superintendent spat. With looks of disgust on their faces, the policemen backed out. A few minutes later the van started. Danny sat up.
“Yeuch,” he said, feeling his eyes. “What is this stuff?”
“Eel guts,” Nana said. “I knew the peelers would want to see your lovely eyes.”
“Smells rotten,” Danny said. Beth gave him a cloth to wipe his eyes.
“You look good in a dress.” She grinned. Danny shot her a dirty look.
Nana waited until she was sure the police were gone; then she gave Danny a towel and bar of soap.
“Strip to the waist,” she said, “and wash yourself at the pump.”
Danny was going to protest, but a glint in her eye warned him not to. As he stood shivering at the pump, he was aware of eyes watching him from the other caravans, eyes that were neither hostile nor friendly, but simply appraising.
When he got back to the caravan, Beth was in bed on the top half of a bunk.
“You take the bottom half,” Nana said. She turned her back while Danny undressed and climbed between the clean cotton sheets, which smelled of lavender. He wondered how far he could trust the travelers and tried to stay awake to watch for any trickery, but within minutes he had slipped into a dreamless sleep.
Nana sat long into the night after the two young people had fallen asleep. She was old, and sleep did not come quickly to her. She had hidden her shock well when she had seen Danny. The ravens had warned her that there was turmoil in the other world and that the entity they called the Ring was plotting to destabilize both worlds. She had believed them, of course, but she hadn’t really expected the boy to appear. Nor, when he did come, did she expect him to look so like his parents, with his mother’s eyes and his father’s watchful manner.
CAPTAIN STRANG
I f Les and the others had known they were being watched, they might have stood a chance. Conventional heat-seeking missiles were useless against them, as they left no trail of heat. They were small and so not easily seen. The pilots could not lock on to such tiny slow-moving objects. Clouds and rain might have assisted them, but as the war planes approached them at speeds the people of the Lower World could only imagine, the moon came out.
“Good,” Gabriel said, “it’ll help us find them.” He adjusted their course slightly so that they flew along the southern bank of a reservoir, the water gleaming silver.
“You know,” Daisy said softly, “I’d forgotten how lovely it is to fly by moonlight.”
The jet fighters approached so fast that the Messengershad no time to take evasive action. One minute the skies were empty, the next they were full of roaring death. A howl unlike anything they had ever heard bore down on them. Gabriel’s concentration failed and he veered sharply left, tangling wings with Les in the process. They both dropped like stones. It saved their lives. Both pilots concentrated on the sole remaining target.
Daisy had been a champion flyer when she was young, and all her skill had not deserted her. She did not know what the danger was, but she reacted nonetheless, turning into a swift barrel roll so that the startled pilot of the first jet saw his hail of tracer bullets miss the target. Daisy lacked the strength and agility for another roll, so she veered sharply sideways and down. It was almost enough. Red-hot tracer bullets from the second fighter streamed by, singeing her feathers and whistling off into the darkness, save for one bullet, slightly misshapen in manufacture or by the rifling of the gun barrel. The bullet tumbled through the air, moving more slowly than the others but still quickly enough to do terrible damage. As Daisy soared clear of the other bullets, it followed its untrue path and struck her in the breast. She cried out in pain.
Les and Gabriel had gotten clear of each other. They heard Daisy’s cry and looked up. She was falling gently toward them, her wings beating feebly. As one, they rose and
“Yeuch,” he said, feeling his eyes. “What is this stuff?”
“Eel guts,” Nana said. “I knew the peelers would want to see your lovely eyes.”
“Smells rotten,” Danny said. Beth gave him a cloth to wipe his eyes.
“You look good in a dress.” She grinned. Danny shot her a dirty look.
Nana waited until she was sure the police were gone; then she gave Danny a towel and bar of soap.
“Strip to the waist,” she said, “and wash yourself at the pump.”
Danny was going to protest, but a glint in her eye warned him not to. As he stood shivering at the pump, he was aware of eyes watching him from the other caravans, eyes that were neither hostile nor friendly, but simply appraising.
When he got back to the caravan, Beth was in bed on the top half of a bunk.
“You take the bottom half,” Nana said. She turned her back while Danny undressed and climbed between the clean cotton sheets, which smelled of lavender. He wondered how far he could trust the travelers and tried to stay awake to watch for any trickery, but within minutes he had slipped into a dreamless sleep.
Nana sat long into the night after the two young people had fallen asleep. She was old, and sleep did not come quickly to her. She had hidden her shock well when she had seen Danny. The ravens had warned her that there was turmoil in the other world and that the entity they called the Ring was plotting to destabilize both worlds. She had believed them, of course, but she hadn’t really expected the boy to appear. Nor, when he did come, did she expect him to look so like his parents, with his mother’s eyes and his father’s watchful manner.
CAPTAIN STRANG
I f Les and the others had known they were being watched, they might have stood a chance. Conventional heat-seeking missiles were useless against them, as they left no trail of heat. They were small and so not easily seen. The pilots could not lock on to such tiny slow-moving objects. Clouds and rain might have assisted them, but as the war planes approached them at speeds the people of the Lower World could only imagine, the moon came out.
“Good,” Gabriel said, “it’ll help us find them.” He adjusted their course slightly so that they flew along the southern bank of a reservoir, the water gleaming silver.
“You know,” Daisy said softly, “I’d forgotten how lovely it is to fly by moonlight.”
The jet fighters approached so fast that the Messengershad no time to take evasive action. One minute the skies were empty, the next they were full of roaring death. A howl unlike anything they had ever heard bore down on them. Gabriel’s concentration failed and he veered sharply left, tangling wings with Les in the process. They both dropped like stones. It saved their lives. Both pilots concentrated on the sole remaining target.
Daisy had been a champion flyer when she was young, and all her skill had not deserted her. She did not know what the danger was, but she reacted nonetheless, turning into a swift barrel roll so that the startled pilot of the first jet saw his hail of tracer bullets miss the target. Daisy lacked the strength and agility for another roll, so she veered sharply sideways and down. It was almost enough. Red-hot tracer bullets from the second fighter streamed by, singeing her feathers and whistling off into the darkness, save for one bullet, slightly misshapen in manufacture or by the rifling of the gun barrel. The bullet tumbled through the air, moving more slowly than the others but still quickly enough to do terrible damage. As Daisy soared clear of the other bullets, it followed its untrue path and struck her in the breast. She cried out in pain.
Les and Gabriel had gotten clear of each other. They heard Daisy’s cry and looked up. She was falling gently toward them, her wings beating feebly. As one, they rose and
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