23

Night Flight

Gafferty’s answer was to scramble out on to the window sill, a narrow stone ledge that ran the length of the hotel. She tried not to look at the ground so far below. Perhaps she could climb down the side of the building? She still had her pin hooks and fishing line, as well as the Upliner. But what about Gobkin? She glared at Hinchsniff and waved the knife at him. It still glowed but there was no more lightning – he must be out of reach of its power.

‘Keep that thing away!’ he growled. ‘I’m holding on to your little brother. If anything happens to me, he gets it!’

‘Gafferty!’ wailed Gobkin.

‘Give me the knife,’ commanded Claudia from inside the room.

Gafferty was flummoxed. There was nothing she could do. Claudia charged towards the window, her wiry arms easily dragging the table out of her way. She didn’t look like the kind of person who was going to let a five-storey drop bother her.

In the corner of her eye Gafferty saw a shape moving through the darkening sky, turning and banking above them. Then like a bird it swooped down and flew straight through the ghost’s body, spearing it like a dart. Small hands reached out for Gobkin and tore him from the phantom’s grasp, carrying him away over the rooftops. Hinchsniff was as surprised by the sight as Gafferty. Claudia reached the window.

‘What was that?’ she roared. Before anyone had time to react, another bird shape sailed into view, though it flew slower and wobblier. As it neared, Gafferty could see it wasn’t a bird – it was Will, hanging on to a glider! He landed on the ledge with an inelegant bump, his wings folding together. They were just out of Claudia’s reach but Hinchsniff lunged at them. Gafferty brandished the knife at him and he retreated with a scowl. Claudia began to pull herself through the window, her fearless cat-burglar instincts taking over.

‘Gafferty!’ Will said. ‘No time to explain! Wyn’s got Gobkin.’ He threw her a looped and padded piece of rope with a clip on one end that was fastened to the glider. ‘Now put this harness around you and hang on.’

Gafferty put the knife in her belt and did as she was told. The glider was a triangle of fabric, perhaps a hotel pillowcase, with a frame made of wood and coat hanger wire. Gafferty could see how they might be used for gliding, like a cross between a human hang glider and a kite.

‘Now, on three, we go. One … two … three … GO!’

Gafferty had never been so terrified and yet so excited. They jumped straight into the sky, Claudia’s outstretched hand grabbing at their heels. Gafferty tried to scream as they plunged downwards but her mouth filled with air. Then the breeze caught them, and the unfolded wings took them soaring upwards, circling over the roof of the hotel. Claudia was left behind, glaring up at them furiously.

Gafferty glanced at Will, who beamed at her. He obviously felt at home in the air.

‘So, you do have wings!’ she said.

‘They’re Wyn’s spare set.’

‘And they actually fly.’

‘What did you think they were for? Decoration?’

‘Well, I have spider legs, but I don’t spin webs out of my bum.’

‘You should do something about that.’ Willoughby grinned. ‘Could be useful in these situations. Look, there’s Wyn up ahead. He’s managed to clip your brother in so he’s safe.’

‘I thought Wyn had abandoned me,’ said Gafferty.

‘No! He wouldn’t do that, but he’s level-headed too. He doesn’t dive into trouble without thinking.’

‘Like me, you mean.’

‘Exactly. He came running back for help after you were caught by the woman and we launched our gliders straight away. His plan is to head far from the Roost, so she doesn’t guess where we live.’

Gafferty peered behind her, back to the hotel. She could see Claudia’s silhouette against the window. What was she doing?

‘She’s … she’s climbing on to the ledge,’ Gafferty said. ‘What’s she thinking? She’s on the fifth floor!’

Claudia launched herself into the air. Gafferty took a sharp intake of breath but the woman didn’t fall. She was floating. The two remaining ghosts were carrying her high above the ground, on a cushion of phantom fog.

‘She’s flying! Will – she’s flying after us!’

Will looked back. He whistled like a bird, a signal to Wyn. The other glider performed a sharp turn and flew back so the two gliders were side by side. Gobkin waved at his sister.

‘Wait till Mum and Dad hear about this!’ he yelled across.

Gafferty put the thought out of her mind. She could imagine Dad’s face all too well.

‘Claudia’s chasing us!’ she yelled, pointing back at the cloud following them. Wyn nodded.

‘We’ll split up,’ he said. ‘I’ll take Gobkin over the town and if they follow, we can lose them in the alleys.’

He leaned into his glider and it banked away. Will steered the other glider in the opposite direction. Claudia’s ghost cloud pursued them without hesitating. Gob was safe for now.

‘It’s the knife,’ said Gafferty. ‘She wants it. We can’t let her have it!’

‘We’ll keep flying,’ said Will. ‘We’re safe as long as we can keep ahead and away from the Roost.’

‘That could be a problem,’ said Gafferty.

Claudia and her seekers were shadowing them relentlessly. She didn’t seem to be in any hurry, floating gracefully through the darkening sky, and yet they were rapidly catching up with the little glider, like an approaching thunderstorm.

‘What’s she got in her hand?’ said Gafferty. ‘Will, she’s got a gun! She’s firing—!’

‘Jumping jackdaws!’ said Will, just as they heard a popping sound from the ghost cloud. ‘She’s fired a grappling hook! She’s trying to bring us down.’

A huge metal anchor on the end of a rope sailed through the air towards them. Hauling on the controls, Will banked the glider steeply, turning the craft back in the direction of the hotel. It dodged the anchor by a hair’s breadth, narrowly avoiding having a hole punched straight through it. But the rope clipped the tip of one of the wings as it sailed past and sent the craft spinning around.

‘I can’t control it!’ Will yelled as Gafferty clung on for dear life.

The glider hurtled towards the hotel. Will battled to keep the flying craft’s nose up, to soften the landing as best as he could. They bounced off a chimney pot and smashed into the roof tiles, a loose slate ripping the glider’s wing fabric and snapping its supports, sending them skittering down the steep slope of the roof. Gafferty screamed: dragged by the wreckage of the glider, they were heading straight for the edge of the building. There was nothing between them and the terrifying drop to the ground below.