Chapter 45 - Broom Ferry
The light returned as the storm clouds cleared, but the sun was low. The Companions and Quinn — or just 'The Companions' as they now thought of themselves — found a group of small islands in the marsh, as the daylight was failing. These were large enough for the team to pitch their tents. On the largest, the students built their campfire by torchlight. On the smallest, Quinn laid out his cloak and satchel, as his bed.
Over their evening meal, the Companions discussed the next steps in their quest. Dev pointed out that, at some point, they would have to retrieve a token relating to the wisdom or knowledge essence. In his view, that would mean they would need to find habitation, a settlement of some description either ancient or still inhabited. The others concurred with this logic. Quinn had mentioned a city beyond the mountain range, so they quizzed him further about it. He told them it was the only city for many leagues around. The city, Shakika, was famous for its trade and its citadel, which housed a renowned library. All agreed this must be a prime suspect for the location of a knowledge token. They would head in the general direction of Shakika. This would take them over the mountains. While that might not be ideal, it would get them out of the marsh. That was good news.
It took them another day to reach the edge of the marsh. That night, they pitched their camp in a meadow of wildflowers. They were on the threshold of rolling countryside, which stretched to the distant mountains. The mountains looked no closer than before. That might have dismayed them, but the meadows and deciduous copses were such a delightful change after the marsh that they could feel only relief. In the twilight, after they had raised the tents, they sat quiet and contented. The light, warm breeze wafted scents of flowers and tree blossoms over their tired bodies. They were at peace, at least until Freddie tried to make them realise how much at peace they were.
The following day, the Companions reached the rolling green hills. The grass was lush but cropped short in places by wandering flocks of sheep. There were no signs of habitation and no walls or fences to mark out property. They had to assume the sheep were wild. That afternoon, from the top of a hill, they saw a herd of ponies in the distance. There was some discussion about capturing and riding them to make travelling easier. Then Sophie pointed out that they had at least three brooms with them and could cover great distances without having to break and train wild horses. They made a plan to discuss it at that evening's camp.
They hiked for the rest of the afternoon. As twilight descended, they made their camp by a small wood, through which a stream ran. As soon as the fire was lit and people settled around it, the discussion over the use of brooms began. Quinn was a seasoned wanderer, but the rest of them were weary and footsore. Almost everyone was in favour of using the brooms to get to the mountains first thing in the morning. Freddie was in favour of going to the far side of the mountain range. Lydia was against the idea. She could not say why, she just had a feeling that it was cheating.
It was Dev who pointed out the flaw in the plan.
"I don't want to be unpopular, but there is a reason we shouldn't go too far by broom. Our purpose is to collect the tokens of the Seven Essences. Ambrose has given Freddie the mandala to help us each time we are drawing close to a token."
"Of course!" Oddy said. "If we go too far by broom, we could miss a token altogether."
There was a collective groan.
"If the mandala only goes off at night," said Corben, "and about a day's travel from the token, then the best we can do is cut out the walking but still only cover the same distance per day. That's kinda… rubbish."
"Better than walking, though," Dean said.
"We might be able to do a few days' travel each day," Freddie suggested. "If we fly the hundred kilometres that we walk every day…"
"About fifteen kilometres, more like," Lydia said.
"Whatever," Freddie tutted. "Then we stop and I have a little siesta in the tent, then I can check if the mandala's doing its thing. If it isn't, we just do another little fly and check it again."
"So, the plan is that you spend most of the time lying in your pit while we sit around twiddling our thumbs," Sophie summarised.
"While I lie in bed doing the important work," Freddie said.
"How do we know this would work?" Corben asked. "I mean this thing of checking it during the day?"
"I think it will work," Freddie said. "And I'm the Grand High Priest of the Mandala of Doom."
"Why is it always 'Doom' with you, Freddie?" Christie laughed. "You don't seem the type."
"It's spending too much time with Lydia," he explained. "She's such a Dolly Downer."
They agreed, not without some reservations, to try Freddie's plan. Lydia was remarkably supportive of Freddie's confidence in the scheme. She even surprised herself. But she told them all that she had a feeling that Freddie had an important role with the mandala. She refused to call him the Grand High Priest or anything resembling such a title, but she believed it was as much his calling as it was hers to be the quest leader or the Queen of the Forests. Ambrose had quietly crowned Freddie as surely as Madoc had crowned her.
The following morning, they put the plan into action. Lydia, Sophie, and Dean took their brooms out after they had packed their tents. They would start with a scouting flight. It was unarguable that Sophie was the best flyer, so she would take Quinn. Xander insisted on flying with Dean. This left Lydia free to deal with any problems they might encounter. Quinn knew of a lake, which he reckoned to be ten kilometres from their current position. They would fly beyond that and look for somewhere to land. They would leave Quinn and Xander to scout around the area. While the broom riders were away, the remaining six members of the team would stay by the wood and wait for their return. Then they would fly them to the new camp three at a time.
They had three good brooms. Lydia and Dean could not have kept up with Sophie at full speed, but they were still fast enough to eat up the distance. Following Quinn's directions, they found their way almost directly to the lake. They made a minor course correction once they caught sight of the water. From there, they flew towards the mountains. Lydia spotted a wooded valley ahead. They slowed enough for her to speak to Quinn about the valley. He thought it looked promising.
Once they landed in the wooded vale, Quinn approved it as a daytime campsite. They left Quinn and Xander to investigate and set off back for the others. Thanks to Lydia's navigation, they made their return without detours.
They ferried the remaining members of the team to the new camp in two groups of three. After some discussion, they settled on groups who could look after themselves should anything arise while they were isolated from the rest. In the first group, Lydia took Oddy, Sophie took Shona, and Dean took Corben. 'Brains, Beauty and Brawn', Dean dubbed them.
The second ferry flight was Christie with Lydia, Dev clinging on with Sophie, and Freddie with Dean. Freddie argued for most of the journey with Dean over whether he, Freddie, was Beauty or Brawn. In the end, they had to agree that Christie was better suited to either title than Freddie, and that he was something else beginning with 'B'. Freddie contended he was either 'Brilliant' or 'Beloved'. After a few less polite suggestions, Dean insisted on 'Bewildered' or 'Barking'. By this point, they had reached the new camp. Lydia told Freddie to take a nap in the boys' tent with the mandala. The alternative, Sophie explained, was for Freddie to become 'Battered' and 'Bruised'. Freddie took the hint.
While Freddie retired to his tent, the others sat together to have their lunch, then combed the woodland for firewood. Some time later, Freddie emerged from the tent, yawning and stretching.
"Well?" Lydia asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," Freddie assured her.
"What about the mandala?" she asked.
"The what?" Freddie asked, then laughed. "Ha! I was joking. It did something. There was a glow, but it didn't show me a token. I think — and I got, like, a strong feeling that made me think this — I think it was telling me we should keep going. It feels like it's pulling me in that direction."
He gestured towards the far end of the wooded valley.
"That's where the mountains are, isn't it?" Freddie asked.
"Yes," Lydia confirmed. "Though we don't know that it's going to be in the mountains or before."
"Maybe even after," Freddie said.
"Yeah…" Lydia agreed distractedly.
"So, we go on in stages like we planned." Sophie said.
"It's nice to know the mandala works in the daytime," said a cheery Freddie.
"Yes, it is, Freddie," Lydia smiled, putting her hand on his arm. "Thank you, Master of the Mandala."
Freddie grinned.
The Companions made two further camps that day, several kilometres apart. They stayed overnight in the second. Each time he consulted the mandala, Freddie received the same advice: 'carry on'. The following day, they made four more camps. By the evening, the mountains loomed over them. They camped on a sheltered slope in the foothills.
In the morning, after Freddie relayed the mandala's message to keep going, they made another shuttle flight. This took them to an alpine-style meadow on the rising slope of the first mountain. It was such an enchanting and serene place to be that many of the team wanted to stay there. Lydia was adamant that they must move on. The sun would set behind the mountain and they would lose the light earlier than usual. They had already had a slow start that day. Finding a site for their camp high in the mountains would take time.
She was right. The next set of broom flights took them beyond the treeline, where shelter was scarce. There were still patches of grass, a lot of moss, and occasional family groups of mountain goats. Level ground, however, was hard to find. As the light faded, they doubled back and walked down to where Corben had spotted a cave on the flight up the slope. In an outcropping of rock, there was a triangular cave mouth, as Corben had described.
"Let me go on ahead and take a wee look," said Xander, "before you all barge in on someone's den."
"Bears?" Shona squeaked.
"No, ferocious highland chickens," Xander said with sarcasm. "Of course, bears. Or mountain lions."
"There are other such creatures in these parts," Quinn warned. "What are those crunchy things with claws…?"
The students looked at each other.
"Hermits! That's it," Quinn concluded. "They live in caves. Or in shells on the seashore, of course. Hairnets… No, hermits. Hermits. Not as bitey as lions… in most cases."
"OK, thank you, Quinn," said a wary Xander. "I'll let you know how I fare."
With a wide-eyed glance at Lydia, Xander turned and headed towards the cave entrance, his swaying tail held high.
"Will he be all right?" Sophie murmured to Lydia.
"Oh, yes," Oddy reassured her. "He's a formidable dude."
"How do you know?" Lydia asked.
"He told me many times," Oddy said. "And Ambrose has confirmed it."
"Ah," Lydia said. "So, in the opinions of the two least trustworthy people we know."
"Mm. Pretty much," Oddy grinned.