Crown Phoenix: Night Watchman Express Page 11

Chapter 11

  The Impossible Island

  few days later at breakfast, Mana announced that she would declare the day a holiday, and she and Miriam could take a packet of sandwiches down to the sea.

  “The sea?” Miriam repeated. “But I’ve never been all the way down to the sand. My father always told Miss Osbourne that he wanted me to stay inside, or in the garden.”

  Mana was finishing a letter. She folded the neatly written pages, and took out a stick of red sealing-wax. “Is that so?” she murmured. “And sea air is so beneficial, too. What can he have been thinking to forbid it?”

  “So I suppose that means that we can’t go.” A rebellious light kindled in Miriam’s eyes.

  “No, it doesn’t.” Mana firmly stamped the puddle of sealing wax on her letter with a huge seal hanging from her neck on a gold chain, and she waved the letter in the air to dry it. “Some rules are meant to be broken.”

  “Hurrah!” Miriam threw her copybook up in the air but missing it. The notebook fell on the ground, scattering a few loose sheets of paper covered with Miriam’s rather sprawling hand.

  “Pick that up at once,” Mana said. “And pack up your drawing book; we’ll take the opportunity to sketch some of the sea life.”

  Somewhat subdued, Miriam gathered up her pencils, and Mana went down to arrange a picnic lunch with Mrs. Williams. By the time she came back, Miriam was hopping from one foot to the other with suppressed excitement. “Can we go now?” she blurted out as soon as Mana entered the schoolroom.

  “I suppose so,” the governess replied. “Did you get your hat? No, I didn’t think so. Meet me by the back portico.”

  A few minutes later, Miriam came flying down the stairs, hat in hand. Mana was waiting for her outside the back door. “You forgot your coat,” Mana said as Miriam danced up to her. “And your gloves. Go on, no arguments.”

  Ready at last, they stepped out onto the little back vestibule, made of crumbling orange brick, and Mana pointed a large, black umbrella at the path that bisected the back gardens. “That takes us down to the sea, I believe.”

  “Yes, I think it does,” Miriam said, and set off down the path, skipping and singing to herself. Mana followed more slowly, so Miriam was somewhat ahead of her by the time they reached the bottom of the garden. The path had a tiny gate there to separate the house from the woods and fields beyond.

  Suddenly, Miriam stopped. “Did you hear that?” she asked, her eyes large in her face.

  “It must be the wind,” Mana said, giving her a quick prod. “On with you.” They continued, but Miriam kept hearing something behind them. A branch snapped and the leaves rustled, followed by a muffled, “Shhhh!” Miriam darted a look at her governess. Mana’s face was totally calm.

  At the end of the woods, there was another gate. They opened it and were out in the fields that led to the sea. Mana set off towards the cliffs, but after a few moments she pulled Miriam back to where the trees bordered the pasture. “Just wait here one minute,” she cautioned.

  There were some quiet crashes in the woods, and Simon and Neil appeared at the gate. They climbed over it easily and jumped into the field.

  “Hello,” Mana propped her umbrella in the ground and leaned on it at a dashing angle.

  Neil jumped when he saw her. “Oh! Hello.”

  “What are you doing?” Miriam stepped forward.

  Mana cut off Simon’s response, and said, “Isn’t it obvious? Simon and Neil are coming down to the sea, just like we are. Would you like to walk with us, boys?”

  “’Spose so,” Simon muttered. Mana shouldered the umbrella like a soldier at a march and strode off towards the cliffs. Miriam and Simon shot after her, and Neil followed rather uncertainly.

  They reached the stone steps with the “Giants’ Needles,” as Neil now called them. At the bottom of the steps, Miriam jumped onto the sand and ran over to the rock pools to see if there were any anemones.

  “Take off your shoes and stockings,” Mana ordered, putting the picnic basket on the widest, flattest rock.

  “May I really?” Miriam instantly started to untie her bootlaces and drag off her stockings. Simon watched for a minute and began to remove his shoes as well.

  “It smells gorgeous down here.” Miriam sniffed rapturously.

  Mana tilted her face back and closed her eyes. “That smell always reminds me of home,” she said.

  “Where do you come from?” Simon asked. Something prompted him to add, with more politeness, “If you don’t mind the question.”

  “From those islands over there.” Mana pointed out at the sea, and Miriam screwed up her eyes and strained to see. They could just see two faint white smudges on the horizon, one smaller than the other. An anomaly of the salt air and the distance of the reef made them appear to float in the air over the dark sea.

  “I never knew those were there.” Miriam was astonished.

  “I thought you came from near the West Indies,” Neil said, frowning. “And, what on earth are those islands? I have never seen them on any nautical chart.”

  “Perhaps they are only there for the day,” Mana answered calmly.

  “Only there for the day! Well, how can that be?” Neil asked. “Islands don’t move around from one latitude to another!”

  “No, you’re right, of course. But perhaps sometimes latitudes can be moved.”

  Neil frowned. “That’s impossible,” he said. “Latitudes are imaginary lines, drawn in an arbitrary grid. They can’t move.”

  “No, they can’t,” Mana said. “You’re quite right. But perhaps the location they represent can, with the right kind of energy or the right device.”

  “The right device,” Simon echoed. “That sounds familiar – where have I heard that before?”

  “Are they really your islands, Mana?” Miriam asked.

  “Yes, indeed they are,” Mana said. “Look closely at them. Something tells me they might not be there tomorrow.”

  “Gosh,” Simon said. “What wouldn’t I give to visit them!”

  “What did you call the island?” Simon said. “Lampland?”

  “Lampala,” Mana said, smiling. “That is our name for it. Your father called it the big star, and the small island was the little star.”

  “I overheard my father say that once,” Miriam agreed.

  “I’ve heard that before too,” Simon agreed. “Big Star and Little Star Islands. What was it – Lampala?” He stumbled over the strange word.

  Miriam asked, “What is the name of Little Star in your language?”

  “Mixiamani,” Mana replied.

  “That’s from that song you sang to me, the first night you came here!” Miriam said excitedly.

  Mana smoothed the girl’s hair. “Well spotted,” she said. “Now, why don’t the three of you go and look for specimens?” She produced two nets and a couple of jam jars, and handed them to Simon and Miriam. “I’ll expect you to draw the biggest thing you catch.”

  Feeling rather shy, Miriam, Simon and Neil walked over to the rock pools and began to poke at the various life forms in them. Miriam and Simon began to argue, however, when Simon found a crab and Miriam jumped beside him with her net to catch it, only to jostle it into the water.

  “Now look what you’ve done,” he said, his dark eyebrows twitching together.

  “Oh, we’ll find something better,” Neil said. “Look – see! There’s a huge starfish!”

  Simon instantly wielded the net and managed to get it into the largest jar. He picked it up and looked at it from the bottom, and Miriam recoiled.

  “Bleugh,” she said. “Look at its disgusting legs, and those little wiggly things in its center. If we don’t find something larger, I’m going to have to draw that. Come on!”

  “Put the jar in the water while you look,” Mana ordered from the side, “to keep him cool. You’ll need to refresh the water from time to time as well.”

  Simon put the jar into the rock pool and began to poke at a limpet, which instantl
y clamped its shell tightly onto the rock. “You’ll never get it off now,” Miriam said. “Come on, I’m going to look for prawns.” She climbed up onto the rocks and picked her way between the rock pools, feeling the way with her damp, bare feet on the stones. Simon and Neil followed her carefully, and they knelt by one of the deeper pools and peered into it.

  Miriam’s hair fell into her face and she pushed it out of the way. “Look!” she said. “There’s a prawn!” Instantly, Simon was fishing in the water with his net, and he managed to snare the crustacean and pop it into another jam jar.

  “You’re good at that,” Miriam said unwillingly.

  “Thanks,” Simon said, looking up at her in surprise. “Watch, I’ll get you another!”

  Miriam leaned forward to see the hunt, and after some time Simon managed to catch three or four wiggly specimens.

  “Come and have some food!” Mana called, and they headed back with their prizes to where a picnic was laid out. Neil hung back and pretended interest in a group of winkles, but Mana said to him, “Come on, plenty for everybody. I think Cook gave us potted shrimps and Scotch eggs, as well as sausage and cress sandwiches.” She held out a loaded plate, which he took with alacrity.

  “I never went on a picnic before,” he confided, stuffing a huge bite into his mouth and chewing madly. “This is really good!”

  “It’s the sea air.” Mana forked up a bit of shrimp.

  “I’m starving,” Miriam added. “May I have more sandwiches?”

  “Say please, Miriam,” Mana said.

  “Please, Miriam,” Miriam retorted, causing Simon to snort into his sandwich, and she instantly began to laugh as if she had said the funniest joke in the world.

  “Don’t get cheeky,” Mana said, leaning back against a rock. “Will your parents miss you, Simon? Should you think of getting back soon?”

  “Father’s in his study, and Mother went to town to order a new dress,” he replied. The seawater had slopped down the front of his shirt and a patch of green slime now adorned one knee of his rolled-up trousers.

  “When do you both go back to school?” Mana asked Simon and Neil.

  “In a few weeks, worse luck,” Simon responded, eyeing the last Scotch egg.

  She handed it to him. “Not looking forward to it?”

  “Well, you never look forward to school. I mean –” He suddenly remembered she was a teacher.

  Mana laughed. “It’s all right,” she said. “Any good friends there? Besides Neil, of course,” she added.

  “Some. Neil doesn’t like it at school, though.”

  “Shut up!” Neil punched Simon in the stomach.

  “Ow!” Simon yelled. “See how he mistreats me, Miss Postulate? I don’t see why I put up with him, do you?”

  “Because of my fantastic brains,” Neil said. “You crib off my essays; go on, you can admit it.” Miriam, who had started to sketch the prawn, laughed.

  “Why don’t you like school, Neil?” Mana asked. She poured a cup of tea from a stone bottle and balanced it on her knee while she screwed the lid back on.

  “He’s on a scholarship,” Simon explained. “A lot of the chaps don’t like him for that. They think he’s a charity case.”

  “Is that true, Neil?” Mana asked.

  “I suppose so,” Neil mumbled.

  “They wouldn’t talk to him for months,” Simon went on. “It wasn’t until he started beating them all in cards, and winning all their money, that they started to tolerate him.”

  “I don’t know that you should tell me anything about that,” Mana said, smiling. Her teeth were very white against her dark skin, and both boys smiled back.

  “Remember when you won that chess game against Bartleby Minor?” Simon asked, nudging Neil.

  “Bartleby thought he had the perfect opening,” Neil explained. “Simon put up the funds for me to play, and –”

  “–And you beat him hollow,” Simon finished. “Won ten guineas over that, too. But do you know that Neil was more excited about solving an equation in three less steps than Old Wilkins.”

  “Our math tutor,” Neil explained.

  “I think it’s about time to go back, Miriam. You three can release the prawn and the starfish, and I’ll pack up the picnic basket.” Mana began to pack the stone jug and picnic things in her basket.

  “But I wanted to bring the starfish to school!” Simon said. “I can use it to frighten the life out of the chaps!”

  “It would die long before that.” Mana answered. “Absolutely not.”

  Miriam, Simon, and Neil walked over to the pool and tilted the jar into the water, and the animal instantly slithered out. “Is she always like that?” Simon asked.

  “Like what?” Miriam asked.

  “Well – you have to obey what she says, don’t you? It’s just sort of the way she says it.”

  Miriam relaxed. “I know just what you mean,” she answered. She squinted at the prawn and poured him out into the pool in a flurry of legs and antennae.

  Mana was waiting with the basket, a neatly folded rug and her umbrella. “You’d better head back first, Simon,” she said matter-of-factly, “and we’ll follow at a safe distance, after Miriam picks up her sketching things.”

  “Um,” Simon said, “would you mind very much if we showed Miriam something? We will bring her back safely. Promise.” Neil looked at him in surprise, and Simon jerked his head at the cliff wall.

  “Oh?” Mana raised one eyebrow.

  “We just want to find some more shells,” Neil offered and received a push from Simon. “What was that for? She could sketch them.”

  “You can leave the jars and nets,” Simon said. “We’ll bring them up for you when we come up.”

  “I think that would be safe enough. Don’t take too long, now.” Mana handed the items to him and walked over to the stone steps.

  “Are you really going to give me more things to draw? I’m hopeless as it is.” Miriam picked up a shell, examined it, and tossed it back onto the sand.

  Simon waited until Mana was out of sight. He hissed, “No, of course we won’t look for shells. That’s for babies and old ladies. Come and see something we found on the cliff wall.”

  Neil shot off across the sand towards the cliff wall. Simon must have wanted to be the first to show Miriam the strange circles, and he did his best to elbow Neil out of the way. “Have you ever noticed the silver circles on the cliff over here? Do you know why they are there, or what purpose they have?” Miriam shook her head.

  “What the devil…?” Neil pointed.

  The circles were not flush with the rock any longer. They now stood out an inch or so from the cliff. Simon peered at them. He prodded one with a forefinger, yelled, and jumped back.

  “What? What happened?” Neil said. Simon was sucking on his finger and cursing.

  “Bloody hell! The thing shocked me!” Simon forgot his language in his excitement.

  “What?!” Miriam instantly reached for one of the circles, and Simon pushed her hand away with another curse.

  “Don’t, you fool! Those things are live with – some sort of electrical current!”

  Miriam put his hand down, but she peered closely at the ring of circles. “Have you ever seen those before?” Neil repeated. “Last time we were here, they were flush with the cliff wall, and they didn’t have an electrical current. What are they?”

  “Honestly, I have no idea.” Miriam screwed up her eyes and peered at them. “My father never allowed me to come to the sea, even though we live so close by. Did they really change since the last time you saw them?”

  “Yes,” Simon replied. Other than protruding from the rock, there was no other change in the circles. They weren’t glowing, or humming, and the rock wall hadn’t altered in the least.

  “There has to be some kind of apparatus somewhere that controls them,” Neil mused. “We didn’t see anything here. Maybe up above, on the cliff?”

  Simon looked at him for a moment and dashed for
the stairs. Neil cursed, eyed Miriam, and muttered an apology. They both ran after Simon as quickly as they could.

  At the top of the Giant’s Needles, the three of them looked around. There was  nothing to be seen, however, beyond a lot of gorse bushes and the patch of trees. “It’s a mystery,” Simon said.

  “Well, we’ll just have to get to the bottom of it,” Miriam responded.

  The three of them grinned at each other.