Viking Ships at Sunrise - Mary Pope Osborne [6]
“Make haste!” he said to the other monks. “Gather the books and hide.”
The monks ran into the library. Brother Patrick turned to Jack and Annie.
“We have a secret hiding place, a cave on the other side of the island,” he said. “You can come with us. But I am not certain you will be safe.”
“Don’t worry,” said Jack. “We’re going to try to go home.”
“Do not use the steps,” Brother Patrick said. “The Vikings will climb them.”
“Then how do we get down?” said Jack.
“Go that way,” said Brother Patrick, pointing. “At the cliff’s edge are two large rocks. A path between those rocks will take you down to the shore. Then you can walk around to your boat.”
“Thanks!” said Annie.
“Be careful!” said Brother Patrick. He hurried inside the library.
“Wait!” came a thin voice as Jack and Annie turned to run.
It was Brother Michael. He hobbled over to them, holding out his book of Irish tales.
“Take it,” he said.
“Are you sure?” Jack asked. He knew it was Brother Michael’s life’s work.
“Please,” said Brother Michael. “It is better that the world should have some of it than none at all. Just in case … ”
“We’ll take good care of it,” said Jack. He gently placed the jeweled book in his leather bag.
“Good luck!” said Annie.
Annie and Jack waved good-bye to the old man. Then they raced to the rocks that Brother Patrick had told them about.
At the rocks, the sea gulls still screeched. Jack could barely see the steep path leading down into the fog.
“Go slowly,” Jack whispered to Annie as they started down.
“Whoops!” said Annie. She slipped and fell forward, bumping into Jack. “My foot got caught in my stupid dress—”
“Shh!” said Jack.
He held on to Annie. They listened as pebbles and rocks rolled down the cliff.
Jack took a deep breath.
“We’ve got to watch out for Vikings, too,” he whispered.
They started down the steep path again. They went one step at a time. The sound of the waves against the rocks grew louder.
Finally, they stepped down onto a flat strip of pebbles.
“Where are we?” whispered Annie.
“I don’t know,” said Jack.
“Oh, look!” said Annie. She pointed to the shoreline.
Through the fog rose the serpent prows of the Viking ships!
Jack and Annie crept closer to the ships. Their sails were down. Each ship had been tied to a tall jagged rock. They seemed deserted as they bobbed in the shallow waves.
Jack really wanted to check out the ships. But he was afraid of wasting time.
“We’d better find the tree house,” he said to Annie.
They crept away from the three Viking ships.
Suddenly, they both froze.
Through the mist, they saw a group of Viking warriors. The Vikings were looking at the top of the cliff.
Their long yellow hair hung down from beneath their iron helmets. They carried round wooden shields and swords and axes.
“It looks like they’re planning to climb the cliff,” whispered Annie.
“We need to hide until they go,” whispered Jack. “Then we can look for the tree house.”
“Let’s hide in a ship!” said Annie.
“Good idea,” said Jack.
They crept back to where the ships were tied.
Jack was happy to see that the sides of the smallest ship were very low. They would easily be able to climb over them.
“You go first,” said Annie.
Jack waded through the shallow water. It was cold!
He reached the ship and grabbed one side. He pushed himself up and onto the ship’s deck.
The ship jerked forward. Jack looked at the shore. It was now thirty feet away. The ship’s anchoring rope was pulled tight. The serpent prow bobbed up and down with the waves.
The fog and the movement of the ship made Jack feel as if he was in a dream. For a moment, he forgot to be scared of the Vikings.
“This is so cool,” he called. “Come on, Annie!”
Annie started to wade out to the ship. Suddenly, she disappeared.
“Annie?” called Jack.
Her head popped out of the water. She splashed with her arms.
“It—it’s deep!” she gasped. “My dress—too heavy!”
“Use the rope!” called Jack. “Like when we climbed the stairs!”
Annie grabbed the rope that stretched from ship to shore. It held her weight as she began