The Cannibals Read Online Free

watched,” said Father. “Her face was like ash. Even her lips were white. ‘Keep him safe,’ she told me. ‘Keep the boy safe.’ Then she faded away into nothing.”
    “Holy jumping mother of Moses. You're giving me the shivers,” said Midgely. “She's on her deathbed, ain't she, Captain Tin? She's calling from her deathbed, she is.”
    I saw him do something he had never done before. He raised his little hand and crossed himself, touching his forehead, his lips, his breast, and shoulders.
    I sat down then, though not on the bed. I fell into the chair by the table, feeling as though I were dropping into a bottomless pit. I found that I cared more for my mother than I'd ever thought, and the notion that she was now dying in her bed in England made me tremble through and through.
    “Tom!” said my father. “Listen to me, Tom.” He came beside me and lifted my chin. “She's not here, not in spirit nor in body. I was thinking of her, that was all. I know fully well—the both of us do—what she would say about you leaving the ship. Tom, I didn't see
her;
I saw my own thoughts.”
    “You're not going to let us escape, are you?” asked Midgely.
    “No,” said Father. “I'm not. I'll take you to Australia as Iwanted. I'll explain it all to the governor, and I'll take you home again. That's what I've decided.”
    “Because of what you saw?” I asked.
    “Because of what I
know
,” said he. “You haven't got it in you, Tom. You're…well—dash it!—I'm sorry to say this, but you're too soft.”
    He turned away. He didn't go to the windows, but sat on the bed. He placed his elbows on his thighs, then settled his head in his hands. “It's not your fault, Tom; you've been coddled. Your mother worried too much.”
    His words stung more than he could know. It was true that I had been that way. I had been spoiled and selfish. But I believed I had changed, and it hurt me to think that my father couldn't see it.
    Shadows spilled through the doorway. In crept old Bede, his long nose arriving first. “Would the young
convicts
…,” he started.
    But Father's head snapped up, and he roared, “Get out, man! Leave us alone, you toad-eating fool.”
    Such anger I had never known from him. I saw the dismay on Bede's long face and—in that moment—I didn't believe he was a spy for Mr. Goodfellow. He couldn't have looked more injured if my father had taken a lash to him. Out he went, as stealthily as he'd arrived.
    “Oh, Bede,” Father called after him. “I'm sorry.”
    But it was too late. The man hadn't heard—or had chosen not to.
    My father stood up. He moved behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. “Good Lord, I don't know what'swrong with me. I feel that I'm lying ahull today, beset by squalls. But, dear Tom, don't worry. I'll look after you.”
    I left the cabin nearly brokenhearted. Midge held my sleeve as we climbed up to the deck. “It's over now,” I said. “I'll never get home.”
    “You might,” said he. “You're the captain's son, ain't you? If he stands up for you, they might let you stay with him. He can do what he likes, a captain can.”
    What he said made sense, and—with that—my spirits lifted. We walked to the steps and down to the waist of the ship.
    “I think he
will
get you home,” said Midge. “But he can't help me. Not for spit.”
    I saw that he was crying. Down each cheek a tear was rolling, and the corners of his mouth were shaking. It broke my heart to see him so, for even when Benjamin Penny had punctured his eyes, Midge had never wept. He'd gone bravely on as a darkness engulfed him. But now it seemed his stuffing had been pulled away, and all that was left was a frightened boy. I wanted to tell him that if he had to stay in Australia that I would stay with him. But could I really do it? Would I pass up a chance to go home?
    He sniffed. “At least I'll get to Australia. That's good, Tom; I'm glad for that. But I don't want to be there without you.”
    The strange