Roland's Castle (25 page)

“This is how you play Ogleforth!”
The captain shouted at them as they joined in the chase, the ships
spreading out in order to catch and hit the ogle. It was one of the
opposing ships that intercepted it, again with the accompanying
sparks and noise, but the boat only succeeded in striking the ogle
downwards so that it bounced and scraped some rocks sending yet
more sparks flying. It finally came to rest in the dust and fizzled
out.

“So that’s a Lendal,” Oliver
said

Again the ships spread out across
the surface, trying to spy the next ogle. One was quickly spotted
and all ships raced to it. The yee-hove-hees pushing Roland’s
vessel started to push it in the same direction as the pack, but
Roland gave different orders, “No – hang around behind – we might
be more use!”

He had noticed how all the ships
raced towards the ogle at once but failed to provide enough cover
near to the terminator, where the high points were to be scored. So
Roland’s ship cruised around between the pack and the terminator,
looking for their chance to receive the ogle.

The new ogle was passed across the
surface between ships of the opposing side as they scored a Koenig.
But Roland's strategy paid off. He was in the right place to rush
in between two of the other team’s ships as one was passing the
ogle to another. Watching closely, Roland ordered the yee-hove-hees
to go faster so that they ended up right in the ogle’s path. The
burning ball hurtled toward them, all its fire and fury seeming
larger, more intense by the instant.

“Stand by!” Roland yelled.

Savitri and Oliver swung the
racquet into the right position and then pulled it back and let it
go at just the right time. Coming from right overhead the
twang—oiiiiiing
sound was deafening and they were showered
with sparks like a waterfall of fire. They ducked their heads as it
fell and when they looked up again they saw that they had sent the
ogle speeding across the surface right to another of their team’s
ships. That in turn sent it speeding ahead but it was intercepted
by the other team and then fizzled out into a Lendal. Nevertheless,
the trio’s boat had been pivotal in a
Straker!

“A Straker! We did it!” Oliver
cried in triumph, “We can play Ogleforth!” and the three high—fived
each other.

The captain pulled up beside them
again and shouted, “Keep that up and you’ll be ship of the
match!”

Soon another Ogle was spotted and
the game was on yet again. Once more the other team got to it first
and had most of the running, pulling off a Koenig before it was
intercepted by a boat from Roland’s team. The other team then got
it back again to score a Bedern.

With the next ogle Roland’s boat
was part of a Full Koenig – that excited the trio very much, but
they really wanted to score a Bedern themselves. The rival team
drew level again with the next ogle and it was all down to the
final one.

This time Roland decided to hang
back even more than he had before. It took them close to the
grandstand and some in the crowd wondered what they were doing.
There were some shouts of “Get up there!” and “Play the game!” but
Roland ignored them. Soon the ships of both teams were coming
towards him, the ogle flying between them. The other team scored a
Straker with a Full Koenig on the cards as the ogle was sent flying
towards another of their ships. Yet again Roland saw his chance
to

intercept the ogle for his own team
and tacked the craft sideways so as to get in its way. The only
problem was that there was no member of his team near enough to
pass it to. There was only one thing for it — they would have to
try to score the Bedern themselves by turning the racquet so it was
at an oblique angle to the incoming ogle and then striking it a
glancing blow to send it across the terminator. It would be a very
difficult trick to pull off — the most difficult shot imaginable
and would require pin point timing.

Roland ordered the yee-hove-hees
towards the right position as Savitri and Oliver pulled on the
ropes in order to get the racquet facing the right way. Roland then
joined them pulling at the centre rope, still giving last minute
orders to the yee-hove-hees.

They were heading for the right
place but as they watched the ogle coming towards them they
realised that it was going to be too high and go over their
racquet. There was no time to stop. There was no choice but to hit
it
on the move whilst leaping at the same time
, although the
captain had given no indication that it was a standard
manoeuvre.

“When I tell the yee-hove-hees to
leap, get ready to let go,” Roland told Oliver and Savitri.

With the racquet in the right
position all three of them pulled back hard on it. Roland watched
the ogle coming towards them and at the right time yelled
“yee-hove-leap!”

“Yee-hove-leap!” cried the
yee-hove-hees, with not a thought or suggestion that they found the
idea of leaping whilst moving odd.

Still rushing along the boat was
thrown high up in the air. As it rose to meet the ogle Roland
yelled, “Now!” and all three of them let go of the ropes. The
racquet lurched forwards and hit the ogle at a skew angle, striking
it with a very loud twang––
oiiiiiing
and a huge shower of
sparks so that it span and headed straight for the terminator. They
watched it go, holding their breath for what seemed like an age,
wondering if it had enough momentum. But, in its own slow time, the
ogle passed across the terminator. It was a Bedern! They had scored
a Bedern
! The crowd in the grandstand went wild!

Oliver noticed that both
Botherworth and Goodwill were in the grandstand and actually
thought
he saw Botherworth hugging Brother Goodwill. He
shook his head in disbelief.

“You’ve done it!” their captain
said as he came alongside again, “Diamonds in the rough you are
indeed! Champions! The very champions! It is for you to accept the
cup
and
, I don’t doubt, the award of boat of the match! An
interesting new manoeuvre, that flying leap! We’ll all be
practising that from now on you can be sure!”

Proudly they mounted the stand to
have the cup presented to them by the Supreme Mistress of the
Lighthouse. She handed it over and Roland took his chance, telling
her, “We must speak to you on an urgent matter.”

“Very well, for such fine sportsmen
I will hear anything, but first a few words for the crowd…”

Roland turned to them, “Thanks to
you all! We are visitors but are already enjoying ourselves! I hope
you are happy to have us here and we are providing good
entertainment!”

The crowd cheered.

“Thanks must go to our worthy
teammates! We hold the cup but we hold it for all of them – we
couldn’t have done it without them!”

The crowd cheered all over
again.

“Thanks also to our worthy
opponents – who I am told will
not
be locked out when the
air goes in!”

The crowd laughed and applauded at
what they obviously considered a good joke

“But thanks also needs to go also
to our excellent boat—pushers, the yee-hove-hees who rushed us
through the sand and leapt at just the right moment. We couldn’t
have done it without….”

Roland’s voice began to tail off.
At the very mention of the yee-hove-hees there had been a sharp
intake of breath from the crowd. The Supreme Mistress of the
Lighthouse turned her back on him and walked off. Roland didn’t
finish what he was going to say and there was no applause.

Their captain was beside him again,
“Bad move me lubber. The yee-hove-hees is mere slaves, no one may
mention them or acknowledge their existence in public!”

“That’s wrong,” Savitri said.

“It is,” Roland said.

“It’s the way it is,” the captain
said, “The way this world is – the moon, I mean.”

“And Earth too,” Savitri said, “Too
much like it.”

“Can we regain anything?” Roland
asked in desperation, “We must speak to the Lighthouse
Mistress…”

“Perhaps if you offer a grovelling
apology for mentioning such low, base and vile creatures in her
presence… She may listen, given that you played so splendidly and
entertained us all.”

Despite the disastrous faux pas the
friends were invited to the team victory party, which was very
jolly with many hi-jinks accompanying the usual replaying of all
the best bits of the match – in other words, the bits where they
had been winning. Roland was sullen though. All his purpose was
undone. He had won the match for the team and got the attention of
the Lighthouse Mistress as planned only to have it all ripped away
from him. He was also annoyed about the reason for it. The
yee-hove-hees had played their part in the victory and yet they
were not part of the celebrations. It was wrong and he knew he had
been right to thank them, and he would have made sure they were
invited to the victory party as well, if he had had anything to do
with it.

If you have to do something wrong
to get a good thing done, is that right? He thought of his
conversation with Bril-a-Brag. If he had known that mentioning the
yee-hove-hees would undo his purpose, would he have mentioned them?
He should have done, he knew, and he decided that he still would
have done.

“Is their nothing we can do?” he
asked the Captain.

“I have been sending out some
feelers,” said the Captain, “We will have to see. Don’t be
despondent! It may yet come right! You won us the Ogleforth cup,
against all expectations! That counts for something!”

“But we are pressed for time,”
Roland said,” I have a friend who may be executed within a
week.”

“Well time is time, and it isn’t
always the time we think it is – particularly not up here!”

With that he left. Roland wondered
what he had meant.

Soon after the captain came back
again, “I have spoken to a close friend who is a good friend of a
friend of the Lighthouse Mistress. If you hurry, she is willing to
hear you out. But beware, she will expect an apology for the
affront.”

“I am not too proud to grovel for a
good cause,” Roland said, “But the yee-hove-hees – I will not
apologise for standing up for them.”

The Captain looked glum, “Well,
let’s see what happens…”

Roland was rushed down lots of
passages and through many caverns — all packed to the roofs with
boats — until he arrived at a grand chamber which was very long and
lined with many Ogleforth boats all carefully displayed on
pedestals. At the end of the chamber sat the Lighthouse Mistress,
high up on a grand throne. Roland walked the length of the chamber
and bowed. The Lighthouse Mistress looked down upon him.

“I am here to apologise for any
affront,” he said.

“Your apology is accepted,” The
Lighthouse Mistress said.

“But,” Roland said.

“But?” She asked.

Roland was sure he could not say
it. He heard the words in his head and knew he could not say them.
He was sure he lacked the courage. Then he heard the words come
from his own mouth, “But the yee-hove-hees
should not be
slaves
!”

The harbour mistress sat
impassively. At least she didn’t seem angry.

“They should not be slaves,” she
agreed, “There should be no slaves at all. But there are, and what
is is what is. What can I do?”

“Free them,” Roland said.

“It is not mine to do, but their
masters. Have you never owned slaves?” she asked.

“I thank goodness I have not,”
Roland replied.

In public I must keep up the
appearance of being affronted by your behaviour, but in private I
can say that you have a good heart, and commend you on it. You may
go now,” she said.

“There is something I must ask you”
Roland said, summoning his full supply of courage, “We need a
favour….”

“A favour? You insult me in public,
and you need a favour!”

“Yes,” he said.

“At least you are courageous, as
well as a good sportsman. Tell me what this favour is.”

“We are fighting a battle down on
the earth and we need new sun warriors, fresh from the sun. We need
to get to the sun and we need you to help us.”

“You need a Sun Sentinel to take
you. It is the only way to get to the sun, and to get safely into
it.”

“So I have been told. I am told you
can summon one for us.”

“Do you know what a Sun Sentinel
is?” The Lighthouse Mistress asked him.

“No.”

“They are the creatures sent out by
the sun to guard the very edges of light and dark. They wait in the
dark for many years, watching and waiting for any sign of the
forces of darkness rallying for attack. It is a lonely life… The
lighthouse can be seen by them and can be used to signal them, but
there is no guarantee one will respond. Because of the life they
lead – the loneliness — they can be moody, avoidant. You must also
know that the appearance of the Sun Sentinels can be fearful. They
contain the rage of a furnace and the darkness of an abyss.”

“We need one,” Roland said, “we
will cope with it when it comes.”

“Then we will summon one for you.
You may leave now.”

Roland was overjoyed. He had got
what he wanted. He also had spoken out and not been punished or
disadvantaged for it. He had done the right thing and got away with
it. He had a feeling that life wasn’t always like that…. He
rejoined his friends at the party.

“How was it?” Oliver asked, “Are
they are going to help us?”

“Despite the fact that I maintained
my objection to the treatment of the yee-hove-hees, they are going
to summon a Sun Sentinel.”

“Great!” said Savitri, “And well
done for not caving in on your principles!”

“How long will it take?” Oliver
asked, “The clock is ticking on Firebrace.”

Roland said, “I don’t know how long
because I didn’t ask and I should have done. Blast! We could be
here weeks. I should have asked and if necessary tried to get them
to hurry things up a bit…”