‘I have too much to attend to here and below,’ said Dawn. ‘But your escort will be commanded by Fifteen, who is one of my most experienced Gilded Youths. Fifteen, this is Lord Arthur.’
‘Lord Arthur acknowledged,’ said the Gilded Youth. His, or perhaps her, voice was soft and crackly and sounded weirdly remote, as if it came from farther away than from inside the mask. ‘Flight ready to launch.’
‘Thank you,’ said Arthur. He checked the crystal again. The arrow was definitely pointing to the mountain and up. ‘Thank you too, Friday’s Dawn. Good luck with sorting out Saturday’s Dusk. If all goes well, I will be able to send help soon.’
Dawn saluted as Arthur flexed his wings, kicked off, and launched into the sky. The Gilded Youths launched at the same moment, all forty of them surrounding Arthur in a star formation, while his friends were a little slower, taking off behind to fly beneath him.
It was fun to fly. Arthur enjoyed the exhilarating rush of air past his face and the powerful feel of the wings on his back. He experimentally leaned one way and then the other, hastily correcting his balance as he almost tumbled head over heels.
‘These ’ere are proper wings!’ shouted Suzy. ‘Not like those Ascension Wings we ’ad in the Pit. Got to treat them more careful like, ’cos they go down as well as up.’
Arthur had forgotten the wings he’d used before were ones that only went up.
I should have remembered that, he thought. Those ones were stuck on with sealing wax too. These have just connected through my paper coat. I guess the washing between the ears has affected my memory … I wonder what else I’ve forgotten …
As an experiment, Arthur tried to remember all his family’s faces. He was relieved when the memories came, clear and sharp. His house was also clear, and the new school …
A wind buffeted him, interrupting his thoughts. Arthur instinctively corrected and laughed aloud as he was swept up by an updraft, his wings stretching wide. The Gilded Youth called Fifteen flew near and called out in its odd, penetrating voice.
‘Upwind positive. Target achievement in forty minutes.’ ‘Thanks!’ said Arthur. He looked up. The mountain peak looked as high as ever, but he could see something built on top of the bare rock. The hint of a roof.
Arthur took out the crystal again and checked it. This time, he looked at it twice and held it up even closer than before.
‘Hey!’ he said. ‘The gold arrow is pointing across now, not up to the Scriptorium. But there’s nothing … oh …’
There was something. There, in the side of the mountain, about halfway up, was a small vertical crevasse, a slit in the rock that hinted at dark caverns behind.
Arthur slipped one wing down and flew around in a gentle curve to take a better look. Everyone else followed, with some of the Gilded Youths going above Arthur and some below.
‘Entrance Winged Servants Night home,’ crackled Fifteen. ‘Entry forbidden day flyers.’
‘The arrow is definitely pointing there,’ said Arthur. He flew closer and hovered like a hummingbird in order to peer in the crevasse. It was only the height of a door and half as wide, and there was no ledge or step to stand on, so it would be very difficult to enter. ‘How do the Servants fly in?’
Suzy came to hover next to him, and Ugham and Fred hovered above.
‘You’d have to fly at it and fold your wings at the last minute and kind of dive through,’ she said finally, and did a quick loop below. It was hard work to keep hovering.
‘Forbidden day flyers,’ reiterated Fifteen.
‘You’ll never fit through there, Ugham,’ said Arthur. ‘I guess Suzy, me, and Fred will have to go alone. I hope the Servants are still feeling friendly.’
‘They were a bit funny about their secret eyrie,’ said Fred cautiously.
‘I have to go in.’ Arthur looked at the crystal again. The tiny arrow was pointing directly at the crevasse. ‘Part Five of the Will is in there somewhere.’
‘My duty is to stay with Suzy and Fred,’ said Ugham. ‘Yet the way is too narrow for such as I am.’
‘I’ll go in alone,’ said Arthur. ‘This is going to be tricky. Ah, Fifteen, can you and your … um … people circle here for a while, till I come back out?’
‘Arthur commands is done,’ replied Fifteen, and turned away, the other Gilded Youths following as she flew in a wide circle out from the mountainside and back again.
‘I’ll be as quick as I can,’ said Arthur. ‘Keep an eye out for the Piper or Saturday’s Dusk flying back down from the Scriptorium.’