Ship of Spies Page 4

  Her ladyship continued, "I wonder, what was your hurry in getting here?"

  "We are short a gryphon, my lady," Professor Hobhouse said. "We are hoping that the young earl here may be able to provide one from your stables. These beasts are vital to the Flyer Corps and to the Royal Navy, and they are in short supply due to the war."

  "Is it only a gryphon you require, or do you need my son as well?"

  The question was sharp-edged as a carving knife and the professor started to stammer an answer until Lord Parkington came to his rescue. "Mother and I are having an argument," he explained. "She does not want me to return to sea, but I have told her I must."

  All at once, it became more clear why Toby hadn't seemed himself upon greeting them at the gryphon port, and why he had been so concerned about their appearance. Their arrival must have heightened an argument already taking place between mother and son.

  "Your place is here at Bancroft Hall," Lady Parkington said. "I've already lost one Parkington to this dreadful war. Isn't that enough?"

  "Father was lost in the Great Storm, as were many other sailors and flyers," Toby said quietly. "He believed in England, and that he had to join the fight for our survival. It's because of father that I must go, not stay."

  Lady Parkington put down her spoon, signaling to the servants that it was time for the next course. "Well," she said. "We shall see about that."

  The rest of dinner passed uneventfully, with the conversation limited to talk of the weather, which Shakespeare play was the best, and how delicious the turtle soup had been. Alexander wasn't used to this kind of orderly meal in which the plates marched in one after another like columns of attacking soldiers. Though he ate slowly and politely, he found himself growing very full. A full belly, along with the grueling flight they had made, was making him very tired. By the time dessert was served—a delicious pudding—he was longing for bed.

  Toby stopped him only briefly as dinner ended. "I was afraid you were going to fall asleep in the pudding," he said with a rare smile. "Rest up, and first thing tomorrow we'll see what we can do about finding a gryphon. I happen to have a very special one in mind."

  CHAPTER FIVE

  "Get up, you slug-a-bed!" cried Toby, bursting into Alexander's room and throwing open the curtains. The young lord was followed by a servant bearing a silver tray laden with scones, jam and hot tea. "Just because you're on shore duty now doesn't mean you can sleep in, Ensign Hope."

  Alexander slid out of bed and gratefully accepted a hot cup of tea. "What's the rush, if there aren't any sails to hoist?"

  "We have a gryphon to acquire for Captain Amelia," Toby said. "That's why you came here, remember? Oh, and I have something else for you."

  Another servant came in, carrying a neatly folded stack of clothing. On the very top was a shiny pair of sea boots and a new bicorn hat. Alexander realized it was a Royal Navy uniform.

  "For you," Lord Parkington said. "We can't have you running around looking like a civilian in those shabby clothes of yours."

  "Where in the world did you get this?" Alexander asked. It was true that he felt out of place without his uniform, which now seemed so much a part of him. In their hurry to escape the assassins, there hadn’t been time to ask Professor Hobhouse about it. Of course, after months of hard use, his old uniform was nearly worn out and a bit short in the sleeves—he had actually grown an inch or two since coming aboard the Resolution last winter. He took the stack of clothing and ran his hands over the rich blue coat with bright brass buttons, realizing this coat was much finer than his battered old uniform had been. His stingy uncle hadn't been willing to pay for the very best materials.

  "One of our servants here is quite a tailor, and he was able to fix this up for you."

  Alexander knew that not even the best tailor could sew a Royal Navy uniform overnight. "But where did you get this?"

  "It was one of my father's uniforms," Lord Parkington said quietly. "You see, it's a Royal Navy uniform, not a flyer's uniform like I'm wearing, so I thought someone should put it to good use."

  "Thank you, Toby."

  "Put it on," the young lord said, looking out the window at the morning sun casting its bright glare on the woods and fields of the estate. "You'll be needing it before the day is out."

  "What do you mean?"

  "You'll see."

  Minutes later, having wolfed down three scones each and gulped a quantity of tea, they climbed the stairs to the gryphon port on the top floor. There was no one else there, but an eager winged beast stood poised at the edge of the port, saddled and ready to leap into the sky.

  "Lemondrop!" Alexander cried.

  The gryphon studied him with his bright yellow eyes, sniffed at him, and then lowered his head for Alexander to scratch his tufted ears.

  "Hmmph. He never does that. You'd almost think that he missed you," Lord Parkington said. "Now climb on, if you remember how. Don't bother strapping in and all that, but hang on tight. It's just a short flight to the gryphon pastures, but it beats walking."

  Alexander clambered into the stern saddle. His rump had barely hit the leather before Lemondrop launched himself with a powerful leap. The stone platform fell away and they hurtled into the sky, wind whistling in their ears.

  They soared once around Bancroft Hall, sweeping past the towers and rooftops, as Lemondrop built altitude. Once again, Alexander was struck by how magnificent the place looked. It would have made a good home for the King of England, let alone the Earl of Parkington. Then Lemondrop veered away toward a distant, much smaller building.

  "The gryphon stables," Toby shouted as they flew past.

  "Why aren't we stopping?"

  "I like to keep some things secret," the earl shouted back. "You'll see."

  Lemondrop flew east, toward the sun still rising over the distant hills. Cultivated fields swept beneath them, dotted here and there with a farming village, and then nothing but woods as the ground began to rise toward the hills. It was a shock for Alexander to realize that all this land was owned by his friend. He had once thought his uncle's estate was impressive, but it would occupy only a corner of the earldom. Clearly, the Earl of Parkington was far wealthier than Alexander had ever imagined.

  Alexander looked back over his shoulder to see how far they'd come, and noticed a speck in the sky behind them. The other gryphon seemed content not to overtake them, but kept its distance.

  "We're being followed," he shouted above the wind.

  "My sister. She can be annoying that way."

  Finally, they reached a hilltop in the forest that had been cleared of trees and Lemondrop spiraled down. The sun was higher now, and began to warm them as they climbed down from their saddles. But the forest was deep with shadows and smelled of moss and damp. It was just the sort of forest that harbored foxes, wild deer—and perhaps something larger.

  "What is this place?" Alexander asked.

  "You saw the stables when we flew over them," Toby explained. "They are state of the art and very pleasant, but they are also very public. Mother is always having guests who want a glimpse of the gryphons. This is where I keep the cream of the crop, out of anyone's view. Lemondrop was reared out here. It's closer to the gryphon's natural habitat, you see. They can hunt for themselves out here—the woods are teeming with deer. I've seen to it that there aren't any villages or even a house for miles around. And the gryphons can fly whenever they want. It gives them very well developed muscles.”

  "That sounds very promising," Alexander said. "But I don't actually see any gryphons."

  "Oh, they're here all right. They're watching us right now. Just wait." Toby turned to Alexander. "While we have a minute alone, there's something I wanted to talk to you about, Alexander. That day of the battle, the volley from the Napoleonist ship knocked me down and I didn't actually see what you did."

  "It was really—"

  "The men couldn't stop talking about it. A lot of them are afraid of you now. It's not every day that they see an elemen
tal in action, you know. So I wanted to warn you to be careful. Don't flaunt your power. Don't even talk about it with anyone. If the crew of the Resolution fears you now, these men who actually know you, just imagine what will happen when word gets out that a sea elemental actually exists again after two hundred years."

  "I'm not sure I know what you mean," Alexander said, but in the back of his mind, he did. Someone had tried to kill him in Gibraltar. Lowly Royal Navy Ensigns weren't typically on a hit list. No, something more sinister had been at work.

  "You can't possibly be that stupid," Toby said. "Just remember what happened to your ancestor. Algernon Hope saved England from the Spanish Armada, but instead of being grateful the queen treated him like an enemy or a spy—she was jealous and fearful of his power."

  "Aren't you related to that queen somehow?"

  "That's beside the point, you ninny," Lord Parkington said. "Just keep your eyes open."

  They might have talked more, but at that moment a gryphon and rider swept in over the treetops and landed with a rush of wings and a snort nearby. Cat slid down from the saddle and ran to her brother. To Alexander's surprise, she wore riding breeches and boots like a boy, along with a leather flying coat and goggles.

  "You were trying to give me the slip," Cat said. "But I knew you would be coming here."

  "She knows about this place?" Alexander asked in surprise.

  "Of course she does," Toby said. "She's a Parkington, isn't she? Our family has been breeding the best gryphons in the British Empire for centuries. That doesn't make my little sister any less annoying when she follows me around and sticks her nose in my business."

  "Stuff yourself, Toby," she said, tearing off her goggles. She looked Alexander up and down disdainfully. "You brought your Navy boyfriend here, didn't you? If he can be here, then I can certainly be here. Your business is my business, at least where gryphons are concerned. You said it yourself. We're both Parkingtons."

  "Does this mean your mother will fly out here next?" Alexander asked.

  Brother and sister looked at each other, then laughed. "Mother isn't actually a Parkington, you know. She married into the family. It turns out she never liked gryphons all that much."

  "She just liked Father."

  "Well, she is a daughter of the Duke of Bedford. It's a rather accomplished family, even if they don't care much for gryphons."

  "Ah," Alexander said. He tended to yawn when people started talking about their family trees. "This is all quite fascinating to someone, I'm sure. But I thought we flew out here to find a gryphon for Captain Amelia."

  "Not just any gryphon," Toby said. He took a small silver whistle from his pocket and blew it, producing a single, piercing note that carried into the deep woods and echoed through the hills. "I suggest you stand back, Alexander. The gryphons out here aren't all that used to strangers."

  Cat sighed. "After that one ate poor Watson—"

  "What? Ate who?"

  "Shhh," Toby said. He raised a hand to silence them. "She's coming."

  The gryphon that burst from the woods flew so quickly that all Alexander registered was a blur of golden fur and feathers before the beast was upon them. With a powerful beating of its wings, the gryphon hovered just in front of them, rear talons extended. She opened her beak and screeched—it sounded to Alexander more like a warning than a welcome. Lemondrop leaped forward, putting himself between the three young people and this screeching beast. He emitted a deep warning growl and crouched, ready to spring. Alexander took a step back, ready to run for the woods. The last thing he wanted to do was to get caught in the middle of a gryphon fight.

  "Suigh síos!" cried Lord Parkington in a stern voice, in a language Alexander didn't recognize. "Beidh tú obey dom!"

  The strange beast landed and lowered her head in a universal sign of submission. Lord Parkington stepped forward and put his hand between her tall, quivering ears. The beast's eyes glared at him. They were an amazing shade of red burnished with gold, like the setting sun seen through a jar of honey. The eyes radiated such intelligence that Alexander had to remind himself that gryphons couldn't actually think—or could they?

  "Her name is Catgor o'r Awyr," Toby said, his voice full of wonder. "She's one of the most amazing gryphons I've ever seen. She also happens to be Lemondrop's little sister."

  "Well, I believe that may make Ember superior to Lemondrop," Cat said. "Also, she happens to be female."

  "What did you call her?" Alexander asked. "Ember?"

  "That's what her name means in Welsh," Cat explained. "Ember of the sky."

  "She is a beauty," Toby agreed. "She's also half wild. I've been at sea so long that I've only been able to do a very little training with her. But she will take a saddle and a rider, though she's quite spirited."

  "I could ride her," Cat said.

  "No," Toby said, almost with something like alarm, which was unusual for his lordship. "Not yet. You'd get your neck broken flying her."

  "I would not!"

  Toby's voice softened. "You're the best flyer in the family, Cat, better than me, maybe better than even father was, but Ember needs someone with a bit more experience to break her in."

  "You?" Cat sounded disdainful."

  "No," he said. “Not me, as a matter of fact. I was thinking of Captain Amelia Blackburn. If there's to be a clash of wills, I believe Ember will have met her equal, if not her match."

  Something in the sky caught Alexander's attention. "More gryphons!" he cried.

  "That will be Rigley and Professor Hobhouse," Toby said. "I sent them a message before dawn to meet us here."

  "How on earth did they find us out here in the middle of your forest?"

  "Rigley has a flight compass, hasn't he? It's the same way one would find a ship at sea—by following the direction of flight one was given. Of course, I don't have to remind you that gryphons have an extraordinary sense of smell, and Biscuit knows Lemondrop very well."

  "Ugh," said Alexander, who'd had his fill of gryphon smells during three days of flying from Gibraltar. "The last thing I'd want to do is go sniffing for Lemondrop."

  "Then it's a good thing you aren't a gryphon, isn't it?"

  "What are Rigley and Hobhouse doing here, anyhow?"

  "We shan't be returning to Bancroft Hall, and they're coming with us."

  "Where are we going?"

  "To sea, Alexander. I had a messenger gryphon yesterday that the Resolution sails on the tide, and I plan to be on board." Toby took the extra hunting saddle he'd brought along, and going to Ember, he stroked her side reassuringly. "Easy, old girl. You remember how this goes on, don't you?

  The gryphon growled, deep in its chest, and stepped back warily from the earl.

  "Be careful, brother," Cat said nervously. "I'd hate to have to explain to mother that a gryphon ate you for breakfast."

  But his lordship was undeterred. Holding the saddle out in front of him like an offering, he took another step toward Ember. "Hawdd," he said. Alexander didn't understand the words, but from the tone the words were clearly meant to be soothing. "Hawdd bellach."

  Slowly, Ember lowered her head in submission, though she kept those golden-red eyes locked on him warily. A rumbling growl still echoed within her. Just behind them both, Lemondrop made a gentle chirping sound, as if encouraging his sister to stay calm. Again, Toby put a reassuring hand on Ember's side, then slipped on the saddle and reins. "There we go," he said. "And I didn't even lose an appendage."

  Watching the Welsh gryphon being saddled, Alexander felt that he probably looked a bit pale. He had been holding his breath, expecting Ember to attack Toby. She had more of a feral, wild look about her than any gryphon he had seen, though she was indeed beautiful. He was no expert on gryphons, not like Toby and his sister, but even he could see that Ember was something special. Someone who didn't know horses could spot a thoroughbred among the stable of draft horses. Ember was clearly the gryphon version of a thoroughbred.

  Cat turned to Alexander. "What d
o you call a beast with four legs, two wings and an arm?"

  "I'm sure I have no idea."

  "A hungry gryphon that someone got too close to, ha, ha!"

  Alexander had to smile. "I am trying to imagine your brother telling a joke like that."

  "Now, that would be funny," Cat agreed. "Poor Toby is rather serious."

  Lord Parkington ignored them and swung lightly into the saddle. Overhead, Rigley and Professor Hobhouse circled, waiting for them. "You can ride Lemondrop. He won't give you any trouble, because he'll follow my lead, but it may be best if you strap yourself in this time." He turned to Cat. "Goodbye, sister. I trust you can find your way home without getting lost."

  "Do stuff yourself, Toby."

  "Such a mouth, little sister. Are you sure you aren't the one hanging around sailors? Say goodbye to mother for me."

  "Toby, you are such a coward, taking the easy way out by avoiding her. Now that she's had a taste of you at home these last few weeks, you know very well she doesn't want you to return to the Resolution."

  "I would rather face a hundred French ships any day than try to explain to mother that I am leaving again!"

  At that, Toby crouched low over the gryphon's neck and flicked the reins. With an ear-piercing shriek, the gryphon launched herself across the clearing, crossing it in three beats of her powerful wings. Not to be outdone, Lemondrop leapt after her. They flew just a few feet above the ground, so that their speed seemed all the more dizzying as the grass rushed underneath. Trees loomed ahead, and Alexander worried that the gryphons were going to attempt to fly between the trunks—he wasn't sure he had the strength yet for those sorts of acrobatics. Then with a stomach-flipping motion, both gryphons pulled up short and hurtled skyward to join Biscuit and Gimcrack.

  Chancing a look below, Alexander could still see Cat, who stood beside her own gryphon. She saw him look back and waved. He waved back.

  Then the wind sang in Alexander's ears as the four gryphons built speed, flying impossibly fast with what could only be described as the energy of pure joy, as Lord Parkington led the way toward the distant sea.