The Strange Round Bird: Or the Poet, the King, and the Mysterious Men in Black

by Eden Unger Bowditch

  Miss Brett, quietly standing behind Lucy, tried to find her voice as she, once again, marveled at the amazing talents of her wards. “I think those are marvelous, boys. I see what you’ve been working on so busily in your spare time. And Faye, the machine you and Jasper are working on, can it really send images over radio waves?”

  Faye gingerly pulled the paper out from the now silent machine. The picture was blurred, but the image of Noah’s face was evident and, more clearly, the window and sky behind him.

  “That is remarkable,” said Miss Brett. “Photographs are amazing on their own, but to be able to send them, without even a tube or a wire, from one place to another…It is pure magic, I think.”

  “There isn’t enough light,” said Faye, decidedly less impressed than Miss Brett. “The strength of the transmitter is rather weak, too. We need to be quite close for it to work.”

  “But we can have one and the other,” argued Lucy. “What if we don’t want to be anywhere fast or even anywhere?”

  “What’s that?” asked Noah, incredulous as he often was when Lucy declared something.

  “I think it’s lovely,” said Lucy.

  “My face?” asked Noah, with mock innocence.

  “The airship window,” said Lucy, giggling.

  “Faye thought it was pretty lovely, too,” teased Noah. “She was like a puppy in a carriage window, tail wagging and tongue hanging out.”

  Faye’s cheeks grew hot. She could have throttled Noah, mostly because he was right and she could hardly contain her excitement. It had been amazing. They were on the train in Bologna, and then suddenly metal was clanging. Within minutes, they were clamped in and soaring in the air. Faye had always denounced airships as obsolete, but this was actually her first time riding in one.

  Lucy said, twirling, “I love it in here because it’s like we’re a flock of ravens.”

  “What?” said Noah, cupping his ear.

  “She means because we’re so high,” Wallace said, his voice cracking. “Like we’re flying, and we’re something of a flock.”

  And they were.

  “It’s incredible,” Faye said, staring out.

  They were high enough to make out the earth’s curvature along the edge of the great body of water and the endless sky. It didn’t take long to feel that nothing but water was on the planet. But within hours, they were back over land, then back over water, and then back over land again. By the fifth time, even Lucy was less enthusiastic at the sight of land.

  “Another airship!” cried Wallace, his glasses slipping to the edge of his nose. Everyone else was sitting in the observation deck. They were in front, looking at a pod of whales far below.

  At first, Wallace thought it was only a shadow, oddly shimmering against the sun, which made it hard to be sure what they were seeing.

  “Quick!” shouted Miss Brett. “We must tell one of the brothers in black.”

  Noah was the first one out of the room, down into the train car, and banging on the galley compartment door. At the sight through the big glass window, Noah gasped. It was too late. The ship was upon them.

  “What do we do?” cried Wallace in a panic. He, Faye, and Jasper were still looking out of the observation deck window. Lucy was hiding under a chair.

  Now the dark ship was right below them. They could see it clearly, as if they could step out of the window and stand on it, and then a cloud passed and it simply disappeared.

  “Where did it go?” Noah asked, his face pressed against the glass.

  “It’s there!” Jasper was pointing below, where the ship had been. In the rays of the sun, the ship came into view again. It hadn’t moved away; it had simply become invisible without light shining directly on it.

  Suddenly, a grinding noise was heard. Faye leaned over and saw a metallic pipe aimed up towards their own airship. Was it going to puncture a hole?

  “They’ve caught us.” Lucy was now crying. “It’s probably Komar Romak. They’re going to shoot us down!”

  Miss Brett paled at the mention of the evil that seemed to follow them everywhere. Komar Romak had held her prisoner. Komar Romak had been hunting them down. Komar Romak was a killer.

  “It will be all right, Lucy.” Jasper was sure it would be anything but all right. How could the brothers in black have let this happen?

  A brother in a frilly apron opened the door. “Almost over,” he said, seemingly about to leave.

  “Almost over?” shouted Faye. “This is how you protect us? This is how you let us know we’re all going to die?”

  The frilly apron man just looked at her. He tilted his head. All he said was “gas,” and then he turned to leave.

  Faye grabbed the door, now blushing. She wasn’t sure if “gas” referred to something someone did in the room, but just in case, she tried not to breathe through her nose.

  “Petrol,” said the frilly apron man, “and sun panel.”

  Faye was still confused.

  Noah put a hand on Faye’s shoulder, deep breaths easing his tight chest. “We’re refueling,” he said. He was now blushing too.

  The children went to the window as Jasper came back to join them.

  “I suppose you’ve all heard,” he said. “For once, we’re not under attack.”

  Wallace was the most embarrassed since it was he who had sounded the alarm. The children watched as the solar panels were adjusted and the petrol-carrying zeppelin pulled off into the clouds.

  “Why couldn’t we set ourselves down to refuel?” asked Wallace.

  “Perhaps it’s safer this way,” suggested Noah. “We’re still able to move if needed.”

  In the distance, on the edge of the deep blue sea, they could again see land rising from the water.

  Jasper was determined to see in the dark. After the false alarm over the petrol refilling, he began work on a project he had started back in London, after two schoolboys he had known tripped him and knocked him around. They regularly waited for him on his way home from his father’s laboratory and somehow always managed to catch him unaware in the dark. He had forgotten about the invention, but decided he might be able to modify it for use with their camera.

  “What are you doing with those lenses?” Miss Brett asked.

  “Well, these are the components of my night-seeing glasses,” explained Jasper. “I’ve worked out how to intensify the image using glass. I’ve built a phosphorus screen to use between the front lens and the eye-piece. The phosphorus will amplify the electrons passing through the screen and allow the seer more light, or the impression of more light, as long as there is a charge to convert the small amounts of light into energy that will then be converted back to light once it passes through, or rather bounces off, the phosphorus screen.”

  Miss Brett smiled, having no idea what he meant. “Lovely, Jasper,” she said and decided to arrange for lunch.

  CHAPTER TWO

  THE CASTLE IN THE SKY

  OR

  WHAT JASPER FINDS BETWEEN THE PAGES

  Jasper picked up the camera again. Because Faye already had taken several photos of the Sphinx, he had to reload the celluloid roll of film before he could take any more. As they floated in over Giza, the Great Pyramids came into view just on the other side of the Sphinx.

  Miss Brett pulled from her pocket a small and rather frayed book published by Thos. Cook & Company called The Nile: Notes for Travellers in Egypt by E.A. Wallis Budge. It was given to her by Mr. Bell, her mentor at teaching college. She had adored Mr. Bell and cherished the book. Mr. Bell had been such an odd little man. With his overly long cloak and flowing scarf and dark glasses, he looked like some kind of bat flying across campus. He was the one who had recommended Miss Brett for this teaching position. When she prepared to leave for the job, she packed books of poetry: Lewis Carroll, E. Nesbitt, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories, and this, the book from Mr. Bell. Funny, she had had no idea it might come in handy.

  Jasper leaned as close as he could against the window and pressed the bu
tton on the camera.

  “It looks just like the photographs from Daddy’s book.” Lucy’s nose was pressed against the window.

  It was a spectacular view.

  “Are we going to land in the desert?” asked Wallace to no one in particular.

  “It doesn’t appear so,” said Miss Brett. “We’re veering away from the desert towards the city.”

  The ship landed in the shadow of the largest pyramid. Surprisingly, the Great Pyramids were actually right on the edge of the city and not in the middle of the desert. In all of the drawings and photographs the children and Miss Brett had ever seen, the pyramids looked like they were in the middle of the desert. But these majestic pyramids were right on the edge of the busy city, with crowded streets bursting with carriages, vegetable carts, donkeys, and horses pulling families and their wares. There were hundreds of people trading and selling and drinking tea.

  “It feels like we’re still in the air,” Lucy giggled as she stepped out onto the sand, swaying from side to side like a drunken sailor.

  Jasper almost tripped on his own feet as he stared up at the enormous pyramids. They were truly like mountains rising from the sand. Jasper felt like a tiny mouse. Each of the stone slabs that made up the pyramids would have been a challenge for him to climb.

  Next to a very small opening in one pyramid stood two mysterious men in black. One wore a black scarf wrapped around his head, and a long black robe, a galabaya, traditional to the region. The other man wore a large silk hat and loose fitting black trousers.

  “Excuse me?” Miss Brett touched the arm of the galabaya wearer. “Are we supposed to be in there?” She was worried about Faye, who struggled with claustrophobia, yet had been so brave during their last adventures in tight quarters. Miss Brett had read about the pyramid tunnels, some of them so small Lucy would be unable to stand up properly within. “We’re not going inside the Pyramid, are we?”

  “La-a,” said the robed man, holding up a hand.

  “What does that mean?” asked Faye, who had been hoping for a definitive “no.”

  “It means ‘no,’” said Wallace. “I asked.”

  Faye let out a deep breath. She would be fine.

  “Yallah,” said the robed man, beckoning them to come.

  Jasper looked around. Where were all the tourists? According to Miss Brett’s book, the place was usually crawling with people who know how to beg in twenty languages. Here, only one seller, an old man with a large bushel on his back, crouched and slept against the base of the Pyramid. Of course, thought Jasper. It was barely dawn.

  “Look at the little Sphinx,” said Noah. “Somehow, it seems even smaller from down here.”

  “That’s true,” Wallace said. “It really is all about perspective—the place from which you look at the thing.”

  “I suppose that goes for much else,” said Miss Brett. “It depends on which side you look at it.”

  Once they reached the Sphinx, the sun felt hot on their necks. An ancient man stood in between the paws of the great statue. On his back was a basket that seemed to be twice his size.

  “Look! He has dried dates and he’s weighing them on his little scale,” said Faye, aiming her camera at the ancient man. “How lovely.”

  “I want some,” said Lucy, not sure what a date was.

  “No dates,” said the robed man.

  Lucy stuck out her lip in a pout. Within moments, Lucy was munching away on sweet dates. Faye shook her head. Lucy always got her way when she used that lip.

  “Come.” The robed man led them through the front paws of the Sphinx.

  “Passage, yallah,” said the robed man. He slid between two slabs by the Sphinx’s right elbow.

  Faye stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart was pounding in her ears.

  “Faye, I want you to take a few deep breaths,” Miss Brett said gently, herself faltering at the narrow entrance. “Breathe until your heart stops pounding.”

  Jasper came up beside them. Faye tried to take slow, deep breaths, but the breaths kept getting squeezed in her tight throat.

  “Look, sir,” Jasper said to the robed man. “Faye needs to go another way.”

  “One way,” said the robed man.

  “Well, please give her a minute then,” Jasper said, worried that even a minute might not be enough.

  Having made it through some tight spaces, Faye felt herself regaining control.

  “It’s all how you look at it,” said Jasper, his hand caressing Faye’s arm. “You can look at it from one side and the space seems small, or from the other side and the space seems long.”

  As if a lever had been pulled, Faye smiled. She took a deep breath and let it out without catching. Jasper was right. She, not her fear, would lead the way. With a nod, she moved towards the robed man and closed her eyes for a moment as she entered the very narrow, dark space.

  Even Jasper felt the walls closing in, but Faye was doing fine. She was talking to herself, which seemed to help, and she also walked with her eyes closed. Jasper led her through, though that was a challenge. The tunnel was more of a mole hole. At times, they could not even stand, let alone see, as they seemed to descend into the bowels of the earth.

  The tunnel eventually began to bring them up from below. At one point, when they could stand, they found stairs they were able to climb. As they turned a corner, light streamed in from the outside. Even the hot desert air outside had felt better than the still air of the tunnel inside.

  Fresh out of the tunnel, they shielded their eyes from the sun. Among the flowers and trees was an enormous palace stretching high into the sky. Almost the color of the sand around it, the remarkable towers were rounded and elegant. The castle looked ancient, and vines covered the entire side facing the garden. Yet, along the sides and from what they could see of the roof, there were panels that seemed to both absorb and reflect the sunlight, adding to the impression of invisibility.

  “How could we have missed seeing that?” Noah wondered aloud.

  “Are people living here or is it a ruin?” Wallace said.

  “Look!” cried Lucy, pointing up.

  “It’s Tesla’s tower,” said Noah. “It’s a Wardenclyffe Tower, only smaller and…leafy.”

  Nikola Tesla, the brilliant scientist and inventor, was a member of their parents’ group of scientists, colleagues, and childhood friends. The children had visited his tower in New York on their way to Solemano. This was a version of that invention. It had the capacity to transmit signals over great distances. It was a wireless transmitter unlike any on the planet, at least unlike anything besides Wardenclyffe. This one, however, seemed to be made of some reflective metal. It shimmered and, among the trees, seemed to be growing leaves. Against the sky, it was camouflaged like everything else.

  As the children and Miss Brett reached the grand steps, they spotted several mysterious men in black robes. Some of these young-looking brothers were carrying baskets of fruit, some flowers. Some were balancing urns or buckets of water on thick sticks over their shoulders. One brother was pulling water from a well and filling urns for another brother to carry. All were busily at work. No one seemed to notice Miss Brett and her charges.

  “Hello?” Miss Brett cleared her throat. “Excuse me?” She tried to get the attention of the water-pumping brother.

  “Ahlan w’ sahlan,” came a booming voice from the doorway. It was Dr. Banneker, who raised his arms. “Welcome to Castle Suleiman.”

  “Dr. Banneker…it is good to see you.” Miss Brett was truly relieved to see him. She fanned her face, which had suddenly felt very hot. The weather was cool, but the sun must have been warmer than she had thought.

  “Father!” cried Wallace, running up the stairs. He threw his arms around his father’s waist. Dr. Banneker returned the embrace and, through his brown cheeks, he too could feel a blush.

  “Is my father here?” asked Noah, stepping closer to Wallace’s father.

  “And our parents?” asked Faye, now rubbing the soft nose
of a baby camel who was leaning its head on her shoulder.

  “Come in, all of you,” said Dr. Banneker. “I’m sure the journey was hot and tiring. We have refreshments inside. Lucy, please leave the camels outside.”

  Like the ancient Italian manor house in the village of Solemano, the inside did not match the ruins outside. The huge arches seemed to be hundreds of feet above. Lucy gaped at the beautiful carpets that were on both the floors and the walls, each one an intricate scene of gardens, musicians, and people reading books or playing instruments.

  Faye was immediately drawn to the stunning woodwork that covered every window and many walls—beautiful carved beads connected by thin sticks made into patterns. The whole place smelled of aromatic sandalwood, and Faye guessed that was what had been used to make the carvings.

  “It’s called mashrabaya,” a voice said softly in her ear.

  “Baba!” cried Faye as she threw her arms around her father’s neck.

  “My little marmelo,” he said, laughing in her arms. “It is so good to have you here. Come embrace your mother.”

  Faye turned to her mother, who was beaming at her. For the first time, Faye noticed creases around her mother’s eyes. She looked tired and Faye could see her mother’s eyes filling with tears.

  “Mother.” Faye, holding her mother close, could feel the strength in her mother’s embrace. A lump grew in Faye’s throat. She had spent so much time feeling angry about her parents, especially her mother, for not standing up against the craziness. Her mother just followed whatever Faye’s father said.

  But Faye could see the pain in her mother’s face. Gwendolyn Vigyanveta had innocently married into this strange mystery. Faye’s father had not. He had known the other parents since childhood—Isobel and Tobias Modest, Clarence Canto-Sagas, and Benjamin and Louisa Banneker, though the latter had died long ago. They all knew about the mysterious men in black. Faye’s mother was almost as innocent as Noah’s mother.