Winged: A Novella (Of Two Girls) by Joyce Chng

had
great discussions about the Gathering and politics.
     
    Katherine and the rest of the Academy
delegates returned back to the Academy. The Great Gathering was
over. She wore the diamond brooch on her uniform, a reminder of her
lioness’s heart and her desire to fly.
     
     
     
     
     
     
Chapter Seven

Flight

(A Brief Interlude)
     
     
    Autumn soon gave way to Winter and the
entire school grounds, including the Great Manor and the
Administrativa, were covered with a thick coating of white snow.
Katherine Riley wore her fur-lined brown coat and walked to the
library, intending to do some reading,
     
    It had been a busy month after they had
returned from the Great Gathering. More studies and training
flights were intensified. Tito was a fully-grown adult and had
flown off. His wings did work, after all. He left behind a yellow
feather, which Katherine kept as a keepsake. She hoped he found
enough food for Winter though.
     
    Alethia had invited her to stay with her
during the Yule holiday season. It was a joyous prospect that
Katherine cherished immensely. Spending time with the Forresters
made her heart sing. The garden of crystals. Mr Forrester’s
inventions. Mrs Potts’ cooking. By now, they were already finishing
their studies at the Academy. Katherine was close to graduation,
closer to becoming a fully qualified pilot.
     
    The night before she left for London with
Alethia Forrester, she had a final dream with Miss Sharpton. The
old witch was sitting in the schoolroom, alone in the darkness.
Katherine could see the dream figure of her old nemesis had
shriveled to almost a skeletal state, making her look more like a
cadaver. Less real. Instead of feeling fear, she felt pity
instead.
     
    “What are you going to do to me?” The voice
was quavering, ancient. Whining like a frightened child. “Hit me?”
Challenging, but the voice was weak.
     
    Katherine said simply: “I am going to let
you go.”
     
    And the dream figure of Miss Sharpton
quickly dissolved into sand blown away by an invisible breeze. The
schoolroom turned bright as a summer’s day and merged into an open
sky.
     
     
    ~*~
     
    When Spring arrived, Katherine was ready to
take her final test flight. She wore her diamond butterfly on her
left breast, beneath her half-wing badge.
     
    It was not a blimp-fin but a proper leo-fin,
its fins and flanges shimmering in the sun. It was unbelievably
large and so beautiful. As beautiful as the time she first saw one
in the sky. It was an uplifting and exuberant feeling, to be
standing so close to a real leo-fin. After the Great Gathering, she
knew that the leo-fin was just a flying machine. A tool designed to
fly. Not the fairy-tale flying creature she had seen in Dorset a
long time. Yet, knowing this fact had only strengthened her
resolve. Placing her gloved hand on the panels and feeling it thrum
beneath her, Katherine readied herself.
     
    Captain Sagan lifted her right hand and gave
her sign of approval. Katherine saluted sharply and stepped into
the leo-fin.
     
    She touched her butterfly brooch and her
badge once, for luck and for courage. She was taking flight, eager
for the glorious spring sky.
     
     
     
     
     
Epilogue
New Horizons
     
     
    Dear Father and Mother,
     
    I hope you are well.
     
    I am now a Pilot, manning one of the large
leo-fins. My tasks are quite simple, carrying cargos for two London
spice merchants and occasionally passengers. I graduated from the
Academy one year ago and I have enjoyed flying immensely. It must
be the wind brushing against my skin, the feel of freedom. I used
to long for it when I was in Dorset.
     
    My friend Alethia Forrester is my handler
and controller. She manages the schedules exceedingly well, even
though she has been born blind. She has not let her infirmity
affect her.
     
    We have traveled to so many places in
England. We flew once to Scotland and it was a cold place, but
beautiful. I have enclosed some lace clothing in this letter for my
little