Harper and the Scarlet Umbrella

by Cerrie Burnell

  The children and wolf raced up the many stairs and out of the Unforgotten Concert Hall after the Wild Conductor.

  Harper opened the Scarlet Umbrella and seized Nate’s hand. “Ready?” she asked.

  “Ready,” said Nate and they sped into the City of Clouds.

  As Harper ran, she felt weightless, as if she was made of nothing but sky and stars and evening breeze. She squeezed Nate’s fingers tight and he quickened his step to match hers. Then their toes left the ground and they found they were running through twilight, their hearts lighter than the falling rain.

  Chapter Ten

  EDENTWINE

  The Scarlet Umbrella drifted just high enough for Harper, Nate and Smoke to follow the procession of cats who were making their way to the River North. But they were moving so quickly. More like rats than cats.

  “We need to go faster,” Harper muttered. All at once the Scarlet Umbrella flipped the children into the air, then spun upside down and caught them.

  “Whoa!” cried Nate. “It’s like we’re in a boat.”

  “A boat that sails through the clouds,” laughed Harper. “But we’re still not fast enough.”

  Suddenly Nate had an idea. He yanked a long pale strand of string from his pocket. “Edentwine!” Harper beamed, and hugged him.

  Edentwine is incredibly long and incredibly tough. Woven from the stems of storm blooms, edentwine can’t be broken by wind or rain.

  At once Harper brought the Scarlet Umbrella down, so it hovered just above the ground. Carefully Nate attached one end of the edentwine to Smoke’s collar and tied the other to the handle of the Scarlet Umbrella. He ruffled the wolf’s misty fur.

  “Take us to the river, Smoke,” he commanded. The wolf leaped forward at speed, pulling the Scarlet Umbrella behind her like a red kite caught on a wild sea breeze.

  Harper clung to the side of the umbrella in wonder. She had only ever seen the city from the ground or the rooftop of the Tall Apartment Block. Now she caught glimpses of it from between the clouds, and it stole her breath away. On every rooftop, storm blooms grew among puddles like water lilies, and tram tracks crossed the city like a secret glistening maze. In the starry darkness Harper whispered all these sights to Nate. He smiled and held out his hands, feeling the texture of the clouds and rain on his skin. He laughed at its sweet taste and showed Harper how to tell a change in the weather by the feel of the wind.

  Then they both fell silent. Below them, on the bank of the River North, was the sound of an orchestra of a thousand performing cats. Only the performance wasn’t going very well. Memphis and Tallulah were fighting over the bagpipes. Snowflake had given up with the viola and Katarina and Ludo were curled up together having a nap. All around them other cats struggled with their instruments. The only cat playing in time was Midnight. Harper gave a small smile. It seemed the Wild Conductor needed his wand.

  “We’ve got something of yours,” called Nate, holding up the wand.

  The Wild Conductor looked furious.

  “You can have this back in exchange for our cats,” Nate said as casually as if he was talking to the milkman.

  “Fine,” the Wild Conductor replied. “You can have your cat back. But first hand over the wand.”

  Any child who’s ever heard a fairy tale knows you do not hand things over to terrifyingly tall men and trust them to keep their word. Harper and Nate were no exception, but they pretended to go along with the Wild Conductor’s idea.

  “OK,” said Nate, leaning over the side of the umbrella. He gripped the edentwine in his hands and pulled them down along it, until the umbrella hung in the air beside the Wild Conductor’s face. Nate saw only the rough outline of a man edged in silver but Harper saw something she hadn’t spotted before. On his cloak was a tiny silver pin in the shape of a circus tent. Beneath it were the words: THE CIRCUS OF DREAMS. What does that mean? Harper wondered, noticing that the Wild Conductor’s eyes held a glimmer of kindness. She crossed her toes in her purple wellingtons and hoped their plan would work.

  Nate handed over the wand and the Wild Conductor gazed at the children gravely. “You must understand,” he said almost sadly, “that I will never give up the cats. You see, I was once part of a wondrous circus, who I long to join again. These cats are my only way in. If I can lead a cat orchestra, then I can steal the show.” Harper stared at his circus-tent pin and suddenly she understood. The Wild Conductor wasn’t bad or mean, or dangerous, he was just a man chasing a dream, towards a runaway circus. A cat orchestra was indeed a brilliant thing, but he still had no right to steal people’s cats. Harper gazed at Midnight’s bright green eyes, and ever so gently, she brushed her hand against Nate’s, giving him the signal. It was time to put their plan into action. Nate whistled shrilly and Smoke ran in a loop around the Wild Conductor’s legs. At the exact same moment Harper honked loudly in the Wild Conductor’s face on the French horn.

  Slowly the Wild Conductor began to topple. In a dizzyingly fast flash, Midnight leaped from the falling man’s arms and into the Scarlet Umbrella. Harper bent to kiss him. Nate snapped his fingers and in a swift and magnificent bound Smoke jumped in too.

  “Up!” Harper said, sending the umbrella twirling into the sky.

  They’d done it! They’d saved Midnight. They could rescue the other cats later, but for now Midnight was free.

  Harper’s heart drummed with relief, and then it beat with terror. Part of the edentwine was still caught on the Wild Conductor’s foot!

  The Conductor took hold of it.

  “Cut the twine!” yelled Nate, but Harper had no scissors and the wolf’s teeth weren’t sharp enough.

  Nate gripped madly at the knot around Smoke’s collar and groaned. “It’s too tight.”

  So they were stuck, halfway between the sky and the ground in a tug of war.

  Chapter Eleven

  HARPER’S GIFT

  Harper thought desperately about what they could do. Then Great Aunt Sassy’s voice came dancing from her memory: “Music is the magic which soothes the soul.”

  Harper set Midnight down and pulled her cello bow from her purple wellington. She perched on the edge of the Scarlet Umbrella and held the edentwine taut, then raised her bow and began to play it like a violin.

  I’m not sure if you have ever heard edentwine played. But if not, imagine the sound of a skylark falling in love, and that will be near. Nate, Smoke and Midnight were transfixed. Even the Scarlet Umbrella was frozen in time.

  The Wild Conductor’s eyes glazed over, as if he had entered a dream. “I see you have a marvellous gift,” he muttered. Then he cleared his throat, straightened up and yanked on the edentwine, pulling the Scarlet Umbrella from the sky.

  All the while Harper kept playing, feeling the notes from the world around her and letting them find their way to her fingers and bow. As they neared the ground, the Wild Conductor tugged on the edentwine attached to Smoke’s neck.

  “No!” cried Nate, clinging to his wolf. Smoke was wild and fierce but even she would be trapped by the unbreakable twine.

  “Give me back the cat or I take the wolf,” hissed the Wild Conductor.

  Harper had no choice. Nate needed Smoke to be his protector. To warn him of the things he couldn’t see. To growl if he stepped too close to the kerb, or snarl if a stranger stepped too close to him. To stand with him in the dark, making everything brighter.

  Nate locked his fists in anger. But Harper spoke gently. “Cats belong to no one,” she said, her voice soft but clear. “They do whatever they choose, and this cat has chosen to be with me.”

  For a moment the Wild Conductor’s face flickered with doubt. Then he shook the thought away and for the second time that day snatched the cat from her arms.

  Midnight hissed fiercely but Harper whispered to him to be still.

  As the Wild Conductor stepped free of the edentwine and Smoke gave an a
ngry growl, Harper leaned out of the umbrella and called, “Don’t worry, Midnight. I’m coming back.”

  The Wild Conductor scowled at her hatefully, but Harper held his gaze. She knew now what she had to do, and the thought of it made her heart sing. She would use music. She would fight with her bow as if it was an arrow and fill the world with harmonies, night after night after night, until the stars shone with every note she played and the moon glowed with her sounds and the Wild Conductor saw that Midnight belonged with her. As the Scarlet Umbrella floated past the moon, Harper raised the piccolo flute to her lips and played Midnight’s melody.

  Gently, Nate’s fingers unwound the edentwine from Smoke’s collar. Nate felt her tense as if she was listening to something. He strained his ears too. Then he heard it very faintly, blowing on the wind. Even though he couldn’t see her face, Nate knew that Harper was smiling. It was the sound of Midnight’s melody being played back to them from far, far below on a mandolin.

  “Harper, your cat is trying to reach you,” he breathed.

  “That’s what we have to do,” Harper whispered. “We have to get the cat orchestra to follow me instead.” And as the two tunes echoed through the night, a single glistening snowflake fluttered from the sky.

  Chapter Twelve

  THE MIDNIGHT MEETING

  As the children and the wolf neared the Tall Apartment Block, Harper gripped Nate’s hand in surprise. “There’s a crowd of people on the rooftop!” she whispered.

  Isabella Lucas had raised the alarm and told everyone about the children’s courage, about how they were planning to rescue the cats of the City of Clouds and about how they were trying to outwit the Wild Conductor. All the residents had rushed to the rooftop and now they glanced up at the Scarlet Umbrella, and a murmur of hushes spread through them. Ferdie punched the air, his thoughts filled with poetry. Liesel scuttled around as if her heart might burst. This was the proof she needed that fairy tales were real. And one day, she would be the star of one. “We couldn’t save Midnight. Or any of the cats,” said Harper as she climbed out of the umbrella.

  Peter stepped forward, his face full of pride. “But you tried your best, Little Harp,” he smiled. Then he took Harper’s hand and gazed upon her as if she were his own daughter. “We are here to help you,” he said softly.

  “Together we can get Midnight back, and the other cats will follow him,” added his wife, Brigitte.

  “We are at your command,” gushed Madame Flora.

  “You see, Midnight is no ordinary cat,” said Elsie Caraham, peering at Harper with her unusually green eyes.

  “Instruments,” said Harper brightly. “We will fight with instruments.”

  All at once the residents of The Tall Apartment Block flitted away, like a flock of birds. Within a few minutes they’d returned with a strange pile of instruments.

  Brigitte carefully wound Great Aunt Sassy’s sheets into a rope of lavender silk and tied one end to the umbrella’s handle. Then Peter, Paulo, Mariana and Madam Flora attached the instruments to the rest of the rope. There was a sparkling glockenspiel. A glistening triangle. An antique harpsichord. Harper’s cello. And, right at the very bottom, the cherry-wood piano.

  The clouds shivered and Icefall fell from the sky, making Harper blink.

  “Don’t worry,” said Nate kindly. “You could do this with your eyes closed. I’ll show you how.”

  Harper laughed and they leaped into the Scarlet Umbrella. With a whistle from Nate, Smoke bounded in too, her eyes shining like icy stars.

  “Good luck!” cried Ferdie, raising his fist.

  “Strike the Wild Conductor down!” yelped Liesel.

  “Be careful!” said Peter.

  “Be brave!” said Isabella.

  “Be you,” said Elsie, giving Harper a wink.

  Harper closed her eyes. “To the River North,” she cried and the Scarlet Umbrella soared into the air.

  Chapter Thirteen

  THE WILD CONDUCTOR

  On the bank of the River North the Wild Conductor was fretting. Cats prowled around his ankles, pounding instruments in their small paws. They were very out of tune. The Wild Conductor sighed wearily. He was in a terrible mood. There was something very odd about the girl. The way she could make anything musical. The way she was calm and yet brave at the same time. The way she would not give up. He shook his head in annoyance. She was just a child, after all. But a child with a mysterious gift.

  A note of piano music silenced his thoughts. The Wild Conductor stared up and found himself gasping. Above him floated the Scarlet Umbrella, trailing a rope of lavender silk. At the bottom of the rope, silhouetted by the moon, sat Harper playing the cherry-wood piano. It was a wonderful song. A song of stars and mist and hope. A song that spread across the sky as if it came from the heavens.

  Nate sank into the folds of the Scarlet Umbrella, his arms wrapped tightly around Smoke. “This has to work, girl,” he whispered, his ears listening hard.

  Harper’s music wove its way into the heart of every cat like a thread of moonlight and love.

  Below her in the darkness, a mandolin began to follow. Then, almost as faintly as the rushing river, came the sound of bagpipes. Then the beat of a bass drum, the soft hum of a viola and the chime of samba cowbells.

  Every cat on the riverbank swiftly began to play, echoing Harper’s song. It was like listening to magic.

  “She’s done it!” breathed Nate. “The cats are playing her tune.” He stood in the umbrella, raised a harmonica to his lips and began to play along, Smoke howling triumphantly at his heels.

  But it was not just the cats who were touched by Harper’s gift. The clouds around the Scarlet Umbrella seemed to shimmer and glow, and then a flurry of coldness drifted through the air. Nate stood still and Harper almost stopped playing the cherry-wood piano. The little cold flakes were not Icefall or Heartbeat, nor any of the six rains of the City of Clouds. Nate laughed as one landed on his tongue . . . the little cold flakes were snow. “Your music is changing the weather!” he cried, and it was true, for the snowflakes didn’t fall to the ground, they floated round Harper like a million frozen stars, enchanted by the tune she played.

  The Wild Conductor felt his heart shake. He was losing the cats and he knew it. As he watched the child climb up and down the rope and play each instrument with breathtaking grace, surrounded by swirling snow, he finally understood. And he shuddered heavily. Harper was a girl with a musical gift far greater than his own. She could enchant the Midnight Orchestra and control the sky with just a single song. His cheeks burned with shame. The cat and the girl belonged to one another, he thought grimly. It was as clear as the moon was bright.

  With a reluctant flick of his wrist, he released Midnight. High above the river, Harper and Nate felt the world shift. Snowflakes melted into a warm Heartbeat drizzle and they knew they had won. The cats of the City of Clouds were going home!

  “You did it!” yelled Nate, twirling round in a mad umbrella dance. Harper whooped with joy, clambered up the lavender rope and joined Nate in the dance – an orchestra of cats playing just for them.

  When the music ended, the Scarlet Umbrella glided down to the riverbank and Midnight leaped into Harper’s open arms.

  The Wild Conductor bowed his head. “I have done you a great wrong,” he said, almost sincerely. Then he cleared his throat awkwardly and shooed away more cats. Ludo ran past, looking quite the poet’s cat. Snowflake pranced by on pointe and Katarina shimmied by on delicate paws. Two tabby cats with glinting green eyes purred around Harper’s knees: Memphis and Tallulah. They were almost as old and wise as their owner, Elsie. Harper gathered them to her – they could come home in the umbrella as well.

  “What will you do now?” Harper asked the Wild Conductor, settling herself in the Scarlet Umbrella.

  “I will follow the River North,” the conductor answered. “Perhaps
I will raise a wolf. Perhaps I will find a magical cat. Perhaps I will train an orchestra of owls. That way perhaps I will again win a place in the Circus of Dreams. Who knows?”

  He swept into a low elegant bow and with a twirl of black satin he was gone.

  Harper turned to Nate and the two of them burst out laughing.

  “What a strange man,” said Nate with a shrug.

  “I know,” Harper chuckled.

  She stroked Midnight’s fur. “Home,” she said happily, and as the moon glowed like the wolf’s golden eyes, they sailed back to the Tall Apartment Block.

  Chapter Fourteen

  HOME

  When the children arrived at the rooftop, news of the rescued cats had already spread. People were whooping and singing and laughing. Harper and Nate felt like heroes! They ran to hug Ferdie and Liesel.

  “We did it!” Harper breathed.

  “Yes you did!” laughed Isabella, sweeping all four of them into a hug.

  Elsie Caraham held an empty glass up to the sky, and in no time at all it filled with fresh rainwater. “To Harper and her Scarlet Umbrella!” she cried, swigging down the rainwater in one large gulp. “To Harper!” echoed the other residents, raising teacups, mugs and tankards to the sky and filling them with rain.

  Harper clutched the umbrella’s handle and let it lift her a little way into the air. She held up a teacup. “To Nate, Ferdie, Leisel, Smoke and Midnight,” she beamed.

  Applause broke out across the rooftop. The instruments were untied and everyone began to play.

  This was not the music of concert halls or theatres. This was music of the soul. Fast-beating fiddles, jaunty jigs on the piano and mad melodies on the trumpet. A whirlwind of wild sounds filled the rooftop and echoed up to the twinkling sky.