Read The Ark of Dun Ruah, Book 1 for Free Online Page A

mouths were open, ready to protest when the cook picked two of them up by the ears and shook them violently.
    â€˜Do what you are told, or no food,’ he said, dropping them at the end of the line.
    Kerry and Simon sat at a little table near a porthole and tried to eat some lunch. Simon waited for the cooks to finish serving and for a chance to talk to them alone. Kerry looked out at the deep blue sea. She could see an island off in the distance. It looked very mountainous and rugged. Scores of birds circled above it in the distant grey skies.
    Finally the serving finished and Simon approached the head cook.
    â€˜Have you seen Pod, the owl?’ asked Simon.
    â€˜I take it that you’re talking about the unusual looking Blue Owl that was with you at breakfast. No, I haven’t seen him.’
    â€˜He’s been missing all morning,’ said Simon, ‘and we can’t find him on the upper decks. We want to go down to search for him in the lower decks. He’s old and may have got stuck somewhere. Will you tell us how to get down there?’
    â€˜The lower decks are private. And they’re completely out of bounds for passengers. I’ll keep an eye out for him. But I have to warn you that there have been a lot of disappearances in these waters. We are crossing the Sea of Sorrows right now and passing very close to Eyrie Island. It’s an evil place. Bad things are happening there. Your owl may have got mixed up with some of the eagles who come to spy on us. He may have had a mishap.’
    â€˜What kind of a mishap?’ asked Simon.
    â€˜These waters are terribly dangerous,’ said the cook.
    â€˜What do you mean?’ asked Simon.
    â€˜Eyrie Island,’ said the cook in a low voice. ‘I know things about that island. Once it was a great place. There was an abbey there and lots of villages. Now the place is deserted. The waters are cursed and only eagles live there. It’s ruled by their tyrant warlord.’
    â€˜Come on, Chef,’ called the cook’s assistant. ‘We’re finished here.’
    â€˜Keep searching,’ said the chef to Simon, ‘and I’ll put the word out that the owl is missing. I promise you I’ll search the lower decks myself.’
    â€˜But why aren’t we allowed down to the lower decks and what’s all the secrecy about?’ asked Simon.
    The chef stared hard at Simon, his lips firmly sealed.
    â€˜Chef, it’s time to go,’ persisted the assistant who was now standing inside the elevator.
    â€˜Now just you hold on!’ demanded Simon. ‘Take me to your captain, that’s if there is a captain on this ship.’
    â€˜I’m not taking you anywhere, boy,’ replied the head chef. ‘And take a piece of my advice. Mind your own business or you’ll find yourself under ship’s arrest.’
    The chef spun around and charged off through the elevator door. It slid shut and they heard the sound of it descending. Simon looked at Kerry in bewilderment. Suddenly, he clapped his hands.
    â€˜I have it,’ he said and then lowered his voice. ‘There’s got to be a way into that elevator and down into the lower decks. All I have to do is find it and then I’ll go down there and search for Pod myself.’
    â€˜You’re not going down on your own,’ said Kerry. ‘I’ll come with you. It was me who arranged this trip. And I don’t want you getting arrested.’

    Timmy and Dot circled the ship and checked the portholes of the lower decks. They found no trace of Pod or the eagles. They were back waiting on the open air deck when Kerry and Simon returned from lunch.
    â€˜I’m so worried about poor old Pod,’ said Kerry. ‘This is my fault. He never wanted to come with us in the first place. And I talked him into coming on this trip. I’ll never forgive myself if anything has happened to him.’
    â€˜Don’t be a dope,