‘What if they find out that you helped us escape?’ Juniper asked.
‘Don’t worry about me,’ said Brother Lazarus. ‘I’m so old, they’ll never suspect me, and even if they did, what can they do?’
‘How will you get back to your room without a torch?’ asked Kip.
‘I know this place by heart,’ said the teacher. ‘I could walk around blindfolded and I wouldn’t get lost. Now, you better get going before it’s too late . . .’
After shaking hands with Brother Lazarus, the five of them set off. From Quarantine, they headed down the hall towards the ramp leading to the playing field, but as they approached the main door, they heard boots on the stairs and quickly hid themselves in an alcove. A minute later, two guards walked past, talking loudly between themselves.
Slipping out of the alcove, Scruggs gestured for the others to follow and hurried down a set of stairs.
‘Over here, there’s another way out,’ he whispered as he pushed open a door and peered into the shadows beyond. Through a window facing east, Kip could see the first light beyond the mountains, as the sky brightened before dawn. Following Scruggs and the others, he slipped through a passage behind the dormitories and around to the other side. There seemed to be no one awake, but just as they crawled on to a balcony, Kip heard a sharp whistle. Moments later, two dogs began to bark.
‘It’s the warden,’ said Meghna. ‘They know we’ve escaped.’
Scruggs dashed across to the far end of the balcony and slid down a drainpipe. As the others followed, Kip saw torches flashing in the dark and heard the pounding of boots on the floor above.
Several lights came on and the five of them were suddenly exposed and blinded by the glare. One of the guards spotted them and shouted. This time, Juniper took the lead. She raced through an empty classroom and back down to the main floor. Again, the whistle sounded, and the dogs barked, coming after them from the other side.
Now there was only one way out: down a spiral staircase and through a dark corridor that stretched ahead of them like an infinite tunnel, as they ran for their lives . . .
PART II:
The Sky Journey
Eleven
Sinking into the clouds, Kip kicked his feet, frantically trying to keep himself from falling through. Juniper had a hold of one of his hands, though she seemed to be losing her grip and his weight was pulling her down. The clouds were like quicksand, sucking him under. Then, just when he felt sure it was all over, someone else grabbed his other arm and began dragging him to the surface. Looking up, Kip blinked at Scruggs as his friends hauled him out of the mist. For the first time, Kip felt a foothold. The clouds were still soft and spongy, but he didn’t sink in again. When he took a second step, it felt even firmer, though he couldn’t see anything but white froth. Scruggs and Juniper pulled harder and Kip lunged forward on to his knees.
When they let go of his hands, he remained on the surface. It was almost as if his mind were holding him up, like some kind of crazy dream. He was gasping for breath, and the brightness of the morning sun made him squint. Kip felt as if he’d been saved from drowning as he sucked in gulps of fresh air.
‘You see, it’s not so hard,’ said Juniper.
Kip nodded and slowly got to his feet. Though he kept expecting to sink down again, he was able to stumble after his friends, following in their footsteps.
Glancing behind him, Kip saw the watchtower, where the dogs were barking and the guards waved their arms. But nobody dared follow them, and the angry voices sounded faint and faraway. A sea of clouds stretched in all directions, except where the tops of the mountains rose up in the morning light. Swirling white mist was tinged with gold. Behind him, he could just make out the peaked rooftops of the school and the rows of windows and balconies clustered on the ridge. As they moved away, escaping over a vast white plain, Paramount Academy gradually blended into the profile of the ridge and then disappeared completely.
Juniper and Scruggs were ahead of him, along with Meghna and the other boy, Ameel. They were walking quickly, trying to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the school. Kip was still breathing hard but he felt steadier now. Even where the clouds were rumpled and uneven, he was able to walk without sinking or stumbling.
After they had walked for half an hour, the others paused to let him rest.
‘Are you okay?’ Scruggs asked.
‘I think so,’ said Kip.
‘We almost lost you back there,’ said Juniper.
‘I still don’t believe we’re walking on clouds,’ said Kip.
‘You’ve just got to get over being afraid,’ she said.
‘Is it magic?’ Kip asked.
‘Not really,’ said Scruggs.
Meghna shook her head. ‘It just happens, if you let yourself go.’
Kip glanced down at his shoes, still puzzled.
‘Have you always known you could walk like this?’
Juniper nodded. ‘Yes. But it’s a secret we keep to ourselves. Not everyone can be convinced.’
‘So, where are we going?’ Kip asked.
‘Over there,’ Scruggs pointed.
Dozens of mountains were sticking up out of the clouds, some of them only a few feet above the surface, others rising up like forested spires and turrets. In the distance, far off near the horizon, Kip could see a line of snow peaks. Because they were white, they looked almost as if they were part of the clouds, but in the bright sunlight, he could make out their frozen shapes. It looked like the end of the world or the torn edge of a map, after which everything is uncharted and unknown.
‘We need to go beyond those snow-covered mountains,’ said Juniper. ‘That’s where we’ll find the hidden valley, where our people live.’
‘But how will we cross over?’ Kip asked, feeling nervous again.
‘Don’t worry, we’ll find a way.’
Kip felt relieved to have left the school behind, but he wasn’t sure where his friends might take him and whether he wanted to cross those mountains. The sky overhead seemed so much larger now that they were on top of the clouds, and everything appeared empty and spread out, as if there was nothing holding them up. For a moment, Kip felt his feet begin to sink again. He closed his eyes and told himself not to panic, then took a deep breath and looked around.
Ameel smiled. ‘Thank you, Kip,’ he said. ‘If it wasn’t for you, we’d still be in Quarantine. Who knows how long they would have kept us locked up?’
‘I couldn’t have done it without Brother Lazarus,’ said Kip, remembering the flickering light that had come towards him in the Crypt. ‘Do you think they’ll find out that he helped us?’
‘Probably not,’ said Meghna. ‘He’s a lot smarter than all of the rest of them put together.’
‘Are they going to try and catch us?’ said Kip.
‘Maybe,’ said Juniper with a shrug. ‘We’d better keep moving.’
Kip scanned the vacant expanse of white clouds and tried to imagine what lay below them. He could picture valleys and ridges, towns and winding roads, like the one he’d driven up with his aunts, but right now, it was all hidden from sight.
Seconds later, he heard a soft whispering sound. Glancing to his right, Kip noticed a movement under the white surface, as if something were swimming through the clouds. Then, all at once, he saw a shape break free. It was a vulture, with huge wings that glided to the surface. As the giant bird appeared, Kip heard the wind in its feathers making a hissing sound. At first, the vulture didn’t seem to notice them, but then it circled back, gliding a few feet overhead and soaring past with its neck craned and two bright eyes studying them. Twice, the bird wheeled around, as if it couldn’t believe they were there. Then it rose a little higher and sailed off into the distance, diminishing into a tiny speck within a minute or two.
Scruggs beckoned and they began walking again, trudging across the white wasteland, heading north. The sun grew warmer now, as it rose higher, casting their shadows on the clouds.
> Twelve
After walking for most of the day, Kip was tired and hungry. Though the clouds were made of water, it wasn’t the kind he could drink. Kip wondered how they were going to survive, until he saw Scruggs turn towards a hill nearby. It rose about 100 metres above the clouds and stretched for half a kilometre in either direction. As they approached the hill, Kip could see the tops of trees appearing below them through the mist. Scruggs jumped on to a branch and began climbing down. It was a large tree, with plenty of limbs for handholds and footholds. Kip had always been good at gymnastics, which made it easy for him. The others followed, and soon they were all standing together on the forest floor. The solid earth felt strange beneath Kip’s feet, as if his shoes were glued to the ground. Under the clouds and tangled branches, the air was dark and damp. Crickets squeaked and the bird calls sounded like someone whistling through false teeth. They scrambled farther down the slope until they came to a spring seeping out from under a moss-covered stone.
Water had never tasted so good. Kip drank until he felt he was going to burst. By this time, Meghna and Ameel had found a bush full of wild raspberries, on which they gorged themselves, and Juniper picked a couple of giant mushrooms that looked like pancakes.
‘Are you sure they’re not poisonous?’ Kip asked when she offered him a piece.
‘Don’t worry,’ she said with a frown. ‘These ones are safe to eat.’
At first, the mushroom didn’t taste very good, but after a couple of bites, Kip got used to the flavour, which was a little like stale bread. Scruggs had also discovered a hazelnut tree, and they cracked open the nuts and ate the sweet flesh. It was a strange meal, but after they’d eaten, Kip felt better and he washed it all down with more water from the spring.
‘Are we going to stay here tonight?’ he asked, looking around. The mist-cloaked forest was growing darker.
‘No, it’s safer on top of the clouds,’ said Juniper. ‘Who knows what kind of animals live on this hill? Maybe leopards and bears.’
Just then, Meghna gave a shout.
‘Look over here,’ she said.
In the soft mud below the spring, Kip saw a set of footprints. They looked almost human, except that they were longer and had the distinct marks of claws at the end of each toe.
‘Definitely a bear!’ said Scruggs.
Quickly, they all climbed back up the tree until they clambered out on the surface of the clouds again. The sun was just going down, turning the sky red and gold. They kept going for another hour, till it was completely dark and the air grew colder. Stars came out overhead and, in the distance, the snow peaks glimmered with a silvery light. They seemed so far away, Kip felt as if they would never get there.
Finally, Scruggs stopped. ‘We’ll spend the night here,’ he said. ‘But each of us will have to take turns staying awake to make sure the clouds don’t evaporate.’
‘What do you mean?’ Kip asked.
‘As long as we’re on top of the clouds like this, everything’s fine,’ said Scruggs. ‘But they have a way of blowing away or turning into rain. Once that happens, there’s nothing to support us and we fall.’
As Kip lay down, he wondered what would happen if the clouds suddenly parted underneath him. He imagined himself falling through the gap, tumbling between the branches of trees and into the arms of a bear. But he was so tired, it didn’t take long for him to forget his fears and fall asleep. The clouds were like a lumpy mattress. He turned up the collar of his blazer and tucked his hands under his arms.
In his dreams, he found himself back in Mrs Lobo’s apartment, where she was knitting a sweater out of the clouds, like strands of wool blowing through the window. The needles in her hands rattled as the sweater grew bigger and bigger, until it swallowed Kip up. It began to suffocate him. As he struggled to break free, the sweater seemed to come alive, like a woollen octopus. At the same time, he could hear Mrs Lobo whispering in his ear, warning him to behave himself as the sleeves reached out to strangle him.
Kip woke up in a panic. Someone was shaking his shoulder. It was Scruggs, and there was a worried look on his face. A half-moon had come up, bright enough to reflect off the clouds. Kip could hear a rumbling sound beneath him, and he felt the clouds tremble.
‘We’ve got to get moving,’ said Scruggs. ‘There’s a storm brewing.’
Kip looked up at the bright moon and the stars.
‘Not up there,’ said Juniper. ‘It’s below us.’
Just then, a flash of lightning burst under his feet, lighting up the clouds as far as Kip could see. Seconds later, he heard a crack of thunder. Immediately, the five of them began to run. Every few seconds, lightning exploded beneath them with a bright, phosphorescent eruption. The surface of the clouds, which had been so calm during the day, tossed and tumbled under their feet. Kip had trouble keeping his balance as he raced along. Several times, he almost tripped and lost his footing.
In places, the clouds boiled up like waves that crashed together and plunged into troughs. Kip had never been afraid of lightning before, and at home in the city, he used to enjoy going up on the roof of their apartment building when it rained, but being on top of the storm was a completely different experience.
‘Keep moving, keep moving!’ Juniper shouted.
Kip couldn’t tell which direction they were running in, because the clouds had risen up on all sides, hiding the mountains from view. All sorts of dark shapes swirled around them, like shadows waving in the wind. At one point, the clouds broke apart, and Kip saw Meghna and Ameel disappear into a chasm. He was sure they had fallen through, but an instant later, when another burst of lightning lit up the clouds, a wave rose up and carried them back to where they’d been before, tossing them about like driftwood.
The storm was getting worse, and the wind howled, blowing hard enough to lift Kip off his feet. Every time the lightning flashed, he could see the silhouettes of his friends racing as fast as they could, but there didn’t seem to be anywhere to escape. A couple of hills appeared like dark boulders in the mist, but these were quickly swallowed up in the turmoil of the storm. It was like being shipwrecked in the sky and swept overboard. Several times, Kip felt himself being sucked down, as if he’d stepped into a bottomless hole. Floundering with his arms, he crawled back up on to his feet, but everything was rocking and swaying.
By now, he had lost sight of the others and felt sure they were gone. Claps of thunder boomed in his ears. He wished there were somewhere to hide but everything kept moving and there was nothing to hold on to. The moon appeared and disappeared, while even the stars seemed to be swimming overhead, and the clouds billowed up like smoke from the fireworks below.
Without his friends, Kip knew he could never survive. Surrounded by the turbulence of the storm, he felt lost and abandoned, alone in a blustery, billowing void, with lightning crackling in his ears and thunder drumming beneath his feet.
Thirteen
A long time ago, when Kip was only six years old, his parents had taken him on a holiday to a beach resort, where they spent a week by the sea. This was one of his happiest memories, holding his mother’s hand as he splashed and kicked at the waves. Sitting on his father’s shoulders, they waded farther and farther from the shore, until it seemed they might reach the other side of the world. Every morning, his mother bought him a coconut from a man on the beach, who would cut it open and put a straw inside for him to drink. The coconut was so big that Kip could barely hold it in his hands. He could still taste the sweet flavour of coconut water and remembered watching the man climbing the tall, smooth trunk of the tree and cutting coconuts that fell on to the sand like giant green eggs.
Whenever he felt afraid and alone, Kip tried to remember better times like this. While it made him sad to think of what he’d lost, the memories helped him accept whatever loneliness and fear he now faced.
By now, the lightning and thunder had eased. He had escaped the violent storm, but there was still no sign of the others. The moon had disappeared, t
hough there was enough starlight to guide him over the rumpled surface. Behind him, he could still see lightning flashes and churning clouds. As he made his way through the white tide, Kip wondered if he would ever see his friends again. He felt relieved to have survived the storm but also terrified because he was alone. More than ever before, as he trudged off on his own, Kip wished this were just a bad dream and he could wake up, so everything would be all right again. But he knew that wasn’t going to happen, and the weight of despair made his feet sink deep in the clouds. Finally, when he was a safe distance from the storm and the thunder had subsided into a low rumble, he sat down to catch his breath and collect his thoughts.
He remembered sitting on the beach years ago, watching waves spilling over the sand. Sometimes, the water seemed to drain away, as if it might never come back. Other times, the sea came up to his toes, as tiny crabs skittered across the shore. His father had pointed to fishing boats, far off in the distance, silhouetted against the setting sun. Right now, he felt as if he were sitting there again. The gentle swirling of the clouds reminded him of the wrinkled waves rolling in, edged with froth. He remembered his mother finding a shell in the surf. After rinsing it off, she had held it up to his ear.
‘Listen, Kip,’ she’d said. ‘Can you hear the waves?’
Sitting alone on the clouds, Kip listened for that secret sound, quieter than silence, a far-off whooshing noise that echoed inside his head. He could hear his mother’s voice, whispering to him, ‘Everything’s going to be all right.’
Whenever Kip tried to picture his parents in prison, it felt as if someone had grabbed his throat and was trying to strangle him. He imagined that their jail cells must be something like the Crypt, with iron bars and rusted locks. After his parents were arrested and taken away, Kip had written to them, promising to get them out of prison, though he didn’t know how. He wondered if they had received the letter because they never wrote back. Kip had told them that he knew they had done nothing wrong, but they’d been cheated and blamed for other people’s crimes.
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