The Secret Invasion of Port Isabel Read Online Free PDF Page B

up from there.’
    ‘Like our
volcanoes,’ said Flossy.
    ‘I suppose so,
yes. Just a little less destructive, I should think,’ said
Reginald, smiling.
    They were
passing the old-looking domed structure she had noticed earlier. It
was a kind of rotunda with a railing running round. Inside was a
large brass bell suspended under a decorative roof. Flossy guessed
it was the bell that had led to all the confusion last night. Two
curious heads poked out from under the railing. They belonged to
fawns, baby deer. One had stumps that would become antlers when it
was older. They watched wide-eyed as Flossy walked past with the
others.
    Sergeant Boar
reached the end of the Square and began climbing the staircase.
    ‘Is the Mayor
in here?’ Flossy asked, awed by the size and grandeur of the
building that towered over them and cast a long shadow.
    ‘Yes, this is
Town Hall. Impressive, isn’t it?’ said Harry.
    ‘I’ll say. It
looks old too.’
    ‘Very,’ said
Harry. ‘It was built by the owls too. They didn’t doing anything by
halves and they built to last.’
    They followed
the black boar up the stairs. On either side were huge statues of
armoured war elephants in the heat of battle. Bronze arrows
protruded from their stone hides and their eyes were wild with
rage.
    Reginald noted
Flossy’s interest. ‘My cousins,’ he said.
    ‘Really?’ said
Flossy, awed.
    ‘He’s only
joking,’ said Harry, laughing. He rested an affectionate paw on
Flossy’s shoulder, which was about as high as he could reach. ‘In
case you hadn’t noticed, Reginald’s got a sense of humour as dry as
stale bread. It takes a bit of getting used to.’
    At the top of
the stairs they walked across a narrow landing and passed between
stone columns as thick as tree trunks, these held up a high
roof.
    It was good to
be out of the rain. The black boar led them through the building’s
entrance, so large it even dwarfed Reginald. Huge wooden doors
carved with animal figures of all kinds hung open either side.
    ‘This space is
called the Hall of Greeting,’ said Harry. ‘Look up.’
    Flossy looked
up. Sunlight poured through rainbow windows set into the domed
ceiling, which was higher than the Enterprise’ s tallest mast
and wider than the ship was long. It occurred to her that the Enterprise would actually fit under the dome with room to
spare. Hundreds of golden wall niches housed statues of animals in
various poses: some making war, some caring for infants, some
gazing down at them with curious eyes like witnesses.
    ‘They tell the
story of what things were like before Port Isabel was founded,’
explained Reginald, taking the tone of a schoolteacher. ‘In those
days, the world was marked by cycles of violence. Animals killed
and ate according to their kind, even though they knew it was
immoral.’ Reginald pointed up with his trunk. ‘Notice that the wall
niches are nodes defining a double helix reaching from the floor to
the dome above.’
    ‘Nodes? Double
what?’ Flossy asked, turning to look around.
    ‘Think of
nodes as points connecting lines. The lines are parallel helices
intertwined about a common axis,’ said Reginald, elaborating.
    ‘Huh?’ said
Flossy.
    Harry helped.
‘A helix is a spiral, helices are two. A double helix is two
spirals. Is that right, Reginald?’
    ‘Top of the
class, Harry.’
    Flossy could
see what Reginald meant. The wall niches spiralled up from the
floor in two long lines. Instead of just hundreds of statues
scattered up the walls, they were lined up as if they were supposed
to be looked at in order; as if they told a story. She had no idea
what story, though.
    Flossy was
impressed by the scale of the structure. They had nothing as large
in Australia, nor as beautifully decorated. When you lived near
volcanoes you lived with earthquakes. When you lived with
earthquakes, you quickly learned to build low buildings you could
get out of quickly. Nothing on this scale would survive the next
earthquake in