Child of the Cloud. Cameron Stelzer

      The fence loomed in front of her, tall and solid. Directly behind her, the throng of angry dogs were howling for her blood. With only thin gaps between the wooden palings, Ruby was forced to climb. One paw at a time, she began her ascent, her claws digging into the soft wood as she pulled herself higher.

      Swiftly reaching the top of the fence, she threw her legs over the capping rail, preparing to drop to the other side.

      Something held her back.

      Watching closely from the sky, Whisker saw a wooden longbow strung over Ruby’s shoulder. The end of the bow was hooked on a nail and she was struggling to wrench herself free.

      For one horrifying moment she hung suspended in mid-air with two savage greyhounds snapping at her heels. Then the bow jerked free and Ruby was plummeting downwards, landing in a sprawling heap on the rocky ground below. Clutching at her left ankle, she picked herself up and hobbled away.

      Seconds later, the first greyhound hurdled the fence in a single leap, quickly followed by the second. The two dogs raised their heads and sniffed the air. Catching Ruby’s scent, they set off towards the edge of the cliff.

      Still in pursuit, Chatterbeak beat his wings like a hummingbird, trying to reach Ruby before the dogs.

      Whisker and Horace hung on for dear life. They could see from the sky what Ruby couldn’t from the ground. A massive rock lay at the base of the cliff, jutting out into the Hawk River. The rock was so wide, Whisker doubted a champion springbok could leap clear of it, let alone a rat. If Ruby expected a soft landing, she was in for a bone-crunching surprise.

      He tried to warn her but his cries were drowned out by the barks of the dogs. Oblivious to the danger she faced, Ruby scrambled forward, limping painfully over the rocks but refusing to stop.

      The two greyhounds closed in for the kill, their cold eyes fixed on their wounded prey. Chatterbeak drew level with them, squawking incessantly.

      Baring their teeth, the dogs prepared to pounce.

      With nowhere left to run, Ruby hurled herself forward and plummeted headfirst over the edge of the cliff.

      

      Eagle’s Pass

      The greyhounds skidded to a halt, sending a shower of gravel raining down after Ruby. Chatterbeak tucked in his wings and dropped from the sky like a bullet.

      Ruby’s body was light and she spread her arms wide to slow her fall. Above her, the freefalling parrot and his petrified passengers were moving at a blistering pace.

      For one heart-stopping moment, Whisker thought they would all end up as smears on the rock. But as the ground rushed towards them, Chatterbeak stretched out his claws and plucked Ruby’s body from the air. The moment he had her in his talons, he spread out his wings and fanned his tail feathers wide, attempting to halt his rapid descent.

      It wasn’t enough.

      Still moving at a tremendous pace, Chatterbeak flapped his wings frantically, trying to gain altitude. In the moment before impact, he propelled his body forward, skimming low over the surface of the rock. There was a loud SCREECH of metal as Ruby’s scissor swords scraped over the rock.

      Chatterbeak rose into the air. The screeching ceased.

      The next thing Whisker knew, he was surrounded by the deep blue water of the river and the rocky shore was far behind him. Feeling safe at last, he let out a sigh of relief.

      Horace let out a sigh of relief and a bad smell.

      ‘Poooheee!’ Chatterbeak squawked, swooping towards a patch of sand on the opposite bank. ‘I pulled off the aerobatic impossible and look at my reward!’

      ‘Sorry, Chatterbeak,’ Horace apologised. ‘I get gas when I’m about to die.’

      Chatterbeak lowered Ruby onto the soft sand and perched himself on a nearby rock. Eager to escape the lingering smell, Whisker clambered off Chatterbeak and rushed over to his injured friend.

      Ruby was sitting in the sand next to her longbow, breathing easily and calmly massaging her left ankle. She wore her trademark crimson eyepatch over her right eye, but her pirate bandanna was gone. The cherry-red hood of her newly-acquired snow coat hung low over her head, its striking colour perfectly harmonised by the two scarlet scissor swords dangling from her belt. She threw back her hood and looked up at Whisker as he approached.

      ‘Hi there, apprentice,’ she said casually, as if their cliff top ordeal had never happened. ‘Thanks for dropping in on me.’

      ‘Sure,’ Whisker said, sitting down beside her. He was never quite sure what to say around her and it didn’t help that he was still trembling, while she looked as cool as a cucumber in an ice bath. He hoped his embarrassing habit of blushing in her presence was a thing of the past.

      ‘How’s your ankle?’ he asked.

      ‘Oh, it’s fine,’ she said dismissing the injury lightly. ‘A little swollen, that’s all – but with half a day’s rest I’ll be running rings around those dogs.’ She gave Whisker a cheeky wink.

      Whisker wondered how Ruby could be taking things so well. Despite some discomfort in her ankle, she appeared to be her usual self – confident and energetic, without the slightest trace of fear in her emerald green eye.

      ‘Doesn’t anything scare you?’ he asked.

      ‘Oh, yeah,’ she said, ‘heaps of things – falling off cliffs; being eaten by dogs – stuff like that.’ She shrugged. ‘But there’s no use worrying about them now, is there?’

      ‘I guess not,’ he said, staring across the wide expanse of water, ‘but, Ruby –’

      ‘I know,’ she cut in, ‘you want me to stop gallivanting around the countryside on my own.’

      Whisker sighed. ‘Was it that obvious?’

      Ruby gave him one of her cryptic smiles. ‘Don’t worry. Without Pete and his book of rules, someone has to keep us on the straight and narrow.’ She gestured to Chatterbeak and Horace, calming down with a game of Pull My Feather. ‘I somehow doubt those two are up to the task.’

      ‘So you’re saying I’m the boring one,’ Whisker muttered.

      ‘No,’ Ruby said, stabbing the end of the longbow in the sand. ‘I never said that. You’re more like the … the leader.’

      ‘The leader?’ Whisker said shocked. ‘But I’m just a –’

      ‘And before you give me that I’m-just-an-apprentice spiel,’ Ruby said, speaking over the top of him, ‘think about this. We’re not on the ocean anymore and there is no Apple Pie. Out here, rank means nothing and survival means everything. And when it comes to survival, you’re the right rat for the job.’

      Whisker resisted. ‘But what if I’m not ready to be the leader? With Anna’s life at stake, surely someone with more experience should be leading the rescue.’

      ‘It’s not about experience,’ Ruby said flatly. ‘It’s about who you are. Listen, do you think I chose to be the tomboy with the temper? Or Horace the clumsy little clown? No. We were born that way. And the same applies to you, too. When you first joined the crew, the Captain didn’t make you peel potatoes or polish his shoes like most apprentices. He gave you important responsibilities. Was it because he felt sorry for you? No. It was because you had potential. You weren’t born to be a deckhand, Whisker – you were born to be a leader.’

      She went back to massaging her ankle.

      ‘So that’s it?’ Whisker said. ‘You say I’m the leader, and just like that I’m the leader.’

      Ruby nodded. ‘Smart lad.’

      ‘But don’t we have