by Alex English
Echo paused for a moment. Miranda wouldn’t miss just one, would she? And wouldn’t Lil be proud if Echo came back with jewels? They could use them for good – sell them to help the orphanage or buy food for the poor. She took a gleaming ruby in her hand, weighing it in her fist. But then she stopped. No, it wasn’t right to steal, even if it was from another sky pirate. And especially when Miranda had been so kind to her. Echo wistfully put the ruby back in its pouch and slid the cabinet shut.
Echo turned to find Sylvester eyeing her suspiciously from his tank. Had he seen what she was doing? Echo shook herself. No, he was just a snake. And, even if he had, she hadn’t been doing anything wrong. She forced herself to look brave and smiled. ‘There’s a good boy,’ she said.
Sylvester hissed and lunged forward, his fangs flashing.
Echo jumped back in alarm.
There was a waft of peppermint, the click of heels on the metal floor behind her and Echo turned to see Miranda appear at the doorway. ‘Up so early?’ Miranda fixed Echo with her piercing green eyes. ‘What were you doing in here?’
‘I… I thought you’d be here. I wanted to see where we were.’
Miranda frowned and glanced round the cockpit, as if checking nothing was missing. She marched over to the voyage computer and pressed a button. A green map came up on the screen. ‘We’re just over the Nordland Channel and approaching Amaranth Point. You can see the Mallow Marshes up ahead.’ She gestured through the viewscreen.
Echo squinted into the distance. On the horizon, she saw a glimpse of land beneath a murky pinkish haze.
‘We’ll have breakfast in Amaranth Point,’ said Miranda, pulling a series of levers on the control panel. ‘Let’s get ready to descend.’
‘Can I help?’ asked Echo. ‘I’ve flown an airship before.’ She joined Miranda at the dashboard and examined the controls. Although a few of them were familiar to her from her voyages in Professor Daggerwing’s Hummerbird, Anaconda had many, many more.
‘What does this do?’ she asked, pointing at a large, golden, triangular-shaped button.
‘Oh, don’t press that one!’ said Miranda, with a laugh. ‘That’s how we lost poor Hana.’
Echo snatched her hand away. Who was poor Hana, and how had Miranda lost her?
Miranda must have noticed her perplexed frown because she giggled and pointed at the square outline on the cockpit floor. ‘It’s the control for the trapdoor. A useful exit if we ever need to get rid of…’
‘Enemies?’ offered Echo.
‘Precisely.’
‘Right.’ Echo watched in unsettled silence as Miranda expertly brought Anaconda down to land in the Mallow Marshes. As they got lower, Echo gazed out through the viewscreen across the rose-tinted landscape. They had reached the ground, but there were not many landmarks at all, just the woven reed walls that encircled the trading town of Amaranth Point, and a row of airships tethered outside in the sticky pink marshland. It seemed endless, swathed in mist and punctuated here and there by clumps of reeds or sludgy-looking islands with drooping trees. Through the fog, the faint golden glow showed the sun was coming up.
Miranda flicked a switch to slow the engines and they landed with a squelch next to the other ships.
‘These are the Mallow Marshes,’ said Miranda. She pressed a button and Echo heard a hatch open with a hiss. As the gangplank of Anaconda slid open, Echo breathed in the delicious scent of strawberries and vanilla. Gilbert’s snout twitched greedily.
‘What is that smell?’ she said.
‘That’s the marshmallows,’ said Miranda. ‘They grow on the reeds here.’ She pointed to a clump of tall, slender leaves.
‘Marshmallows?’ Echo gaped, then broke into a grin as she spotted the soft pink and white blobs growing on the tips of the reeds. Her mouth watered.
Miranda looked at Echo for a moment. ‘Why don’t you go and collect some while I get myself ready? Don’t get lost though. You might come to a sticky end!’
‘I’ll be careful.’ Echo slung her knapsack over her shoulder, rushed down the gangplank and waded out through the pinkish water to the nearest clump of mallow reeds.
Gilbert sprang from reed to reed, careful not to get his feet wet.
When they’d moved far enough away from Anaconda, and Miranda, Echo glanced around. Miranda was right. There really was nowhere to run away to, just endless pink marshland as far as the eye could see.
But wait, what was that? Something was moving on the horizon. Echo squinted into the early-morning sun, but it was too far away to make out.
‘What is it?’ she said. ‘Can you see, Gilbert?’
Gilbert scuttled up to the top of the tallest reed and cocked one conical eye.
Echo grabbed Horace’s spyglass from her bag and focused in on a strange, long-necked, woolly pink creature. As she watched, she realized it wasn’t just one animal, but a whole herd of them. At first, they blended into the mallow rushes, but soon she could make out a whole pack of the peculiar beasts. And they were galloping straight towards her.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Echo stuffed the spyglass back in her bag, grabbed Gilbert and hurried back the way she had come. Behind her, she heard a peculiar braying noise. Then a splashing and sucking that grew louder as the herd of pink animals lolloped through the marsh towards them.
‘Miranda!’ Echo squelched as fast as she was able to back over to Anaconda, her knapsack bumping against her legs. ‘Miranda, there’s something—’
But, before she could get there, she was overtaken by the fluffy creatures, which barrelled past her, jostling her into the sticky pink water and sending her knapsack flying.
Echo put her hands over her head as she cowered among the reeds.
‘What is it?’ Miranda ran down the gangplank, her high heels ringing out on the shiny metal. Echo looked up to see her unholstering a flintlock pistol with an emerald grip.
BANG! Echo flinched as Miranda aimed and fired three shots over Echo’s head.
Miranda’s eyebrows knotted and her lips twisted into an ugly grimace. ‘Missed.’ She looked at Echo and broke into a smile. ‘No need to be scared,’ she said, popping a peppermint into her mouth. ‘It’s just a few overexcited marshmallamas.’
Echo got to her feet, looking around nervously, but the marshmallamas had disappeared into the mist. ‘Are they dangerous?’
‘No, not in the slightest.’ Miranda holstered her pistol with a laugh and stepped off the gangplank. ‘You should have stood still and they’d have run straight past you.’
Echo stopped and frowned. ‘So why did you shoot at them?’
‘Oh –’ a smile curled on Miranda’s lips – ‘just sport.’
She pressed a fingertip to a sensor on the exterior of Anaconda and the doors shut behind her. There was a bleep, three green lights flashed and a robotic voice said, Armed.
‘Come on,’ she said. ‘We’ve no time to waste. Let’s go and get those supplies.’
Echo shook the pink water out of her hair and followed Miranda in silence to the town gate, an uneasy feeling settling in her stomach. It didn’t seem very sporting to shoot at innocent creatures, if that’s what the marshmallamas were. She shrugged. Miranda couldn’t have meant to hit them – that was the only explanation.
Miranda rapped on the gate with her knuckles. After a few moments, a hatch in the door slid open and a man’s grimy face peered through the slot.
‘Name?’ he said.
‘Miranda Vossberg.’
His eyes widened in shock. ‘W… welcome to Amaranth Point,’ the man said. The hatch slammed shut, there was the noise of several bolts sliding back and the town gate swung open.
* * *
Amaranth Point was a higgledy-piggledy little town of wooden houses that teetered on stilts above the swampy waters. The buildings were connected by a slippery wooden boardwalk and every path seemed to lead to the central square, where an open-air market was in full swing.
Echo followed Miranda past stalls sell
ing dried meats and dragon-defence talismans, dodging sword-swallowers, fire jugglers and a lady singing a song about a serpent who’d eaten her long-lost love. The air was full of the sweet scent of marshmallows, but also, less pleasingly, clouds of mosquitoes that buzzed round Echo’s head.
‘Right, let’s get going.’ Miranda consulted a list written in green ink on parchment and marched over to a stall marked VERNE’S ADVENTURER’S OUTFITTERS.
As Miranda read out her list to the man behind the stall, Echo glanced round the square. In a pen at its centre, a marshamallama trader paraded his flock of fluffy, braying beasts, while an auctioneer in a floppy pink hat bellowed out numbers through a megaphone to the eager crowd. Now that she was closer, Echo could see that the creatures were quite harmless. They were as tall as Miranda, but they seemed to be mostly neck and had gentle brown eyes with long lashes, and fluffy tails that wagged eagerly when the trader scratched them behind the ears.
‘That will do nicely,’ said Miranda, as Echo turned back. The man bagged up a huge black bullwhip, a large paper bag marked MARSHMALLOWS and a great many glow jars.
‘We’re heading to Tarakona Canyon,’ Miranda said, as she opened her purse. ‘I don’t suppose you’d know the most efficient route?’
‘Never heard of it,’ said the man, with a shrug. ‘And here are the flame-retardant gloves. In total, that’s twenty doubloons.’
‘If you could point me in the direction of someone who does know,’ said Miranda, holding out a whole handful of gold coins, ‘I’d make it worth your while.’
The man’s eyes bulged. ‘You’d better ask Cerise,’ he said, reaching out to take the gold.
‘Cerise?’ Miranda’s fingers closed over the coins.
‘In the World’s End.’ He jerked his head towards a rickety-looking tavern on the edge of the square.
‘I see.’ Miranda closed her fist and pocketed the coins.
‘Hey, you said…’
‘Twenty doubloons, wasn’t it?’ Miranda grabbed the bag of supplies, plucked out two tarnished coins, threw them at the man and turned on her heel, with Echo scuttling after her.
* * *
The World’s End tavern was surprisingly clean and cosy, with a roaring fire and pink woollen cushions on every seat. Echo and Miranda settled themselves at a corner table.
They were soon eating a sweet but rather sickly breakfast of marshmallarmalade on toast, washed down with marshmallama milkshakes.
‘I’m afraid there’s not much else that grows around here,’ said Miranda, with a smile. They both looked up as a barmaid with shocking pink hair piled up in a heap on top of her head approached the table.
‘Greetings,’ she said. ‘I hear you want to speak to me.’
‘Cerise?’ asked Miranda, wiping her mouth on her napkin.
The barmaid nodded.
‘We’re looking to find Tarakona Canyon.’ Miranda took out a little drawstring bag of coins and placed it on the table, opening it so Cerise could see the gold inside.
Cerise nodded slowly. ‘It’s east of here.’ She took a fountain pen from her breast pocket and sketched out a diagram on Miranda’s napkin. ‘The River Vaal runs through it. Mount Vaal and Mount Enoc are at either end. Look out for those and you won’t go wrong. Careful though – they say Mount Vaal is still an active volcano.’
Miranda took the napkin and examined it. ‘Most useful.’
Cerise leaned over the table to take Echo’s empty plate. ‘It’s a popular place all of a sudden. You’re the second band of sky pirates to ask about it today.’
‘Oh really?’ Miranda paused, her fork halfway from her mouth. ‘And who was the first band?’
Cerise simpered. ‘I don’t think I can—’
BANG! Miranda stabbed the fork into the table, narrowly missing Cerise’s fingers. She flipped back her cloak to show the barmaid the glittering pistol that was holstered on her hip. ‘I think you’ll find you can tell me anything I desire to know.’
Cerise froze, her face drained white with fear.
Behind her, the tavern door opened and Gilbert butted Echo’s cheek with his nose.
Echo looked up and caught a glimpse of purple velvet and a glossy black plait. She stared for a moment and, as the woman’s head turned so she could scan the room, she realized it was Rashmi the Ruthless, the leader of the Heartless Violet Pilots.
‘Er, Miranda,’ said Echo, tilting her head towards the tavern entrance.
Miranda took one glance at Rashmi and pocketed the map. ‘Let’s go.’ She pulled the hood of her cloak low over her face and turned to Cerise, one hand still threateningly on her pistol. ‘Is there a back door?’
Cerise nodded. ‘This way.’ She ducked her head and walked swiftly to the rear of the tavern, with Miranda and Echo close behind.
* * *
Miranda stormed through the boardwalk streets of Amaranth Point, Echo scurrying in her wake. ‘Did she see us?’ barked Miranda.
‘I… I don’t think so,’ said Echo.
‘Hurry then, we have no time to lose.’ Miranda barged through the crowds of shoppers and waved her gun at the man at the gate.
Outside the town gates, a huge, ebony-wood sky galleon with three purple-silk balloons and a silver plaque inscribed PURPLE PEOPLE EATER was moored next to Anaconda.
‘The cheek of it,’ snarled Miranda. ‘Let’s see how Rashmi likes this.’ She took her pistol and aimed it. BANG! She shot the first balloon. BANG! BANG! Each of the balloons in turn let out a hiss and began to sag. Miranda laughed. ‘That should slow her down.’
‘But… but that’s not playing fair,’ said Echo. ‘Surely all the clans in the alliance should have a chance at the treasure?’ She thought back to the bags of emeralds and gold in the cabinet of Anaconda. ‘You have so much already.’
Miranda stared at Echo as though she was stupid. ‘The Cutlass of Calinthe isn’t just treasure,’ she snapped. ‘Whoever wields it is the leader of all the clans. Do you know what that means?’
‘N… not really.’
‘It means that I will unite all seven clans. All Seven Skies. Do you think I’m going to let that idiot Rashmi take charge? Or Old Gus? Or Indigo Lil? None of those fools can lead the seven skies like I can!’
Echo flushed with anger. ‘But everyone should have their fair chance. You didn’t have to puncture Rashmi’s balloons.’
‘I don’t care about fair. I care about winning.’ She glared at Echo, her green eyes flashing. ‘And I don’t need to hear about it from a little bit of dragon bait like you.’
Dragon bait? Echo’s insides turned cold. So this was why Miranda had brought Echo with her. She wasn’t going to help her at all.
‘You’re a liar and a cheat!’
Miranda shrugged and drew her cutlass with a swish. She pressed it to Echo’s throat. ‘I know, it’s terribly unfair, isn’t it? Now, back to your cabin where you can’t cause any more trouble. I have a cutlass to find, and you are not going to stop me.’
She grabbed Echo by the collar of her shirt and marched her back inside Anaconda to her cabin, where she pushed her roughly inside. Echo heard the door slide across and the click of a lock, then the Anaconda’s engines roared and they were off, leaving the Mallow Marshes and the deflated balloons of the Purple People Eater far behind them.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
When she was sure Miranda had gone, Echo tried the door, but it was firmly locked, no matter how hard she pushed and pulled. She slammed both fists against it in frustration. It had all been a huge mistake to trust Miranda. Old Gus had tricked her too. She should have known by now that the other clans weren’t honest sky pirates like Lil and the Black Sky Wolves. They didn’t care about fighting for good; they just cared about themselves!
Echo shook her head. She should have found another way back to the Scarlet Margaret. Her mother would have known what to do to get Horace back. A thought suddenly hit her like a thunderbolt. No wonder she hadn’t had a message from Lil. Miranda hadn’t sent the po
stal pigeon! She had lied about the whole thing! So now Echo was stuck here with a crazy woman and Lil had no idea where she was. She could feel a sob building in her chest, but she fought it back down and scrubbed her eyes furiously with her shirtsleeve. She wouldn’t let Miranda make her cry.
She paced over to the bed and looked out of the porthole. They were leaving the pink haze of the Mallow Marshes behind now, but up ahead she could make out brownish mountains looming on the horizon. She leaned her head against the window, the glass cool against her brow, and clenched her fists. Some sky pirate she was. Lil would never have got herself into this mess! Why had Echo ever thought Miranda was going to help her?
They flew for hour after hour, and, the next time Echo peered out of the porthole, the brown mountains had become a vast reddish desert. Acres of rust-coloured dust spread out before her, studded here and there with wild, thorny trees and strange rock formations that arched into the air like giant ribcages. The land seemed to have rippled and folded in on itself, like a huge scarlet tablecloth that had been flung into the air, and, as they flew onwards, Echo saw the terrain was pocked with the craters of extinct volcanoes.
We’re in the Dragonlands, she thought, with a shiver.
And then, when it was almost dusk and her belly was growling with hunger, she saw them – Mount Vaal and Mount Enoc – the two volcanoes marking the ends of the vast Tarakona Canyon, and the River Vaal weaving through its centre like a silver snake.
‘Nearly there, Gilbert,’ she said, turning to stroke the little lizard’s chin. ‘I wonder what we’re going to find.’
There was a tap at the windowpane and Echo spun round in panic, half expecting to see Miranda’s furious face looming over her. But what she saw made her heart soar with hope. It was her own postal pigeon, flying alongside the airship and trying in vain to get in through the porthole.
