The Ghostfaces by John A. Flanagan Read Free Book Online

to Stig. “And if we go west? Is there land there?”
    The tall first mate hesitated, then shrugged. “We just don’t know.”
    â€œBut we do know there’s nothing to the east,” she stated and again he agreed.
    â€œThat’s right.”
    She thought about what he had said, then looked at Thorn. “Thorn, what do you think? Does this ocean just go on forever? Or is it possible there’s land to the west?”
    â€œOf course it’s possible,” he said. “In fact, it’s a pretty logical assumption.”
    â€œHow’s that?” Lydia asked.
    â€œWell, we all know the theory that the world is a huge saucer, supported on the back of a giant tortoise,” he said. It was a popular myth, although he wasn’t sure that he believed it. Several of the others obviously did, however. He saw them nodding quiet agreement.
    â€œThen think about this. We know that to the east, there’s Hibernia, Araluen and then the huge landmass of the continent leading to Aslava and the Steppes. It makes sense to believe that there must be a similar landmass to the west to counterbalance it. Otherwise, the world would overbalance and tip off the tortoise’s back.”
    Jesper opened his mouth to say something, then stopped and closed it again, considering what Thorn had just said.
    â€œWell, at last somebody’s making sense,” he said finally. He looked at Hal. “Why didn’t you say that in the first place?”

chapter six
    W ith the wind on her starboard beam,
Heron
positively flew across the ocean, reeling off kilometer after kilometer as she went. The perpetual, and slightly nauseating, pitching as she rode up and down each successive wave was gone, and the relentless pounding into the waves, taking them head-on, was a thing of the past. Now she swooped at a diagonal angle to the waves, shouldering her way through the crests and sliding down into the troughs. She rolled and pitched, certainly, but the rhythm of her movement was exhilarating. She was alive. The rigging creaked and groaned in a constant song. At last, the crew felt they were actually going somewhere.
    The problem was, they still had no idea where that might be.
    Irrationally, Hal had hoped that they might see some sign ofland in the first day. They had certainly covered plenty of distance. But as the night fell and the following morning broke over them, there was nothing in sight but the endless sea around them, stretching to the horizon in all directions.
    Stig doled out the miserly pittance of water to the crew. Hal tried to refuse his, but the entire crew protested when he did.
    â€œWe’re in this together,” said Wulf. “And we need you as healthy as possible.”
    The others mumbled agreement and Hal submitted to their will. He slowly let the small portion of water slide down his throat, trying to make it last as long as possible.
    â€œNot sure how healthy that’ll keep me,” he mused, his voice thick, as he handed the empty beaker back to Stig. It was getting difficult to talk, he noted. All of their voices had thickened and coarsened as their throats and mouths were left swollen and dry. The momentary effect of the small portion of water they were given twice a day did little to relieve the feeling.
    The lack of water was making him lethargic too. He had to force himself to take his position at the helm when his turn came, asking himself why he bothered, when they could all be dead within a week.
    Stefan had at one stage suggested they might try to drink small quantities of seawater. “At least it’s water,” he said. But Thorn quickly scotched that idea.
    â€œGet rid of that thought!” he said, his voice muffled by the dryness in his mouth and throat. “I’ve seen crews go mad doing that.”
    Stefan looked down, embarrassed by his own suggestion. For a second or two, it had seemed to make sense. But he saw now howright Thorn