“Thank you, High Priest.” He began opening the bag. “Do you want to see?”
Aaron was curious, indeed, but the contraption was calling him. “I’m focused on this task at the moment, since we won’t have General Blair’s help until I figure this out. Save the spells for later when I can concentrate, will you?”
Liam obliged, securing the sack once more. “I’ll keep these safe until you’re ready.”
“It may be a few weeks, unfortunately. This is slow going.” Aaron turned back to his oil press, picked up the wrench, and started tinkering. Liam watched curiously for a moment, and then regarded the high priest thoughtfully before turning on his heel and heading out of Aaron’s office.
“Liam,” Aaron called as the governor disappeared.
He poked his head back into the office. “Yes, High Priest?”
“Be sure Gondoleery doesn’t hear about those spell components, all right?”
Liam nodded. “Of course.” He paused. “Where has she been, by the way?”
Aaron sighed and turned back to his machine. “If we only knew,” he muttered.
The Wall Comes Down
Simber paced the lawn in front of the workers as the wall crumbled, making a huge mess along the entire border between Quill and Artimé. The work continued around the clock, with two teams going in opposite directions around the island. By the next morning, the area where the gate had been was free of all Quillens, and the people of Artimé had an expanded view of the ugly land of Quill.
Meghan and Carina met Simber and Ms. Morning on the lawn to figure out what to do about it all.
“What do you think about this, Simber?” Meghan asked.
Simber had been contemplating the action since the demolition began. “I think tearrring the wall down is an excellent idea,” he said. “Which is why it’s so puzzling to me that they’rrre doing it. I can’t think of anotherrr time when I’ve agrrreed with something Quill does.”
They watched as a large section at the top of the wall came down with a tremendous thud, shaking the land, and barely missing a handful of workers who scurried away just in time.
“Not only is it dangerous,” Carina said, “but it seems very suspicious to me, and I can think of only one reason why they’re doing it.”
“Me too,” Meghan said.
“Me thrrree,” added Simber. “Aarrron is clearrrly plotting anotherrr attack against us.”
The two young women nodded, and Meghan shared what Liam had told her about Aaron’s plan to take over Artimé.
Ms. Morning frowned at the mention of his name, but she seemed grateful for the information.
“I wonder if they finally figured out how terrible their original attack plan was,” mused Carina. “But if they’re trying to widen the access to make us more vulnerable, they’re going to have to remove or smooth out all of this rubble to get their pathetic vehicles through.”
“It’ll definitely take a while,” Meghan said. She glanced out to sea, wondering if she’d find Alex and the ship magically appearing in the distance. But they weren’t there. “Are you and Carina going back to the ship, Sim?”
The stone cheetah growled his indecision. He felt uneasy about being away from Alex. “I don’t know,” he said. “Not rrright now, anyway. I’m quite concerrrned about all of this.” He waved a paw at the workers.
“Carina should definitely stay here,” Ms. Morning said. “We need her as a fighter in case something happens.”
“I think that’s a wise decision,” Carina said. “And, Simber, why don’t we see how things progress? There’s not much you can do for the ship anyway. They just have to take it slow.”
Simber nodded. “Yes, that’s what I’ve been thinking. And I rrreally need to be prrresent herrre for the moment. I make the Quillitarrry uncomforrrtable. If they see me leave, they might considerrr Arrrtimé vulnerrrable. We mustn’t let on that not all of ourrr best fighterrrs arrre herrre at the moment.”
“Or Alex, for that matter,” Meghan said. “He’s been away from home too long. It doesn’t feel safe, you know? What if something happens? I hope they get back soon.” She wanted the safety of Alex’s presence, sure, but she missed him and her other friends terribly.
“So it’s settled, then,” Carina said. “Simber and I will remain in Artimé for now.”
“I think that’s the best plan,” Meghan said.
“I agrrree,” Simber said. “And I know the ship will be back soon. It has to be.” He looked out over the sea, more worried than he was willing to say.
The Tube
Saying he could create a flying carpet component was easier than actually doing it. Alex knew it would take an incredible amount of construction, turning little bits of moss into a component sturdy enough to hold a person and fly them around. It would be very time consuming, and he didn’t actually know if it would work. Secretly Alex wasn’t too worried though. He wouldn’t need to tackle the task at all if his own personal flying carpet, Simber, returned soon. Besides, there were a number of other things that were more important at the moment. And there was still one possible solution that would get most of them home in an instant, if only Alex could fix the tube.
Confident that Copper and Florence could direct the others in scavenging and fixing the ship, Alex’s first order of business was to revisit that option. At dawn, before the precious hour of calm arrived, he sought out the island’s gracious host, finding him in the greenhouse.