the far end, on one of two golden thrones, sat the Lady of the Castle, Mephista.
Although they were some distance from her, the friends could see she was something to behold. Dressed in a tight-fitting blue velvet gown, and wearing an impressive gold and pearl necklace, her long red hair hanging in ringlets around her face, Mephista was magnificent to look at. Kyle ’s jaw wasn’t the only one to drop. Bertie and Aldiss, who peered out from behind him, looked like they were catching flies too. Shona, who was never impressed by other females, rolled her eyes in disgust at the way her friends were acting. It was as if they had never seen a woman before.
“Who comes to my castle at this early hour?” Mephista called. Her voice was musical and light. “Come closer so that I might see you better.”
Led by the first guard, they walked the length of the table and were halted about ten paces from where Mephista sat. On the table before her, on large golden platters, lay the remnants of her breakfast of bread and honey. A golden chalice was held in her right hand. She sipped from it as she surveyed the man, the dragon, the dodo and the rat. Her face said “impress me,” so Kyle did his best. He bowed deeply.
“My Lady,” he began. “My name is Kyle the Great, and we come to your island seeking hospitality and to provide entertainment that will amaze and amuse.”
Mephista, who had been lounging back on her throne, sat forward.
“Amaze and amuse, eh?” she said. “And how will you do that, minstrel?”
“Not me, ma’am, but my creatures. If you would be so generous and kind as to provide us with some food and water, we will put on a show tonight for all the people in this castle, a show that you will never forget.”
“And why should I do that?” she replied. “None of you look like anything special. What can you do that’s so different?”
Kyle smiled. “Ma’am, we have played for kings and queens across Earth. We have performed for prime ministers and presidents across the globe. We are famous from Peru to Paisley. Surely a sophisticated lady like yourself must have heard of us?”
Now Mephista, who considered herself the epitome of fashion in the magical world, did not want to admit that she had never heard of Kyle the Great and his animals. She prided herself on being up-to-date on what was currently in fashion, and wondered how she could have missed this one.
“How do I know you are telling the truth?” she asked, watching Kyle’s face very closely for any signs of evasion.
“Your Ladyship, let us perform tonight and you will see why we are so in demand in every country. All we ask is that you provide a little hospitality.”
She thought for a moment. Her father wasn’t due home for another day and she had become very bored with castle life. They seemed harmless enough, and if they stepped out of line there were plenty of ways to torture them. Even if they didn’t step out of line, she might torture them anyway. She smiled.
“All right,” she said. “You can stay. Guard, take them down to the kitchen and instruct Cook to feed them,” she commanded before she turned her attention back to Kyle. “Well, Kyle the Great,” she said. “I hope your show is as good as you’ve promised. Otherwise I will not be happy.” She leaned a little closer to the fisherman. “And you would not want to make me unhappy!”
Kyle returned her gaze confidently. “Trust me, Your Ladyship, you’ll not regret your decision.”
Mephista did not reply to this, merely waved her hand, indicating that their conversation was over and the guard was to take them away.
The four were led downstairs into a large kitchen, where Kyle was offered a seat at a small table, and the three animals (much to Shona’s disgust, because she snorted at the suggestion of it) were told to lie on the floor. Bertie thumped Shona on the hide as a warning for her not to say anything and she stayed quiet and lay down. The guard, who had other duties to perform in the castle that morning, warned Kyle that he and his animals had to behave and told him that he’d be back later. With barely a nod, the guard left them in the care of the cook and her four kitchen staff, three girls and a sullen boy.
The cook was an ordinary-looking human woman with ruddy cheeks and a sad expression. She silently placed a bowl of thick porridge down in front of Kyle and he thanked her. From their place on the floor, Bertie, Aldiss and Shona licked their lips greedily. They hadn’t eaten since the night before and they were all feeling attacks of sharp hunger pangs. Bertie, who still had his satchel, dared not use it in case anyone saw. Thankfully, Kyle was very aware of their needs and turned to Cook, who was back at the great porridge pot that bubbled merrily on the old iron stove.
“What about my animals?” he asked her as she stirred the giant pot with a great big wooden spurtle (which is a kind of stick you stir porridge with).
“What about them?” she asked quietly. “I only feed men and giants,” she said. “Not animals.”
“They would eat some porridge too,” he said.
“Not in my kitchen,” said Cook. “I don’t like creatures in my kitchen. Not unless they are already dead and ready for cooking.”
The kitchen boy sniggered. Kyle threw him a dirty look.
“My animals need feeding,” he said firmly. “Please furnish them with some porridge and some milk. We are here to entertain Her Ladyship tonight and I don’t want to have to tell her we did not receive the proper welcome she had promised.”
Cook pursed her lips, looked at Kyle, then the animals, and back at Kyle again.
“I suppose,” she said slowly, “I could spare them some porridge and milk.”
Kyle flashed her a smile.
“Thank you.”
“Grain,” she said to the boy. “Wipe that stupid smile off your face, boy, and go and feed the animals some porridge, will you?”
“Aw, Mum, why me? Why not the girls? It’s always me that’s got to do the nasty work.” Grain whined. “ ’S’not fair.” He eyed the dragon warily. Shona glowered back at him. She loved intimidating nasty boys.
“Grain, just do as you’re told and give me peace. I’ve got work to do. The Master’s coming back soon and I need to prepare.” His mother sighed.
At this, Bertie started. Devlish was returning here? Soon? How soon? He hoped Kyle had the audacity to ask and he wasn’t disappointed.
“Your Master’s coming home?” said Kyle innocently. “Will he be here tonight to see our show? How wonderful!” He feigned excitement. “We’ve always wanted to play before the Great Devlish. I was disappointed to learn he wasn’t here, but now I know he’s returning, that’s really good news.”
The cook snorted.
“He’ll not be back tonight,” she said. “At least, not this evening. So you won’t get to perform for him. Disappointed you again, have I?”
“Oh!” Kyle sighed, trying to act disappointed, even though he was secretly relieved. “So, when’s he back?”
“I don’t know. The Master never tells us exactly when. All I know is that he’ll be back by lunchtime tomorrow, maybe before then. I’ve to have food prepared for him anyway.” She turned to her son. “Grain, come and feed those animals now, boy. I won’t be telling you again!”
Reluctantly, the boy shuffled over to his mother. He picked up three large bowls from a pile that had been drying next to the sink and handed them to his mother one after the other. She filled each with porridge and handed them back. Carefully, carrying one at a time, the boy took the bowls of porridge over to where Shona, Bertie and Aldiss were sitting on the cold stone floor and placed them in front of them, then scarpered back to the safety of his mother.
As Grain had not given them spoons, the three animals ate directly from the bowls. They tucked into the food eagerly. Going without cutlery went against Bertie’s sensibilities, for he was a cultured bird, but he shrugged off his discomfort and buried his beak in the bowl.
“I ask you,” continued Cook. “Is it fair to ask someone as skilled as me in the kitchen to prepare something for when the Master returns and not tell me when to expect him? How can I have something hot ready for him when I don’t know when he’ll be here? It’s ridiculous,” she said, throwing down the spurtle. She took up an oven glove and opened the oven door to check on whatever was cooking inside. A blast of heat filled the kitchen.
“So true, so true,” agreed Kyle as he finished his porridge. “Madam, that was a fine bowl of porridge. I’m sure anything you prepare for the Master will be welcomed, hot or cold.”
Cook closed the oven door and looked at him suspiciously, as if she were trying to work out what he was playing at. Kyle gave her his best grin and patted his stomach.
“Delicious,” he said, smiling.
She returned the smile. “Would you like some more?” she asked.
“I couldn’t possibly,” replied Kyle, holding his hands up. “I’m stuffed full to the gills.” He pushed his chair back and stood up. “And will you be cooking dinner for tonight?” he asked, scooping his plate up and taking it over to the sink, where one of the girls was up to her elbows in foamy water doing the dishes. He deposited the plate in the sink and gave the girl a cheeky wink. She giggled nervously.
