The Children of the Sky

“Yeah.” So those mainland tunnels had been just part of Flenser’s construction. The guy was as sneaky as Woodcarver always claimed.

“But now we’re all trusting buddies,” said Wretchly. “I can get you up to Newcastle. In fact, if you want, I can probably sneak you right on stage with Nevil himself.”

“You have Flenser’s okay to do all that?”

“Um, well, this morning he’d only heard a rumor you were down here. I’m … interpolating a bit, but we’ll know more once we’re up there, won’t we?”

Benky looked mostly glowerful, but he didn’t speak. Johanna glanced at Wenda. The woman shrugged. “This is Hidden Island, Jo. Flenser has been a decent landlord. The last of his monsters died several years ago.”

Jo had never been sure of Flenser, but: “Okay, take me up to Newcastle town.” There, at least, she might be able to figure out the right thing to do.

•  •  •

Jo left the Larsndots at Ferryside. Junior had been outraged, but fortunately Wenda Senior was around to rein her in. It was Benky who was the biggest problem. “I’m coming too.”

But what could Benky do if things went bad, in particular if Wretchly went bad? “Stay here, and be around to tell the truth,” said Johanna.

“I’m coming. If—once we get atop Starship Hill, I’ll get Woodcarver.” He glared at Wretchly.

The neo-Flenserist just smiled. “That’s okay with me.”

Wenda, Sr., took her two youngsters back along the alley. When they were out of sight, Wretchly led Johanna and Benky along a winding path behind garbage bins and down passages that were barely more than cracks between buildings. They passed through a well-concealed door and down steep stairs. The darkness was total.

“Keep bent down, Johanna. This isn’t made for two-legs.”

“I guessed that,” said Johanna. Her fingers traced along the stone just ahead. In Tinish structures, you never trusted for headroom. “How come no lights?”

Wretchly said, “Oh, you want a light? I brought one.” A glow appeared ahead, silhouetting a couple of members. Wretchly didn’t try to turn around. He just set the lamp on the ground and continued on.

“Thanks.” Johanna picked it up. The glow made it a little easier to avoid the irregular ceiling, though now her main view was the hindmost of Wretchly’s rear member.

They walked for some minutes, long enough that the inconvenience of being bent over grew toward intolerable soreness. Wretchly merrily chatted away, claiming that he could hear the water shushing by overhead. He seemed totally confident that no intruders were lurking ahead. “Hei, I can hear all the way to the other side.” By the time they reached the mainland stairway, Benky was talking too, curious as to how Flenser and company managed to keep the tunnel from getting flooded. Johanna ached too much to pay much attention.

“Ta da!” Wretchly’s voice came back to her. “The front of me has reached the mainland. Another few steps and: “See? You can stand up straight now.”

Glory! Johanna stretched tall, reaching as far as she could into the empty air.

“Now we just have a little climb up the nice stairs.” That would be more than five hundred meters.

The stairs zigzagged irregularly, following natural drainage faults. Some flights were thirty or forty meters, with the spring runoff almost a waterfall down the side gutters. She did better on the stairs than either of the packs. Both Benky and Wretchly had to accommodate ageing members. Very soon, those were huffing and puffing.

It took almost an hour to reach the top. In that time, Johanna got a rather complete summary of all the crap that had happened in her absence. And she had the information from what were probably the top lieutenants of Woodcarver and Flenser.

“Woodcarver and Nevil have been teetering on the edge of a civil war for more than a tenday,” said Benky, speaking over the wheezing of his members. “There have been rumors of your fleet, sightings when you passed the old capital.”

“The Tropicals are just bringing trade goods.”

“That’s what Nevil claims … officially. Unofficially, the Deniers are saying, ‘what if it’s all guns?’ They’re claiming that Tycoon has boosted our world into the bottom end of technology, that if we don’t make peace with him, we’ll be swept away.”

“It’s Vendacious, not Tycoon! I saw Vendacious down South. Pilgrim and I searched for years for Tycoon and never found him. I’m thinking he’s just another Vendacious lie.”

“Yeah,” said Benky.

“Someone has made a miracle out of the Tropics,” said Wretchly. “You really think that’s Vendacious? My boss doesn’t.”

“So has Flenser ever met Tycoon?”

“Well, um, no.” Wretchly seemed a little embarrassed that his boss, the great Traitor-to-All, might not be totally in the know. “He should be waiting for us at the top, though. You can ask him yourself.”

•  •  •

There was a four-kherhog carriage parked in the warehouse at the top of the climb. Flenser-Tyrathect was inside, dressed for a party. The crippled one’s wheelbarrow was gilded.