David and the Phoenix Read online

  4: _In Which David and the Phoenix Go To Visit the Gryffins, and aGreat Danger Is Narrowly Averted_

  A chill raced up and down David's spine as he got to his feet.

  "Do--do you think a week's practice is enough?"

  "Absolutely, my dear fellow. I am now in the very pink of condition.Not that I was ever out of condition, mind you. It was merely thatI--ah--well, to be brief, my boy, I am now ready."

  "Yes, but--well, you remember the last time."

  "Yes. Look here--if it will make you feel better, suppose we have atrial flight along the ledge."

  "Well--all right."

  David got up as before on the Phoenix's back. The Phoenix spread itswings and hopped into the air. They glided easily down the length ofthe ledge, clearing the thicket in the middle by a good two feet.

  "There you are, my boy," said the bird proudly, as they landed at theother end. "Shall we go?"

  "Let's go," said David, as bravely as he could.

  They were in the air again. Once more he felt that rush of windagainst his face and heard the pounding of wings. But this time therewas no giddy downward swoop. He breathed again and opened his eyes.The world was falling away, and everything on it was growing smallerby the second. The valley could be cradled in two hands; the mountainson either side looked like wrinkles in gray cloth. Now he could seeplains in the distance, and little silver threads of rivers. As helooked, the whole world began to revolve slowly. The Phoenix wassoaring in a wide circle.

  "Well, my boy," it called over its shoulder, "whom shall we visitfirst?"

  "It's really up to you, Phoenix," David shouted back, "but how aboutthe--the--Biffens or Whiffens, or whatever you called them?"

  "You mean the Gryffins, Gryffons, and Gryffens, my boy? Very well. Weshall visit the Gryffins only, however. It is best to leave the othersalone."

  The Phoenix swung around and began to fly toward the morning sun withsuch tremendous speed that David had to crouch down to avoid beingblown off. The wind screamed past his ears, tore at his shirt andhair, and made his eyes brim over with tears. It was cold, but he wastoo excited to care. Below them, plains, rivers, forests, and citiesrushed across the face of the earth.

  "This is wonderful, Phoenix!" David shouted.

  The Phoenix's reply was not clear. "... normal speed ... air stream ...prime days of my youth ..." were the only words David caught, but he couldtell from the tone that the Phoenix was pleased.

  The view below was not to last long. Within half an hour they had runinto a heavy overcast, and for a long time it was like flying throughvery wet, cold cotton. David glanced down, hoping to see the fog thinout. Suddenly he caught sight of a black object rocketing up towardthem. Before he could call out a warning, the thing hurtled by, soclose that its backwash very nearly knocked him from the bird's back.The Phoenix reduced speed; and the black object, after banking in awide curve, came cruising up alongside. David was amazed to see thatit was a pale but beautiful lady, dressed all in black, sitting on abroom.

  "Hello, Phoenix!" she cried in a teasing voice. "I haven't seen you in_ever_ so long."

  "Good morning, I am sure," the Phoenix replied stiffly, staringstraight ahead.

  "Phoenix," the lady continued coaxingly, "I'm awfully bored. Won't yourace me? Please?"

  "Idle hands find mischief to do," said the Phoenix severely. "_We_ aremaking good use of our time, and I suggest that _you_ do the same."

  "Don't be so stuffy, Phoenix." She pouted. "Come and race with me.I've got a new broom, and I want to see how good it is. Please!"

  "No," said the Phoenix sharply.

  "Oh, all right for _you_!" she said, tossing her head. "You just don'tdare, because you know I'll beat your tail feathers off!" And she shotback into the mist below.

  "Indeed!" the Phoenix snorted. "Beat my tail feathers off! Ha!"

  "Is she a Witch?" David asked.

  "Yes, my boy, and a shocking example of the decline of the youngergeneration. She will come to no good end, believe me. Tail feathers,indeed!"

  Just then they burst out of the clouds and into the hot sunlight.Below them, the land was wild and desolate, a vast rolling plaincovered for the most part with dry, tawny grass. Here and there weregroves of trees drooping beneath the sun. The Phoenix, still snortingindignantly to itself, dropped to within a hundred feet of the ground.They began to soar back and forth.

  "Can you see anything, my boy?"

  David had never seen a Gryffin, of course; so he was not sure what tolook for. But he caught sight of something lying in the shade of abush and pointed it out to the Phoenix.

  "Ah, quite so," the Phoenix said doubtfully. "It does not look likea--but we can take a closer look."

  They landed and walked toward the bush. In its shadow sprawled a veryuntidy animal. Its tail and hindquarters were exactly like those of apanther, its chest and forelegs were like a hawk's, and it had pointedwings. Burrs matted its dusty fur. Its claws were shabby and split,and numerous black flies were crawling over its haunches. The bushtrembled with its snoring.

  "Bah! We are wasting our time here, my boy. This is a Gryffen. Adisgusting brute, isn't it?" And the Phoenix sniffed disapprovingly.

  "Maybe if we wake it up," David suggested, "it could tell us where theother ones live."

  "Next to impossible. For one thing, a cannon could not awaken thebeast. For another thing, it would not, even if awake, be able to tellus anything. You simply cannot imagine the stupidity of these brutes."

  "Well, let's _try_ it, anyway," David said.

  "Very well, my boy. But it will be a complete waste of time." ThePhoenix shrugged its shoulders, stepped up to the Gryffen, and kickedit violently.

  "Phoenix!" David cried in alarm. "Don't hurt it!"

  "No fear," said the Phoenix, delivering another lusty kick. "Onesimply cannot damage a sleeping Gryffen. Give me a hand, my boy."

  David took hold of the Gryffen's wing, and the Phoenix seized itstail. For the next ten minutes they kicked and pulled and pounded,shouting "HEY!" and "WAKE UP!" at the top of their lungs. It was hotwork, and David finally admitted to himself that the Phoenix had beenright. But before he could say so, the Phoenix completely lost itstemper and savagely bit the Gryffen's tail.

  That did it. The Gryffen opened one eye halfway and said, "Unffniph?"

  "GET UP!!" the Phoenix bellowed.

  The Gryffen struggled into a sitting position and yawned a tremendousand noisy yawn. Then it squinted blearily at David and murmured,"What day is it?"

  "Wednesday," David said. "Could you please tell us--"

  "Oh, Wednesday," said the Gryffen. It thought about this for a while,mumbling "Wednesday ... Wednesday ..." to itself. It lifted one leg asif to scratch the fly bites, changed its mind in mid-gesture, anddropped the leg again. "Oh, _Wednesday_," it said at last. "So itisn't Saturday?"

  "No," said David. "What we want to know is--"

  "Not Saturday," said the Gryffen, sinking down to the ground with ahuge sigh of relief. "Ah! Come back on Saturday. Saturday afternoon. Igenerally get up on Saturday ... in the ... afternoon...." The wordsfaded into a snore.

  "There you are, my dear fellow," said the Phoenix. "Just as I said.Oaf! Boor!"

  "A _very_ annoying animal," said David angrily.

  "I agree, my boy. But the Gryffins are different, I assure you. Now,let me see. Where should we look--"

  "There they come!" David cried suddenly. "Look!" And indeed, a numberof winged creatures were loping down a hillside toward them.

  "Good heavens!" the Phoenix shouted. "Those are the ones we do _not_want to meet! On my back, _quick_!"

  "What are they?" David gasped as he threw himself on the bird's back.

  "Gryffons!"

  The Phoenix rushed along the ground a few feet and sprang into theair. But it was too late. The foremost Gryffons, with powerful strokesof their wings, shot up to meet them. The Phoenix swerved sharply.They missed the snapping beak of the first Gryffon by half an inch anddodged the second--onl
y to smash into a third. David was stunned bythe blow and the fall. When he regained consciousness, he foundhimself in the tight grip of two Gryffons. The Phoenix was strugglingfeebly with another, and still more were crowding around them,screaming like hawks.

  They looked like the sleeping Gryffen, but were as large as ponies.Their eyes were yellow and unblinking, and their tails twitched likean angry cat's. Their smell, like the lion house in the zoo, madeDavid feel faint.

  "Well, Phoenix," said the largest Gryffon coldly, "you know the Rule,I believe?"

  The Phoenix smiled weakly and cleared its throat. "Ah, there,Gryffon," it said unsteadily. "Fancy meeting you here. Ah--ah--rule?What rule?"

  "Rule 26," said the Gryffon. "'No human being shall be allowed toenter the--'"

  "Oh, that rule," said the Phoenix, with a careless laugh. "I thoughteveryone knew that the Council of 1935 had changed it. Can it be thatyou have not yet heard?"

  "That won't do, Phoenix. You have also heard, of course, of thepenalty for breaking the Rule, which you must suffer along with thishuman boy?"

  "Now, one moment, my dear Gryffon! I--ah--"

  "Death!"

  The Phoenix quailed, and David's legs went limp under him. But theyhad no chance to plead with the Gryffons. Their captors formed twolines, one on each side of them, and at a scream of command from theleader, all began to march. The Gryffon that had been holding thePhoenix winked horribly at David and made a throat-cutting gesturewith its wing.

  "Courage, my boy," the Phoenix whispered. "It is always darkest beforedawn."

  Presently they reached a hillside. David and the Phoenix were marchedup to a cave and thrown in. Two of the Gryffons sat down at theentrance to guard them while the others went off to consider the bestmethod of carrying out the penalty.

  David was terribly frightened now, but he did not want to let thePhoenix know it. In a voice which trembled a little he asked, "Whatare we going to do?"

  The Phoenix frowned. "Do not be downcast, my boy. My brain is equal toany occasion. I shall Think. Silence, please."

  And the Phoenix, covering its eyes with one wing, Thought.

  To keep himself occupied, David explored the cave. But there wasnothing to see. The cave was small and bare. He tested the wallsthoroughly to see if there were any places where they might dig theirway out. There were none. His feet raised a cloud of fine dust, whichgot into his eyes and nose and made him sneeze violently. Discouraged,he went back to the Phoenix and sat down. There was a long silence.

  Gradually an idea came to David. It started as a small, faint thoughtat the back of his mind, wavered, began to grow and expand and fillout--became bigger and clearer and better and--

  "Phoenix!" cried David, jumping to his feet.

  "My boy, my very dear boy," said the Phoenix, its voice breaking withemotion, "I have Thought, I have Pondered, I have--well, to be brief,it is no use. Stiff upper lip, my boy! We are Doomed."

  "Phoenix, I--"

  "Let this be a lesson to you, my boy, even though it be your last one.Fools rush in where angels fear to tread. Ah! who could have said, inthe golden days of my youth, that I should come to such an end! Oh,miserable bird! Oh, unhappy boy!"

  "Phoenix--"

  "But we can show them how to die, my boy! We still have that--the lastmagnificent gesture. Let those who have lived wisely and well showthat they can die in the same way! I hope I am to go first, so thatyou may have an example to follow."

  "_Phoenix!_"

  "My boy?"

  "Listen, please!" And David whispered in the Phoenix's ear.

  The plan had seemed like a good one while it was still in his mind,but put into words it sounded a little too simple. As he whispered,David began to feel more and more foolish, so that finally he stoppedaltogether.

  "I--I guess it's really kind of silly," he stammered.

  But the Phoenix was looking at him with hope and admiration in itseyes. "My very dear chap," it said solemnly, "I salute you. I humblyawait your signal."

  "Do you really think it will work?"

  "My boy, it must--it can--it shall. Proceed."

  Poor as the plan now seemed to David, he prepared to carry it out.Holding his breath so as not to sneeze again, he scooped up as muchdust as he could hold in two hands. Then he took his position on oneside of the cave, nodded the Phoenix toward the other, and glanced outto see if the guardian Gryffons were looking. They were not.

  "Now," he whispered.

  The cave rocked with their uproar. David screamed at the top of hisvoice and kicked the walls. The Phoenix let out a series ofear-splitting whistles and squawks and beat its wings frantically.Echoes bounced from wall to wall. The two Gryffons came rushing intothe cave, adding to the racket with their shrieking. "Now!" Davidshouted, and he flung the double handful of dust into the Gryffons'faces. Instantly they were all choking and sneezing in the thickcloud. He plunged between the legs of the two Gryffons, who in theconfusion began to bite and tear savagely at each other.

  David and the Phoenix burst out of the cave together. The otherGryffons, aroused by the noise, were bounding toward them. David flunghimself on the Phoenix's back and shouted "Fly!" and sneezed. Fromsomewhere behind him a set of talons snatched out and ripped throughthe back of his shirt. He kicked blindly and felt his foot crunch intosomething which shrieked. "Fly, Phoenix!" he sobbed. The Phoenix wasalready in the air and needed no encouragement. They heard raucouscries and the thunder of wings behind them. David looked back over hisshoulder. The Gryffons were rising from the ground in pursuit, theirlegs drawn up under them and their wings beating. "Faster!" hescreamed.

  "You have seen nothing in the way of flying until now, my boy," thePhoenix shouted back. "Watch this!" Its wings were two blurs slicingthrough the air and roaring like kettledrums. The ground belowstreamed backwards. David looked back again. The Gryffons were fallinginto the distance. Their cries were getting fainter. Now they lookedlike a flock of starlings ... now like a cluster of flies ... nowlike gnats. And then they had faded out of sight, and David and thePhoenix were streaking over the grassland alone.

  Ten minutes later they reached a shore and landed. They flopped on thesand, panting. And David, suddenly feeling very faint, closed his eyesand put his head between his knees. After they had got their breath,the Phoenix patted David on the shoulder and said huskily:

  "I congratulate you, my boy. Your plan was magnificent--precisely what_I_ should have done, had I thought of it first. Needless to say, weshall not go on looking for the Gryffins. But now you know exactlywhat they are like: midway in size between the Gryffens and Gryffons,and reddish in color. Most amiable souls, willing to do anything foranyone. It is hard to believe that they are all related. But enough,my boy. Let us go home."

  As soon as they reached the ledge, the Phoenix put David down andprepared to take off again.

  "Where are you going, Phoenix?" David asked.

  "Some business to attend to, my boy."

  Muttering under its breath something that sounded like "tail feathers,indeed!" the Phoenix soared off. And David, stiff and sore andthoroughly tired, started down the mountainside for home.