Crown Phoenix: Night Watchman Express Read online

Chapter 11

  Convincing Weko

  eil and Riki followed the huge cliffs, sticking as close as possible to the shoreline. On the hidden side of the island, however, there was very little beach, and the thin strip of land was mainly made up of huge rocks and boulders. Neil began to feel very tired as he struggled through them. The only other thing to do was to slosh into the salt water, but there the rocks were unseen under the waves. He was afraid that, as tired as he was, he would fall and break his leg.

  The long streaks of pink and purple in the sky from the ensuing sunrise lengthened. Soon, Neil thought, Odjo will get up and start baking bread, which means that Chichilia will come down for breakfast and wonder where we are, which means…

  Neil climbed over another slippery rock. The thought of breakfast made his stomach rumble. Odjo usually made little white rolls for breakfast. They were crusty on top and light in the middle. Riki always ate hers with about a pound of butter and guava jelly. The cook baked fish cakes, too, and pounded plantains into small patties that were fried and salted.

  “Neil, are you still thinking about food?” Riki asked in a weary voice. He could only nod, feeling his insides twist. “Maybe we can find some turtle’s eggs,” she continued. “If you see those sweeping sort of tracks on the sand, do you know what I mean, tell me, and we’ll dig for them.”

  “There is no sand. And what are we going to do, suck them raw?”

  “Well, you come up with a better idea!”

  Since this was completely unlike the usually good-natured Riki, Neil swallowed his own curt response and asked, “Did you have any idea of what Mana and I were talking about?”

  “Not much.” Riki turned her face up to his and raised her eyebrows.

  “We have to get her out of that cage,” Neil said. “She’s probably cold at night, and they probably just let her get wet when a storm comes, and if no one feeds her, they’ll leave her to die.”

  Riki looked at him. He thought she forgot her hunger as she lit up with her familiar enthusiasm. “We can rescue her!” she said. “But how? We can’t get her up from that ledge, even if we both pulled on that chain. And it’s too far from that stone staircase. Could we train animals to work our will? Maybe monkeys!”

  Neil interrupted Riki, who was obviously picturing herself as the Jungle Wonder Girl. “No. We can’t pull her up. But perhaps your father and brothers could, though.”

  She turned to him, excited, and her face fell. “Naah. Weko’ll never go for it. He’d be too afraid that he’d lose his new gardens, or the family portrait they want to have painted, or his position, or the new dining room furniture, or something silly like that.”

  Neil nodded. “Yes, you’re right, but if we can convince him –”

  “But we can’t –”

  “But if we can. Just listen and don’t interrupt for five seconds. If we put him in a good mood, for example, by you being absolutely, positively on your best behavior.”

  “He’ll want to help us. Ha!” Riki clapped her hands, entranced with the thought of tricking her father.

  “Just don’t overdo it,” Neil warned with some misgivings. “You don’t have to bow to him, or wash his feet, or anything like that.”

  “As if I would!” Riki lifted her nose in the air and sauntered on for a few steps. Something struck her. “That woman – Mana – said that you would tell me all about her. Who is she?”

  “Well, I’m not really sure,” Neil said. He began to recount how he met the governess. This led to telling about Miriam, and Simon, and how they had all met at Miriam’s house. Riki kept asking about Mana. Neil had no answer for any of her questions.

  Who was Mana, anyway? He had no idea. As far as anyone knew, she had appeared out of nowhere and become Miriam’s governess. The only thing he could say for certain about her was that when Mana said something, he believed it with no hesitation whatsoever.

  Riki suddenly interrupted him and pointed. “Look, is that a path?”

  Neil peered at the large rocks that they were on, and between two of them there was a large gap. “It might be. Hadn’t we better stick to the beach though? Suppose we go past the palace that way and run into more of those guards?” he asked.

  “But that will take forever if we keep going around,” Riki complained. “Besides, I bet we’ve passed the palace by now.”

  “Maybe.”

  Riki ignored him and shot between the rocks. Cursing under his breath, Neil followed her. He wanted breakfast as badly as she did, but he did not want to risk another confrontation with any of the palace goons.

  The gap, however, widened and became a sandy straightaway that led into the trees. Neil was just in time to see Riki disappear into a tumble of vines. “Riki, you idiot!” he yelled as loud as he dared. “Wait for me!”

  Her face popped up out of the leaves. “See? Told you! There’s the way we want – it leads right back to my house. You really should listen to me more often. Come on – I want coffee and mangos and breadfruit fritters.”

  Neil’s head spun at the thought of food. He followed as quickly as he could and realized that she was right – they had stumbled on another juncture of the path that led to the palace. “You mean,” he said to himself, “we could have come this way instead of crawling through that marsh?” His scalp still itched at the thought of all the ooze they had crawled through, and the live things slithering over his legs - ugh.

  Riki turned and laughed at him again. “Ya-ha! You got dirty for no reason! You’re filthy again, too. Your glasses are covered with green spots, and your shirt smells.”

  Neil, out of patience, gave her a shove. “Go on. Last one home has to clean up the breakfast dishes.”

  Riki stopped laughing and shot off.

  “But why did you have to go fishing so early?” Chichilia repeated.

  Neil tried to swallow the huge lump of bread in his mouth as politely as possible. In his room, he had scrubbed until he tingled, but his nails were still dirty, he saw now. Curling them under his spoon, he repeated, “We thought we could get bigger fish earlier in the morning.”

  “But you didn’t catch any!” she said.

  “Ah, yes, that is true. However, not for lack of trying. We sat for a few hours on the sand and realized that we wouldn’t catch anything, so –”

  The door opened. Neil, hoping that Riki had come to breakfast at last in order to help him in his story, was dismayed when Weko entered, followed by Jirili and Kakujife.

  The tall man bowed to Neil and went to kiss his wife’s cheek. The two brothers ignored him entirely and sitting down, began to discuss something in low, earnest tones.

  Chichilia poured cups of coffee for the three men and said to Neil, “Weko just got back last night.”

  “Late.” He took a long sip of coffee. “Ah, this is excellent, my dear.”

  “Um, how late was that?” Neil asked, feeling ridiculous.

  “It must have been just about sunrise, since you and Riki were already gone on your little jaunt.” Weko looked at Neil for a long moment.

  To his own annoyance, Neil felt his face flush. “Oh, yes. We decided to leave early; that is, we wanted to get away before anyone was up. That is, before her parents were up.” Worse and worse, he thought to himself, realizing that he was babbling with nervousness.

  Weko smiled, showing very white teeth with a large gap in the middle, which made him look actually human. “That is fine, Mr. Neil!” he boomed. “I am glad that you and Riki are becoming such good friends.”

  Jirili looked at Neil and asked, “How much do we know about this white boy, Father? Why do we trust him with our sister?”

  “Nonsense,” Chichilia said. “Stop it with the  insults, Jirili. Mr. Neil has been nothing but polite and honorable with Riki.”

  “Perhaps you say that because it is convenient for you,” Kakujife interjected. “Forgive me, mother, but you have been able to have more time for yourself and freedom lately, is that not so?”

  “Weko, will y
ou permit your sons to speak to their mother in this way?” Chichilia put down her knife with a slap.

  “Father,” Jirili insisted, “I heard that the daughter of the cook was moved inside this very house, and at this boy’s insistence. We are housing one of those dangerous lunatics now, and it is all due to him.” At once, the adults all began talking over each other, gesturing furiously with knives, spoons, and rolls of bread.

  Neil sank in his seat. Wonderful. It was all finished. Convince these blokes to help him? He wouldn’t even be able to argue that they should let him stay in their house. What a sap-skulled idea, to make Chichilia move Tache inside. Still, he couldn’t have allowed the girl to lie outside in the heat and flies. That was for certain.

  The door suddenly opened, and everyone stopped talking as Riki walked in. Neil glanced up and stared in disbelief. Both sides of her hair were elaborately braided, she wore a becoming dress of spotless, dazzling white, and her eyes were cast down in a modest way. “Good morning, Papi.” She walked demurely to Weko’s chair and bent down to kiss him on his cheek.

  Neil groaned. It was too much. Weko, whose intelligence he respected, would certainly smell a very large rat. However, the large man sat with his mouth open for a moment and smiled as he put one massive arm around his daughter’s waist. “Good morning, Riki.” He patted his daughter’s hand. “You look very pretty this morning in that dress. Now, what are your plans for today?”

  Riki glided to her seat at the table. “I want to clean out my parrot’s cage, and the fishpond, and after all that I hope to catch up with my temple embroidery.”

  An astonished silence reigned. Weko broke it by dropping a cup into his saucer, where it clattered loudly. “Oh, forgive me. Wonderful. Chichilia, my dear, I congratulate you. Somehow, over the past week, you have tamed our daughter.”

  Chichilia, who was usually so proper, waved a forgotten bite of food speared on a fork in front of her face. She put down the fork and cleared her throat. “To be perfectly honest, Weko, I had nothing to do with it. All the credit must go somewhere else.”

  As one person, Chichilia, Weko, Jirili and Kakujife turned to stare at Neil, who turned red and retreated behind his napkin. He pretended to clear his throat. Finally, Jirili spoke. “I fear that I have wronged you, Neil, as a guest of my parents and the friend of my sister. Perhaps you do not realize it, but for us who have known Riki all our lives, it is astonishing to see the miracle you have achieved here this day.”

  “I, too, must apologize,” Kakujife added. “I spoke hastily earlier before I was cognizant of all the facts in the case. Will you forget our verbal attack on your person, and let us welcome you anew to our home? In fact, may we start completely afresh?”

  It’s just like listening to a Royal Address or the bishop’s sermon with these two, Neil thought. Awkwardly, he jerked his head in recognition, although he didn’t dare look at Riki. If he met her glance, he would probably start to laugh.

  “Indeed, Mr. Neil,” Weko said, “it was a bright day for us when you appeared on our beach. You may count on my life-long thanks and support.”

  Riki cleared her throat. “Excuse me, Papi, but Neil has something to say.”

  Neil felt his face get even redder. Feeling a bit like a ripe beetroot, he took a sip of coffee to fortify himself; Riki was right – it was now or never. Taking a deep breath, he stood up and opened his mouth. “Weko,” he said, but it came out as a squeak. “Weko,” he tried again, “I must ask you something.”

  “What is it?” Weko demanded, his large brows knitting. He picked up his cup again and took a long slurp of coffee.

  “Papi, please listen to him,” Riki said in her sweetest voice.

  Neil flashed her a grateful look and continued, “You remember that I asked you about Manapalata Postulate some time ago? It has to do with her. Please, don’t interrupt – just hear me out for once. You can give me that much.” Weko subsided, glowering, and Neil coughed. “I know her. Quite well. In fact, I have spoken to her many times, since she became Miriam Pearson’s governess. I was a friend of Simon’s – Miriam’s guardian’s son, that is. That’s how I met Miriam, and through her, Mana.”

  “Princess Manapalata, a governess?” Chichilia asked, raising her elegant eyebrows. “What kind of nonsense is this? A member of our royal family would never stoop to such a thing.”

  “She was really Miriam Pearson’s teacher?” Weko asked.

  “I don’t know how or why that happened,” Neil explained, “but she simply appeared out of nowhere when the Marchpanes, Simon’s parents, became Miriam’s guardians. They advertised for a governess, and she arrived on their doorstep.”

  “The Marchpanes,” Weko echoed. “I have heard of him, anyway, and his partner, Cantwell.”

  “Mr. Cantwell!” Neil said suddenly, smacking himself on his forehead. “That’s who it was! Remember I told you I thought I knew that voice by the Palace, Riki?”

  “Um, Neil,” she replied.

  “When were you by the palace?” Jirili growled.

  Neil shook his head. “Oh, never mind all that now. The thing is, Miriam and Simon were kidnapped and put on a train going somewhere in the middle of the night.”

  “Princess Manapalata would never allow such a thing to happen to a child in her care, if this claim of yours that she was indeed a governess is true!” Chichilia said.

  “She didn’t allow it. At least, she couldn’t do anything about it. She was kidnapped as well – to this island.”

  Instantly, the members of the family all began to speak at once. Neil spread out his hands, trying to calm the resultant uproar. “Listen to me!” he shouted. “The princess is still here on the island. She is imprisoned in a horrible cage, hanging from the cliffs beyond the tunnel! I have to rescue her to find my friends, and I can’t do it without you!”

  There was silence for a moment. “You realize what you are asking of us?” Weko said, leaning forward and fixing Neil with a glare. “You are asking me to forfeit my house, my position and all my wealth – and perhaps even my family as well.”

  Neil sighed and sat down. “I know, Weko,” he replied. “I really can’t expect you to say yes.”

  “You really can’t expect my father to help you in this insane misadventure of yours!” Kakujife said, also staring at Neil.

  “As I was going to say, I understand how you feel, Weko, because I did the same thing when my friends and Miss – Princess – Manapalata were kidnapped. I left my school, and I jeopardized my scholarship,” Neil said in quiet desperation. “My parents could be in jail right now, this minute, along with my brothers and sisters, for the kidnapping of my friends and my disappearance. They could have lost our house, and be living on the streets. I have probably lost my only chance to ever attend school and help support my family. But I had to do leave the mainland. I just couldn’t let whoever the kidnappers were capture and maybe hurt Simon and Miriam. And Mana.”

  He stopped, and lowered his eyes. He could think of nothing else to say.

  The door from the kitchen creaked, and Odjo stood in the entrance. He pointed one plump finger at Neil and said, “I hear what you say. I go with you. I help you, if you need me, boy.”

  “Well!” Riki said. “I didn’t know Odjo spoke your language, Neil!”

  “Neither did I.” Neil smiled. “Thanks, Odjo! I accept your help. Maybe together we can do something together, although I don’t know what.”

  “Now, wait just a moment,” Weko said. “My cook is not going to run off with you on some fool errand –”

  “Father!” Riki cried, unable to bear it anymore.

  “I was going to say – without me.” Weko closed his mouth firmly.

  Jirili pulled the corners of his mouth down and looked at Kakujife, who nodded slightly. “We will also help you, Neil,” he said.

  Riki instantly dashed to his side and began pummeling him. “We’re going, Neil! Did you hear? We did it! At least, you did it!”

  Neil could only gape and fla
p his mouth. “You – you helped, too,” he finally stammered.

  “Riki!” Chichilia said, and everyone flinched. “You are not going back to that dreadful place!”

  “Oh, Chichilia, I mean Mami, pleeeease?” Riki begged. “I’ll be ever so good for ever so many months. No, years.”

  Chichilia looked helplessly at Weko, who only shrugged. “Very well,” she said unwillingly. “But I’m not going to be the one left waiting here at home. I’m going as well. And it’s no use you’re shaking your finger at me, Weko, because that is my final word.” She folded her arms across her chest and glared at her husband. At that moment she looked exactly like her daughter.

  “Yes!” Riki exulted. She somewhat ruined the dutiful daughter image she had created earlier by leaping into the air and crashing down on Neil’s foot.