The Crystal Bridge

Swivel cleared his throat and read aloud from the scroll the dwarf had presented. ‘To Ambrosius Blenk, artist and master, greetings. Let it be known that I, Lucas Flink, artist and master, late of the city of Vlam in the land of Nem, Lord of the Mirrorscape and proprietor of “The Garden at the End of Days” do hereby challenge you to a duel ….’

The master almost choked. ‘A duel! What’s the man talking about? He’s my oldest and dearest friend. Go on, Swivel.’

‘… The reason for this said duel being that Ambrosius Blenk has given shelter and succour to the enemies of our gracious friends the Fifth Mystery, whose faithful service and magnanimity we greatly respect. These felons include, but are not limited to, one Dirk Tot, steward and counterfeiter, and one Melkin Womper, apprentice and thief ….’

All eyes in the room fixed on Mel. He shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.

‘… Moreover, Ambrosius Blenk has also permitted his residence known as the Mansion, located in the city of Vlam, to be used for the preparation of and dissemination of substances injurious to the benefices of the aforementioned Mystery. Namely, counterfeit pigments of a most inferior quality. This duel to take place forthwith, with weapons to be mutually agreed.’

Mel laughed nervously. ‘It’s a joke, right? Lucas Flink’s been dead for two hundred years.’ He glanced at Ludo, who nodded.

‘Dead? Now there’s an interesting concept, Womper. In fact, he’s as alive and well as you and me here in the Mirrorscape. You see, great artists never really die. They live on forever in their work. “The Garden at the End of Days” is Lucas’s retirement home, in a manner of speaking.’

‘So it’s not a joke.’

‘No, Womper, it’s no joke. Lucas would never make light of a thing like this. One thing’s for certain though: he didn’t write that overblown piffle of a challenge. Come on, Swivel, let’s go and get to the bottom of this.’

‘Sir? If I may be so bold? A duel requires two seconds.’

‘Don’t you mean a second and a third?’

‘Two seconds, sir,’ repeated the pedantic butler. ‘Protocol demands it.’

‘All right. One of you must come with us. Not you, Womper, there’s a price on your head. Nor you, young lady, I think. Cleef, you’d better accompany us.’

‘Me? A duel sounds dangerous. Please don’t make me go.’

‘There’s not going to be any duel; not if I’ve got anything to say about it. Come on, Cleef! The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can get back to my mansion.’

‘Go on, Ludo,’ said Wren. ‘You helped save Mel. You can do this.’

Dragging his heels, Ludo followed the master and Swivel out of Billet, certain the High-Bailiff would give him away.

‘Do try and keep up, Cleef,’ called the master as they marched down a shaded tree-lined avenue.

For a moment Ludo almost forgot his fear as he gazed down on to a beautiful valley tightly enclosed by tall, coloured mountains and cliffs etched with terraces. Dozens of sparkling waterfalls cascaded into a circular lake below. The effect was of entire mountainsides embroidered with liquid, silver filigree. Everything in the composition led the eye to Lucas Flink’s magnificent house. It stood alone on its own promontory that jutted out into the lake. The building was made of the purest crystal and took the form of a giant sea anemone. Its many spines flexed gracefully against each other in the breeze, softly chiming like bells. The sunlight that fell on this structure was multiplied by the prismatic walls, and rainbows sprang from them like flying buttresses down to the surface of the lake. Silver-scaled flying fish glided back and forth in their glow.

‘Ever the showman, old Lucas,’ observed the master.

‘Indeed, sir, most artfully contrived,’ agreed the butler.

‘Are those what I think they are?’ asked Ludo, pointing upwards.

‘Certainly. They’re angels,’ said the master as a pair flew overhead. ‘An artistic conceit, of course, but a nice touch.’

As they reached the crystal house, Lucas Flink emerged. With his long, grey beard, Ludo thought he looked like Ambrosius Blenk, although from his deeply lined face he was evidently somewhat older. He was dressed in a grey robe in the high fashion of two centuries ago. Ludo was sure he looked embarrassed. Accompanying him in his scarlet robes was a smirking Adolfus Spute and Mumchance. Ludo tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible behind his companions.

‘Lucas, my old friend,’ said the master, ‘what’s all this nonsense about a duel?’

Mel and Wren sat cross-legged on the library floor.

‘What did that challenge mean when it called you a thief?’ asked Wren.

‘Does the Fifth Mystery ever need a reason for anything it says or does? They took your father without a reason.’

Wren’s shoulders slumped. ‘Yes, they did.’

‘And now they’ve got mine as well. And my mother.’

‘What? How do you know?’

Mel told her. ‘That’s why we’ve got to get back to Nem as soon as possible. I’ve got to rescue them. But right now something else is worrying me.’

‘What’s that?’

‘I’ve been thinking. First the master’s lands in his painting are wrecked to lure him into the Mirrorscape and then he’s trapped here. With him out of the way, Dirk Tot is arrested, the mansion ransacked, and the artificial pigments that pose such a threat to the Mystery are seized. Everything the Fifth Mystery’s been doing since is to prevent the master from returning to Nem.’

‘You think they’re still trying?’

‘Yeah, I do. And another thing. The master’s been in the Mirrorscape ages and he hasn’t got sick. The mistress said that while he’s in a part that’s created by his own hand, he’s protected.’

‘And now, he’s been lured outside. Into Lucas Flink’s bit of the Mirrorscape – where he can get sick if he stays too long.’

They both said it at once: ‘It’s a trap!’

Mel and Wren crouched behind the trees at the end of the avenue and peered down into the valley. Below them Ambrosius Blenk spoke with Lucas Flink, while the High-Bailiff and Mumchance stood to one side. If there was a trap Mel could not see where it was coming from. Then they saw Adolfus Spute bend his tall frame and whisper something to Mumchance. The dwarf raised his silver whistle to his lips and blew a long, shrill blast.

For a moment everything was still. Then Mel and Wren saw the mirror-like surface of the lake begin to shimmer. The faint ripples grew bigger until waves began to lap on to the shore. Bubbles erupted from the surface and a shape, hung with dripping lake-weed, rose out of the roiling water – an enormous tortoise-like contraption on long spider legs billowing filthy black smoke from its funnels and polluting the unspoiled air. It stalked towards the shore.

‘It is a trap!’ said Mel.

‘It’s a machine like the ones that attacked Billet,’ said Wren. ‘They must have cobbled it together from the leftovers of those we destroyed.’

From the space where the tortoise-monster’s head had been, a watertight door squealed open and a gangplank emerged that thudded down on the shore. From the body of the machine ran a score of scarlet-clad men-at-arms of the Fifth Mystery. They surrounded the two old masters and Ludo and Swivel, crossbows aimed at their throats.

Wren got to her feet. ‘Come on. We’ve got to help them.’

Mel grabbed Wren’s arm and pulled her back. ‘No, there’re too many of them. Let’s stay hidden until we can work out what to do.’

‘What’s going on?’ said a strange voice from behind them.

Alarmed, they turned and there, radiating light in the shaded avenue, stood a white-robed angel. From above them came the soft flutter of wings and a second blond-haired angel landed beside its companion, casting its own pool of light. ‘Here, let me see,’ said the second angel.

Wren’s mouth was hanging open. ‘I should be used to the Mirrorscape by now, but angels. Are you really angels?’

‘Of course we are. What did you think we were, shuttlecocks?’ said the first.

‘There’s our master,’ said the second.

‘Lucas Flink?’ said Wren.

‘Certainly. But who are all those other people?’

‘That’s our master, Ambrosius Blenk – and the funny-looking one’s Swivel, his butler,’ said Mel.

‘And the boy’s our friend, Ludo. The ones in red are from the Fifth Mystery,’ added Wren. ‘And they’ve taken them all prisoner.’

‘Why?’ asked the angels together.

‘Because ….’ began Mel. ‘Look, it’d take too long to explain. The important thing is that we need to rescue them. Will you help?’

‘Will it involve any … you know … devilry?’

‘I’m afraid it will,’ said Mel.

‘In that case, I’m your angel. How about you, Farris?’ asked the first angel.

‘Count me in, Bathor,’ answered the second. ‘I’m always up for a spot of devilry. It’s so boring flying around all day looking angelic.’

‘But what good can just four of us do?’ said Wren.

‘I’ve got a plan,’ said Mel. Turning to Farris and Bathor, he asked, ‘Tell me, how well can you two fly?’

Adolfus Spute and Mumchance had locked Ludo, Swivel and the two old masters in a room high in Lucas Flink’s crystal house. The crystal was so pure it did not seem to have any walls. Or a ceiling. Or a floor. Ludo could feel the solidity of the building beneath his feet but his eyes told him he was standing in mid-air. It made him feel very queasy. The room had a panoramic view of the lake, and if he looked down he could see the men-at-arms milling about on the shore.

Ludo saw the High-Bailiff and Mumchance as they clumsily ascended what must be a staircase. They kept missing their footing and bumping into things.

Adolfus Spute’s going to give me away. Ludo looked around. Where is there to hide in a crystal house?

‘Now do you see that you’ve been misled?’ said the master, attempting to convince his old friend that he had been the victim of a cruel deception.

Lucas Flink shook his head. ‘But surely there’s some mistake, Ambrosius. The Mysteries are a force for good.’

‘Your view of them is over two hundred years old. Since your day they have become corrupt.’

‘But they say it’s you who’s become corrupt. The High-Bailiff assured me he had evidence that you’d been fabricating synthetic pigment in your household. Is this true?’

‘Yes, Lucas, it is. We’ve been making pigment that ordinary people can afford. Colour belongs to everyone, not just a few. In your time everyone could afford colour in their lives but now the price of the Mystery’s Pleasures has become exorbitant.’

‘Pleasures?’

‘So Adolfus Spute forgot to tell you about those, did he? Well, Pleasures are – ’

‘Pleasures are what make the world go round; my world, that is.’ The High-Bailiff and Mumchance entered the room. ‘And this old fool and his half-faced servant have stolen more Pleasures than your feeble brain could possibly imagine.’

‘How dare you talk to me like that!’ said Lucas Flink. ‘And in my own house.’

‘Now I have your skeg-bellied friend here, you and your house have served their purpose.’

‘Now do you believe me?’ asked the master.

Ludo edged towards the farthest corner of the room.

‘Stay where you are, my little stool pigeon,’ ordered the High-Bailiff. ‘Trying to fly the coup, were you? Wouldn’t you like to stay and sing us another song, Birdie?’

Ludo suddenly felt hot. Beads of perspiration broke out on his brow. He looked about for somewhere to hide. Anywhere. And then he saw it. ‘Look!’ he shouted.

Everyone turned. Out over the lake, two angels had begun an aerobatic display. Ludo looked down and saw that all of the Mystery men had seen this too and stood transfixed by the spectacle.

‘Yours?’ asked the master, nodding towards the angels.

‘Mine,’ confirmed Lucas Flink. ‘Misbehaving again.’

‘It’s fantastic!’ said Ludo, thankful for the distraction.

Mumchance blew his whistle and pointed to the lakeshore below, where the men-at-arms were jostling each other to get a view of the performance.

‘Fools,’ said Adolfus Spute. ‘Gawking when they should be plundering. Come with me, Mumchance. We’ll soon put an end to these shenanigans. Ooph!’ He had walked into an unseen wall. It took two more collisions before he succeeded in finding an exit.

Just then, the angels began an especially spectacular series of loops, whirls and arabesques that elicited gasps of wonder from their audience below.

‘Do they often do this?’ asked Ludo.

‘If ever they get the chance,’ said Lucas Flink. ‘Sometimes I wonder why I created them.’

‘I have the selfsame problem with Billet,’ said the master.

Ludo’s eye was caught by something else. Below them, snaking their way upwards on an invisible staircase towards the rear of the house crept two figures – blue figures! He nudged Swivel.

A smiling face swivelled into place. ‘Ahem!’ Swivel coughed his polite butler’s cough.

The masters glanced up and the butler nodded in the direction of the back staircase.

With his finger to his lips, Mel beckoned them silently.

‘Womper, how good of you,’ whispered the master. ‘You too, young lady.’

‘Did you put those angels of mine up to this?’ asked Lucas Flink.

‘I hope you don’t mind,’ said Mel.

‘Mind? If I’d been as quick as you, I wouldn’t find myself in this pickle. I see now that I’ve been deceived by the Fifth Mystery. I think we should leave.’ He led the small party through an invisible door on to the landing. For an instant, Ludo’s eyes strayed to the angels’ exhibition outside and he slammed hard into a transparent wall and cried out in pain.

‘Birdie! Smell! Stay where you are, all of you, you lizard-drool!’ bellowed Adolfus Spute from below. ‘Guards!’

A loud blast from Mumchance’s whistle reinforced the alarm.

‘Come along. Walk exactly where I do,’ ordered Lucas Flink. He led them, single file, through imperceptible doors and along invisible corridors. They saw the building below them fill up with men-at-arms running in from the shore, turning the diamond crystal of the house into the blood-red of a ruby.

‘We’re trapped,’ cried Ludo.

‘Now how do we get out?’ said Mel.

‘Lucas?’ said the master.

‘Oh, dear. I was hoping things would never come to this.’ Lucas Flink removed a gold chain from around his neck. Hanging from it were three small tuning forks. He unthreaded them and knelt on the floor, where he struck the largest fork and stood it upright. Its clear note hung in the air and then the whole structure began to sing in sympathy.

‘It sounds like that trick you can do with a wine glass,’ said Wren.

Mel looked around. ‘It’s coming from everywhere at once.’

Lucas Flink then opened an invisible door and stepped through and took a few paces into thin air.

‘We must take the crystal bridge to the far side of the lake.’ So saying, he strode off. ‘Quickly now. You’ll be in no danger just as long as you follow me precisely.’

The others edged out cautiously, feeling their way as they went.

‘Come along, don’t dawdle,’ called Lucas Flink.

‘You heard the man; keep up,’ said the master as the two artists strode ahead.

Mel, Wren and Ludo were barely halfway across when they saw Lucas Flink kneel down ahead of them, tap the second of his tuning forks and set it upright on the bridge. All around, the noise swelled and became discordant as the structure began to vibrate unpleasantly.

Out over the lake where the angels were continuing their aerobatic display, the friends saw a lightning bolt shoot from the tortoise-monster and detonate in the air. As they blinked away the after-image all they saw was a shower of white feathers drifting down to the lake.

‘Farris! Bathor!’ cried Wren.

Suddenly, there was a sharp tattoo like hailstones hitting a glass roof as crossbow bolts struck the underside of the bridge, leaving star-shaped crazing where they had ricocheted off. Below them the men-at-arms were busy reloading.

‘Don’t stop,’ said Ludo. ‘Keep moving. We’re protected by the bridge.’

Again there came the blast of a whistle behind them, and Mel turned to see the High-Bailiff and Mumchance edging out on to the crystal bridge. Adolfus Spute smiled broadly and began to stride towards them.

‘It’s as if they can see the bridge,’ said Mel.

‘They’re going to catch us up before we can reach the other side,’ said Ludo.

‘What’s that?’ said Wren. ‘It looks like a trail of yellow powder on the bridge. That’s how they can see where to step.’

‘Ludo, it’s coming from you,’ said Mel.

A trickle of powder fell from Ludo’s doublet like superfine yellow snow. ‘It’s … it’s pigment. I, er, thought we might need some. The parcel must have burst when I ran into the wall back there.’

Wren looked puzzled. ‘What’s going on, Ludo?’

‘Nothing.’ Ludo’s eyes darted from side to side. ‘Nothing’s going on.’

‘How much have you got?’ asked Mel.

‘Not much,’ answered Ludo, producing the crumpled paper parcel. ‘Please, let’s get out of here.’

Mel grabbed it. ‘Come on, follow me.’ He opened the corner of the parcel and gently threw some before him. ‘There. We can see where the bridge is now.’

They hurried on after Lucas Flink, the master and Swivel, who had already reached the far side of the lake and were disappearing into one of the caverns in the cliff face. Mumchance’s whistle sounded very close behind.

‘Come on!’ shouted Mel, flinging the parcel aside. ‘Run for it!’ They dashed straight for the opening and ran inside.

‘Ah, there you are,’ said the master.

‘If you’ll just step up off the bridge,’ said Lucas Flink. He tapped the last of his tuning forks on a rock and stood it upright on the end of the crystal bridge. The dissonance was now unbearable and the bridge began to shake violently. Great cracks appeared in it. The sound echoing around the cavern was very loud and everyone covered their ears.

Mel looked back and saw that the High-Bailiff and Mumchance were nearly upon them. Then, as the sound reached an ear-splitting climax, the entire bridge shattered into crystal dust. On the far shore, the crystal house imploded. The music stopped abruptly and the two scarlet-clad figures plummeted feet-first into the lake.

Everyone cheered.

They saw Adolfus Spute and Mumchance bob to the surface, spewing water.

‘Now I wish I’d stocked my lake with sharks. Come along, follow me.’ Lucas Flink led them up an irregular flight of steps. The tunnel led deeper under the mountainside. Eventually, they emerged into the light at the far end of the tree-lined avenue. Waiting for them in front of Billet were two very dishevelled angels.

‘That was fun,’ said Farris.

‘Beats being angelic any day,’ said Bathor, smiling. Their gowns were in shreds. Both had singed hair and eyebrows and their faces were covered in black smuts. There were featherless gaps in their wings and their inner radiance now flickered on and off as if it was short-circuited.

Lucas Flink shook his head. ‘You needn’t think I’m going to paint you all over again.’

The angels hung their heads shamefacedly.

‘What happened to you two?’ asked Wren.

‘Direct hit with that lightning gun by the look of it,’ said Ludo.

‘Come along now,’ said the master. ‘Let’s get back inside Billet and repair his damage.’

‘The sooner, the better,’ said Mel. ‘Look!’