Read Online Icebreaker by Lian Tanner - Free Book Online Page A

have sounded very much like an attack.
    Somewhere not too far away, the fighting shift shouted as they leaped into action. Petrel held her breath. Then, to her delight, the brig guard dashed past beneath her, gripping his pipe wrench and swearing under his breath.
    Petrel grabbed the jackets and trousers, swung down from the overhead pipes and ran towards the brig. There was the key, on the wall of the guard room. She snatched it off its hook and raced to the cell.
    â€œFin,” she whispered, scratching at the bars. “Fin!”
    She heard a gasp. “You!” And there was the boy, right in front of her, his face pale and set.
    Petrel slid the key into the lock and turned it. The door swung open.
    â€œCome on!” she hissed, beckoning to the boy.
    His eyes narrowed, but he stayed where he was.
    â€œDo you want to escape or not?” whispered Petrel. “’Cos this is your only chance!”
    To her relief, that got him moving. He crept through the door and she thrust a jacket and trousers at him.
    â€œWhat are these for?” he said.
    Petrel didn’t reply. She was already wriggling into the second jacket, and pulling the trousers up.
    Fin copied her as quickly as he could, which was not quick at all. He had no idea how to fasten the jacket, and Petrel had to do it for him. She pulled the hood over his head so his face was hidden, then she stood back and inspected him.
    â€œWhat are we—”
    â€œShhhhh!” said Petrel.
    She had known from the beginning that she would not be able to take the boy back the way she had come. The distraction would not fool Albie for long, and the first thing he would do, when he recognized the trick for what it was, was head for the brig.
    Which meant Petrel and the boy must go in the opposite direction, through one of the old cargo bays. It had probably held stores once, but now, like most spaces on the Oyster, it held shipfolk. They slept in family groups, with their neighbors above, below and on every side, and their fishing knives and outdoor clothes strung up beside them. There were no walls except those made of sealskin, and no floors except whalebone and netting, so that everybody knew everybody else’s business, and what affected one person affected them all.
    The idea that Petrel might be able to drag the stranger unnoticed through such a crowded space was so ridiculous that she wondered if she had gone winter-mad.
    But there was no other way out, not if they didn’t want to run straight into Albie and his fighters.
    Petrel put her finger to her lips again, “Shhhh!” and crept towards the hatch that led to the cargo bay.
    This was the moment when timing really counted. She thought she had got it right, but as the two of them waited beside the hatch she listened for the sound of Albie’s running footsteps and chewed her knuckles until they hurt.
    â€œWhat are we waiting—”
    â€œ Shhhhhh! ”
    And then it came, just as she had hoped—the blessed sound of the fishing siren. It whooped through the ship like a summons, three times. Petrel braced herself. But to her amazement, the siren whooped again. Just a single loud note, but everyone on board knew what it meant.
    The toothies, thought Petrel. The toothies have come!
    Her timing couldn’t have been better. She grabbed Fin’s hand and pulled him through the hatch. All around them, folk were rolling out of their hammocks. It wasn’t just the fishing shift, not today. Even the bratlings of six or seven winters were pulling on their outdoor clothes and climbing the nets to the next deck. Within half a minute, Fin and Petrel were indistinguishable from the folk around them.
    Except for Fin’s climbing.
    He couldn’t have made himself more conspicuous if he had tried. With Petrel prodding and pushing him, he managed to reach the top of the net. But then the two of them had to hop across a dozen whale ribs, shimmy up one rope and down