He winced at the memory of those rotting hands pulling Laughing Jack below. He took care not to look at Jasmine.
‘I do not regret what I did,’ she said defiantly. ‘It was his choice to pick up the gold and claim it for himself. All I did was remember what you had told me of his oath, and make sure he saw the money bag.’
‘And that was very fortunate,’ said Barda, playing idly with the box. ‘If that villain had escaped, he would have taken not only our horses with him, but Red Han as well. Now the Bone Point Light can shine again. And Verity is released from the curse. She can rest in peace.’
‘As can Dragonfriend,’ the amethyst dragon murmured, rousing itself. ‘Yes. We have done well. It is a good ending.’
‘Not quite an ending for us, I fear,’ Lief said shortly. ‘We have more to do.’
He glanced down at the four parts of the map lying on the rock before him. In the dimness, the Sister sign beside the city of Del seemed to writhe like a snake.
Suddenly he was tired to his bones. His exhausted brain teemed with questions for which he had no answers.
What if we fail at this, the last hurdle? he thought. What if we have saved all the rest of the kingdom, but we cannot save our home? How could it be that the fourth Sister is in Del? Where in heaven’s name can it be hidden? How can we even begin to find it? And why do I feel, like Josef, that there is something I am not seeing? Some further mystery…
Barda gave a grunt of surprise and held out the puzzle box. A third little rod was sticking out of the box’s carved side.
‘I have no idea what I did to make that happen!’ Barda complained, tugging at the box’s lid. ‘And look at that! Three locks undone, and still it will not open. Curse the thing! I should throw it into the sea!’
‘If you did, you would be sorry,’ the dragon said shrewdly. ‘You would never know what was inside.’
Barda snorted. But Lief noticed that he pushed the box safely back into his pocket.
Tomorrow he will try again, Lief thought. Whatever he says, he will keep trying until all the locks are open, and all the secrets are revealed. But for now, he will put the problem out of his mind.
It came to him that he should do the same. Slowly he picked up the four map fragments and put them away.
‘Very good,’ Veritas said approvingly.
Lief looked up in surprise.
‘There is a time to plan, a time to act, and a time to rest,’ the dragon said. ‘It is wise to know which is which.’
Its eyes gleamed like dull purple stars in the gloom. Slowly Lief felt his tense muscles relax.
He felt the baby diamond dragon creep close to him, and curl itself to sleep as near to the Belt as it could.
Tonight is the time to rest, he thought. Tomorrow is the time to plan. After that—we will go to Del. And there, where this all began, it will end.
Then he thought no more, but only sat watching the empty sea, while the quiet night fell.
Copyright
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First published in 2004.
This edition published in 2011.
Text and graphics copyright © Emily Rodda, 2004.
Graphics by Kate Rowe.
Cover illustrations copyright © Scholastic Australia, 2004.
Cover illustrations by Marc McBride.
Collectors’ Edition cover design by Nicole Leary.
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Rodda, Emily, 1948-.
Isle of the dead.
For children aged 10 years and older.
ISBN 978-1-74169-959-3.
Title. (Series : Rodda, Emily, 1948–Deltora quest 3 ; 3).
A823.3
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eISBN: 978-1-921-98969-8