Not long afterwards, Will noticed a tell-tale droning sound. ‘Can you hear that?’
Annalie listened. ‘Sounds like an engine.’
‘They’re coming after us.’
The sound began to build, but the fog was so thick that they could see nothing. Suddenly, an inflatable boat filled with heavily armed marines appeared out of the fog. Will expected them to hail him, as they had done every other time he’d encountered them, but these marines said nothing at all. They just took up a position to their rear and kept pace with them.
‘What are they doing?’ Essie called fearfully.
‘I don’t know,’ Will said.
For a minute or two, they sailed along and the inflatable kept pace. Then the inflatable dropped back astern; they heard a distant crack, and something came whistling across their bows.
Will let out a startled cry and turned the wheel sharply.
‘What was that?’ Annalie gasped.
‘They’re shooting at us!’ Essie cried.
‘It’s a rope!’ Pod called from the bow.
The inflatable zipped back into view and took a pass around the Sunfish to see what had happened. This time, Will could see a marine with a radio reporting back.
‘Why would they shoot a rope at us?’ he muttered.
The sound of engines multiplied; a second inflatable emerged from the fog and joined them.
‘Why aren’t they boarding us?’ Annalie said, perturbed.
The dinghies spun away from the Sunfish and they heard the same distant crack. Something flew across the deck, nearly taking Will’s head off. He crashed to the ground and saw that a huge grappling hook on a steel cable had crossed their bows and hooked itself onto the railing around the edge of the deck.
‘We’re hooked!’ Will said grimly. ‘I bet they’re going to try and pull us in.’
‘We’ve got to get unhooked!’ Annalie cried.
‘We’ll never cut that cable,’ Essie said.
‘Then cut the railing!’ Will shouted. ‘Annalie! Take the wheel!’
Annalie took the wheel while Will ran to grab an axe. Desperately he swung it into the railing with a dull thunk of metal on metal. The Sunfish creaked and groaned as the sails pulled it one way, the cable another. Clang! Clang! Will’s arms were getting numb. Creak! The Sunfish moaned.
‘Look!’ Pod shrieked. ‘Up ahead!’
From out of the swirling grey a huge shape had suddenly materialised: a vast rocky headland, looming directly in their path.
‘That’s our chance!’ Will shouted.
He dropped the axe with a clatter, ran back to the wheel, grabbed onto it with Annalie and swung it as hard as it would go. The Sunfish turned. It skimmed the edge of the rocks and the rope that tethered it to the Admiralty warship struck the headland. For a moment it hung there, straining across the rocky outcrop, then with a terrible tearing sound, the whole railing ripped away. Annalie and Will dropped to the deck again in the nick of time as it broke free and went swinging off into the ocean, barely skimming their heads and only just missing the wheel.
Pod, Essie and Blossom came hurrying back to join Will and Annalie, keeping clear of the large gap in the railing.
‘Let’s hope this rock gives us some cover,’ Will said.
‘Those little boats are still coming after us,’ Essie reported.
‘Let’s see how fast we can go then,’ Will said. ‘Guys, get the sails down, quick.’
He switched to engine power as Essie and Pod rushed to bring in the sails.
Annalie was studying the charts. ‘I could be wrong,’ she said, ‘but I think we’re sailing into the Cauldron. There are some islands off the mainland, and a channel that runs between them. The Cauldron lies somewhere in that channel.’
‘Sounds like that place Spinner told us about—the one in the legend, where if you sail between the rocks at the wrong time, you get sucked down and smashed by a whirlpool.’
‘Right,’ Annalie said, remembering the story. ‘Only that isn’t a legend, it’s a real place.’
‘Oh, great! Now you tell me!’ Will said.
‘Look at that current,’ Annalie said.
The current was ferocious, and they were hurtling through the water, rocks on one side of them, the invisible shore on the other. Somewhere out to sea, the Admiralty ship lay in wait. The two inflatables filled with marines were still cruising on their tail.
‘As soon as we get round this island, they’re going to have another go at us,’ Annalie warned, still studying the chart.
‘We’ve got bigger problems,’ Will said. ‘Look.’
The current was running faster and faster towards an area of turbulent water. As they got closer, they could see it was beginning to spin, as if someone had pulled a plug out of the ocean.
‘Look at that thing,’ Annalie said. ‘It’s like a centrifuge.’
‘They only do that at high tide,’ Will said.
‘Trust us to come along at just the wrong time.’
‘Or the right time,’ Will said.
‘We’ve got to turn back!’ Annalie said.
‘Not a chance,’ Will said.
‘If we get caught in it, it could break us apart or sink us!’
‘We won’t sink,’ Will said. ‘The Sunfish can handle it.’
‘No!’ Annalie cried, but Will had already made up his mind. He kept moving forward, directly into the growing whirlpool. Annalie looked back and saw the two inflatables circle back and hover, staying clear of the powerful current, their engines working hard to keep them in place. It made her even more frightened of what they were getting into when she realised even hardened marines were not willing to risk it.
‘Guys! Get hold of something and hang on!’ Will yelled.
The others ran to find a safe handhold, and then they were into the whirlpool. The water swirled and rushed around them. The boat creaked and groaned and strained. Will struggled to keep control of the steering, but the force of the water was dragging them broadside, the current beating at them.
‘Look!’ Essie cried.
Annalie looked back and to her disbelief saw that one of the inflatables had decided to come after them. ‘They’re crazy!’ she whispered.
The Sunfish struggled, timbers groaning as the extreme force of the whirlpool battered her sides; she tilted, pushed sideways by the current, and water started rushing over the deck.
‘Hang
