The Magical Flight of Dodie Rue (6 page)

Zinnia muttered, “
Amethyst
,” and her racer rug unrolled, its graceful fuchsia, cerulean, and silver swirls gleaming.

Dodie was about to take off, but he didn't feel right about leaving her behind, especially since it was his fault she would now be in last place. “I have an idea of how we can both catch up.”

Zinnia pulled her head mask back on. “You shouldn't help me. I'm a competitor.”

“It's my fault you're behind now. The least I can do is help you catch up, then you're on your own,” Dodie said matter-of-factly.

“What's your idea?' asked Zinnia as she knelt on her carpet.

“Hold onto the back of my carpet. I mean, really hold on.”

Zinnia grabbed one of
Phoenix's
back tassels with one hand, and gripped
Amethyst's
braided loop with the other.

They took off instantly. Zinnia squealed in surprise, which made Dodie laugh. They streaked through the sky, and within minutes they passed two racers, then three more. An hour later they spotted a bright red yurt pitched in the sand below. Other racers were already parked there, and more were arriving. Dodie skidded to a stop.

Zinnia stepped off her carpet. “Normally I'd say I owe you one, but this is a competition. I mean to win.”

Dodie could see that fire in her eyes again. “Me too.”

She leaned in closer to him. “And just because I'm a girl don't think I can't beat the best of you.”

Dodie felt slightly annoyed that she was being brisk with him after he just helped her catch up. He wondered if he should turn her in, but he did believe it was none of his business. He had no right to judge why she was there or if she deserved to race. After all, by all rights, he did not deserve to be racing against the top flyers in the region for the most coveted prize. He couldn't call himself a racer by any means. Besides, if she was brave enough to disguise herself and enter a race against boys, she deserved a chance to do just that.

Without warning, Dodie found himself admiring her.

Chapter 6

About half of the twenty-five racers had stopped to refuel, while the others sailed on by with catcalls. Everyone from Turah stopped.

The red yurt housed a stone well amply supplied with fresh cool water from an underground spring. There were also baskets of bread and bananas for the racers. The yurt was spacious enough to offer everyone a shaded break from the sun. Zinnia kept her facemask on, and adopted more boyish mannerisms, like downing her water in one gulp, ripping open her banana with her teeth, and sitting with a stooped posture. Dodie was sure that if he hadn't unmasked her, he would have had no idea she was a girl.

Dodie rolled up
Phoenix
and carried her under his arm. Inside the yurt he scarfed down a banana and a slice of pita bread while he waited in line for another drink at the well. This snack was better than anything he'd been eating at home, and he snuck a second helping.

“Don't eat too fast or you might throw up, Rat Scat,” Atallah called over to Dodie.

Several racers snickered.

“Sorry about Taj,” continued Atallah without the faintest hint of sympathy in his voice. “Yeah, what happened?” Randi, the baker's son, asked. “How come you're racing?”

“He's sick,” said Dodie.

“He was poisoned,” elaborated Atallah as he finished off his banana. “Who did it?”

“Not sure,” Dodie said crisply.

“So you're taking Taj's place?” Axel asked, suddenly interested in the conversation.

“Like you even have a chance,” finished Atallah with a shake of his head.

“
We
have a chance now!” exclaimed Bae with a grin. “Taj was the best. With him outta the running this competition just blew wide open!”

Dodie felt his throat tightening as he pictured Taj lying on his death bed. He couldn't think of anything biting to reply with. Taj always knew what to say to people, especially when they picked on Dodie, but out here Dodie was on his own. He caught Zinnia looking at him, but quickly turned to the well before she could see his eyes watering. He drank several cups of water, and felt refreshed. He gobbled down another piece of pita bread and was about to leave the yurt when he heard Atallah shout to Zinnia, “Do I know you? Where're you from?”

Dodie spun back around in the doorway.

“None of your business,” Zinnia said in a harsh voice. She marched out of the yurt, bumping Dodie's shoulder as she did.

Atallah watched her go, his eyes flashing.

Dodie went outside and unrolled
Phoenix.
Next to him Zinnia hopped on
Amethyst
. Atallah stormed out of the yurt.

“Hey!” he yelled at Zinnia, who did not turn to look at him. As Zinnia flew off he shouted, “Coward!”

“Shut up!” Dodie snapped as he knelt on his carpet.

“What did you say?” Atallah unrolled
Sky Cleaver
and mounted it.

“I told you to
shut up
!” Dodie couldn't believe the anger he was feeling. “And while you're at it, eat my dust!”

Phoenix
shot off, but to his dismay it wasn't at stardust speed, rather at mere racer rug speed. The stardust had run its course. He knew it couldn't last forever, but he'd hoped it would have lasted long enough for him to leave Atallah gasping in his wake. Instead Atallah was right behind him.

Dodie kept his eyes ahead and his grip firm on the braided loops.

A shadow cast over him. Then Atallah's green and gold carpet grazed his face. Atallah was threading on him.

Dodie swerved away as Atallah zoomed ahead, laughing.

For several hours, Dodie kept a good air speed, staying ahead of several racers, but still within eyesight of the larger group. They crossed mile after mile of red sand and soft rippled dunes. There seemed to be no end to the Fringe. As the afternoon wore on, the temperature climbed. Dodie tried not to fly too low, for the sand gave off a dry heat. He also felt the sun's rays burning through his skin-tight white linen tunic and leggings. He thought about the red yurt with its shade and well of cool water more and more as the heat continued to rise. His legs were cramping up, and his back was aching. He also had to pee. He noticed the racer Nye, riding a black and red carpet, scoot his legs out from under his body and stretch. Dodie copied him, and felt immediate relief in his legs. He stayed flying like this, stretched out on his belly, for another hour, and caught himself dozing off once or twice. Nearby a thudding sound snapped him to his senses. He turned quickly to look behind him, and saw a racer rolling down a dune.

Atallah, flying nearby, laughed. “Idiot! Must've fallen asleep!”

Dodie blinked his eyes and slapped his face to make sure he stayed wide awake now.

Across the Fringe, he spied a snaking figure a few miles ahead. As he flew closer, he saw a long single line of camels slowly trekking across the dunes. There must have been over fifty camels, all packed with bundles and riders sheathed in layers of fabric. Several camels dragged large metal boxes that made smooth tracks in the sand.

The racers tensed, tightening their grips and tucking their legs under them, and a few rose higher in the air. Dodie wondered what they had to be worried about, so he pulled
Phoenix
back a little, letting the front racers pass over the merchant caravan.

As soon as the flying carpets neared the caravan, the merchants jumped off their camels and hurried to the metal boxes. They threw open the tops and a swarm of flying creatures of different colors burst out of the boxes and took to the sky. They screeched and headed straight for the racers, their leathery wings stirring up the air.

Dodie couldn't tell if they were birds or bats or—

“Dragons!” he yelled, partly in awe and partly in terror as jets of fire shot from the flock.

The dragons were small, about the size of hawks, and varied in color from blood-red to poison-green. Their scales shimmered in the sunlight as they zipped around at incredible speeds. Four dragons attacked the front racer on an orange and blue carpet by spitting fire at him. The racer's tunic ignited, and with a scream, he fell off his carpet. He somersaulted downward through the air, and crashed on the sand. A golden dragon and a royal blue dragon caught his magic carpet midair in their front claws and flew off with it. When they dropped the carpet near their caravan, it rolled itself up and landed with a plop. The merchants on the ground carried off the racer rug.

The racer who had fallen was rolling around in the sand trying to extinguish the flames eating up his clothing. Just as he managed to, the merchants fell upon him and beat him furiously, leaving him unconscious in the sand.

Dodie gulped as he watched the dragons head toward him and the other racers. Atallah expertly dodged shooting flames. Out of the corner of his eye, Dodie saw Zinnia whiz by him.

“No! Wait!” he shouted to her.

She didn't look back. A purple dragon screeched and spit fire straight at her, but she pulled up
Amethyst
and swerved to the right, missing the flames.

Dodie was worried, for he had no skills when it came to advanced flying. He hoped
Phoenix
would make up for it. He heard a thud and a scream on his right. Another racer fell burning through the sky and landed in the sand below him. His carpet was snatched up by the merchants before he could even get to his feet.

“You gotta help me out,” Dodie mumbled to
Phoenix
.

He scanned the swarm of dragons ahead, trying to pick out which ones were aiming at him. Dodie remembered there was strength in numbers, so he dove over to Atallah, Zinnia, and Randi who were fending off flames, and rode their drag. The same purple dragon was still gunning for Zinnia, pelting fire at the underside of her carpet. While the fire did not burn the carpet, its force threw her off balance. Dodie, riding behind her, closed the gap between their carpets, and shot out a hand to steady her. She regained her position.

A screech sounded near Dodie's head. He ducked lower as flames sprayed over his head. He kept close to the group. Suddenly
Phoenix
rolled up her left side over Dodie, and he felt a hot blast hit her underside. The flames extinguished with a sputter.

“Thanks!” he shouted to his carpet.

“Ahhhhh!” screamed another racer nearby as he fell headfirst to the earth. A team of dragons dove after him and snatched up his carpet.

Dodie could see the end of the caravan ahead.

Sizzle!

Fire struck Dodie's left shoulder. He shrieked as the flames devoured his sleeve and licked his skin. He rolled against his carpet and was relieved when the fire extinguished. He heard an angry screech and saw two red dragons swoop up and grab hold of his carpet in their claws. They yanked.

Dodie's left hand lost its grip on the braided loop, and he slid sideways, his feet dangling off the edge. The imbalance caused
Phoenix
to lurch.

“Steady!” he hollered at her, but he knew she wouldn't be able to right herself with two dragons clutching her.

The dragons yanked
Phoenix
in an attempt to shake Dodie off. He held on.

He felt them lose altitude. As he peered below, he could already see the gang of bandits running beneath him, ready to catch his rug and kill him.

The ground was rushing up too quickly. He could now make out the eyes and noses and teeth on the merchants.

The red dragons shook his carpet. Dodie could see the dragons' bellies under
Phoenix
. He brought up his legs and kicked their bellies as hard as he could. Both dragons roared in surprise and lost their grips on
Phoenix.

Dodie reached up, grabbed the other loop, and flung himself on top of his carpet. In a blink,
Phoenix
blasted straight up into the sky. Dodie hung on for dear life. He could hear the dragons screeching and blasting fire behind him. After a moment he no longer heard them, and he noticed how high he had climbed, for he saw mountains of clouds instead of sand. He did a nosedive.

Far below racers were dodging flames and heading for the dune range. The swarm of colorful dragons was thinning as they returned to their metal boxes. The merchants must have decided they had enough carpets and didn't want to lose their dragons in the dune range. Soon the sky was clear and the caravan continued on its journey west.

Dodie felt empowered. He had just fought off fire-breathing dragons!

The nearer he flew to the dune range, the larger the dunes were. They were the size of mountains, and stretched as far as the eye could see from east to west. The check point lay on the other side of the range. At the foot of the sandy mountains, everyone halted.

Dodie couldn't remember what Taj had said about the dune range. He remembered Taj studying the course map, and preparing himself for all the hazards along the way, but Dodie hadn't really paid attention. Why would he? He never imagined he'd be in the Grand Flyer atop a racer rug, staring up at these towering sand dunes.

Atallah whipped off his head mask, shook out sand, and put it back on. Axel pulled out a tangle of ropes and proceeded to tie his legs and arms to his carpet's tassels. Bae sent a prayer up to heaven. Zinnia took out a small brass compass and tied it to her rug's braided loops.

Dodie wasn't sure what to do, so he spread open his grandfather's secret map, hoping there was something helpful concerning the dune range. Next to the small drawing of the sandy mountains was scrawled
Ride the tail for smooth passage
. He stuffed the map back into his waist pouch, and joined the group as they took off again for the dunes.

The wind grew steadily stronger as they entered the range. By the time Dodie had reached the range's summit, he was having quite a time staying on his carpet, for the wind was so gusty. He held on tightly as the gusts jostled him from side to side, and sometimes even from behind. The going was slow.

Suddenly a shadow passed directly overhead, and Dodie looked up. Gliding smoothly above him was a creature Dodie had heard rumors about but had never dreamed he'd see. The creature had an impressive wingspan of black feathers, and had sharp front talons. Its head, with acute amber eyes and a hooked beak, resembled an eagle's. The rest of its body was sleek and muscular, resembling a bronze furred lion. Its back legs were tucked up and a long tail trailed behind.