Brightstorm

by Vashti Hardy

  “A wise choice by the look of your ship, Captain!” Harriet shouted back as they chugged past. “Thank you for your concern, but we’re still a stout ship and crew; there’s plenty of life in us yet! Travel safe!”

  “Only the Victorious between us and South Polaris, then,” Welby said, with a broad smile.

  They carried on, day after day battling vicious winds – some days going full steam ahead just to stay still.

  On the twelfth day, the weather had calmed and Felicity was taking a break from preparing dinner because her feet ached so terribly she had to get her weight off them for the afternoon. She’d left Arthur in charge of preparing her special galley stew, which they ate every five days, so he knew how to prepare it with his eyes shut. He was chopping potatoes on his spike board when he heard the rumble of feet on wooden floorboards directly above him.

  Arthur was desperate to run and see what was going on, but the galley couldn’t be left unattended if the stove was lit. As Felicity reminded him often, fire and wooden flying ships don’t mix unless you want a quick descent. Shutting down the valves and starving the fire of oxygen took time. He impatiently tapped his iron arm until the flame went out, before dashing out of the door along the corridor and up the stairs to the deck. When he reached above, the crew were all staring over the side of the ship, pointing.

  The Aurora had descended to a short distance above the now calm waves. Blocks of ice as tall as the great buildings of Uptown Lontown dotted across the sea, luminous blue in the late afternoon light. All of a sudden, something great and dark rose from the water between two icebergs, and a huge chuff of water sprayed into the air. The creature arched its huge body slowly then submerged again.

  Maudie jumped beside him tugging his arm. “Arty, look! Aren’t they amazing?”

  Then a group of four rose together – two large and two smaller. He had never seen such enormous creatures. The scene was breathtaking.

  “It’s a family,” he said.

  Two wrinkled hands grasped the edge of the ship beside Arthur. “They’re called Great Glacies and they’re whales – the largest creature in the world.” Welby’s white hair had become longer and less perfect throughout the journey. He even had a bit of a beard growing, which Arthur thought suited him – he looked like an original explorer from the illustrations in Exploring in the Second Age. “They were almost hunted out of existence.”

  “By the people of the Second Continent?” Arthur asked. They seemed so in touch with nature and animals there, he couldn’t imagine it.

  “No – by the First. The Great Glacies weren’t always this far south. They were common in the Culldam Sea and further north, but the body of a Glacie fetched a high price in Lontown. Great animals were slaughtered just so some Uptowner could show off a whale-skin clutch at a dinner party or someone like Eudora Vane could have luminous skin with the fine oils derived from the blubber.”

  “So they stay here where the rough seas keep them safe?”

  “As much as they can, but they need to travel to warmer waters to feed when it’s the harshest winter.”

  “The whales should hunt the humans and see how they like it,” Maudie said.

  “Indeed!” Welby laughed. It was lovely to see his serious mask drop for a moment, before he resumed his orderly tone. “Now, back to work, there’s much to do – this isn’t a tea party, you know, no matter what Miss Wiggety says.”

  Harriet approached Welby, holding the temperature reader attached to her belt. “It’s dropped several degrees in the past hour, and at night it will plunge, which means we’re nearly at the Third Continent. Miss Wiggety, I want you to go straight to the stores and hand out the warm clothes we picked up in the Citadel. The cold will sink its chill teeth straight into our bones if we stay in these any longer.” She called to the crew to form a queue in the galley corridor and get their new clothes, while Arthur rushed down to relight the stove.

  Five minutes later, Arthur hurriedly slopped extra-large portions of stew into overfilling bowls and handed them to the crew, who ate quickly before leaving to dress in their new kit.

  As Arthur was clearing up, Harriet arrived back. “I’ve brought your new clothes.” She put the huge pile of fur and oilskin on the table.

  Arthur carried the bundle back to his cabin to change. Putting on the furs and oilskins was awkward, and he wished he had Maudie there to help. The buttons were in unfamiliar places and stiff, so were tricky to do one-handed, let alone getting the smock jacket over his iron arm. He knew it would be far simpler to take the arm off, but he wanted to make sure he could still wear it as it was bound to be useful as they continued in the Third Continent. It was too awkward to force his iron arm through, so he pushed his feet into the fur boots, and went back to the galley. He secured the jacket into his chopping clamp and sliced through the material of the arm with Felicity’s sharpest knife. His iron arm eased through the sleeve hole, fitting snugly. By the time he’d finished, his cheeks were bright crimson with the effort, so he hurried to the deck where the cold slap of wind was a welcome relief. The last sliver of sunlight evaporated as the clouds above met.

  “It’s dropped five degrees in ten minutes,” Maudie said, shivering in the dark.

  Snow drifted from above. Soft and light, it fluttered down, icing the ship and the crew.

  “We need everyone scraping – if the ice forms on the ship and the wings it’ll weigh us down too much,” Welby called out.

  By evening, the temperature had dropped again, and Harriet ordered a shift pattern for clearing the snow through the night and sent everyone else below deck to get some sleep, while she and Welby took turns navigating the ship and sleeping. Even inside, the Aurora seemed to be frosting over and the woodwork creaked and strained. Parthena and Queenie had formed a truce and were below deck, snuggled together, keeping warm with everyone else.

  Keen to see the snow again, Arthur volunteered for the early shift and woke at dawn. He could only remember it snowing a few times in Lontown and nothing on this scale. He found a metal flask and made tea to take to Harriet on the deck.

  At the hatch, the ice wind took his breath away. Arthur peered through and watched Harriet at the wheel steering the Aurora onwards. Her silhouette was utterly still, strong, as if nothing could knock her from her position, her mop of unstyled hair danced in the wind and her gaze was fixed ahead.

  He crossed the deck and passed her the flask.

  “Thank you. The snow’s eased – look.” She pointed to the horizon.

  Ahead, an endless white carpet spread across the landscape, broken by thousands of ice-topped hills stretching from east to west and glimpses of greenery. Harriet passed him the binoscope. “It’s quite something, isn’t it?”

  The stretch of white was crisp and fresh, every edge sharp and defined. Arthur took a large breath and crystal cold filled his lungs. The sea below was speckled with thousands of ice chunks lapping into the frozen shore. In the far distance the undulations petered out. “Is that the Everlasting Forest?”

  “Yes, I believe so, but we won’t reach that for some time. We’ll set down on the coast in the bay, change the water and check everything is in order before we embark on crossing further. Porridge for breakfast, and let’s break open a jar of Batzorig’s best honey.”

  He rushed below and helped Felicity as the crew woke and began their duties. Seeing how eager he was to see more of the Third Continent, Felicity said she would take care of breakfast and make sweet honeyed tea to combat the cold. She let him off his duties to return to the deck. Parthena flew on to his iron arm, and butted her head to his cheek. “I agree, Parthena,” said Arthur, “it’s amazing here.” Then she took flight into the clear morning sky. Arthur watched her through the binoscope, her great white wings elegantly working with the undulations of the wind.

  They had descended and were coming in to land in the bay when Parthena circled the ship and made a succession of screeches. “What the grinding grommets has got into her?” he said.
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  There was the rumble of engines as the Victorious took flight from the shore of the Third Continent.

  Harriet took the binoscope and looked through. “It’s all right, Arthur. We predicted we’d catch them up around here. It’s a little sooner than expected, but that’s a good thing. We’ll land, change the water supply and then take straight off again. Their engines will be on half power to conserve fuel, so this is where we gain an advantage.” She passed Arthur the binoscope.

  As he looked through he saw a flash of silver – he chased it with his gaze. It was a strange flying silver insect. “Look!” He pointed. “What’s that doing all the way out here?”

  But when he passed the binoscope back to Harriet, it had gone.

  “Maybe it was just a reflection on the glass,” she said.

  But he was certain it wasn’t.

  CHAPTER 19

  THE CASE AGAINST

  EUDORA VANE

  The Aurora landed on the icy shore of the Third Continent. Arthur couldn’t believe he’d travelled across so far. He felt he’d stepped into a wintery dream. While Harriet, Maudie and some other members of the crew busied themselves with the water change, and their equipment checks, Arthur and Felicity walked a little way up the coastline in case there was anything that could be added to the stores, but it was rock and ice as far as they could see. There was an absolute quiet to the land, and if it hadn’t been for the distant chug of the Victorious’s engines, Arthur would have felt as though they were the only living creatures in the entire Wide.

  “We’re here at last,” Felicity said, smiling. “Is something bothering you, young Arthur?”

  He shrugged. “I guess a small part of me thought that maybe my father had survived, but look at it here. Who could survive on their own?”

  “Hope can drive us to do things we never thought possible, Arthur Brightstorm. Maybe you had to tell yourself that to give you the strength. And perhaps a part of the reason you came all this way wasn’t just about your father.”

  He wasn’t sure what she meant.

  “You’ll understand one day. Come on, there’s clearly nothing edible around here!”

  They soon took off again. Little by little, they were closing in on the Victorious. After half a day, they were approaching the Everlasting Forest of the Third Continent, Harriet turned course south-westerly for a short time so that they could keep a safe distance from the rival sky-ship.

  “We’re nearly level with them!” Maudie called, looking through her uniscope.

  The whole crew stood poised on the port-side deck, watching in anticipation.

  As Harriet steered onwards, Welby stood beside Maudie, looking through the binoscope and checking his readings.

  After a moment he declared, “The Aurora is ahead!”

  The crew cheered, but Arthur remained quiet, focusing on the forest below.

  Maudie approached him. “What’s the matter, Arty? You should be pleased.”

  “I am, it’s just…”

  The trees were packed tightly together; it was impossible to see what lurked below. All Arthur could think about were the great prints that the Vane crew had found by the Brightstorm ship and the huge pelt the Vane crew had brought back. He stared at the frozen treetops passing silently below.

  “If you wanted to hide a secret, it would be in there,” he said.

  But Maudie had already left and was talking with Welby and exchanging notes.

  They flew on into the night, which was only short now they were so far south, lasting just a few chimes. The skies were eerily clear and the almost full moon illuminated a vast landscape of white trees. It was beautiful, yet there was something unnerving about it – a looming blackness that seemed to be watching them. The further they went, the more he could feel it in his head – strange words and thoughts, almost as though the darkness was talking to him. But that sounded ridiculous.

  A hand on his arm made him jump.

  “Are you all right? You’ve gone pale as the moon,” Maudie said, passing him a steaming cup.

  “It’s the forest – it’s so … black.”

  She frowned. “It looks pretty bright with all the snow.”

  “No, I mean inside the forest. I can hear something.”

  Maudie frowned. “You’re thinking of the beasts, aren’t you?”

  He nodded.

  “Arty, you need sleep. We can’t land until light, and we’ll be perfectly safe all together.”

  “Hm,” he said, peering down. Were the whispers trying to tell him the sinister truth?

  “Arty, are you sure you’re all right?” She pulled his arm. “Come on, you’re going to our cabin for a rest.”

  *

  Arthur fell asleep quickly. The next thing he knew, a great boom and shudder rumbled every cell in his body. He sat up, wide-eyed.

  Maudie looked over the side of the bunk. “What the grinding grommets was that?” They both leapt out of bed and began pulling on their boots.

  Footsteps thundered through the hallway. Suddenly the Aurora dipped at the front, sending them flying forward. They scrambled into the passageway.

  Harriet dashed past. “There’s been some sort of explosion in the engine. The pressure gauge is going through the roof. I’m shutting down the engine – she’s going to blow again. Brace for a crash landing, wrap yourself in anything you can find. I’ll guide her into the trees as best I can.”

  Arthur and Maudie dashed back to their bunks, pulled the mattresses from their beds and wrapped them around themselves. The Aurora banked sideways and they lurched across the room. Through the portholes, the forest was a swathe of ghostly white-topped pines growing nearer by the second. The thought of going into the darkness of the forest was terrifying, but so was the thought of exploding mid-air.

  “Why do you come?” He turned behind him to see who had spoken, but there was no one.

  Arthur tumbled, then everything flew upward and hit the ceiling, as the Aurora surged down. Flashes of white and darkness rolled past the window. Hideous crashing and splitting sounds were everywhere, and the hull juddered horribly. All he could see was the rush of branches and hear their terrible scrape as they were engulfed by the forest.

  With a horrible crack, splinters of wood flew through the air and again he tumbled. A bone-wrenching jolt threw him across the room – the cacophony of noise disappeared and everything went very still, silent and black.

  *

  Arthur groaned. Every part of his body ached. He wiggled his toes and fingers – yes, still there. He tried to open his eyes but his head pounded.

  Someone wiped his forehead with a cloth, and he heard Dr Quirke’s voice. “It’s just a cut – you’ll be all right. The crash probably knocked you out for a while but don’t worry, everyone’s alive. There are a few cracked ribs and nasty bruises, Welby has broken his wrist, but we were lucky.”

  Arthur sat up. His head thrummed and everything spun. He fought the urge to faint.

  “Whoa, careful,” Harriet said.

  “I have to find Maudie,” he said, trying to stand.

  Harriet put a firm hand on him. “You need to be still. Maudie’s fine; she’s helping the wounded. I’ll tell her you’re awake.”

  The blurred shapes cleared – around was utter devastation. The Aurora had been torn apart and was in two halves. The surrounding trees were bent, snapped and charred, and debris littered the branches and forest floor. Parthena called from somewhere in the trees above.

  “Stay here for a while – you took quite a bang to the head. I’ll get a fire going.”

  As soon as Harriet had gone, he tried to get up again. Felicity ran over, her hair loose and dishevelled, and her apron torn. “Now, stay still – and that’s an order,” she said, waving her bent spoon at him.

  “I guess the lucky spoon ran out of luck,” he said.

  She smiled and shook her head. “Oh, Arthur Brightstorm, joking at a time like this.” Then she ripped up the edge from her apron and started rebandaging
his head. “Let’s sort this out. I was rushing the first time.”

  “What happened?”

  “Some sort of explosion. It’s a miracle we’re all alive.”

  Maudie ran from behind the other half of the ship. “Thank goodness you’re all right.” She crouched beside him and helped Felicity tie his bandage.

  They sat in sad silence and stared at the wreckage of the Aurora. A trail of smoke petered into the sky.

  Arthur couldn’t speak. They’d come so close.

  After a while Harriet returned holding Arthur’s iron arm. “I found this dangling in a tree. It scared the life out of me until I realized what it was. I’ve started a campfire, but we need to gather supplies and salvage what we can before the short night comes again.” She sat beside Arthur, who stared into space. “Maudie, you can help Welby and Forbes assess the state of the engine and see what can be saved. I need to gather more wood for the fire or we’ll freeze. Arthur, how’s your head feeling now – can you help?”

  He nodded – he couldn’t sit staring at the chaos and disappointment a moment longer.

  “All right. I’ll just tell the rest of the crew, then we’ll go.”

  Arthur reached inside his iron arm. Thankfully the piece of paper from the book was still there. He unfolded it and read.

  The Brightstorm moth, a new species discovered by Ernest Brightstorm in the Northern Isles, uses the light of the moon to ensure they travel in an absolutely straight line, allowing them to navigate successfully between two volcanic islands fifty miles apart, and never stray from their path.

  He stared at the drawing of the Brightstorm moth, so intricate it looked real.

  Maudie squeezed his shoulder. “Come on, I’ll help you get your arm on before Harriet gets back.”

  The forest was silent apart from the frozen undergrowth crunching beneath their feet. Harriet led the way.