Blue Fire and Ice (23 page)

‘He was downstairs. Coming back to finish some work,’ announced Beatrice.

‘Thank you for coming, Copper,’ Achillia said warmly. She came round and hugged the thin Myrmidot. Brian flinched, waiting for her to share her hugs once again, but to his relief Achillia went back to her chair and sat down. Beatrice had brought another chair for Copper, placing it between the Beadles and the Muddles.

‘Copper, we have a problem to solve. We thought you could help,’ began Achillia. She leaned forward in her chair and spoke directly to the engineer.

‘We have to transport a large quantity of ice. We can’t use a vehicle and we have to transport it for perhaps a week. Without it melting, of course.’

Copper peered over his small round spectacles at Brian and Bligh. ‘I take it this has to do with those fires that have been plaguing Beadledom?’ he said.

Bligh hesitated a moment. ‘It does. We think we may have found an answer to the problem.’

Copper grunted. ‘Well, there always is, if you look hard enough.’ He looked at Achillia. ‘It’d be better if you tell me all about it, than to have me ask questions that could already have been answered.’

Brian decided he liked Copper’s practical approach.

Achillia told Copper what she knew and what they had decided. When she finished, Copper sat back in his chair and pondered the problem. The others waited patiently while he turned the problem over in his head.

‘It can be done,’ he stated at last. ‘Tricky, but we can do it. First, you’ll need a cart to bring the ice back down the mountain. No, not a cart; a sledge. A sledge with wheels and runners so you can drag it over the snowfield. Next, we need a large cylinder for the ice.’ He looked at Crimson. ‘Something about half the size of that tank on your fire cart, I reckon. Then you’ll need an animal to pull it. Going up won’t be so bad, but coming down will be hard.’

‘Sparkle can do it,’ said Crimson.

‘She’s a good horse, and a strong one,’ said Copper, ‘but she’d never make it up and back. It’s not speed we’ll need, but stamina.’

Everyone was puzzling over this when Grunge had an idea. ‘How about a bear?’ he said.

Bligh started sharply. ‘A bear? A big bear?’

Grunge grinned. ‘As big as they come.’ He saw Crimson smile. ‘Miniver. She could do it. She might not be happy being away from all the young Muddles, but I’m sure she’ll do it if we explain.’

Copper didn’t bat an eyelid. ‘Hmmm … a bear. Couldn’t ask for better. She’ll handle the mountain tracks and she’ll be slow but reliable. Not as slow as an ox and less skittish.’ Copper took off his glasses and polished them on his shirt as he stared at the ceiling, thinking. ‘We’ll make a special cylinder with extra insulation. The insulation won’t be enough on its own, so I’ll rig up a unit to provide power on the journey. That new solar unit we made will be just the thing. Light and small, it’ll provide enough power to keep the ice frozen. I just hope it stands the trip. It’s a bit fragile but we don’t have time to make anything else.’

‘What happens if it fails?’ asked Brian.

‘The insulation will keep the ice frozen for a day and a half, maybe two. After that, it’ll start to melt. Within two days, you’ll have nothing but bathwater. Cold bathwater.’

‘When will you have everything ready, Copper?’ asked Achillia.

‘I’ll start tonight. It’ll be done by late tomorrow. We can leave the following day.’

‘We?’ Achillia looked at the engineer. ‘Are you intending to go, Copper?’

‘Best if I went,’ he said. ‘If something does happen on the way, I’ll be there to try and fix it. I’ll bring my apprentice Dot with me, if you don’t object, Achillia. She’s good enough at fixing things and there’s no one tougher.’

Achillia agreed with a nod.

‘That’s five, then,’ said Bligh.

‘Five?’ said Crimson, puzzled. ‘Grunge, Copper, Dot and me. That’s four.’

‘Brian will go of course!’ Bligh looked at his Factotum. ‘You’ll need someone to organise everything and to oversee the journey. And I’m sure he would never forgive me if I didn’t let him go.’ He beamed at Brian, who wasn’t too sure any forgiveness would have been needed. ‘And to make this truly a cooperative venture, we will choose another Beadle to go with you. Six will go to the High Mountains.’

Grunge felt like things were falling into place. The excitement built within him at the thought of the journey. ‘We’ll save time if we take our bus to Bourne Bridge,’ he said to the others. ‘When the bus stops at the border tomorrow evening, we can load the sledge and the ice tank. Copper and Dot can stay at Home tomorrow night, if they wish. We can leave at dawn the day after.’

Copper grunted again. ‘Good. We might have to take the rear seats out to fit the tank in, but we’ll do it.’

‘Excellent!’ cried Achillia. ‘Brian, I’m sure we can leave all the other details to you.’ She rose and gave each of her visitors, including Copper and Beatrice, a very enthusiastic hug. When the hugging had quite finished, she sat back down at her desk, and reached for a little brass bell with a black handle. ‘Now, I think it’s time for coffee,’ she declared, giving the bell a vigorous shake and making it tinkle loudly.

‘Loud enough,’ thought Brian, ‘to be heard all the way down to Bellow’s.’

Chapter 9

T
he next morning, the little orange bus arrived promptly ten minutes late. Twenty minutes later, Brian was still tutting as the bus rumbled its way towards Home.

‘How can anyone expect me to organise the journey when Muddles have no sense of time?’ he muttered while he tutted. ‘I see I shall have to make a very thorough list for this job.’

He continued to plan and fret equally all the way back to Home. Bligh rode in silence, satisfied with what they had achieved. He had watched Brian organise the patrols and make lists of all the things the Myrmidots would need for the journey; he had watched as Copper and Dot had started fashioning the ice tank and assembling the solar unit; he had watched Grunge and Crimson help make a special harness for Miniver; and he had even managed to have morning coffee with Achillia. All before they had to catch the speedy tram at 9.57. ‘A good day’s work,’ he concluded.

From the front of the bus, he could hear Shift talking to Grunge. Over the rumble of the bus, he caught the words ‘radio’, ‘not working’, ‘music’ and ‘driving’. Grunge said something that Bligh couldn’t quite hear. ‘Oh well,’ he thought as he closed his eyes, ‘there’s nothing so soothing as a quiet ride through the countryside.’

‘If you wouldn’t mind, Grunge,’ said Shift eagerly. ‘I really do like music when I drive, particularly in the morning.’

‘I’d be happy to, Shift,’ Grunge assured the driver. He reached down into his little travelling bag and took out a small concertina. He unfastened the little buttons that kept it tightly compressed, slid his fingers through the leather handles and stretched the concertina full-length. ‘Anything in particular you’d like to hear?’ And without waiting for an answer, he pushed his hands together and started playing.

The first note from the concertina assaulted Bligh’s eardrums. Startled, his whole body jumped. His head hit the luggage rack above him. On the way back down, he missed the seat completely and landed with a thud on the floor of the bus. Brian was no less startled. The fastidious Factotum looked down at the list he had nearly finished. What had been a very neat list now had a jagged line of ink running from top to bottom.

Bligh hauled himself off the floor and slid back into his seat. Brian turned the page of his notebook and started his list again. The cheerful but ear-rending noise from the front of the bus continued. Shift and Crimson tapped their feet and hummed along but Bligh noticed that both hummed different tunes and tapped to a different beat, neither of which matched Grunge’s playing.

As they drove on towards Home, more and more passengers boarded the bus. They joined the singing and tapping and soon the bus was filled with half a dozen different songs and the happy screeching of Grunge’s concertina.

‘That Grunge,’ Bligh heard one of the Muddles remark admiringly as he left the bus. ‘It takes a special musician to play along with so many songs at once.’

Bligh and Brian stretched their legs while they waited for the bus to take them to the border where they would be just in time to meet Megan for the last leg back to Beadleburg. They said goodbye to Crimson and Grunge, agreeing that Brian would be back at daybreak the next day. Then they sat on a bench, waiting for Shift to finish his coffee. Muddles walked past, each offering a greeting and a smile. Each ”Hello” and “Good afternoon” helped push the echo of the concertina from their heads and Bligh even forgot his plans to have the concertina banned in Beadledom. By the time Shift returned and they boarded the bus once again, both were surprised to find that their own goodbyes and waves to the passing Muddles were quite genuine.

Shift tooted the horn as they passed the fire station just in time to see Calamity bound out of the station to greet Crimson and Grunge. The Muddle pup raced around them in wide circles, stopping every couple of circuits to have her ears scratched, until the three of them passed through the door of the station. Grunge stopped just inside and looked at the overnight bag he had taken to Forge.

‘I guess I should really move back to my place. They’ve fixed the windows. There’s really no need for me to impose on you any more, Crimson.’

Crimson waved her hand dismissively. ‘It’s not been an imposition, Grunge. I’ve been glad of the company. But I know you must miss your own home.’ She looked around the fire station. ‘I should miss this place if I was away too long.’

‘We’ll be away for a little while on this trip. Eight or nine days, at least.’

Calamity’s ears arched, the tips lifting an inch or two higher from the floor. ‘Trip?’ she thought. ‘Where are we going?’ She listened carefully as her friends talked.

Crimson looked wistful. ‘It will be the longest I’ve been away from the station. And I’ve neglected my studies over the past week. I’ll have lots of catching up to do when we get back.’ She glanced at Grunge. ‘Remember when we were at the library and found Meddle’s book? In the cabinet at the bottom of the bookshelf there were lots of maps in those tubes. You don’t suppose there might be one of the High Mountains?’

Grunge shook his head. ‘I think it’s unlikely. The High Mountains have always been, well, off-limits to the people of the Land. I’ve never heard of anyone except Girth going there.’ He saw the look of disappointment on Crimson’s face. ‘But it’s worth a try. It will make the trip a lot easier if we know exactly where we’re going.’

‘Let’s go,’ said Crimson. ‘Where’s Calamity? She can come for a w -’ She stopped as she saw the puppy sitting by the door, waiting.

‘Well, you said we were going on a trip,’ barked the Muddle pup. ‘I’m waiting!’

‘C’mon, Calamity. We’re going to the library. Want to come?’

‘Library? I hope that isn’t the trip you were talking about!’

‘Miniver!’ Grunge stopped and looked at Crimson. ‘We haven’t asked Miniver if she’s willing to come! We’d better find her before we go to the library.’

‘Miniver?’ barked Calamity. ‘That’s more like it! Let’s go!’ Calamity leapt on the spot, then bounded out of the door.

Grunge and Crimson laughed and followed the happy pup out of the station.

*

From the window of her small office, Beatrice looked down on the courtyard below. Since dawn she had watched Copper and Dot bustle back and forth, bringing from their workshop each item they had built or assembled for the journey. The sledge, with Miniver’s harness, was finished. The bright metal ice tank that Copper had specially designed sat next to the sledge, reflecting the afternoon sun. Copper and Dot were gingerly lifting the small solar panel onto the top of the tank. She could hear faintly Copper’s calm voice drifting up from the courtyard.

‘Easy, now.’

They positioned the panel and tightened the bolts that would hold it in place.

‘Not too tight. They’ll likely freeze on the snowfield and we don’t want trouble getting them undone when we have to take it off again.’

The position of the panel concerned the engineer most. He had been unhappy making the tank and panel in such a short time. To get the ice into the tank they would have to remove the panel before opening the top of the tank. The panel was delicate and Copper feared handling it more than was necessary.

Dot fixed the panel in place while Copper attached the wires and tubes that would carry the sun’s energy into the refrigerated coils that lay snaked within the wall of the tank. The tank had two thin layers between the outer and inner walls. The first layer contained the insulation and between that and the inside wall of the tank were the refrigeration coils that would keep the blue ice from melting during the journey down from the snowfield. It was a makeshift job but it was the best Copper could do in the short time they had.

‘Check the seating. Make sure there’s no give in it. We don’t want any extra movement. It’ll be bumpy getting it up the mountain and we don’t want it to shake loose.’