Legend of the Three Moons (21 page)

`I saw a mountain with a staircase of five thousand steps, where a Blue Mist that guards the staircase picked up two men and hurled them to the ground.'

Chad threw a handful of seed to a flock of waiting starlings. `Did you see General Tulga?'

` No. As I flew back over the Raiders' camp a man wearing a wide-brimmed Belem hat pointed up at me and I began to fall. Then I woke up.'

After folding their blankets and rolling up their bedding they climbed down the ladder and down the three flights of stairs to the bird shop where San Jaagiin had five of Eric's Belem buns waiting for them. Lyla told him about her dream while they ate.

`The sand is the Boiling Desert. The swinging bridge leads to Ulaan Raiders' camp and Ulaan Town, and the flat mountain is Table Mountain,' explained the birdman.

`And the Blue Mist?' asked Swift.

`Something that belongs to the High Enchanter.'

When they had finished eating, San Jaagiin told them what he had been up to while they slept. `I thought up a plan to help Lyla reach the chained eagle. But it is dangerous. Especially as she is not a boy.'

Lyla straightened her shoulders and stood the way she'd seen Lem, Chad and Swift stand, `With my hair tied back I look like a boy.'

`Which is good because Verv Roliat is altering a second-hand Raider's messenger uniform for you. It will allow you to pass through Ulaan camp to Ulaan town and hopefully on to Baatar. If you are stopped in the camp or town I have written a message to General Tulga's bird trainer Master Wan-rast. It says that I have the Airebis golden-crested eagle that General Tulga has been wanting. Which is true, I do have such a lovely bird, though I do not want to sell it.'

He raised his shoulders then let them drop. `The Raiders will accept this letter but Master Wan-rast might become suspicious as I usually send my messages by pigeon, so I have written that my pigeons are sick. He might also become suspicious as to how you have reached Baatar. You must say you walked up the horse road behind a battalion of Raiders.

`This you cannot actually do as the Blue Mist protects this road from all who are not Raiders. It will know that you are an impostor.'

Lyla's black eyes looked worried. `Is that the dangerous bit?'

`Yes, but there is more. I have heard that many messenger boys have been forced to compete in contests of wrestling, sword fighting and archery before being allowed to pass through Ulaan camp's checkpoints. So I suggest you travel at night and sneak around the checkpoints until you reach Ulaan Town and Table Mountain, which you will have to climb, although I do not know how.

`The rest of you must go no further than the first swinging bridge. Now eat up and go and enjoy the fair. Verv will not be finished sewing until tonight.'

`How will we pay Verv for the uniform?' asked Lem, as they joined the crowd on the High Street.

`Another jewel,' said Lyla. `Although I'd hoped to take the last two with me in case-'

Celeste grabbed her arm. `In case of what?'

Lyla's answer was swallowed up by the shouts of street hawkers and the excited voices of the masked and costumed crowd as they bargained for biscuits, toffee apples, sesame seed cakes, honeycomb, nougat bars and masks.

Everyone was pushing their way up the hill so the children followed to the large open square at the top. Around the square were many tall free-standing houses, each with curved balconies overflowing with costumed Belemite nobles and their Belem ladies. Below them, and craning upward on their toes, jostled thousands of Belemites and travellers, all trying to see what was happening in the square.

The children wriggled their way through the people's legs or ducked under arms and eventually reached a spot where they could see the entertainment. Clowns, acrobats, jugglers, musclemen and musicians were balancing, singing, dancing, playing instruments, lifting weights, spinning tops on their noses, manipulating puppets or pulling rabbits out of their hats.

There was so much to watch that it was after middle day before they laid eyes on the Oopla Sisters Plus One for the first time. Plus One, holding a bunch of balloons, was balanced on Uno's head, Uno balanced on Tres' feet, and Tres balanced on Duo's shoulders. Duo was riding a one-wheeled cycle, while holding an ice cream cone in one hand and a toffee apple in the other.

`Bravo!' shouted the crowd.

`Bravo!' yelled a voice in Lem's ear.

Lem turned to see who had almost deafened him and came face to face with Jessup Birdsnest, just as the merchant of oddities slipped his six fingers into the pocket of the man standing beside him. After slipping the man's watch into his own pocket, Jessup Birdsnest turned and wriggled further into the crowd. Lem was relieved that the Belemite merchant of unusual oddities had not recognised him.

Lyla however recognised Jessup Birdsnest from her dream the night before. `He's the man who pointed at me and made me fall.'

`He was also the Belemite merchant I met in Wartstoe Inn and who followed us up Marsh Pond Lane,' said Lem. `Only he didn't remember me.'

`But he might still.' Celeste moved so that if the pick-pocketing merchant turned round he couldn't see Lem. `Let's go back to the shop.'

They had to push against the crowd nearly all the way back and had just reached the bird shop when Jessup Birdsnest appeared in front of them. This time the merchant did recognise him.

`Fancy meeting you here!' he said, eyeing Lem's diamond-patterned trousers and cape. `Didn't take you to be an acrobat. Took you to be a seller of fine jewels, of which I am most interested.'

Hoping to change the subject Lem asked the six-fingered man why he hadn't recognised him in Belem Square. `After you pick-pocketed that man's watch.'

Jessup Birdsnest looked shocked. `Me? A respectable merchant of unusual oddities, pickpocketing a timepiece in a city where I could lose a hand if I were caught stealing! You are mistaken. It was not me!'

`Yes, it was,' insisted Lem. `You were wearing the same hat and coat.'

Jessup Birdsnest frowned and then his eyes widened. `I wager it was a shape-thief. One who has stolen my shape so he can pick pockets and if he is caught, it'll be my six fingers that will be chopped off. I must catch him. Which side of the square was he in?'

`East side,' said Chad.

San Jaagiin was not happy when they told him about Jessup Birdsnest. `That one would sell his mother for half a brass coin. Mark my words as soon as he has dealt with the shape-thief he will be off to sell information about you to the city guards or the Raiders. You must leave immediately. Here is the letter for Master Wan-rast. Now, go and see if Verv is back. The last time I saw him he was rushing out to buy a Raider's message satchel. The rest of you, pack your things.'

`What about Nutty?' asked Lem.

`And Rosie?' asked Chad.

`Rosie can stay with me. Nutty is well enough to go with you. Hurry!'

Verv did not open his door when Lyla knocked so she continued up to the roof. A few minutes later Lem arrived carrying a bag of Belem buns and a small waterproof packet that he handed to Lyla. `San Jaagiin says it's Gaabi Desert sand and that you will need it. I don't understand why though, if we are going to the Boiling Desert.'

Lyla didn't answer him, and was packing the Gaabi Desert sand and Master Wan-rast's letter, when the bell behind the cages jangled loudly.

`Raiders!' yelled Lem, scooping up Nutty. `Swift, down the rope. Then Chad. The rest of us will go over the roof tops. Meet you at the Clock Tower.'

The closest roof to San Jaagiin's was an easy jump. The second and third needed a run-up to leap the distance. The next one was so slippery that Lem slid all the way down to the guttering before he stopped. The fifth roof was too steep so he opened a skylight, checked the room below and, holding Nutty, he dropped into it. Celeste and Lyla followed.

Lem crept across the room and tried to open the door but it was locked. The key was on the other side.

`I don't believe it,' he gasped staring around at the empty room and up at the skylight that was too high for any of them to reach. `We're locked in.'

`We can't be,' cried Lyla, desperately twisting the doorknob back and forth.

`We are. And any minute the guards will come over the roof and find us.'

`Hold on,' interrupted Celeste. `Remember what Edith said when we first met her. She said that Splash was a snake that could unlock doors. So let's try it.' She unwound Splash from her wrist and held him out to Lem. `Tell him what to do, Lem.'

Holding Splash close to the large keyhole, Lem explained to the snake that they needed the door to be unlocked. With a flick of his green tail Splash slithered so far into the keyhole that all but his tail disappeared. Seconds later there was a click, followed by a clatter as the key fell out, then Splash slithered out and into Celeste's waiting hand.

When Lem tried the handle again, the door opened and they all cheered softly. Seconds later they were down the four flights of stairs and out the front door, before a surprised lantern maker could demand what they were doing in his house.

The pulled their hoods up to cover their faces and dashed down one street and then another until they reached the clock tower. Chad and Swift weren't there so Celeste stood on the tower's steps and searched the crowd. `What will we do if they're caught, Lyla?'

`Rescue them.'

`But what about you not having a Raider's messenger uniform to wear to Table Mountain?'

Lyla made a face. `I'll just have to go without it.'

`Gotcha!' said the man who'd caught Swift and Chad at the bottom of the escape rope. With a flick of his wrist he unhooked the rope from the roof, and then smiled at the boys. `This way the guards won't know how you escaped, and arrest San Jaagiin for helping you. Now follow me.'

Chad and Swift raced after their rescuer who moved fast for a man with one leg and two crutches. Beside him ran a three-legged dog. As they turned into a filth-filled gutter Chad asked him if he knew Edith the Oracle.

`Aye. She gave me my dog. Now get a move on! These gutters slope to the river. The guards won't enter them but they'll send in their bloodhounds. The bloodhounds will make the rats scatter and then they'll chase them. We're only safe if the rats run in the other direction.'

`Rats,' mouthed Chad.

`Bloodhounds,' mouthed Swift.

The man turned into a second gutter that was even filthier than the first.

As he leapt over a dead pig, Swift called out, `We're meant to meet the others at the Clock Tower.'

The man stopped short, looked about, got his bearings and pointed. `Through that gap, turn right, and right again and you'll find the Clock Tower. Bring your friends back here fast. The bridge will be watched, so the only way off Belem Island is by river.'

Swift and Chad ran along the gutter, through the gap, turned right and right again and arrived at the clock tower, which was surrounded by a milling crowd buying from street hawkers.

`I can see them. Spear, Wolf, Splash,' Swift called out to Celeste.

After a quick explanation they all dodged their way back through the crowds and were soon running down the filthy gutter towards the one-legged man.

`The bloodhounds and the rats are coming,' he said and, taking the lead again, he swung briskly along on his crutches.

The five leapt over and sank into rubbish that squelched and sucked at their boots, as they followed him down one stinking lane after another. Behind them slid Nutty and the three-legged dog, and behind them came the loud squealing of rats and the baying of hounds.

The last gutter ended at a rickety jetty with a rowboat tied to its sagging end. The one-legged man edged along the jetty's cracked planks until he reached a hole. He covered it with his crutches and gestured to Chad to slide across.

Chad handed Lem his bag and sword and, with a wary glance at the turgid water, he wriggled over the crutches.

Suddenly, out of the lane behind them, burst hundreds of rats. They ran and scampered and skittled along the river bank, onto the jetty, over the children's boots, the man's crutches and Chad's crunched up legs. They kept on going, falling over the edge and down on top of each other into the river.

`Next,' yelled the one-legged man to Swift. Swift slithered across to crunch in beside a wide-eyed Chad.

`You'll need another pair of hands to help row the boat while the little one unties the rope, or you'll float away,' yelled the one-legged man.

With a grimace at the swimming rats, Celeste handed Lyla her cape, sword and bag. `I'll do it. If I fall I can swim underwater.'

The man grunted. `You won't want to, Missy. This is where they throw the bodies of those who've been hanged. Anchored to the bottom by rocks they are. When the river is clear you can see them swaying.'

Celeste was half way across the crutches when one of them broke. She gasped and her first thought was sinking down amongst the swaying bodies and the drowning rats...

Chad grabbed her arm and dragged her onto the plank. She squashed in between him and Swift as the splintered crutch fell into the river. The one-legged man snatched back his good crutch.

It was obvious the rowboat hadn't been used in years. Under its benches sloshed a puddle of sludge, two broken oars, a torn tarpaulin and two rusty bailing tins.

`Don't put your weight on the bottom,' the one-legged man advised.

Celeste and Chad held the boat steady while Swift cast off and then quickly lowered himself to a bench. Using the broken oars, Celeste and Chad swung the boat towards the one-legged man who handed down their weapons, bags and Nutty, and then lowered Lem and Lyla.

`This is for you,' he told Lyla, holding out a satchel. `It be your uniform. I ask only one thing. If you reach Ulaan Town, will you look for Dulcinella Roliat and her daughter Kendra. And when you find them, tell them that I, Verv Roliat, be alive in Belem.'

`I will,' promised Lyla.

Verv Roliat wriggled back along the jetty as the baying of the bloodhounds came closer `Best hide under the tarpaulin and let the boat float under the bridge,' he called. `People will think it's come loose. Just remember one thing, once you leave Belem you're in Acirfa, Kingdom of the High Enchanter, and no one can help you there. Good travelling.'