‘And so we shall,’ Aubrey promised.
‘And getting out of here will take magic?’ Caroline prodded.
‘Animation magic,’ Aubrey said. ‘George, do you remember when we rescued Major Saltin from that crippled dirigible?’
‘Close shave, that one. Especially when our ornithopter nearly went down. You had to turn it into a bird.’
‘Precisely,’ Aubrey said. That sort of animation magic wasn’t commonplace, and Aubrey wouldn’t even have attempted it if not for the desperate circumstances. Which we once more seem to be in.
‘Oh,’ Caroline said. ‘I have a feeling we may be entering the realm of the ridiculous.’
Aubrey rubbed his hands together. The encounter with Dr Tremaine had sapped him, but he really had no choice. ‘The Law of Similarity states that things that are alike can be encouraged to assert their likeness, given the correct application of magic. Combine it with the Law of Familiarity, and the possibilities are endless.’
‘An ornithopter is like a bird,’ Sophie said. ‘So it became a bird.’
‘Something like a bird, anyway.’ Aubrey said. ‘I think I’ve ironed out a few wrinkles with that spell. Caroline, can you please keep an eye on what’s going on out there?’
Aubrey had been constructing the spell ever since the plan came to him, so he was ready. The spell was in Etruscan. He was particularly careful with the elements for range and dimensionality. This was a strain for he was encompassing multiple objects at once, but he managed it through sheer grit and finished with a discreet signature element.
‘Good Lord.’ George was looking over Caroline’s shoulder. ‘The zebra. It moved.’
‘The crocodile did too.’ Caroline turned to Aubrey. ‘You’ve animated the other concrete animals.’
‘Look at the penguin!’ Sophie cried.
Suddenly, they were thrown sideways. Aubrey was ready and caught himself with a hand against the concrete flanks of the elephant. ‘Not just the others. I thought I may as well go the whole hog, as our colonial cousins might say.’
Another lurch. The concrete walls trembled. The elephant shook, and then it jolted, with one great thump. Immediately, it rolled back a little, then it rocked again, side to side, before tottering forward.
With ponderous footsteps, the concrete elephant began to walk.
Aubrey beamed at the success of his spell and he caught Caroline’s eye. She grinned at him. ‘The last elephant ride I had was in Siam,’ she said, ‘but I was on the outside, not the inside.’
Aubrey hunched up so he could better look forward through the beast’s eyes. After making sure Théo was secure, Sophie huddled close to George and all four of them could see the pandemonium that Aubrey’s spell had produced.
All the concrete animals were moving. The giraffe was marching slowly and stiff-leggedly. It was as if it were a toy and a cosmically sized but invisible child’s hand were propelling it in clumsy motion. Soldiers were dashing away on either side as it blundered until it collided with the remaining wall of the administration wing. It swung from side to side for a moment, still marching directly into the wall, before it slid aside and began tromping south. One flank dragged against the building, wrenching window frames apart and creating a screeching din. Several soldiers fired rifles at it, more as a gesture of outrage than with any prospect of doing it harm. Bullets ricocheted from its concrete hide and hummed off in dangerously unpredictable directions.
The concrete crocodile was swarming directly through the garden, with rather sinuous grace for a concrete creature. Its tail swayed from side to side as it scattered Holmlanders without actually connecting with any of them. The way it snapped its jaws, regular as clockwork, was encouragement enough to flee the area and many of the soldiers took up the invitation, backing away or simply turning tail and running.
The gorilla, the tiger, the lion and the polar bear were all in motion, adding their particular beastly overlay to the bizarre scene. Outlined against the flames of the burning building, the tiger looked as if it had leaped from a furnace. The lion tottered forward, demolishing a lorry that had been full of terrified troops who scattered at the beast’s approach. The polar bear bumped into the giraffe and sent them both off on an angle toward the factory, which caused more panic. The gorilla was asserting its apeness by attempting to scale one of the towers on the original building. A radio mast was clearly in its sights.
The penguin merely stood in place, rocking from side to side. Aubrey wished he could nip over and give it a push to get it started.
‘I say, old man.’ George steadied himself as the elephant crushed a large metal bin with a dreadful squealing noise. Its motion was a violent rocking, like a small boat on a storm-tossed sea. ‘How do you steer this thing?’
‘Steer?’ Aubrey said vaguely. The elephant was heading directly for the solitary tree at the end of the garden: a slender cypress. ‘Ah, yes. Steer.’
This was going to be tricky. Aubrey hadn’t built in any fine control. Such a thing would be a challenge, for it would mean organising the legs on either side to take larger or smaller steps to turn left or right, depending on which direction...
‘Hold on!’ George cried.
The elephant didn’t strike the tree head-on, something for which Aubrey was grateful, after he picked himself up. It glanced off and was sent in a new direction toward the barracks – barracks which had been partially reduced to splinters by the passage of the crocodile, which was now in the process of ploughing through the chain mesh fence, and the tiger, which looked as if it were limping. Nearby, one of the guard towers had collapsed, thanks to being rammed by the zebra, which had since veered off in a large spiral and was circling the factory, homing in on the gap in the warehouse where the train was waiting. This was apparent to someone in relative command, for the zebra was under a concerted fusillade of rifle fire – not that it made any difference. One soldier, braver than the rest, had sent a speeding lorry at the zebra, leaping out just before it collided. The zebra’s off foreleg buckled for a moment, but then it swung and the lorry was thrown aside like an insect.
Aubrey turned his attention to the barracks, now only a few yards away. Two guardsmen stood in front of the huts, waving their arms as if they could scare the elephant away. When they realised the concrete beast wasn’t so easily distracted, they flung themselves aside at the last minute and the elephant crashed into the side of the nearest hut.
This time, the four friends were ready and braced themselves, George sparing a hand to steady Théo in place. They were shaken but not hurt. The elephant slowed a little, but then it pushed forward. Over the sounds of small-arms fire, shouting and the splintering of timber came the deep-bellied groan of a building surrendering the struggle. The entire long side of the hut gave up and collapsed inward, which meant that the corrugated iron roof slid backward, helping to tear the far wall from its foundations.
The elephant was unperturbed by this and crunched on through timber and glass, leaving destruction in its path.
Ahead was the fence, partly demolished by the crocodile. Away from the buildings, the elephant was ignored as it broached the fence and bumbled onward toward the woods to the south of the complex.
‘Shall we?’ Caroline said, indicating the hatch.
It was a scramble, but they laughed with a giddy combination of relief and triumph, clinging to each other and helping as the elephant lurched from side to side. Aubrey held onto an ear and lowered Caroline, then helped George with Sophie’s comatose brother. Sophie laughed as George swung her down before he leapt to her side. For a moment, Aubrey paused, swaying with the lumbering gait of the concrete creature, feeling like a captain abandoning his ship. Then he, too, laughed and tumbled to a soft, grassy landing.