by Vashti Hardy
“If Harriet really does mean to use the Sojourn… Well, I have seen it down in the dockyards, and it’s not very big. Or well-maintained… It’s a bit of a wreck, really. Although maybe Madame Vane was misinformed? We could check, to be sure,” Maudie said.
Arthur took the note from his pocket and nodded. “Let’s finish the chores, cook dinner, then sneak back to Archangel Street. We can ask Harriet directly about the ship.”
CHAPTER 10
TRUST
After dinner, they made their way Uptown and knocked on the door of number four Archangel Street.
After a while Welby answered, one bushy eyebrow raised. “You’re quite early.”
“May we speak to Miss Culpepper?”
“She’s not here.”
“Is she preparing the sky-ship?”
Welby frowned.
“It’s just…”
“Someone told us…”
“That, well…”
“It’s the Sojourn, down in the docks. And it’s a bit on the small side,” Maudie finished.
Welby leant towards them. “And who told you that?”
Arthur’s cheeks flushed with red. He didn’t think he should mention Madame Vane.
“Expedition relationships are based on trust. I sincerely advise that if you don’t trust Miss Culpepper, that you consider not turning up tomorrow. Good day.” Welby began closing the door.
Arthur stopped it with his foot. “But…”
Welby tilted his head. “But nothing. Trust, or do not. Be here at this door by eight chimes tomorrow, or not. The choice is yours,” he said, and shut the door.
“That was strange,” Maudie said.
“What do you think?”
She shrugged. “Remember what Madame Vane said? We need to let her know by seven chimes. I don’t know, Arty, maybe we should…”
Arthur took the locket out. “Maud, Harriet Culpepper has given us a chance we may never have again. We have to take it, even if it all goes wrong tomorrow and her ship is a disaster, and we have to stay at Beggins Hall for ever. I’d rather take the risk than never know.”
He pulled her away and they began walking back to the Slumps.
Shortly, a clock tower bell began to chime. They paused and counted seven.
“So, this is it. We’re really going with Harriet Culpepper,” said Maudie.
He nodded. “Come on, let’s get back to Beggins Hall. We can leave early in the morning – we’ll be long gone before they realize.”
They dashed along. Arthur was too wrapped up in the thrill of what lie ahead to notice the figure in the sharp suit watching them. As they walked through the alley on the way back to Beggins Hall, he struck.
Arthur saw the flash of a white handkerchief, and smelt the bitter tang of chemicals, then everything went black.
*
Arthur awoke to darkness and a familiar sound, yet his brain couldn’t make sense of it. He felt for Maudie beside him, grasped her elbow, and groaned.
His head throbbed and the insistent noise was making it worse. In fact, the sound was making the whole building shake – a curious, slow bell. He remembered the handkerchief.
A grunt came from Maudie. “Ugh, I feel like I’ve been in a stampede,” she murmured.
“Where are we?” He tried to open his eyes but everything blurred.
“Stop the chimes, Arty, they’re making my head explode.”
Chimes! He recognized them as they stopped – the low bells of the old ship watchtower in the Slumps, their watchtower, had rung a quarter to … something, directly above. He couldn’t be sure the number of chimes. Warm morning light shone beneath a distant door. He realized they were in the cellar. His stomach lurched. The light meant it was already the next day – the start day of the expedition. They were miles away from Archangel Street – he could only hope they weren’t too late.
Maudie seemed to think the same thing, as they both sat bolt upright in panic.
“Sis, we’ve got to get out of here.” Arthur scrambled to his feet, which made his head bang even harder.
“But what if someone’s guarding us?” Maudie whispered.
“Come on!” Arthur clambered up the steps. He looked under the door. “I can’t see anyone.”
Maudie yanked the handle furiously. “Is anyone there? We’re locked in!”
Arthur banged his hand against the wood. “Hey!”
“Help!”
Arthur nudged Maudie to the side and started pulling at the handle.
“It’s not going to suddenly open for you, is it?”
“Don’t snap at me, Maud!”
“Why have we been taken? Who would do this?”
Arthur thought about the rumours of children being taken from the Slumps to work in the pitch mines. “We’ve got to get out of here before whoever it is comes back!”
“Look, yanking a handle isn’t going to get us anywhere. Search the room for anything that could help us out.” They ran back down the stairs and began scrabbling around on the dusty floor and feeling the walls.
“There’s nothing,” Arthur called. But there had to be a way – there was always a way.
He ran back up the stairs and began examining the door. “These hinges are as old as this building. If we can prise the pins from them, maybe we could lift the door right off.”
The pins came out easily enough, but as they grabbed on to the wood to pull it open, the bolt on the other side stuck fast. They could only get it open an inch or two.
“We need something to lever it open,” Maudie said.
“I know, but we don’t have anything!” Arthur snapped.
“Arty.”
“Shh, I’m thinking.”
“Arty.”
He shook his head and kicked the door, panic rising with every passing second. “We’re not going to make it in time.”
“ARTHUR!”
He stopped and looked at her.
Raising her eyebrows, Maudie said, “Your arm.”
He squinted at his sister for a moment then seemed to realize what she was suggesting, just before she explained.
“I’ll pull the door back as much as I can – then you put your arm in the gap and lever while pulling with your real hand.”
He nodded. “On three – one, two…”
They pulled with all they had and a sharp slither of bright morning light cut into the cellar.
“It’s not wide enough!”
“Pull harder!”
They grunted with the effort and the gap widened just enough for Arthur to push his iron arm through. “Keep pulling. I’ll wrench it open,” he said.
The wood groaned with the strain and the rusty bolt on the other side of the door creaked.
“It’s not budging.” Arthur’s metal arm began denting under the weight of the door.
“Don’t ease up, give it everything we’ve got – brace your foot on the frame. Together.”
With one more mighty effort, there was a creak and a ping, and the cellar door flung inwards, sending them crashing backwards.
“We did it,” Arthur said in a muffled voice from beneath the door.
“Great, and we’re a lot flatter.”
Kicking the heavy wood out of the way, they saw the cellar was flooded with daylight. They jumped up and dashed from the watchtower into the street outside, right into Mrs Beggins, sending her empty basket skittering across the cobbles. She grabbed them roughly by the scruff of their shirts.
“There you are! What do you two think you’re playing at?”
CHAPTER 11
WHAT GOES UP
Mrs Beggins yanked them closer, shaking them with firm, pudgy hands. “You blighters didn’t come back last night. What have you been up to?”
Arthur looked at the tower clock. It was a quarter to the chimes of eight.
“Mr Beggins!” Mrs Beggins shrieked.
Mr Beggins came running out of Beggins Hall.
Arthur knew they didn’t stand much chance of escapin
g if Mr Beggins reached them too. He exchanged a quick look with Maudie. Each of them stamped hard on the nearest foot to them. Mrs Beggins cried out in pain and let go.
The twins pelted along the street and turned into Old Ropey. The Begginses’ footsteps thundered behind them. As they took a turn into the tight alleyway of Sankey Row, Mr and Mrs Beggins’ shouts weren’t far behind.
“There they are!”
“Get them, Mr Beggins!”
With a great screech, Parthena swooped into the alley ahead of them, urging them forward. They ran onwards, knowing if they gave anything less than one hundred per cent it would all be over. Their lungs burned, yet on they darted through the alleys and streets as the minutes passed too quickly, towards Archangel Street, their leg muscles on fire.
Not knowing it was possible to run any faster, they sped through the last few streets as the o’clock chimes rang across Lontown.
One … Two … Three…
“Come on!” Arthur called. Four … Five … Six…
Seven…
They rounded the corner to Archangel Street as the eighth and last chime sounded.
A crowd gathered before number four. The ground rumbled. Everyone gasped.
The house was doing something utterly extraordinary – the front seemed to be folding inward, revealing great pistons and cogs, whirring and crunching. Then the edges of the house joined at the front – the door had entirely disappeared inside. Shutters opened beside the windows and small propellers sprouted from the house, unfolding and turning.
With the scrape of metal, and a sound like a great cog clunking and grinding, the roof lifted backwards, folding in a huge concertina.
As it peeled back, Arthur could see Harriet Culpepper close to the front above, standing by a great wheel. Her short hair waved in the wind; she wore flying goggles and a white scarf billowed beside her. Welby was close by – pointing and ordering the others who had gathered on the roof. Felicity Wiggety was there; her cheeks red and giant spoon in hand, waving at the crowds below.
The cannon sounded at the Geographical Society, signifying the start of the challenge.
“Wait!” Arthur called desperately, but his voice was drowned by the further rumble of engines from deep inside the house. As the previous roof disappeared over the back, a great cloak of white fabric expanded above into an enormous balloon. Ropes were being pulled and tied and extended and heaved. Arthur watched, his mouth wide, utterly amazed at what he was seeing, but his heart pumped with panic.
There was a great tearing sound and the crowd took several steps back as the house lifted and ripped clean away from the ground.
Then came a shout which made his blood turn to ice.
“There they are! Stop them!”
Arthur looked over his shoulder to see Mrs Beggins pointing, doubled up. Out of breath, she had collapsed to her knees, but Mr Beggins was heading straight towards them.
Arthur and Maudie pushed on into the crowd.
The commotion hadn’t gone unnoticed above. Felicity leant over the side shaking her arm. “Arthur? Maudie? Bless my soul, it is you!”
Mr Beggins grabbed Arthur’s left arm and twisted it behind his back. “Now where do you think you’re escaping to, boy.” Maudie lunged, but he was too quick and grabbed her around the neck.
“Let go of her!” Arthur shouted.
Then Parthena dived from the sky, claws bared for Mr Beggins. She grabbed his hair. He let out a yelp, but managed to hold on tight to Arthur and Maudie, who were still panting from the run. Parthena flew upward again.
The house rose higher as the balloon above grew ever bigger. Clunks and motors sounded as more sections of the house curved and changed, slotting into place. Number four Archangel Street was unlike any other house because the rickety patchwork building had hidden a great secret: it was also the most extraordinary flying ship.
Finally, a small section of wood above creaked and revolved. It revealed a shining bronze plate which read: THE AURORA.
As the ship rose, Arthur’s stomach sank further to his feet. Mr Beggins’s hot breath was in his ear, his left arm pulled painfully against his back. Above, Felicity waved her chubby arms and Harriet Culpepper was now beside her, frowning, while Felicity pointed furiously at Arthur and Maudie. Harriet shook her head and said something to Felicity, then turned and disappeared. Arthur’s heart stopped – it was too late. They’d missed their chance with Harriet.
“You didn’t think you were going with them, did you? You’re a nobody. Who else in Lontown would take in a good-for-nothing, broken boy like you. I paid good sovereigns,” Mr Beggins sneered into his ear.
“Sovereigns that we’ve earned back many times over,” Maudie shouted.
Then, a flash of silver came from above. The people standing either side of Arthur stepped aside, but Mr Beggins was too busy trying to keep hold of the Brightstorms to notice. Felicity’s great spoon spun through the air and hit him square on the forehead. His grip lost power, and he fell to the ground with a great thud.
“You’ve got to be the foulest, kid-crunching, spindly worm I ever set eyes on, picking on innocent children.” Felicity Wiggety blew a great raspberry.
Maudie gasped for breath and rubbed her neck.
“Are you all right?” Arthur said.
She nodded. “Of course, are you?”
“Never better.”
Felicity cheered and beckoned them to hurry. The ship hovered a good two metres from the ground now and started to rise.
Harriet Culpepper appeared once more beside Felicity, but this time she held a rope. Her eyes met Arthur’s. “You can do it!” she called, then hurled the rope into the air – it fell just short of the ground. Arthur felt every eye in the square on them.
“Jump!” Felicity shouted.
Maudie jumped first and scurried up the rope to make room. Arthur ran toward the rope as it rose along with the ship.
“Come on!” Maudie cried.
With an almighty leap he propelled himself up and grabbed the rope with his left arm. Within seconds his muscles burned. He twisted his wrist and wound the rope around.
“Don’t you dare let go, Arty,” Maudie yelled from above, but there was little he could do, as he couldn’t clamp his iron hand on to the rope without the other hand moving his iron fingers. He would have to hold on, or it would all be over. Gasps came from the crowd as the ship rose. When he glanced down, Mrs Beggins was there, jumping for his foot, grabbing it. With every bit of energy he could gather, Arthur kicked out of her grasp and she fell backwards. Arthur slipped down, only just managing to keep a hold. A second rope fell down alongside him as the ship ascended at an alarming rate. His heart plummeted to his boots as he rose up and up.
“Don’t look down!” Felicity shouted.
“Hold on,” called an approaching voice, strong and commanding – Harriet Culpepper was climbing down to them on the second rope. “Keep going up, Maudie – I’ll help Arthur.”
Every muscle in Arthur’s left hand and arm burned furiously, and the straps of his iron arm dug into his shoulder, pulling at him.
Harriet shinnied down beside him. “Can you swing your legs and wrap them around my back? We’ll go up together.”
“I can’t clamp my iron hand on the rope without using my other hand. I can help pull with one arm if you can take my weight?”
“Don’t worry about that – the crew will help us. Swing over on three, squeeze tight, let go of the rope and grab my shoulders. One… two…”
“You can do it, Arty,” Maudie shouted.
Arthur swung his legs towards Harriet. For a dizzying moment, he looked at the crowd and his weight dragged him back. They gasped and screamed, and Parthena dipped and whirled around him, unable to assist. Then he released the rope and threw his arm around Harriet, trying his best not to strangle her.
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Good, now hold on tight. Pull us up,” she called.
When they were level, Maudie began climbing a
longside them.
At the top the crew hauled them all over the edge. Arthur and Maudie collapsed to their knees on the deck, gasping for breath. Then they looked at each other and laughed.
“Whoa, when Mrs Beggins jumped for you!”
“I know! Did you see?”
“And then you went back and—”
“I nearly fell!”
“You held on!”
“You were a natural!”
“And Miss Culpepper!” they finished together, looking up as Harriet climbed over the side and jumped to standing, as though she’d simply been for a stroll around the garden.
“That’s one strong arm you’ve got there.” Harriet adjusted her scarf. “I take it you both accept my offer of employment?”
The twins nodded and grinned.
“Then welcome aboard the Aurora.” She put her hands to her hips. “But I should be clear that lateness will not be tolerated.”
“Sorry,” Arthur said.
“Captain Culpepper,” Maudie finished.
“Captain Culpepper was my father. I built my ship with a different philosophy in mind: we are all in this together, and we’ll have to take on different roles throughout this journey, so titles have no place here. It’s the strength of our ideas that will give us authority, not a title we bear. So please, call me Harriet.”
Parthena screeched and Arthur extended his arm. She landed gracefully, then butted her head into his cheek.
“And you’re welcome along too, although I’m not sure Queenie will be pleased,” Harriet said.
A shout of “Watch out!” came from below, followed by the flash of silver and a clang as the spoon clattered across the deck.
“It’s me lucky spoon!” Felicity raced to the edge and looked down. “Thank you, people of Lontown!”
The metal spoon nearly came to a stop a few inches from Arthur’s iron arm, then changed direction, gliding over and sticking against the metal. He pushed himself up and lifted his arm and the spoon towards Felicity.
“How in Lontown are you doing that?” Felicity said.
“It’s magnetized,” Maudie said proudly.
“Bless my bunions, you clever thing!” She laughed.
“But I hate to tell you, it means your spoon must not be silver after all,” Maudie said.