Superior Saturday(45)

‘Hey, I want to go up in this—’ Suzy started to say, before Arthur made a gesture with his hand against his throat. She scowled, looked at Alyse, who met her eyes with an unflinching gaze, and then reluctantly followed the others back to the Big Chain.

Arthur moved to the middle of the office, ducked sideways to avoid a huge splash of water from above, and stood next to the desk, which still had the Denizen under it. She looked at Arthur and sniffed.

‘Take it up!’ shouted Alyse. An automaton waved a tentacle in reply, and a few seconds later, the office shook as the chains in the framework clanked into motion. Slowly, with a juddering screech, the office began to rise up toward its destination.

As it rose, a huge sheet of water came crashing down, so much that it couldn’t run off fast enough, creating a temporary puddle as deep as Arthur’s knees.

Arthur! I am spread throughout the –

It was the voice of Part Six of the Will.

‘What was that?’ asked a voice from under the desk. ‘I smell sorcery!’

The Denizen poked her head out and sniffed the air, but quickly withdrew again when another great dump of water splashed across her face.

Arthur shook his head, sending a spray of droplets to join the rain.

Alyse looked at him suspiciously.

‘Everything’s fine,’ said Arthur brightly. He lifted his wrench. ‘All ready to get back to work.’

‘Be sure you are,’ Alyse replied.

Spread throughout . . . the what? thought Arthur. The Will has spoken to me three times now, the last two times when I’ve just been soaked . . .

‘The rain,’ Arthur whispered to himself. He tucked his wrench under his arm, held his hands together, and held them out, watching the rain splash and fill his makeshift cup. Soon brimming over, he held his hands up under the green lamp on the desk, searching the clear water for an indication that he had guessed correctly.

Under the light, deep in the liquid, Arthur saw letters loop and twine, forming words that he knew well, breaking apart and forming again in a constant struggle against the fluid medium.

Part Six of the Will is in the rain. Broken across thousands – maybe millions – of raindrops. It’s only able to come together a bit when water gathers. Like in that drain, or a big splash from above . . .

‘What are you doing, Piper’s child?’ asked the Denizen, who had once again come out from under her desk. She bent under her umbrella and lifted the pince-nez spectacles that hung from a cord around her neck.

‘I thought I saw something fall,’ said Arthur. ‘I caught it, but it must have been a piece of bread or something that fell apart.’

‘Really?’ asked the Denizen. She settled the pince-nez on her nose and blinked. ‘I thought I smelt sorcery . . . and now I see there is something in your pouch. Give it to me.’

Arthur slowly shook his head and stepped closer, his wrench in his hand.

‘Ray . . .’ warned Alyse.

‘Give it to me before I blast you to tiny shreds,’ said the Denizen in a bored voice. ‘I am a full sorcerer now, albeit only of the Fifth Grade for the moment. Hand it over!’

Her hand went to the umbrella, ready to fold and wield it.

Arthur struck as her fingers pressed the catch and the umbrella began to fold. His wrench bounced off the Denizen’s head. She blinked once and said, ‘No little Piper’s child can hit hard enough to . . . to . . .’

She blinked again and slowly slid to the floor. Arthur, keeping them both covered and out of sight under the partly folded umbrella, shoved her back under the desk.

‘What have you done?’ exclaimed Alyse in a furious whisper. ‘You’ll get us all executed!’

‘I only knocked her out,’ said Arthur. ‘It had to be done. Tell me, is there somewhere all this rain goes? Like a big stormwater reservoir or something?’

‘What?’ asked Alyse. She peered under the desk and then looked back up. Her gang was already above, but so were a line of sad-eyed Sorcerous Supernumeraries.

‘How did they get ahead of us?’ asked Arthur.

‘They caught a normal elevator like they always do!’

‘They’ll wonder what’s happened to this sorcerer, won’t they?’

‘Of course they will!’

‘Do the Denizens ever sleep at their desks?’ Arthur asked. He was trying to think how to hide the sorcerer, but there wasn’t anywhere completely out of sight. They were surrounded by sorcerers at their desks, thousands of them . . .

‘They always sleep at their desks,’ said Alyse. ‘But it’s not nighttime, is it? I knew I should have pushed you off the Big Chain!’

They were four floors away from their destination now. Arthur could see Suzy leaning over the edge, watching him. She waved again. Arthur responded by scratching his cap in an agitated way and throwing his hands up in the air, hoping that this might send a message that they were about to be in serious trouble. Not that there was anything Suzy could do.