we’re just going to have to be patient with him.” The Sleepers were gathered about the table for a final breakfast. Goél had disappeared sometime during the night. Roland Winters had eaten his breakfast quickly, then left the house without saying more than a half dozen words.
Sarah looked around at the dissatisfaction on the faces of her friends. “I know he’s difficult,” she said, “but Goél doesn’t do things accidentally. He’s sending Roland with us because he has a purpose.”
“His purpose seems to be to keep me as mad as a wet hornet,” Reb muttered. “Every time that guy Roland says something, mad just goes all over me. I just can’t help it.”
Wash suddenly reached out and struck Reb lightly on the arm. “You remember when we first came to Nuworld?”
“Sure, I remember.”
“You remember how much you didn’t like me?”
Reb looked uncomfortable. “Well, that was different.”
“No, it wasn’t,” Wash said. “You just plain didn’t like me.”
“It is too different! You’re a nice guy, Wash. I just had to find out about it. But there’s nothing nice about Roland Winters.”
Josh got into the conversation then. “We’re going to have a pretty hard time on this assignment, I think. We always do, but it’s going to be even harder if we don’t get along. You remember how we’ve had arguments among ourselves and how tough it was.”
“That’s right,” Jake said. “I guess if I learned to get along with you, Abbey”—here the redhead winked at her and grinned broadly—“I can get along with Roland Winters.”
Abbey sniffed. “Doesn’t look like he wants to get along with us. He won’t have anything to do with any of us.”
Sarah was uncomfortable with all this. She did not want to repeat her conversation with Goél concerning Roland, but she felt she had to say something to change their thinking.
“You know,” she said slowly, “I remember a boy back in the sixth grade. Jimmy. He was the torment of my life—and not just me, either. Everybody else! He was sort of like a Roland shrunk up.” Sarah grinned and then sobered again. “I couldn’t stand him.”
“So what did he do to remind you of our friend Roland?”
“He was always showing off and always bullying kids that were smaller than he was. I thought he was just awful. And I said awful things about him. We all did, but then one day I found out something about his problem. Our teacher took me over to one side and told me things about him that I hadn’t known.”
“What was that?” Abbey asked.
“She said his father had been killed in the war, and his mother had a terrible disease, and that Jimmy had to do most of the work around the house. I never knew that before.” Thoughtfully, Sarah looked out through the window. “When I found that out, I started being nice to him no matter what he said or did to me. And you know what? It worked. He did better. He was really unhappy on the inside, but he didn’t want anybody to know about it.”
“And you think Roland’s like that?” Wash demanded. “Big and tough like he is?”
“I think he may be trying to cover up some things. A wise person told me one time that nobody who’s proud and a bully can really be happy.”
They sat talking about Roland Winters and his problem—whatever it was—for some time. Finally Josh heaved a big sigh. “I know he’ll be hard to get along with, but I’m determined to do the best I can to be a friend to him. He may not want my friendship, but at least I can make the offer.” He added, “And now we’d better start getting our gear pulled together.”
Goél had told the Sleepers to travel light, so all of them put only what was necessary in their knapsacks. Primarily they carried weapons—bows, arrows, swords, knives—but they also had learned they needed to take along some cooking equipment and weatherproof ponchos.
Goél found them completing preparations. He said, “It is time for you to leave.” He glanced at Roland, who had rejoined the group, but did not speak to him directly.
“The enemy on this mission, you must remember, will not primarily be an army,” he told them.
“That’s good news.” Jake sighed with relief. “I’d hate to think we were taking on a whole army.”
But Goél’s face was very serious. “The greatest enemy this time is pride.” After a moment he went on quietly, “You’ve already learned the dangers that can come from wild beasts and from the swords or the arrows of your enemies in human form. You have practiced hard to deal with this kind of weapon. But there is something just as deadly—in another way—as an arrow in the heart, and that is pride in the heart.”
“But I thought it wasn’t bad to be proud. I mean, I’m proud to be serving you, Goél,” Josh spoke up.
“You’re right, my son. Some things we should be proud of. Pride in our country, pride in doing a thing well for the right reason—these are good things. But when one is proud of self and one’s accomplishments and one’s position, that pride can eat away at a man or a woman—or a boy or girl—until there’s nothing noble left. Pride is perhaps the worst crime that a person can commit against himself.”
Goél talked at great length about pride. As he finished he said, “I am sending you to a land where pride in the heart of the ruler has almost destroyed that which is good. But it is not too late. He can still be rescued. As I said, you will not overcome wholly by arms but largely through the weapons that touch the heart.”
“What are they?” Dave asked, sounding mystified.
“What can touch the heart are things such as love and generosity and consideration and courtesy. Swords destroy, but those things give life. And begin by going to the poor, not to the rich. That is my last word. Now come. It is time.”
They put on their knapsacks, and Goél led them away from the house out into an open field.
As they stood waiting and looking around curiously, Josh said, “No horses, Goél?”
“Not this time. Watch.” He pointed upward.
Everyone looked toward the empty sky.
Josh squinted upward. He had the best vision of any of the Sleepers and so was the first to see a series of dots against the blue sky. The dots rapidly grew larger, and suddenly he shouted, “It’s the eagles! The eagles are coming!”
The giant eagles! On their very first adventure, at a time when it seemed they were all doomed, the mighty eagles—strange mutants of Nuworld, enormous birds big enough to carry a full-grown man—had saved them from death.
The eagles circled above Goél and the Sleepers, their mighty wings outstretched. And then they swooped down and landed. On the back of one eagle sat a small man, who at once slipped to the ground and hurried forward to greet them. “Ah, we meet again,” he said.
“Kybus!” Josh exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you.”
Kybus had been the keeper of the eagles. He took pride in them as a man might pride himself in fine horses. He greeted each of the Sleepers and assigned to each of them one of the mighty saddled birds. When he came to Roland, he said, “I have given you the strongest, my friend, for you are the largest. This is Swift Wing.”
Roland’s face was pale, and fine perspiration stood on his forehead. He glanced at the Sleepers, all excitedly and happily talking. He swallowed hard.
“What’s wrong, Roland?” Sarah asked in a worried voice. “You look ill.”
“Well, I never feel quite . . . good . . . in high places,” he said. “As a matter of fact, heights make me sick.”
Sarah put her hand on the tall boy’s arm. “It’ll be all right, Roland. We’ve done this before. You’ll be perfectly safe. You see, there are harnesses and a kind of special saddle. Once you’re in the saddle, you can’t fall off.”
“I guess not,” Roland muttered.
Goél had not missed this scene. He stepped closer to say, “Would you rather not go, Roland?”
“I’ll go.”
“Good. I will tell your father that you are doing well.” Then Goél said, “And now it is time for the flight to begin.”
The Sleepers mounted the huge birds. Roland watched, then did the same.
Josh fitted himself into the saddle, and the friendly bird looked back at him. Josh stroked the eagle’s head, noting the powerful beak. “You could take my head off—” he grinned “—but all I want is a ride.”
Goél stood back and called a final word, “Kybus will lead you to your destination. When you are ready to come back, the eagles will bring you.”
Kybus gave a cry, and Josh felt the body of his eagle begin to quiver. There was a sudden jolt, and he held on tightly as the bird’s pinions started to beat the air. Then the mighty bird took off, and Josh held his breath. Riding an eagle was like nothing else he had ever experienced. He could still remember the thrill that came the first time he had ridden one. Suddenly he shouted, “How about this, Reb? Doesn’t this beat a bucking bronco?”
Reb jerked his hat off and, holding to the harness with one hand, swept it around as if he were riding a bucking horse. “Yahoo!” he yelled. “It beats anything!”
Sarah was enjoying the ascent. She was not afraid this time. She knew from experience that the eagle ride was safe enough. Up, up, up, up, the bird under her rose as the earth fell away. And then, at another cry from Kybus, the eagles all wheeled and began a steady flight toward a range of distant mountains.
Sarah’s eagle was flying just above and slightly behind Swift Wing. She saw that Roland Winters, for once, was not boasting. In fact, he was clinging to the harness with both hands, and his eyes were shut. Sarah suddenly felt sorry for him. She was not afraid of heights, but at times she had been afraid of close places. She knew what fear was like.
“It’s really all right, Roland,” she called. “You’re safe. And you’re doing great. Open your eyes.”
But Roland kept his eyes tightly closed. His lips were glued together, and his hands were white as he grasped the harness with all his might.
Jake enjoyed the feel of the wind blowing through his hair. He looked down and could trace the rivers that wound through the countryside below. From time to time the flight of eagles would pass over a village, and the people appeared very small. Sometimes they looked up, and Jake thought, They probably think we’re a flock of ducks. He saw, however, that some of the sharper-eyed ones were pointing upward, and he could imagine what they must be saying—“Eagles— with people riding on them!” He grinned. “That’ll shake ’em up a little bit.”
Hour after hour the flight went on without a break until, late in the day, Kybus shouted, “There is the kingdom of Falmor!”
Looking ahead, Josh could see a beautiful sight. There was a huge forest, so green it almost hurt his eyes. Sparkling rivers wound between valleys, and he could see the blue of the sky reflected in still ponds and lakes. It’s a beautiful country, he said to himself. I never saw any place prettier.
The eagles began spiraling downward and soon came to rest in an open spot beside a small, quiet river. The Sleepers slid out of their saddles and stretched their legs. Josh noticed that Roland could barely stand up. In fact, he walked for just a few steps, then sat on the ground and stared at the earth without saying a word.
“Thank you, Kybus,” Josh said.
“It was my good pleasure, friend Joshua. I will be back when it is time for you to return.”
“How will you know when to come for us?”
Kybus grinned crookedly. “Goél will know. He will tell me. Do not fear. The eagles will be here when it is time for you to leave the kingdom of Falmor.”
Kybus quickly climbed back onto his eagle. At a word from him, the entire flight rose majestically. Higher and higher the eagles soared. Then as one bird, they all turned in a wheeling motion, their powerful wings beating the air.
Josh saw that all but Roland Winters were watching the mighty birds disappear into the blue sky. “Well,” he said to no one in particular, “we’re here. It sure beat walking, didn’t it?” Then he said soberly, “Now, we can begin our mission.”