The rest of the trip was
comparatively uneventful. They saw several other ships, but they were always
quite a ways off. It was almost noon when Moto announced they would be landing
in the small village of Ledenbarrow.
“How will we know
which house is Mr. Cogwright?” asked Mary.
“Well, it should
not be too hard” Liza said thoughtfully” He is the village head of school. I
suspect he lives on the grounds of the local school.”
Moto landed the
balloon in the center of the village commons. By the time he had gently brought
the large green balloon down a small knot of villagers had gathered around the
balloon. The General began to talk to one of the older men and soon the man
whispered something into the ear of a young boy next to him.
“He’s gone to
fetch the Headmaster” The older man explained. There followed a silence from
the rest of the villagers. The five sailors stood in the midday sun awkwardly
for a few moments.
“Ugh” Liza said
after a while. “I suspect it will take Mr. Cogwright quite a while to get
here.”
“Why” Mary asked.
“Well, he is
older, no? Oh look, it seems he sent a messenger of some sort on a bike.”
Just then a sturdy
looking man with a head full of wild brown hair came bicycling into the small
crowd and got off his bike. He smiled a pleasant smile and scanned the group,
ending up on the General. Liza turned briefly to Mary “Well there’s a charming
lad no?” she laughed lightly. Mary nodded with a smile.
The man made a
small bow to the General.
“Ah, you sir must
be the General?”
“I am. And who do
I have the pleasure of meeting.”
“Micajah William
Cogwright at your service Sir.”
Liza and Mary let
out small, simultaneous gasps, looked at each other with startled expressions
and dissolved into a fit of laughter.
Chapter five
Liza stepped
forward and offered her hand stretched out to Cogwright who hesitated a moment
before taking it and giving it a good shake.
“Liza Littlefield,
Mr. Cogwright. This is my grandfather General Littlefield, and our friends
Colonel Thorsnberry and his niece Mary Gosling.”
Cogwright shook everyone’s
hands, including Mary, who seemed taken aback a little with the shake.
“Well, I am glad
to make all of your acquaintances, what do I owe the pleasure?”
The General
cleared his throat meaningfully. “Well Mr. Cogwright, my granddaughter and I
have some business we need to speak with you about. Is there someplace private
we could perhaps retire to?”
“By all means. I
have an apartment at the school, come with me.”
“Sir, I mean
Robert, we will need to clear the sedan of the park.”
“Ah yes. Mr
Cogwright, is there a garage perhaps where we could sit the sedan?”
Cogwright looked
around for a moment, as if trying to recall where the garage was.
“Ah! I tell you
what, if we could place it by the post office it should be alright. No one will
bother it I suspect.” He pointed to a small stone building at the other end of
the park where they had landed.
“Excellent” Liza
said, “Moto, Mary, can you help me carry the sedan over to the post office
then? Just grab those straps.” Mot and Mary got on the other side of the sedan
basket and put their hands in the straps. Mary had a wide grin plastered on her
face.
“May I help?”
Cogwright asked.
“By all means.
Liza said. “ Grab the strap on my side. With four it should not be difficult.”
The basket was
light, having been purpose made as a ballooning basket. With little effort the
four of them soon had the basket a few inches off the ground and were slowly
walking it across the park.
“So you are Mr.
Cogwiright…” Liza said, almost to herself.
“Yes, and please
call me Will.”
“The Mr.
Cogwright? Not… junior or anything? No other Cogwright’s in the village…”
Will laughed. “No…
no others. There is my father…”
Liza turned to
look at him.
“But he his name
is Albert. I am , I’m afraid, the Mr. Cogwright. You seem disappointed…”
“Oh no, not at
all. It is just that… well, the books said you had retired…”
Again Will
laughed, recognition coming across his face. “Ah yes, well, I did retire. I
retired from flight when I was all of 18. But not from life. I am a headmaster
now. It’s a small school” he said almost apologetically but then added,
hastily. “But top quality I can assure you.”
Liza smiled. They
were near the post office. They set the basket to rest on a small patch of
grass near the front. A small group of villagers had walked over with them,
followed closely by the General and the colonel.
As Moto made sure
everything was secure and anything loose stowed away Will spoke to a young boy,
giving him a coin and pointing at the balloon. The boy nodded and went over to
stand, a serious look on his face, next to the basket.
“Alright” Will
said, clapping his hands, “I think we’re ready then.” He had an easy way about
him, and seemed to never stop smiling. Liza imagined he would be the kind of
headmaster kids listened too because they liked him, not because they feared
him.
The walk to the
school was only a minute or so. The village was very small, even as far as
villages go, so the school was only a few buildings down from the post office.
It turned out the school was really just an old brick house with several out
buildings behind it. One of these was a small wood-sided one story box. This
was the headmaster’s apartment. Will parked his bike against the house and
opened the front door, motioning the party in. Inside was like a small cottage,
made to feel even smaller by floor to ceiling stacks of books. There were a few
overstuffed chairs and a long wooden table filled with more books and what
appeared to be a random collection of scientific instruments. Will moved a pile
of books off of one of the chairs and pulled up another two. He looked around,
as if counting the party and then excused himself. He went out a door in the
back of the room and soon emerged with two wooden straight back chairs. He
scanned the room again, realizing he was still a chair short. He then arched
his eyebrows and excused himself again. This time he returned with a small
stool.
“Sit, sit.” He
said and proceeded to sit on the small stool himself. Liza, Mary and the
General sat in the overstuffed chairs with Moto and the Colonel sat in the
wooden chairs.
Then, suddenly,
Will bolted upright. “Tea!” he said and then went again to the door in the
back, but this time almost immediately burst back in, and then went out the
front door.
Liza gave a
meaningful look to her Grandfather, who just shrugged. Mary looked at Liza and
mouthed “What?” Liza mouthed back “Odd” and Mary gave a small giggle.
Right then Will burst
back into the little house with a triumphant smile, but no tea.
“I sent one of the
students to tell Ms. Bigelow to start a tea. He’ll fetch it from her when she’d
ready.”
The room fell
silent and Will looked around, smiling.
“Don’t get too
many visitors Mr. Cogwright?” The Colonel asked.
“Uncle!”
“Just asked Mary.
Seems like there is a distinct lack of chairs…”
“I would imagine,
Colonel” Liza said “That Mr. Cogwright has plenty of chairs in his office up at
the school, isn’t that right Mr. Cogsworth?”
“Uh, yes. Yes!”
Will said, blushing.
“But that since
Grandfather asked for a place to talk in private, he brought us here instead.”
“Yes…” Will said,
looking intently at Liza.
“Students.” Mary
said. Will jumped.
“Where?” he asked,
looking around.
“No, sorry.” Mary
said with a laugh.” I was just thinking, if we were in an indoor office there
might be students hanging around…” Will nodded, now staring at Mary, his
expression slightly unfocused. Then he shook his head slightly, as if waking
up.
“Well,” he said, addressing
the General. “General Littlefield, sir, if you don’t mind my boldness, can I
ask what it was you wanted to talk about?” Will’s smile and pleasant demeanor
had returned.
“Yes, well, I
should think we could get straight to the point Mr Cogwright.”
“Certainly.”
“It pertains to
your Ballooning days sir. “The General said. Will’s smile flickered.
“Yes” he responded
flatly.
“We, that is
myself and my granddaughter, seek to employ your services as a navigator for a
very special-“
Will stood up
suddenly, his face cloudy. “I am very sorry sir. I think you have been gravely
misinformed. I no longer practice that particular art. I am afraid you have
wasted your time and I myself must get back to the school as it is. I am sure
the tea will be here shortly. Please excuse my rudeness, but you are welcome to
enjoy the tea. I must leave now. Good day.” Will did a small bow and turned to
leave. Mary and the Colonel looked shocked, Moto stared hard at the ceiling.
Liza looked in a slightly panicked way at her grandfather.
“Mr. Cogwright, we
know.”
Will stopped and
looked back. His face was dark. “Sorry? What, exactly, do you think you know
Sir?
“We know about the
Cloud Dwellers.” The General said quietly.
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