Jeremy and the Fantastic Flying Machine Read online

  Bones everywhere!

  A crooked arrow!

  “We’re back where we started!” cried Jeremy.

  “So much for being good at mazes,” said Aristotle.

  RRRRRAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH !

  Jeremy and Aristotle jumped. “Go right,” said Jeremy, “and don’t make any noise.”

  Jeremy and Aristotle tiptoed along the tunnel. “Turn right again,” whispered Jeremy. “And right here.” He shivered as he kicked a pile of bones. “Another right.”

  Jeremy peered ahead. “I think we’re coming to a room—”

  RRRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGHHH !

  A huge shape lunged out of the shadows.

  Long pointed horns flashed in the blue light.

  Red eyes glowed like embers.

  The thing snorted and growled. It blew steam from its wide nostrils.

  “A MONSTER!” yelled Jeremy and Aristotle.

  They spun around and ran.

  Heavy footsteps thumped after them. The tunnel echoed with the monster’s snarls.

  They came to another fork in the maze of tunnels. Aristotle veered to the right. “Hurry!” he shouted.

  Jeremy’s sandal kicked at some more bones.

  He stopped, his heart pounding. He picked up two bones.

  It was their only chance.

  He counted in his head. One...two...three...

  He flung the bones up the left tunnel. They hit the stone wall with a loud rattle just as the monster thundered around the corner.

  With a roar, it chased after the bones.

  Jeremy sped up the right tunnel. He caught up to Aristotle. “I tricked the monster,” he said, “but we better—”

  Jeremy’s heart lurched.

  Aristotle was crouching in front of a brick wall.

  A dead end!

  Chapter Six

  The Secret Door

  RRRRRAAAAARRRRGGGHHHHH!

  The hair stood up on Aristotle’s back. “I don’t think the monster liked your trick,” he said.

  Jeremy kept his eyes on the tunnel. He backed against the brick wall.

  There was a loud grating sound. Jeremy felt the wall move. He tumbled through a space that opened up between the bricks. He landed with a bump at the bottom of a winding staircase.

  Aristotle leaped after him.

  “It’s a secret door!” said Jeremy. Before he could blink, the bricks slid together.

  A muffled roar on the other side of the wall faded away.

  Jeremy looked up. The winding stairs disappeared into the blue shadows.

  Aristotle flicked his tail. “I’ll stay here while you—”

  “You’re coming with me!” said Jeremy. “You got us into this mess.”

  Up and up, around and around climbed Jeremy and Aristotle.

  The stairs ended at a small wooden door.

  Jeremy put his ear against the door. He heard a rattling sound, like marbles rolling together.

  “Whoever is in there sounds busy,” said Aristotle. “Let’s come back some other—”

  Jeremy grabbed Aristotle’s tail. He knocked on the door.

  He waited a few seconds. Then he pushed it open. He peered into a small round room.

  In one corner were two bulky objects covered in cloth. In another corner lay the broken kite.

  A man stood at the window with his back to them. A small boy was kneeling on the floor in front of a contraption made of chutes and tunnels and slides.

  Flap, ap, ap. A blue bird flew away from the windowsill.

  “Bye-bye, birdie,” said the boy.

  The man watched the bird fly away. He scratched some numbers on a clay tablet.

  The little boy picked up a round pebble and dropped it down a chute. It rattled and slid all the way to the floor.

  He clapped his hands. Then he looked up. “Nice kitty!” he said.

  Aristotle’s fur ruffled. The man at the window turned around.

  It was the crazy man!

  His eyes brightened. “The time travelers,” he said. “You found your way to my secret door! I’m Daedalus, and this is my son Icarus. Welcome to our tower.”

  Chapter Seven

  Daedalus and Icarus

  “I must finish my notes,” said Daedalus. “Then we can talk.”

  Jeremy looked around while he waited. The room was brimming with wonderful things.

  Wheels and cogs.

  Gears and springs.

  Candles and burners and pieces of pipe.

  Models of dragonflies, butterflies and bumblebees cluttered the shelves. A skeleton of a raven rested on a table. A huge stuffed eagle gazed down from a wooden perch.

  Jeremy kneeled beside Icarus. “I have a game just like this at home,” he said.

  Daedalus wrote busily on his tablet. A swallow landed on the windowsill and preened itself. It dropped a brown feather.

  “Swallows! Wonderful aerodynamics!” said the inventor. He scooped up the feather.

  He put his writing materials and the feather on a table. “I have a few ideas of my own about time travel. You must tell me how you got here.”

  Jeremy told Daedalus the story of Mr. Magnus and the Enchanted Theater and Zeus’s punishment.

  Daedalus’s eyes shone. “A magical theater! I can imagine it perfectly. But what a pity you don’t know the exact method for time travel.”

  Jeremy shrugged. “It just happens. I hold on to one of the actor’s props and everything spins around.”

  “Must have something to do with the speed of light and the density of the atmosphere,” said Daedalus. “I have a theory that I could test.”

  “I haven’t told you everything,” said Jeremy. “The last riddle. You and Icarus are in it!”

  He said slowly, “I’m round like a ball, but I’m not a toy. Beware, Inventor, and your little boy !”

  Daedalus blinked. “A warning from Zeus! I bet the King of Knossos is behind this.”

  “What do you think it means?” said Jeremy.

  “I don’t know, but I don’t trust the king one bit!” said Daedalus.

  “Me neither,” said Jeremy. Aristotle twitched his tail.

  “I designed the maze for the king,” said Daedalus. “I planned the whole thing, right down to the blue lights.” He chuckled. “The lights are one of my better inventions. It’s because of the mineral in the rock and...now, where was I?”

  “You designed the maze,” said Jeremy helpfully.

  Daedalus frowned. “I didn’t know it was for the Minotaur!”

  “You mean the monster!” said Jeremy. “It almost caught us.”

  “The Minotaur is half-bull and half-man,” said Daedalus. “It lives in the middle of the maze. The king sacrifices fourteen men every year. He throws them into the maze, and they’re never seen again.”

  Jeremy remembered the bones. He shivered right down to his toes.

  “I suspected the king was up to no good,” said Daedalus. “That’s why I put in the secret door. I was afraid that Icarus and I might be thrown in the maze too.”

  “Why don’t you leave?” asked Jeremy.

  “The king has guards at all the harbors,” said Daedalus. “He’s keeping me a prisoner so I won’t tell anyone how to get out of the maze.”

  “And now you’re in danger,” said Jeremy. He couldn’t stop thinking about the riddle.

  “There is only one way that Icarus and I can escape from the Island of Crete,” said Daedalus.

  He leaned closer to Jeremy. “We can fly!”

  Chapter Eight

  The Fantastic Flying Machine

  Jeremy looked at the ruined kite in the corner of the room. “I’m sorry about your kite,” he said. “It almost worked.”

  Daedalus chuckled. “That thing! It never stood a chance. I made sure that the tail was wrong.”

  “You did that on purpose?” asked Jeremy.

  “I needed more time,” said Daedalus. “You see, the king thinks I’m working on the kite.”

  “So what a
re you doing up here?” asked Jeremy.

  Daedalus walked over to the cloth-covered objects in the corner of the room. “Do you want to see a real flying machine?”

  Jeremy’s eyes glowed. “Sure!”

  Daedalus swept the cloth off the biggest object. Underneath was a huge pair of wings. They were made out of feathers that were all the colours of the rainbow. A leather harness with levers was strapped underneath the wings.

  Jeremy touched one of the wings. “It’s fantastic!”

  “A fantastic flying machine!” said Daedalus. “That’s what it is indeed!”

  Icarus clapped his hands. “Me too!”

  Daedalus beamed. He uncovered the second object. It was a pair of wings the same as the first pair but much smaller.

  “I’ve been giving Icarus lessons on how to work the controls,” said Daedalus. “Watch.”

  He pulled one of the levers.

  “Up!” said Icarus.

  He pulled another lever.

  “Down!” said Icarus.

  Daedalus patted Icarus’s head. “That’s my boy! I’ve also built in controls for wind speed and changes in weather.”

  “It’s the best invention ever!” said Jeremy.

  “I am a little ahead of my time,” said Daedalus. “And now...according to my flight plan, we leave at sunrise tomorrow. That gives us...let’s see...just enough time. Of course, you’ll have to share. There’s no way we can make two pairs of wings.”

  Jeremy’s heart jumped.“You mean—”

  “You and Aristotle are coming with us,” said Daedalus.

  “Did you really think I would leave you behind?”

  “Wow!” said Jeremy.

  Aristotle purred.

  “There’s no time to lose,” said Daedalus.

  He bustled around the room. He put pieces of leather, scraps of wood and a sack full of feathers on a long workbench.

  “Stick your arms out, my boy,” said Daedalus, “so I can see the size.”

  Jeremy put both arms out. He turned around slowly while Daedalus jotted numbers on a clay tablet.

  “Are there enough feathers?” said Jeremy, worried.

  “More than enough! Every bird in Knossos has visited my tower. I give them sunflower seeds for a feather or two. It’s a fair trade!”

  Daedalus worked on the wooden frame for the wings. Jeremy sorted the feathers into piles that were small, medium and big.

  He listened carefully while Daedalus explained about airflow and updraft and downdraft.

  At supper time, Daedalus set out bread, honey and cups of milk. He lit a lantern when the sky turned dark. Icarus fell asleep in a small cot, and Aristotle curled up beside him.

  Daedalus and Jeremy worked on. Daedalus stitched the harness. Jeremy arranged the feathers in neat rows on the frame.

  “I’ve been using melted wax to stick the feathers together,” said Daedalus. “I hope we have enough time for it to set.”

  Jeremy ran to his backpack. He took out the bottle of Sooper Dooper Glue. He read the words on the

  side of the bottle. “Sets instantly. Perfect for wood, cloth, paper and plastic. It doesn’t say anything about feathers, but I’m sure it will work.”

  “Paper? Plastic?” said Daedalus. “You must tell me about those sometime.”

  While they glued feathers, Daedalus tested Jeremy.

  “How do you stop from rolling?”

  “Keep the wings level.”

  “What makes you stall?”

  “Not enough wing beats per minute.”

  “What do you remember about takeoff?”

  “Face into the wind.”

  At last the wings were finished. Jeremy tried them on. They quivered as if they were alive.

  Daedalus looked longingly at the bottle of Sooper Dooper Glue. “I must try to invent some of that.”

  “You can keep it!” said Jeremy.

  His eyes gleaming, Daedalus popped the bottle into a pocket in his tunic.

  “Now, dear boy, you need some sleep. I’ll stay up and keep watch.”

  Jeremy nestled in with Icarus and Aristotle. Daedalus settled into his chair, yawning.

  “I’m not tired,” said Jeremy. He kept opening his eyes to peek at his wings.

  The next thing he knew, someone was shaking his shoulder. Sunlight streamed through the window.

  “We’ve all slept in!” said Daedalus. “It’s past noon! We’ve got to leave! Now!”

  Chapter Nine

  Beware, Inventor

  Daedalus climbed up a ladder. He opened a trapdoor in the ceiling.

  He carried Icarus up the ladder and through the trap-door. Jeremy slipped on his backpack. He and Aristotle scrambled after them onto the roof of the tower.

  Then Daedalus went back for the wings. He passed them through the trapdoor to Jeremy.

  Daedalus strapped the small pair of wings on Icarus. He helped Jeremy with his wings. Aristotle leaped on top of Jeremy’s backpack.

  Then Daedalus put on his wings. He clipped one end of a rope to Icarus’s belt and the other end to his own belt.

  They were ready.

  The sun was high in the sky. A brisk wind blew. A crowd had gathered outside the palace. The King of Knossos paced back and forth.

  Suddenly a boy shouted, “The crazy man! He’s on top of that tower!”

  “The crazy man! The crazy man!” the people cried.

  The king glared up at the tower. “DAEDALUS!” he bellowed. “YOU’RE LATE! AND HOW DID YOU GET UP THERE?”

  “This is it, Jeremy,” said Daedalus. “Off you go! We’ll be right behind you.”

  Jeremy looked down. He felt dizzy. His tummy did a flip-flop.

  “I can’t,” he whispered.

  Then he remembered something. In the Enchanted Theater Rule Book it said that only a hero can time travel.

  Jeremy was a hero, and heroes can do anything they want.

  He faced into the wind.

  He took a big breath.

  He sprang off the tower roof.

  For a second, Jeremy forgot everything Daedalus had told him. He forgot to count the wing beats. He forgot about updraft and downdraft. He forgot to keep the wings level.

  ZOOOOOOOMMMM !

  His flying machine streaked toward the gaping crowd. Aristotle closed his eyes. He dug his claws into the backpack. People ducked and ran for cover.

  Jeremy pulled one of the levers.

  WHOOOOSH !

  Up they soared!

  Higher and higher.

  Far below, the crowd cheered.

  “I think I’ve got the hang of it,” said Jeremy.

  He looked back. Daedalus and Icarus flew side by side, held together with the rope. Daedalus gave Jeremy a thumbs-up.

  “Now for a loop-de-loop,” said Jeremy. “Hang on, Aristotle!”

  He moved the controls like an expert.

  WHOOSH...ZOOOOM...WHIIIZZZZ !

  The flying machine whirled in circles. It dipped up and down and back and forth.

  Jeremy made a huge figure eight over the king’s head.

  The king waved his fist. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?” he hollered.

  “I’M FLYING!” Jeremy yelled back.

  He made one more turn and then soared off into the blue sky. He and Aristotle led the way. Daedalus and Icarus followed close behind.

  They left the palace of Knossos. They flew over the green fields and over the brown mountains, all the way to the sea.

  The sun blazed down on the sparkling blue water. The wind blew in Jeremy’s face. He felt as powerful as an eagle.

  “Flying is the life for me!” he cried.

  “No more loop-de-loops,” said Aristotle. “I want to go home!”

  “It says in the Enchanted Rule Book that a hero must do five brave things to return home,” Jeremy reminded him.

  “You hitched a ride with Yannis and Demos,” said Aristotle. “That’s one.”

  “I tried to tell the king about the riddle,” said Jeremy. “Th
at’s two.”

  “You tricked the Minotaur, and you jumped off the tower first,” said Aristotle. “That takes care of three and four.”

  Just then, Jeremy heard Daedalus cry out. He turned his wings.

  The rope between Daedalus and his son was stretched tight. Icarus jiggled the clip at the end of the rope.

  “NO, ICARUS!” Daedalus shouted. “DON’T TOUCH IT!”

  But it was too late. Icarus gave the clip a tug. The end of the rope dropped free.

  The little boy spun in a circle.

  “Help!” he screamed.

  Then he shot up.

  Up, up, up. Straight toward the blazing sun.

  “He’s too light!” said Daedalus. “He doesn’t have enough ballast.”

  Daedalus pulled a lever. But his wings didn’t move. “My machine’s jammed,” he said. “The rope’s tangled everything up!”

  Just then, a red feather drifted down from the sky. And a yellow feather.

  “The sun’s melting the wax on Icarus’s wings!” said Daedalus.

  Horrified, Jeremy watched another feather twirl out of the sky.

  He had to save Icarus!

  “Hang on, Aristotle!” he shouted. “We’re going up!”

  Chapter Ten

  The Fifth Brave Thing

  Jeremy tilted his wings toward the sun. He couldn’t see Icarus. He couldn’t see anything in the blazing light.

  “Get the sunglasses, Aristotle!” he said.

  Aristotle dug in the backpack.

  Two more feathers drifted down.

  A tingle ran up Jeremy’s spine. What would the sun do to Sooper Dooper Glue?

  Jeremy put on a pair of sunglasses. Aristotle put on the other pair.

  “Full speed ahead!” said Jeremy.

  ZOOOOOM.

  Straight into the sun.

  Higher and higher they flew.

  Jeremy could feel the rays burning his face.

  Then something spun out of the sky. It was Icarus. Jeremy caught him like a football.

  “Father!” wailed the little boy.

  Jeremy made a tight turn. He glided back to Daedalus.

  Daedalus had untangled the rope. He took Icarus from Jeremy’s arms.

  “Thank you, my dear boy. Thank you,” said Daedalus.