Rachel Golden and the Retriever of Sin (14 page)

When the others had settled down she made an excuse about needing some fresh air, and stepped out onto the deck of the shack. She buried her hands deep in the pockets of her fleece and turned away from the cold sea wind. Drops of salt spray found their way down the back of her neck and she shivered. She took out the photograph of her dad again and looked at it in glow from one of the windows. Ugh. She’d even let her dad down too. What would he think of his daughter, the daughter he’d never known, if he knew that she’d messed things up so badly on her first ever mission?

She wasn’t even a
real
Hero yet, and now it was likely that she never would be. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the shack door opening. She jumped at the touch of a hand on her shoulder, but relaxed when she saw it was Kel. Her gaze fell to the floor, not wanting him to look at her. AND she was crying again, for like the fourth time that night. He must think she was a complete baby; a zero loser of a non-Hero.

‘I’m sorry, Rachel,’ he said, so quietly that she almost couldn’t hear him above the howling wind. She looked at him, confused, and he reached out and touched her face. Her eyes were shining with tears in the soft light from the window, and with his fingertips he gently lifted her face. He leaned down and kissed her lips, barely touching them with his, a warm tender and loving kiss. She melted into his arms.

Fifty feet away, on the beach, four red eyes burned in the darkness. Restless hooves pawed at the sand, and bright orange flames erupted into the night.

BY THE TIME THE SUN HAD RISEN THE NEXT MORNING, the Hero party and Crabs were well underway. The day was bright and fresh, and the wandering albatross wheeled above them in the clear blue sky, high above the salt spray of the ocean. Hopeful seagulls followed the small boat as it cut through the waves under the power of its sail. Rachel wrapped her fingers around her tin cup of coffee for warmth, and Ros was leaning over side, snapping at whitecaps.

She had not exactly been
ignoring
Kel, but things were definitely a little awkward since he’d kissed her on the deck of the shack last night. She risked a sideways glance at him but he was staring into the distance. WHY did he have to go and do that right then? As if her head was not already full enough; what with losing the pocket watch, finding out that her dad had been on this very same Altworld, running into Kel’s (
possibly
ex-) girlfriend, and being gored and kidnapped. Oh and also being hunted by murderous fire-breathing unicorns because a talking cat had turned her hand red.

So needless to say, she hadn’t got much sleep the night before. It felt like she’d barely nodded off when suddenly she was being shaken awake for a breakfast of porridge and coffee. On the plus side, Crabs seemed like a completely different person this morning, compared to his freak-out self from the night before.

Though the bipolar change was a little disconcerting, like he realized he had overreacted and was trying too hard to be nice. Rachel had eyed him warily as he ate his porridge with (gag) salt and walrus butter. Still, it seemed like he was saving their asses right now.

They had left an hour before dawn in the little boat, and the current and a strong breeze had helped them get about eight miles up the coast before it got light. They had been able to see the Dark Ones’ eyes and fiery snorts in the darkness, so knew they weren’t being followed. At least by
them
. Whether or not the Overlords were watching them was a different matter. Crabs had steered the small craft close into the cliff face to their right, in the hope of providing some cover, but that meant running a dangerous gauntlet of avoiding the jagged rocks at its base.

‘Not far now,’ Crabs called from the stern of the boat where he was operating the tiller. Rachel looked across at Kel just as he turned around, and they both looked away hurriedly. Ugh.
Why
did he have to kiss her last night? Was that what their friendship was going to be from now on? Awkward glances and uncomfortable silence?

But she had… liked the kiss. She felt her cheeks flush at the memory of it. Although she really didn’t know how she felt about Kel. She risked another glance in his direction and saw the muscles of his back through his T-shirt. And the way the wind was blowing his hair across his face was definitely quite hot. She shook herself to snap out of it. She really shouldn’t be thinking like that, not when they were on the run for their lives in the middle of a dangerous mission.

Yup, things were complicated now. She hadn’t even realized she’d had feelings for Kel until the day before. When that Caroline slut had kissed him… She felt her hands curl into fists at the memory, then had to do breathing exercises to calm down. Easy, Rachel, she said to herself. Quick, say something Crabs to take your mind off it.

‘Not far to where?’ she asked, turning to the old man. ‘You never told us where we’re going. And shouldn’t you be making us invisible? The sun’s been up for a while now.’

Crabs took a swig from his own tin cup (they’d brought a large Thermos of coffee from the shack) and squinted at the sun. It hadn’t risen far above the horizon yet. ‘I wouldn’t worry just yet, girl,’ he said. ‘If they’re watching, they’re probably still looking at the roof of my shack, or their pet Dark Ones. I shouldn’t think they’ll know we’re gone yet. And my first mate Mr. Ross is keeping an eye out from above.’ He nodded upward in the direction of the circling bird, who hadn’t flapped his wings once in the two hours since taking off.

Ros looked up too, then back at Crabs. ‘Let me guess,’ he said, ‘Mr. Ross’s first name is Albert?’

‘You got it lad,’ the old sailor said, winking at the dog. Rachel rolled her eyes and Assorted Colors snickered. Everyone was a frickin’ comedian on this boat. Crabs squinted at something not far off, and told Kel to take down the sail. ‘We’re here,’ he said, pointing to a dark shape in the cliff face.

‘Here’ turned out to be cave. ‘This is
it
?’ Rachel asked, as the boat grounded itself on the pebbly shore. ‘This is your idea of invisible?’ Kel had jumped out and was dragging the boat ashore. ‘This is just a cave.’

‘Not a cave, lass,’ Crabs said, unloading things to Kel. ‘A tunnel. And if you can’t be seen from above, you’re invisible to the Overlords. Since getting yourself that fancy red hand, your travel options have become fairly limited.’

Rachel climbed out of the boat and tried to peer into the blackness of the cave. She couldn’t see more than 20 feet inside. This was beginning to seem like a crazy idea. ‘Okaay,’ she said, trying not to sound skeptical, ‘where does it come out then?’

Crabs was unpacking a duffel bag and handing items to Kel. There were lanterns and a couple of canteens, some food wrapped up in cloth (please not walrus meat, Rachel thought) and a few other useful-looking items.

‘It comes out south of the castle,’ he said, straightening up and out of breath. ‘They used this tunnel to bring stone from the cliffs to build it. There were rails in there for mine carts at one point, but this tunnel hasn’t been used in hundreds of years. That we know of. No telling what’s in there now.’

Rachel peered into the gloom of the shaft and tried not to think about what
could
be in there now. It was roughly circular, maybe 10 feet in diameter—big enough to conceal some pretty large Altworld creatures. Ones that liked dark, damp places…

The old man sat down on a rock and started filling his pipe. He kept looking at Rachel out of the corner of his eye, like he wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure how. Rachel wondered if it was about him flipping out on her over the watch. He lit the pipe, and seemed to make up his mind.

‘Rachel,’ he said, and she was shocked as this was the first time he’d called her anything other than ‘girl’ or ‘lass’, ‘there’s something you need to know about the castle.’ Oh? This was… unsettling. Ros and Kel and AC all gathered around to hear.

‘When I was watching you in the globe before, when that kid Toby grabbed you, he mentioned a man called El.’ Rachel nodded slowly. Something about Crabs’ tone was creeping her out. She didn’t like the way this was going. ‘I know El. I’ve been on this Altworld for about 13 years now, since just before I, uh, stopped being a Guide.’

Rachel saw Kel looking at her out of the corner of her eye. Yeah, she’d caught it too, the way he’d said ‘stopped being a guide’, not retired or whatever. Something was definitely fishy, and it wasn’t the contents of their of their packed lunch.

He continued: ‘El and your father… They had dealings. I think—and I really shouldn’t be telling you this—that El was the reason your dad went on his last mission. Whatever El was doing, and whatever went wrong, that was the reason your dad didn’t come back.’

Rachel put her hand to her mouth. It was shaking. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. This El guy, the one that had tried to kidnap her and Kel, the one that was working with the unicorn Overlords, had known and possibly
killed
her father?? She stood up and paced the tunnel entrance, feeling lightheaded and nauseous. This couldn’t be happening.

‘Rachel, wait—’ Crabs said, rising to his feet, but she held up her hand to stop him. And Crabs or Crabtree or whatever the hell he was called was only telling her this NOW? Right before she was going off to the castle where El was waiting for her?

‘Don’t,’ she said, still pacing, cheeks flushed with anger. ‘Just… don’t. I need a minute here.’ She turned around and walked up the beach, away from the rest of them. She got out of earshot of the group and found a rock to sit on. Her stomach had that hollow feeling, like she’d just been given a bad fright, and thought—again—that this couldn’t be real.

How had her life changed so dramatically in the past few days? There were so many emotions running through her right then. She’d seen some of the biggest highs and the worst lows of her life, all in the space of a handful of hours. She had thoughts and feelings about her dad, about Kel, about this so-called Hero life she’d been given without asking. And so much weight had been put on her shoulders. If she was to believe it, if she was to believe
any
of this, then her life, and Kel’s life, and possibly the fate of the world was resting on whether or not she could complete this stupid mission.

She grabbed a rock and hurled it into the ocean as hard as she could. High above her Mr. Ross screeched, and that’s when she started to laugh. At first it was a short burst, like it hadn’t decided whether or not it was going to be a laugh or a sob. But no. She’d cried enough in the past few days. Now it was time to laugh or go crazy. She threw her head back laughed out loud, hard and long until tears rolled down her cheeks, but these were good tears.

And really, what could she do about it? She laughed some more and calmed herself, breathing the ocean air deeply. Nothing, was what she could do about it, except try her best. For herself, for her dad, and for Kel and the others. F it, she thought. Time to cowboy up and grab this Altworld by the globes. And so El had something to do with her dad dying? Good. She was going to find out what, then put her foot so far up his ass he’d be able to taste what she’d stepped in. She wiped her cheeks and stood up, still grinning, and saw Kel standing there watching her.

‘Rach,’ he said, looking a little embarrassed. ‘I, uh, heard you… laughing?’ He looked like he wasn’t at all sure
what
he’d heard, ‘And came to see if you’re alright.’

She grinned at him. ‘I am now,’ she said. ‘Just needed to go a little crazy there for a second.’ He nodded, looking like he didn’t want to make any sudden moves in case she went for him. Another thing her mini freak-out had done was clear her mind. She walked up to the Safeguarder, threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. He was too stunned at first to react, but soon his hands were around her waist and he was kissing her back. She felt that same warmth and safety as she’d felt the night before.

When they finally stopped to breathe, she let go of him and grinned again. ‘Come on Kelsey,’ she said, playfully, ‘we’ve got worlds to save.’

***

After he had left them at the cave mouth, the old man known as Crabs rowed and sailed laboriously against the current back to his shack on the sea. The sun was well up and it was nearly ten in the morning by the time he made it.

As he moored the boat to one of the pilings, the two black unicorns on the beach snorted and whinnied in anger. They pawed at the sand, trotting back and forth along the wash of the waves, not seeming to want to put a hoof in the water. One reared up on its hind legs and shot a 20 foot jet of orange flame from its nostrils.

‘Sorry fellas,’ the old man said as he climbed the rusted iron ladder back to his shack. At the top Mr. Ross made a graceful(-ish) landing next to him, snapping his foot long beak. Crabs looked back at the shore and saw the two Dark Ones galloping away up the dunes. ‘Cup of tea, Mr. Ross?’ he asked, and the bird cawed.

Once inside, and tea made, Crabs sat drumming his fingers on the table. He kept shooting nervous glances at the bag of buoys hanging from his wall. He got up and stoked his pot belly stove, then used an ember from it to light his pipe. The albatross chattered his beak at the old man. ‘Don’t you talk to me like that, Mr. Ross. Don’t you think I don’t know that?’

He harrumphed and paced the little shack some more, hobbling on his possibly wooden leg. Finally he seemed to make up his mind. He crossed the room to the bag of buoys and took out the milky-colored one.

He set it down on his rough little table, waved a hand over it and muttered a few words. The hazy figure of a man appeared in it. ‘Well?’ it asked, in a small and faraway voice.

Crabs sighed. ‘They’re on their way,’ he said. ‘And… and she’s lost the watch.’ He held his breath as if waiting to be yelled at, but there was just a moment of silence before the image in the globe faded without another word. Mr. Ross the albatross chattered his beak again. Crabs turned to him, a worried look in his eyes. ‘I know, old friend. I know.’