“We’ll be back as fast as the wind will carry us,” I yelled to the gathered crowd below.
“And I’ll bring back a ring!” cried Yipes. Everyone laughed and we went higher still, until we were so high I could see all the pillars once more.
It all looked familiar and yet very different than it once did. The three pillars where everyone lived had a powerful sense of having remained the same, but everything else had changed. The fifth pillar, once so tall and mysterious, was now two shorter pillars. The half that had been the top tilted slightly to the side. Both parts seemed to have no purpose, though we all knew what a grand part they had played.
“Sir Alistair, are you awake?” I asked. He stirred and opened his eyes, still bright against a deeply weathered face. He looked old—older than time itself—but he managed to sit up and hold my hand.
“We’re leaving,” I said.
Yipes came close and helped steady Sir Alistair as he stood up. Looking down at what remained of the fourth pillar, he saw that it was only a bump on the water. The rest was gone.
“All my secrets are buried at sea,” he said solemnly. No one spoke, and I was left with my own thoughts of what might have been hidden away on the fourth pillar if only we’d had time to discover more.
“And the way of yesterday,” said Yipes. “Is that lost forever as well?”
Sir Alistair sat back down and sighed deeply.
“One might find it if he or she looked hard enough. But all who knew the way have passed on.”
“You’re still here,” said Yipes, trying to bolster the old man’s spirits. “You could find it again.”
Sir Alistair didn’t respond. He lay back down and was instantly asleep. It was as if all the years had piled up and were pushing against the very end of his life, making him very, very tired all at once.
“We could fly over Mount Laythen—we could find the way of yesterday and bring him home,” said Yipes.
“I don’t think that’s where we’re supposed to take him,” I said. Yipes looked at me questioningly, but I was content to keep my thoughts to myself until we were closer to The Land of Elyon.
“I hope the winds are strong,” I said, gazing up into a blue sky. “We need to get him home.”
CHAPTER 24
A GIANT AT THE GATES
I had many thoughts on our seventeen-day journey over water. There was something magnificent about finding my way in the world, of being given a task to which I was perfectly suited. I had to imagine this was the dream of every good person—to find the world in need of the thing you love doing. It’s the kind of revelation that can settle even the most adventurous heart.
All my life I’d felt a stirring to move out beyond the boundaries that held me in check. The walls of Bridewell, the Valley of Thorns, the Five Stone Pillars, the Lonely Sea—so many places that seemed at once to summon and ensnare me. It had been a long struggle between my own daring spirit and the dreaded feeling of a restless soul unable to find comfort in a place I could call home.
But those seventeen days over the water changed me forever. Finally, mercifully, my heart was at rest. I had found a purpose I could embrace. And I had found these things within the stirring of my own desire to run free over the vast expanse of the world.
Marco and I talked for hours and hours on end, often after we’d settled to float on the Lonely Sea for the night and everyone else had gone to sleep. He and I drifted closer together as Yipes took Phylo under his wing, teaching him everything from tying knots to netting fish. Sir Alistair Wakefield grew weaker with each passing day. He slept, waking only to glance at the maps, offer a small suggestion, or drink a cup of water and nibble on whatever we’d prepared to eat. There were windy days and moments of concern, long afternoons of playing games and watching the horizon, and a good deal of laughter.
On the morning of the seventeenth day, The Land of Elyon came into view, a massive pile of stone against the endless span of the Lonely Sea. By midday we were over Castalia and the City of Dogs, bringing Stargazer to rest beside the pile of rocks that had once been Grindall’s Dark Tower. The looks on faces—especially those we knew—as we came in on Sir Alistair Wakefield’s flying machine were priceless. When we landed, Yipes went straight to our old friend Balmoral and told him of the wedding.
“I have just the thing for it,” I heard Balmoral say, and he pulled a chain from inside his shirt. There hung the ring his departed wife had worn, and though Yipes resisted, Balmoral refused to take no for an answer.
Seeing Phylo lifted off the ground and held by his mother was a sight to behold, one I imagined seeing many more times in the months and years to come as I traversed the Lonely Sea. We were able to share the wonderful news that this would not be our last visit. We would be bringing children home soon enough.
“We can’t stay on,” I said after an all-too-brief encounter with old and new friends. “But we’ll be back. Watch the horizon for our return.”
There was a profound sadness at our leaving so suddenly, and a great many questions I tried to answer as best I could. When would we return? Who would we bring with us? Could anyone come along? Why couldn’t we stay? And so much more. But we simply had to go.
When we were airborne once more, Sir Alistair stirred, as if he were gathering the very last of what energy he had. He sat upright for the first time in many days and watched The Land of Elyon pass before his eyes. The great lake of Castalia with Mount Laythen towering to its left. The dreadful Valley of Thorns, an immovable reminder of a dark age. The Dark Hills, so vast and empty of life. The town of Bridewell, which gave us all delight when we saw it from above. We came in low over the library at Renny Lodge and called down to Grayson and Pervis Kotcher. They were utterly dumbstruck by the grand contraption we floated by in, and I promised to visit them soon. All my memories of Jocastas and animals came back to me as Marco steered us along the side of Mount Laythen and over Fenwick Forest.
“Keep going,” I kept saying. “Keep going until you can go no farther.”
And so he did, pedaling with all his might as we made our way over the Sly Field and into the mist that lay in front of the Tenth City. I turned to Sir Alistair, who remained weary and yet almost childlike with wonder.
“Go a little more,” I said, the mist so thick we couldn’t see two feet on any side of Stargazer.
“I know this place, though I’ve never been here,” Sir Alistair said.
I could see him smiling through the misty air. We had come to a place even he couldn’t imagine or create.
“Bring us down,” I said, and Yipes trimmed the heated air from the tube. The mist lay heavy with chill, and Stargazer responded by drifting quickly toward the ground. As we neared the bottom, the mist began to clear and we saw the ground advancing below. After that, it was as if Elyon himself had taken control of Stargazer, so gentle was our approach. We needed no ropes or anchors as we landed on a soft, grassy field spotted with trees and glistening paths lined with shimmering color.
I looked into Sir Alistair Wakefield’s ancient eyes.
“You’re home,” I said. The parting mist revealed magnificent gates of intricate gold that marked the entrance to the Tenth City.
“I’ve been waiting around so long,” said Sir Alistair. “I thought maybe I’d been forgotten.”
A figure came into view, walking up a winding path toward the gate as it swung open. I felt my time was short, but I wanted to honor Sir Alistair Wakefield for all he’d done over his hundreds of years of service. He was the very last part of a noble past.
“You’ve done well,” I stammered, unable to think of how to even begin to thank him. We all looked at him with watery eyes, counting the tremendous cost he’d paid on our behalf. He had ushered in the era of Thomas and Roland Warvold and had orchestrated the rescue of the lost children at a time of great peril in the world. He’d given us Stargazer, and I was certain that somehow, someway, it had been him all along who planned the demise of Abaddon the sea monster. And yet
the three words were all I could come up with. They would have to be enough, for a looming figure approached the gate with words of his own.
“You kept everyone waiting a long time,” said Armon the giant, looking and sounding more magnificent than ever. “We were beginning to wonder.”
From behind Armon there came two more men—Thomas and Roland Warvold—a familiar adventurous twinkle in their eyes. It made me wonder what they’d been up to. Somewhere down the path was the silhouette of another—could it be John Christopher?—waving from afar. How I wished I could go inside with Sir Alistair, to finally make my own way back, but my time to return home hadn’t arrived. There were still people with a need to be served. I only hoped I wouldn’t have to wait as long as Sir Alistair had.
“Come on then,” said Roland, rolling his arm as I’d seen him do before. His memory was fresh in my mind and I wanted him to come back—I wanted them all to come back. Instead Sir Alistair stood up looking more alive than he had in weeks. He slid open the door to the box and walked out.
“He had big plans for you,” I said with tears rolling down my face. “That’s why it took so long.”
Sir Alistair stopped and turned back, looking with affection at Marco, Yipes, and me.
“We all play our part. Some roles just drag on a little more than others.”
“Tell Armon I said hello—and John Christopher, and Thomas and especially Roland, since he’s only just arrived,” said Yipes. He was trying to keep from getting upset, and the talking helped.
“I’ll be happy to,” said Sir Alistair, turning to go. The mist began filling in around Stargazer before he’d reached the gate, and we were left with a bleary view of three men and a giant waving as the gate closed. Sir Alistair Wakefield was finally home after all those years, and my heart sank at the thought of a world without Thomas, Roland, Sir Alistair, Armon, John Christopher—so many I’d lost along the way.
Just as I thought my heart would break, I heard a faraway voice I hadn’t thought I would ever hear again.
I have many things that need doing, and so it will be awhile for you.
My breath caught in my throat.
“What is it, Alexa?” asked Marco, but I gave him no reply.
The distant sound of Elyon’s voice carried on a soft wind—or it made the soft wind, I couldn’t be sure—and Stargazer rocked gently back and forth.
I have something for you.
I thought the words—What is it?—but I couldn’t speak them.
It’s something I think you’ll like.
Elyon’s voice was the sweetest sound of all, and I no longer felt afraid of the wild world outside. I could feel him drifting away, feel the very last words coming on the wind. But I was all right now. I knew this place would be waiting for me when the time was right.
It will last until we see each other face-to-face.
Those were the last words I heard, and I didn’t understand what they meant. Until we see each other face-to-face?
“You heard his voice again, didn’t you?” asked Yipes. “You heard Elyon!”
I nodded.
“Why does he always speak to you and never me?” Yipes sounded a tad more irreverent than I thought was a very good idea this close to the gates of the Tenth City. “I think he should speak to me just once.”
This request was a mistake, for the moment Yipes uttered the words, a thunderous roar swept through the mist. It was a sound with the power to level mountains. I closed my eyes and felt it rumble, long and loud through all space and time. When it finally passed, I opened my eyes again to find Yipes and Marco both cowering under one of the long wooden benches.
“So that’s what it sounds like,” said Yipes in a shaky voice. “I think I’ve heard enough to last me awhile.”
Stargazer began to bob up and down softly, as if she were being gently released from an invisible hand. I felt there was something new nearby—something living I couldn’t quite put my finger on—and I glanced outside to the misty ground below. At first, there was nothing at all, but then I saw him. Darting close then disappearing with the swishing of a bushy tail.
“Is that you, Alexa?” came a squeaky voice from the ground. “Can it really be you?”
I have something for you. It’s something I think you’ll like.
Elyon’s words replayed in my head. It couldn’t be true—Elyon couldn’t have possibly —
“Murphy!” I cried, and just as quick as I could imagine, my dear squirrel friend had scampered right up the side of the box and sat smiling on the ledge. I could understand what he was saying, and he could understand me. It was better than any gift I could have hoped for, and if Eylon’s words were true, I would have this gift for my whole life. For the first time since our arrival, I was happy I wouldn’t be entering the Tenth City for a long time.
“It is you!” he chirped, elated that we could hear each other’s voices and understand the words. “I saw the balloon fly over and I just knew it—I knew it was you!”
Yipes crawled out from under the bench and stood eye to eye with Murphy.
“How’s the family?”
“Very well, thank you,” chirped Murphy. “Would you like to meet them?”
“What did he say?” asked Yipes. I translated, adding that he could have at least said hello first.
“Let’s have a look,” said Yipes, ignoring my plea for better manners.
Another adult squirrel came bounding up the side of the box followed by two more grown squirrels and—I must say these are the cutest things ever—three more wee little squirrels not half the size of Murphy. He introduced them all in order—first his wife, then the older children, then the youngest—Maggie, Milton, Muncle, Mary, Marge, and MJ (which stood for Murphy Junior).
“You’ve been busy, I see,” said Yipes.
“Lots of time on my hands without the usual adventures,” said Murphy. “Tell me everything!”
But there wasn’t time for everything. No matter how badly I wanted to stay and chat the day away with Murphy, Maggie, and all the rest, Elyon seemed to be pushing us onward. We’d overstayed our visit in a sacred place and it was time for us to go.
“There’s to be a wedding,” I whispered conspiratorially, nodding toward Yipes. Yipes blushed and pulled out the ring he’d gotten from Balmoral in Castalia.
“Very nice!” said Murphy. “But you can’t leave—where are you going?”
Yipes tapped me on the shoulder, not sure if he was interrupting.
“I need a best man … or best … animal, whatever it’s called. Ask him for me, won’t you?”
“You want Murphy to be your best man?” I asked.
Yipes nodded vigorously. When I turned to ask Murphy, he was already begging Maggie to go.
“How long will it take?” asked Maggie. Marge, Mary, and MJ were already pleading to go along in the tiniest voices I’d ever heard.
“It will be at least a month, maybe longer,” I replied.
Maggie ran down the side of the box and the whole group of children followed.
“Don’t go anywhere!” said Murphy, and then he, too, ran down the box and into the mist. I could hear them talking, but they’d gone far enough away that I couldn’t tell what they were saying to each other. Stargazer lurched sideways and lifted a foot off the ground.
“Hurry up, Murphy!” cried Yipes. Marco had taken his seat at the pedals once more and looked on with great interest at all the commotion.
“You can understand that animal?” he asked me.
“I can!” I said with a grin. I was already plotting my next visit, how I would wander into Fenwick Forest and meet up with Ander the Forest King, the wolves Darius and Odessa—everyone!
Stargazer lifted several more feet off the ground and mist filled in beneath us so that I could no longer see how high we were going. The mist was everywhere again, thick as creamy soup, and I could feel us rising on a growing wind. Elyon wanted us away, and there was no stopping us.
“You’re too l
ate, Murphy!” I cried. It was a terrible shame, because I’d really looked forward to his company on the long day’s journey across the Lonely Sea.
“Not so fast,” said Yipes. He lowered a coiled vine down the side of Stargazer as we drifted higher into the air. The rope fell a long way and didn’t hit bottom; we could only see the first few feet at it disappeared into white.
“If you’re down there, grab hold!” I cried.
Suddenly we broke free of the mist over the Tenth City and I realized we’d risen well up into the sky. I was just about to give up on Murphy when looking down I saw him scampering up the long rope, smiling from ear to ear.
“Adventure, here I come!” he squeaked, diving headlong into the box. When he landed, he immediately did three backflips and howled with laughter.
“I take it she said he could come along,” said Yipes.
I laughed as Murphy scampered over to Marco and sat on his lap, rose on his hind legs, and sniffed all around.
“This one hasn’t had a bath for a while,” said Murphy.
Marco looked on and asked with great curiosity, “What did he say? Does he like me?”
“Oh, he likes you all right,” I said. “And he thinks you smell like a rose garden.”
With Sir Alistair safely delivered to the Tenth City, we had finally earned a small but meaningful break from our long journey. We set our course for my home of Lathbury, where we stopped to gather provisions and visit with family and friends. But Yipes was anxious to get back to Matilda, and, truth be told, I felt more at home in the air than on the ground. After three days of sleeping, eating, convincing my parents that we were perfectly safe, and telling stories of our adventures, we were ready to return to Stargazer … with me at the helm.
CHAPTER 25
THE NIGHT WEDDING
The winds were strong on our return, and Stargazer managed only fourteen days from takeoff to final landing in the fields of the first pillar. I would have been happy whiling away the days skimming on the third pillar, meeting with Jonezy about who would be going along and what his needs would be, visiting the gardens on the first pillar to pluck cherry tomatoes and raspberries, and attending to Stargazer’s many needs at docking, but all of that would have to wait.