The Mapmakers' Race by Eirlys Hunter

Author:Eirlys Hunter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gecko Press
Published: 2018-01-17T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

TUMBLING DOWN—JUST LIKE THE RAIN

The rain was just a drizzle when they woke, but up in the mountains it must have been pouring, because the river was rising fast. Their crossing place was already a wild whirlpool.

“We were so lucky!” said Beckett.

Joe didn’t feel lucky, he mostly felt miserable as he pulled his wet boots on over his damp socks and tried to tie the laces with cold fingers. Everything was sodden so the poor donkeys’ loads were heavier than ever. Beckett and Francie coaxed one donkey each. Carrot hitched a ride on Joe’s head, under Ma’s chimney-pot hat, her claws tickling his scalp.

Joe tried to work out which way to go. The train would go into a tunnel, but which way should the path go? He couldn’t see far enough to be sure; all he knew was up and up. The valley side had sprouted small streams and waterfalls, and the donkeys needed a lot of urging before they’d slosh and stumble through the freezing water. Humph squelched behind Joe in his yellow oversized rain cape and Joe gave him a hand getting over the bigger streams. Everyone slithered and slid; their boots became heavy with mud again, and Sal had to keep stopping to scrape the mud off the wheel of the altimeter. They plodded on.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” said Beckett, who had found a strong stick to help him walk, but was still limping on both feet. “Let me remind you why we are suffering this torture.” He paused for breath, then carried on up the hill. “It’s so nobody will have to walk this way ever again! Trains will take us everywhere!”

“Hooray!” said Humphrey.

“In the future it’ll only take one day to get through these mountains,” Beckett continued. “And once there are trains, there’ll be other engines too. These mountains won’t be wild any more.” He looked very happy with that thought. “There’ll be inns and markets, everything modern and comfortable. And no more hard work for anyone. All the hard work will be done by machines.”

“Like what?” Humph asked.

“Machines for harvesting and mining. Machines to chop trees into firewood, and for fetching water, and cooking. Maybe even a machine to carry me from my gate to the train.”

“Machines for making machines?” said Humph.

“Bound to be! And if we want to see the view from the top of a mountain, a machine will just whisk us up there.”

“A machine to pluck and gut ducks would be something,” said Sal.

Joe called to Francie, “I want a flying machine so I can see what you see,” and she smiled. They climbed on, more cheerfully.

The clouds swirled thicker as they climbed. Up and up. Then they were higher than the bush line, scrambling over rocks. The wind sent Beckett’s top hat flying. He snatched it out of the air just in time, collapsed it and stowed it in his rucksack. Joe used his compass because he could only see a few yards ahead. On they went.

At last Joe arrived at what he hoped was the top.

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