Winging It

by A. A. Albright

  I was really tempted to buy some mulled wine to calm my nerves, but I went for hot chocolate instead. And some roasted chestnuts. And a small bucket of popcorn. Hey, I would need all my concentration to stay on my broom, and as you know by now – where I’m concerned, calories equal concentration.

  Gabriel sat close to me, pointing out the competitors. I recognised one or two of them from Amelia’s flying lessons at the club. Amelia herself was standing by the starting line, giving her students last-minute advice.

  The first climb was over quickly. A twelve-year-old witch called Michael Mahony won, and as Mandy Parker handed him his trophy, he looked like he might just faint. Mandy looked a little pale herself, and as soon as the prizes were handed out, she ran off stage. Sven was close behind her.

  I finished up what was left of my popcorn and got up from my seat, about to go and warm up, when an announcement came over the PA system.

  ‘Adult Beginners, your competition has been delayed. Repeat – Adult Beginners, your competition has been delayed.’

  A man I didn’t recognise stood up on the stage, cleared his throat and tapped the microphone. ‘Terribly sorry. But Sven the Speedster and Mandy Parker are feeling a tad unwell. Your competition will be delayed just a little bit. Not to worry, though. We have yet another display from the Fancy Flyers to pass the time.’

  Much as I enjoyed watching the aerial acrobatics, I felt that same odd sense of foreboding once again. My witchy senses were tingling, and I almost didn’t want the race to begin.

  Mandy had looked a little unwell, it was true. But as she never tired of telling me, she was an excellent actress. If I were a paranoid sort of person, I might think she had convinced Sven to help her delay things, just to annoy me. Little did she know, I was almost as relieved as I was annoyed.

  A half an hour passed. And then another. We saw three more displays from the Fancy Flyers. Even they were beginning to look bored. The Call of the Wild took to the stage, next. I watched them half-heartedly, humming along to their track, ‘The Witch Who Won my Heart.’ It was a new one, and I liked it. And it was kind of hilarious to watch Callum Cool make moon-eyes at Melissa while she did her best not to make moon-eyes at Mack McAdams.

  Too nervous to just sit there, I made my way to the warm-up area, wishing I could calm my nerves. I knew I would race, anyway. My competitive (and stubborn) streak hadn’t gone anywhere.

  By the time Sven and Mandy arrived on stage, twilight had well and truly arrived. I thought that the race might be postponed because of the poor light, but Mandy (seeming far less jaunty than usual) said, ‘Let’s get started everyone. As they say the show – or the race in this case – must go on!’

  I swung my leg over, flew to the starting line, and thought of all of the potions I should have taken to calm my nerves. Oh well, too late now. Honestly, I had no idea why we had to wait for Mandy and Sven before we could go ahead with the competition. All Mandy did was cut the ribbon, while Sven shot the starting pistol. Anyone could have done the same.

  As the pistol fired, I took off. Already I could feel just how severely the temperature had dipped. The light was growing dimmer, too. The safety crew up above shone Solas spells down from their brooms, but the small balls of light looked eerie in the gloaming, more like will-o’-the-wisps than anything.

  To my surprise, I was just behind the leader of the pack. I could hear the enthusiastic cries of my coven from back at the starting line, and I pushed myself harder and harder. Just when I thought I might break out to the front, the coldest, fiercest wind I had ever felt arrived, and whipped us all off course.

  I did my best to hang on, but I wasn’t sure how long I could manage. All my hours of acclimatisation meant nothing. This wind was coming from behind, pushing us on far faster than we would like, turning some racers upside down, knocking others off their brooms altogether. I could see the dim lights flickering above us, as the Whizzers desperately tried to get to us. If even they were finding it difficult, what chance did we have?

  This wind was like nothing I’d known before. It felt as if a great hand had picked me up and was hurling and spinning me through the air. Then I saw what I really wished I weren’t seeing: the finishing point for the Adult Beginners, just a few feet shy of Chaos Chasm. I was whooshed past the finishing line, and sent right to the centre of the chasm. And then, all of a sudden, the strange wind ceased.

  The cessation of the wind might have been a relief, in any other circumstances. Unfortunately, I was now smack bang in the middle of Chaos Chasm, and the Chaos Field was so much stronger than I could have imagined. Perhaps if I weren’t already so disorientated, after being knocked about by the wind, I might have a chance of flying myself out of there. As it was, I wasn’t sure I had the strength to get through the magical interference.

  My broom began to drop, and my body along with it. I clutched desperately at the air, knowing I shouldn’t look down, but unable to stop myself. Where was the bottom? Was there even a bottom? I could see so many hard, icy shelves on all sides. If I could veer towards one of them, it’d still be a hard fall, but not as bad as falling straight to the bottom. Right?

  As I looked around, trying to direct myself, my breath caught in my throat. About a hundred feet down, I could have sworn I saw a streak of zig-zagging light, fast and forked, looking like a bolt of lightning. I gaped at the space below me, and a brightly lit dome suddenly appeared, sitting on top of an ice shelf about a hundred feet down. I blinked, and then it was gone.

  I tried to fly towards the ice shelf, but just as I tipped the shaft of my broom downwards, the world went black.

  ≈

  I felt something wet on my face. As I snapped my eyelids open, the face of an enormous dog was staring down at me.

  ‘Wolfie?’ I said groggily.

  He gave me another huge lick, and then said, ‘Max! Max, she’s awake!’

  As I sat up in bed, I saw Max fly into the room, with Gabriel and my mother close behind. ‘I told you she’d wake up the second we left the room,’ Max grumbled.

  Wolfie licked me a few more times, and Dizzy and Kitty settled onto my chest, while Gabriel and my mother took the seats closest to the bed and Max stood behind them. A quick look around told me that I was not at home in Westerly Crescent. I was still in my room in Snowy Hollow.

  ‘Oh, thank the stars,’ said Gabriel. ‘We thought you’d never wake up.’

  I tried to talk, but realised my mouth felt dry.

  ‘Here.’ My mother passed me a glass of orange juice. ‘How are you feeling?’

  I slowly sipped the juice, eventually feeling lubricated enough to say, ‘I ... I saw lights.’

  ‘Stars, more like,’ my mother replied. ‘And no wonder, with that bang to your head. You were knocked right off your broom.’

  My hand went to my head. I felt a bump the size of an egg on top. ‘But then ... how ...’

  ‘Gabriel,’ said my mother, as his face went puce. ‘The second that wind whipped up, he was on his broom. He managed to grab your hand just as your broom got away from you. Unfortunately, it seemed like you’d already smashed off one of the chasm walls before then, and knocked yourself out in the process.’

  I looked at him. ‘You saved me? But ... how? The magical interference was so strong.’

  He shrugged. ‘I’ve flown over Chaos Chasm hundreds of times. I’m used to it.’

  ‘Well, thank you. So much.’ I looked behind him, to where Max was shuffling from foot to foot. ‘I can’t believe you came all this way, Max. It’s so good to see you.’

  ‘You silly sod,’ he said, moving to the bed and ruffling my hair. ‘Where else would I be after the tumble you took? I’m just glad you’re all right, Wanda. That was a nasty spell.’

  ‘Spell?’ I looked more carefully at them all. ‘What do you mean? What spell?’

  My mother cleared her throat. ‘Someone sabotaged your race, Wanda. The winds here can get bad, but that was something else altogether. The air has been scanned for ma
gical traces, and there was an almighty surge at the time the wind went wild. It was a spell, without a doubt. Three of the other competitors have broken limbs. One of them is still unconscious.’ She looked at Gabriel. Clearly, there was something they weren’t telling me.

  ‘No one is dead, though. Right?’

  ‘Not so far.’ Gabriel shook his head. ‘But ... Justine Plimpton arrived just before your competition, Wanda. We have no proof yet, but ...’

  ‘No.’ I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince. ‘I mean, she hates me, sure. And seeing as she owns the company where four murder victims worked, then she’s probably afraid of what we’re investigating here. But to endanger innocent people just to get to me? That’s ...’

  ‘That’s Justine,’ said my mother, sadly. ‘I know all too well just how far that woman will go to get what she wants. And right now, she wants you out of the way. It’s been confirmed that Mandy and Sven both had food-poisoning before your race. We believe the Minister might have been behind it, to give her enough time to set up her spell.’

  I swallowed. Some people say that it’s better to be hated than ignored? Maybe – as long as the people who hate you aren’t incredibly powerful witches. But despite the fact that I was all the wrong kinds of popular, there was something more urgent niggling at my brain. ‘Wait ... I did see lights. The glitch, Mam! I saw the glitch! I think I found Facility B. We need to get to Chaos Chasm.’

  ‘Chaos Chasm?’ My mother’s eyes lit up. ‘You think Facility B is in Chaos Chasm?’

  ‘Definitely. I mean, there’s no property registered there, and I saw it for a split second before it disappeared. Some sort of glass dome type of thing, on a ledge really far down. We should be able to get there with wizard brooms.’

  ‘We will,’ said my mother excitedly. ‘I only wish we didn’t have to wait so long.’

  ‘So long?’ I gasped as I drained the last of my juice. ‘Why do we have to wait? Why can’t we just go there now?’

  ‘Because,’ said Max. ‘The main race is just about to begin.’

  I stared from Max to Gabriel. ‘The main race? The race you’re supposed to be in?’

  Gabriel hung his head. ‘I wasn’t going to leave your side just to be in some stupid race, now was I?’

  I pulled him to me, and for once I didn’t care if my mother was in the room or not. I planted an enormous kiss right on his lips. The only reason I pulled back was that I remembered: if I’d been unconscious for almost twenty-four hours, then my breath probably didn’t smell minty fresh. ‘Well, go on,’ I said, pushing him away from me as I climbed out of the bed. ‘Get to your race. And just so you know.’ I leaned in closer again, bringing my lips to his ear. ‘There’ll be a much better kiss than that one when you’re finished.’

  18. Race to the Bottom

  After Gabriel left, it took me a little longer than I would have liked to get ready. Turns out, enormous bumps on the head have a tendency to make me slightly dizzy. Melissa and Christine returned from their latest shift at the Rise while I was struggling to get my sweater over my head. It took their efforts, combined with my mother’s and Max’s (and some commentary from Wolfie and the familiars on the sidelines) to get me fully dressed.

  We took another flying sleigh to the spectator area. The place was packed, but Jasper and Callum waved us over to their private box. They had hot cider with cinnamon, and yummy little pastries and chestnuts too. I instantly began to eat, because it would have been rude to offend our hosts.

  I had been worried that my comical struggles to dress myself would make everyone miss the beginning, but I needn’t have been concerned. Although we got there a few minutes late, the competitors hadn’t been told to line up, and the Fancy Flyers were performing yet again.

  At first I feared that Mandy Parker and Sven had been hit with another dose of food poisoning, but I soon saw them. Mandy was standing off to the side of the stage, with her hands on her hips and her nose just as perky as ever. She looked impatient, to say the least, and seemed to be arguing with Sven – possibly because they were both wearing identical black skinny jeans.

  The Fancy Flyers finished up, and after a frustrated squeal that we all heard, Sven and Mandy made their way to the microphone. I’d like to be able to tell you it was an elegant and grown-up affair; in reality, there was only one microphone, and two attention-hungry hosts.

  Sven pipped Mandy to the post, and breathlessly began to speak. His voice was a little higher than usual (once again, I think the skinny jeans might have been to blame). ‘There’s another little bit of a delay today, folks,’ he said with a slight squeak. ‘But don’t worry. The Fancy Flyers have told us they’ll be happy to do a third performance. On an, ahem, unrelated side-note ... is anyone interested in becoming a Whizzer and joining our famous safety crew for the race?’

  There was a collective gasp. Mandy rolled her eyes and stepped forward, prising the mike from Sven’s hands. ‘We all know about the terrible weather conditions that besieged yesterday afternoon’s competition. During the rescue, many of our Whizzers were injured. We had just enough to cover this morning’s competition, but we can hardly ask the same exhausted people to go out again right now. If we have any capable flyers in the audience, you will be provided with the very latest wizard brooms, keeping you safe from the weather, and from any magical fluctuations, so that you can concentrate on our brave competitors. Any takers?’

  I instantly stood up. Less than a second later, my mother pulled me back down. ‘You just woke up half an hour ago, Wanda. You’re not volunteering.’

  ‘But–’

  ‘I know exactly what you want to do. You want to fly back over Chaos Chasm again. It can wait, Wanda. We’ll go out as soon as the race is over, I promise.’

  ‘She’s right,’ Christine said softly. ‘You go out there right now, and whoever tried to hurt you yesterday might just make another attempt. You’re better off waiting, so we can all go out together.’

  I huffed and puffed a bit, but they had a point. I was hardly going to get the chance to investigate with the race going on. If I did go down into the chasm, the cameras might catch me doing so. ‘Fine, then,’ I said reluctantly. ‘But I can’t wait until it’s dark. I say we go out the second this whole dealio settles down.’

  My mother gave me a smile. ‘Well, not quite after. You did make an appointment to smooch Gabriel, if I heard things correctly.’

  Just when I thought I couldn’t get any redder, Melissa stood up and raised her hand. ‘I’d like to volunteer,’ she said, rushing towards the stage. I looked over at Callum, who let out a heartbroken sigh – for all of about five seconds. As soon as Melissa was out of sight, he turned around in his seat and said, ‘Hey, darling,’ to a blonde woman who was sitting nearby. ‘Like to come and sit in our private box?’

  Finally, there were enough volunteers, and Mandy took her place in front of the ribbon, while Sven palmed the pistol.

  Mandy glowered at his jeans for a moment before she said, ‘On your brooms. Get set!’ and cut the ribbon.

  Sven wriggled uncomfortably, then fired his starting pistol while Mandy shouted, ‘Go!’

  The racers took off instantly, and a leap of excitement rose in my belly. Gabriel, Amelia and Will all went out in front straight away, the three of them vying for the lead. It was neck and neck between all three. At first, Will looked like he might be pulling out ahead. Mandy certainly thought so, if her screams from the stage were anything to go by.

  Just as his broom nudged out in front, Amelia sped up and took the lead. The camera zoomed in on Gabriel’s face, taut with concentration as he lowered his head down and urged his broom faster.

  The rest of the competitors may as well not have existed, they were so far back. But the real test would come at Chaos Chasm, and as they drew nearer, I found myself growing truly nervous. They were excellent flyers, all of them – otherwise they wouldn’t be taking part in the most difficult broom race in the world. But I had felt the interference at th
e chasm, and I worried for every one of them. To my utter irritation, I even worried for Will.

  I should have left him out of my worries, though, because as the three of them flew across the gap, he was having the least problems of all. Both Gabriel’s and Amelia’s brooms wavered, while Will flew straight and steady. Within a few seconds, though, Gabriel had righted himself and crossed the gap, with Will just a short distance ahead.

  It was only when I saw Will look back that I realised Amelia’s problems were bigger than a wavering broom. She was looking down in panic at the shaft of her vehicle, as it began to split in two. Will doubled back, returning to the chasm. By then, Gabriel had pulled so far ahead that he hadn’t even noticed what was happening.

  He wasn’t the only one who noticed nothing. Despite Amelia’s screams, I saw at least two Whizzers fly over her head, not even giving her a second glance. That same unease I’d been feeling for some time grew stronger than ever.

  I stood up, not waiting for my mother to argue, and snapped my fingers. A moment later I was back in the chalet, throwing my leg over my wizard broom and setting it to hyper-speed.

  ≈

  I reached the chasm in a few seconds. By then, Amelia was freefalling to the bottom, with Will struggling to follow. I looked around, but the Whizzers still seemed oblivious to Amelia’s problems. I even called out to one, but he just flew on, as though I had said nothing at all. My panic began to increase, and I followed Will down into Chaos Chasm, and right into the Chaos Field.

  On my wizard broom, it was a totally different experience. I could feel some odd lurches in my own body, followed by a dullness that told me my power was being affected. But my broom didn’t care how much power I had – it had enough power of its own. I caught up with Will quickly. This deep down into the Chaos Field, the magical interference finally seemed to be affecting him.

  ‘Wanda!’ He pointed, panicked, at Amelia. ‘She’s going to hit the bottom in a minute. My broom isn’t fast enough in here. I’m barely hanging on myself.’