The Witch's Revenge (11 page)

As the
Sea Kelpie
set sail, Morag, Henry, Bertie and Aldiss warmed themselves in the cabin with bowls of steaming Whimsical Porridge (from Bertie's satchel) and discussed
what they would do when they reached Murst. Kyle and Shona stood on the bridge with hot cups of cocoa and talked about the fisherman's father, whom Shona had rescued when he was a young man. All of them feared what was to happen next, though none of them voiced their concerns.

Shona and Kyle took turns to stay up and keep the boat on course, while the others bunked down for the night: Morag on Kyle's bed, with Aldiss curled up beside her, and Bertie fast asleep on a small seat next to the galley.

Morag tried to sleep, but every time she closed her eyes she thought she felt the brush of skeletal fingers against her cheek, or saw the dead eyes of the warlock Devlish peering in through the portholes. She shuddered and pulled the blanket closer as the boat continued on its long journey west to the hidden island far out to sea.

It was morning before they reached their destination. Pale yellow light filtered through the portholes and woke an exhausted Morag. Slowly she opened her eyes and looked around her. Kyle's cabin was silent except for the gentle sounds of Bertie snoring, head tucked beneath a wing. She sat up, and nearly tipped Aldiss onto the floor. His frightened squeaks woke the dodo with a jolt and he leapt up, flapping his wings and squawking loudly.

The racket brought Shona to the door. She peered in. “What's happening? Is everything all right down there?”

“Everything is fine.” Morag yawned. “We just woke with a start. Are we nearly there?”

The dragon nodded. “Murst is on the horizon. I've told
Kyle to sail wide and go round to the west coast. That way no one in the castle will see us coming. I'm hoping the cliffs aren't as treacherous as I remember. That's the only way we'll get ashore.”

Morag caught the anxiety in her voice.

“W-won't it be terribly dangerous trying to scale them?” Bertie spluttered.

Shona tried to change the subject: “Well, now you are awake, feather face, you might as well make breakfast. Have a look in your bag for a jar of pickled gherkins. I'm famished.”

Morag, Bertie and Aldiss joined Shona and Kyle up on deck, and after they had eaten, they discussed their plan.

“The first problem is getting onto the island,” said Kyle. “Those rocks would smash the boat to smithereens. So I'm afraid you'll have to row ashore.”

Aldiss squeaked, frightened at the prospect.

“And once over the western rocks we have to go through the Deep Dark Wood,” said Shona.

“Until we reach Murst Castle,” said Bertie.

“We'll have to trick our way in, like last time,” said Morag.

“I don't think they'll fall for that again,” the dodo replied. “Besides, even if we do get inside we have no idea where Montgomery is being held.”

Shona looked somber. “You remember how many turrets and secret chambers the castle has, Morag. Where do we start looking for him?”

“It's no use.” Aldiss sniffed. “We'll just have to go home and leave him there.”

“We can't!” Morag said, her voice trembling. “Montgomery wouldn't leave us there, so we're not doing that to him. There
must
be a way into the castle. We'll just have to find it when we get there. Let's worry about getting onto the island first and then we'll work out the next step. What do you say?”

She looked around at her friends, willing them to join her.

“She's right about Montgomery,” Henry said from around her neck. “He would not leave anyone behind. Marnoch Mor is crumbling, and the only person who can stop it is locked up on the nastiest island in the world. We're the only ones who can help him. We cannot turn back now. I'm in.”

“Me too,” agreed the dragon.

“And me,” Kyle and Bertie said in unison.

All eyes fell on the rat. Aldiss flicked his tail uncomfortably and at first seemed unable to meet their gaze, but when he did finally look up, Morag could tell from his shining eyes that she had won him over.

“Let me at them!” he cried.

“In that case,” said the dragon, “we'd best start getting ready.”

Morag slipped on her coat; Bertie slung his satchel across his shoulder and preened his tail feathers; Aldiss took a few moments to adjust his neon-pink pompom hat and clean the morning toast from his whiskers; Shona stretched her claws and gathered any bits of rope she could find on board.

“I thought we were close to Murst,” said Morag, looking out at the empty stretch of undulating gray sea.

“It's there, all right,” said Shona. “Just give it a minute and then you'll see.”

They all watched the horizon, searching for the smallest sign of the DarkIsle. At first all they could see was the dark gray sea against a pale sky. Then an ominous shape loomed on the horizon.

“Morag, look!” gasped Aldiss. “The DarkIsle!”

The sight took her breath away. There it was, where nothing had been before: the towering landmass that was spoken about in whispers by sailors and feared by magic folk. The DarkIsle of Murst. Morag knew the cliffs were dangerous, but as the mist around the island cleared, the sight of them still gave her a shock. Miles of black, jagged rocks tore out of the foaming waters. They were breathtakingly beautiful and stomach-wrenchingly scary at the same time. Aldiss whimpered as he looked up.

“Do we have to go up
that way
?” he whispered to Morag. “Why can't we fly?”

She nodded. “If only it were that simple.”

“Now, there's no way we can take the
Sea Kelpie
up to the island,” began Kyle. “It's too dangerous.”

“So we're going in this,” Shona called briskly, as she pulled in the rowing boat they had been towing behind them all night.

After thanking Kyle, Morag helped Shona usher the others to the boat. The dragon held the boat still while they climbed in one by one. It was not easy, for the sea was rough close to the island and the little boat crashed against the
Kelpie
with alarming ferocity. Morag watched its sickening
rise and fall, took a deep breath and launched herself toward it.
Thump!
Her feet hit the bottom; she overbalanced and fell onto her face. There was no time to check if anything was broken, for as soon as she righted herself a furry brown object flew toward her. Shona had thrown Aldiss from the fishing boat and he sailed through the air, squealing with a mixture of fright and pleasure. Morag caught him just as he looked like he might overshoot into the steel-gray sea. Bertie, with wings flapping furiously, followed, and then it was Shona's turn.

She hung off the side of the
Kelpie
and put one leg out to reach the side of the bobbing boat, but the sea had other ideas and whipped it away from her.

“Bertie, Aldiss, you sit at the back to balance the boat,” said Morag. “And I'll try to help Shona.”

The dodo and the rat held on to each other as Morag stretched out. With a snort of impatience, Shona kicked again and Morag tried to catch her foot. As the rowing boat steadied, Shona hooked the claws of her other foot over the rim and hauled the boat toward her, then threw herself on board with a crash. The back of the boat tipped out of the water and launched Bertie and Aldiss into the air. They smacked into Morag and landed with a bump on the bottom. Then, with a horrible lurch, the boat tipped the other way, splashing all the occupants with icy water. Seconds later it righted itself, leaving them breathless with shock.

“Sorry,” the dragon mumbled as she dragged her tail on board. A bedraggled Bertie gave her a dirty look, and shook his feathers.

“Being drenched is the least of our problems,” he snapped. “We still have to climb those.”

Menacingly high, dark and brooding, the cliffs were as sheer and as ragged as a frozen waterfall. Morag swallowed hard as she craned her neck to see the top. How they were going to climb them she did not know.

Shona's face was set in concentration as she picked up the oars and began to pull against the strong swell of the ocean, which tugged and battered against them. Morag looked back at the
Sea Kelpie
and saw Kyle still standing on deck. They had agreed that he would stay behind and bring the boat round the coast to Murst Castle in the evening. He would know when to come when Bertie called him on a little walkie-talkie he had given him. Kyle waved when he saw Morag and she waved back. He must have seen how scared she looked because he smiled and gave her the thumbs-up, as if to tell her not to worry.

“Do you really think we'll be able to climb all the way up there?” the rat asked her nervously.

Morag tried to smile. “Of course we can. It'll be a piece of cake,” she said, sounding as confident as she could even though she was feeling quite the opposite.

“I'd rather be
eating
a piece of cake,” the rat replied wistfully. He tugged his hat down in a vain attempt to ward off the spray that drenched them. “Or a piece of cheese …,” he added to himself.

Bouncing over the high waves, they held on for dear life as Shona rowed them to the edge of the cliffs. They scoured the rock face for a ledge to climb onto but none
presented itself. Then Bertie spied a half-hidden shelf a little way down. Shona wasted no time in rowing over. When close enough, she set the oars down and let the swell carry the boat into the rock face with a bump that made them all jolt backward.

“Bertie, can you go first?” Shona shouted at the terrified-looking bird over the smashing of the waves.

The dodo looked at her uncertainly. Recognizing his fear, Morag offered to go first instead, but the bird refused. “If I can bring stone dragons back to life, I can climb this cliff,” he assured her. “Right, then!” He stood up. He adjusted his satchel across his back, flicked his tail, flapped his short wings a couple of times and crouched, ready to launch. A bemused Aldiss watched with interest. “Here goes!”

The dodo reluctantly reached for the nearby rock shelf and caught it with his beak. Using both wings (and with a helpful shove from Shona), he scraped his round body onto the ledge, swung his claws behind him and hauled himself up. He lay there panting for a few seconds.

“Are you all right, Bertie?” Morag called.

He waved that he was, and the girl sighed with relief. She turned to Aldiss. He was too small to reach the plateau by himself, so Morag scooped him up and threw him there. He landed with a roll next to the exhausted Bertie, quickly got to his feet and scampered to the edge. Once he had given the girl the thumbs-up, he clambered over to his feathered friend and helped him to sit up.

Morag went next. She stood up carefully, with the boat
tipping dangerously beneath her feet. Leaning over, she grabbed a sharp crag with both hands and, using all of her strength, heaved herself out of the boat. A helpful shove on the bottom from Shona sent her scrambling over the ledge. Trembling with adrenaline and fear, and shaking with the cold, she sat down next to Bertie and Aldiss and gave them a weak smile.

For Shona, scaling the sheer, slippery rock face was trickier. She grabbed a rope from the boat and slung it around her neck. The craft dipped and dove, throwing her off balance. Each time she reached out for the ledge the boat was whipped away by the swell. After a few false starts, she snatched a good hold on the rock. With a mighty heave she swung herself up, crawling over to her friends. She lay down on the wet stone and panted to catch her breath.

“What about the boat?” Aldiss asked as he watched it bash off the rocks.

“We'll have to leave it,” replied the dragon weakly. “We've got more important things to think about.” She stared at the cliff looming above them and suddenly felt afraid. What had she been thinking? There was no way they were going to climb this.

“Are you okay, Shona?” asked Morag, placing her hand on the dragon's shoulder.

“What? Er … yes, fine. Just plotting our route,” she said. She did not want to share her fears with anyone else, as they all looked nervous enough already. Shona rose to her feet, picked up the rope and quickly tied it around her waist. She handed an end to Morag and instructed her to do
the same. Bertie and Aldiss followed until all four were roped together.

“This climb is going to be extremely difficult and dangerous,” Shona said firmly. “We'll take it nice and slow, and if anyone wants to stop, just ask. We do this properly, okay? I don't want any silly business,” she added with a knowing look at Aldiss. The rat looked aghast at the implication. “Just keep climbing, don't look down and before you know it we'll be at the top. Are you ready?”

The other three nodded. No one said a word.

“Good, then we'll get going,” the dragon said, staring uneasily at the sheer cliff in front of her. Without looking down, she began to search out good footholds. Reaching high, she closed her claws around some fissures in the stone, and gripping tightly, she heaved her body up, her back legs scrabbling for toeholds. Slowly the dragon began her ascent, all the time aware of the crashing of the waves and the rocks below her. Morag allowed the dragon to go a couple of meters before the rope between them tightened and she started to climb. As she levered herself up the sharp outcrops her boots slipped against the wet rock. She dropped and swung on the rope, scraping her thin body off the raw seam of stone.

“Are you all right, Morag?” Shona called from above, her tail swinging as she fought to keep her balance. “Do you want to go down? If it's too difficult, I'll go on alone.”

“No, don't do that. I'm fine,” the girl cried. “We must keep going.”

Aldiss looked to Bertie for guidance. The dodo's eyes
said it all: despite his fear, Bertie was determined not to let Shona and Morag down, so when it came to his turn to start climbing, he launched himself at the rock face. The rat was cheered by his friend's resolve, and threw himself into the climb.