City of Lies - Lian Tanner [74]
“Here, put these in my cabin.”
The sword had come out of the Lie into the real world. What if Frisia’s bow and quiver had done the same?
Goldie had no way of knowing. Just as she had no way of knowing whether Bonnie and the person hiding in the dinghy would understand what she was about to say. And whether they could act quickly enough.
All she could do was hope. She took another step forward.
“None of yer tricks,” snapped Cord, raising his pistol. The ship rolled from side to side. Mouse clutched the rail with desperate hands.
“I haven’t got any tricks left,” said Goldie. Toadspit shifted his feet, and she knew that he had heard the lie in her voice. Behind her back, her hands twitched in fingertalk. Be ready!
“But if Princess Frisia were here,” she said loudly, “she’d have some tricks. She was a famous archer.”
“What?” sneered Cord. “You think that old Lie’s gunna save ya? It won’t help you a second time, will it, boy?”
He gave Mouse a push, so that the little boy almost fell off the rail. Mouse cried out. His legs scrabbled in midair.
Cord laughed.
“If Princess Frisia were here,” Goldie cried quickly, “she’d shoot that pistol out of your hand!”
She and Toadspit dived for the deck just in time. An arrow whistled over their heads. It hit Cord’s pistol full square, knocking it out of his hand. He yelped with surprise—and let go of Mouse.
The little boy clung to the rail, screaming. His legs flailed. The ship rolled. His hands began to slip.…
Goldie leaped to her feet and flew across the deck faster than she had ever run before. As Mouse slid over the side of the ship, she grabbed his arm and clung to him with all her strength.
Cord was already diving for his pistol. Out of the corner of her eye Goldie saw Toadspit try to beat him to it and knew that he would not make it in time.
Then she heard a shout of rage, and someone burst out of the dinghy and jumped onto Cord’s back.
It was Pounce.
Cord fell to the deck under the sudden weight, his hand still grasping for the pistol. He missed, and it slid across the boards toward Goldie. She kicked it into the scuppers.
But the force of that kick loosened her grip on Mouse’s arm. He began to slide away from her. “Toadspit!” she screamed.
Toadspit raced across the deck and grabbed the little boy’s other arm. Together, they pulled him up the side of the ship and over the rail to safety. Then they fell onto the wet boards in a heap.
But they could not rest for long. Nearby, Pounce was fighting for his life. He kicked and punched and bit with a ferocious cunning, but Goldie could see that he was no match for Cord. The sharp-faced man was gradually forcing him to the deck.
She saw the sword, still lying where Smudge had thrown it. A part of her yearned to grab it and wield it. A greater part of her felt sick at the thought.
But she had to do something. She stood up and edged toward the sword.
“Hey!” shouted Smudge, and he let go of the tiller. But before he could reach Goldie, Morg dropped from the clouds. Smudge screamed with fright and fell flat on his face, covering his head with his hands. The slaughterbird stalked around him, jabbing at him with her beak.
Goldie heard a cry from Mouse. Cord was kneeling over Pounce with his arm wrapped around the boy’s neck. Pounce wriggled and kicked, but he could not get away, and his face was slowly turning blue.
Toadspit took an uncertain step toward him. Goldie gritted her teeth and reached for the sword.
But as she did so, she felt a rush of wings, and Morg flew up into the rigging. Goldie hesitated, her fingers an inch from the sword’s hilt. Above her head, the slaughterbird began to raise and lower her great wings.
Flap. Flap-flap. Flap.
There was a sudden stillness on the deck. The wind and the waves dropped away to nothing. The clouds were so low that they touched the top of the mast. The only sound, apart from the throb of the engine, was Morg’s wings, beating out the rhythm of an ancient song.
Flap. Flap-flap. Flap.
Flap. Flap-flap.