| |
SHIRLYN OPENED her eyes first. “Calla, look! The glasses—they must have worked.”
I propped the travel glasses on my head like a headband. “I guess Sable’s camera wasn’t broken after all.” I beamed.
“We’re not sailing anymore. We’re flying up in the air! Why, this is simply amazing, isn’t it, Romaso?”
Romaso glowered as he took in so many changes at once, trying to make sense of them all. “The boat is no longer a boat. What are we riding?”
I located a gas pedal and a brake. Then, very carefully, I tried steering to the left. “I’m not sure, exactly. It seems to be a kind of a cross between a motorcycle and hovercraft, only we’re pretty high up.”
“A what?” asked Shirlyn.
“Never mind. Look at how dark the sky is here.”
“Yes and with everything else being so clearly lit up. Calla, can we get closer to the ground? I want to see whether that red and purple material is grass or soil.”
“How about we wait until we get to the tower over there? That’s where I remember seeing Valcas standing in his portrait.” I looked down below us. “We’re eventually going to need to find a place to park.”
“How can anything be so bright without the sun?” Shirlyn asked. “The tower looks like a big white rook from a chess game. Maybe it’s being lit from the inside.”
Fiery slivers of moon disappeared and reappeared in the sky. The tower became brighter with no apparent outward source of light. It reminded me of white landscaping stones glittering in the sunlight. I was relieved that Shirlyn was enjoying herself. However, I wasn’t quite sure how to descend once we reached the tower. The flying vehicle rose higher when I applied the slightest bit of pressure on the accelerator.
Shirlyn pointed out that the tower did not stand alone. A long, narrow wall of the same color and material stretched out from behind it. “The wall keeps going. I can’t see where it ends. The family and all of their attendants couldn’t all live in the tower.”
“All of their attendants? Do others live here aside from Valcas, Jim and Sable?”
“Aunt Sable and Uncle Jim didn’t have any other children, and I doubt anybody else from either side of the family lives here, but there would be so many people under their employ. You know, cooks, maids, gardeners, caretakers, security—”
“Security?” I winced.
“This is a castle, Calla. Nobility requires protection.”
I eased up on the gas pedal and tested the brake. In response, the vehicle descended slightly and hovered. “How do we get inside?”
“We could try the tower to see if there’s an entrance where visitors are accepted. Pull up closer and let’s see if there’s anything on the other side of that wall.”
We jerked forward as I applied the gas in combination with the brake. “I can’t get it to go straight without going higher. It’s getting kind of annoying.”
“Just drive upward until we’re about a third of the way there and then maybe we can coast the rest of the way.”
“Sure, yeah.” I had to give Shirlyn credit. The idea made sense and I didn’t have a better one.
Each ascending foot made it more difficult to see the ground below. The wall extended from one side of the tower like a flat sheet. Ribbons of scarlet and mauve-colored earth stretched across the other side. I strained to see behind the wall as the top of the tower came into view. Drawing nearer, I saw additional glints of color emerging from the mass of burgundy. Oblong shapes of charcoal and lemon swirl began to grow toward us as we rose higher.
I braked into a hover and pointed out the shapes to Shirlyn and Romaso. “What do you think those could be?”
“It’s like a swarm of bumblebees,” gasped Shirlyn.
The yellow and black shapes continued to approach. Even against the dark sky, I could see the blackness of the swarm as it neared. A loud warning in a baritone voice came from the mass before it fully came into focus. “You shouldn’t be here.”
Alarm increased to panic, flooding my entire being. Had Valcas known that we would come here? Had he sent someone to capture us? A sick feeling washed over me. Maybe I failed to travel far back enough into his past. I only knew of one way to escape. I steered quickly while reaching for the glasses that were propped on top of my head. My hand shook as I brought it back in front of me. It was empty. The sick feeling spread to my stomach. The glasses were falling down into the abyss below. Meanwhile, the swarm decreased its distance, revealing a fleet of yellow and black vehicles that looked like the one we were flying.
“Identify yourselves. Immediately.”
“Calla, your glasses! We will never be able to retrieve them. Let me speak.” Then, to the fleet, Shirlyn called out: “My name is Shirlyn Hall. I’m here to visit my cousin, Valcas. I’ve brought two additional guests, Romaso Bredani and Calla Winston.”
“Amplify yourself. We have surrounded your Estrel-Flyer.”
“Excuse me?” replied Shirlyn, offended.
I scrambled, trying to find some type of microphone on the Estrel-Flyer. “They can’t hear you. Here, speak into this.”
“I said that I am Shirlyn Hall. Valcas is my cousin. I’ve come to visit and have brought with me Romaso Bredani and Calla Winston.”
“Thank you, Miss Hall. You and your guests will be taken inside the tower, to separate rooms, where we will further determine your motives for being here.”