'Miss Blue is correct, to a degree,' Tom called out. He was ten or twenty yards ahead and hidden, so his comment came as a minor shock to Arthur and Suzy. 'All Sprites were once Nithlings, but they take on the nature of the place they inhabit out in the Secondary Realms. Sunsprites are essentially self-willed entities composed of stellar plasma. But even they should not be here, at the hot heart of a star. They usually swarm around the fringes of a sun.'
'He's got good hearing,' whispered Suzy.
'Swarm?' asked Arthur. He didn't like hearing that word.
'Typically the original escaped Nithling divides into several hundred Sprites. If they come upon us, do not let them embrace you. Even a brightcoat and star-hood will not endure long against their kiss.'
'Uh, let's just get back on board without meeting any,' Arthur suggested. He picked up his pace, splashing Suzy with his strange, stumbling gait.
'Too late for that,' said Tom as another geyser of steam erupted out of the sea, just as all three of them burst out of the jungle and onto the sand.
The Sunsprite wasn't visible, but the column of steam slowly moved towards the beach, the water fizzing and boiling all around it.
'Can't the sea quench it?' asked Arthur.
'Eventually, if there was some means of keeping it in the water,' Tom told him. He held out his left hand and his harpoon appeared there out of nowhere. He immediately handed the weapon to Arthur, who accepted it with surprise.
'My friend does not willingly fly from another's hand, but she will help the Master of the Lower House. Aim high, for the upper torso of the Sprite – and keep your distance. My friend is best thrown as far as you can.'
'But . . . but what are you going to do?'
'I must ready the Helios for our departure, before the other Sprites drag it back into the sun. You will need to distract this Sunsprite, then finish it. Miss Blue, your cutlass will cut several times before the blade melts. Use your weapons well.'
He rushed into the surf just as a man-sized cloud of writhing steam emerged from the sea. A moment later the steam wafted away and Arthur caught a glimpse of a dark charcoal-coloured creature, just before it exploded into flame. Even through his star-hood, Arthur felt the heat of it on his face.
Without even thinking about it, he threw Tom's harpoon at it, aiming for its upper chest. Once again there was the strange crackling noise, like wrapping paper being mangled, magnified a hundred times. The harpoon flew so fast Arthur only saw a luminous aftertrail.
'Ow!' exclaimed Suzy, and Arthur groaned as the harpoon hit. Both of them clutched their mouths, as they were hit by a sudden toothache that radiated through into their cheekbones and eye sockets.
It was much worse for the Sunsprite. It screamed and ropes of flame shot from its hands up into the sky, then came back down and wrapped around the harpoon that stuck through its chest.When it seemed as if it might pull the harpoon free, Suzy dropped her hand from her mouth and drew her cutlass. But the flaming ropes dimmed and the Sunsprite's fire went out completely as it crumbled into ash and chunks of charcoal.
The harpoon disappeared. Arthur flinched as it reappeared in his hand with a solid whack!
Suzy looked at the harpoon, ran her tongue across her still-aching teeth, and shook her head. 'That's nasty, that is. I wouldn't want to be any closer next time you use it.'
'I hope there won't be a next time,' Arthur replied as he hurried into the sea. He held the harpoon away from his body as far as he could, as if it might turn and strike at him. 'Let's get aboard before another Sunsprite comes through, and –'
A wave slapped him in the face before he could continue. The star-hood stopped him from swallowing anything, but he had to stop where he was in order to regain his balance.
At that moment, steam exploded just in front of him. He stumbled back into Suzy, and both of them fell over in the soft sand, the wash spilling over their legs as another steam-wreathed Sunsprite reared up out of the sea.
It was too close to throw, and he was blinded by steam, so Arthur simply thrust Tom's harpoon up and out, while Suzy scrambled away on all fours as fast as she could.
Arthur felt the harpoon shudder in his hands at the same time an intense heat blasted across his face. He pulled his hands into his sleeves as far as he could, and leaned back into the wash, setting the shaft of the harpoon into the sand.
A moment later, he had to let go of the weapon, as a biting ache struck every bone in his body and spread through his teeth and across his face. He screamed and beat at his mouth with his sleeved hands, desperate to stop the pain. The intense heat of the Sunsprite was nothing compared to the deep, vibrating ache beneath his skin, throbbing in agonising time with his increasing pulse.
Rushing to escape the harpoon's awful influence, Arthur squirmed away through the sea and sand. He didn't care whether he'd got the Sunsprite, whether it was following to kiss him and burn him to death. All he wanted to do was get away from the Captain's terrible weapon –
Something slapped into his right hand, and Arthur screamed again. The harpoon had come back. He couldn't get away from it!
That meant the harpoon thought it would soon be used again.
SEVENTEEN
EVEN THOUGH THE HARPOON was back in Arthur's hand, the pain suddenly ebbed away, disappearing as quickly as it had come, leaving only a lingering discomfort in his teeth and a horrific memory.
Arthur found he was lying face down in wet sand, and hastily rolled over. There was no sign of the Sunsprite or any other geysers of steam. Wearily, he sat up, then staggered to his feet and looked around properly. Suzy was lying still on the sand about six feet away, just above the tideline.
'Suzy!' Arthur called, panic in his voice. What if the side effects of using the harpoon had killed her?
Suzy lifted her head, probed her face with her fingers as if to make sure it was still there, then shakily stood up.
'Are you all right?' Arthur asked urgently, taking a step towards her. She backed away and held up her hands.
'Keep your distance with that sticker, Arthur. I'll just follow on behind.'
'Arthur! Miss Blue! Quickly, we need to cast off!'
Tom's shout galvanised both children into action. Arthur flung himself into the waves, turning sideways to get through them more easily, though he had to kick as well, as a bigger wave lifted him off his feet. Suzy, despite her words, plunged in and soon caught up to him.
As they approached the portside hatch and the rope ladder hanging from it, the water all along the golden bulk of the sunship's hull began to fizz and bubble. Tom leaned out of the hatchway and shouted again.
'Faster! The Sunsprites have done something to the Immaterial Glass, our anchor's dragged, and our starboard sail is filling!'
Arthur redoubled his efforts, but stumbled just before he got to the ladder . He fell completely under water. Hot water. He pushed off the sand and felt a hand under his arm, and when he burst back out, Suzy was right behind him, helping him up.
She practically threw him onto the ladder. Arthur dropped the harpoon as he grabbed the bottom rung, but it didn't fall. It just disappeared.
'Don't come back to me,' muttered Arthur under his breath as he clambered up. At the top, he turned and reached back to help Suzy. The water was really boiling now all along the sunship, and Arthur could see a red glow spreading through the clear blue-green sea.
Suzy leaped aboard with alacrity, hardly needing Arthur's help.
'Shut the hatch and dog it!' roared Tom from somewhere inside.
Arthur pulled and Suzy pushed on the hatch. It was very heavy, made of the same golden metal as the hull, and at least a foot thick. It moved very slowly along a top and bottom rail. As it closed, Arthur saw dozens of gouts of steam explode up through the waves outside. The columns of steam were motionless for a second, then all turned towards the still open hatch.
'Sunsprites!' shouted Arthur. 'Lots of them!'
He gave up pulling the hatch and ran around to help Suzy push.
'Heave!' he yelled. 'One, two, three – heave!'
A ropy arm of fire thrust itself inside just as the hatch rolled shut. Cut off, it rolled and twisted around Arthur's and Suzy's feet, till Suzy stamped on it. Its fire went out and it collapsed into black dust.
Arthur picked up the long metal bar and slid it in place, locking the hatch. He'd barely got it in place when there was a sudden beating on the hull, a sound like many hammers striking metal.
'I hope they can't get in,' said Suzy. 'I lost my cutlass in the sea.'
'So did I,' gasped Arthur, feeling his side. He couldn't remember when he'd last had it. 'Let's get some more. I'm not using that harpoon again.'
'All hands to the bridge!' Tom bellowed.
Arthur and Suzy hurried along the passage and then up to the bridge. Tom was steering the wheel with one hand and reaching out to pull levers with the other. Through one blue porthole, Arthur and Suzy saw the island, now hidden in steam and smoke. The other porthole showed only bright light and indistinct figures that had to be Sunsprites. The metal hammering noise was just as loud here, making it hard to hear and even harder to concentrate.
'They're trying to tow us somewhere,' said Tom. 'But we've got the solar wind with us. Grab those two levers and pull back as hard as you can.'
Arthur and Suzy hurried over to the levers, jumping across the dormant Will. It was lying on the floor behind Tom, still asleep or unconscious.
The levers were much harder to pull down than Arthur expected. In the end, he and Suzy had to hang on to each one to drag them down into position.
'Sunsprites are trying to spoil our rigging, but the Helios is a tough ship,' shouted Tom. 'Tuesday might be a penny-pinching slaver, but he can make a good vessel.'
'Grim Tuesday made the Helios?' shouted Arthur.
'Aye, he did,' roared Tom, even his mighty voice almost lost in the constant hammering ring. 'Copied, of course, from some inventor out in the Secondary Realms. Not from Earth, for a change. ProbablyDDDDDDDDor Æ
'Where?' asked Arthur. 'Who?'
He couldn't even begin to understand the noises Tom had just made, which he presumed were names of other worlds. Or maybe just countries. Or maybe they were the inventors' names.
Tom didn't answer. He was intent on a gauge that was slowly filling with a red dye. As it got to two-thirds full, he spun the wheel and held it fast, straining against some unseen pressure. The gauge almost immediately became totally suffused with the red dye and stayed full.
'A good wind and both sails taut,' shouted Tom. 'They're trying to hold us back, but they'll fall away. Aye, there they go!'
Arthur couldn't see anything in the portholes, or at least he couldn't be sure what he was seeing. But the hammering lessened, and the indistinct shapes in the brightness were no longer all over the place but bunched up in the bottom corners of the portholes. From there, they slowly disappeared.
After five minutes, there was no more hammering. Tom relaxed a little at the wheel, though he didn't lash it or let go.
'We'll be returned to our mooring afore too long with this wind,' he said cheerfully. 'Then back into the House in a trice.'
'And we'll get back only a minute or so after we left?' asked Arthur. He was thinking about the telegram in his pocket and what Grim Tuesday would do. And the even bigger question: What was he going to do with a sleeping Will?
'As long as it takes to speak both spells, the embarkation and disembarkation,' replied Tom. He frowned and added, 'I trust you'll do something with that Will. I've no more mind to follow Grim Tuesday than I ever did, but if he commands me in person with the power of the Second Key, I must obey without question or slipperiness. I don't want my friend to shorten your future.'
Arthur and Suzy shook their heads in an instant mutual reaction.
'Why is nothing ever easy?' asked Arthur. 'I just want theWill to wake up and tell Tuesday to hand over the Key to me. Then I can sort everything out, get back home, and forget about this blasted House and everything in it!'
'It could be worse,' said Suzy philosophically. 'We could be soaking wet.'
Arthur let a slight chuckle escape as he walked around the sun bear.
'And I could be having an asthma attack. And all our teeth might fall out because of . . .'
He glanced at Tom and decided not to say anything about the harpoon. Maybe it had feelings and would be offended. Or Tom might be.
Arthur stopped circling the sun bear and took a series of breaths, each one a little deeper than the last. Now he was outside the House, he couldn't quite fill his lungs, the familiar catch still lurking there, but it could hardly be called asthma. It was just a minor annoyance. Nothing compared to his short, twisted leg.
Forget about the leg, he told himself. Get on with it.
'Okay, I have to wake theWill up.How do you wake up a sleeping bear?Or a hibernating one? Does anyone know?'
Suzy shook her head. Tom adjusted the wheel, then almost absently said, 'I know sun bears don't hibernate.'
'They don't?'
Tom shook his head, and, out of the corner of his eye, Arthur saw the Will's eye flicker too. Just a rapid, momentary lift of an eyelid so it could get a snapshot of the room and the situation.
'It's not even asleep,' cried Arthur, crouching down next to the bear. He tapped it on the snout and said, 'Wake up, Part Two of theWill.'