The Monster Hunter Read Online Free PDF Page B

ship was a crime worse than any other, as you were taking from the mouth of all on board.
    The crates contained mainly onion and potatoes now and held little interest for the hungry scavenger so he turned his attention to the hanging meats. All the meats and cheeses were hung from hooks as a way of preserving them from damp. Gator unhooked a sausage the size of his forearm and took an almighty bite.
    â€˜What are you doing?’ said Ben from his bunk, fully aware of what Gator Dawson was about.
    The sinewy youth turned, half choking on his snatched mouth of food as he tried to hide the stolen meat behind him – looking like the boy he really was and not the villain he pretended to be. This all changed when he caught sight of his accuser.
    â€˜Well, well! If it isn’t young Master Fall – skulking in the shadows with his nose in a book.’ He took another defiant bite from the sausage. ‘What you gonna do, you little runt? Maybe run to Captain and tell him Gator’s in the food stores or are you planning on telling people I’m a villain in your book and turning me to the bottle like you did with Silver?’
    Gator’s tone was menacing as if demanding an actual answer and, lost for words, Ben simply shrugged.
    â€˜That’s right, little half breed, you’re not gonna say a word to anyone because Gator’s got teeth and he likes to bite.’ And with this he drew from its sheath a rather nasty-looking knife: its blade was serrated for sawing through thick rope and its bone handle had been carved to look like scales.
    Ben felt himself swallow as Gator approached and watched in horror as the menacing figure ran the blade through the sausage, removed a jagged piece of meat and popped it between his crooked teeth, which for a moment looked as sharp as points.
    Gator placed the blade against Ben’s throat. ‘I wouldn’t want to have to cut out your tongue and eat that instead,’ he hissed into Ben’s terrified face.
    â€˜What’s all this then?’
    The voice of the Captain came as a surprise – the old man, for all that he was slowed by a limp, could certainly sneak up on you. Gator spun around, his limbs flailing as he tried to keep balance. First the giant sausage flew towards the Captain’s face and then, as Dante swiftly put up his hand to deflect it, it was struck by the nasty serrated blade that followed in its wake. The vicious weapon cut deeply into the fleshy palm and the howl of the Captain’s pain had Gator falling back on to his rump and scuttling backwards into a corner, cowering in fear.
    Ben heard the choicest foul language his young ears had ever been witness to. Despite his fear, he rushed to the aid of the Captain, grabbing a discarded cheese cloth and a half-empty bottle of rum. However, before he could grab the Captain’s hand so he could bind it and stop the flow of crimson blood, he was met with a striking backhand that felled him to the floor with a ringing in his ears and a stinging to his cheek.
    As a very young boy Ben had witnessed a farmer tending to the leg of a wounded and blind bull elephant. It was laying waste to his crops but every opportunity the farmer took to approach, the elephant struck out with its trunk. Eventually, the farmer felt he had no choice but to call for his spear to end the elephant’s life rather than save it. It was at this moment that Ben had started to sing, a song the soldiers would sing of home whenthey were drinking heavily and smiles began to turn to frowns. The elephant calmed and no spear was needed that day. It did not wait for its leg to be bandaged but it retreated back into the jungle without further incident.
    So Ben sat on the floor his face still throbbing and started to sing the song from that day, directly to the Captain.
    At first, the Captain did not calm down but seemed to focus his squinting, bloodshot eyes on the cowering Gator, but then, suddenly, he turned to