The Search for the Red Dragon - James A. Owen [21]
“Magic lets you skip a lot of steps,” Bert said, “but that doesn’t mean one can completely disregard principles of engineering.
“Ladder up? Good, good,” he continued. “Let’s be off, then.”
“Remember,” Jamie called from the window below, “to get there, just look for the second star on the right….”
“That’s not funny,” Bert replied. “Farewell, James.”
“And you, Bert,” Jamie called back, waving. “Tell your daughter I hope she will not think too ill of me in the future.”
With a final wave, Bert spun the wheel, and the Indigo Dragon whirled about and began to rise into the night air.
Below them the lights of London spread out like glittering pebbles in a dark pool. Everything was edged in a cool light from the rich moon hanging above. And in the distance, clouds had begun to gather. In moments they would be passing into another world. Somehow it seemed less eventful to be doing it in the air, instead of on the more physical surface of the water below.
“That last joke Jamie made,” John said to Bert. “He was quoting his book, wasn’t he?”
“Book?” said Bert, puzzled. “Was that in the book? No.” He shook his head. “It’s an old game he played with Laura Glue’s grandfather, when they were young and could still bear each other’s company.
“In the Archipelago, navigating by the second star to the right—the North Star—makes you sail in a circle. You never get anywhere except where you already are.”
“Who is Laura Glue’s grandfather, anyway?” asked Charles.
Bert looked at them all in surprise, as the clouds began to close about the ship. “Didn’t Jamie tell you? He probably figured that as Caretakers, you already knew.”
“I think I do,” said John, “but it seems impossible to believe.”
“We’re into the rarified air of the Archipelago now,” Bert informed the others, gesturing to the waters below—and back to the now vanished lights of London. “It’s required to believe sixteen impossible things before breakfast.”
“Who are we talking about, John?” asked Jack.
Charles pieced it together first. “There’s a statue of him in Kensington Gardens,” he said quietly. “Am I right, John?”
John nodded and leaned over the railing, face to the wind. “Laura Glue’s grandfather,” he explained, “Sir James Barrie’s best friend, who became his greatest enemy, was the boy who never grew up.
“We’ve been summoned to the Archipelago by Peter Pan.”
PART TWO
A History Undone
The armored scarecrow was chewing something…
CHAPTER FIVE
The Errant Knight
The crossing into the Archipelago was as smooth and uneventful as they’d remembered. One moment they were above the waters of the world, and the next moment they were not. And in the transition, the English night gave way to a crisp morning light.
The crew were many of the same cloven-hoofed fauns that had operated the ship when it sailed on water, although this time the companions were far less hesitant to interact with them.
“Excellent ship you’ve got here,” Charles said to a passing crewman. “Uh, lovely decks.”
“Humph,” replied the faun, shoving past.
“Nice chatting with you,” said Charles.
“I returned the White Dragon to Ordo Maas, then set about salvaging the wreckage of the old girl,” Bert said, patting the hull. “It took us a long time to decide how to proceed, but fortunately we had lots of support and funding from Paralon. Artus and Aven have ruled very well, if, ah, unconventionally, and are widely loved.”
“That’s good to hear,” John said, noting how quickly Jack moved away at the mention of Aven’s name. “I’m going to have a hard time calling the High King ‘Artus,’ though.”
“Oh, he insists that his personal friends still call him ‘Bug,’” said Bert. “Says it helps him keep ‘the common touch,’ although between you and me, I think he just misses the adventures we had, before all this running-a-kingdom business got dropped on him.”
“What was Samaranth’s opinion on all of this?” John asked. “I assume he was consulted?”
“First among the royal advisers,” said Bert. “Even more so than I. Since the war with