INTO THE UNKNOWN (PART ONE)

1.

Ocean spray splattered against the window of the wheelhouse as Woolly gleefully drove the yacht through the choppy waters. He was thoroughly enjoying himself, in that strange, almost supernatural ability that he had to enjoy anything. So far he had rarely had a chance to pilot the yacht. It was usually the province of the more sensible ones of the crew, such as H, Glynis or Rosa, but they had all been stricken down with sea sickness, and were resting below. Woolly had so far proven himself to be a capable pilot, and hadn’t given in to any random bouts of eccentricity. Woolly though knew that if he gave into any of his usual spaciness that he would likely never be given the chance again, so he was determined to prove himself. The yacht (pulling the fishing-trawler along behind it) and the galleon had been at sea for a couple of days now. They were sailing in a southerly direction, which was both exhilarating and daunting at the same time. Apart from the Horn of Wonder (which was in the opposite direction, and which they were all determined to avoid if possible), they all had little experience of the Southern Ocean. On the galleon Bardin had been studying every map he could lay his hands on, but apart from some vague references on very old maps to a southern land mass, there wasn’t much in the way of precise information.

“It was called Antarctica back in my time”, said Adam “Very, very cold, not much there”.

“Oh great”, said Bengo, unenthusiastically.

“That doesn’t mean it’s going to be the same here”, said Adam “Absolutely nothing about our world has translated across to this one, well apart from us time-crossers that is. For all I know Antarctica here could be a tropical paradise”.

“We couldn’t be that lucky”, said Joby, with his customary dourness.

Across the passageway, in the dining-room, Bardin was drawing his directions all over one of the maps in front of Ransey and Hillyard.

“So we head down into the Southern Ocean, and see if the land mass is there”, he said, drawing lots of squiggly lines with a black felt tip pen at the bottom of the sheet of paper “Then we head in the direction of the New Continent”.

“And what happens there?” said Hillyard, warily.

“We go round the bottom”, said Bardin, transferring the attentions of the black felt tip pen to that relevant part of the page “And hope it’s not like the Horn Of Wonder”.

“We’re not going northwards up the coast then?” said Ransey.

“I see no reason to do that”, said Bardin “I can’t imagine anybody in their right mind wants to re-visit the Quarantine Winter house”.

“Plus there’s the little matter of the entire continent probably still being over-run with demons”, said Hillyard.

“Quite”, said Bardin “So when we’ve successfully rounded the bottom of the continent, we then head back over the next vast expanse of ocean, going past some of our old stamping-grounds like Mud Island and Hy Brasil, and then eventually ….” he traced the pen upwards to the north-eastern coast of the Old Continent “perhaps back to the Snow Lake area”.

Hillyard and Ransey nodded at each other approvingly.

“If, for some reason”, Bardin continued “That doesn’t turn out to be a good move, then we’ll head up round the top again, and back down the west coast. All of this should take us plenty of time, and who knows, we might end up back at Zilligot Bay”. “Don’t say things like that”, said Hillyard.

“Look, by the time we get there, so much time will have elapsed, it might be a different place entirely”, said Bardin.

“It would have to be!” said Hillyard.

A short while later Hillyard went up onto the main deck. Everyone was now dropping anchor for the night. Not an easy thing to do in the depths of the Southern Ocean. Rosa and Glynis had sufficiently combated their sea sickness to go up onto the rear deck of the yacht. Hillyard went over to them, and chatted across, bringing them up to date on what their plans were.

“It sounds interesting”, said Rosa “I hope there IS a Southern Land Mass”.

“Well if there isn’t, we’ll just have to keep on going to the lower half of the New Continent”, said Hillyard “It’s a weird thing, but what I’ve noticed on our travels over the years, is that places often change. Islands disappear or suddenly appear, that sort of thing. We’ll just have to take it as we find it”.

“A real voyage into the unknown”, said Glynis.

“Anyway”, said Hillyard “Hopefully can chat to you better when we get back onto land, or at least find somewhere easier to anchor”.

That evening some of the Indigo-ites dug out a couple of bottles of very old whisky from the dim recesses of the hold. Hillyard, Bengo and Bardin shared one bottle at the end of the dining-room table. Ransey and Umbert (also imbibing, but with a more measured approach) were sitting nearby, having a game of chess. To their relief Julian had also been one of the ones stricken with sea sickness and had taken to his cabin for an early night.

“Otherwise he’d be in here”, said Hillyard “And we’d be having to fight him for control of the bottle”. “Hah”, said Ransey, still staring at the chess board “He normally likes to pride himself on never getting sick, so a bit of hubris won’t do him any harm”.

Bengo and Bardin were getting well stuck into the whisky, and were now reminiscing about a gala show they had done at The Village Of Stairs many, many years ago.

“It was one of those nights where, for once, everything just comes together and goes well”, said Bengo, waving his arms expansively “Even Bardin relaxed. In fact, he caused a sensation at one point by going up to the front of the stage and shouting ‘are you hoping my trousers will fall down?’”

“That would have been a real showstopper”, said Hillyard.

“We must have been on a high that night”, said Bardin “Because I wouldn’t normally go ad-libbing like that”.

“The audience loved it”, said Bengo.

“I’m not surprised!” said Hillyard “Did his trousers fall down?”

“No, they stayed firmly in place”, said Bardin “I normally left all the trouser-dropping bit to Bengo. He was the sexy one”.

“Oh rubbish”, said Bengo “You were sexy, you just didn’t like admitting it, ‘cos you were A Professional Performer. You’d have brought the house down if you’d done it”.

“Not like that time Hoowie decided to expose himself on stage, and hardly anybody noticed!” said Bardin. “That’s ‘cos it was just another desperate attempt of his to be controversial”, said Bengo “Nobody was surprised by it”.

“Probably couldn’t see it under all that hair”, said Bardin.

Joby shuffled into the room, and took the empty chair between Hillyard and Ransey.

“You look done in, mate”, said Hillyard “Adam been working you too hard?”

“As always”, said Joby, reaching for a spare glass “I’m not in any rush to get to our cabin. It feels bloody freezing in there at the moment. Not that Kieran ever notices”. “If it gets too much you can always have the sofa in ours”, said Bardin.

“Thanks, I might bear that in mind”, said Joby, pouring a out a decent slug of whisky.

“In the meantime”, said Bengo, getting awkwardly to his feet “I’ll go and get you a spare blanket from the linen chest”.

“Are you sure you’re gonna make it that far?” said Joby.

“Yes”, said Bengo, grandly “I have my sea legs doncha know”.

“Don’t let Kieran impose his frugal living on you”, said Ransey to Joby “Not everyone is up to such rigorous monastic standards”.

“No, that takes a special sort”, Umbert, the ex-monk, smiled.

“He doesn’t impose it”, said Joby “It just never occurs to him that the rest of us need a bit more comfort! I think he’s genuinely surprised by it! One day I’ll be tempted to shove him onto the sofa and deluge him in soft cushions, except he’ll probably just look all perplexed and go ‘Joby, are yer having some kind of brainstorm now?’”

There was the sound of raised voices from the passageway, and Bengo came back into the room, carrying one of the spare blankets.

“What was that all about?” asked Bardin.

“Toppy objecting to me opening the linen chest”, said Bengo “Said I was going to mess everything up. I told him to go and boil his head. He doesn’t have exclusive rights over the soft furnishings”.

“Don’t go upsetting him for God’s sake”, said Joby “Or we’ll have Adam going on at us. ‘We mustn’t upset Toppy, he keeps everything civilised’”.

“He’s a pain in the nuts sometimes”, said Bengo, walking round the table and draping the blanket over Joby’s shoulders “He’d have us all checking things out, and signing for it in triplicate, given half a chance”.

“We should’ve had Toppy working at the Ministry”, said Ransey.

“God help all of us”, said Bengo.

Very early the next morning, in the chilly grey dawn light, Adam was raking the stove into life in the galley. Bengo breezed into the room.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you looking so perky this morning”, said Adam, straightening up “I thought you’d be staggering in here clutching your forehead and moaning Never Again”.

“Oh I didn’t actually get that tipsy”, said Bengo “I was mainly concentrating on getting Bardin drunk, so that he’d get all relaxed and helpless”.

“You are an unscrupulous little rogue”, Adam laughed, and he dealt Bengo a couple of smacks on his behind.

“Harder! Harder!” said Bengo.

Adam got him under his arm and whacked him as hard as he could. Bengo was laughing helplessly.

“Blimey, you’ve started early”, said Joby, drifting into the room with his pinny over his shoulder.

“Bengo needed teaching a lesson”, said Adam.

“Any time you want”, said Bengo, rubbing his behind “Why should Bardin have all the fun?”

“I want you to take some coffee into him”, said Adam, putting a cloth over the handle of the kettle and pouring hot water into a mug “And be gentle with him, he’s probably feeling a bit fragile this morning”.

“Can’t we leave him to sleep for a bit longer?” said Joby “Give us all some extra peace and quiet”.

“There’s a strong possibility that we may sight land today”, said Adam “And if Bardin’s not there to see it the very moment we do our lives won’t be worth living”.

Bardin was awake, but lying on his bunk feeling very sorry for himself. He was clutching a warm flannel to his forehead as Bengo came into the room. Bengo kicked the door shut, causing Bardin to flinch, but did at least then move gently across the room, and put the mug of black coffee down on the chair next to the bunk.

“Adam thought you might like this”, said Bengo, perching awkwardly on the edge of the bunk.

“Are you alright?” said Bardin, opening one eye at him.

“Got a few whacks from Adam”, said Bengo, with some smugness “Told me I was an unscrupulous little rogue”.

“Has he only just found that out?! It’s crazy how those curls and dimples of yours are still fooling people after all these years. What have you done this time?”

“Got you a bit tipsy didn’t I”.

“I don’t remember you prising open my jaws and pouring the whisky down me with a funnel”, said Bardin “I was very willing to go along with it”.

“I know, but he hasn’t whacked my butt for ages”, said Bengo “I was more than happy to take the blame. Normally no one can compete with your arse these days. I have to take my chances when they appear”.

“He’ll probably whack you again when he finds out you’ve been fibbing”, said Bardin, sipping at the hot coffee.

“Ooh I hope I get the paddle. But seriously, no one can compete with you. You’re the sexiest damn spankee ever. I hope you get lots of it on this trip”.

“Well it’s not been a good start. I haven’t had so much as a firm cheek grope since we left the island. Tramping through the Southern Ocean has taken up all our energies”.

“It won’t always be like that”, said Bengo “The sea feels a bit calmer today, for this part of the world anyway”.

“Good, although the way I feel at the moment I doubt I could tell if I was seasick or hungover!” said Bardin “Could you bring my clothes over?”

He pointed at his shirt and trousers which had been left draped over the back of an armchair.

“You don’t have to get up yet”, said Bengo, fetching them anyway.

“No but I’m going to pop up topside for a few minutes”, said Bardin “The fresh air might do me good. Sort of kill or cure really”.

Everything was grey and drizzly topside, but Bengo was right, the sea did feel a bit calmer. The waves weren’t churning in quite such a terrifying manner as they had been previously. Bardin, wrapped in his duffel-coat, and with his hat clamped down firmly on his head, gravitated over to the poop-deck, where Mieps was at the wheel, watched by Rumble and Hillyard.

“Shouldn’t you be getting some kip?” said Bardin, referring to the fact that Rumble had been doing his usual Night Watch duty.

“Hey mate, you’re just in time”, Rumble replied “Was gonna come and get you. Land ahoy!”

He pointed at the far horizon. Bardin grabbed the binoculars from him. There was a long slither of dark land sprawled on the horizon like a sleeping dog.

“How long will it take?” said Bardin, lowering the binoculars and turning to Mieps.

“A few hours”, said Mieps.

“Right, I’ll go and alert everyone”, said Bardin.

He went down the quarterdeck steps, shouting “land sighting!” as he went. Several of the others emerged from different doorways like a novelty Advent Calendar. “Land sighting if you’re interested”, Bardin shouted again. A muffled groan came from Julian’s cabin.

“Did I just hear right?” said Adam, who was alone in the galley when Bardin came in.

“Yep”, said Bardin, shedding his coat “Should be a few hours at most”.

“Well I suppose it’s a good thing”, Adam sighed “Although strangely I was hoping for a few more days at sea”.

“We’re going to be getting plenty of those I’m sure”, said Bardin “I doubt there’s going to be much to keep us there for long, it’ll just be a useful breathing space that’s all”.

They stared intently at each other for a moment, and then Bardin turned and headed across the passageway to his cabin. Adam pulled off his pinny and followed him.

2.

On first sight Bardin’s initial assumption that there wouldn’t be much to detain them on the Southern Land Mass looked only too true. A huge expanse of cold, brown, featureless terrain greeted them. A short distance away from the coast a range of rolling brown hills prevented them from seeing any further into the hinterland.

“Where’s the snow and ice then?” asked Bengo.

“Don’t be daft”, said Bardin “Adam said things are completely different between his old world and this one”.

“It was heading this way in our time”, said Joby “The snow and ice were melting. Some thought it might have been like this originally too”.

“Well as I thought this will be a brief stopover”, Bardin sighed “That’s all. Somewhere to exercise the horses, but I can’t see much here to keep us interested, except the novelty of finding somewhere new”.

Farnol scampered over from where he had been chatting to some of the yacht crew at the starboard side of the deck.

“H wants to take the air-buggies up”, he said “See if there’s anything beyond the hill range”.

“Good idea”, said Bardin “Hillyard can take ours up, and take Ransey, Kieran and Joby with him”.

“Don’t you want to come then, Bardin?” said Kieran, squinting at him mischeviously, knowing full well that Bardin had just been very soundly spanked by Adam downstairs.

“Look we have this joke every time”, said Bardin “Don’t you ever get tired of it?”

“Never”, muttered the others. *

Bardin went below deck. Once in the privacy of his own cabin, he took off his coat, and then put his hand down the back of his trousers, rubbing his sore behind. The spanking had been very satisfying, but then he had never known one that wasn’t. Bengo came into the room like a whirlwind.

“If you’ve come to gloat, congratulations”, said Bardin.

“Why would I gloat?” said Bengo, pushing the door up behind him “I just thought I’d tell you that Elaine has been asking questions. Wanted to know why you weren’t going on the air-buggy trip”.

“Tell her she’s a nosy old cow”.

“Actually Hillyard just told her you were feeling a bit under the weather”.

“Good thinking”, said Bardin “I don’t want her knowing I can’t come because my behind’s too sore”.

“Well we’re not going to tell her that!” said Bengo “That’s our business. The Spanking Bardin Club is strictly for the galleon only. None of us want that lot knowing”.

“It’s not just I’m too sore, I’m too zoned out”, said Bardin.

“C’mon, tell me everything that happened”, said Bengo, pressing himself up close to his partner.

“You know what happened, Bengo”, said Bardin, softly “It doesn’t vary very much. He put me across his knee, and whacked me on the back of my shorts. Very firmly. Many times. I am now in no fit state to do anything, let alone go exploring whole new lands”.

Bengo suddenly yanked down Bardin’s trousers, and then peered down the back of his shorts. He rubbed his hands all over Bardin’s behind and down his legs. Bardin groaned.

“If this keeps up I’m going to have to stand down from being Captain”, he said “And resign myself to a life of constant chastisement and humiliation instead”.

“Oh rubbish”, Bengo giggled, playfully straightening Bardin’s shorts “We can’t imagine having any other captain, and nobody else wants the job anyway”.

“Hah!” said Bardin.

Adam went into Julian’s cabin to bring him up to date with the news. Julian was lying in his bunk feeling very sorry for himself. He kept a metal bowl conveniently nearby, for when his stomach decided to stage another fit of rebellion.

“I must have lost over a stone in weight this past couple of days”, said Julian.

“Well that won’t do you any harm”, said Adam.

“Some blasted comfort you are!” said Julian “I have to lie here and listen to everybody else having fun. And it sounds, from what I’ve heard, like you’ve been enjoying yourself more than anyone”.

“You’re over-exaggerating as usual”, said Adam, leaning against the mantelpiece “It’s the first time I’ve smacked Bardin’s butt since we left the island, and it was long overdue. The poor thing was desperate for it. I’m hoping he’ll be relaxed for the rest of the day now”.

There was a huge racket topside as Hillyard got the air-buggy revved up.

“How far are they going?” asked Julian.

“Just over the mountain range which is a short distance from the shore”, said Adam “I suspect that the hinterland is just more of the same, but you never know. Could be anything there. Dinosaurs …

“Shangri-La?”

“From what I’ve heard it sounds like a very brown Antarctica”.

“And that’s all there is. Brown mountains, brown seashore. No sign of anything else at all. A rather melancholy looking place”. “Good”, said Julian “With any luck we won’t be lingering here for long then”. “Bardin feels the same way”.

The two air-buggies accelerated up over the small mountain range, and then into the uncharted realms beyond. A large valley greeted them, surrounded by more mountains, some of these notably larger than the ones fronting the ocean. The valley was barren of just about anything.

“I wonder how much of this there is”, said Rosa, in the passenger seat of H’s buggy.

“It could go on for a long way”, H replied “From what the time-crossers have told us, this land was massive in their time”.

“It might not be the same land though”, said Glynis, from the back seat.

“Let’s take it down slightly”, said H.

He lowered the air-buggy so that it could fly directly in front of the mountains. On the right hand side a large cavern gaped from the front of one of the mountains. Both air-buggies slowed down so that they could glide alongside it. Dotted with stalactites and stalagmites the cavern resembled a huge gaping dark mouth with random rotting teeth dotted around. Glynis took out her own small set of binoculars and peered intently into the interior. Something about the intensity of the darkness made her shiver intensely.

On the other air-buggy Kieran wasn’t even looking at the interior. His face was was peering downwards as if he was in prayer.

“You’re quiet”, said Joby.

“We can talk better back on the ship”, said Kieran.

Back on the ship Julian had made his way to the empty dining-room. The constant vomiting had subsided long enough for him to feel he could finally move around a bit. Everyone else appeared to be either up on deck, waiting for the air-buggies to return, or busy in other parts of the ship. As usual though, there was a pot of tea left standing in the middle of the big table. Julian poured himself out a cup, and sat down. It wasn’t long afterwards that he heard the air-buggies return. After decanting from the aircraft, Ransey and Hillyard immediately made their way down the quarterdeck steps, in search of tea.

“Julian, what are you doing in here?” said Ransey, coming through the door.

“Oh that’s nice isn’t it”, said Julian “Not ‘Julian, how lovely to see you looking so much better and up and around’”.

“Leave it out”, Hillyard laughed, pointing at Ransey “He’s not going to say that is he!”

“I think I’d fall off my chair with shock if he did”, said Julian “So how went it? Any sign of Shangri-La?”

“You what?” said Joby, coming into the room as well.

“Never mind”, said Julian “What did you see?”

“Bugger all”, said Hillyard “Just a lot of brownness. Like a load of old clay. Empty landscape. About the only interesting bit, if you can call it that, was the entrance to a large cave, stuck in the side of a mountain”.

“And that wasn’t exactly alluring”, said Ransey.

“So definitely no reason to hang around here then?” said Julian.

“I get the feeling Kieran wants us to leave as soon as possible”, said Joby.

“Interesting”, said Julian “Has something spooked him?”

*

On leaving the air-buggy, Kieran had gone over to speak to Glynis. He noticed she was standing on the port side of the main deck of the galleon, looking rather at a loss. Her face was noticeably pale.

“Did you look into the cave?” Kieran asked, in a low voice.

“Look into it?” Glynis gave a mirthless laugh “I even used my binoculars! I feel sick, and overwhelmed with fear. I can’t explain it very well. It’s like someone has chucked a dark blanket over me. I feel …. Oh God, I don’t know what I feel, but it’s horrible. Such desolation. Such hopelessness”.

“OK”, Kieran squeezed her arm comfortingly “Go back to the yacht, and try and get as much rest as possible. If you can, stay below deck until we’ve left this place. The feeling will pass, but it might take a little while. It’s like a spiritual version of having a bad dose of flu”.

“What was it Kieran?”

“This whole area has been destroyed by Evil. I know we’ve come across this sort of thing before, but here it is at its absolutely most extreme. That’s why there’s such an aura of desolation. That’s what you’re picking up on”.

“And whatever it is is in that cave?” said Glynis.

“It’s not a Thing, in the sense that it’s a living organism”, said Kieran “It’s more a sensation, but a sensation that can have tangible effects. You’ve come too close to it. Try not to be alarmed. It’s nothing that can’t be fixed, but you have to be gentle with yourself, and patient”.

“I remember when I worked at the hospital in Toondor Lanpin”, said Glynis “We had someone admitted one night who had taken a tainted street drug. He was overcome with extreme melancholy and depression, said he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was at a funeral. That’s how this feels”.

“You go and rest”, said Kieran “And get Dr Xavier to see if he can help you in any way. As we’re lucky enough to have our own resident doctor we might as well make good use of him!”

After seeing Glynis safely onto the yacht, Kieran went below deck to appraise Bardin of everything that had happened. He found him in his cabin.

“Will she be alright?” Bardin asked.

“Oh yes, give her a bit of time that’s all”, said Kieran “These things can be a terrible shock to the system”.

“Sounds a bit like what happened to Tamaz back at Zilligot Bay”, said Bardin “I don’t think he’s ever fully got over that. Never seems quite like his old self these days. Goes into long, quiet spells where he just sits staring at the wall”.

“Tamaz’s experience was even more frightening”, said Kieran “He was forced to confront the idea that he might turn completely into a gorgon, which would put him beyond us completely. It scared him out of his wits. It’s very hard to get beyond that. PTSD as we used to call it back in our time”.

“Is that going to happen to Glynis?”

“No, she will be fine, but it might take a bit of time. Getting away from this area will help”.

“We can move away from the shore overnight”, said Bardin “And set sail at first light. I know I didn’t have high expectations of this place, but it’s turned out to be far worse than that”.

“There is one good thing though”.

“And what the hell is that?”

“It’s unlikely in the extreme that anyone will follow us down here”, said Kieran “Even an organisation as corrupt as the Ministry wouldn’t venture down here. We’re well out of their reach now”.

3.

Glynis woke up to find herself alone in the large king-sized bed she shared with the three other women of the yacht. Through the window a tinny sunshine was trying its best to fight through the ongoing rainy grey gloom of the southern ocean. Since getting back tot he yacht Glynis had felt like a dead weight was settling on her. She knew that this was as a result of the trip into the interior of the Southern Land Mass. Since then she had run an entire gamut of emotions, none of which (frighteningly) she had been able to control. Anger. Depression. Anxiety. And a desolate feeling of hopelessness. The others had ordered her to bed and rest, and although she had occasionally felt guilty about not doing her share of the work, she had also been relieved. She didn’t want to inflict her sense of horror and gloom onto everyone else. It was a terrible feeling, and she was desperate to shake it off.

“Well hello there”, came a cheery voice from the doorway.

Woolly came into the room bearing a tray with a cup of herbal tea and some buttered toast on it.

“Woolly, you didn’t have to do that”, said Glynis, sitting up and arranging a pillow behind her.

“Nonsense, I wanted to”, said Woolly, setting the tray on the nightstand “I remember once I caught a terrible tummy bug. Was off my food for about a week. When I was finally able to keep something down I had tea and toast. I swear it was the best damn meal I’ve ever had!”

“When I worked at the hospital we used to regard tea and toast as essential comfort food”, said Glynis “Particularly when doing night shifts”.

“How are you today?” asked Woolly “You don’t look as pale as you did”.

“Was I?”

“Oh yes, when you got off the air-buggy you were dreadfully pale. I hope this is a good sign”.

“So do I”, said Glynis “I feel I would be making good progress if it wasn’t for this constant unnerving feeling of approaching doom. I just can’t seem to shake it off. It’s doing me in”.

“You’ve got anxiety”, said Woolly, straightening the bedclothes “People with anxiety are constantly living in the future, worrying about what could happen”.

“That’s exactly it”, said Glynis, feeling on the verge of tears. She hastily stuffed some toast into her mouth, hoping that would calm her nerves.

“You need to try and live in the moment”, said Woolly “And let the future take care of itself. Take each day as it comes. None of us know what’s going to happen, particularly on a voyage like this. If we were to try and anticipate everything that could go wrong I suspect we would all go off our heads”.

“I don’t understand how just staring into that cave could do this to me”.

“You would need to discuss that more with Kieran when we reach a suitable mooring. That’s more his remit”.

“I seemed to be the one who was looking the most. H was busy piloting, and Rosa and Xavier were more interested in the valley below. I was the only one who took binoculars with me. Silly move. I hope no one on the galleon is in the same way”.

“They all seem OK to me”, said Woolly “The ones I’ve seen up on deck anyway. Perhaps when we anchor for the night I’ll try and see if I can chat to any of them. My gut feeling is that you should improve the more we move away from that terrible area”.

“Oh God I do hope so”, said Glynis.

After breakfast she put on her thick dressing-gown over her pyjamas, and went up to the main level. She found Rosa and Jane both out on the rear sun-deck, swaddled up in coats, mufflers and hats against the squall. Behind them was a lively soap-like trail as they ploughed their way through a choppy ocean.

“Glynny!” exclaimed Jane, on seeing her “So good to see you”.

“It’s a good time for you to come up”, said Rosa “That ghastly Southern Land Mass has finally disappeared over the distant horizon. I thought we were never going to be shot of it”.

“It was squatting there like an enormous turd some giant had laid”, said Jane.

Rosa laughed and playfully smacked her arm.

“Are we heading in a slightly north-north west direction?” asked Glynis. “Just enough to avoid the extreme bottom of the planet”, said Rosa “In case we get more of that bloody awful place”.

“But not enough to meet the main middle of the New Continent when we reach it”, said Jane “Just in case it’s still over-run with demons”.

“You’d better get back indoors for the time being”, said Rosa to Glynis “You’ve only just got up and this sea-air might be a little bit too bracing at the moment”.

“On the contrary I’m hoping it will blast all this gloom out of me”, said Glynis”.

“Distance from the Turd Land will do that”, said Jane.

“Hmm, Turd Land is a brilliant way of describing it”, said Glynis “Reminds me of that horrid little Turd House that used to be on the outskirts of Toondor Lanpin many years ago”.

“You’re going to have to explain that one to us over a mug of tea”, said Rosa, leading them back into the interior of the yacht.

By mid-afternoon the sun was winning its battle over the relentless grey drizzle, and the air almost felt warm, or at least as warm as it could be in the Southern Ocean. The wind had dropped to a benign breeze, and it was all starting to feel rather pleasant. They also came upon a clump of smooth, large bald rocks sticking out of the ocean like mannequin’s heads. The rocks were devoid of any features at all, but they all decided that this would be a good opportunity to pause for a little while, and get their bearings.

The rocks were too smooth, steep and round to take the horses ashore, but some of the humans could scramble up them, and sit or lay like basking seals in the sunshine. Glynis lay on one rock, flanked by Hillyard and Joby. She was irritated with herself that in spite of the sunshine, and the proximity of close friends, she still had feelings of high tension. These had stayed with her almost constantly since leaving the Southern Land Mass, and it was frustrating to her that this should be so. Kieran had warned her that it would all take time to dissolve, but she wanted to be better for everyone else’s sake. The last thing she wanted to be was an anxiety-ridden drag to have around.

She tried to distract herself as much as possible, and fortunately the advantage of having so many people around was that there was always something going on. Bardin had climbed onto a nearby rock, seemingly solely on the grounds that this was the one which didn’t have Elaine on it.

“I know she can be annoying”, said Glynis “But she really doesn’t mean any harm”.

“No, but she still can’t seem to contain herself when she’s around him”, said Joby “And we’ve all tried talking sense to her. I gave her a right talking-to back on the island, reminded her about Bengo’s feelings, but she still doesn’t seem to have taken any ruddy notice”.

“I’m afraid Elaine is a Romantic”, Glynis sighed “She’s entirely governed by her emotions, and the downside to that is that commonsense doesn’t always come into it”.

“I don’t think it ever comes into it!” said Joby “Can’t you do something, Hillyard?”

Hillyard, who had been contentedly dozing in the sunshine, opened one eye and exclaimed “Me?!”

“Yeah, you were getting on well with her on the island”, said Joby.

“We went for one trip round the island on the fishing-trawler together”, said Hillyard “That’s all. Elaine’s not my kind of girl, and I don’t want any snarky remarks from you, or I’ll shove you in the sea”.

“Why isn’t she your kind of girl?” asked Glynis “I’m just curious that’s all”.

“Dunno really”, said Hillyard “A bit too sketchy I suppose. She sort of flits about like a moth, bashing into lighted lamps all the time”.

“Well Bengo can be like that”, said Joby “And you’ve been nuts about him all along”.

“Bengo isn’t like that”, said Glynis.

“No he’s not”, said Hillyard “Yeah he needs a guiding hand, which is why it’s a good job he’s got Bardin, but he doesn’t go lurching from one emotional crisis to the next”.

“He also knows how to apply himself when he’s working”, said Glynis “Adam has said that”.

“Anyway I have to be fascinated by someone to be keen on them”, said Hillyard, closing his eyes again “And I’m not fascinated by her. That’s just the way it is”.

“Interesting”, said Adam, when Joby related this conversation to him below deck a short while later “It’s always intriguing when we get Hillyard’s serious side. It happens so rarely”.

“I spose so”, said Joby “I find it a bit disturbing”.

“Why?”

“Well it’s rare for him to dislike someone. It feels a bit unnerving”.

“Oh I don’t think he dislikes Elaine”, said Adam “He’s just not interested in a relationship with her. That’s a very different matter. The sort of person you don’t mind having as a neighbour, but you wouldn’t want to live with them, that kind of thing. The one who actively dislikes her is Bardin, and the annoying thing is the more he shows it, the more enraptured she gets. I’m starting to think Elaine was a cat in a previous existence. They always try to hop on the laps of people who don’t like them. People like that can be a menace, as they never take ‘no’ for answer”.

“And it’s still not fair on Bengo”, said Joby.

“I think most of the time he zones out from it all”, said Adam “He knows she’s no threat to him”.

Both of them jumped out of their skin when Bardin suddenly barged into the room.

“What have you two got a guilty conscience about?” he said.

“Absolutely nothing”, said Adam “You just startled us that’s all”.

“I only came in to say we will probably stay here for the night”, said Bardin “It gives us a convenient breathing-space, particularly as the weather’s not bad at the moment. Give us a few hours to collect our thoughts, and you two can get on with your furtive gossiping”.

“Don’t be cheeky, or I’ll put you over my knee again”, said Adam.

“I damn well hope so”, said Bardin.

“What were they talking about then?” said Bengo, later that afternoon.

“Eh? Who?” said Bardin, who was coiled up in one of the armchairs in their cabin, trying to make sense of the extremely inadequate maps they had for this region.

“Oh Bardy, you’re not paying attention”, said Bengo, sitting in the opposite chair, with his feet on the empty hearth “Adam and Joby. You said they jumped apart when you walked into the galley”.

“No idea”, said Bardin “They just seemed to be well closeted together that’s all. I think I heard your name mentioned, something about something not being fair on you”.

“Like what?” Bengo exclaimed “I can’t believe they’re worried I’m working too hard, particularly Joby!”

“Gawd knows”, said Bardin “Probably something to do with that daft cow Elaine”.

“Oh not again!”

“Fraid so”.

“I wish everybody would shut up about her”, said Bengo “I might need to have a serious word with them”.

“I can’t wait to hear that!” said Bardin, folding up the map “Bengo having a serious word”.

“I can manage it”, said Bengo “It’s just with you I don’t usually get a word in edgeways”.

“Hah!” Bardin got to his feet and lightly clouted Bengo round the head with the map “Would you like a sherry?”

“Yes I would”.

Bardin went over to the side table, which was cluttered with a samovar, washing and shaving tackle, including a hand mirror, and the treasured bottle of sherry, which rivalled Kieran’s Magic Whisky Bottle for its enduring qualities. He wiped out a couple of small glasses with the bottom of his shirt. When he turned round Bengo was scratching his arm.

“You’ve been scratching yourself since you got in here”, said Bardin “What’s the matter, have you caught fleas?”

“No, I dunno what it is”, said Bengo “It came on at lunchtime. I’m itching all over, but no sign of a rash or anything, it’s driving me nuts”.

Bardin handed him a glass of sherry, and resumed his seat.

“It’s stress”, he said.

“Stress?!” Bengo exclaimed, as though Bardin had mentioned an exotic and extremely rare disease.

“Remember when I used to keep rubbing my hands sometimes before a new show?” said Bardin “Sometimes I rubbed them so much I got red marks all over them. That was nerves and stress, that’s what you’ve got”.

“Why am I suddenly getting stress?”

“Exposure to the Southern Land Mass”.

“But I didn’t go ashore!” Bengo protested “I stayed here”.

“Doesn’t matter. Sometimes there isn’t much obvious logic to this kind of thing”, Bardin sighed “You need to take a day off work”.

“Oh that’ll go down well!”

“One day won’t do any harm”.

“Well what will I do with myself?” said Bengo “Lie on our bunk and stare at my feet all day?”

“For some of it”, said Bardin “You can also come up on deck and stroll around with me”.

“Patrol the deck arm-in-arm?”

“Perhaps”, Bardin laughed “It might help to try and drill some awareness into Elaine”.

“That won’t happen”.

“Maybe, but it’s worth a try. Part of the problem is that she doesn’t see that much of us together. You’re usually down here, working in the galley or the dining-room, and I’m …”

“Up aloft, bossing everybody around”, said Bengo.

“Exactly”, said Bardin “When we’re together it’s usually down here, and she doesn’t see us then. And I’d like to keep it that way! But I don’t think it really gets through to her that we’re a real couple. She probably thinks we’re just cabin-mates”.

“Well Joby tried getting it through to her …”

“I know, but that woman is in a world of her own most of the time”.

“So are we gonna snog each other on deck or something?”

“No need for such extravagant displays of affection”.

“Shame!” said Bengo.

“But perhaps if we’re seen chatting together it might help”.

“I doubt it, but it’s worth a try”.

4.

Bengo was disappointed that Adam raised no objection to him having a day off. In fact, Adam’s comment of “that’s a good idea” made him feel slightly miffed. Bengo’s disappointment was largely down to the fact that, apart from trying to show Elaine he was Bardin’s partner (something which in his heart of hearts he doubted would really work), he couldn’t think of anything to fill the time with. The rocks sticking out of the ocean had limited appeal, which just left him with strolling round the deck, the charms of which he had exhausted within a few minutes. Whilst Bardin was chatting with some of the others up on the poop-deck, Bengo made an excuse that he needed the heads and went back below.

“What are you doing in here?” said Joby, when Bengo appeared in the doorway to the galley.

“Oh I’m banned now am I?” said Bengo.

“No, we just thought we wouldn’t see much of you today”, said Adam “You would be too busy being a gentleman of leisure”.

“I’m bored”, said Bengo “A gentleman of no purpose more like. I feel like a stage extra who’s just there to make up the numbers in the background”.

“Has Elaine taken any notice?” said Joby.

“She glared at me from the yacht with a face like sour milk”, said Bengo “Whether that will make any difference whatsoever I don’t know”.

“I guess only time will tell on that one”, Adam sighed.

“I’ll be glad when we’re on the move again”, said Bengo “At least then she’s not constantly hovering around nearby”.

“We will be tomorrow”, said Adam “There’s no reason to stay here any longer. The others all want to have a big supper up on deck, although personally I really don’t think it’s warm enough for that”.

“I saw the trestle tables had been brought up”, said Bengo “I hope I’m sitting at the end of one of them and she’s sitting at the other!”

The communal supper was arranged for 6 PM, an hour before the sun was due to set. The yacht had been anchored alongside the galleon since their arrival at the rocks, and the crew were able to climb aboard with no trouble. Although the air was a little on the fresh side, it was still a convivial gathering. Many had been spending the afternoon fishing, and Adam was relieved for once to be able to offer up something other than hard boiled eggs, boiled rice, tinned sausages, and various pickled vegetables.

“Once we get to any decent land and fresh supplies though we should have a big pickling session”, said Rosa, with enthusiasm.

“Fortunately we’re well stocked”, said Adam “But yes, it would be nice”.

At one end of the table Woolly was keeping Bengo and Bardin enthralled with tales of his days as a child star back in the City. For once, Bardin managed to relax in Woolly’s company, and actually enjoyed what he had to say. It helped that Elaine was seated as far away as humanly possible.

“I had an excellent singing voice”, said Woolly “And often featured in choirs, but sadly that all went when my voice broke. After that I turned to comedy. I had the kind of looks which wouldn’t have worked in anything dramatic. I was told I was too stringy and nerdy looking for anything villainous or romantic, and I had no wish to do that kind of stuff anyway”.

“You would have been great in the Cabaret, wouldn’t he, Bardy?”

“I’m sure we could have found a place for you”, said Bardin.

“I have to be honest though”, said Woolly “It wasn’t just losing my singing voice that did for me. I’m afraid I got rather too diva-ish. Demanding top billing and all that”.

“I can’t imagine you doing that”, said Bengo.

“Well hopefully I’ve learnt a bit of sense since those days”, said Woolly “Showbusiness has a habit of pulling the rug out from under your feet when you start getting too big for your boots. I got a reputation for being difficult to work with, and that kind of word gets round very quickly. I always tried to be thoroughly professional though. Not one of those ones who habitually turned up late or not at all. It’s just that”, and he let out a heavy sigh “Once you’ve been a big star as a child, the come-down can be awfully hard to take”.

“It can”, said Bengo “I’ve seen it destroy some people. We had a guy at the Cabaret when we were kids. He couldn’t adapt to being an adult performer at all. He ended up homeless and on drugs. The next thing we knew his body was found in an old abandoned building. Bloody sad, it really was. Giving lots of attention to kids is not always a good idea”.

“And yet you’ve stayed grounded”, said Woolly.

“Huh, I have Bardin to thank for that”, said Bengo “No chance of me getting big-headed with him around constantly cutting me down to size”.

“I always recognised your talent”, said Bardin “Even if YOU never did! If I hadn’t kick-started you all the time, you would have wasted it all”.

“What was Bengo’s biggest asset?” said Woolly “Apart from his cute looks of course”.

“Audiences liked him”, said Bardin “And that’s a quality that you can rarely predict. Some people can have great talent, but if they don’t gel with the audience, then it’s hopeless. And it wasn’t just down to his dimples and curls, I think it was because he was seen as safe. We used to do some pretty cutting edge stuff, but I guess they felt that if Bengo was around nothing could go seriously wrong”.

“Bardy was the dangerous one”, said Bengo.

“I wasn’t dangerous”, Bardin laughed “I was the cynical one. The sour to your sweet, that’s all”.

He noticed that Elaine seemed to be having some kind of furtive conversation with Hoowie.

“What’s going on there?” said Bardin, in a low voice.

“Probably nothing”, said Bengo, glancing down the tables “Perhaps she’s trying to get you jealous by flirting with Hoowie”.

Bardin nearly coughed out his beer.

“She’d better be damn careful if she starts that caper”, he said “Julian’s not the kind of man you would want to cross”.

“Elaine is a lost soul”, said Woolly “She’s a splendid girl in many ways, can be enormous fun, but she desperately wants someone to love. She’s a people person, and all those years at that abandoned railway station must have damaged her. Being around us all now must be like being let loose in a sweet shop”.

When the supper-party broke up a couple of hours later, Bardin called Hoowie into his cabin.

“What was going on between you and Elaine?” he asked, bluntly.

“Can’t I even have a private conversation now?” Hoowie exclaimed.

“Hoowie”, Bardin sighed “Normally I wouldn’t give a fuck who you were talking to, but I want to know what game she’s playing at”.

“Praps she just enjoys my company”.

Bardin looked highly sceptical about this.

“If she was flirting with you, just watch yourself that’s all I can say”, he said “You don’t want to go upsetting Julian”.

“She wasn’t flirting with me”, Hoowie laughed “She was coming out with some right old horseshit actually, the sort of thing people do when they’ve had a couple of glasses of wine”.

“What kind of horseshit?”

“Oh that I could be another spiritual guru, like Kieran”.

“What YOU?!” said Bengo, who had come into the room.

“Why was she saying that?” said Bardin.

“I don’t know!” said Hoowie “You’ll have to ask her! It might have been my fault actually”.

“Very likely”, said Bengo.

“Well I said something like I’ve always envied Kieran the respect he gets, and the way people always take notice of what he says”.

“They haven’t always”, said Bardin “He’s had his fair share of abuse at times”.

“I know”, said Hoowie “But people still take him seriously. Whereas me, I’ve always just been a hairy bag of rubbish”.

“Probably because you often acted like a hairy bag of rubbish!” said Bardin “Alright, you might as well go to bed now. I just wanted to make sure she wasn’t causing trouble”.

“She’s not a bad person, Bardin”, said Hoowie “She’s just a bit lost that’s all. I can understand that. It’s the way I used to be. Perhaps she senses that, I dunno. I used to run around doing stupid things because that was the only way to get people to take any notice of me. She doesn’t mean any harm, I swear it”.

“OK”, said Bardin “Thanks for coming in. Get some sleep now. I’m planning an early start tomorrow”.

5.

The following day saw a return to the chilly grey conditions, but at least it wasn’t raining. Up on the main deck, as they ploughed once more through the ocean, the other clowns were teasing Hoowie about the idea of him becoming a spiritual guru.

“You do realise you’re never gonna live this down, mate”, said Rumble.

“Hoowie The Guru”, Farnol laughed “That’s the best one I’ve heard in a while. We should have done that as a sketch”.

“Well he’s got the hair for it”, said Shag.

“Maybe”, said Hoowie “But at least I got Bardin being nice to me last night, so praps it was all worth it really. I mean he was being quite civilised towards the end, which he doesn’t usually do with me”. “He doesn’t usually do with any of us”, said Shag.

“Uh-oh watch out”, said Mutton Broth “He’s coming over”.

Bardin strode briskly across the deck towards them.

“Have you lot not got enough to do?” he said.

“Nah, we thought we’d have a coffee morning instead”, said Rumble.

“Hilarious”, said Bardin “Take those trestle tables back below deck. If it gets stormy they’ll slide about all over the place and get in the way”.

“Yessir!” said Farnol.

By late afternoon there was still no sign of any land on the horizon, and they were steadfastly staying away from the very southern regions. It was awkward anchoring alongside one another at the depths of the ocean, but they managed it. Something was starting to feel “off”. Bardin knew that, judging by the distance they had already travelled, they should be coming within sight of the New Continent by now. There was starting to be an unsettling feeling that all land masses had now disappeared, and they were left marooned in a world of deep water.

“The ocean is starting to play mind games with us I guess”, said Bardin “But I don’t believe it will stay like this for much longer”. The only saving grace was that the weather was staying reasonably calm. Everyone took advantage of it to mingle topsides, and try to generate some air of normality. Hoowie clambered over to the yacht and joined Elaine on the rear sun deck.

“You’re not gonna hide on here forever are you?” said Hoowie, sitting down next to her in a corner.

“Sometimes I feel like it”, said Elaine “I feel like I’ve made an almighty fool of myself”.

“Oh c’mon!” said Hoowie “I’ve made a fool of myself over Bardin more times than you’ve had hot dinners I expect, and I still have to face him treating me like a complete berk every day”.

“And yet you still love him”, said Elaine.

“Well yeah”, Hoowie laughed “He was good to me years ago. Gave me chances when nobody else would, and I usually repaid him by turning up drunk, or not fitting into the script. I was a total bellend in those days, even worse than I am now. You can’t possibly have made a fool of yourself any more than I’ve done at times. Look, it’s hard sometimes when there’s a big gang of us like this. You can’t always control where your feelings go. Look at Rosa”.

“Rosa is a fount of commonsense”, said Elaine “I think of her as my sensible big sister”.

“Yeah but”, Hoowie lowered his voice and looked around him, to make sure no one else was nearby “She’s nuts about Adam isn’t she?”

“Yes, and it’s not easy for her at times”, said Elaine “They fit so well together, but she’s not silly, she knows nothing can come of it. It really doesn’t help that he’s such an incredibly attractive man. And so kind with it too. I don’t know what to do, Hoowie. You’re right, I can’t hide away on here forever, but I don’t know what to do around Bardin”.

“Don’t do anything!” said Hoowie “Just pull it back a bit. Be a bit cold and offhand with him”.

“Oh I can’t, it’s not my way”.

“Yes you can, you’re an actress, act! Pretend you’re being a heartless cow with him”.

“I can’t do that!” Elaine laughed.

“Yes you can”, Hoowie repeated “And it’ll do him the world of good. It can’t do him any good having everybody adoring him all the time”.

“He’ll think I’m doing it just to be vengeful and spiteful”.

“No he won’t. I’ll tell him you’ve accepted the score and are moving on”.

“Well I hope he believes you”.

“I’ve come to give you today’s Elaine Report”, said Hoowie, going into Bengo and Bardin’s cabin later that evening.

“There is no need for that”, said Bardin “And I’ve got enough to think about with wondering what’s happened to all the land”.

“That’s tomorrow’s problem”, said Hoowie “Let sleep soothe your worried brow”.

“All that guru crap is going to your head”, said Bardin.

“So what’s in today’s Elaine Report?” asked Bengo “I want to know even if Bardy doesn’t”.

“That’s it, you stand up to him”, said Hoowie “I’ve told her we all adore Bardin too much, and we should give him a much harder time”.

“You enjoy cleaning the heads do you?” said Bardin “What other rubbish have you been telling her”.

“Oh we just had a nice little chat”, said Hoowie “I managed to cheer her up”.

“How?” said Bardin, suspiciously.

“Probably by leaving the ship”, said Bengo.

“No actually”, said Hoowie “By reassuring her that she cannot possibly be as big a fool as me”.

“Well as no one else on earth can possibly be as big a fool as you, then that at least is accurate I suppose”, said Bardin.

“I think she’ll be alright from now on”, said Hoowie “But just go a bit easier on her. Don’t keep scowling at her, that sort of thing”.

“I don’t scowl at her!” Bardin protested.

“Yes you do, Bardy”, said Bengo.

“Only when she’s simpering at me like a total halfwit”, said Bardin.

“I said there’s no reason why you can’t end up like friends”, said Hoowie “Like Rosa and Adam are, and look at the problems Rosa has there”.

“I think you’ve said more than enough for one evening!” said Bardin.

“Adam’ll be furious you’ve brought him into all this”, said Bengo, his jaw almost hitting the floor.

“I think we’ve had enough of Hoowie the Agony Uncle for the time being”, said Bardin “Go to bed, before you cause any more trouble”.

“I wish I hadn’t told you anything now”, said Hoowie.

“So do I”, said Bardin “I was better off not knowing!”

Bengo showed him to the door, and regally gestured for him to leave the room.

“How the bloody blazes I’ve never wrung his neck is a ruddy miracle”, said Bardin, once they were alone.

“Oh to be fair, I expect he’s done some good”, said Bengo “But Adam won’t be pleased they’ve been discussing him and Rosa”.

“Tough”, said Bardin “If my personal business gets paraded everywhere, I don’t see why his can’t be as well!” *

“Sounds like Hoowie’s been doing some good this evening”, said Kieran, joining Joby in their cabin.

“Makes a change”, said Joby, wearily pulling off his own socks “I overheard Julian rattling on that it was about time everybody gave Hoowie more credit anyway, and at that point I thought it was time to come to bed”.

“I’m not complaining”, said Kieran “I was starting to get some heavy hints from some of the others that I should be talking to her, and I really wasn’t looking forward to it. It felt like meddling. If Elaine had voluntarily come to me then that would have been different, but me thundering over to the yacht like some heavy-handed village priest sticking his nose in, didn’t feel right at all”.

“She’s a bit scared of you anyway”.

“Is she? That’s dismaying to hear. Why is she scared of me?”

“Why wouldn’t she be? With everything you’ve done over the years. And you’re very reserved these days, that’s bound to spook someone as outgoing as her”.

“I didn’t realise I was being so reserved”, said Kieran “I guess a part of me still feels shaken after what happened to wee Tamaz back at Zilligot Bay. I thought I knew most of the horrid tricks that Evil could pull, but I didn’t see that one coming. Serves me right for being complacent I suppose”.

“Is there any circumstance where you won’t bring out the Catholic guilt thing?” said Joby “You can’t be expected to be prepared for everything, Kiel! Anyway, you helped Tamaz. Give yourself some bleedin’ credit for a change! I’ve never known a guy so fond of giving himself a hard time. I bet Julian wouldn’t do that”.

“Perhaps he should have been the Vanquisher of Evil”, Kieran laughed.

“Gimme a break”, said Joby “The world’s got enough problems as it is!”

6.

The complete absence of any land sighting over the next couple of days was starting to be perplexing to say the least. By Bardin’s calculations some semblance of the New Continent should have started to appear on the horizon by now.

“Could we have strayed off course somehow?” asked Bengo.

“I don’t see how at all”, said Bardin “It was pretty much a foregone certainty that if we kept going in a westerly direction we would hit it at some point. We’re going now in a north-westerly direction, to avoid the lower end of the continent and any contact again with the Southern Land Mass, so even more reason why we should have hit land sighting by now”.

“It all feels a bit trippy”, said Bengo.

“Try not to let it freak you out”, said Bardin “If worse comes to the worse, we can at least just turn round again. But something’s got to appear at some point”.

He collected together the maps on the dining-room table, which he had initially spread over the end of it.

“I feel like scrawling COMPLETELY USELESS over all of them”, he said.

“I don’t know why you bother with them so much anyway”, said Bengo “This world seems impervious to any maps at times”.

“I guess I just like maps”, said Bardin “Although the way things are going I’m starting to feel that I should just make up my own as we go along. I might as well!” *

Kieran had been busy grooming the horses in the hold, as was his normal routine in the mornings. As he was finishing he heard a shuffling noise in one of the rooms nearby. On investigation he found Tamaz sitting huddled in a corner, not far from the trunk which contained the last few remaining remnants of the Starhanger Jewels.

“Tamaz”, said Kieran, gently, crouching down in front of him “Now why do you go up on deck and get a bit of fresh air. Rumble’s playing his guitar up there”.

“And what if we see more land?” said Tamaz.

“Well that’s what Bardin’s hoping for”, said Kieran “This relentless ocean is starting to unsettle him a bit”.

“Not me it’s not”, said Tamaz “Land spells trouble for me”.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because Evil lurks on land. Look what happened to Glynis at the Southern Land Mass”.

“Glynis was just very unlucky”, said Kieran “She wasn’t to know that looking into that cave would turn out to be so perilous, and anyway, she’s on the mend now. It was just a case of Dark Night Of The Soul. It happens to many people at some time or another”.

“Has it ever happened to you?”

“Oh dear Lord, yes. When I was much younger, in the early years. All that Vanquisher of Evil stuff got to me, and I had a nervous breakdown. I was lucky I had Joby to see me through it. It was a bad time for me. These things can take quite some time to get over, but time does heal, even if it has to do it at its own sweet pace”.

“If there are still demons on the New Continent”, said Tamaz “Then they might attack me the way they did back at Zilligot Bay, and then I won’t be able to contain my eyes again”.

“You got over that before, and we would get you over that again”, said Kieran “But I honestly do not believe it will happen again. And if there is even the slightest danger of us running into demons in that place then we won’t be going anywhere near ashore. I can promise you that. Even if we have to keep on sailing upwards and round the north coast”.

He reached out and took Tamaz’s hands.

“Now why don’t you come up on deck with me. The clowns are missing the old Tamaz”.

“Only because they miss ripping the piss out of me all the time”, said Tamaz.

“Well it’s nothing like the way they rip the piss out of each other is it!”

He put his arm round Tamaz’s waist and led him up onto the main deck. Bengo was standing near the top of the quarterdeck steps, leaning back against the bulwark.

“Tamaz!” he said, on sighting them “Good to see you up here. You’ve been looking real peaky since we left the island”.

Bardin spotted them and came over.

“Bardin, shut up!” said Bengo.

“I haven’t said anything yet!” Bardin protested.

“Well it’s just in case you do”, said Bengo.

“Still no sign of land I take it?” said Kieran.

“Nope”, Bardin sighed “It’s hard not to feel sometimes that someone is having a massive joke at our expense. That we’re doomed to sail the oceans for all eternity, never reaching land. Joby told me the tale of a ship called The Flying Dutchman. It’s hard not to feel that’s now us”.

“Of course it’s not”, said Kieran, uneasily aware that all this was getting to Bardin “I’ll wring Joby’s neck for filling your head with that nonsense”.

“No don’t do that”, said Bardin “Normally I’d find it an interesting story, and I know we’re not really doomed to that, but it just resonated, that’s all”.

“Do you know what I really want right now?” said Joby, turning a tin of new potatoes round in his hands and staring at it in a depressed fashion.

“I’m all agog, old love”, said Adam.

“A doughnut”, said Joby.

“A doughnut”.

“And not one of those ones with a hole in the middle, but a big, fat spongy one. Completely saturated in sugar, and stuffed with whipped cream and strawberry jam, like the ones my Nan used to buy for us for a Saturday treat sometimes. Can’t remember the last time I had anything like that. Would be a bloody improvement on those endless rock cakes”.

“But your rock cakes are delicious”, said Adam “Very light. You have a real knack with them”.

“Huh”, said Joby.

“I must admit I do sometimes miss the big supermarkets of our day”, said Adam “Can you imagine you, me and Bengo pushing a huge shopping cart around one of them, loading it to the gills with every goody we could find?”

“It’d be bloody marvellous”, said Joby “Kieran might be happy living off lettuce leaves, stale bread and broad beans, but I have my limits. If we’re stuck sailing the seas for all eternity, we’d end up living entirely off fish”.

“We’re not going to be sailing the seas for all eternity”, Adam laughed “What a nonsensical idea!”

Joby grunted, giving the distinct impression that he wasn’t at all sure about the certainty of that. There was a brief knocking on the galley door, and Hillyard peered in.

“Just thought I’d let you know there’s a thick sea fog rolling in”, he said “We’re dropping anchor for the time being”.

“Oh great”, said Joby “That’s all we need”.

Hillyard went back up onto the main deck. Bardin had instructed that the yacht should be anchored as close to the galleon as it could get, and Hillyard went across to help Woolly secure the vessel into place. Elaine was handing him a large coil of rope.

“We’ll shove a ladder down to you as well”, said Hillyard “Keep it fixed into place, so if you need to nip across you can”.

“We’re also doing a nightwatch, like you do”, said Woolly “Elly and I will take the first shift”.

“Jane and H are doing the midnight session”, Elaine continued “And Glynis and Rosa will do the pre-dawn one. Should we keep any lamps lit? I wasn’t sure what the plan was there. We did wonder if having them lit might act too much like a magnet for anything unwanted out there”.

“Have some in place”, said Hillyard “It’s better to take that risk than risk something crashing into us. Not that we’ve seen anything since we started this whole adventure”.

“Joby, I’m doing one of the nightwatches tonight”, said Kieran, coming into the cabin he shared with Joby.

“Is that before or after you wring my neck?” said Joby, who was trimming the lamp.

“Wringing your neck? Why would I be doing that?”

“Summat about me filling Bardin’s head with tales of ghostly ships roaming the seas for all eternity”.

“Who told you I was going to wring your neck?”

“Bengo. C’mon, you know what a bunch of gasbags the clowns are. Can’t keep anything quiet. Anyway I’d like to see you try, you scrawny little herbert. Actually scrub that, you’ve fought with the devil, bitten his ear off …”

“Joby, you’re not Angel, I’m not going to be fighting with you!” Kieran laughed “Anyway, as I was saying, I’m doing one of the nightwatches, and I don’t like to think of you in here all by yourself”.

“Well if I get scared I’ll borrow Lonts’s teddy-bear”.

“No I’m being serious. There’s some strange vibes around. I’d rather you slept in Bengo and Bardin’s cabin. Bardin will probably be up on deck a lot himself”.

“OK”, Joby sighed “At least it might be warmer in their cabin”.

“Bardin’s loaned his spare whistle to the yacht, in case they have problems”.

“Blimey they’re honoured. Things must be strange”.

After midnight Jane and H were sitting on the deck at the rear of the yacht, both swathed in blankets, and drinking coffee from a thermos flask. The fog was thicker than ever, and gave them an eerie feeling of being trapped in a bubble floating through deep space.

“It seems odd to be in the middle of a fog-bank at sea, and yet not be able to hear any fog-horns”, said Jane “At least that would give us some semblance of normality”.

“When this fog clears”, said H “I’m going to suggest taking one of the air-buggies up again. I should’ve thought of it before. Can’t think why I didn’t. We could fly it out over the ocean a short way, see if there’s any sign of land on the horizon. You don’t look too impressed with that idea”.

“No I think it’s a good idea”, said Jane, still seeming uneasy “It’s just a thought that if we don’t see any, that’s going to dash everyone’s hopes again”.

“Better to try than not try”, said H “Don’t worry, we’re bound to find something eventually. I can’t believe the entire world’s suddenly turned into one giant tank of water”.

“I actually have mixed feelings about it”, said Jane “I want us to find land, and yet at the same time I’m nervous about what might be on it when we do”.

“You’ve never struck me as the worrisome sort”.

“I’m not usually. I leave all the deep thinking to others, usually have all the depth of a puddle! But I guess it’s this ocean, it seems to be having an effect on all of us. I’m starting to get weird fears, like what if this fog never lifts again”.

“That’s how I went when I was living in the Demon Forest”, said H “I became a nervous wreck, couldn’t seem to operate like my old self at all, and at the same time couldn’t summon up the courage to leave the place. You have to fight it, push it back. Don’t let it trap you in one state”.

“I’m beginning to understand what poor Glynis went through after that trip to the Southern Land Mass”.

“And she’s a lot better now. Think ahead to when we take the air-buggy up again”, said H “The sunlight sparkling on the waves. Clear vision all around us”.

“Sounds wonderful”.

“You folks alright down there?” Hillyard called out. He was leaning on the bulwark of the galleon, holding up a bulls-eye lantern.

“We’re fine”, said Jane “Trying not to get hypothermia”.

“Jump up and down if you feel your legs seizing up”, said Hillyard “Never mind, the night can’t last forever. Keep telling yourselves that”. “I hope you’re right”, Jane sighed.

7.

“You look absolutely wrecked”, said Adam, when Joby strolled into the galley first thing in the morning “Did you and Bengo hit the sherry?”

“Nothing as fun as that”, said Joby “I couldn’t get off to sleep for ages, however hard I tried, kept thinking of that damn fog. Then when I did finally get off, Bardin came crashing and banging into the room, chucking all his clothes and his boots everywhere, and making a right pigging menace of himself. I was starting to wish I’d stayed in our cabin, and taken me chances with any passing demons. I bet you slept for 7 hours straight”.

“I have no complaints”, said Adam “For such a trim little man Bardin has all the subtlety of a bull crashing through a plate glass window sometimes”.

“Bengo was furious”, said Joby “Chucked his pillows at him. All Bardin did was say he didn’t know what we were making such a fuss about. If you wanna give him a bloody good spanking later be my guest”.

“Always a very tempting thought”.

“Yeah well don’t hold back on my account. Use the paddle on him”.

“You’re getting me dangerously excited”, said Adam “And we still have the breakfasts to do”.

“Any news from topside?”

“Ransey gave me a brief bulletin just now. He feels the fog is thinning a little. The night passed without incident, which is something to be grateful for. I get the impression it was more of a case of everyone keeping a tight lid on their imaginations, than anything real happening”.

“It must have been unnerving up there”, said Joby “Probably not helped by Kieran wittering on about strange vibes. He’s got a bloody nerve moaning about me talking about the Flying Dutchman when he carries on like that”.

“I thought I would make some shortbread later”, said Adam “As a little morale booster. The wonderful thing about shortbread is it only has 3 ingredients, flour, sugar and butter, and we’re never usually short of those”.

“We’re doing OK on the supplies front aren’t we?”

“It could be a lot worse, but we can’t afford to get carried away, which can make things feel rather tedious sometimes. I shall have to commandeer Ransey at some point and do another larder inventory, just to be on the safe side”.

“Back in our time”, said Joby “I once read about the most remote location on Earth, somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. It was about 2000 miles to the nearest land, and would take a fortnight to travel to the nearest land by boat. We must’ve left Hiatus Island longer than 2 weeks ago”.

“Yes, but this isn’t the old world is it”, said Adam “I thought you might have learnt that by now. Now put some coffee on. Everyone’s going to need it”.

“D’you know”, said Joby, picking up a saucepan and going over to the sink “That location was closer to the astronauts on a space station than it was to anyone on the nearest land”.

“Joby, just make the coffee”, said Adam. *

By mid-morning the fog had receded some distance out over the ocean, but hadn’t disappeared completely. Even so, it was pleasant to get a glimmer of sunshine, and the sea was only mildly choppy. The fog hadn’t departed quite enough though to make it worthwhile for H to take an air-buggy up, a fact which frustrated him somewhat.

“I should have done it when I had the chance”, he said, repeating himself “And not left it too late”.

Elaine tried to reassure him that there would be plenty of other opportunities, but H was still champing at the bit.

They moved along a bit further, but refused to go any nearer to the fog, so it was a short day of sailing. When anchors were dropped again, more fishing was done, whilst H climbed up onto the main deck of the galleon, and walked around his air-buggy, looking wistfully at the interior, and dusting the windows and door-knobs.

“At least one thing we’re definitely not short of is eggs”, said Joby, coming into the galley carrying a basket of said items “We all might be getting anxious about not seeing land, but it doesn’t seem to have affected the chickens”.

“That’s good”, said Adam “I once read of a diet which consisted almost entirely of eggs and black coffee. Apparently you could lose half-a-stone in a couple of days on it”.

“I’m not surprised with all that pelting through your system”, said Joby.

Adam noticed Bardin walking past the galley door.

“I think I might take your advice”, he whispered to Joby “And go and administer some much-needed discipline to our boy. Do you mind if I do it alone? I feel like extra treating myself”.

“No go ahead”, said Joby “Hopefully there’’ll be another occasion soon when the SB Club can meet”.

“Oh absolutely old love. Top priority”.

“Here, take this”, said Joby, handing him the butter paddle “And don’t stint”.

Adam took the paddle, and looked out furtively into the corridor, to make sure none of the neighbours were about, although it was generally accepted that they only came below with a proper invite. He scooted across the corridor and into Bengo and Bardin’s cabin, where he found Bardin divesting himself of his oilskin jacket. Bardin looked round at him hopefully, and Adam obliged by shooting the bolt on the cabin door.

“Now this will definitely be a punishment”, said Adam, brandishing the butter paddle.

“No it won’t, I’ll thoroughly enjoy it”, said Bardin “But if it pleases you to call it a punishment then I don’t mind. Out of curiosity, what am I being punished for?”

“Charging in here in the middle of the night, like a bull in a china shop, and disturbing Joby and Bengo”.

“Why should I care? They were both sleeping like babies, all cosily tucked up, whilst I’d been up on deck for hours, freezing my nuts off in that grim fog”.

“Well you’re scarcely making things easier for yourself are you?” said Adam.

“I hope not”, Bardin smirked, feeling his shorts getting tighter all the while. He undid his trousers and dropped them to the floor.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door.

“Oh what the fuck is it now?” Bardin called out “Go away!”

“Thought you might want to know, Bard”, Hillyard called back “There are seagulls circling about. We haven’t seen or heard ‘em for ages. You know what that means don’t you? There could be land nearby somewhere”.

“Yes it does”, Bardin replied “That’s great news. Look, I’ll be up in a little while. Give me a few moments”.

“As you were”, Hillyard laughed, and headed back to the quarterdeck steps.

“Look seagulls or no seagulls, we can’t leave this unfinished”, said Bardin “I’ll go out of my mind otherwise”.

We shall leave Bardin to take his punishment in private, and go back topside, where everyone was either fishing or watching the distant fog to see how far it was receding. The wind had got up which signalled good news, as it would help to drive the fog away.

“I’ve got an idea”, Ransey said to Hillyard “I think we should donate some of the weapons to the yacht crew. They haven’t got any”.

“You anticipating trouble, Ranz?” asked Hillyard.

“Well I’m hoping there won’t be”, said Ransey “But look at some of our past visits to the New Continent! We can’t take any chances. It was concerning me last night that they were down there with nothing to defend themselves with”.

“Are you going to give them shooting lessons?”

“There won’t be any need for that. Rosa can handle a rifle. She sometimes used to go on hunting expeditions in the mountains back at Zilligot Bay. I suspect Ernesto can too. They can educate the others”.

“We can do that now if you like”, said Hillyard “Or do we have to wait for Bardin’s permission first?”

“The weapons are my department”, said Ransey “With any luck he won’t be in any fit state to argue about anything when he resurfaces. Let’s do it now. Sooner rather than later”.

They took two rifles from the gun store in the hold, along with a box of ammunition, and then went over to the yacht. Rosa inspected the weaponry in the saloon in a very professional manner. Even Ransey was impressed.

“So nice to see someone who has respect for guns”, he said “And doesn’t get carried away with them”.

“When I was a child there was a man in the town who accidentally shot himself whilst cleaning his rifle”, said Rosa “It sort of stayed in my mind”.

“A pretty rookie mistake to make”, sighed Ransey.

“I don’t think anyone was too upset”, said Rosa “He was a pretty horrible man, treated his wife appallingly, but it did ram it into me that guns are not things you mess around with”.

Elaine had been loitering at the back of the room, staring at the guns as if they were live vipers.

“I hope no one is expecting me to use one”, she said.

“Probably best if you don’t”, said Ransey, who was quietly horrified at the idea of Elaine handling a rifle.

“Do we really need them, Ransey?” said Elaine “We’ve gotten by so far without them”.

“I know”, said Ransey “But we have to be prepared for anything where the New Continent is concerned. Total vigilance at all times. Anyway they aren’t just for defence, they will come in handy for hunting animals as well”.

“Kieran won’t approve of that”, said Elaine, now sounding dangerously self-righteous.

“Kieran has to lump it on those occasions”, said Hillyard “He knows that. Or at least he should do by now”.

Doctor Xavier came in from the rear deck, and looked at the guns with the same wariness that Elaine had shown.

“Will you be handling one, Doctor?” said Elaine.

“I am a doctor”, he replied, stiffly “I am in the purpose of saving life, not taking it”.

“I think you’re both being unreasonable”, said Rosa “Ransey wouldn’t be presenting us with these if it wasn’t important. And as he says, they will come in very useful for hunting purposes. I trust you won’t be turning down fresh game if we manage to bag it?”

“Fair comment”, Xavier mumbled.

“That told ‘em!” Hillyard said to Ransey, when they got back on the galleon.

“I think it’s fair to say that Rosa is the captain of the yacht”, said Ransey.

Bardin stumbled out of his cabin and made his way awkwardly into the dining-room, where he bumped into Ransey.

“Strewth!” said Bardin “Do you have to lurk in the dark like that? Nearly gave me heart-failure!”

“I wasn’t lurking”, said Ransey “And it’s broad daylight. I thought you might like to know. I’ve donated a couple of our rifles to the yacht crew. They haven’t any weapons of their own”.

“Good grief, itt never occurred to me that they were unarmed”, said Bardin I sorta took it for granted that they would be”.

“So you don’t mind then?”

“Course I don’t mind. We don’t know what we might be facing in the near future”.

“Rosa knows how to handle a gun, she can educate the others if need be. Elaine got a bit silly about it. Acted as if the weapons were contagious”.

“That doesn’t surprise me”, said Bardin “Hopefully that might mean she’ll stay well clear of them. I think I’d be a bit nervous at the idea of Elaine handling a gun!”

8.

They came in sight of the New Continent the following day. Rocky cliffs reared up, and boulders of differing size waded out into the ocean, which made it nigh-on impossible to drop anchor anywhere safely or conveniently. All of this meant H got his wish to take up his air-buggy. It was decided not to take up the other two as well.

“The New Continent constantly springs unpleasant surprises”, Bardin explained “So we can’t afford to take any unnecessary risks. We need the other two buggies in case H runs into any trouble, and we have to go after him”.

H selected Jane to be his co-pilot, and suggested two of the Indigo-ites for the rear seats.

“Rumble can go”, said Bardin “It’ll make a change for him from doing night-watch duty all the time”.

“Can I suggest Mieps as my accompanying person then?” said Rumble.

“What a splendid idea”, said Julian “The old girl has been almost confined to the poop-deck since we left the Hiatus Island. She’s practically turned into the ship’s figurehead! It will do her the world of good”.

Mieps didn’t seem to agree wholeheartedly, saying that she liked to keep the earth beneath her feet at all times.

“The earth hasn’t been beneath your feet at all since we left the island!” said Julian. * In spite of Mieps’s nervousness about flying, she had to admit that the birds eye view of the sun sparkling off the ocean waves was pretty special. It was perfect flying weather, with splendid visibility. As they neared the cliff face H pulled the air-buggy upwards, and they swooped up over the clifftop. It was intoxicating stuff. The interior landscape was depressingly barren though. It resembled the Saturn Desert in that it was just nothing but bare ground and rocks. There was a noticeable absence of trees, bushes or any other plantlife. It was a while before they noticed anything of any note at all.

“Is that a statue?” said Jane, pointing directly ahead.

It was hard to tell at first. Whatever it was was a substantial monolith, about 7 feet in height. It was only as they neared it that they could tell it was actually moving, at a very slow pace.

“What the fuck is that?” Rumble breathed.

As a precaution H raised the air-buggy even further, so that they could clear the top of the thing without any risk of being pulled down by it. The giant seemed to be a woman, with long, tangled silver hair. On sighting the air-buggy she let out an unearthly scream, and whirled her arms in the air like a mad dervish. In the front passenger seat Jane stared down into her face, and noted that the eyes were set close together, and were of an offputting metallic grey colour. There was no sign of any sanity there at all. H circled the buggy above, and this seemed to drive the creature even more insane.

“I don’t suggest we land and communicate with her”, he shouted to the others.

“She looks capable of tearing all of us to pieces with her bare hands”, said Rumble.

“Let’s get back and tell the others”, said Jane.

Their rush back to the galleon was exacerbated by rain clouds gathering on the horizon. Once back aboard, and with the air-buggy parked, Bardin invited H below deck for a glass of whisky.

“That’s one more thing I like about you guys”, said H “You never seem short of booze”.

“Are you short of it on the yacht?” asked Bardin, pouring out two measures.

“We’ve got some”, said H “But we have to be a bit careful when bringing it out. Don’t want to seem like we’re taunting Woolly with it”.

“Can understand that”, said Bardin, sitting down gingerly.

“Sorry we couldn’t bring back more positive news”, said H, after taking a gulp of the amber liquid “But that giantess dame was damn freaky as hell”.

“Well I didn’t expect much from the New Continent”, Bardin sighed “It is a place with a long history of chucking up random horrible surprises. The most I was hoping for was that we might find a safe spot for a while, if only for somewhere to exercise the horses”.

“It’s a big place, there must be somewhere”, said H “I’m happy to take the air-buggy out on a reconnaissance anytime you want. That was useful today”.

“Hyper-vigilance is the key”, said Bardin “It has left me wondering if our original plan of going up round the top is wise. Perhaps it might be better to go backwards”.

“Back to the Hiatus Island?”

“No, not back there. I think we’ve all had enough of that place. But go northwards, towards where Port West used to be. Head in the reverse direction of the route we did a few years ago, from the Weather Rock. We could still head towards Snow Lake that way. I need to give it all some thought”.

“But in the meantime we still have to up the coastline here”, said H, getting a pleasurable thought of how many times he could take out the air-buggy during their progress.

“I’m glad someone likes the idea”, said Bardin.

Late that evening the night-watch were disturbed by the most horrendous noise. From over on the mainland of the New Continent came a cacophonous wailing and shrieking. In the space of only a few short minutes it got louder and more intense, as more hysterical voices seemed to be adding to the throng.

Rumble went up onto the poop-deck and shone a bulls-eye lantern westerly. In the gloom he could make out a horde of dark figures all assembled on the clifftop. They seemed to come in all shapes and sizes. Some were standing upright, others were crouched down, bent double. As he watched a few of them tumbled off the cliff edge and dropped to the rocks below. Instead of lying smashed and broken there, they stood up and immediately propelled themselves forward into the turbulent sea.

“They can’t reach us all the way out here surely?” said Hillyard, in amazement.

“I’m not sure about that”, said Rumble, watching in horror as more of the creatures tumbled over the cliff edge.

“I’ll go and fetch Bardin”, said Hillyard “This isn’t good at all”.

Bardin was roused from his slumbers. He clambered out of bed, and threw on an oilskin jacket over his pink nightie. Up on deck he watched the weird show in the same horror as the others had. They could see several heads now bobbing in the sea. The creatures weren’t swimming, but seemed to be letting themselves be washed along on the waves, as though they were inflatable.

“Shit, Kieran warned us not to get complacent at all”, said Bardin “But I stupidly thought we’d be reasonably safe all the way out here. Look, I know no one’s keen on night sailing, but we’re going to have to move on”.

He could hear Elaine’s voice calling from the deck of the yacht.

“I’ll go and tell them what’s happening”, said Hillyard.

He went over to the bulwark and shouted down. In the dim light of a lantern he could see Elaine’s pale face staring up at him.

“You lot start up and go on ahead”, said Hillyard “Just keep going directly northwards. You can move at a faster lick than we can, but we’ll catch you up when we can”.

“We can’t abandon you here”, said Elaine.

“You won’t be”, said Hillyard “We’ll be following you. The important thing is to get out of this area”.

Bardin came up behind him.

“Just do as he says”, said Bardin, pointing imperiously in a northerly direction.

“Glad you have the voice of authority, mate”, said Hillyard, as Elaine went below to tell the others what was happening.

“I’ll go below and rouse the others”, said Bardin “This is an all-hands-on-deck situation”.

When he reached the top of the main steps, he found Bengo waiting for him.

“You do realise”, said Bengo “That Elaine’s now seen you in your pink nightie”.

“Well if that doesn’t put her off I don’t know what will!” said Bardin.

By daybreak they had all covered a satisfying amount of distance. When the sun had fully risen they could also see that there was a complete absence of any demonic figures bobbing about in the waves, and the New Continent was nowhere in sight.

In the chilly sunlight a communal breakfast was arranged on the main deck of the galleon, with the trestle table being set up again. Everyone was exhausted, but were fuelled by tinned sausages, scrambled eggs, bread and pots of coffee. It was planned that many of them could try and grab a few hours sleep once the meal was done, with a few others staying on daywatch duty. The creatures jumping into the sea had somewhat shocked them. Even though they had just bobbed like life-jackets on the water, there was still the unsettling feeling that they could have eventually washed out to the boats.

“I’m going to do something which I rarely do”, said Bardin, getting to his feet at the end of the table “I’m going to hold a democratic vote. I feel it’s for the best”.

“On what?” said Bengo.

“I’m coming to that, if I get the chance”, said Bardin “I’ll be honest, I cannot make up my mind what to do next for the best. We have a choice of three options. Go back to Hiatus Island, which I’m pretty certain no one wants to do”.

“If we go back there we’ll never leave it”, said Hillyard.

“Exactly”, said Bardin “So that leaves two options. Head back to the Old Continent, and up to the north west. Or carry on the way we are, and head to the extreme north of the New Continent. Kieran, do you have any thoughts?”

“The New Continent is nearer”, said Kieran “I’ve been spending the past couple of hours trying to soothe the horses down below. They became very spooked by the noises, and they’ve been cooped up for weeks. It’s not good for them. It will be risky going anywhere ashore on the New Continent, but I don’t believe the demonic creatures can over-run every single square inch of it. As long as keep our wits about us at all times, we should be OK. And H can always do a reconnaissance mission first”.

H gave a thumbs-up to this.

Bardin nodded and said “Let’s have the vote. Have a few minutes to think it over first”.

He was astonished to find that the vote was unanimous about going forwards to the north of the New Continent. Some, like Mutton Broth, wanted to abstain from voting entirely, on the grounds that they were happy to do what the others wanted. Bardin wasn’t having any of that.

“For once in your life you’re going to have to make a decision for yourself”, he said to Mutton “I have to be pretty certain that everyone’s happy with this, and no one should have to carry anyone else on a decision like this”.

“I feel my brother and I have had enough of the north part of the Old Continent”, said Elaine “We are very happy to venture somewhere new”.

“I can understand that”, said Bardin “I don’t expect Adam, Joby and Kieran want to revisit Henang Prison either”.

“Seeing it again a few years ago was more than enough”, said Joby.

“Thought as much”, said Bardin “Let’s shake off the old and on with the new, however weird and unnerving it might be”.

END OF PART ONE


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