Free Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers by Philip Caveney

clothes, and for a moment I feared it would drag me down, but then it was carried away and I never saw it again. I came close to drowning many times, but at last a fallen tree trunk came down the river. Darkness fell and I was exhausted but I clung onto that tree all through the night as the waters dashed me here and there. When the dawn came, I was still hanging on. I kept trying to kick my way towards the bank but the current was strong and I was exhausted. I dared not release my hold. Finally . . . finally I blacked out and I knew nothing. I had fully expected to die.'
     
'You didn't though, did you?' asked Max; everybody glared at him. 'I was only asking,' he said.
     
'When I next opened my eyes,' said Joseph, 'I found myself lying on a low bank of shingle that extended down into a big pool. I was battered and exhausted, but grateful to be alive.'
     
He smiled, reliving the joy he'd felt at escaping death. 'I lay there for a very long time – I must have slept for several hours. When I awoke, my strength had returned and I felt able to rouse myself. I realized, of course, that I could follow the river back until I either found my comrades or located the trail that would take me to the village, but as I stood there and looked around, I saw something through the trees that made me stare in astonishment.'
     
There was a long, pregnant silence.
     
'What was it?' asked Cornelius at last, trying not to show his impatience.
     
'It was a building,' said Joseph, sounding as though he still could hardly believe it. 'Right there in the middle of the jungle; a building overgrown with vegetation. Not a simple hut like the Jilith would make, but a great grey stone edifice, the like of which I have never seen before or since. Of course I had to go and investigate. I was young and fascinated by the unknown. So I walked through the trees until I came to the building, and then I saw that it was only one of many, stretching away into the jungle before me. I stood there, looking around me in astonishment for I had never seen such things. They were like . . . the temples of the gods.'
     
'And was anybody living there?' Sebastian asked.
     
Joseph shook his head. 'I walked amidst them for what seemed half the day, but I saw no human life, only the occasional javralat and rusa wandering through the desolation. It was as though whoever had lived there had fled suddenly in the middle of the night and never returned.'
     
'Did you go into any of the buildings?' asked Cornelius.
     
The old man shook his head, his expression sheepish. 'I . . . I was young and inexperienced. I wanted to go inside but I was afraid to. I thought that there might be ghosts or demons waiting for me, just as my father's old stories had said. I looked in through doorways and windows, but there were dark shadows and I was fearful. And I had the uncanny sensation that someone or something was watching me the whole time – something powerful and evil. So after a while I turned round and retraced my steps. Eventually I found my way back to the river and began the long walk home, following its course. I did not reach the village until many days and nights had passed; then there was dancing and feasting in my honour, because of course my parents were sure that I had perished.'
     
'And you never returned to the city?' asked Sebastian.
     
'Never.' Joseph smiled. 'Oh, I thought about it many times and I even told others about what I had seen, but they all advised me never to go back. Most of them thought that the place was cursed – returning there might direct the curse at us. But I wasn't sure. I think if I'd managed to persuade a group of warriors to come with me, then I might have returned. Now, of course, it's too late.'
     
'You . . . perhaps might have brought something back with you?' ventured Cornelius. 'A memento of such a great adventure?'
     
The old man gazed at him thoughtfully for a few moments before replying. 'There is something ,' he said, and gestured