Children of the Wind

By Kevin McGrane

The sequel to “The Cloud Riders”, Valinara and Cue must defend their people from the war lord Genghis, who will stop at nothing to gain a cloud ship for his army – even if he has to burn down the Great Forest to get one!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin McGrane
• Release date: Jun 9, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311541895

Kevin McGrane

I am the Rev. Kevin J. McGrane, a priest in the Episcopal Church. I and my wife live on ten acres in the Ozarks we call Windy Hill, after a lifetime of living in the big city, raising a family, and running in the rat race. I’m a pastor of a small congregation, and I publish my work on the internet, post on my blog "The View from Windy Hill", follow my FB page, and look forward to the future.

Book preview

Children of the Wind

By

Kevin McGrane

Hear my prayer, O Holy One;

Listen to me and answer me.

I am shaken by the noise of the enemy,

And by the pressure of the wicked.

O, that I had wings like a dove -

I would fly away and be at rest;

I would be a child of the wind,

Poem #55, P.Q.P.

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2015 by Kevin McGrane

All rights reserved.

Chapter One

Return to the Sky

A ship’s horn called out from the pearl-white clouds, though the ship was invisible to the landing crew who stood at the docking bay of Cloud City. Slowly, the vast ship materialized from the clouds like a great white whale materializing from the depths of the ocean. It was the Sun Chaser, the largest vessel of the Cloud City fleet, and the mother-ship of the Windymir family.

Cumulus Windymir stood at the bow of the gondola with a tow line in hand. He heaved the coil of line to the landing crew, who deftly caught it and began to pull the airship into the massive mountainside cavern. Behind the Sun Chaser materialized more Zephyri cloud ships, queuing up to land – the first flotilla of Cloud Rider airships to sail in six months had returned home safely to Cloud City.

Above, looking out over the edge of the ramparts and walkways, gathered the population of the small city, summoned to the over-look by the Sun Chaser’s horn. Hundreds of necks craned and eyes squinted, anxiously peering into the cloud bank for a glimpse of the returning ships. Finally, someone shouted out, Six! I see all six! They’ve all returned! Thunderous applause and cheers erupted from the crowd. Six Zephyri vessels had left a month ago, and six had now returned home. Their return had not been a sure thing, and their complete return meant a successful voyage, rewarding the Zephyri with a measure of economic relief and, hopefully, an end to hard times.

Valinara, standing on Lookout Park, tossed her long brown hair over her shoulder with a flick of her head and looked at her mother, who stood next to her. Mama, Cue is back! They have all returned safely!

Sara Berrywood pressed her hand against her breast, tears in the corners of her eyes. Oh, thank the Creator! I was so worried…

Let us go down to the dock to meet them, Valinara said, grabbing her mother by the hand and pulling her through the crowd. Along the way they bumped into Vanya Windymir, Cue’s mother, along with the two girls, Valinara’s sister Junie and Cue’s sister Ciri.

Are they back? Vanya panted, breathless from running to the park.

Yes! All six, Valinara exclaimed. I saw Cue and Mr. Windymir on deck. We are going down to the dock to greet them. Come with us.

They squeezed through the crowds and threaded their way through the streets of the tiny city to the dock entrance, a broad stone ramp that spiraled down to the docking caves below the city that perched on the mountaintop like a cap on a bottle. The massive caverns looked like a nesting place for whales – great ships rested in their berths along the walls of the labyrinth as ground crews and craftsmen worked on them, making them sail-worthy again. Ahead, silhouetted by the sunlight from the bay entrance, floated the Sun Chaser, being coaxed ever so slowly through the bay to its berth by a team of burly Zephyri ground crew hauling on its tow ropes. Cue and his father Eric stood at the rail of the forward deck and simply watched, for their sailing efforts were now over – it was time for the skilled ground crew to do their job.

From the pier on the right, the women and girls began to call out, waving and jumping up and down to catch Cue’s and Eric’s attention. The men waved back, flashing similar father-and-son smiles.

Vanya called out through cupped hands, How did it go?

It went well, Eric replied. Not a bit of trouble.

The docking mate, a man with red sleeves on his tunic, stepped out from under the gondola and shouted up to Eric, Prepare to dock, Captain!, and he crossed his arms over his head.

Right!, Eric shouted back, and stood at the helm with his hand on the altitude lever.

The crew secured the anchor cables to a pair of stone wenches on the floor, one fore and one aft of the vessel, and began to grind at the wench handles, pulling the ship down to the bay floor. When the gondola touched down and the crew gave the all-clear signal, the docking mate uncrossed his arms and held them out left and right, signaling Eric. Eric pushed the lever forward, releasing gas from the fuselage, and relieving the upward pull of the vessel. The Sun Chaser sighed into its berth as if it were settling into its bed after its 3000 kilometer trip. They were all home.

The fore and aft cargo hatches of the ship’s hold were lowered and stevedores hustled inside, unloading the cargo gathered from various cities and stops along the voyage. Spices, food stuffs and dry goods were carted off to be distributed among the shops and offices of Cloud City. After six months of isolation from the self-imposed embargo, the world had suddenly returned to the land of the Zephyri: lumber from the Foresti…cloth, grain and jewelry from the Coastal people…even leathers from the Plainsmen…and that rarest of commodities from Top of the World, books.

Eric climbed down from the foredeck into the arms of his smiling wife, Vanya. Valinara stood on her tip-toes to kiss her Cue welcome as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

Oh, thank the Holy One you are safe, Vanya said, patting Eric’s face. So it went well?

Yes, he replied. We didn’t have a bit of trouble. We followed the plan and it worked well. We’ll tell you all about it later. Right now, I have two sacks of mail to deliver to the post office, and I have presents for everyone.

Valinara, still hanging on to Cue, looked up at him, eyes shining. Do you have a present for me? Do-you-do-you?

Well, of course! I’ll give it to you later. He shrugged shyly. It’s…special.

The two families made their way through the bay as another behemoth ship was coaxed into its berth, stevedores at the ready with hand carts to unload its cargo. Nathan Berrywood, carpentry tool boxes in each hand, stepped out of the crowd, set down his boxes, and firmly shook Eric’s hand with a big grin.

Did you bring me good wood? he teased Eric.

I hope so! I bought it from your brother Arno! he replied, and Nathan’s head rocked back in laughter.

It is good to see you back safe and sound, Eric, Nathan said, picking up his tools. It is a good day, ‘eh? Congratulations on a successful voyage. Now, if you will excuse me, he added, nodding towards the ships, it is my turn. He ambled off to the bay to repair and maintain the ships.

Come for dinner tonight, Eric called out after him. I have news from your village and the Berrywoods.

Right! Done! Nathan called over his shoulder, and went to work.

I will bring dessert, Sarah said, to which Vanya whispered, Yessss!... No one could bake like Sara Berrywood.

The two families reached the surface of the city and ambled through its streets, which were abuzz with the excitement of a newly arrived flotilla, something that had not been seen in half a year. People in brightly colored Zephyri blouses and large straw sun hats bustled about the streets and sidewalks, lugging bundles of freshly purchased goods. Before the embargo, ship arrivals used to be a weekly event. This time was like a festival day, with the added excitement of a threshold crossed – the Cloud Riders were back in the sky.

Sara, Eric said over the din of the crowds, your star charts were a life-saver. The entire flotilla made its way over the Great Forest and the plains entirely at night. We were spot-on for landfall each morning. Not one ship got lost.

Wonderful, she said with a blush. I was rather worried.

And the security plans? Vanya asked. How did they work?

That went well, too, Eric said. Capt. Stemp’s plans about odd flight paths and landing in rotations minimized the flotilla’s exposure to attack. It was very clever. He also had his new security marines stand guard to ward off any ambush when we docked. We had no incidents.

Valinara, striding along with them and listening, shivered at the memory of the attack upon the Sun Chaser at Sea Shell City last year. A gang of thugs tried to board the ship and hijack it, but she and the Windymirs successfully fought them off. It was the first in a series of violent incidents that drove the Cloud Riders out of the sky and grounded them on their hidden mountaintop cities.

Cumulus, his arm around her waist, sensed her emotions. Are you okay? he asked.

She smiled. It was just a bad memory. It is gone. I am fine.

Cloud City held an impromptu festival that evening to celebrate the return of the flotilla and the potential end to the self-imposed embargo. The streets and lanes were filled with people setting up long trestle tables for block-party pot luck dinners. The ornate street lamps were lit as darkness fell, and extra lanterns were set about the tiny parks and plazas to add more light to the stone and stucco streets. Zephyri puppet shows were performed for the children, who gathered about the box-like stages and screamed with laughter at the antics of Morbo and Stupor, two beloved characters of Zephyri puppet tales.

The Berrywood family held a concert of Foresti folk music for everyone, they being the only Foresti family in Cloud City, and later Nathan organized a Foresti square dance for the Zephyri in the main plaza beneath the torchlight surrounding Signal Tower. It was like a New Years Day celebration at Cloud City.

Eric was standing around a freshly tapped keg of Foresti ale with a number of captains and council members, all sipping on frothy mugs and chatting informally about the voyage. The Cloud Rider captains who had not gone were eager for news, and even more eager for the council to lift the embargo – they were ready to take to the sky again.

So you think convoys work? someone asked Eric over the noise of the festival.

Eric swallowed his ale and wiped his mouth. "Yes. No doubt about it. Every port we made was glad to see us and they all said the same thing: