Clash of the Sky Galleons by Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell Read Free Book Online Page A

I should have known that someone as rotten as Smeal could never be changed. I remember the look of leering greed and triumph on his face when he came to me with what I took to be one of the finest deals he had ever brokered - one that would not simply put money in our pockets, but might actually do some good …
    ‘Following long talks with Purlis Havelock, Leaguesmaster of the League of Furnace Tenders, Smeal had agreed that we would raid a slave ship owned by Meltus Drail’s League of Stokers and Smelters, since the latter had been undercutting their prices by using cheap - and illegal - slave labour. The poor wretches were to be shut up in the Stokers and Smelters’ sewer workshops and worked to death. I was happy to agree to the deal on the strict understanding that the slaves should be released by us back in the Deepwoods.
    ‘Smeal muttered darkly about profits and waste of valuable time, but the League of Furnace Tenders were paying us handsomely to ruin their rivals, and at last he, in his turn, agreed.
    ‘So, anyway, the day arrived. Hot and humid it was, as I recall, with ominous, dark purple banks of cloud rolling in from Open Sky. The ambush was due to take place in the morning at six hours on the borders of the Deepwoods and the Twilight Woods. We arrived at the site the night before, weighed anchor in a leadwood grove and cut down branches, which we used to camouflage the vessel before settling ourselves down for the long night ahead.
    ‘And it was a long night, Quint. Long and unpleasant. I’ve never liked spending the hours of darkness out there in the Deepwoods, and that particular night there was a dry lightning storm which crackled and flashed hour after hour, without a break. It lit up the dark forest, casting eerie shadows and setting the forest creatures off with their hideous screeching and squawking like the spirits of the dead. By Sky, Quint, my thoughts became bleak - and yet, as ever, day was on its way.
    ‘By five hours the lightning had subsided and the sky was beginning to brighten up with the first glimmering light of dawn. I began to shake off my despond and look forward to the approaching encounter. And sure enough, at half off the appointed hour, Spillins - the eyes of the Galerider - spied the slave ship approaching from the top of the caternest.
    ‘A blackwood vessel it was - nameless, dark and sinister, and in need of urgent repair. Certainly no one who didn’t already know would have suspected the valuable cargo it held as it sailed across the sky from theDeepwoods to the Stoker and Smelter leaguesmen awaiting them in the foundries on the Mire side of Undertown. We made no move until the rickety sky ship had passed overhead. Then, emerging from our cover and discarding the branches that had concealed us, the Galerider attacked with full force.
    ‘A harpoon attached to a rope was launched from our prow. It skewered the vessel’s port-side and held it fast. Then, by turning the winch-wheel and tightening the rope, we drew the other ship alongside us.
    ‘The cowardly leagues crew didn’t put up much of a fight once I’d called for stave-hooks and tolley-ropes and given the command to board. It was all so easy.
    ‘Too easy …’
    Wind Jackal fell still, as if the weight of memories was too much to bear. He groaned and, in the silvery moonlight, Quint saw his father hold his head in his hands.
    ‘We rounded up the crew of the slave ship and sent them packing in the two open rubble tenders that served as lifeboats on the battered vessel. Then I was just about to open the hold and free the poor unfortunates held there when all at once Spillins, telescope raised, announced that there were two more league ships approaching. And fast!
    ‘Of course, with half our crew on the Galerider and half on the slave vessel, I was in a very weak position. It was only when Spillins shouted down the names of the two league ships - the Forger of Triumph and the Smelter of Woes - that I realized