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

these were vessels belonging to the League of Furnace Tenders. And indeed, raising my owntelescope, I saw Purlis Havelock, the master of the League, himself, at the helm of the lead ship.

    ‘I had an uneasy feeling, but as yet, no reason to suspect anything might be amiss. They drew alongside, one to the Galerider’s port-side; the other on the starboard-side of the slave ship. They had us penned in like tilder in a cage. Havelock started to engage me in pleasantries. About the weather, the Deepwoods, a job well done … Then, while we were chatting, I noticed that something was happening on the other league ship.
    ‘Havelock’s leaguesmen had boarded and, so far as I could make out, were taking the slaves - frightened-looking woodtrolls - out of the slave ship and placing them in shackles, ready to transfer them to theirleague ship. I bellowed at them to stop, only for Turbot Smeal to countermand my order from his position next to Havelock. I remember his weasel words to this day

    ‘“Relax, old friend,” he smirked, waving the leaguesmen on. “We can’t afford a wasteful trip to some woodtroll village who knows where. This way, we get double our fee and Havelock here takes the wretches off our hands …”
    ‘“Not if I have anything to do with it!” I roared, suddenly aware that Smeal must have brokered a separate deal with the leagues.
    ‘Unsheathing my sword in a flash, I sliced through the tolley-rope that tethered the Galerider to Havelock’s Forger of Triumph, bellowing to Ratbit on the other side of the sky ship that he should do the same to the harpoon-rope binding us to the slave ship. Then, having commanded Ramrock to cool the flight-rock, I slammed the flight-levers across, raising the hull-weights and giving full head to the sails.
    ‘We soared up into the air, turned in mid air and - our weapons drawn and ready - swooped back down in a broad arc towards the second league ship before a singleslave could be taken on board. It was Purlis Havelock’s turn to be outraged.
    ‘ “In the name of the Leagues,” he roared. “Attack!”
    ‘Suddenly, the decks of both league ships were bristling with weapons, and arrows and crossbow bolts were flying through the air at the Galerider. Meanwhile, on board the slave ship, Steg Jambles and the great cloddertrog twins, Grim and Grem, had launched into action. While Steg did his best to steer the slave vessel away from the second league ship, the cloddertrogs threw themselves at the leaguesmen who had come aboard and made short work of them …
    ‘But it was still two to one, and despite the Galerider ‘s superiority as a sky ship, the league ships had come well-armed and prepared for a fight. I had to think fast. Then it came to me - a little trick I’d seen snowbirds do to draw prey from their nestlings. So I feigned a broken wing…’
    ‘You did what?’ said Quint, intrigued.
    Wind Jackal smiled grimly. ‘I pushed one of the flight-levers right across,’ he explained. ‘The mainsail fluttered, flapped and collapsed. Purlis Havelock couldn’t believe his luck.
    ‘ “We’ve got him!” I heard him bellow triumphantly. “Move in for the kill!”
    ‘Suddenly, as the Galerider hovered in the air, a sitting wood-duck, there were league ships coming at us from both directions. I pretended to panic, tugging at the supposedly broken flight-lever, all the while keeping an eye on the position of the league ships. I knew thatRamrock would be doing the same. Then, when they were only strides away, their weapons raised ready for the final onslaught, I bellowed to the stone pilot…
    ‘ “LIFT!”
    It was the command my faithful old pilot, may Sky rest his spirit, had been waiting for. He tugged on the drenching-lever, chilling the flight-rock in an instant and catapulting us high up into the sky A moment later, from below us, there came a deafening crash! as the two league ships slammed into one another. I looked over the side to see the Forger of