The Key and the Broken Wing
Page 12
Chapter Six
Further along the mountain near the west side of the valley stood a long network of thin wires in the middle of the air. Two wires lay side by side ferrying people up and down the hill in cream cable cars. All of the cars had the owners name on T.K.H.LR cars. Inside one of the cars which headed down to the seafront were two lads. One of them, Daniel who had been talking to an old man on the tram and the other looked like a friend of his.
Daniels mate Slinks, tight sporty blue jumper showed his round figure around his waist. His long arms and legs made him look like a giant with a small body, but in fact he was no taller or shorter than Daniel. His long whiskers at the edge of his chin helped his small brown eyes to glow and his tiny ears shivered whenever he looked down. He sat opposite Daniel and slowly smiled at him.
"The views are wonderful, it’s just, and he paused to look at the shrubs below them.”It is full of grass and flowers, why can't they add some rides?" he said
Daniel stepped towards the safety door that had a great big bar across the large window to keep them in. A small window at the top began to open and shut fiercely making the cable car wobble. He jumped onto the bar, fumbled into his light green coat pockets to unwrap a piece of chewing gum; he put it in his mouth and blew out a pink bubble. After it popped he took the wet gum out of his mouth and placed it between the grooves of the ledge and some on the bottom of the window. It flapped out once and then as it started to swing shut it stuck against the large ball of gum leaving a small a small breath of sea air to slide in gently.
"The car only has to travel to the front of driveway before we head for the pier. I want to go shopping for my family as they will be thinking of me. Thanks Slinks for letting me join you on your holiday," Daniel said.
"I cannot look down anymore, I think I'll close my eyes," Slinks stuttered in fright. Daniel walked over to him and smiled.
"Don't be silly Slinks, It takes plenty of guts and effort to come on the car, you looked at the plants below and you haven’t,"
"I haven't been sick because I did not think about it," Slinks interrupted him.
"The valley here is full of people sunbathing, look," Daniel urged his friend to look down again. Slinks turned round to see what other people were doing. Quite a few people sat down on the grass and eat lunch and drank what looked like to be glasses of wine, three young men on the other field kicked a football around and then a few of them lay flat on the grass that overlooked the Victorian pier and off course the horse shoe shaped sea.
"It looks beautiful from here," Daniel sighed. Slinks opened his mouth in amazement for he could not speak about anything or anyone; he acted like a five year old who had never been anywhere like this before. "Slinks," Daniel whispered. His face followed a tiny thing that was following the cars, its pale blue and emerald green wings swung up and down, up and down, back up to the same car they were in.
" The butterfly’s wings are cracked," Slinks finally answered him. Daniel shook his head and laughed, he stepped over to the other side and again the butterfly had just come closer to the cable cars.
"Wait!" Slinks shouted at the top of his voice. A large, round and fat cable car came opposite and the butterfly ducked.
The couple who had got married on the mountain sat in this cable car with their hands held tight, there smiley face and jarring looks of love and lust made them want to look at Daniel.
"Wave to them," Slinks mumbled. Daniel waved to the misses and then smiled at the man in the small black jacket. Both of them waved back and then the car moved up away from them.
"They killed her," Slinks croaked.
"Her, how do you know I'm female, you shouldn't have been looking at me. I was flying perfectly well until someone - cars are so filthy," she said. Slinks turned round. He clung onto Daniels coat and kneeled before her. Her wings stopped flapping, and the length of them touched the floor making her feet float off the ground. Her white and blue top dazzled with sequins reflected the sun away from the car altogether. Her work trousers now appeared to have nine strips of blue paint.
"We are in danger, the angles come to take us," Slinks sobbed.
"Slinks," Daniel laughed as he looked back, his face turned white.
"Bow down, she will go if we don't hurt her," Slinks mumbled.
"Don't, get up, I won’t hurt you and I am not from the clouds above, she paused.”I'm not an angel," she gulped.
"Jezzabell, you’re the angel from the shop at the top of the mountain," Daniel said.
"Jezzabell," she said pulling the pin out of her top.
"You are one, why are you flying?" Daniel asked.
"Ha, I am not an angel, I'm a butterfly," she replied.
“Where are your tail and your antenna?" Slinks curiously asked. He began to walk around her like an inspector asking one hundred and one questions. Jezzabell jumped over to Daniel. Her miserable face told it all; she blushed at him and carefully stepped over to the locked door. She pulled the window further along to reach her right arm underneath the pane and then as she was about to shrink Daniel grabbed her waist and pulled her back into the middle of the car.
"Get off me," she yelled. She kicked outwards to the sky; forcing her wings to move back towards Daniel's face and all they did was slide back into her spine. Jezzabell's frightened face looked out at the valley in horror. Her eyes blinked at the other seagulls that also squawked at the cable car and dived down at the figures below who seemed to be carrying food. Only one can guess that it was chips that these seagulls smelt and now alone with two boys the same age as her. Her feet landed onto the tiled floor and as Daniel let go of her she turned round.
"You have a broken wing," Daniel said.
"So, At least I can be safe flying," she spoke aloud.
"Butterflies can't fly very well if their wings snap and then they can fall into the hilly rocks," Slinks protested. She gazed down over the edge of the mountain and saw the waves crash against the jagged grey rocks. The sea threw itself up over the cliff and back down bringing small grains of pebble and sand down with it.
"How do I get to Old Frithy Firth?" she silently asked. Daniel put his arm over her shoulder and patted the broken forewing that lay out of her spine.
"The pier has many fishing boats, they come every hour but we need to go shopping first, I can't wait to go to the shops on the pier Jezzabell," Daniel said.
"What about the amusements, I have to win an owl for my little sister," Slinks sighed.
"First of all I need to get to Frithy Firth!" Jezzabell said. Daniel held her right hand up, as he touched her hand she let go.
"Don't be afraid of us. I am Daniel, my mates Slinks love amusements but I, and I don't care for them. I always loose on the money grabbers," Daniel assured her.
"We can do everything on the pier," Slinks mumbled. Daniel stood back; he let Jezzabell flick bits of green grass and sand onto the cable car's floor.
"Okay, but I need to get to Frithy Firth," she sighed.
"Why do you want to go to that boring place?" Slinks Laughed. Daniel put his hand on her shoulder and he rubbed the sand off onto the floor.
Jezzabell took Daniels hand off her shoulder, picked the gum off the window and its ledge; she rolled it up and blew on it. All of sudden a strong gust of wind pushed them back onto the bench, the piece of gum flew out of her hand and it washed away into the sea.
Ping!," went the car and the door opened up onto plain white tiles which lay adjacent to the open driveway that lead to the front of the long pier.
Two cafe assistants dressed in blue pinafores opened the gates to let the tourist into the shops and the cafe's that lied on the tarmac put me
tal round tables and chairs out to invite customers in.
"What happened to the wind, it’s gone, We can visit the pier, we have to go to the amusements and shops; plenty of fishing boats coming out," Slinks excitedly said.