Chapter Five

An Unexpected Meeting

The boy had put Elen in a terrible mood. She set off towards Blackbeard’s Bay. Even though any pirate treasure would probably have been stolen or washed away years ago, perhaps she’d be lucky and find just one chest. Or an egg-sized sapphire so she could buy a house and live on her own forever.

She imagined doing whatever she wanted: staying up till all hours, watching as much television as possible, partying with all the friends she’d make when she was rich and important.

She imagined her parents begging at the gate of her mansion while she sat in her jacuzzi and ignored them. They wore rags and looked pathetic. But however hard she tried, when she imagined them, Elen couldn’t shift the cocktails out of their hands or take off their sunglasses.

She stomped over the salt-grazed grasses, stamping them down hard. She was going to step on a pretty yellow flower, but changed her mind at the last second and twisted her ankle trying to avoid it. She limped on.

Elen didn’t stop at the edge of the scary dark forest. She was too busy being cross to notice it. When her anger started to simmer down, she realised how dark it was. Shadows moved at the corner of her eyes. There was a heady pungent smell and all sorts of strange noises. Shrieks and whinnies and pops and squeals and screams and shudders and blurps were all around her.

The sky was a jigsaw of blue way, way above. She fumbled to look at the map, but her fingers shook and she had no idea which direction was where anymore.

She would not be afraid. She was almost ten years old. She was practically a grown-up. She tugged at her too-short fringe.

‘Whoooooooooo.’ Something flew past her head too close, clipping her ear.

Elen forgot about her twisted ankle and ran, stumbling over tree roots, sticks cracking beneath her feet, the circus of strange noises snapping at her heels. She was one of the fittest pupils in her class and could run very fast. She could run so fast that she sometimes found it hard to stop.

‘Arrrgggghhhhhh!!!!!’ She knocked into something and landed in a messy heap on the floor. Lying face down with pine cones digging into her ribs and a spiky twig up her nose, she held her breath and waited for the worst. She was too afraid to look up in case the thing she’d hit was some strange zombie dead person.

‘What do you think you are doing?’ the thing raged.

Elen cowered. She was sorry for being so nasty about her parents and wished she could apologise for all her horrible thoughts.

‘You again. Are you following me? Of all the stupid things to do! Running straight into someone while they are trying to find berries,’ the thing ranted.

As far as Elen knew, the terrible creatures in scary stories ate children for dinner, not berries. She peered through her fingers.

The horrible boy stood in front of her.

Elen jumped to her feet. ‘What do you mean, am I following you? If you hadn’t been in the way I wouldn’t have fallen over you. Anyway, you shouldn’t pick berries in a forest. They can poison you.’

‘Don’t tell me what to do. Who do you think you are?’ The boy’s face started to look more like a beetroot than a boy. The puffin examined her quizzically from the boy’s pocket.

‘I’m Elen, thanks very much, and I know all about berries. We did a project on it in school. The ones you buy in the shop are OK but you need specialist knowledge to pick your own.’ Elen drew herself up to her full height.

‘I was looking for wild strawberries, which are perfectly safe, thanks. Anyway, I was named after a berry so I should know all about them.’ The boy laughed at her. She thought perhaps she should encourage this boy to eat something poisonous.

Elen wondered what berry he was named after. Not a blackberry or a raspberry because they were too nice. She might call him a gooseberry, because they were sour and bitter and hairy and made you want to spit. She kicked at the floor with temper, sending some bits of fallen leaf towards the boy.

‘Oy.’ He kicked the floor back towards her. A particularly sharp stick struck her leg and scratched it hard. A trickle of blood ran down into her sock.

There was a moment of complete silence. Only the puffin dared to blink.

‘GRRRRRRR!’ Elen made the noise she’d heard her grandmother make. Her leg stung where the stick had scratched her. She turned and strode away.

‘Hey. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Are you all right?’ he called after her.

She carried on striding with even bigger steps.

‘Where are you going?’ he yelled.

Without turning around she shouted back in her most authoritative voice, ‘Blackbeard’s Bay. Not that it’s any of your business.’

‘Well, unless it’s moved you won’t find it that way. Come on, I’ll show you.’

Elen weighed up her options. She could stay in the forest forever and die of starvation or from eating poisoned berries. Or she could follow the boy. She followed the boy, but she glared at him.

‘Of course it is hard to find your way around if you aren’t used to being on an island.’ He smiled at her.

‘What makes you think I’m not used to islands?’ Elen spat out.

‘It’s kind of obvious.’ The boy clearly knew his way as he led her through the foliage.

‘Oh, and I suppose you know everything?’ Elen crossed her arms as she walked. It was something her mum did when she was annoyed. When she realised that, Elen uncrossed her arms.

‘Not everything, no, but I know my way around here like the back of my hand.’ He showed her his hand as if it actually had a map printed on it. ‘I’ve been coming here over and over since I was a kid, so if you need a guide then I’m your man.’

‘Why on earth would someone want to come here over and over? It seems like a pretty dull place to me.’

The puffin stared at her. Elen wished she hadn’t got off on the wrong foot with this boy, even though it was completely his fault for being obnoxious and unfriendly. Perhaps he just didn’t like people. He certainly didn’t like her, which was a shame as she desperately wanted to ask him if she could have a hold of the puffin.

‘Oh well, I’m sorry you think it’s so boring, little miss know-it-all, but perhaps shipwrecks and caves aren’t your thing at all. Perhaps the most spectacular storm in the world isn’t something you’d like to see. Maybe you don’t like watching lightning in sheets or waves as big as mountains.’

It was his turn to stride away.

Elen jogged to catch up with him.

‘There are really waves as big as mountains?’

‘Of course there are. You wouldn’t believe how big they get, or the noise.’ He put his hands over his ears and the puffin nodded at Elen as if in agreement.

‘Not tsunamis?’

‘No, you idiot, they are just brilliantly massive waves and the wind screeches through your ears like a million banshees. That’s how Captain Beaky here got hurt.’ The boy held the puffin up for her to get a closer look. He really did have the most comical face. ‘I found him after the last storm. His leg was all funny. I think it might have been broken. I’m not sure if something fell into his burrow or if he got hurt while he was walking about, but I found him lying on the floor so I’ve been looking after him till he’s better.’

‘He’s beautiful.’ Elen thought the puffin was one of the most magical animals she had ever seen.

‘He was only a puffling then. He’ll be all better soon and when he is I’ll release him into the wild.’ Elen could tell that the boy really loved Captain Beaky. He went up in her estimation quite a lot after that.

‘Come on, we need to get a move on. There’s a storm coming!’ He dashed ahead. Elen raced after him.

They were suddenly out into the light and overlooking a shimmering turquoise bay. The boy looked at the sky, shook his head and whistled.

‘This storm is going to be absolutely terrifying, you lucky thing!’ He patted Elen on the back. ‘I’ve got to get off before it hits. That’s my kayak down there.’

He pointed to a bright orange boat that had left a line in the sand where it had been dragged away from the tide’s edge. ‘I’ll see you on the other side of the storm!’

Elen attempted a smile and glanced back at the forest in alarm.

‘You don’t have to go that way, don’t worry! Just up to the lighthouse and then follow the straight road down. Easy.’ He ran off towards the kayak then ran back.

‘Rowan.’ He put his hand out to Elen.

‘Elen.’ She grudgingly shook it.

He ran off again, hugging Captain Beaky to him, and launched his boat into the flattest, calmest bay imaginable. Elen waited for him to disappear around the side of the cove and out of sight.

In the distance a roll of grey cloud appeared. The sound of the air changed. Even the gulls stopped their raucous cries. Elen wrinkled her nose. She thought about checking for scattered jewels in Blackbeard’s Bay, but decided to be cautious and hurried towards the lighthouse. It was unlikely that a storm was coming, but she wasn’t going to risk it.

She scurried up the higgledy-piggledy path and came face to face with her grandmother.

‘Better get home. There’s a storm coming,’ Gran snarled, rising from a bench that had a brass plaque on it:

‘I know, everyone keeps saying that, but the sky is almost completely blue and…’

Elen was already talking to her grandmother’s back. The old woman hurried off. Despite her walking stick, she was already quite far ahead.

How rude, Elen thought. Perhaps she wouldn’t follow her. Perhaps she would stay out here by herself for as long as she wanted.

A humungous raindrop chose Elen’s nose as its place to land. ‘Plip.’ Then another hit her elbow. ‘Plap.’ A third fell right on the crown of her head. ‘Plop.’

She would stay in a strop with her grandmother, but perhaps it would be more effective if she stropped in the house near her rather than here alone on the cliff top, Elen reasoned.

Drops started pelting her as she sped up the rickety path. They splattered her as she ran down the road towards The Lanterns. By the time she reached the front door the rain was lashing down and the unlit lanterns were creaking on their hinges in the wind.

Elen was soaked through and hungry. Her grumpy old grandmother was nowhere to be seen. The house was about as welcoming as a prison. She was lonely and fed up and tired. She would escape. It was the only reasonable thing to do.

The old-fashioned stories about treasure on islands were obviously bunkum. Islands were filled with horrible people and horribly boring things. She would ask Rowan to get her off the island in his kayak. It was an excellent plan!