Tye and the Voices in the Storm
By Benedict Beaumont
Cover and Illustrations by Sean Bell
Copyright 2013 Benedict Beaumont
Tye and the Voices in the Storm
Chapter 1 Little Bear
Chapter 2 The Robbers
Chapter 3 The Fight in the Canyon
Chapter 4 Friend or Foe?
Chapter 5 Supper in the Storm
Chapter 6 The Attack on the Caravan
Chapter 7 Questions over Porridge
Chapter 8 The Voices in the Storm
Chapter 9 Escaping the Boreas
Chapter 10 The Attack on the Village
Chapter 11 The Fight with the Pirate
Chapter 12 The Battle at the Boats
Tye and the Pirates – Exclusive Extract
Chapter 1 – Little Bear
"Little Bear! Little Bear!" Tye called out as he climbed up the scree slope. What was the goat doing this high up? It was well past the his usual grazing grounds, and certainly was not an enticing place to a young kid. The ground was rocky red stone and gravel and there were precious few patches of green for him to munch on. The grass lower down was not a whole lot better, but at least it was more plentiful. What had got into that goat's head!
"Little Bear, Little Bear!" he called out again, this time getting slightly out of breath. His black hair was tousled, and his tunic was sticking to his thin and wiry young body. He turned to look back down the hill; the village was tiny, the houses were dots at the foot of the mountain, and he could not make out any people at all. The next village to the north and east, over a short ridge, was visible too, and then the deep blue sea stretched forever it seemed. He was very high up indeed.
He had been just about to bring the flock down for the night after a long day's grazing on the fields above the village, when Little Bear had just bolted. Tye couldn't make sense of it. He was an independent and headstrong kid, and would no doubt be a stubborn and belligerent Billy when he grew up, but he was always the first to seek the shelter and safety of the corral inside the village walls. Maybe it was the coming of the Boreas that spooked him.
For two hours Tye had tracked the goat up the hills. Higher and higher he had climbed, all the time thinking that he might have missed him somewhere. But whenever he stopped, he would hear the tinkle of the bell around the goat’s neck or catch sight of a little flash of white as Little Bear scampered up ahead.
Tye felt the hot dry air move past his face as he climbed. Was there a bit of sand in it? Was this the first puffs of the deadly desert storms? If he was caught out when the Boreas arrived....
He pushed it out of his mind; he couldn’t think about it coming just yet, he had to find Little Bear. There was no way he could go back without him. Unconsciously he fingered the marks on his hips where his uncle had beaten him the last time he had returned without one of his herd. After thrashing him Jaya had sent him out to look for the lost goat in the dark anyway. No, he wouldn't want to repeat that in a hurry.
But the Boreas was coming. If he didn't find Little Bear soon, then he might get trapped out in the wild storms. He shuddered. It was not so much being out at night that frightened him, that happened quite regularly and he was happy sleeping out under the skies with his flock. It was not even being out at night in bad weather, that had happened a few times too and he had lived. But there were stories about the Boreas. People said that it was haunted, and the howl of the wind was actually the howls of the dead....
Tye did not like his home. He did not like his brutal uncle or his cold aunt. He didn’t like the other children who called him names, or the other adults who would blame him for anything that went wrong in the village. He didn’t feel like he belonged there, but at least it was safe. He had to get back.
"Little Bear, Little Bear!" his voice died as he crested a small ridge. There was a shallow rocky slope leading down to a sheer stone wall. The red surface was craggy and creviced, and the late afternoon sun cast all sorts of shadows over the uneven surface. Little caves and canyons seemed to cover the entire surface in a patchwork of black. It would take hours to search all the places that Little Bear could be hiding.
But just then there was a flash of white, and he saw Little Bear scampering into one of the larger openings. Quickly Tye darted after him, desperate to catch him before he went too far. If he got lost in one of the canyons, then he would be impossible to find. Besides, There could be all sorts of wild animals living there, and it could be dangerous. "Little Bear, come back!" he called out again as he ran towards the opening.
Tye was lucky though. When he got there, he saw that the canyon only went a dozen yards back before it ended in a sheer wall. And even luckier, there was Little Bear, blinking in the last rays of the dying sun, munching nonchalantly on a bit of wood as if he had done nothing wrong.
"Little Bear!" Tye ran in joyfully and scooped the little goat up in his arms. "You naughty little goat! I was so worried!" He cuddled the baby kid close, but Little Bear just bleated softly in reply, as if he had done nothing wrong and running away was a perfectly natural thing to do.
"Come on you,” Tye chided him, “we have to get back. It's not long until dark and not long until..."
But he didn't get a chance to finish his sentence. A dark shadow loomed over him. At the entrance to the canyon were the silhouettes of three men. Tye's stomach lurched. At this hour, it could only mean trouble.
"Well now," a threatening voice called out. "What have we got here? I think it looks like supper!"
Chapter 2 – The Robbers
"So, what have we got here then?" the first silhouette repeated. Tye couldn't see properly as the sun was shining straight into his eyes, but the figures looked threatening and the voice was deep and full of menace.
"Looks like a poor lost lamb to me," said the second shadow.
“Looks like supper to me!" added the third.
"Looks like we could have some fun as well!" said the first.
Tye instinctively tightened his grip on the baby goat in his arms. Robbers! The village elders told stories of thieves and cutthroats living in the hills, but he thought they were just rumours to scare the little children and to stop them wandering off. In his years of shepherding the flock he had never come across any before and had scoffed at the tales, but now it looked as though they were true.
The first robber started moving towards him and Tye started to make out some details. He certainly looked wild; his tunic was ragged, his hair matted and tangled and there was a dangerous glint in his eye. "Give us the goat, boy,” the robber growled at Tye. “We might let you live if you do." He moved in closer, until he was only yards away.
Fear surged through Tye; this could be very bad. Only last year a village man disappeared in the mountains. Many people though he had met an accident or been attacked by a mountain lion, but perhaps he had met these robbers. They looked very dangerous. Little Bear bleated in his arms, feeling the tension.
What could he do? If he gave them Little Bear there was no guarantee that they would let him go. In fact, it was probably less likely, as they knew he would almost certainly go back to the village to get help to chase them out of the district.
With more bravery than he felt he shouted "Keep away! My father is a mighty warrior down in the village. If any harm comes to me then he will hunt you down and kill you!"
"Ha ha!" the leader of the three started laughing, taunting Tye. "Did you hear that boys? His Dad is a mighty warrior who will hunt us down. I'm quaking in my boots!" His guffaws suddenly stopped. "Now you listen to me, you little squirt. Give us the goat or else."
The robber moved in close, his arms outstretched to take Little Bear who bleated nervously and tried to burrow into Tye’s chest. In a flash, Tye decided what he was going to do. He nodded, and made as if to pass Little Bear to the robbers’ outstretched hands. "That's right," the robber said.
But at the last second, Tye drew back and threw the goat directly into the Robbers face. "You little..." the robber gasped as he batted Little Bear away, but his words were cut short as Tye barged into his stomach with all his strength. The robber went down gasping as Little Bear landed, lithe as a cat, on his feet and turned to look at Tye.
"Run Little Bear!" Tye shouted and the goat scampered off.
"Grab him!" one of the other robbers shouted.
"Get the goat, I'll get him!" the other said grim faced and advanced on Tye.
As the robber lumbered towards him, Tye ducked under his outstretched arms and dodged round him. Years of herding in the tough mountain terrain had made him as quick and nimble as any of his goats.
"Aaargh!" the robber howled in frustration as Tye slipped past him.
But luck was not with Tye. His foot twisted on a loose rock and he went sprawling into the ground.
"Gotcha!" the robber said, and Tye felt a foot planted foot firmly in his back.
"And I've got supper!" he heard the other robber exclaim, as Little Bear's plaintive bleating from somewhere told him it was true.
"Leave the boy to me." Tye heard one of them say quietly and deliberately. He felt the foot ease on his back and twisted round to see the first robber advance on him with a wicked looking serrated knife in his hand. "He's got what is coming to him...." A cold shiver of fear ran through Tye’s body as realised what the robber meant.
"Yac," one of the other robbers called out to him, "I'm not sure we should do this."
"I want no part in this," said the third, but the first robber, Yac, either didn't hear them or just ignored them.
"First I'm going to take his eyes..." he said to himself has he got a few steps closer.
"Then I'm going to cut off his…"
But as the robber leaned over him, and Tye was preparing to die, a new voice, powerful and strong rang out, freezing everybody in their tracks.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!”
Everyone twisted round to see who it was. A single cloaked and hooded figure, carrying a staff, blocked the entrance to the canyon.
Chapter 3 – The Fight in the Canyon
The robber above Tye spun round, anger distorting his face, and spat out a curse.
"STOP RIGHT THERE!" the figure called out again and began making his way down the slope towards them.
"It's just one man," Yac, the lead robber hissed at his friends, still fingering his knife. "We can deal with him as well." The other two looked at each other nervously, and then around the canyon to see if there was anywhere they could run, but they were trapped in a dead end. After a moment’s hesitation, they nodded and moved in closer to Yac.
The spark of hope that suddenly flared in Tye's chest sank. For a moment he had hoped that that he might be rescued, but there was only one man with a staff against three desperate robbers. He would be cut to shreds. Tye tried to get up to help, but Yac noticed him moving and booted him in the stomach. "Stay still you!" he hissed and Tye collapsed gasping to the ground.
"Whoever you are," Yac called out as the figure approached, “I suggest you go away. There are three of us and we are all armed. We...."
But he never got a chance to finish. The cloaked figure was by now only a few feet away and without pausing, he whipped his staff up and swung it round in a blurring arc. It was so quick that Tye almost didn’t see what happened, but there was a thump, a yelp and suddenly Yac was nursing his hand, his knife was nowhere to be seen.
"Let the boy go," the figure rasped.
"My arm!" Yac protested. “You attacked me!"
"Let the boy go," he repeated and drew back his hood to reveal a face that looked as old, craggy and hard as the rocks around them. His skin was weathered to a deep brown and lined with deep crevices, a great hook nose jutted out in front and part of his right ear appeared to be missing. But his eyes blazed with youth and energy.
For a moment Tye thought that Yac would relent, but then he saw his eye's narrow. He checked on his two comrades. "There's only one old man, boys, and three of us. We can have him down in a second. Are you ready?" They nodded grimly.
"OK, last chance, old man. Leave now, or you…"
But again he didn't get a chance to finish. With unbelievable speed, the old man took two paces forward and swept his staff against Yac's head. There was another thump and Yac collapsed. The other two robbers charged in, but with a backstroke, the first was hit in the stomach and doubled over gasping, and then with a deft sideways step, the old man rapped the second on the legs and he too went down. It was all over in a matter of seconds.
The old man walked over to where Yac's knife had fallen, tucked it into his belt and then knelt down beside Tye. "Now what's a village shepherd boy doing this far in the mountains when the Boreas is about to hit?" he asked in a kindly tone as he put his hand on Tye's shoulder and helped him up.
"I was chasing my goat!" Tye answered after a moment. He was still dazed from the blows that Yac had given him and spoke slowly. The old man nodded, but then quickly moved off to check on the three robbers groaning on the ground.
Tye felt something warm and wet nuzzling his hand, a little bleating sound and the tinkle of a bell. "Little Bear!" Tye said happily and picked up the goat and cradled him tightly.
A sudden gust of wind came rattling down the canyon. The old man, bent over one of the groaning robbers, looked up suddenly and sniffed. "Come, we must hurry, the Boreas is almost upon us!"
Chapter 4 – Friend or Foe?
The old man then turned back to the second and third robbers, and helped them up, all the while speaking quietly to them. Tye couldn’t make out what he said, but he saw them nodding and agreeing with whatever the old man said and then they moved off and waited at the back of the canyon.
The old man then moved over to Yac and grabbed him by the collar. "On your feet!” he shouted and with surprising strength hoisted him up to his feet. Yac was barely conscious from the blow he had received, but came round as he was hauled up and marched up the slope. As they reached the top, the old man turned round and shouted down to Tye, "You too shepherd boy. And bring your goat."
For a moment, Tye thought about just running out of the canyon and back home, but having seen the old man in action, he didn't want to risk his anger. He clutched Little Bear to his chest, and ran up after them leaving the other two robbers behind.
The old man led the two of them round the corner to another crevice in the cliff. This one went back a lot further, twisting and turning, going up and down, until it widened out into a much larger canyon. Ten minutes further walk, and they stopped in front of a large boulder. "Just round here," the old man grunted, still supporting Yac.
He led them round the boulder, and there set into the wall of the cliff, was a rough wooden door. As he opened it, Yac seemed to come to life and started to struggle. "No, no, I'm not going in," he shouted, but the old man just pushed him in head first. "Get in! You too, boy," he said turning to Tye. He took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness leaving the old man outside.
Once Tye’s eyes had accustomed to the gloom, he realised that it was surprisingly clean and homely inside. It was obviously once a natural cave but had been extended by bricks and mud, and now had a smooth floor and some windows or vents higher up that let in light. There was a hearth, some wooden furniture including a cot and two chairs, and even some wild flowers in recesses in the wall.
"Now you two, stay here, don't move, and don't touch ANYTHING!" The old man was standing in the doorway. "Oh, and try not to kill each other either!" Then the door slammed and he was gone.
Yac was slumped against the far wall, where
the old man had all but thrown him. He had a large bruise on his forehead and one of his eyes was beginning to swell up, but otherwise he seemed unhurt.
Now that he could see him properly, Tye realised that Yac wasn't as fearsome as he had first seemed. In fact, he was probably no more than a few years older than he was. Bigger and stronger for sure, but he also seemed thin and weak too. His tunic was stained and dirty and ripped in several places, but the worst thing about him was probably the smell Tye decided. He obviously had not washed in ages.
"He's going to kill us. You know that, don't you?" Yac said slowly.
Tye looked at him nervously.
Yac held his gaze with one his one good eye. "You know he is going to kill us, don't you?" he repeated. "Or something worse," he added darkly. Tye just watched him, a shiver going up his spine.
"This place is haunted, I can feel it,” he added “Probably by all the ghosts of the boys he has killed."