The Unwilling Aviator (Book 4)

by Heidi Willard

  There was an echo of her groan, and that came from their 'guest.' Crash's head swung to and fro and he shifted in his bindings. Fred and Pat whipped their heads to each other.

  "Where's the vial?" they asked at the same time. The pair searched the room and found the vial on the nightstand beside the bed. Fred popped open the cork while Pat hurried to Crash's side.

  "Hurry!" she hissed at Fred.

  Fred rushed to the chair, but he tripped over a loose rotten board and slammed face-first into the floor. The vial sailed across the room and crashed into the wall, shattering the glass and their hopes of a clean, unconscious kidnap victim.

  Crash raised his head and his bleary eyes glanced around the room. "Where am I?" he slurred.

  Pat pulled her sword from its sheath and knocked the blunt end of the blade against the back of his head. He slumped forward and didn't stir. Fred glanced at Pat with shock written across his face. "You hit him," he commented.

  Pat sheathed her sword and frowned at her handiwork. "It was necessary. Ned has already kidnapped him, and to let him go now would risk our mission. We must hope Ned has another vial of valum venom."

  "So what do we do about Ruth?" Fred wondered.

  Pat shook her head. "I don't know. It would be simple to wait until dark, but you both must be at the practice flights. Without Ned we don't have a competent castor-"

  "Hey!" Fred protested.

  "-or at least one capable of transporting her away from the garden," Pat amended. She sighed and sat back down on the bed. "If only she would have touched the amulet," she murmured.

  Fred's eyes widened when he was struck with a thought. "What if she touched the amulet without touching the amulet?" he suggested.

  Pat raised her head and glared at him. "I swore I knocked Crash on the head and not you," she mused.

  "But what if we had something of hers, a hair or something, and that brushed up against the amulet?" he persisted. "Maybe that would release the magic-"

  "-and free her from the stone! By Phaeton, Fred, you might have something there!" Pat exclaimed. She jumped from the bed and raced out of the room. Fred followed her to the room shared by the girls and found Pat kneeling beside the bed. Her eyes scanned the blankets, and she let out an exclamation of joy and snatched at some invisible object. She held it up and showed it was a hair. "This was dropped when she was human. It appears that anything left from her human self doesn't change to stone."

  "Maybe there's still magic inside it," he pointed out.

  "Let's hope it's enough to awaken the rest of her," Pat replied. She tucked the hair safely into her pocket, but paused and frowned. "But how are we going to get inside and reach her?" She clasped her hands behind her back and paced the floor. "There must be a way of distracting them," she murmured.

  Fred's eyes widened. "We can distract them with that curse!" he spoke up.

  Pat stopped pacing and rolled her eyes. "That's just superstition. The only curse you caused them was with a lingering smell."

  A sly grin slipped onto Fred's face. "Then we'll make a better one." He rushed out of the room before Pat could get an answer from him.

  She rolled her eyes and followed him. "Boys. . ." she grumbled.

  Fred led Pat outside to where their steeds were housed near the opening to the square. At the sight of his boy Fluffy lifted his head and wagged his rear. "Come on, Fluffy we're going to need you," he told the cantankus.

  Pat came up behind him, and whipped her head between the beast and the boy. "Are you mad? What could we want with this beast?"

  Fred petted the cantankus' neck and grinned at Pat. "He's going to be the monster that invades the household," he told her.

  "With Fluffy following us we'll be sighted by the twinners and the guards," she pointed out.

  Fred stood and whipped out his staff. "Not if I hide Fluffy like Ned hid my clothes," he argued.

  Pat crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know how he did that?" she asked him.

  "Um, he knocked his staff against my head and focused on changing my clothes?" Fred suggested.

  Fluffy lay down on the ground, covered his face with his paws, and whimpered. "For once we agree on something," Pat told the poor cantankus.

  "A little more faith here," Fred scolded his pet. "I'll try to make you look like a horse, but you won't be a horse." Fred raised his arms and Pat scurried back out of the way of his magic. "Now hold still. This shouldn't hurt."

  Fluffy whined and his body quivered. Fred tapped Fluffy on the head and light misted out like Ned had done. It surrounded and engulfed his pet, but in a moment the fog lifted to reveal a cowering white stallion. Fluffy's bushy tail was tucked between his back hoofs and his front were over his face. The new horse's shining coat glistened in the sun and his mane flowed down his back. Pat's eyes widened, and Fred was no less surprised.

  "I did it. . ." he whispered. He turned to Pat and grinned. "I did it!" Fluffy lifted his head and looked at the pair. His face was fat and squashed, and his yellow eyes were too large for the head. Fluffy stuck out his long tongue and drooled.

  Pat cringed. "That is disgusting," she commented.

  Fred wrapped his arms around his magnificent, drooling steed and laughed. "Good boy, Fluffy! Good boy!"

  Fluffy tipped back his head and howled. Pat's face fell. "This won't work. We can't take a drooling, howling horse with us across the entire city."

  Fred shrugged and Fluffy dragged his horse tongue across his cheek, leaving a long trail of drool down his face. The young man cringed and pushed Fluffy's face away. "Maybe not, but we have to try," he insisted.

  Pat sighed, but nodded. "Let's hurry to Ruth. She's waited long enough."

  The three of them hurried through the streets. They ducked and dodged out of sight of the twinners, but the guards were thicker than before and the streets were crowded with tourists. Fred glanced upward and gaped at the sight of several aviators taking off from the cliffs to the north. They swooped and dove through the air, and were an ever-present reminder for the three to hurry.

  Pat noticed Fred lagged behind and followed his gaze. She frowned, looked back to him, and grabbed his hand. "I hope Ned is able to bide you time before your flight," she commented. She pulled him away down the street.

  While they meandered through the streets with their drooling horse, Ned was atop the canyon walls near the takeoff area. A constant wind whipped at his cloak and flung dust into his face and beard. The top of the cliffs were cluttered with the flying machines. The aviators with their squires stood by their prized possessions and looked suspiciously at their competition. Many of the aviators were short like their twinner brethren, and the squires were hardly older than children. Tourists and enthusiasts nearly burst through the simple ropes that kept them from the aviators and their machines. The fans waved their hands and screamed the names of their favorite aviators, who smiled and bowed to their adoring fans.

  The launch area was set on the northeast edge of the cliffs with flags that marked the send-off points. Those machines in the air were wound around a spool that sat fifteen yards from each of their flags. Each spool was set ten feet apart and had a handle that stuck out the side. A muscular man stood beside the ropes in case the lines needed to be hauled in quickly. Each rope was thin, light, and embedded with thin blades. The blades allowed the aviators to cut the ropes of their opponents and, without their stabilizing anchor rope, force them to land.

  The ropes themselves dragged on the ground to the edge of the cliff and were pulled straight outward across several dozen yards of air to near the center of the city. Then they curved upward to the kites and created a perfect uppercase L. The kites pulled their light ropes to and fro and attempted to drag their line across that of the others without their own being damaged. The strongmen made sure the ropes were neither too slack nor too tight. Too much slack would send the rope into the city, and too tight would force the kites into a limited maneuvering ability.

  Several officials wh
o held clipboards and pens in their hands stood by a nearby rock. They watched the skies and talked among themselves. Ned slipped through the crowds of onlookers situated at the nose-bleed section in the far back of the cliffs. He noticed guards patrolled the ropes to keep the crowds back, and only allowed those dressed as aviators through.

  Ned smiled and walked around a boulder taller than himself. When he came out the other side he was dressed in an aviator jacket, pants, and shirt much like Fred's own disguise, but all gray. His eyes were covered in a pair of goggles so no one could see where he looked. He stooped under the rope, and smiled and nodded at a few guards who noticed his entrance. They nodded back and returned their attention to the crowds. Ned wound his way through the flying machines to the men with clipboards. He stepped up close beside them and pretended to look at the kites above them.

  His shielded eyes flitted over to the clipboards, and his keen vision let him see that Crash Enburn's name was on the list of those next in the queue. A faint mist floated down his staff and wound its way to the feet of the officials. It glided up the legs of the man with the queue clipboard, and waited until the man was distracted before it slipped over both Crash's name and the last name in the final queue. The mist removed the ink from the paper and floated the names over and under each other so they switched places.

  When the job was done Ned smiled and slipped away to watch and wait.

  CHAPTER 16

  While the younger members of the group had their adventures in the west of the city and Ned in the northeast, Percy and Canto were in the far northwest a few blocks down from the Senex. Daylight found the two seated in an alley with their backs against one another. Their clothes were tattered, torn, trashed, and soiled by blood, beer, and sweat. They breathed heavily and their weapons were on the ground at their sides.

  Percy glanced over his shoulder at his shorter companion. "I believe. . .I have had enough. . .entertainment to last. . .what remains of my years," he commented.

  Canto scoffed and wheezed. "Giving up. . .already?" he replied.

  "A whole night's fighting is quite enough, and our friends will worry about us if we don't return soon," Percy pointed out.

  "Bah. Let 'em worry. Ah've got something we need to do here, anyway," Canto told him.

  Percy raised an eyebrow. "What is that?"

  Canto nodded northward. "Ned said the stone was in that big building. Ah suggest we take a look at who's guarding it in case we don't win it."

  "Such little faith in our friends?" Percy teased.

  "Ah won't be trusting to machines that fly," Canto replied. He struggled to his feet and slipped his ax onto his back. "Besides, we're here, aren't we? May as well get a sight of what we're looking to crack."

  "True," Percy agreed as he climbed to his feet. "And I have heard mention there are tours of the stone, though we may have poor luck and find those as equally as closed as the castor licensing office."

  The pair were just south of the Senex, and in a few minutes they stood at the edge of the mess of buildings. The area was eerily quiet and empty but for a contingency of two dozen guards outside the open doors of the Senex. Inside they could see two people sweeping up a mess which upon closer inspection was made of glass. They walked up to the doorway, but were stopped by the guards.

  "State your business," one of them demanded.

  "We were wanting to see this stone you have here," Canto told them.

  "You can't. The tours are canceled for the duration of the tournament," the guard told him.

  Percy glanced past them and his eyes traveled upward to see the hole in the glass dome. He looked at the wall and saw there were thick handholds in the marble made by clawed hands. "Perhaps we'll come back another time," Percy commented.

  Canto turned and glared at him. "We were wanting to see it now," he reminded his young companion.

  "I'm sure we can ask our friends about it," Percy hinted.

  Canto wrinkled his nose. "Most of 'em haven't been here," he argued.

  Percy set his hands on the dwarf's shoulders and turned him around. "That might have changed," Percy whispered. He pushed the confused dwarf across the square and to the street they'd come from.

  Canto shrugged off his hands and glared at the young man. "What are ya whispering about? What's changed?"

  "There were handholds in the walls made by someone with enough strength to crush marble. Unless there is another gargoyle here then I would venture to guess our friends have been here and made an escape for whatever reason, and we will have to ask them back at the inn," Percy told him.

  Canto frowned and glanced back at the guards. "Plenty of guards and not much chance of getting at it from the ground, anyway," he commented.

  "yes, it would seem it would be better for us if we won the honor of approaching the stone," Percy commented.

  "Aye, but Ah don't have much faith in that," Canto replied.

  "Have more faith in our gargoyle," Percy scolded.

  Canto scoffed. "It's not the gargoyle Ah'm worried about."

  Back at the mid-western side of the city, Pat, Fred and Fluffy were two-thirds the way to their destination when they came upon a group of a dozen guards. There was no way to pass them without being seen, so Pat hauled Fred and Fluffy into a nearby alley. Unfortunately, there weren't any boxes large enough to hide themselves, much less Fluffy.

  Pat stuck her head out the mouth of the alley and her eyes widened when she saw the guards were headed their way. She whipped her head to Fred who stood behind her with Fluffy. "You have to change us all," she told him.

  Fred blinked. "To what?"

  She grabbed the sticks from his waist and stuffed them into his hands to transform them into his staff. "Anything! Just do it quickly!" she hissed.

  Fred's eyes flitted between his staff and the mouth of the alley. The footsteps of the guards came closer and closer. "Fred!"

  "All right! All right!" He pointed his staff at Pat and accidentally knocked her head. She cringed and rubbed the growing bump as mist spouted from his staff. It wrapped around her like it had with Fluffy, but when it vanished Pat stood there in her human form.

  She glanced down at herself and whipped her head back to Fred. "This is not a change!" she growled.

  "Humans must be harder," he whispered.

  She rolled her eyes, grabbed his wrist and dragged him behind Fluffy. Fluffy's body blocked them from being easily seen by the guards as the men reached the opening to the alley. They peeked inside and one of them whistled.

  The whistler nodded his head toward Fluffy. "Check out the horse," he told his companions.

  The leader frowned and stepped inside the alley. "What's a good steed like that doing here?" Fluffy turned his squat head toward the guards and drooled. The men cringed.

  "I can see now why it's in there," one of the men commented. Fluffy growled, but Fred quickly put his hand on the beast's shoulder to calm him. "Well, it's not what we're looking for, anyway," the man commented.

  "Why are we having to find these children? They didn't do much of anything," one of the guards complained.

  "A castor's a dangerous person to have running around without a license, and he might be in league with the one who attacked the stone," the first guard replied. "Who knows what worse devilry they'll do if we don't get them reined in? Besides, they've got a monster with them. I heard the she-demon nearly collapsed the whole capital building."

  "What about the fake soothsayer? They have anything to do with that?"

  "Don't know, but they're looking for her, too. Come on. Let's go before one of those stupid twinners yells at us."

  The guards marched on and Fred swept away his magic. Pat frowned at where the guards had gone and turned to Fred. "I suppose this proves you weren't hallucinating about Martley," she commented.

  Fred's face drooped and his eyes narrowed. "Why would I hallucinate about her?" he asked her.

  Pat snorted. "For the same reason men fantasize about Ti, but let's hurry. We're almost t
o Ruth."

  The three slipped through the streets and arrived at the far wall of Cheatum's compound. Fred dropped Fluffy's disguise, and he looked up at the high wall and then to his pet. "You think you can jump over that?" he asked Fluffy.

  Fluffy vigorously nodded his head and sent drool flying. Some landed on Pat's clothes, and she gingerly wiped it off.

  "All right. We need you to jump over the wall and run around. Okay?" Again Fluffy nodded, but Pat stood behind Fred to avoid the slobber rain.

  "Are you sure that isn't too difficult an order?" Pat mockingly asked.

  Fluffy whimpered and lay down on the ground. Fred glanced over his shoulder and glared at her. "Apologize."

  Pat frowned. "Excuse me?"

  "Apologize to him. Otherwise he won't move," Fred replied.

  Pat glanced past Fred to the whimpering cantankus. She sighed, rolled her eyes, and walked around Fred to kneel beside the beast. "I'm. . .I'm sorry," she mumbled. One of Fluffy's ears perked up, and he didn't lift his head.

  "He couldn't hear you. You have to speak up," Fred told her.

  Pat ground her teeth, but spoke in a louder voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to call you a fool," she replied. The other ear rose, but his head still remained attached to the ground. She rolled her eyes. "And I think you are a competent steed."

  Fluffy raised his head and ran his tongue over her face. Pat yelped and fell back with Fred laughing behind her. "All right, Fluffy, over the wall," he told his beast.

  Fluffy nodded and raced to the end of the alley. He turned back to the pair, pawed the ground with his paws, and raced toward the wall. In one single bound he launched himself into the air and slammed face-first into the top of the wall a foot short of success. Fluffy slid down to the base of the wall and whimpered.

  Pat crossed her arms and frowned. "I take back my compliments," she quipped.

  "He just needs more encouragement," Fred replied. He pulled out a half-rotten steak and held it out. Fluffy's ears perked up and he whipped his head around. He sighted the steak and bounded to his feet miraculously cured of his whimpering. "Fetch," Fred commanded him, and tossed the steak over the side of the wall.