Tam thought about that. She hadn’t tried since the fall but she instinctively knew her ability was tied to this place, to the wood. It had been a gift, fleeting in nature, a temporary miracle that belonged in the past. Now the wood was dying, and the gift had returned to the earth. ‘No, it’s gone now.’
Abigail’s shoulders slumped in disappointment.
‘Did you only like me cos I could fly?’ Tam asked mischievously.
‘No, no, of course not,’ Abigail replied quickly.
Tam laughed. ‘You always were easy to tease.’
Relieved, Abigail grinned.
The shouting voice of one of the workmen drifted up from the wood as he directed a reversing lorry.
Tam took a breath, finding the strength to tell Abigail of her plans. ‘I think, after college, I might try for university.’
Abigail stared at her, mocking. ‘You? A student?’
‘I’m not going to Oxford or Cambridge.’ Tam laughed. ‘But I think I can try for . . . for more than just . . . this.’ She gestured to the estate behind them.
‘I think you’ll be brilliant,’ Abigail said, her eyes moistening.
‘Maybe, maybe not. But I want to find out.’
Abigail nodded her approval before grabbing her in a hug.
Tam moaned. ‘Steady! Still hurts.’
‘Sorry.’ Abigail released her.
Tam laughed. ‘It’s OK.’ She looked back down at the wood, its deep scar growing by the hour. Sparks lit up one end of the bridge as a worker cut through its structure. ‘I think I’ve seen enough,’ she said, feeling like she was watching an animal being dissected. ‘Coming?’
Tam and Abigail turned their back on the wood and walked away, laughing and joking with each other.
Acknowledgements
This story was inspired by two things: the first is my love of the nearby fields and woodland close to my childhood home. I spent many hours there, exploring, sitting, thinking, planting the seeds of stories that would take decades to mature. The second is a British comic called Warrior, in particular a comic strip called ‘Marvelman’ (later renamed ‘Miracleman’) by Alan Moore and Garry Leach. The main character’s joy of superhuman flight fascinated me, occupying my waking – and sleeping – brain. Even now I often have flying dreams where I can skim over the landscape, high above the normality of day-to-day life.
Huge thanks to Chris Chatterton, Andy Riley, Kevin Cecil, Bryan Hitch, Jason Arnopp, Curtis Jobling, Stephen Aryan and Tommy Donbavand for their support during the writing and editing of Altitude. In particular, I must thank Barry Hutchison for continued inspiration, advice and feedback. This book would not have been possible without his input.
My editor Sue Cook deserves a rapturous round of applause for polishing, correcting, questioning and challenging me to make Altitude as good as possible.
A big thank you to my daughter Megan for her help with the cover, and to the rest of my family for their ongoing support, especially my daughter Sarah and my wife Diane.
Finally, thanks to you, the reader. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading my book. If you have, then please do leave a review on Amazon, tell a friend, tell three, tell everyone!
Niel Bushnell
June 2017
About the Author
When he was ten years old Niel Bushnell made a long list of things he hoped to achieve later in life. One of his main ambitions, lodged in between becoming an astronaut and drawing comics for a living, was to write a novel. The plan was to do this before he turned thirteen, but it has taken him a little bit longer than that.
His first novel, Sorrowline, was published in 2013 and the sequel, Timesmith, in 2014. Both books are time travel fantasy adventures set in the present day and 1940s London.
In between writing he's worked as an animator on several feature films, computer games and television shows, and eventually established his own animation studio. He still hopes that he might one day become an astronaut and set foot on Mars.
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