CHAPTER THIRTY SIX

Andrew blocked all the light as he came through the door into the brig.

Tom had sat down on a coil of rope, with his hands folded and squeezed between his legs. He didn’t know where to look. At school, if you looked at Andrew, he would accuse you of staring. He would make out that you were the aggressor and use that as justification for bludgeoning you. On the other hand, if you ignored him, Andrew might leave you alone, or he might not. Coin toss. With just the two of them in this tiny prison, what was the bully to victim protocol? Should he look at Andrew or avert his eyes?

When the door opened, letting in the rectangle of light, Tom couldn’t help but look. Andrew stood in the doorway, blinking his eyes to adjust them to the sallow light.

Adjusting, Tom moved his legs and Andrew saw the movement.

‘Who is in here?’

From outside the brig came the voice of Fox.

‘You don’t need to know who is in the brig. Just go in and mind your own business.’

‘Who is there?’ said Andrew.

Although Tom didn’t want to answer, he knew that Andrew's eyes would adjust shortly, and he would recognise Tom, and he would be cranky as shite that Tom hadn’t identified himself.

‘Its Tom in here.’

‘Tom, from school?’

‘The same.’

Andrew took a stumbling step into the brig after someone (probably Fox) shoved him, and he bumped his head on the roof, then fell on his knees against a coil of rope. He swore.

Tom remained silent, waiting for Andrew’s next move.

The door to the brig slammed shut and without the light pouring in, the sudden dark meant that Tom couldn’t see a thing.

Andrew said, ‘It’s bloody dark.’

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‘It is,’ said Tom, cautiously.

‘Look squire,’ said Andrew. ‘Let’s make the best of a bad situation.’

Tom stayed silent.

‘Let’s not have any hard feelings about the joking around I did back at school.’

Tom couldn’t believe his ears. Andrew was reaching out. He was apologising? No, he wasn’t apologising, but he was definitely moving on from the ‘joking around’ as he called it (one of Andrew’s jokes was to punch Tom in the stomach until Tom couldn’t breathe).

With eyes adjusted to the dark, Tom saw the hulk of Andrew two feet away.

Andrew reached with his right hand for Tom to shake.

‘No hard feelings,’ said Andrew

Although Tom didn’t want to, he shook hands with Andrew. Could this be a genuine attempt at fellowship?

Settling back, leaning against a rope and a box, Andrew said:

‘So I might need your help on some shit … I’ve got a bit of a job going on.’

‘What have you got?’

Andrew waited for a moment, as though considering whether or not to reveal his idea, like he was guarding some valuable secret. Then he looked straight at Tom.

‘Have you ever heard of a book called the Wyld Book of Secrets?’

What the hell!

‘I have heard of it.’

Asking about the Wyld Book of Secrets was obviously meant to be rhetorical so when Tom said he knew about the book, Andrew was temporarily flummoxed. But he quickly moved on.

‘Yeah, well I heard all about it from the Creeper. He was the geezer who took me up the cliff. Mistaken identity. He thought I was this great leader named Elion, but turns out I wasn’t, I looked like him or something.’

Just then there was a flash of lightning that lit up the brig, and immediately a clap of thunder roared around the boat. The storm was close, and the wind had picked up.

‘So there is a book that the Creeper has been trying to get his hands on for years. He came from Earth just like us, to get hold of the book. He has tracked the book down to the city of Coronet, but apparently you need three keys to access the book.’

Another flash of lightning was followed by a roar of wind that seemed to lift the back of the boat.

‘So I am going to get hold of the three keys, and this is where I might need your help … squire.’

There was something sparky about Andrew. Even though his clothes were dishevelled and his hair a mess, and his face all grotty, there was an energy coming through that made him more … attractive?

Tom felt the key against his chest, and his only thought was to keep the key a secret from Andrew.

Just then a huge roaring noise sounded from outside, and then a sound of groaning timber, and the ship tilted and tilted and Andrew fell sideways, while Tom scrambled to grab something solid. The ship rolled to an impossible angle as a storm hit with the ferocity of a German bomb