The Little Secret (18 page)

“Take courage,” said Quarley. “It won't be for long. Can you give these girls something to eat?”

Pippock darted forward to kiss Jane and Staffa. “You poor little dears — come inside this minute!”

She took them into a canteen, full of long tables and benches. It was beautifully warm, and amazingly clean. The walls were covered with strict notices —
NO BOOTS! TOOLS TO BE LEFT OUTSIDE! UNWASHED HANDS WILL BE SLAPPED!
— and Pippock made the king wipe his feet twice. Jane remembered Twilly saying that she was rather bossy.

A big pan of greenfly soup bubbled above the blazing kitchen fire. The smell made Jane's stomach rumble. Pippock served them each a steaming bowlful. It tasted delicious.

“Phew, that's better,” Quarley said. “You can't imagine the stuff I've been eating in prison. I hope you're not too tired, girls.”

“I'm not tired at all, now that I've had something to eat,” Jane said. “What happens next?”

Staffa asked, “When do we overthrow Mother?”

“All in good time. There's something I have to do first.” To their surprise, Quarley grinned at Pippock. “Is everything ready?”

She giggled back at him. “Yes, Your Majesty. They're all waiting in Hive One.”

He stood up. “Come along, you two — I want you to watch this.”

Pippock suddenly shrieked, “Wait!” She pounced on the king and pinned a large white flower to his uniform. “Oh, I do hope I don't cry!”

What was going on? Jane looked at Staffa, but Staffa was obviously as puzzled as she was.

They left the warm canteen and crossed a dark, windy yard. Quarley opened a small door in one of the huge hangars.

The inside of the beehive was one of the most incredible sights Jane had ever seen. One whole wall looked, at first, like a very dingy aquarium — but when you looked properly, it was rows and rows of wax cells. The wax was like thick and dirty glass. Inside each cell, you could see the dark shape of an enormous bee. The air was warm and damp. There was a loud, low buzzing noise, which made the floor shake, and a strong smell of honey. Jane could not see the special cell that belonged to the majestic queen bee, but it was the invisible center here, like the engine room on a ship.

A great crowd of beemen waited for them. All the men were armed with the big tools of their dangerous trade — some with honey paddles, some with comb shears and some with wax knives. Their weapons gleamed in the dim light, and they looked very fierce. When they saw Quarley, they burst into loud cheers. “Long live the king! Power to the Norahs!”

“Thank you,” said Quarley. “My mother's reign is nearly over. But first, the ceremony!”

The crowd of beemen parted. Staffa and Jane gasped.

There, on the sticky floor of the great hive, stood a small figure all dressed in white, her face hidden by a white veil.

“My bride,” said Quarley.

Pippock wiped her eyes. “Oh, doesn't she look lovely? I knew I'd cry!”

Jane and Staffa stared — this was the last thing they had expected.

“Your —
bride
?” whispered Staffa. “I don't understand!”

Quarley lowered his voice. “I know I've only just lost poor Norah, and I'd hate you to think I'm not sorry — but she knew I loved Migorn, and she gave us her blessing. Please believe me, Staffa. She even left us her human kettle as a wedding present!”

“That's not what I meant,” Staffa said. “Mother will go crazy!”

“Mother's not in charge anymore,” Quarley said cheerfully. “Don't you see? This ruins all her plans — she can't force poor Jane to marry me if I'm married already!”

He took his place beside the bride. She threw back her veil, revealing golden curls and a beautiful Ecker face — a very famous face.

Jane cried, “Migorn! He's marrying Migorn! Now I understand that play!”

Pippock blew her nose. “Yes, and after the revolution she'll be our very first Ecker queen! Isn't it romantic?”

“But … but…” Staffa was too amazed to speak.

“We've been going out together for ages,” Quarley explained. “Sorry I couldn't tell you before, but it would have been too dangerous — Mother would have killed her. I hope you're not shocked.”

“Oh!” Staffa said. “This is — wonderful!” She started to laugh, and then started to cry, and had to borrow Pippock's handkerchief.

An old man with a gray beard came out of the crowd and stood before the young couple. Jane wondered if he was a vicar. Did they have vicars in this world?

“Migorn,” said the old man, “do you take this man to be your lawful husband?”

“I do!” said Migorn.

“Quarles, do you take this woman to be your lawful wife?”

“I do!” said Quarley.

“With the power vested in me as controller of Bee Farm Forty-nine in the Sackenwald District,” said the old man, “I pronounce you man and wife.” (The controller of the farm was obviously qualified to marry people, like a ship's captain in our world).

Everyone in the beehive bowed low.

“Three cheers for the new queen!” yelled Pippock.

The cheers were so deafening that the bees became restless, and began to growl and trample in their waxy cells.

Staffa hugged her brother and shyly kissed Migorn. “Congratulations! This is the best news ever!”

“We're sisters now,” Migorn said. “Can we be friends too?”

“I'd love us to be friends,” Staffa said, beaming all over her childish face. “And I always wanted a sister!”

Quarley jumped up on top of a honey barrel. “Comrades!” he shouted. “Are you with me?”

“YES!” roared the beemen.

Suddenly, everyone was running — Jane was nearly knocked over in the rush. Staffa and Migorn pulled her into the shelter of the wall, and she watched in amazement.

A group of beemen pushed open two immense doors. The other beemen were running up a series of ladders that crisscrossed the wax cells. Each man cut his way into a cell and mounted a bee. In a moment, the hive was a mass of angry bees, streaming through the doors into the night air.

“Don't dawdle, Miss Jane!” Pippock grabbed her hand. “It's time to climb aboard that bee of yours — forgive me for crying, but she reminds me of my poor Gad! Oh, I hate to think of that angel of a man, locked up in a cold dungeon!”

Ducking their heads under the flying bees, the girls made their way outside. Fatilda was waiting for them. Jane's spirits lifted — she was sure Fatilda was pleased to see her. The touchy bee stopped whining and kicking and began to make her purring noise. Jane stroked her neck. She hadn't thought it was possible to be fond of a particular, individual bee (in our world it would be considered very odd), but she did feel fond of Fatilda, and it somehow made her extra confident.

She gave her a hard hug, and murmured in what might have been her ear, “I'm pleased to see you, too!”

*   *   *

It was a magnificent sight. Several hundred bees flew in tight formation, led by Quarley on a beautiful, trained queen. The three girls rode in the middle of the group on Fatilda, surrounded by an armed guard. The massed bees of Farm 49 were joined by hundreds — thousands — of bees from other farms nearby. Together, in a great humming swarm, they flew towards the city.

“This is incredible!” Jane said over her shoulder to Staffa. “When we swoop down, they won't have a chance!”

This was the plan — a surprise attack from the air.

Staffa was still worried. “Mother won't go quietly. If she wins, her revenge will be horrible. She never forgives.”

“Oh, I know her sort!” Migorn said darkly. “I was in the chorus with someone just like her.”

Migorn, when you got to know her, was a nice girl — cheerful and brave, and tougher than she had looked onstage. She passed Jane and Staffa little hard sweets that tasted of soap, and playfully threw sweets at the bodyguards, and made all kinds of rude jokes about the queen. But her senses stayed pin sharp, and she was one of the first to hear the new and sinister noise above the hum of the bees.

She hissed, “Listen!”

It was a harsh, ugly, droning noise — very distant, but steadily getting louder.

Jane asked, “Is that thunder, or something?”

“We're under attack!” yelled one of the bodyguards. “It's the Wasp Squad!”

Suddenly, the dark sky above them was filled with black shapes — winged shapes, with multiple stings glinting evilly in their tails, ridden by the queen's most murderous soldiers. The three girls screamed and clung together while an aerial battle raged around them. The huge wasps roared down upon the king's air force. Bees and men dropped from the sky. Jane saw Quarley on his trained queen, desperately fighting off two of the hideous creatures. Wasps were bad enough, Jane thought, when they ruined picnics at home. In this world, where they were the size of small planes, they were spine-chilling. These were not homely, domestic beasts, like Fatilda, but ruthless fighting machines. When you saw them close up, their black-and-yellow bodies had a greasy sheen, and their heads were mean and pointed.

“Jane, she mustn't catch you!” Staffa cried. “She'll send you to prison — and she'll kill Migorn — if the wasps don't kill her first!”

“Let's make a break for it!” Jane shouted — struggling to keep the terrified Fatilda under control.

“But where can we go?”

Migorn was calm. “Follow my directions, Jane — I know a place in the city where they'll hide us.”

THE DIAMOND SAW

Fatilda zoomed away from the chaos of the battle so fast that the three girls had to cling to her back for dear life.

“We've done it!” gasped Migorn. “We've shaken them off! Keep her flying low, Jane — and make for the city!”

The first gray streaks of morning had appeared in the sky. Jane saw the roofs and towers of the city ahead of them. As soon as they reached the outskirts, they could see fighting in the streets below.

“See that pink house ahead?” Migorn said in Jane's ear. “Try to land in the yard!”

It was now light enough for Jane to see a big, square, pink house, set in the middle of a large yard. She dug in her heels and pulled the reins, and the exhausted bee landed gently on the lawn.

Jane gave Fatilda a hug, and stroked her head in the way she seemed to like so much. “Good girl! You're a heroine!”

The three of them dismounted. It was odd, after the scary ride, to find themselves standing in a quiet suburban garden, among shrubberies and flowerbeds. But they could hear shouts and gunshots in the street outside. They were still in danger.

“Let's hide her in the forget-me-nots,” said Migorn. She helped Jane to guide Fatilda into the shelter of the bushes.

Jane took a good look at the pink house. There was a large sign above the front door:
NORAH HALL — HOME OF THE FAMOUS DANCING ORPHANS.

“This is where I grew up,” Migorn explained. “I was a Dancing Orphan — that's how I started in the theater business. I know they'll never betray us!”

She knocked on the door.

“Go away!” shouted a quavery voice inside. “I warn you, this house is full of brutal men — all armed to the teeth and completely without mercy!”

Migorn bent down and called through the letterbox, “Miss Dizzy, please let us in! It's Migorn! We're hiding from the queen!”

“Migorn! My dear child!” The front door opened, to reveal an old Ecker lady with her gray hair in curlers, wearing a dressing gown and clutching a rolling pin. “Come in at once!”

Jane and Staffa found themselves in a big hall, with a painting of the old princess smiling above the fireplace. If they hadn't been in danger, Jane might have smiled — the “brutal men” turned out to be several dozen frightened little girls, armed with forks, spoons, egg whisks and brooms.

When they saw Migorn, the little girls dropped these improvised weapons, and crowded around her with cries of joy. She hugged and kissed them as if they had been her sisters, and gave the biggest hug to Miss Dizzy. “I knew you'd help us!”

“Good gracious!” cried Miss Dizzy. “You've brought Princess Staffa — and the human bride!” She understood the danger at once. “Dear me, where can we hide you? The queen's soldiers are swarming all over the neighborhood!”

“The attics!” suggested Migorn.

“The cellar!” cried one of the Dancing Orphans.

“Too obvious,” said Miss Dizzy. “I know a far better place — girls, pick up your weapons!”

“Yes, Miss Dizzy!” chorused the orphans.

“Quick as you can, my dears!” The old lady nodded to Migorn, Jane and Staffa, and trotted briskly across the hall. She led them along a corridor, through a back door and across another stretch of lawn. The sun had risen now. In the rosy light of dawn, Jane saw a large wooden building a little like a bandstand in a public park.