Furnaces of Forge (The Land's Tale)

by Alan Skinner

  This was not going the way Bligh thought it would. He assumed they would sit and discuss the situation politely, in a civilised way, over coffee. He found his patience with Achillia was coming to an end.

  ‘Very well, I will be blunt. The Myrmidots have acted irresponsibly. They have disrupted the Land, frightened the animals, put both Beadledom and Muddlemarsh in danger, not to mention themselves, and have conspired with those who wish us harm!’

  ‘Is that so?’ said Achillia dully. She seemed to have no more interest in Bligh’s words than if he had just told her he had found a wart on his finger. ‘And what precisely have we done to have caused all this?’

  Her indifference was the last straw for Bligh. ‘You have brought the blue fire into the Land!’ he thundered.

  ‘Oh, that,’ said Achillia. ‘I thought it would come up. Beatrice, would you ask Leonardo to join us? He should still be in his office. I’ve just been with him.’

  Beatrice didn’t even blink. She just left the room.

  ‘Leonardo is the Chief Engineer of Forge, which is to say that he is the Chief Engineer of all of Myrmidia. I would like him to be here when we discuss your grievances, Bligh,’ Achillia said.

  Not a word was spoken while they waited. Achillia picked up a pen and got on with some paperwork; Bligh arranged his face into the most disapproving expression he could; and Grunge studied the Lord Mayor.

  The more Grunge studied Achillia, the more he was convinced that something was wrong. She pretended to write, but he noticed that she merely scribbled a few words and then crossed them out. She fidgeted, tapping her fingers on the desk or patting her coiled hair. She bit her bottom lip. Achillia was not the same calm, composed and courteous person she had been.

  Beatrice returned. She ushered in Forge’s Chief Engineer, then disappeared into her office. Leonardo glanced around for a seat, tutting irritably. When Beatrice came back with a chair, she set it down it on Achillia’s left and then took her place on the Lord Mayor’s right.

  ‘Thank you, Beatrice,’ said Leonardo, taking his chair. ‘I’m very busy, Achillia. What can I do for you?’

  ‘We’re all busy, Leonardo,’ Achillia snapped. ‘I thought you should hear this.’

  ‘Hear what?’ Leonardo asked.

  ‘This,’ said Achillia, waving in the direction of Bligh, ‘is a delegation from Beadledom and Muddlemarsh. They have several complaints to make.’

  ‘Complaints?’ asked Leonardo. His eyes narrowed. ‘About what?’

  ‘About whom,’ Achillia corrected him. ‘About us. About Myrmidia.’

  ‘Well, we should hear these complaints. There must be a lot of them to require all these people to make them,’ he replied.

  ‘They claim that we Myrmidots have acted irresponsibly,’ said Achillia sharply. ‘They claim that we have disrupted the Land and frightened the animals. They claim that we have put both Beadledom and Muddlemarsh in danger, that we have put ourselves in danger. They claim that we have conspired with those who wish to harm us.’

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Leonardo. ‘That’s a great many claims – I would say allegations – and all of them serious. Serious claims must be given serious consideration.’ He looked at Bligh. ‘I rarely leave Forge these days, but when I was much younger I often visited Home or Beadleburg. I even travelled as far as Mint. And we have met before, I believe. You are Bligh, Beadleburg’s High Councillor?’

  Bligh relaxed. He found Leonardo refreshing after Achillia’s rudeness. True, Leonardo spoke a little sharply, but he had excellent manners. The Beadle offered a slight nod of his head. ‘I am. I am flattered you remember.’

  ‘How could I not remember someone so distinguished?’ said Leonardo.

  Bligh gave another nod of his head, and a satisfied smile.

  ‘Yes, yes, let’s get on with it,’ Achillia snapped. She looked at the delegation and said, ‘Now, do I understand it correctly that all of our misdeeds are due to one single action?’

  ‘Yes, Achillia,’ Bligh replied. ‘Just one thing. One terrible thing. You brought the blue fire into the Land.’

  Achillia pointed to Patch. ‘I explained that to him!’ she said. ‘Perhaps if you hadn’t sent a Muddle – or at least one with an ounce of sense! – to ask important questions, you’d have had the answer you needed!’

  Patch lowered his head contritely. ‘I told ’em exactly what you said, word fer word-like. I’m sorry if yer think that Japes ’n’ me didn’t say it right.’

  Achillia lowered her head and rubbed her temples. When she spoke again, she had recovered her composure.

  ‘Bligh, I understand why bringing the blue fire to Forge would cause you concern. I can see how it looks to you, after what Beadledom suffered. We did bring the fire into the Land. But we did so only after thinking about it very carefully. I took advice from wise heads before letting it happen. And there were reasons I cannot fully explain right now. That’s why I asked Leonardo to join us. He has been one of the strongest supporters of bringing the blue fire to the Land and he can tell you himself that we did not make that decision lightly.’

  Leonardo leaned forward in his chair towards Bligh. His voice was coaxing and reassuring, like a doctor trying to make a small child take its medicine.

  ‘When we heard of the blue fire, we were like you: afraid of it. It obviously had great power and properties which were a mystery to us. A few of us talked about it and some wondered whether we should try to understand its power and remove those mysteries. Most were against it; none more so than your friend Copper. And since he had seen it with his own eyes, and what it could do, most listened to him.

  ‘But many things, put to the wrong use, cause harm – things that can also produce great good. And we would never know what good the blue fire could bring.

  ‘Achillia was against bringing it here at first. But a Myrmidot’s quest for new and better things is never satisfied. And when two young apprentices – smart but with no commonsense at all – presented an opportunity, it was taken. Even Beatrice, who had been as opposed to the idea as Copper, did not stand in the way.

  ‘So far, we have not regretted that decision. It burns in our furnaces, contained and safe. And, in time, we will come to know the other uses for the blue fire.’

  Leonardo leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his stomach. He waited.

  What the engineer had said made sense to the Beadles. They began to think that maybe they had been a bit hasty. Well, maybe not all of them.

  ‘A thing may have many uses but only one purpose,’ said Megan quietly. Beatrice looked at her sharply.

  ‘How can you say you don’t regret bringing it here after what it has done?’ asked Brian.

  ‘Let’s look at each of those things you accuse us of, shall we?’ said Achillia. ‘First, you say that we have acted irresponsibly. I think Leonardo has just explained that we did not do this lightly. We considered it very carefully. Second, you claim that we have disrupted the Land. How have we done so? Your lives haven’t changed. Our lives have only changed for the better. We produce more without having to take other things from the Land to power our factories. Far from disrupting the Land, we have stopped disrupting it.

  ‘Then you claim that we have frightened the animals. I admit that something has disturbed them and I admit that something has made them leave Myrmidia. They are just animals, after all. Like children, they are frightened by what they don’t understand. It is likely they are just spooked by the blue light from the factories. They will get used to it.’

  Leonardo took up the argument.

  ‘Most serious of all,’ he said, ‘you claim that we have put Beadledom, Muddlemarsh and Myrmidia in danger. How? Bligh, what signs of danger are there in Beadledom? Is the fire in the furnaces threatening your homes? Before the Muddles came to you and alarmed you, wasn’t life normal for you? And how are we Myrmidots in danger? Nothing has changed for us. Life goes on as normal.’

  ‘Excuse me,’ said Brian, ‘but surely all the an
imals leaving isn’t normal. And, if you don’t mind me saying so, no one we have met since being in Forge seems to be their usual self.’

  ‘Would you care to explain that, Brian?’ said Achillia archly.

  It is not easy to tell someone that they are not being very nice – at least not for a young Factotum. ‘Well, everyone seems so . . . so . . . unpleasant,’ he replied.

  Achillia was about to retort when Leonardo jumped in hastily. ‘I apologise if we have seemed unpleasant. People are just worried about their pets, I imagine.’

  Achillia glared at Brian, then turned her attention to Bligh.

  ‘There is one other allegation: that we have conspired with those who wish to harm us. I take it you are talking about Hazlitt and Edith, who helped Touch and Cres retrieve the stone?’

  ‘Well, we don’t mean conspire,’ Bligh said apologetically.

  Achillia went on the attack. ‘Don’t you? That’s the word you used, Bligh. Do you believe that we have been plotting against the Beadles and the Muddles?’

  ‘Of course not, Achillia. I apologise. I was a bit upset,’ Bligh said defensively.

  Grunge decided Bligh could use a little help. ‘Of course we don’t think the Myrmidots would deliberately hurt us,’ he added. ‘But after what those two did to Kevin and Crimson, it’s pretty clear that they only helped your apprentices because it suited them.’

  ‘Thank you, Grunge,’ said Achillia. ‘As I explained to Patch and the fool –’

  ‘Jester. Japes is a jester-like,’ Patch interrupted.

  ‘Patch and the jester, there are other explanations for what happened to Crimson and Kevin.’

  If Achillia intended to repeat those explanations, she wasn’t given the chance. The meeting was interrupted by a loud knocking on the door. Before Achillia could say anything, the door was flung open and a wide-eyed clerk burst in.

  ‘Wh—’ began Achillia, but the clerk blurted his news.

  ‘The animals! They’ve returned!’ he announced nervously.

  Achillia glowered at the clerk. ‘So?’ she said angrily. ‘You’ve interrupted an important meeting to tell me that people have their pets back? Get out!’

  ‘B-b-but, Achillia, you don’t understand,’ stammered the clerk. ‘It’s not just the pets. It’s all of them. They’re at the factories. And I don’t think they’re very happy.’

  ≈

  Crimson, Touch and Cres had made their plans. While Touch went to get his bicycle, Cres took Crimson to the furnace room.

  When Crimson stepped inside she felt the blue fire burning within its metal prison. It took all her willpower to ignore the fire’s call and concentrate on the work to be done.

  She heard Cres gasp. ‘What’s the matter?’ she asked the young apprentice.

  Cres was looking at the furnace in horror. ‘The furnace!’ she cried. ‘It’s melting!’ Her eyes were wide with panic. ‘We checked it this morning and it wasn’t like this! You can almost see through it!’

  ‘We don’t have much time,’ Crimson said. ‘From what Quick said, the animals will be here soon. We have to be ready before they arrive – and before the blue fire burns through that furnace.’

  They set to work making the strange box they hoped would help them rid the Land of the blue fire. Crimson was cutting a piece of metal pipe when Cres cocked her head.

  ‘Listen!’ said Cres. ‘What’s all that noise up there?’

  Through the concrete roof and the soil that covered it, they could hear dull, heavy thuds, and a steady rumbling.

  ‘I think the animals are here,’ said Crimson.

  Cres looked nervously at the door. ‘Do you want me to have a look?’

  ‘Better not,’ Crimson replied. ‘We don’t want anyone to see you and try to stop us.’

  ‘OK,’ said Cres, ‘but it sounds like we’ve got the whole of Forge on top of us.’

  Chapter 14

  A Gathering

  By the bells!’ said Patch. ‘That’s the pelican what tried to eat my hat.’

  The envoys of Muddlemarsh and Beadledom had accom-panied Achillia, Beatrice and Leonardo to the outskirts of Forge. They were standing on the grassy mound that roofed Forge’s huge furnace, its circular brick chimney issuing a light, steady stream of blue smoke. Behind them and to their left were the factories of Forge, each glowing blue, even in the daylight. The Salvation River rushed past to their right; a hundred paces ahead of them, covering every centimetre of an open field, the animals of Myrmidia were gathering.

  Grunge looked out over the crowd of Myrmidots assembled on the land in front of him. On hearing the news of the animals’ return they came from the factories, shops and houses to see for themselves. Their number grew by the minute until they formed a wide semicircle, stretching from the open land to the river.

  Rumours blazed through the town. Some claimed the animals were running amok through Myrmidia and that Forge was in danger; others professed to know for sure that the animals would slowly drift back to the forests, farms and homes. And still others whispered that they had reliable information that the animals had returned because they’d been forced to leave Muddlemarsh by the Muddles. The Muddles, they said, had power over animals and had used that power to send the animals against Myrmidia.

  There was a nervous air about the crowd. Most Myrmidots talked quietly, wondering what the animals would do next. Some called to their pets they spotted among the animals milling on the field. Some cast dark looks at the Muddles and muttered under their breath.

  So far, the animals had ignored the people of Myrmidia. They were strangely silent, except when someone approached them. Then they set up a raucous cry of protest until that person retreated back to the crowd.

  ‘The clerk was right,’ said Grunge. ‘They don’t look happy.’

  ‘What are they waiting for?’ asked Reach.

  ‘I think they’re waiting for stragglers,’ Brian said. ‘See, there’s a family of pigs just joining. Look how they make room for them.’

  A young Myrmidot, no more than eight or nine, ran from the crowd towards the animals.

  ‘Puff!’ she cried. ‘Here, Puff!’

  A small fluffy dog in the mass of animals turned to look at the young girl. It took a step towards her, and then stopped. Then it scooted round and disappeared into the thick of the pack.

  Tears ran down the child’s face. ‘Puff!’ she called. ‘Come here, Puff!’

  Beatrice heard the little girl’s cry. She walked to the child and took her hand. ‘Come on, Bess. Puff’s not ready to come home just yet. But she will, when she wants to.’

  ‘She’ll get hurt!’ cried Bess. ‘She’s only little!’ The girl looked at Beatrice, anguish in her face. ‘Doesn’t she like me any more?’

  Beatrice walked her back towards the crowd. As they passed the delegation on the mound, Bess looked and saw the Muddles.

  ‘Please,’ Bess said to them, ‘tell Puff to come home. Tell her she can come home now. Please.’

  Reach went to the child and knelt next to her.

  ‘We can’t. I’m sorry, but Puff doesn’t understand us. And we don’t understand Puff.’

  ‘You can too!’ shouted Bess. ‘You just don’t want to! Everyone says you can talk to animals! My friend says you’re the ones that told them to run away in the first place!’

  Bess pulled her hand from Beatrice’s and ran crying into the crowd. Shocked at the child’s anger and her accusation, Reach didn’t know what to do. She stared after Bess, unable to speak.

  ‘I’m sorry, Reach,’ whispered Beatrice. ‘She’s only eight.’

  ‘How could you do that to a child?’ yelled a voice from the crowd.

  ‘Tell the dog to go home! You should be ashamed of yourselves!’ cried another Myrmidot.

  Others joined in, scolding Reach and the other Muddles. They were only a few, but they called loudly and harshly, letting all the other Myrmidots hear.

  Reach would have stayed where she was amid the jeers and scorn, but Gr
unge stepped forward, put his arm round the ballerina’s shoulder and led her back to her friends. Beatrice listened to the townsfolk and wondered whether what had been done could ever be undone.

  Reach was close to tears. ‘It’s not our fault, Grunge. Why are they blaming us?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ Grunge admitted.

  A murmuring rose and swelled among the Myrmidots. ‘They’re moving!’ cried one. A ripple of movement flowed across the horde of beasts on the field. A hawk screeched and soared high above the town, circling the animals as if to spur them on, as they began to march on the factories of Forge.

  The Myrmidots took fright before the advancing herd. Most of them retreated towards the factories, leaving Achillia, her companions and the delegation from Muddlemarsh and Beadledom standing alone on the grassy dome.

  Not all were cowed by the animals, though. One Myrmidot broke from the ranks of the retreating crowd. She ran past the group on the mound and directly towards the approaching herd. Without a trace of fear, she grabbed the hem of her apron and flapped it at the animals.

  ‘Shoo!’ she cried. ‘Go on, now! Shoo! Go away!’

  A neighbour tried to pull her back, but she was having none of that. She continued to flap her apron and yell at the animals. Then another Myrmidot joined her, waving a stick and shouting. Yet another joined them, and another, and another, until a score of Myrmidots stood directly in the path of the animals, brandishing aprons, hats, sticks and brooms. Piper, a young engineer not long out of his apprenticeship, dashed into a factory and returned holding a hammer with a large, heavy head and a long, stout handle. He ran to the front of the mob, raised the hammer over his head and rushed at a lowing cow.

  ‘No!’ cried Achillia in horror. ‘Stop!’

  Piper fixed his eyes on the cow’s head. He swung the hammer back – and suddenly Beatrice was behind him. Effortlessly, she plucked the heavy hammer from his hand. Piper wheeled furiously about to face her.