Читать книгу The Adventures of Anna Atom - Elizabeth Wasserman - Страница 12

Chapter 8

AT THE ARCHIVES

Anna often found school dull. She’d tried to persuade her parents to keep her at home, and let Max and Ton teach her. And as far as living on an island went, she argued, swimming and fishing were all the skills she needed to survive.

On his days off, Ton liked to hang around the little harbours of the neighbouring islands, and he’d learnt both the local methods of fishing and the best spots. Every couple of days he swopped his suit for a wetsuit and waded into the bay to inspect the basket trap he’d exchanged for a tin of coconut fudge from a friend. Basket traps were a kind way of catching fish because they only trapped the large and tasty ones – other reef creatures that swam in to inspect the trap could be released without being harmed.

And Max had taught Anna more about science than any of the teachers at school. He could conjure up holographic images of almost everything, which made him the most exciting teacher in the world. He often projected Einstein’s lion-haired image while lecturing her on quantum physics, and he whizzed planets past her head as he taught her the laws of perpetual motion. Nevertheless, her parents had insisted that she go to school like any ordinary child.

“You must learn to socialise with children of your own age,” her mother had said, and her father had agreed that interaction with the island community was important to understanding the complicated relationships between humans and nature.

“You have to know both sides of the argument, Pumpkin!” he would say. “Humans need food, shelter and entertainment. People will only look after the environment when their basic needs have been satisfied. Poverty and conservation don’t go together well.”

He was right. The other children living on the islands were clearly more interested in games, gadgets and television than conserving their beautiful environment. Although they were generally kind to animals, the boys often poached shells from nature reserves to sell to tourists for a bit of pocket money. Anna’s main gripe was the littering: bits of polystyrene, empty bottles and plastic bags were abandoned along the roads, and heaps of nondegradable junk disgraced the islands’ beautiful picnic spots. The sea surrounding the main island was slowly turning into a refuse dump. Plastic bags were caught on the coral heads and waved their pale tatters dismally in the current.

At school, Anna’s day was not going well. Twice already she’d got into trouble from Mr Skerret for not paying attention in Life Science class. And during break she had a fierce argument with Danny, a rude boy in grade 6, over a chip packet he’d left crumpled on a wooden bench.

Anna was feeling grumpy and impatient. She had pirates on her mind.

Three hundred years ago, the Indian Ocean had been the hunting ground of several formidable privateers, or pirates as they are called today. Rumour had it that pirate treasure was still hidden on the islands, and people had spent their lives and fortunes hunting for it.

Anna knew that Hodoul was the most famous pirate to have sailed that part of the ocean. He’d retired from piracy a rich man, and made his home on one of the islands, where he’d become a successful and respected plantation owner. Anna had visited his grave in the old cemetery above the town, carefully kept by his great-great-grandchildren, who now lived peacefully on the islands. She had heard that although Hodoul was a pirate, he’d been kind and just, had treated his prisoners fairly and had helped the poor. He’d loved the islands and worried about the damage the early colonists were doing to the local plants and animals. He’d tried to stop the relentless felling of trees for timber, and had warned that tortoises would become extinct if sold in such numbers to passing ships for their meat.

All this information was buzzing in Anna’s head and so that afternoon, as soon as school was finished, she set off. She caught a bus into the old part of town, almost running the last bit of the way to the library that housed the archives.

Madame Savy, a plump woman with a friendly smile, looked up in surprise as Anna entered.

“Why, hello! The admiral’s daughter!” she said. “You know, your dad used to visit me almost every afternoon when he was about your age. Is this a case of like father, like daughter? He was fascinated by the old sea captains’ logs, maps and all the other paraphernalia we keep here. I was still very young then,” she giggled. “I’d just started working here.”

Anna felt a bit uncomfortable. “May I have a look at the section on Hodoul, Madame Savy?”

“Ah! A treasure hunt!” Madame Savy nodded. “Follow me. If you can find something no one else has found these past two hundred years, I will be surprised. But come, come, you’re welcome to try!”

Anna followed Madame Savy along a short corridor and down some steps. In a large air-conditioned room, rows of steel racks housed boxes of all shapes and sizes. Each one was neatly labelled. Madame Savy led Anna to a shelf at the back of the room, which was marked ‘Privateers’. On this shelf, box files were neatly arranged in alphabetical order: Avery, Edwards, and Hodoul!

“It’s a bit of a coincidence that you came looking for Hodoul today. There was another man here just yesterday –” She was interrupted by a phone ringing upstairs. “Excuse me. Feel free to scratch around but please leave everything as you’ve found it!” And with a few clicks of her heels she was gone.

Anna studied the neatly typed index that was glued to the front of the first box. Two looked promising: a map of Hodoul’s most important journeys and a copy of his diary.

A diary’s a great place to start searching, Anna thought.

She tipped the box from the shelf and peered inside. What a mess! The papers in the box looked like somebody had stuffed them in without the slightest care.

She took the box to a table and sat down to unpack the contents. There were letters written by the pirate to family and friends, orders for stores, lists of items packed into ships in preparation of voyages, notices of ships captured that appeared in government gazettes, and loads of other interesting bits of the puzzle that was the pirate’s life.

But there was no order to the papers. And Anna couldn’t find the map, or the diary.

Madame Savy poked her head around the door, a cup of hot vanilla tea in her hand. “Found your treasure, sweetie?” she asked.

“No, I can’t find the map or the copy of Hodoul’s diary. Is that kept somewhere else?”

“Oh no, it’s definitely in that box – that’s what it says on the index, and the index is never wrong!” Madame Savy anxiously rushed over to where Anna was sitting. “Now look at the mess you have made! Your father would turn in his grave – it’s a disgrace!”

Madame Savy, like the rest of the islanders, believed that Admiral Atom was dead. They knew nothing about deconstructed atoms and Space Arks.

“What exactly is going on here? I checked this box myself after that man was here yesterday, and everything was fine. Now look at it! What have you done?”

“It wasn’t me, Madame Savy. The papers were all jumbled up already. And the map and the diary are not there. Do you think somebody took it?”

“Took it? Of course not! Who would do a thing like that?” And Madame Savy frantically searched through the papers again.

Anna didn’t know what to say, or even what to think. Tears burnt at the back of her eyes. She felt humiliated because Madame was so angry, and it was not even her fault! And on top of that, she was disappointed – she’d wanted to find something about the dagger, and now she had nothing.

Lost in her unhappy thoughts, Anna went over to the window. She took the dagger from her pocket and rubbed its blade thoughtfully. Where would she find out about its origins now? Then she noticed something: the window was small and barred, set high in the wall. The outside was at street level. The window shut with a latch that could only be opened from inside the building. But two of the bars of the window looked skew.

Anna inspected them more closely. Yes, they were neatly sawn through at the bottom, and the latch of the window was open!

She heard a sudden sharp intake of breath behind her, and spun around to find Madame Savy standing right behind her.

“Where did you get that?” Madame Savy demanded, pointing at the dagger.

“I … I found it in the sea,” Anna stammered.

“It’s Hodoul’s dagger!” Madame Savy said. “I know it from his portrait in the family’s home. It’s an artefact of great importance. Give it to me!” She was about to snatch the dagger from Anna’s hands when a huge shadow filled the door. It was Ton.

“Good afternoon, Mrs Savy. I’m here to escort the young lady home,” he said.

“You will do no such thing!” Madame Savy still looked very angry. “This ‘young lady’ has caused a lot of trouble here today, and I cannot simply let her leave. Some important items appear to be missing. Moreover, she has this!” She pointed to the dagger, which Anna was now clutching to her chest. “That belongs in the National Museum. How has she got hold of it? I shall have to phone the director immediately.”

Ton casted a quick glance towards the table strewn with Hodoul’s papers.

“Of course, Madame Savy. We must inform your director immediately. Being an old friend of the admiral’s, I am sure he will be grateful to Anna for discovering the theft.”

“Theft? Who said anything about a theft! In my archives? Those papers must be somewhere!” Madame Savy eyed Anna’s schoolbag with suspicion.

“Don’t trouble yourself, my dear Madame Savy. Anna and I just happen to be on our way to see the director about her artefact right now.”

And without giving Madame Savy a chance to argue, Ton marched Anna out of the archives and onto the hot street outside.