Jamie led his newly assembled group, which consisted of Lieutenant Ash, Sergeant Willow, Celandine, Nightshade, Hannah, Snitter and himself, back to the spot where he had abandoned his crashed glider the other day. Hannah rode confidently on the boy's shoulder, with Snitter excitedly circling his legs as they walked along. The rabbits followed at a safe distance, still uncertain of the trustworthiness of their new travel companion, almost as if still suspecting a trap.
Before departing Sandleford, Jamie had taken a few minutes to salvage anything useful from the chopper crash site, in hopes of getting his glider airborne again: the block-and-tackle, some cable, duct tape, and several spare harnesses. In addition, he had found a number of other potentially useful artefacts, which had been overlooked by Johnson's part, including an overlooked survival tin containing some flints, a folder water pouch, saw-wire, pins, hatchet, lighter, matchbook, candle, dental floss, sawing needles, and a solar survival blanket. Also, there was a zip-case containing a blank notebook, marker, pencil, and a flight chart which had belonged to pilot Smith. Finally, he had salvaged his father's flight helmet and gloves, which he had found discarded nearby, where McEwen had left them.
It wasn't long before they returned to the place, where the battered glider still lay at the foot of the tree, in the bed of mushrooms, where it had crash-landed. The plywood fuselage looked badly battered, with scratches and grazes all over the paint, in addition to the dried-up mushroom mash and mud splattered all over it. But otherwise, the glider looked capable of flight…or so Jamie hoped, as he set down the arsenal he had been carrying and turned to his companions, who were staring in confusion at the glider.
"Here we are chaps; all we have to do now is move the glider to the edge of the clearing back there for take-off. If it's not damaged, we should be in the air shortly…"
"In the air?" retorted Willow incredulously, looking completely unimpressed at the sight of the glider. On the way here, Jamie had explained to them his plan of using his glider to catch up with his father's group faster by flying into the Dark Territory, rather than travelling on foot. "But that bird-like thing of yours is not alive; it's just a…a curiously shaped tree trunk! It can't fly… What in Frith's name?" he gasped, as a smirking Jamie reached inside the cockpit and flipped on the master switch to test the batteries, causing the pop to start spinning, indicating that there was still some power left.
The rabbits' expressions of confusion instantly turned to utter amazement, if not fear, as they watched the seemingly lifeless hrududu suddenly come back to life. Jamie glanced at his gauges and saw the batteries were just over half full; just enough for one more take-off and some power manoeuvring. Fortunately, the motor and control stick were undamaged. Satisfied, he powered it down to conserve power until they were ready for take-off, and turned to his companions.
"Now then, there is not enough room for everybody inside," he said, pointing at the tiny cockpit, only meant for two people, "Snitter, Hannah and I will ride at the controls; the rest of you will lie flat, spread out onto the wings, two on each side…"
"Excuse me," Ash interrupted sharply, "Are you suggesting we cling onto the wings when this…hrududu of yours takes flight? That's suicide! When those wings start flapping, we'll all be swept off…!"
"No you won't," Jamie replied reassuringly, holding up the safety harnesses he had salvaged from the chopper wreckage, "You'll all be firmly strapped down with these all the way. Besides, aircraft wings don't flap; we use the motor to produce thrust…" However, the rabbits still looked the least keen to go ahead with the plan.
"Absolutely not!" Ash retorted, "I refuse to endanger my friends' lives by letting them cling onto this thing. We are rabbits, not ithel; we don't have hands to hold on like you do…"
"Then what do you suggest, Lieutenant?" snapped Hannah incredulously, stressing Ash's title, as if it was something to scorn at, "It's going to be dark soon. Surely, you don't want to spend the night above ground, which will be crawling with elil come nightfall?" She had just said the magic words, because Ash and the others instantly showed expressions of renewed worrying; being out in the open after dark, with no shelter, would make them sitting ducks for the elil that came out to hunt at night.
Resigning himself to the best option, Ash reluctantly nodded in agreement. On Jamie's direction, the rabbits were all fitted with the harnesses; these in turn were attached to the block-and-tackle, which was fastened to the tow-cable clip on the nose of the glider. With Jamie positioned behind the wing, to push and steer, they moved the glider through the trees, towards a nearby meadow for take-off. After an hour of manoeuvring the glider around trees and other obstacles, they finally reached the plain of clear ground, which they would have to use as a runway.
Giving the glider a brief inspection for any structural damage, wiping off the dried-up mud and mushroom mash, and patching up the worst scratches grazes with duct tape, Jamie deemed it airworthy. Then came the issue of cramming four giant rabbits, a teenage boy, a fox terrier and a mouse on an aircraft only meant for two.
Remembering from his father's teachings, he knew his glider, which, in contrast to most normal gliders, was designed to have a small diesel engine mounted on it on request (Shelton had only settled for the standard battery motor to cut edges on expenses), which gave them some addition weight margin to play with. In addition, there were the full ballast tanks in the wings, used to balance the glider in flight. These held several gallons of water, which he could substitute for the weight of his companions.
Unscrewing the caps off the drain valves, he emptied the tanks, getting rid of all that unnecessary ballast. Then, securing the ends of the harnesses to the steel rings screwed onto the underside of the wings, normally meant for mooring lines, he brought the other ends over the front and onto the top, where his rabbit companions would be strapped down for the upcoming ride.
One by one, Jamie helped the rabbits onto the glider and strapped them down firmly. Placing Snitter in the back seat just like before, Jamie climbed into the forward pilot's seat and strapped himself in, Hannah tucked under his jacket collar. Stowing away his belongings and putting on his father's flight helmet from the chopper, he turned to his controls, preparing for take-off.
Flipping on the master switch, he saw all his flight instruments spring back to life, all but the busted-up radio. Although he had reattached the broken aerial in its socket, he found the crash had caused a short-circuit which had blown the fuse, rendering the radio beyond repair. As for his distress transmitter, which he had left running on, in hopes that someone would trace him, apparently had caught no one's attention. But it hardly mattered anymore, as he would be home in half an hour…or at least he hoped he would.
Grabbing hold of the control stick, he turned it horizontally and sideways, to test his rudder, elevator and ailerons; glancing out his windshield, he saw all the fins rise and dip properly with every movement. His pre-flight check complete, he pushed his throttle forward, powering up the motor for take-off. As the thrust built up, the glider began to slide forward across the grass, picking up speed as it went.
Ignoring the gasps of the rabbits on the wings, Jamie focused on his work, as he manoeuvred his glider across the meadow, watching out for potholes and other obstacles. He could feel the undercarriage, stressed by running through the tall grass, vibrating violently beneath him, the motor straining to generate enough thrust to get the overloaded aircraft off the ground. Pulling back on the stick, he felt the wheels leave the ground, but only for an instant, before the fuselage touched back down again, protesting against the excess weight.
Punching the throttle to full power and shutting down all unnecessary instruments to increase the motor output, Jamie pulled back on the stick again; this time, the glider left the ground and kept climbing at a steady speed. 100ft…200ft…300ft…
The rabbits all but screamed in amazement as they suddenly found themselves soaring into the sky, strapped onto the wings of this wooden bird-like hrududu their human companion was controlling. Like Jamie had assured them, the wings didn't flap and shake them off. Soon, they were gliding through the sky at a steady altitude, the ground, several hundred feet below, slowly drifting past beneath them.
As they soared over the treetops, the ruins of Sandleford came into view, with the chopper wreckage still visible in the centre. The glider cruised over the demolished warren before turning around and heading southeast, towards the Enborne River. Ash cast a last grim look at his old home, now in ruins, as they left the nightmare of the death trap that had nearly claimed their lives, like it had done with so many of their fellow rabbits, behind them. Inside the cockpit, Hannah, now that she wasn't flying as the next meal for a hawk, was having the time of her life.
"Oh, ho, ho, flying is fun, Jamie!" she cheered, admiring the view outside, from atop her friend's shoulder. Jamie smiled as he turned to look at the rest of his passengers; on his left, he could see Willow and Nightshade clinging nervously to the wing surface with their claws, their faces expressing their fear of flying, the latter keeping his eyes tight shut, looking as if he was about to be sick.
"Are you guys doing all right out there?" Jamie called to Nightshade, who was too scared or too airsick to answer. Instead, Sergeant Willow, who retained enough courage to speak, retorted incredulously, "DOES IT LOOK LIKE WE'RE DOING ALL RIGHT, YOU BLOODY ITHE?"
Trying to hide his snort of amusement, Jamie turned to check on the rabbits on the starboard side. In direct contrast to Willow and Nightshade, Ash and Celandine, although initially struck dumb with amazement, were now having the time of their lives. Ash was silently admiring the landscape below, a view, he knew, nobody else had ever experienced before, unless when snatched away by flying elil. Beside him, Celandine was smiling broadly, utterly thrilled by this unique, first-time experience. Any doubts they had had regarding their new friend, or where he had come from, were now entirely extinguished.
Jamie too was lost in his own thoughts, as he steered the glider on a southeasterly heading, heading back towards Newtown, thinking about his mother's reaction when he would turn up on the doorstep accompanied by four giant talking rabbits and a mouse. Then his mind flashed back to his father; in spite of his grand adventure, he still hadn't found what he had come looking for. Unless of course, if he had already made it home and was waiting for him…
Although it was clear by now that his father had survived the crash of his chopper, the graves of his crew confirming it, Jamie still wasn't sure if he had made it home on foot. The tracks leading away from the crash site into the woods made it seem that way, but why had it taken him several days to do so? And then there was this inexplicable mystery of the changed world; could something have happened to his home as well? Although it sounded impossible for a whole town to simply vanish into thin air, he didn't like this strange silence on his cell phone, much less the curious absence of other people…
Flying over the Enborne, he set course for a golf course he knew on the far side of town, close to Newtown Churchyard. But as he stared outside, looking for any familiar landmarks, he was puzzled to see nothing. Where there should have been the outskirts of town, there was just more wilderness, deprived of any traces of houses or roads. The boy felt his insides turn to ice in fear and confusion; at worst, he had expected to find the town demolished, which would explain the silence and absence of other people. But to find it had completely ceased to exist, as if it had never been there at all, was unbelievable…and fearfully shocking.
Where is it? Where the bloody hell is it? He thought desperately over and over again, scanning every inch of the horizon for anything familiar, but all in vain. Even his newly acquired flight chart was worthless, as it indicated locations that had seemingly ceased to exist. Nothing…but, no, there was something! Where the outskirts of town were supposed to be, Jamie noticed the outline of some sort of small building, which looked vaguely familiar…
As he surveyed the landscape, looking for a good landing sight, he was suddenly caught off-guard by the terrified screams of his companions. Looking over his shoulder, he saw a hawk, probably the same one that had attacked his glider earlier, soar out of the sky, heading straight towards them for an attack. With nothing to fight back with, Jamie pumped the throttle up to full and took evasive action, flying round in circles, struggling to shake off the pursuing bird of prey, Hannah clinging to his neck in fright.
Although the glider could fly reasonably fast, it was no match for the swift-moving hawk. Jamie made every violent manoeuvre he knew - or more precisely could improvise on an instinct impulse - to evade the hawk's talons as the flying monster went for the rabbits strapped onto the wings, sitting ducks for the enemy, trapped and with nowhere to run. And meanwhile, the motor batteries, only meant for trim control, not travel, were quickly dwindling.
Over the screams of the rabbits and Hannah, Jamie watched as the power readings continued to drop; a small red light on the control panel told him Battery A was dead and B was about to go any second now. Doing another belly-roll, the prop, which had been rapidly losing rpm, finally ground to a halt; inside the cockpit, the instruments flickered and went out, as the battery died. Jamie tried flipping the master switch, hoping that some power might be left but it was no use; the batteries were dead as a pair of old doornails.
In an instant, he found himself in a desperate situation; although he had piloted the glider without power during the few training sessions with his father, he had never practised landing it manually, not even in theory, and certainly not without professional guidance. To make matters worse, the glider, now lacking the advantage of a motor to top up the thrust, was quickly starting to yield the effects of flying overloaded. Although Jamie could still control the trim, his glider was losing altitude fast, giving them maybe another two minutes of glide time.
Abandoning all further attempts of outrunning the hawk, Jamie lined up with the nearest plain for his first emergency landing. His heart in his mouth, the boy focused on his flying with more attention than he had ever done before in his life, while wringing his brains for every last scrap of information he had picked up from his limited flying training, intent on getting this thing down safely. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw, with a gulp of horror, the hawk circling to make another run at them. Most likely, the moment they landed, that flying monster would be upon them again and rip the immobilised glider to matchsticks and them with it.
Suddenly, as the hawk was about to renew the attack, a familiar, yet unexpected, sound pierced the sky, followed by the hawk's shriek of pain as a bullet struck it. The wounded bird of prey abandoned its pursue and flew away, injured or dying. Although Jamie had no idea who had fired that life-saving gunshot, now wasn't the time to find out, not while he still had a dead glider to land with the most rudimentary of training, and having done only one complete solo flight that had almost ended in disaster on his first landing.
Keeping his elevator trim steady, monitoring his rate of descent visually (his altimeter, speedometer and artificial horizon were dead), he extended his speed brakes, reducing the airspeed for touchdown. It seemed like an eternity before the wheels of the glider suddenly slammed down on the grass with such force, Jamie feared he had misjudged his airspeed and the aircraft would disintegrate. But it didn't; instead, it ploughed its way through the grass, vibrating and shaking, but gradually slowing down, before finally coming to rest in front of that structure Jamie had spotted from above.
Shaking and clammy, Jamie let go of the stick, relieved to be back on level ground again. In spite of all the difficulties he had encountered, this time it had been a sloppy, yet successful landing. Turning to check on his passengers, he saw them still spread out on the wings, shaken but otherwise unharmed. His father would no doubt be proud if he could see him now. Chuckling mildly, he muttered to himself, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for flying…McEwen Airlines!"
His joy of his safe return however, quickly evaporated as he stared outside his windshield at his surroundings. Where there should have been the familiar neighbourhood of his hometown, which he had known all his life, there was nothing but more untamed wilderness in every direction. The only trace of human civilisation visible was that building, which he now recognised as Newtown Churchyard, where he had met Kenny only last week. Only, it had…changed.
Although still recognisable, the church now looked ancient and in ruins, the graveyard overgrown and seemingly unvisited for years, maybe centuries. The road and the outskirts of town, which were always clearly visible from here, had all vanished without a trace. The voices of his companions diverted his attention.
"Hey, Sunflower, would you mind getting us down from here?" called Ash, as he and his companions, finding themselves back on the ground, were eager to get out of their harnesses. Determined to get some answers to this mystery, Jamie climbed out of his glider with Snitter and Hannah, and hurryingly untied the four rabbits. Willow got to his feet, dazed and shaking.
"I am never riding on a flying hrududu again as long as I live," he moaned, as Nightshade, right beside him, threw up, undoubtedly sharing the Sergeant's sentiments about flying. Ash helped a shaken Celandine down from the wing, both rabbits sighing in relief at their lucky escape. For a moment, Jamie half-expected them to round on him, accusing him of endangering their lives. Instead, Celandine turned to look at him for a moment before walking up to him and nuzzling him in gratitude.
"Thank you Sunflower, thank you so much," she said, nuzzling the surprised Jamie on the shoulder, "I don't know how you did it, but we would all be dead now if it weren't for you…" Behind her, Ash too, was beaming in silent praise. Although touched, Jamie shook his head as he remembered the gunshot.
"I…I didn't do anything chaps," he said, "If, whoever it was, hadn't fired that shot, we would have been knocked out of sky in another minute. Only who…?" Turning to look at his surroundings again, Jamie suddenly knew fear. What had happened to his home? His mother? Kenny? His rabbit friends, which had obviously been expecting something more spectacular, seemed just as puzzled as him, as they stared at the ruins of the old church.
"This place is your home?" asked Ash in confusion, "But these ruins have been abandoned for hrair seasons. I remember exploring a similar site back at Sandleford with Captain Holly…" At these words, the truth finally hit Jamie with the force of a sledgehammer. The explanation to all this mystery was crazy, but obvious; the Aurora which caused anything that passed through it to disappear, the inexplicably changed world, his dead cell phone and radio, these unheard-of talking giant rabbits, which had never met humans like him before, and the disappearance of all civilisation… It all led to only one conclusion.
Time Travel…
What Jamie had assumed had been the countryside outside of town had been correct; except, it wasn't in the present. He had taken off from the flight club on the 31st December 2012 and crash landed on the outskirts of Newbury…what he now realised had been centuries, perhaps millennia, later! Just like it had happened with his father, the Aurora had thrown him into this mysterious world, which was the future. He was a marooned time traveller, stuck in some unknown future era, standing in the place that had once been his home.
Oh my God… he thought grimly, feeling like he was about to be sick, If this is the future, then Mum, Ken, everyone I know is long dead… He sunk to his knees, trembling violently in shock. His friends, noticing his distress, crowded around him. Hannah tenderly leaned over his shoulder, muttering, "What is it Jamie? What is the matter?" The boy took a minute to find his voice again before answering in a forced tone, holding back tears of sorrow.
"It's…this place was my home, Hannah," he explained, struggling to come to terms with the reality of his situation, "I have been home all along; only my mother and friends have been dead for hundreds of years!" Seeing his companions' blank expressions, he launched into his story of flying through the Aurora, which had transported him into the future.
"This is the reason why we speak the same language, even though our species have never met," he reasoned, as another piece of the puzzle clicked into place, "Long ago, humans lived here like you. The language you speak is the last surviving remnant of humanity, which has been somehow passed on to you…" the boy said, staring at the crumbling churchyard, the only surviving fragment of his hometown, overrun by centuries of unchecked growth and barely recognisable anymore.
In spite of his grief of the prospect of never seeing his mother, friends or home again, Jamie was suddenly struck with a new mystery: Why had humanity apparently become extinct? Where there should have been a super-advanced technological world, according to scientific predictions of the future, instead there was an endless wilderness of giant, talking rabbits, making Jamie feel like a stranded astronaut on a Planet-of-the-Rabbits-like world. How could the Earth have become like this?
Suddenly, they were caught off-guard by Snitter's furious barking. Turning round, Jamie saw a man who had emerged from the forest and was swiftly making his way towards them. The stranger was a shallow-skinned fellow with cold eyes and dressed in expensive-looking black leather garments, like an undertaker. His pricey clothes sported several ghastly tears, with semi-healed wounds visible underneath, looking as if he had recently been attacked and mauled by some ferocious animal. Clutched firmly in his hand was an expensive-looking revolver, not unlike that used by government agents, making Jamie realise he was the one who had shot the hawk that had attacked them in flight.
Despite being armed and menacing-looking, not to mention bearing signs of a recent conflict, Jamie felt entirely relieved at the sight of the stranger, who was the first human being he had seen in two days. The newcomer likewise looked overjoyed to see Jamie, apparently also starved for fellow human companionship. Sure enough, the man walked up to them, raising his hand in greeting.
"Hallo there. Russell Robbins, at your service. May I be inclined to know your names?" The stranger's voice was stern and military-like, almost as cold as his black eyes, yet non-threatening.
"Jamie McEwen, nice to meet you Mr Robbins," Jamie said, shaking hands with the man Robbins. "What are you doing here?"
"Stranded, like you apparently, young man," Robbins replied in an almost calculated voice, turning to stare at the glider sitting amidst the tombstones beside the group with an almost hungry look, "I presume you're the owner of that little beauty?" he asked, cutting off Jamie who was about to introduce his friends.
"Well, yes sir," stuttered Jamie, unsure if he liked this Mr Robbins or not. Although seemingly friendly, something seemed badly off about this man. Even his name somehow sounded vaguely familiar… At that moment, Ash, who had been studying Robbins intently, as if trying to make a connection, spoke up.
"I know you," the former Owsla Lieutenant said, catching Robbins off-guard, "You are one of those ithel that first came to our warren before it was destroyed…" Jamie's heart nearly jumped in his lungs with excitement as he realised that he had found one of his father's travel companions from the crash site. His belief that he had reached the end of the road was instantly replaced with renewed hope of finding his father after all, and ultimately, maybe even finding a way home. In his excitement however, he failed to notice Robbins nervously bite his lip at Ash's words, almost as if he didn't want to be recognised for some reason…
Author's note: Terribly sorry for the long delay but I was working on my dissertation and job hunting. Also, I am afraid further updates will probably also be delayed since I am starting work. However, I promise I will finish the story eventually. On a side note, for those of you who have read my first story will know that Robbins returned to Cowslip's warren around this time after joining Efrafa, so it's logical that he would meet Jamie here. Enjoy and please review! AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!