26

Jonny was making good progress. Sure, it wasn’t his finest work – that prize would have to go to the log flume* he’d constructed one hot^† summer’s day in the Lake District two years ago, but still, this would do. He hoped!

He figured it was best to work backwards, tying off the zip-line at Buckingham Palace – or as close to Buckingham Palace as he could get – before working his way north (‘uphill’) towards the Magic Circle. There was only a ten-metre difference in elevation between the two sites, so the incline of the zip-line wouldn’t be too steep. However, once they built up sufficient speed, it might be tricky to slow down as they hurtled towards the finishing post. Oh well! Their plan was to get there as quickly as possible.

Although he missed his three friends and couldn’t wait to find out how they were getting on (Oh, just you wait, Jonny!), he enjoyed working on his own in this way, at his own pace, without interruption.

Jonny had begun his course a stone’s throw from the walls of Buckingham Palace. As he couldn’t get into the gardens, he’d figured that if he made a nearby tree his endpoint, then – all being well – their momentum would carry them over the wall. And to stop them from breaking their necks once they’d left the zip-line? Ah yes, everyone’s favourite piece of safety equipment: the humble umbrella. Four large black umbrellas, in this case, which he’d found at home, along with everything else he needed.

Jonny had scaled the tree next to the wall of Buckingham Palace with great ease, taking care to stay out of sight of the security cameras posted at intervals along the garden’s perimeter.

Jonny tied off the end of the wire by looping it around several low hanging branches before leaping to the ground, landing on all fours like a particularly giant cat. He picked himself up, grabbed the rucksack containing a huge coil of fine wire,* and started to spool it gradually out along the ground as he moved across Green Park.

And from there Jonny continued, making his way towards the Magic Circle, literally moving as the crow flies but at a snail’s pace, trying to remain inconspicuous – constantly pretending he was doing up his shoelaces – picking out the most direct route, occasionally stopping to check that the wire was tucked securely away along the sides of buildings, making sure he left just enough slack, but not so much that the wire was noticeable by people, pigeons, police or the press.

It was a lengthy task – perhaps even longer than this description does justice – and Jonny would only know it had worked once he reached the roof of the Magic Circle and yanked firmly on the end, hoisting the wire up into the air in one swift movement – hopefully without decapitating any startled starlings or belligerent businessmen along the way.

As he bent to retie his shoelaces outside the BT Tower, Jonny ran the numbers through his head once more. The physics of the situation certainly looked good on paper, and that was all Jonny usually needed to put his mind at ease – but so much was resting on this. There was a lot more at stake here than getting something wrong in a science exam! What if this contraption got them into serious trouble? Or, worse, if it put an end to the Young Magicians? And a very painful end at that! Still, the idea of a man walking on the moon must have sounded bonkers at the time, right, thought Jonny, trying to reassure himself.

He kept on going …