The Promised One Read online

  ‘Come on, you little toerag – time to go to your kennel!’ He dragged her over to the nearest hut, opened the door and gave her a violent shove. She tripped over the doorstep and fell headlong into the dark, hitting her head on the far wall. It was just eight weeks since she had fractured her skull in the accident. There was a shattering surge of pain through her head and then everything went black.

  Pollard looked down at her inert body.

  ‘Come on,’ he sneered, poking her with his foot. ‘I haven’t got time for your stupid tricks – get up!’ He bent down and shook her impatiently, then he saw her deathly pallor and blood trickling through her hair from her operation scar. Suddenly he panicked. He was aware that Chopper and Sam wanted the twins to interrogate her. If she died … Pollard ran his tongue over his dry lips; he knew without a shadow of doubt who would be the next to go. He rushed out of the hut to fetch some water, soaked his filthy handkerchief and then knelt beside her, dabbing frantically at the blood oozing from her scalp. He slapped her cheeks.

  ‘Come on, kid,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I didn’t mean no harm!’ It was no use; she was deeply unconscious and seemed to be barely breathing. Pollard stumbled out and locked the door behind him. He went and sat in his hut and opened another beer while he tried to think what to do. His cabin-mate Barker was over in the workshop repairing a saw, which was good; Pollard didn’t want anyone to know what had happened.

  A few moments after Pollard had left, Lucy gradually regained consciousness. She had a splitting headache and it took her some time to recall where she was and what had happened. Then everything came flooding back to her and she knew she must speak to the animals at once. She tried to switch on her beacon and then made a dreadful discovery. Try as she might she couldn’t make her power work. Her blood ran cold as the terrible situation she was in gradually dawned on her. She realized that until now she had been apprehensive but in control, utterly confident in the protection the animals would provide for her. Now, for the first time since her capture, she was truly terrified – a lonely, helpless little girl in the hands of a ruthless gang who were going to do frightful things to her and then kill her. If her father were still alive they would kill him too, when he reappeared. She tried desperately again and again to talk to the animals but nothing happened. Then the hut seemed to start spinning round her, faster and faster, and she lapsed back into unconsciousness.

  Meanwhile Pollard had finished his beer and plucked up the courage to have another look at Lucy – maybe the kid had just fainted, he tried to reassure himself. He opened her door and saw to his horror that she was lying just as he had left her. His heart sank as he decided he must have killed her. Tomorrow he would have to face Sam and he knew there was no way he was going to believe the kid had fallen over while trying to escape. He fingered his throat nervously: he knew, as did everyone in the company, Sam’s favourite method of disposing of those who had outlived their usefulness. He had a bad night.

  Sam, in contrast, had a very good night. He woke up at sunrise following a long and refreshing sleep after his nerve-racking flight worrying about the spider on the plane. It had been extraordinarily active, hiding for a while and then suddenly darting out towards him when he least expected it. He’d had the feeling that the girl had been amused by the whole thing – he’d turned round once or twice and caught her trying to hide a smile. It even crossed his mind that she might have brought it on to the plane but he dismissed the thought as being too fanciful. Well, the twins would soon wipe the smile off her face and the sooner the better. He was looking forward to handing her over to them as soon as they got back.

  Across in the next cabin Lucy had woken with a bad headache but she felt much better than the night before. She immediately tried again to switch on her beacon but nothing happened. She realized that the blow on her head must have somehow affected her power, and the thought that it might never return made her intensely depressed. Then she heard Pollard at the door. He had got up early and crept to her hut for a final check on her while the others were still asleep. She huddled, trembling, into a corner as he came in. He was almost sick with relief to find her still alive.

  ‘It’s all right,’ he said. ‘Just came to check you’re OK.’ His eyes narrowed for an instant, then he put on the nearest thing to a smile he could manage:

  ‘About your little accident last night – I saw you trip. I expect you were a bit tired after your flight.’ Despite her terror Lucy sensed that the man was uneasy and suddenly realized why. She looked straight at him and lifted her chin.

  ‘I wasn’t tired and it wasn’t an accident,’ she said as firmly as she could. ‘You pushed me!’

  ‘Well,’ he replied nervously, ‘I might’ve bumped into you in the dark but I didn’t mean nothin’. No need to mention it to anyone, eh?’ As soon as he spoke she knew her instincts had been right: he was terrified of Sam. She thought quickly and felt a tiny spark of hope – she could use this awful man to gain a little time.

  ‘That depends,’ she said, more boldly, deliberately fingering the dried blood and large bruise she could feel on her head. ‘Maybe you should tell them I’m very ill with a temperature and it would be a waste of time trying to question me before I’m better. Oh – and I’m very thirsty and can I have some pills for my headache?’

  Pollard and Lucy understood each other perfectly. In a little while he returned with several cans of Coke and some painkillers.

  ‘I’ve told Sam you’ve got a fever – probably malaria. The others have just radioed to say they’ve been delayed and won’t be back till tomorrow anyway.’

  When he had gone Lucy heaved a sigh of relief. She had another day to try to think of something. By the afternoon her head felt a little better. Pollard brought her some food and more painkillers, and a bowl of water so she could clean the matted blood from her hair. She despised him for his apparent concern, which she knew was only to save his own neck. When he had gone she felt well enough to start looking around for a means of escape but after a while her heart sank. The hut was built of stout planks and the roof was bolted on. The window was made of sturdy wire mesh nailed to the wood and she could barely shake it, never mind think of prising it free. The door was barred on the outside and there was no way she could escape without help. She finally fell asleep, worn out by fear and physical exhaustion.

  The next day Pollard continued to bring her food and drink. Sam looked in once and Lucy pretended not to recognize him, as if delirious with fever. She twisted from side to side and moaned pitifully. Sam withdrew rapidly – he didn’t want to catch anything nasty. She spent the rest of the day wondering when the twins would come and towards evening she went and stood at the window mesh, dreading any signs of their return.

  As she strained her eyes in the fading light, her face was pressed close to the wood next to the mesh. It had been treated with creosote – a strong preservative to protect the wood from being attacked by insects – and soon the irritant smell made her give an enormous sneeze. It shook her head violently and as it did so she felt something go click inside, and instantly she heard the myriad sounds of the forest animals. Suddenly there was complete silence and she was immediately aware of intense excitement among the animals captured in the camp and in the surrounding forest as they sensed the switching on of her power. A thrill ran through her when she heard a deep and awesome voice that could only be that of a jaguar.

  ‘Welcome, O Promised One. You have travelled many leagues across the mighty jungle to reach us and we have been concerned about your silence. We await your instructions.’

  Lucy could have wept with relief at having recovered her ability to talk to the animals but she knew that there was no time to lose. In the plane she had thought long and hard about her strategy when reaching the camp and now, at last, she was able to put her plans into action. She had been impressed by the monkeys she had spoken to in Macapá and had decided, if she could, to speak to the monkeys at Cayman Creek. She would need their help to release th
e captive jaguars, to escape herself and to find out what had happened to her father. If he were still alive they could then set about bringing Chopper and his gang to justice and plan to return home. She started by replying to the jaguar who had called her.

  ‘Thank you, O Lord of the Jungle. I have been unwell and unable to speak until now. To free you I must seek help from the arborikin and others and will speak to you again soon. Are you all able to survive in the forest?’ She knew that because of the terrible things Song might have done to the creatures, some might be in need of veterinary care before they could survive unaided.

  ‘All of us can walk,’ the jaguar replied, ‘but some are grievously hurt and cannot hunt.’

  ‘When you escape, the injured must hide in the forest and, though I know the junglefang normally lives alone, the fit must bring food to those who cannot hunt. I have to go away, but when I return the evil ones will soon be gone and I will then bring help to your injured kin.’

  ‘It shall be done as you say, O Great One.’

  Lucy then called the monkeys.

  ‘Hallo, O Agile Ones of the trees!’ Several monkey voices replied immediately and Lucy sensed the feverish desire to assist that her arrival had created.

  ‘Who is the wisest among you?’ she asked.

  ‘I am she,’ replied one of the monkeys. ‘Welcome to you, O Promised One. What are your wishes?’

  ‘I have many requests,’ said Lucy. ‘First I must find my father. He left here with one other Tailless One in a thunderquill two moons ago. I fear the thunderquill may have become injured and fallen into the forest. How can I find it?’

  ‘We need the assistance of the fledgiquills in this matter. The best of their kin for your quest would be –’ here Lucy detected a slight tremor in the monkey’s voice ‘– the great hunter of the forest known as the arboribane for he flies far and wide above the trees.’

  ‘I will speak to him,’ said Lucy, immediately sensing that this was not a task the monkeys would relish. The arboribane was clearly a monkeybane; a hawk or eagle that preyed on them. ‘… but there are other favours that I would beg of you and your kin. When the sun sleeps, and after all the evil ones have returned and are asleep, you must free the junglefangs from their enclosures and release me from this prison. First, though, you must creep into the huts of the evil ones and remove all their thunder-sticks – of these some will be long and some will be short. Each has a rod with a hole in it; if you hold it only by this rod it will remain silent and you will come to no harm.’ ‘Then,’ she continued, ‘a large arachnopod should stand inside the door of he who came with me yesterday and the Malevolent Ones should guard the doors of the others. Without their thunder-sticks the evil ones will fear to pass these creatures and will not disturb us as we leave. We will need to travel on the water in the house that floats.’

  ‘All shall be done as you say, O She Who Speaks. Now you must rest. Have no fear from this moment; none shall harm you while we watch.’

  Lucy then called the monkeybane.

  ‘O great fledgiquill that is known as the arboribane, I seek your help.’ Within seconds a new voice replied. It sounded like a rusty saw.

  ‘Speak your will, O Promised One.’

  Lucy explained about her father, the pilot and the plane.

  ‘I shall go and seek the Paterpromise,’ said the harpy eagle, ‘but I may need the help of my cousins, the great soariquills from the far mountains of the south and west. For they can fly where I cannot, even unto the Brilliant One, and their eyes see that which no others can. Fare thee well.’

  Lucy lay on her bed. Just two months ago in this situation she would have been absolutely terrified of lizards, spiders, ants and other creatures, and would have inspected every inch of her hut and bed. Now she felt that the entire animal kingdom was on her side and, for the first time, was aware of the enormity of the power she wielded. She had heard that all power corrupts and also sensed how her own power could be used to wicked ends if she so chose. She resolved at that moment never, ever, to use this strange and precious gift except in the service of mankind and the rest of the animal kingdom and the planet.

  She thought about her safety instructions to the monkeys. She had never handled a real rifle or pistol but she was fairly certain that if the creatures touched only the barrel of any weapon they would not discharge it. As always at such moments she imagined what her sister would have to say, and she could hear in her imagination Clare pointing out that it wouldn’t be too good for the image of the Promised One if, as a result of her advice, the chief monkey shot herself in the foot.

  Long after nightfall she heard the twins return with their party and the roaring of the jaguar they brought with them.

  ‘We should make a packet from the stuff off this one,’ she heard one of the men say, and wondered what was special about the prize they had captured.

  ‘Be silent, junglefang,’ she called to the jaguar, ‘for after this sunsleep you will be free.’

  The great cat immediately fell silent and after it had been caged the men went to eat their supper. At one point Lucy heard one of them coming to look through her window but she pretended to be asleep and after a while he went away. She heard coarse laughter from around the campfire and guessed that they were discussing her interrogation the next day. How she would have felt but for the protection of the animals she did not dare even to contemplate. Soon, thinking of her family, she fell asleep, tired out by her long journey, the relief of recovering her power and the excitement of her exchanges with the animals.

  10

  An Uncomfortable Day at the Creek

  ‘Awake, O Promised One!’ Lucy woke with a start. She had been in the middle of a complicated dream in which she had been flying over the jungle on the back of an eagle, looking for her father’s crashed plane. She remembered instantly where she was and looked out of the mesh window. Dawn was just breaking but the moon was still clearly visible in the early morning sky. As night gave way to day the sounds of the jungle changed as the creatures of the day awoke to resume their incessant business of life and death. The voice that spoke to her was new but it sounded like a large creature.

  ‘The arborikin have already removed all the thunder-sticks; the evil ones remain asleep and all is well,’ said the voice. ‘Now stand back, O Promised One, away from the door. Do you hear me?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Lucy. ‘I am ready.’

  The next moment giant claws splintered their way between two of the planks from which the door was made. The door was then wrenched off its hinges in a single movement.

  Lucy gaped at the creature facing her. She had seen pictures of giant anteaters and knew that they could tear chunks out of termite mounds as hard as concrete, but to see this power in action was simply devastating.

  ‘Thank you, O Great Claws,’ was all she could think to say.

  ‘We must now make haste,’ said the anteater. ‘Follow me and I will lead you to the arborikin.’ Lucy grabbed Maria’s bag and an empty water bottle and followed the amazing creature. Soon they passed some empty compounds with large holes excavated under the fences.

  ‘The junglefangs have all escaped,’ said the anteater, by way of explanation. Lucy wondered what creature could have dug such holes so quickly but, before she could ask, they reached the edge of the river where a group of monkeys waited, a pile of guns on the ground beside them.

  ‘Welcome, Promised One,’ said the eldest female. ‘The crawlibane has done well to free you and bring you here. He will now return to the forest.’ Lucy bade her saviour farewell and he disappeared into the trees.

  ‘What is your desire now?’ the monkey continued, reaching for Lucy’s bag and giving it to a younger monkey to carry. ‘All that you previously commanded is done.’

  ‘Thank you all for your help,’ said Lucy. ‘You are obedient and brave. Now we must obtain many of these from the hut where none sleep, for I fear that the water in the river may harm me.’ She held up the empty water bottle and imm
ediately a detachment of monkeys left to raid the store hut. The large female led Lucy to a boat moored at the bank.

  ‘Here is the house that floats,’ she said. ‘We shall use this for the first part of our journey. It will take us quickly through the jungle along the water-that-always-flows and far from this place. I fear the harm the evil ones may do to you, even without their sticks of fire and despite the Malevolent Ones and the arachnopod who wait in guard as you instructed.’

  As she spoke there was a rustling sound in the forest clearing next to the river bank and Lucy turned in alarm. She peered apprehensively, her eyes straining to see what was there against the inky blackness of the jungle background. She gradually became aware of dozens of jostling shapes, and now and then caught the dull glint of a tusk in the pale dawn light. It was a seemingly endless herd of wild pigs and Lucy remembered a final request she had made to the monkey queen.

  ‘The snortikin are here,’ said the monkey, ‘and will do as you have commanded.’ She looked a little mystified as she spoke and they both watched as the peccaries moved on towards the sleeping camp. Lucy couldn’t suppress a grin at the thought of telling Clare and Sarah of the final farewell she had planned for the Sawyer brothers and their gang of ruffians. The monkey pulled her back to the present.

  ‘We must make haste, for soon the Brilliant One will awake from his slumber.’ Lucy gazed into the sky where the clouds were now glowing pink on the horizon. She climbed into the boat.

  ‘The Promised One should start the tail that roars.’ The monkey was sitting on the side of the boat and clearly expecting Lucy to start the outboard motor which was flipped up out of the water, its propeller reflecting the rosy light from the east. Lucy went over to it. It was locked upright in some way that she couldn’t discern and looked awfully heavy – the prospects of her unlocking the motor and getting it started were definitely zero.