Part 33 (1/2)

”Of course.” He flicked the two of them, and the cat, and then himself.

Each of them took one of his hands, with Jenny holding Sammy. Then he spread his wings, which had grown and feathered out nicely in the past two years, more than had been apparent before. So had his chest muscles, which helped anchor the wing muscles. He pumped them, and the flight feathers caught hold of the air.

They lifted from the sand. At first things were unsteady, because this was his first flight, and he was supporting the others. But in a moment he got the hang of it, and was able to make a controlled spiral, ascending toward the cloud.

Jenny looked down. Already the ground was distressingly far down. She felt alarmingly insecure. But she kept a stiff upper lip, and a stiff lower one too. After all, this had been her idea.

So she looked up, and saw the base of the cloud approaching. It was quite ordinary. But how could there be a castle up here? Castles didn't float in air!

But clouds did, and a castle might rest on a cloud, if the right magic were in operation.

Che achieved the edge of the cloud, breathing hard.

”My wings are getting tired,” he gasped. Then his wing beat faltered.

They began to sink down.

Jenny reached out and grabbed the edge of the cloud.

It felt like cotton stuffing. She hooked her three fingers and thumb into it and pulled the three of them and Sammy in. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to do it, if there had been one more of them, or one less finger. Then Gwenny caught hold also. They were all still very light, so they were able to haul themselves and Che in without falling. They climbed onto the cloud and set the little centaur on his feet there.

”Thank you,” Che said. ”My wings got so tired! You'd think I had never flown before!” He c.o.c.ked his head.

”Actually-”

”They'll recover,” Jenny said quickly. ”It was a difficult climb, holding the two of us. But now we're here, and we can look for the-” She broke off, amazed.

All three of them stood gaping. For there before them was the Nameless Castle. It was cloud-colored and seemed to be made of cloud stones, but overall was solid and tall, with turrets and b.u.t.tresses and embrasures and pennants and all. There was even a moat. One thing a cloud could provide was water. Jags of lightning jumped from its highest pinnacles.

That was another thing a cloud could provide.

Sammy jumped down and walked toward the drawbridge.

They followed, still awed. This would be a perfectly ordinary castle, if it weren't up here on the cloud. As it was, it was extraordinary.

The drawbridge was down and the portcullis up. It was almost as if the castle expected them. Yet they were here only because of Gobble's attempt to cheat. Jenny was amazed that they had managed to get this far. Could they actually fetch back the roc's egg?

They set foot on the drawbridge. It was made of the same tough cloud stuff as the rest, and readily supported their weight. Of course they didn't weigh much at the moment, but if they had, it still would have been strong enough. Jenny bent to tap its substance with her fingers, and it was like spongy tree bark, soft on the surface but with very little give beneath.

They walked on into the main doorway. It was huge, as was the castle. A giant could have used this!

The great hall led to a mighty central chamber, but it was empty. So they tried a side hall, but that led endlessly away, with many blank doors at its sides. Where was the roc?

”Sammy, find the roc,” Jenny said.

The cat bounded off. She had forgotten to hold on to him! All she saw was his mental map, which disappeared as he followed the highlighted route. So she just had to run after him, as usual, trying to keep his tail in sight.

It turned out to be no easy route. They wound through halls, chambers, and galleries as devious as those of the caves they had left, wending their way gradually upward.

It seemed there was no grand central staircase, but rather many little hidden stairs scattered around the castle. The only thing that enabled Jenny to keep up with the cat was the number of closed doors that balked him; he had to wait for her to come open them. This castle was a veritable puzzle box!

”This portion is made for folk our size,” Che remarked. ”In contrast to the main gate and hall, which is made for a giant. I wonder why?”

”Maybe this is the servants' quarters,” Gwenny said.

”Yet there are no occupants of this castle, large or small,” he pointed out.

”Except maybe the roc,” Jenny said. Then she had a nasty notion. ”Just what do rocs eat?”

”Any creature they can catch,” Che said. Then he realized the significance of that. ”The roc could have eaten everyone in the castle!”

”But the roc would be too big to get in here,” Gwenny said. ”And there's no damage to show that it ripped any of this open to get at anyone.”

”So there must be some other explanation,” Jenny said, relieved. ”They must have gone elsewhere. We don't know how old this castle is, after all. They could have left centuries ago. It could have gotten boring on this cloud.”

Finally they came to the top floor. Here, there was a lone pa.s.sage leading to the center of the castle. It opened onto a balcony overlooking another awesome sight.

For there below them, in a vast central chamber, sat the huge roc bird.

It was of course roc colored, with a metallic sheen to its feathers. It was sitting on a monstrous nest fas.h.i.+oned of marbled granite. In the nest, just barely visible, was the rounded curve of the phenomenal roc's egg.

It sparkled like a gem, iridescently.

”If just that one little sliver of it is that lovely,” Gwenny breathed, ”what must the whole thing look like?”

”Mind-bendingly spectacular,” Che said.

They stared down for a while, but the big bird did not move. ”Is it asleep?” Jenny asked.

”Do you know, I think it is a statue,” Che replied.

”See, it is not breathing. This is a statue, an exhibit: bird, nest, and egg. So we should be able to borrow the egg without any trouble after all.”

That was a great relief. They all found a ramp leading down to the base of the exhibit, just right for them. They trekked down it. Jenny watched the roc somewhat nervously, but it was true: it neither breathed nor moved an eyelid. It was indeed a statue, so realistic that it would have fooled anyone who did not watch it closely for a time.

They came to the base of the nest. They walked around it. One of the roc's enormous tail feathers projected out and down. Jenny reached up and touched it. It was longer than she was and as hard as stone.

”Isn't that egg too big to fit through the doors?”

Gwenny asked.

”It certainly is!” Jenny agreed.

Che looked around. ”From here I can see that there is an opening to the sky. That must be where the roc flew in, before it was petrified. Or where it could have flown in, to provide the statue verisimilitude.”

”You're getting centaurish again,” Gwenny informed him. ”I can't even imagine that word you just used.”