Part 21 (2/2)

And he gripped her very firmly under her arms, and floated off with her above the dark waters of Lake Arianrod.

12.

Dido and Captain Hughes talked their heads off all the way across the mountains.

'What a naffy idea, Cap'n! A flying machine! How in the world did you ever come to hit on it? Was that how you got out of prison? But how'd you ever make it?'

'Ahem!' he said. 'As you know, I have always been interested in aerial appliances and such things; I had considered for a long time whether a device might not be constructed, by means of which, if a person were able to commence his flight from some lofty eminence say a tower, or a mountainside '

'But how'd you ever manage to make it in prison?'

'Very fortunately all the facilities were to hand -materials, drawing implements, besides a skilled and willing helper. But, Miss Twite I must delay no longer in telling you how creditable exceedingly creditable, indeed are the accounts of your behaviour during this expedition that I have received from -'

'You had a helper in prison? Who was that, then?'

'In point of fact I had two companions during the period of my confinement. One of them, that dismal fellow Brandywinde, I found to be wholly ineffectual a wretched milksop! But the other, the man David Llewellyn, known as Silver Taffy to his companions (though a shocking rogue in many ways), proved a most proficient a.s.sistant -'

'Silver Taffy was in the jail too? Did he escape as well?'

'Why yes; I do not know where he has got to now, however; I believe his intentions were to enter Bath Regis in disguise; he also undertook to look after poor Brandywinde though I did wonder whether his intentions in that respect were wholly straightforward and trustworthy,' said the captain, sounding a little doubtful for the first time. 'We had to strap Brandywinde into his Aerial Floater with great care, since he had lost the power of his hands. So what use he could be to Silver Taffy I fail to see . . . But is it not a capital device?' Inventor's pride swept away his doubts. 'Made of silk, you see, stretched over cane struts. I shall take out a patent when I return to England; what do you think of the Owen Hughes Patent Aerial Floater as a t.i.tle?'

'That sounds first-rate, Cap; you'll make a fortune; so you jumped outa the windows of the Pendragon Tower and floated away then what happened?'

'Why, hearing from Mr Multiple that you and King Mabon's daughter had been recaptured by Queen Ginevra who, I am shocked to discover, is a wholly discreditable personage I shall indite a memorandum to His Majesty's Government in the strongest terms as soon as I am back aboard the Thrush '

'You heard from Mr Multiple?' Dido's voice almost cracked with wonder and joy. 'But I thought he was dead?'

'No; I understand that he was on the point of being a.s.sa.s.sinated some villains were about to toss him into an underground chasm when he, very fortunately, recollected that he had a considerable quant.i.ty of diamonds about his person; by bribing his a.s.sailants with these they were persuaded to release him, and so he was enabled to make good his escape.'

'Croopus am I pleased about that!' said Dido.

Her position was becoming very uncomfortable indeed. As they floated along the valley between the huge dark shoulders of Mount Catelonde on one side and Calabe on the other, the captain had contrived to pa.s.s a leather strap around her, under her armpits, and had buckled this to bevels on the under-struts of his Aerial Floater, so that she was tolerably safe, but the strap cut cruelly into her shoulders. Still, the good news about Mr Multiple made her able to disregard such discomfort with ease. She asked, 'Where d'you come across Mr Mully, then?'

'I met him in the mountains. He, it seems, had retraced his way from the cave where he was nearly murdered, purchased a peasant's llama with his last small diamond, and was journeying to Lyonesse City to inform King Mabon of the princess's recapture.'

'Good old Multiple! Those diamonds came in real handy. I guess he got there too late to stop King Mabon sending back the lake; still at least they know about the princess they'll be out after her by now -'

'I daresay they will have encountered her by this time,' said Captain Hughes. 'When I met her -'

'You met her too? How in the name of Nodens did you do that?'

'If you would not keep interrupting me, Miss Twite, I might be enabled to recount a consecutive narrative,' said Captain Hughes.

'Sorry, Cap! You go right on. Where'd you meet Elen? Was she all rug? Was she still riding old Lepper?'

'I was informed by Mr Multiple,' said the captain, 'who had learned it by listening to the conversation of his captors, that your ultimate destination, and that of the princess, was the City of Sul, where you were to be thrown into the lake a most disgraceful procedure; I shall write another memorandum about that to H. M. Government; since the matter appeared one of extreme urgency I directed my course in that direction, having a very tolerable recollection of its whereabouts, due to my careful study of the Map of New c.u.mbria.'

'Yes? And then what?'

'I was steering a course north-westwards one can direct these Aerial Floaters with admirable facility and precision hereabouts, owing to the abundance of volcanoes emitting convective thermal currents into the atmosphere I daresay it may not be quite so easy in Britain,' said Captain Hughes, a certain melancholy entering his voice as he recollected the scarcity of volcanoes in that island.

'You were steering north-westwards, Cap, yes? And then?'

'Why, then I observed a young lady scudding across the countryside at a remarkably fast pace upon a snow-leopard. This, as you may know, is a beast of considerable rarity and zoological interest, which, hitherto, has been believed to be resident only in the eastern hemisphere, especially in Central Asia, where it is found in some profusion. Even young Mr Darwin failed to discover its presence in these regions, so I shall take considerable pleasure in writing a Report to the Royal Society -'

'You saw Elen riding on Happy-Patchy? Did you talk to her?'

'Indeed yes. She, not unnaturally, was somewhat amazed at being hailed by a voice from the empyrean and so was her mount; (indeed she had some ado in pacifying him; apparently he took me for an Auroc, for which creatures, it seems, he has an intense aversion),' said Captain Hughes sounding a little ruffled as he recalled the episode. Dido chuckled; she wished she had been there to see it.

'You talked to Elen?'

'The Princess of Lyonesse,' replied Captain Hughes repressively, 'was so good as to inform me of the practical sense and unselfishness I may go so far as to say heroism, Miss Twite which has distinguished your conduct; of how you planned this means of escape for her and urged her to avail herself of it. I shall certainly indite a Note to H. M. -'

'Oh bother the note! Do you suppose Elen got to Lyonesse all right and tight?'

'I should judge so,' replied the captain, 'since the foothills which remained for her to cross presented no particular hazards and were wholly unpopulated so far as I could judge from my aerial viewpoint. I was considerably exercised in my mind over conflicting duties at that point, I must confess; some would say that I should have escorted the princess to her father; but since she appeared perfectly capable of continuing unes-corted, whereas your plight, so far as I could judge, was more perilous -'

'It was a right near squeak,' agreed Dido. 'I sure thought I was a goner. I'm real grateful to you, Cap'n Hughes; I'd never have thought I'd be so pleased to see you! And I'll never borrow your spygla.s.s again without asking!'

'I beg your pardon?'

'So what's the plan now?' pursued Dido.

'Mr Multiple also informed me though I could hardly believe my own ears that Holystone that my own steward - has been acknowledged by several persons of repute, including King Mabon of Lyonesse, as the returned, or reborn Prince of these regions, Mer-curius Artaius Ambrosius, and husband of Queen Gine-vra of New c.u.mbria.'

'Yes, that's so,' agreed Dido sadly, wondering, however, if Captain Hughes would call the old Guardian a person of repute.

'If this is so, it is certainly my duty to H. M. Government to report on such a state of affairs, and discover what occurs when the personages concerned encounter one another.'

'You mean, when Holystone meets the queen?'

'If a change of government is indicated,' said the captain, 'H. M. G. should know about it. After all, New c.u.mbria is our oldest ally.'

'I daresay Mr Holystone will go to Bath quite soon.' Dido's tone was glum. She added, 'But we better not get there before him, or dear knows what the queen'll do to us. I saw her a couple of days ago, Cap'n. She was in a real rum state all trembly, and eyes like bits o' looking-gla.s.s. You couldn't trust her not to fly right off the handle. The only person she seems to pay heed to is that there Bran, and he was over in Lyonesse.'

'Well, I daresay that King Mabon, and Holystone, or Artaius, as I suppose one should designate him, will lose no time in sending an expeditionary force to Bath, once they are a.s.sured of the safety of the princess. I learned from the man Silver Taffy that in Lyonesse there are a large number of malcontents from the Kingdom of Hy Brasil, escaped from the tyrannical regime there, who may well rally under the leaders.h.i.+p of Holy of Artaius. If you recall, he informed us that he was brought up in that country '

'He certainly better not go back to Bath without taking some pals with him,' Dido said thoughtfully. 'It's my belief that it was the witcheries of those old hags -Ettarde and the others that made him sick when he went there before. I reckon they didn't want him back because then the queen mightn't pay such heed to them. And when he does go back you never know the queen herself might take a dislike to him '

'The reality might disappoint her,' agreed the captain. 'Having cherished a figment of her imagination for so long -'

'What's a figment, Cap? Hey, look down there!'

They had come gliding round the shoulder of Mount Damyake, and were now floating, in icy darkness, above the stony upland saucer of plain that surrounded Bath Regis. Away in the distance Mount Catelonde glowed and coruscated; closer to hand, Mount Damask seemed to have caught the contagion, and was shooting a vertical stream of sparks up into the black heavens to join the cold glittering stars that spread a spangled canopy there; and down below on the plain, like a reflection of the Milky Way, a brilliant procession of lights wound slowly in the direction of Bath.

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