Glory Alley and the Star Riders (The Glory Alley Series) (51 page)

Bone said to the pilot
,
“We need a ride to
the
Bamboozle.”

The pilot choked on his lunch, then cupped his hand to
an
ear
.
“Say that again.”

“Ye heard me.”

“
No need for an attitude,
” he said testily. “I
know my place. I
’m just
a
lowly chauffer
who mustn’t question ye highly esteemed
star riders
.”

“We hold ye in high regard,” Needle said. “And ye know it.”

“Aye,” said White Feather.

“Don’t indulge him,” Bone said. “He just likes to hear us say it.”

The pilot smiled and bowed, sweeping his arm toward his craft.

The three Wybbils
bowed back, then
formed a line, making
Glory
stand at the end
.
T
hey walked
around the whifferdil
in procession, circling once,
then twice,
and
then three times.

“What are we doing?
”
She asked when they reversed tracks and circled back the other way.
“The law requires us to circle thrice
forward, then thrice back again
before boarding any vessel,” Bone said.

“Why?”

“
T
radition.”

“Oh,”
Glory
replied and followed them around until they completed all the circling.
Looking bored, the pilot flicked breadcrumbs off his chest, then shouted into the breeze,

“All aboard who’s coming aboard!
”

“Do ye have to do that
every
time
?
”
Bone muttered, massaging his ear with a finger
.
“We’re standing right here.”

“
Y
e
have your
traditions
,” said the pilot
.
“And
I have mine.
”

He swept his hand through the air and a set of stairs unfolded from the side of the whifferdil
.
Glory
tested the bottom step with the toe of h
er
hikers
.
It gave a little, but spr
a
ng back like a sponge
.
Cool
.
She
bounced up the steps and leap
t
to the middle of the whifferdil
.

“Whoohoo
.
”
The recoil sprung her back into the air again.
“Feels like a
trampoline!”

“Stop that,” Bone ordered.

“If I may ask,” the pilot turned to Bone, pointing with his head at
Glory
.
“What manner of creature is he?”

“
Tullah
n
,” Bone said
.
That didn’t seem to register with the pilot, so Bone
elaborated
. “
From
the indigo
side of the
Elboni
.
”

The
pilot suddenly looked more interested, eyes traveling
her body
up and down
, but not in a good way, more like dis
approval
.

“
He’s so
big
,
but
acts like a child.”

“Don’t they make you take an eye test in
aviator
school?
”
Glory
retorted, taking
great offense
at his mistake
. “I’m a girl
.
” She ma
de
a point of fli
pping her
long ponytail
over her shoulder
. “
Like there’s any question.”

“Don’t provoke
the
pilot,
Rock Collector
,” White Father said
.
“
It’s just that you are quite large compared to female Wybbils. And
wearing
trousers.
So, please, just t
ake a seat and hold your tongue.”

“He called me a
he,
”
Glory
said folding arms over
her
chest in indignation
.
“And
he
said I was fat
.”

“I didn’t
say you were
fat!” The pilot
shot back.
Needle him a hard stare that said shut-up.

“
The pilot
shouldn’t have assumed
you were male
,
” Needle said
.
“
But he didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.
”

“Aye,” replied the pilot
.
“
Ye
be
the
first
Tullahn
I
hav
e met, so please accept my apologies.
”

“Well, I s
uppose I can understand that
,
because I think
...
”
Wybbils ar
e the uglies
t
creatures I’ve ever seen,
she
wanted to say, but
didn’t.
“
E
r
,
we
have a lot to learn about each other
.
Apology accepted.”

The pilot touched his fingers to his forehead in something that loo
ked like a salute
. Needle
guided her to take the seat behind him.
Wh
ite Feather squeezed in directly behind the pilot, while Bone took the spot at the rear.

Goggles lowered, the pilot pressed his fingers to his temples and the whifferdil began to rise.
The stairs folded
on their own,
disappear
ing
into the side of the whifferdil
.
Glory
looked for something, anything, to grab onto, but there were no handholds or seatbelts anywhere
.

Needle
said not to fear. “
Whifferdils
be
made of smart-fibers, sensing when they need to grab on tighter, letting loose when they don’t
.
And as for the pilot,
he’s the best on all of Wybb
.
We
have relied on him oft
en
over the years.
”

“
S
tand up,” Needle encouraged
.

“
Why?”

“I want you to see something.”

The whifferdil was already in motion. “
Too scary
.
” she said
.

“
Do it,” he insisted. “
J
ump
straight up into the air
.”

The ground
was getting further and further away.
“
I don’t think so.” She shook her head.

“
Y
ou’ll feel better the rest of the trip
,
”
the pilot joined in from the front of the craft. “Go on, give it a try.”

She bent her knees and jumped
, but her feet never left the whifferdil. In fact
,
she was now buried up to her ankles in spongy whif
f
erdil. How strange!

“The whifferdil
’s
smart fibers
adjusts the amount of clinginess based on
gravity,
physics
,
and the amount of
emotional tension it
senses from each of its riders
,
”
the pilot proudly explained.

“
Sounds scientific,
”
Glory
said with increas
ing
admiration
.

The pilot pulled down his goggles to give her an irritated scowl. “No need to be insulting,”

“
Didn’t mean it that way.
This thing is totally cool.”

“You can sit down now,” Needle said, pulling on the hem of her jacket
.

She did as told, feeling
much
safer than when they first took off
.
Leaning over the edge, she
tr
ied
to see
where the bubbles came out, but Needle
pulled h
er
up by the hood of h
er
coat.