C M Gray The Flight of the Griffin (epub

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.’ Pardigan crouched on the chair, not daring to move, and stared at the cat.The cat stared back at him.‘Don’t worry, I stopped it working.He’ll think the boat is empty and you’re still away.’‘You.stopped it working?’ said Pardigan.‘I did,’ purred the cat and went back to sleep.A little uncertainly, Pardigan decided to look at the spell mark a little closer.It was the outline of a hawk burnt into the wood - he reached out to touch it.‘I wouldn’t do that,’ the cat purred, opening an eye.‘He may have left traces of something very nasty for you to touch…I would have.’Pardigan slowly pulled his hand back and got down.‘I bet you would have,’ he muttered under his breath.‘There’s a good boy,’ purred the cat.‘Where did you go during all this?’ asked Pardigan.‘I went…away, you wouldn’t understand, so don’t even try.’ She curled back down, returning to sleep.‘There you go insulting me again,’ muttered Pardigan and he went off to tell Quint.They cast off at daybreak and slipped out of port into open sea, both boys feeling that they were being watched, but both very glad to have some water between them and whoever their uninvited guest had been.****Chapter 4A Hunter's MoonThe trip up the coast to Sterling Port took the boys three days, during which they were blessed with good weather and good winds all the way.Sailing gave immense pleasure to all of them, but it was Quint who truly revelled in it.As the wind became stronger he made his way to the very front of the boat and stood on the bowsprit, where he indulged himself in shouting and laughing into the face of the sea.Spray covered him, bursting in a rainbow of colours time and time again as he held on, bracing himself against the pounding of the waves that tried to dislodge him.Several times he had to grab for the safety rope to stop being washed over by a particularly big wave but simply laughed, loving every moment.Eventually, he dripped his way back to Pardigan at the helm.‘Oh, Pardigan, you just have to try it, it makes you feel so…so…alive!’Pardigan excused himself from the fun on the grounds that he didn’t want to be speaking with the fish anytime soon.On the second night of the journey they entered a protected anchorage to rest and get a good night’s sleep.They caught some fish for their supper and slow roasted them above glowing coals.The mouth-watering smell made their stomachs rumble and they ended up eating them while they were still hot enough to burn their fingers, cramming bits of fish into their mouths as they laughed at each other's efforts.After eating, they sat back contented, gazing up as the stars began to appear.Quint was thrilled to spot ‘sea fairies’ in the water as every wave that formed a crest glowed an eerie greeny blue in the starlit night.‘Its small creatures caught in the tide,’ he explained excitedly.‘For some reason, when they’re moved they glow like that - sailors call them sea fairies, Tarent calls it phosphorescence.Watch this.’ He stood up, pulled off his clothes, and dived over the side.As he entered the water, his trail was lit by thousands of bright lights as the creatures glowed.He came to the surface grinning and shouting.‘Come on Pardigan, come and play with the fairies.’ He slapped his hands about in the water and laughed as it all glowed back at him, lighting his face a greeny blue.‘Do they hurt?’ questioned Pardigan, standing on the edge of the boat, unsure if he wanted to be in the water with a million angry fairies.‘Course not,’ said Quint, splashing water up at him.‘Come in and stop being a baby.’Pardigan held his nose and jumped into the water, keeping his eyes closed until he surfaced.Opening them, he saw the bubbles around him hissing and glowing brightly.He splashed about, delighted as the water lit up around him.‘Well, it doesn’t hurt me, but what about the fairies?’ he shouted to Quint.‘I’ve not heard any of them complain yet,’ replied Quint.They swam about for a while, playing with the unusual show of colours, then lay floating on their backs, gazing up at the night sky.Climbing out, they lay on the deck to continue their star watching, each trying to see the next one that would shoot on its journey across the heavens.Unseen by the boys, the cat leapt from the boat, and flew away across the moonlit water on soft, silent white wings.****The next morning they were away early.Pardigan made a brew before they left and they munched on the last of the cinnamon buns as they returned to open water.‘We’ve had a good run up until now, so we may make Sterling Port by early afternoon,’ said Quint scanning the horizon.‘That's if nothing nasty happens with the weather,’ he added.Pardigan was also watching the skies but not merely for the sight of black clouds gathering.The mysterious intruder back in Freya still had him unnerved, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were not only being followed, but were being watched as well.They sighted Sterling Port late in the afternoon after an exciting passage.The Griffin had sped along with its sails straining to drag the ungainly hull through the water.Porpoises had led the last part of the voyage, ducking and diving in front of the boat, their antics causing the boys great delight.However, by the time they could make out the Towers on Sterling’s harbour walls, they were ready to feel solid ground under their feet and to catch up with their friends.Clouds of gulls escorted them in - wheeling and crying with the hope that The Griffin was a fishing boat with scraps to eat.They passed into the little port, and were surprised to see Loras running along the harbour wall waving at them.They watched him run past a three-masted ocean trader being unloaded with the help of a large wooden crane swinging bales and crates onto the quayside.A waiting army of carts and porters were busily moving the cargo up to the warehouses and trading halls of the town, causing a heady aroma of spices to fill the air.A group of urchins were urging the porters on, hurling insults and jokes, ready to run in and snatch something if the chance was presented to them.‘Ahoy The Griffin,’ shouted Loras happily.Tarent stood up from where he’d been propped against the wall reading and raised a hand in greeting and they both ran down to where The Griffin was coming in to dock.‘How did you know we’d be in today?’ shouted Pardigan, as he threw a mooring rope to Tarent.‘We could still be days away but you look like you’ve been expecting us.’Tarent glanced over at Loras who was helping tie the other end of the boat to the docks.‘You better ask our magician friend about that, he had a visitor,’ he answered cryptically.When The Griffin was safely moored, sails stored and they were signed in with the Harbourmaster, the boys all gathered down below.Tarent replaced the coins in the stove, visibly relieved not to be carrying them around with him, while Quint and Pardigan told of Pardigan’s conversation with the cat.Loras was in awe of the book and its magical abilities.He was sitting with the cat on his lap, stroking her fur, but had to put her down to see and touch the book for himself.‘Well?’ said Quint.‘What shall we do? We find ourselves in the middle of an adventure and being asked to take it to another level,’ he glanced around the group.All eyes were on him, including those of the cat.He carried on, ‘This seems too good to miss but it also sounds dangerous.We know someone’s following us and that he’s after something that we have,’ he glanced across at Pardigan, ‘or rather took.I can only think it’s the knife and book.To stay here means sooner or later he’ll find us.The book at least gives us a chance to move on and I for one vote that we take the challenge, whatever it is.’ He sat back down.Pardigan stood [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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