The Skeleton Coast Read online

  First published by Allen & Unwin in 2017

  Copyright © Text, Mardi McConnochie 2017

  Copyright © Cover illustration, Jason Solo 2017

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The Australian Copyright Act 1968 (the Act) allows a maximum of one chapter or ten per cent of this book, whichever is the greater, to be photocopied by any educational institution for its educational purposes provided that the educational institution (or body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency (Australia) under the Act.

  Allen & Unwin

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  Australia

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  A Cataloguing-in-Publication entry is available from the National Library of Australia

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  ISBN 978 1 76029 093 1

  eISBN 978 1 76063 926 6

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  www.allenandunwin.com/resources/for-teachers

  Cover design: Design by Committee

  Cover illustration: Jason Solo

  Set by Midland Typesetters, Australia

  For Annabelle and Lila and for James, who makes everything possible

  Contents

  PIRATES!

  GRAHAM

  KIDNAPPED

  SOMEONE ALWAYS PAYS

  DORIA

  THE ROOM

  ANOTHER BUYER

  THE TRADE

  THE DARK HOLE

  CHERRY

  BLUE WATER DUCHESS

  BLOSSOM

  THE HATCH

  THE LUCKY LADY

  THE END OF THE EAST

  GRAHAM MAKES A CONTRIBUTION

  THE SKELETON COAST

  THE CAULDRON

  KINLEMOTUKINLE

  THE RUINED CITY

  SURFING THE DESERT

  THE ARK

  EXIT STRATEGY

  PUTTING THE BAND BACK TOGETHER

  AN UNEXPECTED ALLY

  DOWN BELOW

  FIRE!

  THE SUNDIANS

  THE LAST LEG

  RESCUED

  HOME AGAIN

  EPILOGUE

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Pirates!

  The grey light of dawn crept through the sky. The sun was yet to make its first appearance, but the crew of the Sunfish were already up and ready to weigh anchor.

  The previous night, they had come agonisingly close to catching up with Spinner; then Commander Avery Beckett’s men intervened with fiery results, and Spinner fled once again, heading for the remote island nation of Sundia, leaving Will, Annalie, Essie, Pod and Graham behind.

  Will had been all for setting sail for Sundia straight away, even though it was after midnight. The others had had to remind him that the Sunfish was still on the edge of a debris field and they couldn’t risk crashing into any more underwater obstacles in the dark.

  But now the sun was almost up. They could see what lay ahead of them. It was time to go.

  They sailed out into the ocean, leaving the coast of Brundisi behind them. Just as the sun made its first peep over the horizon, Graham let out a warning squawk.

  ‘Uh oh.’ Pod grabbed the binoculars.

  ‘What can you see?’ asked Will.

  ‘Pirates,’ Pod said. ‘Three of them.’

  ‘That’s not so bad—’

  ‘Three boats.’

  Will looked at Pod in dismay, then called to the others. ‘Annalie! Essie! We’ve got trouble!’

  ‘Head straight out to sea,’ Pod said. ‘They’re going to try and drive us back into the debris field, but don’t let them.’

  ‘I won’t,’ Will said with grim determination.

  The girls came hurrying up from below and put up more sail.

  ‘Do you think these are the same guys as before?’ Annalie asked Pod.

  ‘Them or their friends,’ Pod said. ‘Either way, they’re bad news. At least this time we’ve got guns.’

  ‘Wait—what?’ said Annalie.

  ‘We weren’t sure what to do with them,’ Essie explained. ‘So we kept them.’

  Annalie stared at Pod and Essie. ‘And you’re only just mentioning this now?’

  ‘Who cares,’ Will shouted. ‘We can finally put up a decent fight!’

  ‘I told you,’ Pod said to Essie.

  ‘We don’t even know how to use them!’ Annalie said.

  ‘That’s what I said you’d say,’ Essie said.

  ‘I know how to use them,’ Pod said, just as Will said, ‘How hard can it be? Go get them!’

  Pod rushed off.

  ‘I don’t like this,’ Annalie said. ‘What if shooting at them just escalates things?’

  ‘There are three boats full of them,’ Will said. ‘Without guns, we don’t stand a chance.’

  ‘They’re getting closer,’ Essie warned.

  The three fast-moving speedboats sent up three plumes of white water as three sets of pirates came weaving through the debris field towards them. Fast, light, manoeuvrable, deadly, they could easily outpace the sailing boat.

  ‘Maybe we should call for help,’ Essie suggested, holding up her shell.

  ‘Who are we going to call?’ Will asked.

  ‘There’s an emergency channel,’ Annalie said, glaring at Will. ‘It’s worth a try.’

  Essie tried, but then looked disappointed. ‘Oh. No signal.’

  ‘Story of our lives,’ Will said. ‘Are they gaining on us?’

  ‘Yep,’ Pod said, returning with the two big guns. ‘Who wants one?’

  ‘Me!’ Will said.

  ‘Who’s going to steer the boat?’ objected Annalie.

  ‘You,’ Will said, reaching for a gun. ‘Now, how does this work?’

  Annalie took the wheel as the two boys studied the guns.

  ‘It’s been a while since I…’ Pod murmured, turning it over. He accidentally released the clip, which fell onto the deck.

  ‘Outlaw Pod,’ Graham taunted. Pod ignored him.

  ‘Is that the ammo? How much have we got?’ Will asked.

  ‘Some,’ Pod said, reaching for the other gun and checking that clip too. ‘Not a huge amount.’

  ‘Did you get any more clips?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Why not?’

  ‘If I’d seen any I would have taken them,’ Pod retorted huffily. ‘Maybe they didn’t bring any with them on the boat. And I didn’t really want to go through their pockets in case they woke up again.’

  ‘Okay, fine,’ Will said. ‘So how exactly do I use this?’

  The three boats were in open water now, fanning out to surround them on all sides and try to drive them back into the debris, where the pirates would have the advantage.

  ‘What’s the play?’ Annalie called to Will, as Pod hurried below with one of the guns to lie in wait in the saloon.

  ‘Keep sailing and don’t stop,’ Will said, concealing himself under a tarp on deck.

  Annalie did her best, running with the wind in the forlorn hope of evading their pursuers, but the three pirate boats could not be outrun. Soon the Sunfish was surrounded, and the three little boats were cutting across their bow while the men in them shouted and yelled and brandished their weapons.

  ‘I think they want us to stop,’ Annalie said.

  ‘Don’t,’ Will said from under the tarp. ‘Why make it easier for them?’

  They surged on; there was a good wind
behind them and the sails pulled them eagerly forwards. But it was not enough; the pirates kept zigzagging across, coming so close that Annalie was convinced they would collide with the Sunfish. The pirate boats had metal hulls; a collision would almost certainly be worse for the Sunfish than for the pirates. One of them skimmed so close to their bow that Annalie could almost hear them scraping.

  ‘They’re going to take us down!’ she cried.

  ‘They’re just trying to scare you,’ Will said. ‘Don’t let them!’ He grinned at her. ‘If they want my boat, they’re going to have to work for it!’

  ‘If they want whose boat?’ Annalie retorted.

  Closer they came, closer and closer, and the guns waved and the men shouted but still no shots had been fired, and still the Sunfish sailed on, further and further from the coast of Brundisi, and Annalie began to hope that perhaps they might be able to keep running long enough for the pirates to get sick of it and give up. But of course, pirates didn’t give up.

  ‘Annalie!’ Essie shrieked. ‘Look!’

  One of the little boats had swung close enough to let a pirate leap from the moving dinghy directly onto the ladder at the back.

  He was on deck in a flash, and his rifle—just like the one Will held—was pointed directly at Annalie. He shouted something, which was probably ‘Surrender, or I’ll shoot.’ Annalie, watching him cautiously, slowly took her hands off the wheel and put them in the air.

  The pirate, who was short and wiry and had a red bandana tied around his head, grinned at her and began advancing, step by step, towards the wheel. He shouted something to the other pirates, who were circling in closer now.

  Essie stood there in an agony of fear, waiting for Will to make his move. If he was going to take on the pirate, shouldn’t he do it now?

  But Will held on, waiting for his moment. He knew he could only surprise them once. If he broke cover too soon, it could all be over very quickly.

  Red Bandana shouted something over his shoulder. His dinghy came circling in towards the Sunfish again, and soon the pirates were tying up so more of them could come aboard. Red Bandana turned back to Annalie and Essie and shouted something else, pointing at the sails.

  ‘I think he wants us to take the sails down,’ Essie said.

  ‘Yep,’ Annalie said.

  ‘Should we?’

  ‘He’s got the gun.’

  Unwillingly, Annalie and Essie set to work on the sails. They made slow progress—working at gunpoint was terrifying and Essie’s hands were shaking so much she could hardly control them.

  A second pirate came aboard, then a third. The second wore a jaunty blue hat, and he said in accented Duxish, ‘How many you?’

  ‘It’s just us,’ Annalie said.

  Blue Hat and Red Bandana shared an evil grin. ‘Nice boat,’ Blue Hat said. ‘I think I keep.’

  He turned to the third, bearded pirate and spoke to him in his own language. Beardy came towards the girls, and for a moment they both froze, afraid of what he might be about to do, but he simply pushed them out of the way and began to take down the sails. He had arms like knotted ropes; in his hands, the sails would be down in minutes.

  ‘What are you going to do with us?’ Annalie asked, trying to keep the other pirates distracted.

  ‘You got money?’

  ‘Yes,’ Essie said quickly. ‘I mean, my father does.’

  ‘Where he?’ asked Blue Hat. ‘He here? Brundisi?’

  ‘Back in Dux,’ Essie said. ‘He’s very rich.’

  ‘He better be,’ Blue Hat said.

  Blue Hat turned and gave Red Bandana an order. Red Bandana grabbed Annalie and began to tie her hands behind her back. Annalie struggled, but the pirate was too strong for her. In no time, she was tied up tight, and Red Bandana was lashing her to the mast, where there could be no chance of her making any trouble. Then he went back for Essie.

  Will, what’s taking you so long? Annalie wondered, as Red Bandana began tying Essie up too.

  Will was still lying concealed, his gun at the ready, trying to decide what to do. There had been three pirates on the first dinghy. From what he could glimpse of the other two dinghies, which were now cruising beside the Sunfish, there were no more than three in either of those—that meant nine pirates in all. He could feel the Sunfish slowing as the sails came down, one by one. Nine pirates wasn’t so many, right? He and Pod could handle nine of them between them, couldn’t they? Especially since they still had the element of surprise.

  An engine roared nearby, and he realised the second dinghy was coming alongside. Three more pirates came aboard and conferred with the first group. They looked at the girls tied to the mast and discussed them for a while. Then Blue Hat turned to Annalie and said, ‘Just you two on boat, right?’

  ‘That’s right,’ Annalie said.

  ‘We don’t like surprises,’ Blue Hat warned.

  Two of the second group of pirates went to the door that led below. They were going down to check the saloon.

  Will clutched his gun a little tighter, feeling a surge of adrenalin. As soon as they discovered Pod, it would all be on.

  Pod stood behind the door to the cabin he shared with Will, the stolen gun in his hands, waiting. It felt rather strange to be in this position. The last time he’d held a gun, he had been a pirate, and part of a boarding party just like this one.

  Before he joined the crew of the Sunfish, Pod had been a reluctant pirate—it had seemed a better fate than being stuck in a dark, stinking slaver’s ship, and at least on a pirate ship he had a job, and the possibility of a future. He had not wanted to be in the business of hunting down boats, stripping them of everything of value, and then ransoming their crews. But you couldn’t say ‘Actually, I’d rather not’ to your pirate master, so during the year he’d spent with the pirates, he’d picked up a gun and learned how to use it, climbed on boats just like this one, and made himself useful working through holds and cabins and lockers searching for valuables. He remembered exactly how terrifying it was, creeping around some boat you didn’t know, never knowing who or what might be lying in wait. Once or twice he’d even had to defend himself against grown-ups twice his size. Fortunately, he’d lived to tell the tale, and only had one knife scar to show for it. But he’d never actually fired a gun in anger. He’d shot at things for practice, of course. His master had insisted on it, making him shoot at targets over and over again until he could hit a mark without messing it up. But an actual person? Never.

  When he had joined the Sunfish, he’d hoped all that was behind him. Yet now here he was, lying in wait, with a gun in his hand.

  He could hear them all moving around above, shouting to one another. He’d heard the second group of pirates come aboard—more feet, more shouting. Any moment now, he knew, they would come downstairs. And then he’d have to decide what to do.

  ‘Pod ready?’ Graham croaked. He was perched on the bed, watching him. ‘Kill pirates?’

  ‘I’d rather not have to kill anyone,’ Pod said. ‘You stay out of the way, okay? I don’t want you getting caught in the crossfire.’

  ‘Graham fast.’

  ‘Yeah, but bullets are faster.’

  Something creaked.

  ‘This is it,’ Pod whispered.

  He peered through the crack between the cabin door and the wall.

  A pirate in a yellow shirt was coming down the stairs and into the saloon; a second pirate in green right behind him. They crept down cautiously, guns at the ready, sizing up the place. Pod studied them; they were armed with hunting knives as well as guns, and they were barefoot. Yellow Shirt pointed to the cabin door opposite; Green Shirt quickly slammed it open and looked in. Empty. Green Shirt threw open the door to the heads next. Empty. Then he turned to the last cabin door. Pod’s door.

  Pod got his gun into position; his finger on the trigger. He took a step back from the door, knowing they would smash it open.

  Slam! The door opened.

  Bang! Pod fired.

&nbs
p; Bullets blasted in a ghastly spray and the pirates crashed to the floor. Pod jumped over them and ran into the saloon, not really wanting to know what his gun had done to them. He could already hear shouting and screaming from above. He took a big glass coffee pot from a locker in the galley and smashed it on the floor so that glass went everywhere. Then he turned back to the pirates. Green Shirt wasn’t moving at all. Yellow Shirt was moaning and writhing. Pod looked around for something to tie them up with, but couldn’t find anything easily to hand and he was afraid that more pirates could come down the stairs at any moment. Giving up on that idea—for now, at least—he fought grimly with Yellow Shirt for his weapons. Yellow Shirt fought hard, but he was bleeding a lot and he seemed confused. Pod got hold of both guns, both knives, then pushed both pirates into the cabin, slammed the door and locked it from the outside. The cabin doors had been designed to be sealable in the case of a hull breach, so he knew they were pretty securely locked away, at least until someone came along to let them out.

  He took the confiscated guns and knives and hid them. Then he went behind the cabin door again to wait for the next wave.

  ‘You said no more people!’ Blue Hat shouted, running at Annalie. Red Bandana had his gun pointed right up in her face. ‘How many? How many?’

  Annalie scrinched away from the gun, still tied to the mast, and at last Will saw his moment.

  ‘Wouldn’t you like to know?’ he shouted, jumping to his feet. He pointed his gun at Red Bandana and pulled the trigger. The gun’s powerful action caught him by surprise and it jerked in his hands, spraying bullets haphazardly across the deck. Red Bandana spun and fell, clipped by a bullet, but Blue Hat and Beardy were unharmed.

  Beardy pointed his own gun at Will.

  ‘Drop the gun, kid!’ Blue Hat said, but Will wasn’t done yet. He took a better grip on his weapon and tried again—but this time, nothing happened. He squeezed the trigger again. Still nothing happened. The gun had jammed.

  Panic flooded through Will in a black tide, and Blue Hat grinned. ‘Tie him up, too,’ he ordered.

  Beardy came towards Will, who backed away all the way up to the railing. Then an idea struck him—and he flipped himself over the railing and into the water.

  Blue Hat shouted in fury and ran to the railing to see where Will had gone.