Free Sebastian Darke: Prince of Explorers by Philip Caveney Page A

to Salah, who went across the hut to a large clay bowl. She lifted its lid and revealed something wrapped in a piece of cloth. She withdrew the bundle and brought it back to Joseph, who began to unwrap it, handling it gingerly as though afraid it might burst into flames. Everybody leaned forward, eager to see what it contained; and even Max tried to press in closer, making the flimsy doorway creak in protest.
     
Joseph finally revealed what looked like a glass dome with a flat base. Within the dome was a tiny city, carved in intricate detail from what looked like smooth wood or bone. Sebastian caught his breath: he had never seen such craftsmanship before. Then he noticed that the city was covered by water.
     
'It reminds me of the Angels' Lair,' he whispered. Joseph gave him a quizzical look and he elaborated. 'A sunken city we saw beneath the waves on the way to Lemora.'
     
'Yes, but watch this,' said Joseph. He gave the globe a quick shake, and suddenly the water was full of tiny white flakes.
     
When he stilled his hand, the flakes came drifting down onto the city.
     
'Shadlog's teeth!' cried Cornelius. 'It's snow!'
     
Joseph stared at him. 'What's that?' he asked.
     
'Oh, I've heard of it,' said Sebastian, 'but I've never seen any.
     
It's supposed to be cold, isn't it?'
     
'Oh yes. Snow is little flakes of frozen water that fall from the sky,' Cornelius told him. 'Like rain, but . . . firmer. Where I come from in Golmira, it snows all the time. It gathers in great drifts on the ground and you have to wrap yourself in fur in order to go out in it. You can pat it into shapes and even make houses from it. It's marvellous stuff.' He gestured at the globe. 'Mind you, I've never seen anything like this.'
     
'What's it for?' asked Sebastian, puzzled.
     
'I have no idea,' said Joseph, handing the object to him. 'I found it lying on the ground – just waiting to be picked up. You see, it fits in the hand very well – almost as though it was meant to. But it doesn't really do anything. It just . . . looks . . . interesting .'
     
Sebastian took the globe and examined it carefully. He tried to imagine the kind of skill it would require to craft such a thing, but he wouldn't have had the first idea how to go about it. He couldn't even see an opening where the water had been poured in.
     
'Does it feel cold to the touch?' asked Cornelius.
     
'Not really.' Sebastian passed the globe to him and the little warrior gazed at it intently.
     
'Why doesn't the snow melt in the water?' he muttered.
     
'I've no idea,' Sebastian told him. 'What do you think it's for?'
     
Cornelius frowned. 'It can't be a weapon,' he surmised. 'It's heavy enough, but it looks like it would shatter if you smashed someone on the head with it.'
     
'Be careful,' Joseph advised him. 'You might break it. I've kept that for many years.'
     
Cornelius nodded and handed it to Keera. 'I have seen this many times,' she said, gazing into it thoughtfully. 'When I was a child, I used to think that it was some kind of magical world, and that if I wished hard, one day I might shrink until I was small enough to go into one of those tiny houses. I wished and wished every day, but alas, Okrin never granted me my wish.'
     
'I don't suppose you'd be interested in selling the globe . . .?' asked Max, and everyone turned to look at him. 'Well, if Joseph would sell it to us, we could take it back to Thaddeus Peel as proof and save ourselves the trouble of a blooming long trip into the jungle.'
     
'What does he mean, sell it?' asked Joseph, mystified. Clearly this was not a word he understood.
     
'Oh, ignore him,' said Cornelius. 'As usual, he's just trying to get out of work. The globe is a wonderful thing, but it could have come from anywhere. It's not the proof we seek.'
     
'But none of us can say what it is,' reasoned Sebastian. 'And if Joseph says it comes from the lost city, I believe him.'
     
'So do I! I'm merely saying that it will not be proof enough for