Read Online The Seventh Tide by Joan Lennon - Free Book Online Page B

if they might be about to fall in. The viewpoint appeared to be hovering a few metres above Eo’s head, showing anything that came within a circle of a couple of metres centring around him. Everything was oddly foreshortened from that angle, of course, and they got to know the different characters that entered the circle mainly as clumps of hair with noses sticking out the front.
    What they were able to hear also centred on Eo, though the audio range extended further, beyond the circle of what they could see. What was peculiar, however, was the way they could only hear something when Eo was paying heed to it. When his attention wandered, the speaker’s words blurred into white noise. It was aninteresting insight into the selective hearing of the young, but maddening for the G on the beach. The words, ‘Why can’t the boy pay attention !?’ were heard on more than one occasion, with a range of adjectives added on.
    They knew the exact instant the Queen realized Hurple wasn’t just a collar – there was a furious hiss and the look she threw in their direction was pure venom. She didn’t actually say, ‘You’ll pay for this!’ but there was no doubt that was what she was thinking.
    The G shivered, and returned to their vigil.
    It was impossible not to get excited when Columba was mentioned, though, like Eo and the ferret, they were worried about how old he looked.
    ‘He’s got white hair!’ whispered Gladrag. She sounded devastated. ‘I threw too far!’
    ‘Don’t let her know,’ muttered Market urgently, tipping a nod towards the Queen. ‘Act like the thing landed exactly where we wanted it to.’
    So, as the day wore on, the G did their best to appear confident and chipper. They were successful to some extent – the Kelpie Queen was clearly irritated and suspicious – but they would have been more convinced themselves if Eo had managed to wrest an actual commitment from the saint.
    ‘We’re not getting everything, of course,’ they reassured each other. ‘We can only see what’s immediately in the wretched little circle. There may be all sorts of things we don’t know about going on where we can’t see!’
    Then the afternoon was nearly over, and out to sea there was a last golden light on the water, and the white flash of gull wings on the wind, and a few high clouds. Where they stood, though, it was different. The tall vortexdominated the beach, drawing the eye and oppressing the spirit. The waves fell heavily at their feet, as if the effort to do so were almost too much.
    Suddenly, without warning, there was nothing to see on the viewing disc any more – it had blurred over into blank greyness just before Eo was reclaimed by the Traveller. The last thing they saw was the boy reaching out for Columba, desperate for the saint’s help…
    The three G stepped back from the disc and stared at each other. Then, as one, they looked out to sea.
    ‘Is it time yet?’ whispered Interrupted. ‘Is it the turn?’
    Hibernation Gladrag pulled an odd-looking device out of her robe.
    ‘I’ll check,’ she said.
    Market’s mouth dropped open. ‘You have a Tide Turn Calculating Device? With you?!’ he said, amazed.
    ‘Don’t be ridiculous. I borrowed Sanskrit Macmahonney’s when I was speaking to everybody back there,’ said Hibernation absently, twiddling another knob and then squinting at the much too tiny display screen.
    The turn of the tide is like the furthest point in the swing of a pendulum – a time of weightless pause before gravity and movement kick in again. Surprisingly, this pause is not entirely uniform in length. It can vary slightly from one tide to another, so if, for some reason, it is important to know the exact second… then it is essential to own a Tide Turn Calculating Device.
    (Kelpies, and indeed most species of faeries, demons and the eldritch, don’t need them. They are instinctively aware of these moments because they are part of theebbing and strengthening of the