Child of the Cloud Page 19

  Whisker felt a stabbing pain in his left paw and jerked his fingers away. The stone stopped dead.

  ‘Keep going,’ Ruby hissed. ‘We’re almost there.’

  Ignoring the pain in his fingers, Whisker spread both palms over the underside of the stone and gave it an almighty heave.

  The trapdoor slid forward, scattering beaks and claws. With a final swivel, the two rats manoeuvred the stone into position. There was a rumbling THUD, as the trapdoor dropped neatly into the floor, deadening the squawks of the hawks.

  Whisker collapsed on the steps, his muscles burning, his energy sapped.

  ‘Please, tell me we’re safe,’ he panted.

  ‘We’re safe,’ Ruby said, dropping down beside him. She let out a small sigh and added, ‘Unless, of course, the hawks have crowbars.’

  After everything Whisker had just been through, he wasn’t willing to take the chance.

  ‘Come on,’ he said, dragging himself to his feet. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

  Sisters

  The two rats began staggering down the stairs – one step at a time. It was a slow and laborious process. Whisker had to steady himself against the rough walls to stop himself from slipping, such was the extent of his fatigue. Ruby clomped beside him with her longbow.

  ‘I haven’t thanked you yet,’ Whisker whispered quietly as they walked together.

  ‘Thanked me for what?’ she asked in a matter-of-fact voice.

  ‘Being there when I needed you most,’ Whisker said wearily. ‘Anna and I both owe you our lives.’

  ‘Don’t mention it,’ Ruby said, dismissing the praise lightly. ‘Eagles are easy targets. Besides, you’ve saved my life more times than I can count.’

  ‘We’ll call it even then,’ Whisker said, lacking the energy to argue. ‘What you did on Eagle’s Cliffs was nothing short of amazing – spotting the Ghost Wings though all those clouds and then shooting so accurately …’

  ‘Don’t underestimate the value of a good spyglass,’ Ruby chuckled, ‘or a well-polished scissor sword. I saw your blade sparkling in the moonlight as you left the cage and knew where you were heading.’

  ‘Were you in the air all that time?’ Whisker asked.

  ‘From twilight to moonlight,’ Ruby replied poetically. ‘We heard the avalanche late in the afternoon and guessed you might be slightly delayed.’

  ‘Slightly delayed?’ Whisker repeated. ‘Three hours late after digging myself out would be a more accurate description.’

  ‘Whatever,’ Ruby said dismissively. ‘I wasn’t carrying a pocket watch. Anyway, when it grew dark and the clouds closed in, we started circling to the east. We were out of reach of the birds, but close enough to maintain a clear view of the mountain. Chatterbeak grew a little restless waiting for you, but I convinced him you were still on your way.’

  ‘I don’t blame him,’ Whisker said, feeling slightly ashamed. ‘For a while, I didn’t think I was going to make it.’

  ‘But you found a way,’ Ruby said. ‘You always find a way.’

  ‘Only by a whisker,’ he admitted, trying not to think about the harrowing moments leading to his sister’s rescue.

  ‘And that Whisker was enough,’ Ruby said. ‘Your sister is lucky to have you.’

  ‘She’s lucky to have you, too,’ Whisker added quickly.

  Ruby clomped to a stop.

  ‘I somehow doubt that,’ she muttered. ‘You know what I’m like when it comes to making friends. If anything, your sister will probably hate me.’

  ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Whisker said. ‘Anna won’t hate you. She’ll think you’re awesome.’

  ‘What makes you so certain?’ Ruby asked. ‘I’m not exactly princess material like Horace’s three sisters.’

  ‘All the better,’ Whisker argued. ‘Anna isn’t one for tiaras and tutus. She’s a Winterbottom, and a feisty one at that. She has the spirit of adventure running through her blood. She’d sooner ask to borrow one of your scissor swords than one of your hair clips.’

  ‘I don’t own any hair clips,’ Ruby said firmly.

  ‘My point exactly,’ Whisker said. ‘Trust me. The two of you will get along like a house on fire.’

  ‘And is a house on fire a good thing?’ Ruby questioned.

  ‘It is if you’re cold,’ Whisker shivered.

  Ruby made a small snorting sound in the darkness. Whisker was fairly certain she was rolling her eye.

  ‘Listen,’ he said tiredly, ‘If we ever manage to get off this mountain alive, Anna would love a big sister – someone to guide her through the un-princess-like pursuits of sword fighting, archery and paw-to-paw combat – all the stuff you’re an expert in. I know it’s not the same as having your siblings back, but –’ He paused. ‘But there’s a chance you’ll make some fond memories of your own.’

  Ruby was silent for a moment.

  ‘Yeah, well, we’ll see about that,’ she said, resuming her slow walk down the steps. ‘At the end of the day, I can’t make someone like me, can I?’

  Whisker and Ruby reached the bottom of the stairs to find the lantern burning faintly and Chatterbeak whispering Pirate Cup stories to Anna. She sat on a rock near the stream, lapping up every word.

  ‘… and then, out of nowhere, Whisker, the brave Pie Rat, came hurtling through the roof of the trophy room. With one touch of his little finger, the championship was his …’

  ‘Wen!’ Anna exclaimed catching sight of Whisker in the flickering light. She scooped up her baggy coat and rushed over to him, tackling him around the waist.

  ‘Steady on, Anna,’ he laughed, almost toppling to the ground. ‘I’m not as cannon-proof as Chatterbeak would suggest.’

  ‘Pie Rat,’ she said excitedly, prodding him in the chest.

  ‘Almost,’ he said. ‘I still have two apprenticeship tests to pass –’

  ‘One,’ Ruby interjected.

  ‘One?’ he repeated. ‘But I thought –’

  Ruby pressed a finger against his lips to silence him. ‘In light of your recent achievements, I thought it was appropriate to pass you on your Pie Rat test of Strength.’

  ‘My strength test?’ Whisker mumbled out of the corner of his mouth. ‘But don’t I have to wrestle a bear or lift a ton of bricks or something?’

  Ruby removed her finger from his lips. ‘If climbing a mountain, digging through an avalanche and then flying off a cliff with nothing but rucksacks and reeds isn’t a show of strength, then I don’t know what is!’

  Anna raised her paw to second Ruby’s motion.

  Whisker sighed. ‘Not you, too. At least wait for the official introductions before you two start ganging up on me.’

  At the mention of the word introductions, Ruby began squirming uncomfortably in her boots.

  Whisker let out another sigh. It never ceased to amaze him that his tough-as-nails companion was more comfortable facing an army of eagles than meeting a prospective friend. He decided to fast-track the formalities and put the girl out of her misery.

  ‘Anna,’ he said as casually as possible, ‘this is Ruby. Ruby, this is my little sister Anna.’

  Anna looked up at the slender figure of Ruby, her brown eyes growing wide with excitement.

  ‘Preedie!’ she exclaimed.

  Ruby stared blankly at the small child, unsure how to respond.

  ‘Preedie,’ Anna repeated.

  ‘Err … no,’ Ruby said. ‘You must have me mistaken for someone else. My name is Ruby.’

  ‘Preedie,’ Anna said a third time.

  Ruby shook her head. ‘No, no. It’s not Preedie. It’s Ruby.’

  ‘Preedie!’ Anna insisted.

  Ruby began to lose patience. ‘R. U. B. Y. Ruby.’

  ‘P. P. P. P. Preedie,’ Anna said, parroting the older rat.

  Ruby let out a sigh of exasperation and turned to Whisker. ‘What did I tell you? Your sister hates me.’

  ‘No, she doesn’t,’ Whisker said.

  ‘Then why does she keep calling me Preedie?’
Ruby exclaimed, stamping her longbow in frustration. ‘What kind of stupid name is Preedie anyway?’

  It was Whisker’s turn to roll his eyes. ‘She’s calling you Preedie because she thinks you’re pretty.’

  ‘Oh,’ Ruby said, the realisation dawning on her face. ‘Pretty …’

  She looked down at Anna, her cheeks red with embarrassment. Anna smiled back angelically. Whisker struggled to keep a straight face.

  ‘Is something funny, apprentice?’ Ruby hissed.

  ‘Well you did act preedie stupid,’ Whisker said, stifling a laugh.

  Anna giggled loudly and the tension was swept away into the darkness. Ruby leant down and ruffled Anna’s messy fringe.

  ‘Preedie it is,’ she said, finally managing a grin. ‘I must say, you’re a bit of a looker yourself, munchkin. It must run in the family.’ She looked up at Whisker and gave him a playful wink.

  Whisker stared back at her, his eyes glazed, his expression distant.

  ‘What’s wrong?’ she asked in alarm.

  ‘Your words,’ he said, as if in a trance. ‘Runs in the family – my parents … I should have thought of it sooner, but maybe, just maybe, Anna can tell us what happened to them.’

  Past, Present, Future

  In silence, Whisker knelt down beside his sister and placed a trembling paw on her shoulder.

  ‘Anna,’ he said slowly, ‘This might be hard for you to understand, but I need you to tell me what happened to Mum and Dad. Did they escape the cyclone? Are they …’

  He struggled to complete the sentence. They were the most contemplated words in his mind and yet saying them aloud seemed harder than climbing Cloud Mountain. He could feel his own fear holding him back, paralysing his tongue. He was afraid of what the words would lead to. He was afraid to accept the truth.

  Be strong, he told himself. Be strong for Anna.

  Releasing his fears, he took a long, deep breath and a calming strength began flowing into him. With the strength came resolve and the question was finally spoken.

  ‘Are they still alive?’

  Anna raised her head and looked deep into Whisker’s eyes. He saw her answer before she had even spoken the word – a single word that carried an ocean of meaning.

  ‘Yes,’ she said simply. ‘Yes.’

  Whisker felt the sharp sting of tears welling inside him. For once, there was no thought of holding them back. He let them run down his cheeks in great salty streams, drenching the fur of his coat. He pulled Anna close to him and hugged her tightly. They cried together – tears of joy and relief.

  The tears seemed to wash away the veil of doubt that had clouded Whisker’s mind, and suddenly everything seemed clear – like springtime after a bitterly cold winter. His blind hope had finally become a reality. And in that moment, nothing else mattered.

  ‘They’re alive,’ he said, looking up at his friends. ‘My parents are alive!’

  Ruby smiled down at him, her emerald eye glistening with her own tears. ‘Like you always said.’

  ‘Caw, caw, it’s a cause for celebration,’ Chatterbeak squawked. ‘Now where do we find them?’

  Anna grew anxious. Her bottom lip quivered. ‘Fox,’ was all she could say.

  ‘It’s okay,’ Whisker said drawing her closer. ‘We’ll get them back. I promise. If we can rescue you from the birds of Cloud Mountain, then we can rescue them from one sly fox.’

  ‘Hear, hear!’ echoed a voice from the darkness. ‘Daring rescues are what Pie Rats do best!’

  ‘Horace?’ Chatterbeak chirped. ‘Is that you?’

  ‘The one and only!’ Horace said, bounding into view beside the stream. He swung his lantern theatrically with his hook, whistling as he ran. ‘Sir Horace of the pipsqueak table and his band of merry midgets are at your service.’

  A loud chant echoed from the passage behind him. ‘HURRAH for Sir Horace!’

  Whisker wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve and, gripping Anna’s paw, rushed over to greet his companion.

  ‘Thank goodness you’re alive!’ he cried.

  ‘Of course I’m alive,’ Horace shouted proudly, almost colliding with Whisker. ‘We’re all alive. And what’s more, the passage door is barred shut and virtually impenetrable. Not even the mighty Emperor Eagle could peck his way through!’ He bowed low to Anna. ‘Nice to see you again, my dear. I see you’ve survived your brother’s flying.’

  Anna picked up her baggy coat and curtsied.

  Horace raised his lantern, saluting Whisker with his hook. The ragged apprentice was suddenly bathed in warm, golden light.

  ‘Shiver me shipwrecks!’ Horace exclaimed. ‘You look like death warmed up. And by warmed up, I mean a few degrees above freezing.’

  Whisker looked down at his bleeding paw, his torn trousers and his ice-encrusted boots and agreed that Horace, for once, was right.

  ‘You look a little worse for wear yourself, Sir Horace,’ Ruby said, hobbling over to him.

  ‘No thanks to those rotten ravens,’ Horace panted, shining the lantern through a hole in his coat. ‘I’ll never complain about Chatterbeak’s flying again. I was dropped twice, stood on three times and prodded like a pin cushion – and that was before I started protesting!’

  ‘Well, whatever state you’re in, it’s good to have you back,’ Ruby said. ‘I never thought I’d say it, but I actually missed having you around.’ She kissed him lightly on the forehead.

  Horace puffed out his chest and turned to his furry entourage. ‘Now that’s what I call a hero’s welcome!’

  ‘Don’t get cocky,’ Ruby said through a crescendo of wolf whistles. ‘I can turn that kiss into a slap at any moment.’

  Horace made a cutting gesture with his hook and the whistling stopped.

  With the lull in conversation, Whisker seized his opportunity to come clean with Horace.

  ‘About what happened in the woods this morning,’ he said, extending his paw in friendship, ‘I know you were only following my footprints –’

  ‘Ah, forget about it,’ Horace said, shaking Whisker’s paw fervently. ‘Footprints or no footprints, I would have wandered into the woods anyway. You know how it is – a full bladder and a cold night – when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to –’

  ‘Really, Horace!’ Ruby interrupted in disgust. ‘There are children present.’

  ‘Rotten pies to censorship,’ Horace scoffed. ‘Everyone loves a good toilet gag – especially the one about the potty and the pelican …’

  Whisker covered Anna’s ears with her paws. There were some things a little sister shouldn’t have to hear.

  Horace continued his joke to the delight of his followers. ‘… and just as the pelican was flying overhead –’

  ‘We don’t have time for this,’ Ruby interrupted. ‘It’s still a long way to the bottom of the mountain.’

  ‘Bottom of the mountain,’ Horace chuckled. ‘Good one, Ruby.’

  Ruby glared at him. ‘On second thoughts, I liked you better when you were locked in the cage …’

  Whisker released Anna’s ears and stepped between his two friends. ‘Alright. Alright. There will be plenty of time for bad jokes and bickering later. Right now, we have more important things to worry about –’

  ‘– like finding food,’ Horace chimed in. He rubbed his stomach with his hook. ‘I don’t know about the rest of you, but running non-stop from Eagle’s Cliffs has made me rather peckish.’ He looked around hopefully. ‘So, where did you hide the supplies?’

  Ruby and Whisker exchanged guilty looks.

  ‘I, err, ate your share of the chocolate on the summit,’ Whisker confessed.

  ‘And I may have accidently left the dried fruit and nuts in the cavern,’ Ruby said. She raised her paws before Horace could react. ‘In my defence, it was dark and there were hawks on the hunt for their own dinner.’

  ‘So what are we supposed to eat?’ squeaked a plump Guinea pig. ‘My tummy’s been rumbling since we left the cage.’

  Ruby rolled her eye
. ‘Mention food and suddenly everyone is hungry.’ She cupped her paws and swished them through the stream. ‘There’s plenty of iced water if you’re thirsty. But as for the food, you’ll have to wait until we reach the beaver’s lodge.’

  ‘And where is that?’ asked an even plumper Guinea pig.

  Whisker pointed downstream. ‘If my calculations are correct, it’s shouldn’t be far from the entrance to the passage – provided there’s not a barred door or a flock of birds standing in our way.’

  ‘I’ll take my chances,’ Horace said, licking his lips. ‘Viola has enough food stockpiled in that enormous pantry of hers to feed an entire army.’

  ‘I hope you’re referring to an extremely large army,’ Chatterbeak said, casting his eyes over the enormous crowd of escapees gathered behind Horace.

  ‘Don’t worry. No one will go hungry,’ Horace said confidently. ‘If I know Viola, she’ll cook up a storm to celebrate our homecoming.’

  ‘It’s not Viola I’m worried about,’ Ruby muttered, ‘it’s Gertrude. That beaver really creeps me out.’

  Whisker nodded in agreement. ‘She wasn’t exactly welcoming on our last visit.’ He paused and considered, ‘Although Viola did admit Gertrude would never leave a stranger out in the cold …’

  ‘It’s settled then,’ Horace said, picking up the lantern. ‘If we hurry, we can reach the lodge by dawn – just in time for breakfast.’ He gestured to the long line of animals stretching into the darkness. ‘Come on, midgets. Get a move on.’

  Before Whisker could protest, he felt a dozen furry bodies pushing against him and he was almost bowled over in the stampede down the passage. The animals moved quickly, with enormous amounts of energy and Whisker realised they were anything but starving.

  ‘The birds spent the past few weeks fattening them up for the feast,’ Horace explained, as more animals jostled past them. ‘Unluckily for me, I arrived after the final breakfast.’

  Whisker wished he had the animals’ energy. Following his adrenaline high of rescuing Anna, extreme exhaustion had begun to take hold, and his body swayed from side to side like a pendulum.