Priests of Ferris by Maurice Gee Page B

turned back to the beginning and read quickly.
    ‘Let me guess,’ Nick said. ‘You appeared in a vision to the first High Priest and he wrote it all down.’
    ‘That’s it. That’s it exactly.’
    ‘He must have been a pretty smart operator.’
    They slept on the beach, all except Limpy, who could not be persuaded off the boat. He brought it in close in the dawn and the others climbed aboard. Ben settled himself by the deck-house and would not be moved, but Limpy gave the others a lesson on sailing. He showed them how to set sails and keep them trimmed and what to do when the boat jibed. But the wind was a southerly, he said. They would run before it all the way to Stonehaven.
    They set out from the bay into open water. The four blue bears stood on the beach watching them go. Later they filed up the bluff and went from sight. The stretch of sand shrank until it was no more than a yellow bite in the long blue coast. Then Limpy turned north and the trimaran sped on the southerly, over the choppy sea, through the morning and afternoon and into the night. They saw no other boats but passed a village, set in a cleft in a headland. Limpy pointed out the temple, a white stone building taller than the others, with outspread stone wings fixed on its dome.
    When he had to sleep he put out a sea anchor. They showed no lights. The next day they went north again, with the breeze still behind them. The coast grew wilder. Towards dusk Limpy pointed out a craggy headland.
    ‘Stonehaven is on the northern side. I know a place on the south where we can anchor. No one will find us. If I go in the night we will lose no time.’
    He brought the trimaran into a cove behind a reef and they ate and talked until the sun was down. Then Limpy lowered himself over the side and swam ashore. They saw him scurry over the beach into the rocks. ‘I’ll be back by morning,’ he called.
    ‘I hope he is.’
    ‘What we haven’t worked out,’ Jimmy said, ‘is how we’re going to rescue this girl. We can’t just knock on the door and say we want her.’
    ‘And we’ve got to destroy the religion too,’ Susan said. ‘I’ve got to tell them it’s all wrong.’
    ‘They won’t believe you,’ Nick said.
    ‘We got to show ’em, not tell ’em,’ Jimmy said. ‘And we got to nobble this High Priest. Maybe I could chuck ’im orf Sheercliff like Odo Cling.’ He stopped for a moment and talked with Ben.
    ‘Yeah,’ Jimmy said. ‘Ben reckons them Birdfolk would be a help. If we had a half a dozen we could fly in an’ grab the High Priest. An’ rescue Soona too.’
    ‘They can’t fly outside their land,’ Nick said.
    ‘Sure they can. They just don’t know how. Ben knows, don’t you old feller?’
    The bear nodded.
    ‘But it’s no good telling ’em. They gotter see for themselves. Mind you, we could give ’em a nudge.’ He talked to Ben again. The old bear seemed troubled.
    ‘He’s not too sure he wants Birdfolk flying outside. They used to be a pretty blood-thirsty lot. That’s why they got the spell put on ’em. But I reckon only the good ones would get out. The rest are too full of ’emselves. They’d never do it.’
    ‘Do what?’
    Jimmy grinned. ‘You’ve heard about the Prohibition. They got it carved up in all the Halls. “Unless ye be as Humble as the Worm … ” What could be plainer? It tells ’em exactly what to do. But they’re so bloddy pleased with themselves they can’t see it. They can’t see past flying. The Birdfolk mind don’t work in no other way.’
    ‘You mean … ?’ Nick said. He was so excited he flashed an image at Ben. It was the first time he had ‘talked’. The bear grinned at him and sent back an answer.
    ‘I could go to them,’ Nick cried. ‘I could go to Morninghall and tell them.’
    ‘No,’ Jimmy said. ‘They gotter see fer themselves, like I told yer. But what you can do is drop a hint. One or two of ’em would prob’ly catch on.’
    ‘Silverwing would. Yellowclaw