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But I heard it. Windrush needs you ...
She was aware suddenly of Ed's voice, rasping across the room.
"Jayl-rawwk!-what was it? What was it?
Rawwwwwwk ... jayyyl ... what's wronnnnng!"
Letting her breath out with a sigh, she turned to Ed. The holoparrot was
jumping from branch to branch in agitation, a flutter of scarlet and green.
Her voice came out as a dry croak as she said, "I don't know, Ed! I don't
know!"
The parrot folded his wings and settled down on a branch, listening to the
air. "No more, jayl. It's gone.
Gone."
She nodded wearily. Then, with a jolt, she realized what Ed had just said.
It was not her imagination. He had heard it, too. "Ed-" she whispered, "what
exactly did you hear?"
"Awk?"
"What did you hear? You heard it, didn't you?"
"Urr-something-" Jael patted the blanket beside her. "Come here, Ed." The
ghostly parrot fluttered across to her, landing on her shoulder. She patted
the blanket more insistently. With a mutter, Ed hopped down beside her.
"Listen, Ed, I need your help. Now. I need you to tell me exactly what you
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saw. And what you heard."
"Urk!" The bird cracked his beak, looking around.
"Saw-jayl sit up, not happy. Saw-not sure, not sure."
He shook his head violently.
"But you saw-" "Something-rawwwwwk. Not sure what."
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"And you heard-" "Scrawwwww. Voices. Someone. Urrk." The parrot cocked his
head, fixing Jael with a stare. "Who, jayl?"
She drew a breath. "I'm ... not sure. Tell me everything you can remember,
Ed."
"Rawk." The bird pranced in agitation on the blanket.
"Did you hear ... any words? Any words you recognized?" She wanted to plead
with him. She wanted to grab him and shake him until he either confirmed what
she had heard or told her she was crazy.
"Please, Ed?"
ird cocked his head one way, then the other, then for a moment.
"Not sure. Thought I ... urk." art pounded as he paused.
"Someone .
. . needs you. Sounded like ... someone needs you. Urk." Ed shook his wing
feathers.
Jael stared at him. "What'd you just say?"
"Not sure," Ed croaked. "Sounded like ... need. Heard need, maybe.
Not sure. Go, they said. Go to him."
Jael began to shake somewhere deep inside, and then to weep. Ed hopped
frantically beside her, cawing and murmuring, asking what was wrong. She
could not answer; she didn't even know if her tears came from sadness or joy,
or both. A terrible loneliness and pain was welling up inside her. A friend
needed her, and she was too far away to do anything except weep for his need.
Eventually, the tears subsided and she sat back, snuffling and telling Ed that
it was okay, he could stop worrying. She took a deep breath and began to
review what had happened. Windrush, somehow, had reached out to her. How,
she could not imagine-nor could she imagine the need that might impel the
dragon to do that. Even Highwing, imprisoned and facing death, had not
reached into her universe to tell her. She would never have dreamed that such
a thing was possible.
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And yet it had happened.
But what could she do about it? What could she do?
She thought long and fruitlessly, and finally sighed. At would be back in a
week or two. Perhaps he would have an idea. Please, At!
The only way to go to Windrush was to get a ship. And how could she possibly
get a ship? Hijack one to the mountain route, to the dragon realm? Surely At
would have a better idea. Surely.
And just as surely, this was going to be the longest night of her life-the
longest week of her life.
Chapter 11
IN THt terrifying swirl of light and dark, the iffling-children tried to
strike back at the false-ones, to hurl them away, to extinguish their flame;
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