In The Wreckage: A Tale of Two Brothers Read Online Free PDF Page A

the voice. Jonah Argent. The big man must be crouched over, unable to stand up straight down here. But why the secrecy?  
    The sound of paper being unrolled and spread out. “Don’t get it dirty,” Jonah growled.  
    “It’s all I found,” said a second voice, “in with the other charts. Nothing else, I searched his desk.”  
    Jonah snorted in disgust. “This isn’t it.”
    “It’s Spitsbergen.”  
    “Aye, but it’s a shipping chart, nothing more.”  
    “That’s where she’s headed.”  
    “But there’s nothing marked,” Jonah said. “You see any clue? Big island, Spitsbergen. How you gonna find treasure without knowing where to look? Put this back, don’t let ‘em know you took it. He must have a different map, hidden somewhere.  
    “Carries it on him, maybe, keeping it safe.”  
    “Or disguised,” Argent said. “Hidden in the open, where no one sees for looking.”  
    “It’s an old printed map? Or hand drawn?”  
    “It’s a map,” Jonah growled, “looks like a map. What more do you need to know?”  
    Rufus wriggled in Conall’s arms, trying to break free. He pressed the dog down.  
    “We could knock him cold, search him. Stick him.”  
    “Foolish talk,” Argent said. “Don’t let ‘em suspect we’re on to them. We don’t know about the treasure, right? Not a word. Easier to sneak away, get there first, if no one knows we’re looking.”
    Conall heard a grunt from the sailor, as if Argent had gripped a fistful of skin and twisted. “I get it,” the man hissed.  
    “So find it.”  
    “What about the girl, maybe she’s got it, hidden in her clothing. I could search her.”  
    “Aye, you’d like that, I’m sure. Don’t touch anyone, you hear? Least of all her. Put that chart back before it’s missed.”  
    The voices faded as footsteps crossed the hold towards the steps. Conall felt his lungs burning and realised he’d been barely breathing. He took a gulp of stale air as the men climbed the steps, and relaxed his grip on Rufus. The dog shook in protest and slunk off.  
    “You hear that?” The lights went off and the hatch closed. Faro moved a sack aside. “They’re planning something. Looking for a treasure map.”  
    “We should tell the girl, warn her.” Conall realised he didn’t even know her name. “She could be in danger, her father too.”  
    Faro paused. “Not yet. We can use this.”
    His brother was busy scheming again, looking for ways to set one person off against another. “If she gets hurt…”  
    “We’ll find the map,” Faro said.  
    “From down here?”  
    “I wonder if she knows. Are they right? Does she have it?”  
    “She could be in danger.”  
    “What kind of treasure? Gold, from the old days?”  
    Conall recalled stories of treasure hunts, of pirates feuding over chests of gems and coins. Who valued such things now? Food was precious, fuel, wood. Not useless stones. “It’s a stupid story. Forget it, there’s no treasure.”
    “Might be tech from the old days,” Faro said, “or weapons. Valuable, got to be, to go all that way. He mentioned Spitsbergen.”  
    Conall scrambled out from under the hay sacks, fumbling in the dark for Rufus. “They’re looking for a new home, same as mum and dad. Same as everyone. They’ve got the animals, farming tools. It’s probably just a shipping map, a place they’re looking for. Not treasure.”
    “You’ll see,” Faro said, rubbing his hands together. “If there’s a map, I’ll find it. And the treasure too.”

    ≈≈≈≈

    The hatch by the steps scraped open, slowly, cautiously, as if someone didn’t want to be heard. Conall slipped back under the sacks.  
    Faro wriggled in beside him. “Where’s the dog?”
    “Don’t know.”  
    “Damn.”  
    No light went on. Steps, soft and hesitant. Then a whisper, the girl’s voice. “I’ve got food. Leftovers. Are you there?”  
      She’d brought them milk and water, cooked eggs,