Birds of Prey - Smith Wilbur (версия книг TXT) 📗
At last Hal looked up and it was clear he had reached some decision. "I swore an oath to my father never to reveal that which I am now to show you. But circumstances have changed. He would forgive me, I know. Come with me, Aboli Hal led him down the back slope of the hill, and then turned towards the gorge of the river. They found a trail made by the baboons and scrambled down the steep side to the bottom. There Hal turned upstream, and the cliffs became higher and steeper as they went. At places they were forced to enter the water and wade alongside the cliff. Every few hundred yards Hal paused to take his bearings, until at last he grunted with satisfaction as he marked the dead tree. He waded along the lip of the bank until he reached it, then scrambled ashore and began to climb.
"Where are you going, Gundwane?" Aboli called after him.
"Follow me," Hal answered, and Aboli shrugged and began to climb after him. He chuckled when Hal suddenly reached down and gave him a hand onto the narrow ledge that he had not been able to see from below.
"This has the smell of Captain Franky's lair to it," he said. "The Buzzard would have saved himself a lot of work by searching here instead of digging holes in the grove, am I right?"
"This way." Hal shuffled along the ledge with his back to the cliff, and- the hundred-foot drop that opened under his toes. When he reached the place where the ledge widened and the cleft split the face, he paused to examine the rocks that blocked the entrance.
"There have been no visitors, not even the apes," he said, with relief, and began to move the rocks out of the opening. When there was space to pass he crept through and groped in the darkness for the flint and steel box and the candle that his father had placed on the ledge above head level. The under flared at the third stroke of the steel on the flint, and he lit the candle stub and held it high.
Aboli laughed in the yellow light as he looked upon the array of canvas sacks and chests. "You are a rich man, Gundwane. But what use is all this gold and silver to you now? It will not buy you a mouthful of food or a ship to carry it all away."
Hal crossed to the nearest chest and opened the lid. The gold bars glinted in the candle-light. "My father died to leave me this legacy. I would rather have had him alive and me a beggar." He slammed the lid, and looked back at Aboli. "Despite what you may think, I did not come here for the gold," he said. "I came for this." He kicked the powder keg beside him. "And those!" He pointed to the piles of muskets and swords that were stacked against the far wall of the cave. "And these also!" He crossed to where the sheaves and gantry were piled in a heap and picked up one of the coils of manila rope that he and his father had used. He tried the strength of the line by stretching a length of it over his back and straining to break it with his arms and shoulders.
"It is still strong, and has not rotted," he dropped the coil, "so we have all we need here."
Aboli came to sit on the chest beside him. "So you have a plan. Then share it with me, Gundwane." He listened quietly as Hal laid it out for him, and once or twice he nodded or made a suggestion.
THat same morning they set off for the base camp and by travelling fast, trotting and running most of the way, they reached it shortly after noon. Sukeena saw them climbing the hill and came running down to meet them. Hal seized her and swung her high in the air, then checked himself and set her down with great care as though she were woven of gossamer and might easily tear. "Forgive me, I treat you roughly."
"I am yours to treat as you will, and I will be happier for it." She clung to him and kissed him. "Tell me what you have found. Is there a ship in the lagoon?"
"A ship. A fine ship. A beautiful ship, but not half as lovely as you."
With Hal urging them they broke the camp and moved out at once. He and Aboli scouted ahead to clear the path and to lead the band on towards the lagoon.
When they reached the river and climbed down the gorge Hal left Big Daniel there and all the other seamen but Ned Tyler. They were unaware that the treasure cave was only a cable's length upstream. "Wait for me here, Master Daniel. I must take the others to a safe place. Hide yourselves well. I will return after dark."
Aboli went with them, as Hal led the rest of the party up the far side of the gorge, then took them round the far side of the hills. They approached the sandbanks that separated the mainland from the island, on which they had built the fireships.
By this time it was late afternoon, and Hal allowed them to rest there until nightfall. As soon as it was dark they all waded across the shallows, Hal carrying Sukeena on his back. As soon as they reached the island they hurried deep into the thick bush, where they were safe from observation from the pirate encampment.
"No fires!" Hal cautioned them. "Speak only in whispers. Zwaantie, keep little Bobby from crying. No one to wander away. Keep close. Ned is in command when I am not here. Obey him."
Hal and Aboli went on across the island, through the bush to the beach facing the lagoon. In the area where they had built the fireships the undergrowth had sprung up again thickly. They groped and searched beneath it until they located the two abandoned double-hulled vessels that had not been used on the attack on the Gull, and dragged them closer to the beach.
"Will they still float?" Aboli asked dubiously.
"Ned made a good job of them, and they seem sturdy enough," Hal told him. "If we unload the combustibles, then they will float higher in the water."
They stripped the ships of their cargo of dry tar-soaked wooden faggots. "That's better," Hal said, with satisfaction. "They will be lighter and easier to handle now." They concealed them again, covering them with branches.
"There is still much to do before daylight." Hal led Aboli back to where most of Althuda's party were already asleep. "Do not wake Sukeena," he warned her brother. "She is exhausted and must rest."
