The Wonderground

32 - The End of the 'Ephemera'

Aztra scrambled on her hands and knees underneath the deflated balloon. It was hot under the canopy and her bare knees scraped on the rough decking. She finally reached the stern of the ship and daylight. She stood and stretched before descending a ladder riveted to the exterior of the hull that led down to a small wooden platform. A vessel was suspended over the water. The Turtle Feather. It was a small pea-green barrel-like vessel. A propeller was attached to the front, underneath a hemispherical dome of glass. Two pipes, shaped like horns, wrapped around the sides of the contraption and pointed straight upwards.

She clambered up onto the top of the contraption using two moulded recesses in the hull. She grabbed a hatch door wheel and spun it anti-clockwise. There was a low hissing sound as air escaped. She dragged the hatch door open and dropped inside the craft. Her bare feet landed on the cushioned seat of a bench fixed to the floor. She was surrounded by a series of hand cranks and foot pedals. Above her head, the two external pipes entered the chamber. The ends of the pipes had two hinged caps dangling loosely from the rim. Aztra closed the caps, sealing the pipes and tightening them with two wingnuts before sitting at the helm.

She double-checked that the cranks and pedals were moving freely before removing her headscarf and wiping the glass of the dome. She heard footsteps on the metal skin of the vessel. Lilacbeard's black boots dangled into the cockpit through the hatch. He dropped into the seat beside her. He was soaking wet. The purple in his beard was running, staining his neck and the ruffled collar of his white shirt. He swept his wet hair from his eyes.

"What news of the children?" asked Aztra.

"Dead," replied Lilacbeard with annoyance. "Ferdinand's new man watched them drown."

"Poor things," said Aztra softly, crossing her heart with her thumb. "His Imperial Majesty will not be pleased."

"An understatement," cursed Lilacbeard.

"Time to go?" she asked.

"Most definitely," he said reluctantly.

"You are sure about this?" she asked apprehensively.

"Anything is better than staying on board to drown. Or swimming away to be captured," confessed the captain.

"We have never tested it before," reminded Aztra.

"I can think of no better time," replied Lilacbeard.

"You are the captain," she acknowledged. She grasped two crank handles in front of her chest as the Turtle Feather lurched sideways. The Ephemera was keeling over. The sway of the ship gently deposited the submarine in the lake.

Lilacbeard pulled a handle between his knees. The chamber started to flood with water. He watched the clouds disappear from view as they sank. They shivered as the water level crept up their legs towards their waists. The inside of the Turtle Feather became gloomier as they dropped like a stone. Once the vessel was completely submerged and the water in the chamber had reached their chests, Lilacbeard held his breath, ducked underwater and pushed the handle back into place. He resurfaced and fumbled for the controls.

"Where to, Cap'n?" asked Aztra, as she began pedalling. "Time to face the music...?"

"To Sunken Tooth," replied Lilacbeard without hesitation. "To hide from the music. My sister will take care of us."

They pedalled in tandem. The front propeller spun more quickly with their increased efforts, sending bubbles speeding across the surface of the glass. Lilacbeard's hands danced over the controls. His delicate movements of the hand cranks soon had them moving steadily through the lake and into the darkness to make their escape.