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<title>Spellbinder - Chapter 26</title>
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<h1>26</h1>
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<p>A pale face with staring white eyes bent over him while the cold fingers explored his own face: eyes, nose, ears and mouth. </p>
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<p>"Have I mapped this face before?" an old, cracking voice asked. "Welcome traveller to Fingal's island. A fortunate swell swept you here."</p>
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<p>He turned his face up, towards where a shard of light came from a pinhole high above them. Jack saw that his eyes were as smooth as marble. This old man was blind.</p>
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<p>The great anchor boomed again, as if to punctuate his words.</p>
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<p>He reached and took Jack's hand in his own, a surprisingly strong grip, and helped him to his feet.</p>
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<p>"After a long forgotten time, it seems our paths have crossed."</p>
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<p>"Not me," Jack stammered. The hairs on his neck were on walkabout again. "I've never been here before."</p>
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<p>"And the voice is familiar. But younger. There's a mystery."</p>
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<p>"I'm Jack Flint. You must be Fingal, the one Finn told us about."</p>
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<p>"Fingal I am. I am the Bard of Staffa Cove. And I am the last Bard on Eirinn."</p>
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<p>"A Bard!! Kerry sounded enormously encouraged by this. The only Bards he had met so far had been the good guys.</p>
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<p>The old man turned to him and his hands searched Kerry's face. </p>
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<p>"A good face this. But runs with the heart and not the head, eh?" The blind eyes crinkled and Fingal chuckled, much the way Finbar had done.</p>
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<p>"And a young lady," he said. "On an adventure too."</p>
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<p>Connor eased to his feet, trying not to slip on the wet sea wrack, his tousled tawny hair now hanging straight and wet down his back. Fingal embraced him, then, as his fingers found his contours, he seemed to step back, with a thoughtful look on his face.</p>
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<p>"The water carries you again, foundling. The Selkie women smile on you."</p>
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<p>With that, he turned and walked slowly deeper into the cave. There was nothing for it but to follow him in the darkness, while the great anchor boomed behind them, its ring echoing in the darkness until it finally faded away in the distance and the dark began to lessen gradually until they saw light ahead of them and walked together behind the old bard into a wide cathedral of a cave in the centre of which gleamed a pool of shining water.</p>
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<p>"This is Fingal's Cove," he said. "It is hidden from the eyes of men. You are safe here, you and the burden you bear. The Selkie guard us well."</p>
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<p>He told them to sit. Here, the stones were water-smooth and dry. Very suddenly Jack felt the strength drain out of his legs and he gratefully lowered himself beside a slow peat fire and let its heat soak into him.</p>
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<p>The old man fed them well, and Kerry couldn't remember ever tasting better seafood. Connor looked very suspiciously at a big lobster and counted its legs, but after one taste he was converted and tore into it ravenously.</p>
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<p>"Where does the light come from?" Kerry asked, pointing to the pool.</p>
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<p>"No magic," Finbar said. "I see no light, but sense it all the same. At low tide, the water leads out to the sea shallows. At high tide, they close the door, but daylight shines through."</p>
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<p>"Neat," Kerry said, with his mouth full.</p>
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<p>"And you have tales to tell," Fingal said. "The sea-maids carry word of Dermott's anger and his fast ships. They say the ships were wrecked under Gerumbel Mountain."</p>
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<p>"They were that, sir," Connor said. "Finn plugged it with a stone, and then it blew its top."</p>
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<p>He paused, looked down. "He did it for us and it cost him."</p>
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<p>"All good deeds come at a price," Fingal said. "Gentle Finn would know that."</p>
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<p>He turned to Jack and his fingers unerringly found the heartstone. He weighed it, feeling its warmth. The stone pulsed almost imperceptibly.</p>
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<p>"So far from home, and think you lost, Jack Flint. But these friends are family to you, and dearer than any kin. What you carry, Fainn wants, though he doesn't know its power. Two burdens you bear. One is the heart of Eirinn, the other the Heart of Worlds. Neither Dermott nor Fainn must get either."</p>
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<p>"That's what we're trying to avoid," Jack said. "It's not been easy."</p>
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<p>"Then there are things you must hear from me. All things come together, and there is more than one quest here. Some things you must find for yourself, when the time comes."</p>
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<p>He closed his blind eye. "And that time, I fear, is coming fast."</p>
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<p>He huddled in a plaid cloak, drawing its edges around his ancient frame, and then he began to tell them a story.</p>
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<p>"You know about the Harp of Seasons, and the Great Cauldron. The Dagda gave them to Eirinn before he went to join the Sky Queen. But there was a third talisman, the Oaken Club, which made the bearer invincible. To be sure that no man would ever wield it wrongly, he sent it to a safe place, where it has been protected since.</p>
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<p>"Now Fainn's witchery uncovered the secret places of the Harp and the Cauldron, and yon brute Dermott, he cut the strings. With no spring to seed crops, and no summer to ripen them, the hunger has been terrible. Those prudent kings that had stored against hard times, Fainn sent plagues of rats and mice to eat them empty. And the seaward fishers, he sent ice to lock their ships in harbour. With the Cauldron of Plenty in his possession, Dermott could set any price on what he would dole out. That price has always been utter submission."</p>
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<p>He opened his eyes. "But Dermott is a false king. No king at all, but a usurper and a traitor."</p>
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<p>They all leant in closer. "You have been to Wolfen Castle. It was once Seahold Castle where King Conovar and his wife Eleon ruled the west lands. Dermott was the Reeve of the Marches, but when he met with Fainn, his ambition was turned to dark ways. There had been no war for so long none could remember, but Dermott warned of predictions that the sea people would return to Eirinn. Children had been stolen from shore villages. Ships had vanished. Conovar allowed Dermott to train an army to defend the people.</p>
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<p>"But then Conovar became ill and wasted away, though none could find a cause of it. Queen Eleon had just given birth to their first son, only a baby. Dermott now had great power, because he led the army, and he coveted the throne. Conovar was barely cold when Dermott decided the quickest way was to marry the queen. But when he made his proposal she refused him utterly. Dermott was so enraged that he snatched up the baby prince by the leg and hurled him from a tower into the sea far below, saying none of Conovar's blood would take the throne. And Queen Eleon was so stricken with mother-grief that she threw herself from the window and was also lost."</p>
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<p>Fingal nodded. "So nothing stood in Dermott's way and he set his flag on the castle wall and called it Wolfen castle from then to this."</p>
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<p>"What a rotten sod," Kerry said. "Somebody should give him his come-uppance."</p>
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<p>"That too is written in the runes," Fingal said. "Dermott knows his fate is in the hands red-haired woman."</p>
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<p>"He believes that I'm the woman," Corriwen said. </p>
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<p>"Old prophesy says that the usurper of Seahold Castle will meet his fate at the hands of a red haired fighting woman in battle, and that when his fate is decided, the true heir of Eirinn's Seahold will return to claim his crown."</p>
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<p>"No wonder he's worried," Jack said.</p>
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<p>"But he needs the harp. And of course, he wants the oaken club and would have it if he could find it." Fingal patted Jack on the shoulder. "So he's a very angry man."</p>
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<p>"Tough," Kerry retorted. "He's chased us all over the place and we've still got the harp."</p>
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<p>"But we've gone as far as we can," Jack said. "There's nowhere left to go."</p>
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<p>"Why not consult your Book of Ways?"</p>
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<p>Jack started back.</p>
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<p>"How did you know?"</p>
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<p>Fingal laughed, but gently.</p>
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<p>"I have no eyes, but I hear the whisper of the waves and the chatter of the Selkie. And I read the runes better than Fainn himself. After all, I <em>am</em> the Bard."</p>
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<p>Jack opened the book. After a few minutes he began to read aloud.</p>
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<p class="centered"><em>Brave the turning ocean race</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>Trust in fortune's tight embrace</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>Take to flight by cockleshell</em></p>
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<p class="centered extraspace"><em>Face the rip-tide's parlous swell.</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>The time is close to end of flight</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>Then journeyman, prepare to fight</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>For Eirinn and for Eirinn's plight</em></p>
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<p class="centered extraspace"><em>And turn to battle evil's might</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>Heroes will return and bring</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>The harmony that summons spring</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>To Tara Hill, its song re-born</em></p>
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<p class="centered"><em>And with them will a king return</em></p>
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<p>"As usual," Kerry said. "Clear as mud."</p>
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<p>Fingal chuckled.</p>
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<p>"Heart, not head, Kerry Malone."</p>
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<p>"No. I'm just kidding. It takes a while to work it out, but it's always right."</p>
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<p>"So what does it mean?" Connor asked. "We're stuck here on this island and once Dermott gets those ships off the beach, he'll hunt us out. There's nowhere else to go."</p>
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<p>"Don't give up so soon," Fingal said. "Not when you've come this far and through all sorts of travails."</p>
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<p>"Where can we go from here?" Corriwen wanted to know.</p>
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<p>"There is one place I know of. To get there, you must risk a dangerous crossing. And then, when you get there, you face a real trial."</p>
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<p>"What is this place?" Jack asked.</p>
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<p>"The Black Island. Few go there. Fewer return. But behind you is Dermott and Fainn and death for sure. And didn't your book say to trust in fortune's tight embrace? A quest wouldn't be a quest without the spice of danger, now, would it?"</p>
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<p>"I'd really rather go fishing," Kerry piped up. "And with my feet on solid ground too."</p>
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<p>"What's on this Black Island?" Jack asked, focussing on what lay ahead. </p>
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<p>"That you will find when you get there. You must be the masters of your own quest. But I will ask the Selkie folk to help."</p>
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<p>With that, Fingal turned to the back of the cave and came back with neatly woven mats which he laid down close to the fire.</p>
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<p>"I think you should rest now," he said. "Connor is right. Dermott will sail with the tide on the morrow, and he will not give up until you are dead, or he is. I will beseech the Sky Queen that it is the latter, of course."</p>
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<p>Kerry and Connor dropped to their mats and sleepily began to swap poaching tales until they dozed off. Jack and Corriwen sat together, watching the dwindling flames and Jack couldn't sleep. Too much was going through his head.</p>
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<p>Fingal sat on his stone, still as a statue.</p>
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<p>"Maybe you should stay here," Jack said. "It's stupid for us all to risk it."</p>
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<p>Corriwen laughed softly.</p>
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<p>"Jack Flint! You should be ashamed of yourself treating me like a helpless girl. Didn't your book speak of heroes? If you're going to be a hero, I want to be one too. And anyway, somebody has to watch your back."</p>
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<p>Fingal nodded. "Heroes all, and so young. But it's not the perils of tomorrow that keeps Jack Flint awake, hm? So now you must ask the question that you have been wanting to ask since I touched your face."</p>
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<p>For a second Jack was tongue tied, at being so easily read. But he was also scared to ask in case he was wrong.</p>
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<p>"It's my father," he finally said. "That's my other quest. My real one. To find him. And you said you thought you recognised me. I just wondered if he might have come here."</p>
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<p>"That's the question," Fingal said gently. "And I will answer."</p>
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<p>He held out pale hands to catch the heat of the fire.</p>
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<p>"A long time ago, so long I cannot count the years, a traveller came seeking help. He crossed Finnan Flannan's causeway and paused here to rest. It was the days when the sea people, the <em>Fir-Bolg</em> were massing in the fight for Temair, and they had already consigned the slaughtered to the bogland."</p>
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<p>"We met some of them."</p>
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<p>"Aye, their cursed souls still lie in cold, unable to leave the tarns. Well, the stranger rested here, then travelled on across the water. When he returned from the Black Isle, he bore with him a great sword with a fireglass hilt and a cairngorm stone set in it."</p>
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<p>"The Redthorn Sword," Corriwen said. "Cullian's sword."</p>
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<p>"Was that his name? Maybe. It was so long ago, the mists of time shroud my memory. But this travelling man came back stronger and ready for battle and he crossed back to Flannan's point to take his knowledge to the Dagda King and win the battle. And after that came peace in Eirinn from then until now."</p>
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<p>"And you thought I was him?" Jack said.</p>
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<p>"My hands remember what my old mind forgets. But he was older, and taller, though he spoke in the same voice."</p>
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<p>"My father," Jack said. "It <em>must</em> be him. I'm trying to find him."</p>
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<p>"A long dark journey that could be, for the traveller is gone nowhere knows."</p>
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<p>"Can you help me find him?"</p>
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<p>"All I can do is help you on your way. And it is the same way he took. The only one who can help you in that endeavour is the Sky Queen. Maybe, at the end of your quest, you might ask her a favour. She listens to those who would do her will."</p>
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<p>"I'm not doing anybody's will," Jack said. "This whole thing has been dumped on us. We just have to get the harp to a safe place so we can get home."</p>
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<p>"Ah, Jack, I think you know better than that," Fingal said softly. "Many do the Sky Queen's work, and she chooses well. This is not your choice, but hers. All is destiny, and destiny must be fulfilled."</p>
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<p>"Easier said than done."</p>
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<p>"A wise man would tell you that nobody said it has to be easy."</p>
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<p>"A wise man already did. And he was a bard too."</p>
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<p class='break'>* * *</p>
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<p>Fingal woke them when it was still dark.</p>
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<p>"Up and on with the tide," he said. While they slept, he had made up a pack of food and stuffed it in Kerry's backpack. "It's coming to the low ebb."</p>
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<p>Jack looked at the pool in the centre of the spacious cave. The water had dropped ten feet or more and it gurgled and whirled as the tide sucked it down and then let it rise again. On the far side, a little round basket bobbed on its surface.</p>
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<p>"What's that?" Kerry asked suspiciously.</p>
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<p>"It's a coracle," Fingal said, laughing. "You might call it a cockleshell."</p>
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<p>"Are you kidding me?" Kerry spluttered. "Look at it. I'm not getting into that thing. No way. Not in a million years."</p>
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<p>"It's the only way," Fingal said. "Unless you want to try going back the way you came."</p>
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<p>"Come on," Jack urged him. "It'll float."</p>
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<p>"It'll bloody well sink," Kerry snorted. "I'll drown."</p>
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<p>"I promised you I won't let you drown," Jack said, though even he looked askance at the little craft. It was barely big enough for the four of them.</p>
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<p>When they finally persuaded Kerry to get aboard, they were crammed together like nestlings. Kerry was pale faced and getting paler by the minute as the water rose and fell in powerful undulations.</p>
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<p>"The seventh wave at tide's low ebb," Fingal said. "There's a magic at the back door."</p>
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<p>They were raised up and dropped and Jack started counting. The water frothed and swirled. Four waves, five. The sixth took them down very low and Jack's stomach did a nauseous little flip. It rose, higher and higher until they were almost at the pool's edge and then, very suddenly they were dropping.</p>
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<p>There was a huge sucking sound as the water drained away beneath them and the coracle plunged down and down and down. The little craft spun crazily. All Jack saw was rock and seaweed and a couple of big green crabs that held tight to the walls. His stomach lurched again. Kerry yelled in alarm. Jack's ears popped.</p>
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<p>Then they were out of darkness and rising up in open water beside a jagged rocky face. A current tugged hard and they spun away from the rock and out on a grey, rolling sea.</p>
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<p> </p>
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