The Rise of the Sea Ghosts (from The Gelid Times Trilogy)

Chapter 1

THE RIVER ELIIN; To the South

To captain one of the boats, you had to be the first born. Celeste was not a first-born. You also had to be eighteen. Celeste was not eighteen. The fact was, Celeste had just turned fifteen and she was the third-born. A cold that was greater than any cold recorded in the Scrolls of Origin had descended upon the settlement this Lanuarii. Word had passed from the few travellers who dared to go beyond, that the glacial weather extended far and wide and people were calling it the Gelid Time.

Celeste and Kaz met before first light at the boat yard by the River Eliin with their rucksacks filled with bread, nuts and dried fruit. The only way to cross was by rowboat but they were not going to cross. They jumped over the low wooden fence and wandered through the boats that were huddled close together and covered with thick grey tarpaulins. The masts rose in criss-crossed mazes of white painted poles and ropes that were barely visible against the blue frozen fog of the dawn. They had agreed to sail downstream to the estuary, out to the Saltum Sea and along the coast to the foothills of the Anatase Mountain range. Somewhere in the foothills, Great-Gram Agate lived near the caves, secluded from all who knew her as well as those who did not; some say she had become unhitched, living a truly wild existence unyoked from reality. But Gram Agate knew things. She knew things that no one else living or dead knew. She might be solitary, but her knowledge about this land, the beyond and the between was better than anyone's around. Everyone said that Celeste would be just like her. Not just because she looked like her, tall with sharp green eyes, but because she had the same sense of the land and the water and could both navigate just as easily with the sun, stars and moon in all weather - rain, fog or even blizzards.

"Celeste, we shouldn't be doing this," Kaz, a fellow third-born, whispered trying to convince her one last time not to set out. His black parka was a hand-me-down and far too large; his head was barely visible through the thick fur of the hood. His words magically floated through the fur on frozen ethereal breaths.

"Help me look." Celeste said and pulled his coat sleeve towards the next section of boats. "If we all stay here the food will run out before the thaw and we all die. If we all leave, the food will run out and we will all die. There is no winning here." Celeste was sure there was something in the middle and Gram Agate would know what flows between staying and going. "Come on," Celeste continued as she pushed the hood of my navy duffel coat back a little, but not too much. Her short white hair, like Gram Agate's, would be spotted from far off, almost transparent, if – uncovered to the freezing fog it would glisten with the brightness of a new star. Gram Agate said that she had always had white hair, just like mine and that Celeste should treasure it as only a few were blessed with hair like that of the great white bear. Celeste dared to move her hood back a bit further and it was slightly easier to get a better look at the boats, "The Legend is here somewhere."

"Of course it's here. Where else would it be? We're going to get out there, follow the Eliin to the sea and then that's it. It's going to become a ghost ship because we'll be frozen, drown or overrun by pirates."

Kaz waved his arms out wide and spun around dramatically as he emphasised every other word, always thinking of the catastrophic – if there was a spark from the fire he insisted it would turn into a blaze, if it rained he said it would flood and if the earth shook he insisted we would be buried under a mound of earth to slowly suffocate, unless they were knocked unconscious – then they would be dead instantly. While Celeste, on the other hand, was practical, logical and organised. There was always a way, but sometimes the way had to be uncovered, carefully excavated like an ancient relic or long-lost tomb.

"You hear about ghost ships all the time. What about the Bowhead? It went adrift, the crew froze to death and the captain was seated at his desk writing his account, logging all of the information, as you would expect a captain to do, and then he just froze pencil in hand, mid-word and all. Or what about the Tiger Tooth? It came a ground empty of its entire crew, including the captain. The food, gold and all its cargo were still on board – so where were the crew? Pirates would have taken the gold and cargo. If the crew had evacuated, they would have taken their possessions surely. Maybe they killed each other? A wild mutiny! Or maybe they were all poisoned and dived overboard?"

"Stop. We're not going to become a ghost ship and we are not going to kill each other, unless you don't stop talking."

Celeste started to regret convincing Kaz to come along. They were the best navigators their age by a long shot and could easily navigate up and down the high seas of the coast. But doing it alone would have been too hard. He just needed to talk a bit less so she could think.

An iron gate at the other side of the boat yard clanged shut and two hushed voices came closer and closer. Celeste and Kaz huddled under the nearest boat and waited for them to pass. Kaz started to speak but Celeste shook her head and he shrank back further under the boat. As they grew closer, Celeste realized that it was Dad. Dad and someone else. Someone she did not know. She nearly stood up to see better when Kaz pulled her back under the boat.

Dad and the man moved towards the boathouse and then disappeared around the other side. They waited. When they sure they would be seen, Celeste and Kaz slipped around the boat and there in front of them was the Legend. The hull was made of rich dark wood, sanded and varnished with linseed oil. Pausing long enough to pat the hull like a horse, an old friend, they silently unhooked the tarpaulin, folded it and placed it in the stern of the boat. Celeste unlocked the brake on the wooden boat trailer and together they pushed the Legend to the ramp. Kaz took the rope and tied it to the dock while Celeste backed the wheels towards the water. Unhitching the boat, Celeste let it float off the trailer and into the water. Using the rope, Kaz manoeuvred the boat along the bank. Looking back towards the boat house, Celeste pulled the trailer out of the water and quickly positioned it near the other empty trailers so that it would be less obvious that the boat was missing.

"Quickly!" Kaz whispered.

Locking the trailer in place with the others, Celeste returned to the river and boarded the boat with Kaz. Dad appeared from the other side of the boat house. He looked towards the river just as they drifted into the current. Celeste and Kaz ducked down, but it was too late. Dad saw them. The stranger had his back to the river while Dad spoke emphatically as he put his hand on the stranger's arm. It was almost as if he tried to stop him from turning towards the river. He did not call out or shout as would have been expected. He did not even seem angry. What was Dad doing? Celeste was an underage captain. Celeste took the boat without permission. Celeste was not even a first-born. Why didn't he stop them?