by Vashti Hardy
Maudie threw another rock, then another, and Valiant did too. With a glance behind, she saw that Florian and the fire-bird were nearly there, and relief swept through her. The fire-bird shrieked and the darkwhisper looked up and screeched back.
But the darkwhisper wasn’t moving. Why wasn’t the darkwhisper flying away?
The creatures’ eyes were locked intensely, and for a split-second Maudie was reminded of the thought-wolves. Was this how the fire-bird challenged the darkwhisper?
Then the fire-bird bowed its head to the darkwhisper, almost as though submitting, or giving its approval? Maudie stared in disbelief, every muscle now paralysed in naked fear.
The darkwhisper lifted its head and moved towards Arthur.
“What are you doing? Stop it!” she shrieked at the fire-bird. She noticed Parthena had landed close by. “Parthena, do something!” But Parthena seemed frozen too. Even Florian had become very still. “Florian, help me!” She tried to reach out to him, to pull him to help her, but he didn’t move. Although there was no glazed look in his eyes, he was shaking with terror. He must’ve been reliving what had happened to his sister.
The darkwhisper was now staring into Arthur’s face.
The door closed on four Archangel street as they stepped out from the interview. Rather than stepping into daylight, it was pitch dark. He reached out for Maudie beside him, but his hand simply flailed in the air because she wasn’t there. He knew this place. He was now in the Slumps of Lontown, the poorest, most deprived area. He looked around, half-expecting the Begginses to appear, but the more he looked around, the more he realized that this wasn’t the Slumps as he knew it; the houses were a little different, not as old.
He was in the past.
This wasn’t his memory.
A woman hobbled down the street, crying. Her stomach was swollen; perhaps she was having a child? Then he saw she was clutching a tiny, naked baby to her chest. She knocked on a door; someone opened it and then shut it straight away. She tried another, and they yelled at her. It was a perishingly cold night, and that poor baby would freeze and die if someone didn’t help.
Arthur took off his jacket. “Hey,” he called out. “Hey, I’ll help you.”
But the woman didn’t even turn her head, because he wasn’t there, not really. He was in a memory.
Then thick fog rippled down the streets; an unnatural, dense, dream fog that swallowed him in an instant, then was immediately broken by fierce sunshine. He was still in the Slumps, but there was a young boy, skinny as his own bones, and the boy was begging in the streets, bruises on his face and arms.
“Spare a sovereign for a boy? Spare a sovereign for a boy?” he asked over and over, from one uninterested stranger to another. The boy, who couldn’t have been older than six, eventually sank against a wall.
“Someone help him!” Arthur yelled. But again, his voice was not there.
The boy stared into the air as though he was already a ghost, like he wasn’t really there at all. There was something familiar about his face, his eyebrows.
Like a lightning bolt to the chest, Arthur realized the boy was Welby. He felt it with all certainty.
Some children ran down the street past him, then one told the others to stop. They went back to the boy and started pushing and shouting things at him.
Suddenly there was a fire in the boy’s eye, and he leapt to his feet and began kicking and chopping with his hands. He was clearly outnumbered, but he was giving it everything his tiny body had. Arthur found himself shouting, “Go on, Welby! Clout them on the nose!”
Then a figure appeared at the end of the street, strolling up confidently. She stopped in front of them and stood with her hands on her hips.
The gang took one look at her and scarpered.
Again, this woman looked familiar somehow. She reached out a hand to the reedy-limbed boy, now lying on the floor.
Wait, there it was on her arm: the Culpepper swallows! But this wasn’t Harriet. Who was it? If this was a young Welby, then it must be Harriet’s parents? Or Octavie? No, that still wouldn’t fit … her grandparents? No, still not quite.
She spoke to the boy, and Arthur couldn’t help but move closer, so that he could take in every word.
“You have no parents?” Her voice was kindly.
Young Welby shook his head.
“And no home?”
“Never, Miss.”
“You’ve never had a roof, or a bed?”
He shook his head.
“Is there anyone at all who will miss you from here?”
“No, Miss.”
“Not a soul?”
“No, Miss.”
“Well, we simply can’t have that. You’ve clearly lived a thousand lives in your short years, and that just won’t do at all. Young man, it is time for you to be a child. Such a strong young person deserves a home. Will you come with me?”
He looked at her apprehensively.
Crouching down to his level, she put a hand on her heart. “I promise you will come to no harm and I will keep you safe and warm.”
The glint of a smile sat in the smallest corner of Welby’s lips. It was almost too scared, too disbelieving, to show itself.
She offered her hand. “Do you have a name?”
He nodded.
“Then might you tell me?” she asked in a whisper.
“William, Miss.”
“You don’t need to call me Miss, William. My name is Argentia.”
CHAPTER 33
SAYING GOODBYE
More memories followed: Welby starting school and trying to fit in by speaking in his best Uptown voice like the other children, his first time in a sky-ship with Argentia, getting into trouble and fights at school, graduating at universitas, holding a baby Harriet when her parents were called away on business, and all with the undying friendship and loyalty he felt for the Culpeppers.
The fog cleared and Arthur blinked several times quickly, as though not sure if he was in a memory or back in reality, then he saw with a lurch that a darkwhisper was facing him directly, feelers resting on his temple, cloudy eyes fixed on his.
To his right was the fire-bird, but with a swish of its scarlet tail, it took flight.
But for some reason Arthur didn’t feel scared of the darkwhisper. Then it blinked, took a step back, then also turned and flew away.
As it did so, all the other darkwhispers took to the sky, spiralling up into the blue-grey. There was the distant rumble of thunder and they turned and flew towards the dark clouds on the horizon.
Maudie and Florian ran to Arthur.
Arthur looked at Welby’s lifeless body, and a full range of emotion fuelled every cell in his body; deep sadness, regret, warmth, wonder. And there was happiness too, somehow, somewhere among the grief that made him want to tear out his heart as he thought of Welby’s life. And thought of Dad.
“Arthur, do you remember me?” Maudie stuttered, putting a shaking hand on his arm.
“Of course I do.” He frowned and watched the darkwhispers disappear into the distant storm. “They’re not all bad, you know,” he said softly. He’d quite lost his fear of the darkwhispers.
“What just happened?”
“I think it chose to use its gift in this moment. It’s as though they can read our past, what made us who we are and our intentions, and … I don’t know … it gave me Welby’s memories … and now I understand. I never took the time to think about it. I assumed so much and now he’s gone and…” He buried his head in his hand.
“Excuse me? Can you tell me where I am?” It was one of Eudora’s crew.
“Can’t you remember?” Maudie called.
He frowned and narrowed his eyes. “Remember what?”
Some more crew members appeared from below deck, staring around confusedly. Then Eudora Vane peered tentatively over the edge of the Aurora at them. “Er … hello… This is rather embarrassing. I’ve ripped my dress and I seem to have forgotten where I am. You couldn’t be a dear
and help, could you?”
Arthur, Maudie and Florian all exchanged open-mouthed glances. Valiant had jumped up on to Maudie’s neck and was trembling at the sight of Eudora.
“Aren’t you…” She squinted as though trying to place them. “I was planning an expedition, somewhere south, I think. Are we south? I thought it would be cooler than this…”
“She doesn’t know who we are. The darkwhispers took their memories! I think she thinks she was planning to go south,” Maudie whispered.
Smethwyck appeared and spoke in an urgent whisper. “Hello, I think these people may have kidnapped me, because I don’t remember what I’m doing here … at all!”
Then a confused-looking Ermitage stumbled on deck. “Ah, my dear old thing. I wonder if you can point me in the direction of the…” He paused and scratched his beard. “Never mind.”
By this point, the other water-wings had reached the shore, and Harriet jumped out and ran to Welby. She put a hand to his chest. Her shoulders heaved as she inhaled a long breath. Felicity looked over the scene, then ran to the children and engulfed them in her warm arms. After a while, Harriet joined them, and they all hugged for a long time.
Eventually, they broke off and helped Tauria, Florian and Cassea gather up the befuddled Vane crew. It was strange to see Eudora assume no authority at all. She’d lost her powerful posture, and although Arthur and Maudie found it hard to take in, there was even a glint of wonder as she looked around at the world, as though seeing it as a child. Ermitage and all the Vane crew members seemed to have lost many years of memories.
The darkwhispers had all disappeared into the distant storm clouds of the south, and more water-wings and Erytheans arrived.
“The Aurora isn’t too damaged,” said Florian shakily. “I’m no expert on your mechanics, but the engine is intact, and the hull is just badly scraped. There are some holes, but they can be fixed.”
Tauria nodded. “We’ll head back to Erythea, regroup, and organize any repairs you need to your sky-ship. And we’ll help you remember this gentleman. In our world, when someone passes, we celebrate who they were and give them to the sea. Perhaps we can honour him in this way?”
Harriet nodded. “Yes, I think he would like that.”
Some of the Vane crew were lying down and appeared to be falling asleep.
“Are they all right?” asked Arthur.
Tauria nodded. “They will likely be sleepy for several days. We have seen it before when people have lost memories to the darkwhispers.” Then she began talking with Cassea in Erythean.
“What are they saying?” Maudie whispered to Florian. She put her hand on his arm, he was still trembling.
He listened for a moment. “She is regretful about the punishment decision; she thinks they were too harsh, but she is furious with Eudora about what happened to the water-bears, and she is unsure about letting them return with the Culpepper crew because it still might jeopardize the Erythean secrecy code.”
They listened some more, then Florian said in a hushed voice. “They are deciding whether they will keep them here.”
“We should take them back home with us,” Arthur said, interrupting Tauria’s conversation. “They’re confused and have no memories. They’re no danger to you now.”
Tauria stared at him. She thought for a moment, then nodded. “I think it may be best if we … what would you say in Lontonian? If we washed our hands of her. They will remain dazed, and their new memories will be unreliable for a while, so when you return you can ensure they believe they have only been to the Stella Oceanus.”
Harriet nodded.
“Although, Ermitage Wrigglesworth must remain here. As we discussed before, too many of your people think he is dead, and if he arrived back alive, too many questions would be asked.”
Arthur looked across at Ermitage, who was sitting on a rock looking confusedly at the sky. And now it seemed miserable to think Ermitage would likely never see his hometown again. “I guess he just missed Lontown too much,” Arthur said to Maudie.
Tauria led them back to the water-wings. “We’ll return to the city and rest. The storm may shift and bring another deluge, and we should get ahead of it.”
This time the storm remained in the south and the rain decided to stay away, as though somehow it knew that they had all taken as much as they could handle for one day. Back in their quarters, no matter how hard Arthur willed it, or how tired and bruised his body and mind felt, sleep refused him. So he decided to take a short walk outside.
The night remained as still as the moment between breaths, and clouds petered out to mere wisps of dove-grey in the vast midnight blue. Arthur sat on the edge of the jetty and watched the reflection of the sky ripple on the surface like a secret mirror version of the real world. In that world, maybe things were different and Welby lived on. A tear trailed down his cheek.
Losing Welby had hit them all hard, and Arthur all the harder for the memories he now had within him. Yes, he was lucky: he was back with Maudie, back with Harrie and Felicity, Parthena was here, they were safe, the rest of the crew was safe. Yet … yet he’d never felt so empty and alone, not since the moment he’d heard the news about Dad.
He didn’t want to go back to Lontown. He didn’t want to go anywhere.
A voice, as though carried on the wind, whispered his name. He looked around, but there was no one else on the jetty.
Then it happened again. This time louder. And he recognized the voice, although it was utterly impossible. Wasn’t it?
“You are stronger than you know, cub.”
“Tuyok?” Arthur breathed. Again, he stared into the indigo night and searched for the great white shape of the thought-wolf. But then Maudie was calling to him, walking up the jetty with Valiant on her shoulder.
Arthur blinked. Of course he’d imagined Tuyok’s voice.
“Are you all right?” asked Maudie gently.
He shrugged. “I feel like the universe has broken, and I don’t think it can ever be fixed. And part of me thought that somehow we would get justice for Dad still. Now this has happened to Welby, and really it’s all her fault again. Everything comes back to that woman, and I’m trying to be angry with her but…”
“I know,” she said.
“It doesn’t matter how far we explore, where we go, I just feel so … lost.”
They heard a flapping sound and looked up to see Parthena flying towards them. She landed on Arthur’s shoulder. Her wing brushed Arthur’s arm.
Then the voice was there again, but it sounded clearly inside of him.
“You are never alone. No matter how far from home, we walk beside you … you are never truly lost.”
Convinced he was losing his mind, he looked to Maudie, but her mouth was wide in amazement.
“Was that…?” She shook her head.
“You heard it too?”
“Tuyok? Tuyok!”
But there was only silence in reply.
And although Arthur and Maudie still felt sad and wounded in their hearts, they now also felt a spark of hope, and warmth, and wonder.
The following day, they sailed on the water-wings: Maudie with Arthur and Felicity with Florian. Harriet travelled with Tauria and Cassea on a larger boat.
They sailed along the riverway to the estuary where Erythea met the southern coastline.
There was a separate boat for Welby’s body, pulled by the main boat of the Proffesus Excelsis.
When they had travelled a short distance into the open sea, the water-wings gathered in a semi-circle. Arthur and Maudie positioned their water-wing close to Florian’s.
Harriet stood on the prow of the boat and inhaled a long breath before speaking. “William Welby was my second-in-command for as long as I have captained a sky-ship. He was the most loyal and true person I could have hoped to sail with, not only to me, but to my family, and to my crew.”
Felicity sniffed into her handkerchief.
“I can’t imagine sailing without him, but as he sa
id to me when I captained my first expedition, ‘Leave the shadows behind, and always look to a new dawn on the horizon.’”
She glanced over at Arthur and Maudie as she spoke the words, and neither of them could breathe for a moment.
Harriet closed her eyes for several seconds then opened them and said, “Goodbye, dear friend.”
Then Tauria stood and spoke in Erythean.
Florian looked across to Arthur and Maudie. “She is saying that those who leave a mark on the Wide are never truly gone. Given from the water of life, returned to her arms.”
They looked on in reverent silence as Welby’s boat was released to the sea. Arthur tried his best to imagine that Welby was just setting out on a new adventure into unknown waters. “Adventure awaits…” he said in the mildest of whispers.
Back in the city, as they walked along the jetty, Harriet put a hand on Arthur’s shoulder. “He had a good life … in the end…” Her voice drifted off.
“I think I understand the darkwhispers now.”
She looked at him curiously.
“I think I understand Welby now too. I mean really understand him.”
“What happened on that island, Arthur?”
“The darkwhisper did something. I think … I think it took Welby’s memories and gave them to me. Somehow it knew that they needed to be passed on. We thought they were bad, the darkwhispers, but they’re not, not really, they’re…” What were they? He couldn’t even begin to think of the right word. He frowned. “I don’t know what they are. They’re complicated.” There was so much in the Wide to explore, and the more he explored the more it amazed and enthralled him, yet for every question answered, more were asked, and he felt at that moment that he didn’t really understand anything at all.
“What does your heart tell you?”
“That they aren’t good or bad. That they need an energy source to live, just like me, or Parthena, or the thought-wolves.” He shrugged. “A bit weird that it’s storms and memories. But they don’t hurt to hurt, I don’t think.”
Harriet gave a small smile. “It’s all just energy to them. And it’s all right not to understand things, Arthur. The acceptance of not knowing, saying you don’t know, is what opens the path to new knowledge.”
