Emilie & the Hollow World - By Martha Wells Page 0,29

they hadn't been able to see from the Sovereign. A rope ladder hung over the rail there, dangling down to the sand. “Was that here before?” Miss Marlende asked tensely.

“Yes.” Kenar started to climb.

“No sign of tracks on this sand, but wind or water may have worn them away,” Lord Engal said, mostly to himself.

One of the crewmen called out, “There's a way up the bluff, here, My Lord. Steps cut into the dirt.”

“We did that, to get up to the airship,” Kenar said, already vanishing over the rail.

Lord Engal turned to follow him, telling the crewmen, “Two of you climb up there, look for signs of the airship. Stay within shouting distance.”

Oswin picked out two more men to remain on guard on the beach, then followed Lord Engal up the ladder with the others. Emilie followed them. She looked back to see Miss Marlende hesitating, torn between the ship and joining the search for the airship atop the bluff. Then she turned to follow them up the ladder.

Emilie climbed awkwardly over the solid rail onto the deck. She had been afraid to see the place strewn with bodies, but there was no sign of that. Yet, she thought, a little sick.

Kenar did a quick circuit of the deck, which to Emilie's untutored eye seemed undisturbed. There was nothing broken, no loose lines in the rigging, the casks and barrels of supplies - as gaily painted with vines and flowers as the rest of the ship - were still lashed into place. Kenar opened the door into the long series of cabins along the deck, moving quickly through.

Emilie followed behind Lord Engal and Oswin. The windows were all shuttered, but the slats were tilted to allow in light and air but deflect rain. They moved quickly along, and she got only fast glimpses of bunks and seats built into the walls with brightly-colored cushions, blue and gold pottery jars, a cabinet stacked with scrolls of paper. One scroll had been left unrolled on a stool, and Emilie stopped to look at it. It wasn't a map, as she had thought at first - she remembered the map Kenar had carried had been drawn on a square of fabric - but a long list of notes hand-written in an oddly square script. She wondered if it was a chronicle of the voyage. Maybe someone left a log entry, a note about where they went, what happened to the airship, she thought. And why they didn't take their ship, even though it doesn't look like there's anything wrong with it. She suspected she was being optimistic again.

She hurried to catch up with the others, who were just going down the open hatch into the hold. It was warm down there, and crowded with supplies, mostly casks and more of the pottery containers, so Emilie stayed on deck with Miss Marlende. There was another separate cabin back here, and Emilie stepped inside to see it was a small galley. There was no place to eat inside, but there was a small squat metal stove with a flat cook top, and pots and jars were stored on shelves against the walls, with rope webbing to hold them in place against the ship's motion. The room smelled of herbs and wilted greens. There was a pot beside the stove, still half-full of stale water, a wooden spoon with a carved flower handle standing in it. Emilie took the spoon out, so it wouldn't be ruined by soaking too long in the water, and hung it on an empty wall hook.

Miss Marlende was shielding her eyes, looking toward the bluff. From here there was a better view of the top, and Emilie could see the two crewmen moving through tall grass, in a big clearing half-surrounded by the tall palm trees. They were scuffing at the ground with their boots, poking through the ferny bushes. It didn't look as if they were finding anything. Not anything terrible, anyway. Emilie said, “Maybe they fixed the airship's aetheric engine.” It was a stupid thing to say, but she was finding it hard to just stand here silently, as if they were at a funeral. She could hear wood creak as the men below searched through the holds, but she bet they weren't finding anything, either.

Miss Marlende bit her lip. “The Cirathi would leave someone behind to guard their ship. Unless something attacked them and they all had to escape.”

The ladder creaked as Lord Engal climbed back up, followed