Contents of article "’Beyond the Hedge’ - Chapter 16 Part 1"
’Beyond the Hedge’
“The old fellow insists on talking to you, sir. No one else will do. He was most insistent otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered you.”
“Good grief, Will, doesn’t he realise what’s going on out there?”
“He appears to understand the situation only too well, that’s what’s so weird. He grew very agitated when I suggested he should come back some other time, insisting it would be too late by then.”
The Royal Raven scrutinised Will’s face which was unusually troubled. The imp’s eyes flicked desperately from Hamish to Indigoletta and his voice grew more insistent. “I really think he wants to help us. I’m positive it’s not some sort of trick, but we won’t take any risks.”
“There will be no question of that,” said Indigoletta, fanning her cowl of feathers until she resembled a defiant owl. “Run on ahead, Will, and tell Twitchett the Royal Raven won’t tolerate anything less than the highest level of security.” She paused, then added. “And that goes for Crawford, too.”
The little crow rippled with pleasure.
Grimpen moved protectively to the Prince’s side. “I’ll accompany you, sir, if I may.”
Hamish let out a long sigh. “It seems the decision’s been made for me. Where is he?”
“I left him in the small reception room under armed guard. He’s tired and frail. It must have taken a lot out of him to get here.”
The Prince turned to Indigoletta and Crawford and his features grew fierce and fox-like. “I must be kept informed. Regular bulletins, do you understand? If my wife is in difficulty, I wish to know at once. Come, Grimpen, let’s get this over with.”
The wolf trotted after Hamish, negotiating the narrow spiral staircase with new-found confidence.
Indigoletta contemplated the amethyst and diamond ring on her foreclaw. “So, Crawford, what are we facing now, I wonder?”
The crow removed his monocle and left it dangling on the silk ribbon round his neck. He edged towards the raven. “Who knows, ma’am, but we’re facing it together.”
A white-winged rook had broken away from the rest and was making its way towards the palace. The bird cawed a last-minute warning as it was carried towards the balcony on a sudden squall. The rook was battle-scarred but unbowed.
Indigoletta felt she could be more direct with the prince out of the way. “How bad is the situation out over Fractal?”
“It’s pretty desperate, ma’am, but we will die before we surrender. Her Majesty is fearless in her cloak of Sublime Stars and it will take more than a fireball to destroy us.”
The rook saluted and dropped from the balcony in a hair-raising manoeuvre which made it abundantly clear ‘vertigo’ was not a word in its vocabulary.
One of the marine wardens, a pipefish called Flute, witnessed Maligna’s fall from the sky after her heated encounter with the Fairy Queen.
Flute belongs to an elite unit of Freckled Foghorns and she was monitoring the bladderwrack boundary hedge from a submerged cave when it happened. The squirming mass of seaweed moves restlessly on the volatile currents round Fractal Reef as it shifts with the ebb and flow of the tides.
The foghorn patrols were being supported by stealthy fighter rays brought in as an emergency measure to protect the protectors. These giants of the deep glide along with the slow grace of a stately galleon matching their surroundings if necessary but, when they launch an attack, it is swift and deadly.
The pipefish propelled herself towards a dense clump of kelp and hid among its fronds to observe Maligna. There was a fighter ray shadowing her which was good to know should she find herself in a tight spot.
The Harpie wasted no time. She took the form of a sea serpent and swam off towards Corvine, following the contours of the coral beds which give way to watery meadows of seagrass, a favourite habitat of queen shrimp.
When the serpent was no more than a trail of dwindling bubbles, Flute raised the alarm, a coded sequence of toots only audible to those equipped with sonar. The message included details of Maligna’s changed appearance and the route she had taken.
The Fairy Queen flew back to the palace promontory to wait for the Harpie. She knew Maligna would force her back to Corvine sooner or later and she wanted to choose where she faced her enemy for the final showdown.
Celestina raised her solitary standard on the highest escarpment above the entrance to the harbour. She stood resolutely on the headland, a tiny beacon of midnight-blue stars, shining out to all four points of the compass.
"What’s that lizard got against my mother?”
“Who knows,” said Minxie. “They’re tetchy beasts who are easily upset. Perhaps she gave it one black look too many.” The wazwatt laughed at her own joke. “It pays not to cross a flying reptile.”
“So don’t wind me up,” said Cahoots, puffing smoke rings from his nostrils.
“You’re not a reptile, silly, you’re a dragon.”
“I look pretty similar.”
“You’re not as ugly”
“Thanks.” Then he realised what she’d actually said. “So you think I’m hideous?”
“I didn’t say that. Ugly was the word I used. Hideous is a bit strong.”
Minxie whizzed up into the rigging.
“Come back here,” shouted the exasperated dragon.
The wazwatt studiously ignored him and scanned the waters round Fractal Reef trying to discover what had happened to the Harpie. The flying lizard had vanished and in its place was an unfamiliar constellation of arresting blue stars.
Minxie was waving at the dragon down below when she noticed a bow wave crossing the harbour with nothing visible behind it. The wazwatt hadn’t come across anything like that before and flew down to investigate.
Cahoots was seriously fed up without his sparring partner.
“What’s up, lad?”
“Minxie’s left me on my own, Uncle P.”
“I’d be grateful if I were you. That wazwatt’s trouble.”
“Mum likes her.”
“Odd, isn’t it?” Grimshaw tried to sound unconcerned. “Seen anything of Mumsy recently?” Cahoots shook his head sadly. “Why don’t you go and play with the kitty? Gilbert’s about to leave us, so Leo will be glad of a new friend.”
“Nobody knows where they are, and Gilbert wouldn’t go anywhere without Leo.”
Grimshaw addressed the dragon as if he were stupid, giving each word due emphasis. “I run a tight ship. Gilbert and Leo cannot have gone missing.”
“But they have. Mr Malahyde’s been searching for them for ages.”
The buccaneer slapped the dragon hard across the face. “Don’t you dare lie to me. I won’t tolerate lies from anyone, not even you.”
Cahoots was shocked but unhurt. The scales on his face were tough as armour and the buccaneer’s hand throbbed. Undeterred, Grimshaw drew his sword and thrust the point under the dragon’s chin, tilting his head back. Cahoots was frightened but didn’t let on. He was starting to feel justifiably hard done by and would never refer to the buccaneer as his uncle again. “I’m not fibbing. I wouldn’t ever.”
“He’s telling the truth, Cap’n.”
Grimshaw spun round and lunged angrily at the First Mate. His sword caught in the frogging on Malahyde’s coat. “Why don’t I know about this, man? What were you thinking?”
Jedediah stood his ground and held Grimshaw’s gaze. He didn’t trust himself to speak and Pestilence mistook his silence for outright defiance.
There was something about the expression in Malahyde’s hawklike eyes that gave him the heebie-jeebies. He backed off with a forced laugh and thrust his sword back in its jewelled scabbard. “You had your reasons, no doubt, but I’d be obliged to know what you’re doing about finding them.”
Pongo poked his head out from under the cloak. “So Gilbert and Leo have done a moonlight flit. That’s a wee bit unfortunate seeing as the cavalry’s just come over the hill.”
Pigsblanket reacted to Sandy’s wail of disappointment. “Leo’s too sensible. He’d never let Gilbert do anything rash and where would they go? When I left they were locked in their cabin. They must have managed to escape. I expect they’re hiding somewhere on the brigantine. There’s no shortage of places, I should know, I’ve hidden in most of them.”
Lorimer scrambled up onto Sandy’s lap, apologising to Vince for digging his claws into him. “What if they were panicked into doing something daft?”
“Are you speaking from personal experience, Thermidor?”
The lobster turned to confront the seagull and fell on top of the sporran as a rogue wave caught the side of the boat.
“I’ve had just about enough of this carry-on,” said the irascible purse. “What are we going to do now? I’ve nae intention of goin’ back empty handed.”
“Simmer down, Florin. You don’t have hands.”
“It’s a figure of speech, Vince, and here’s another one. Keep your hair on.”
“That’s enough, you two,” said the gull sharply. “I’m going back to the brigantine to see what else I can discover.”
Peg Leg swooped low over the foredeck and landed in the middle of the sailcloth covering the coil of rope. Whenever possible, he opted for a cushioned landing.
“What was that?” asked Gilbert.
“How should I know?”
“Why don’t you have a quick look?”
“And come face to face with PG, no thanks.”
“I can hear it moving about.”
“It’s rolling around on my head.”
“So it’s unlikely to be Captain Grimshaw then.”
The gull pulled back the sailcloth and thrust his face through the gap. “Gilbert and Leo, pleased to meet you at long last. I’m Peg Leg and I’m the scout for the rescue party.”
They were fizzing with excitement and he had to silence them on the spot. “Not a word,” he hissed, “if you want to get out of this alive.”
Peg had a quick look round to make sure he wasn’t being watched. No one was paying him the slightest attention. The crew were far too busy trying to keep ‘The Cheeky Monkey’ out of trouble. Some of them had spotted the blue stars up on the headland and a vigorous debate had begun as to what they were.
“You must swear not to go bananas when you hear what I have to say.” Gilbert and Leo nodded solemnly and crossed their hearts. “Sandy and Jamie are in a rowing boat nearby with Pigsblanket and the others who’ve come to rescue you. I’m going back to give them the good news.”
Leo was snatched up in a suffocating hug by Gilbert who was choking back huge, gulping sobs. The cat’s face was blank of all expression but he was purring so loudly Peg suggested he might like to turn down the volume.
“Back soon,” whispered the gull, tugging the sailcloth over their heads.
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