"Hope? Are you there, Hope?"
Edgar almost tried to stop her, but then he realized the time had
come to trust an adult. They were out of options. The search
was on for Edgar in the Silo. Hope was probably their only
chance.
"Aggie? Is that you?" came the reply. Hope sounded completely
flabbergasted.
"It's me and the rest of the green team. We need your help."
"Child, you better get back here. You're in a world of trouble. I'm
not sure I can cover for you this time."
"You won't need to, because we're never coming back to the
Silo."
"Where are you?"
"We're in Dr. Harding's old laboratory. We need you to bring us
a powder block. Can you do that?"
Hope couldn't believe her ears. "What on earth do you want
with a powder block? And how did you get all the way over
there?"
"It's Edgar--the new boy--he needs it. Trust me, Hope. If you
bring me a powder block it will help us get out of here.
Everything about Dr. Harding is true. It's all happening right
now."
Hope's throat went narrow and she began to feel like she was
going to cry. The very last thing Dr. Harding had told her before
he'd left the Dark Planet rang in her ears. You know how I can't
trust any adult but you. I doubt that's ever going to change. So if
I ever do figure this whole thing out, you can be sure I won't tell
anyone old like me. Trust the children; they'll know the way.
Hope's voice was like a whisper and she could hardly get the
words out.
"Unlock the door," she said. "I'll be right there."
The line went dead and the green team stood in a circle smiling
at one another.
"We're not done yet," said Vasher. "But at least we have a
chance."
Edgar took the black disk out of his pocket and held it up so
they could all see it.
"What is it?"
"It's the key to the Raven. The only key."
"We need to find the yards," said Vasher, who had been
scanning the map. His head twitched with excitement.
Everyone but Edgar could tell the stress had finally gotten to
Vasher. He could control himself, but it was hard. As the day
wore on what he really wanted to do was run around the room,
yelling and knocking things over.
"The moment Hope gets here we need to go," said Aggie.
"When Commander Judix finds Edgar gone she'll go crazy. She
won't rest until she finds him."
They nodded and followed as Vasher led them along the glass
wall of Dr. Harding's laboratory. Someone was outside.
"Who is that?" asked Aggie, looking out at the long rock jetty
that ran from the beach. They could see a small figure in the
distance with some kind of cylinder on his back, heading for the
docked ship. It was Captain Grammel.
"I don't know who it is, and I don't care," said Vasher, who
banged his hand against the glass nervously as he moved.
A little farther on he came to another metal door. This one didn't
have a combination lock and was, in fact, rather ancient in its
design. It had a regular knob along with a long row of bolt locks
that could be turned. There was a gold plate on the door with
black letters: THE YARDS.
"Now all we have to do is wait for Hope," said Edgar.
They all looked back at the open door to Dr. Harding's
laboratory and Teagan said what they were all thinking.
"She'd better get here soon."
CHAPTER 23ON GOSSAMER'S
WINGS
"We'd better move to the side," said Samuel. "We don't want to
get clobbered when Gossamer comes through."
But Isabel felt differently about how to respond as the dragon
approached, and she started back in the direction from which
they'd come.
"Isabel! Get back here!" Samuel called as she disappeared up
the narrow way toward the sound of breaking rocks. "He'll
smash you to bits if you're not careful."
Gossamer had already broken through the better part of the way
to the ledge. Isabel was close enough that she was at risk of
being hit by a flying boulder.
"Gossamer! Stop!" she shouted.
The pounding abated and rocks tumbled to the ground until all
was still, like a storm coming quickly to its end. Gossamer's
head and long neck emerged through the opening. On seeing
Isabel he bellowed warmly and Isabel felt his hot breath push
her hair back.
"Isabel? Are you all right?" asked Samuel, who had come up
close behind her. The light in the narrow way glowed orange
from behind them, dancing on Gossamer's black horn and
scales. He was the most powerful thing they'd ever seen. Was
there anything that could stop him?
Gossamer shook his head and growled, pulling one front claw
forward and ripping stones back. He was careful not to blast
through and send a shower of boulders over Isabel or Samuel.
Gossamer's other front claw came next, and soon he was back
at it, pounding his huge claws into the rock wal s and blowing
them apart behind him.
"Take it easy," said Isabel, backing up toward the edge.
Gossamer stopped once more and seemed to listen, tilting his
head to the side and raising one pointed ear. "There's an edge
here. You don't want to fall off."
Gossamer couldn't have understood them--or could he? His
head went up and down and he breathed little bolts of fire from
his nose.
"I love this creature," said Samuel, smiling at the thought of a
beast this big he could call his friend.
Gossamer cut his way through what remained of the tunnel.
When he emerged into the open and stood on the ledge with
Isabel and Samuel, they were struck by how large he was. They
now realized that he'd been crouching all the while, never really
standing at full size. And he had been muted in shadows until
they were able to see him in the full light.
"He's huge," said Isabel, her voice shaking as she took in the
view of the magnificent and frightening creature standing at full
height in front of her.
"Let's make sure to keep him on our side," said Samuel. "I don't
want him turning on us."
"He would never do that," said Isabel. Something about the way
his neck craned low and his face came near, sniffing and
carefully nudging her with the side of his nose, told her that
Gossamer would never stop trying to protect them.
"What do we do now?" asked Samuel, looking across the
steaming river of fire.
"I wonder..." said Isabel. She held out a shiny black fig and
Gossamer took an immediate interest in it. He sniffed it, almost
sucking the dried fig right into his nose, then tentatively put his
tongue out and touched it. It was a tiny treat, but a treat
nonetheless, and he rolled it around on his tongue as if it were
a candy. The hard, dry fig dissolved as if burned by acid until it
was gone.
Gossamer raised his head and turned away. It was a good thing
he did, because the next moment he sneezed. It w
as a firefilled
roar of air that shot down through the open space. He coughed
briefly, wisps of black smoke exiting his nose.
"I think he liked that," said Samuel, for Gossamer appeared to
be smiling as he turned to Isabel and sniffed for more.
Isabel took out her sling and loaded a second dried fig from her
pouch.
"Back up a little," said Isabel, and Gossamer obeyed.
Isabel put the dried fig into her sling and began twirling it over
her head. Gossamer's black eyes watched carefully as the fig
went round and round.
"You're not going to do what I think you are?" asked Samuel.
He'd sat on the wings and knew they were small and frail. He
knew Dr. Harding hated flying things. Samuel had assumed... "I
don't think he can fly," said Samuel. "What if he jumps out over
the ledge and we lose him?"
"He can fly," said Isabel, swinging the fig faster and faster. "But
how do you know? Dr. Harding hated flying things. What if he
made Gossamer so he couldn't fly?"
"He made the Nubian. They can fly."
Samuel had to admit this was true, but he was afraid for
Gossamer. He could imagine the black dragon jumping for the
fig and falling, clawing his way along the rocks as he fell to his
death.
"I don't think you should do it, Isabel," said Samuel. "I have a
bad feeling about it."
But Isabel was completely convinced. She imagined Dr.
Harding making this glorious creature and how he would have
wanted to make it flightless. But he would see how it was made
to fly and wouldn't be able to stop himself. The temptation of
seeing it floating on air would have been too much.
"He can fly," said Isabel, and she let the fig go.
SNAP! FOOSH!
The fig sailed through the open air. Gossamer leaped after it,
but no wings emerged from his sides. The wings Isabel and
Samuel had ridden on didn't appear at all. Instead, the great
black beast dropped like a rock, pointing its horned head down
into the wide river of fire.
"You've killed him!" he cried. "I told you not to do it, but you
wouldn't listen!"
Isabel and Samuel dashed to the edge. The fig sailed fast and
true toward the other side where the raised stone platform sat
waiting. They both watched Gossamer. He kept falling, and
Isabel began to doubt. Could she have been wrong? A panic
rose in her throat as she thought of what she'd done. She would
never forgive herself.
But then, the wings unfurled like a fan and the children saw that
there was more to these wings than they'd originally thought.
They had only seen one of the many folds in Gossamer's
hidden wings back in the yards. Now they snapped all the way
open.
"He's beautiful," said Isabel, so pleased that she had been right.
Gossamer sailed through a foggy layer of firebugs--which didn't
affect him in the least--and then gracefully turned and started
back up the ravine. He rose even faster than he'd fallen,
flapping his long wings and crying into the open air.
"I can't see the fig, can you?" said Samuel, searching for any
sign of movement.
"That's because he just ate it," said Isabel. Gossamer had
turned and was now coming toward them. Samuel couldn't help
backing up toward the tunnel.
"Come on, Isabel. Let him land without having to worry about
knocking us down."
Isabel agreed this was probably a good idea. The wind alone
might sweep her off her feet. She darted back into the tunnel as
Gossamer landed. He appeared to be very pleased with himself
as he spread his black lips. The fig rolled on his tongue, where
it sizzled and steamed.
"Well done!" said Isabel. Gossamer responded by rocking his
head up and down happily, bumping it on the ceiling of the
tunnel without seeming to notice.
"Better wait here while he sneezes," said Samuel. And sure
enough, a moment later, Gossamer leaned out over the edge
and sneezed even more powerfully than the previous time.
"How many more of those do you have?" asked Samuel. "He
really likes them."
Isabel fished around in her pouch and pulled out a dried fig.
"This is the last one."
Gossamer was back, sniffing at Isabel's hand as she looked at
Samuel.
"Do you want to finish what we started?" asked Isabel. "Are you
asking me to ride a black dragon across a river of fire?"
Isabel nodded and smiled. It sounded ridiculous when he said it
that way, but it was precisely what she was thinking. Samuel
didn't answer so much as give her a look that said, If you're
crazy enough to do it, so am I. He half expected her to lose her
nerve, but if she didn't, how could he give up the chance to
finish such a marvelous adventure?
"I need you to wait this time," Isabel said as she brushed past
Gossamer's head on her way back to the ledge. "Can you do
that for me?" She hoped he would let the fig sail all the way
across this time before trying to retrieve it. "And there's
something else," she continued, pulling the sling from her belt
and placing the fig inside. "Can you take us with you?"
Gossamer turned his head as if he was trying to understand.
Samuel stepped closer and pointed to Gossamer's folded wing,
then to himself and Isabel.
"Can we ride across with you?" he asked.
Gossamer seemed to weigh what had been asked of him. He
looked out over the flaming river and the distance across,
sniffing instinctively. As he did this Isabel started swinging the
sling until it was humming in a fast, wide circle. She watched
the stone platform on the other side with great intensity as
Samuel motioned Gossamer to wait.
"Stay, Gossamer. Don't go anywhere yet."
SNAP! FOOSH!
The fig was gone and Gossamer almost couldn't stop himself. If
not for Isabel's cry of "Wait!" the black dragon might have gone
without them, but as it was he watched intently until the fig
reached its target, bounced along the surface of the pillar of
stone, and disappeared on the other side.
"You really are an amazing shot with that thing," said Samuel.
"Thank you," said Isabel. She liked the way it felt to impress him
as she stood in front of Gossamer's shaking legs. He was so
eager to go it was all he could do to stay put. Gossamer took
one last look back into the tunnel and down at Isabel.
"I don't want to go that way," she said. Then she pointed toward
the pillar on the other side. "I want to go over there."
Gossamer crouched on the ledge and laid out the first fold of his
wings as he'd done for them before. Samuel climbed on one
side and Isabel on the other, each lying on the soft, leathery fold
of a wing.
"What do we hold on to?" asked Samuel, groping for a hold.
Isabel called back: "The top edge doesn't have any thorns. Can
you shimmy up and grab hold?"
Samuel got up on his knees and crawled forward until he
reached the top edge of the wing
. He found it was sticky and
sandpapery, thick like the growing limb of a tree.
"I've got it!" he said, lying flat and feeling more secure.
Gossamer glanced over each shoulder to be sure they were
holding on tight. If he was going to have riders, they would need
to be on tight or risk being thrown off as he flapped and flew.
Looking out over the deep chasm, Gossamer roared and blew a
stream of red fire and black smoke.
"Here we go!" said Isabel.
Gossamer jumped, but this time he didn't wait to unfold the rest
of his wings. The moment he was away from the ledge the full
length of his wings were out and they glided smoothly through
the air.
"Woooooohooooooo!" yelled Samuel as he heard Isabel's
uncontained laughter.
They sailed through warm air and, halfway there, Gossamer
turned down enough for both of them to see the mist of blue
firebugs and the raging red river below. As they gained speed
Samuel began to wonder if he could hold on, but then
Gossamer leveled off and turned to the right. Samuel and Isabel
slid along the wings until they leveled off once more.
Riding on Gossamer's wings was the most exhilarating thing
either of them had ever done and they wished it would never
end. But when the wings tipped back they both realized at once
that they would soon be landing. This would be the most
dangerous part, because Gossamer couldn't avoid a certain
amount of flapping as he tried to slow down. The wings tipped
even more and the quick flapping began. One of Isabel's hands
lost its grip and she let go, spinning wildly on Gossamer's wing
as he touched down and came to an abrupt stop.
"You did it, Gossamer! You did it!" said Samuel. He couldn't
bring himself to climb out of the cozy space. Neither could
Isabel. The memory of flying was so near it made them both
want to hold on to the moment forever.
Seeing they were in good shape, Gossamer started to fold his
long wings and gazed into the opening at the end of the
platform.
"I think he wants his treat," said Isabel. "We'd better get off."
And so they did, but not before closing their eyes, smiling
broadly, and remembering what it was like to ride on
Gossamer's wings.
"Go on," said Isabel. "Go get the fig."
Gossamer bent low and passed through the opening, which
seemed oddly just the right size for him to fit through.
"At least he didn't have to make the opening any bigger," said