City of the Falling Sky Read Free

years
ago.”
    There was a moment of silence before the
headmaster burst into hysterical laughter. Seckry clutched his
hands together and hoped that Mrs Furrowfog was going to return any
minute.
    As the headmaster nearly fell face first onto
the classroom floor in fits of giggling, Mrs Furrowfog entered
holding a blue flask.
    “ Here, here, Allon, I’ve
brought you some of your special medicine, okay? I’m going to give
you this cup and you’re going to drink it, okay?”
    She poured some luminous blue liquid into the
cup and the smell of it hit Seckry within seconds. It made his eyes
water. It was like paint stripper.
    “ You’re killing me,
Merrinda!” the headmaster laughed, slapping his leg and shaking his
head.
    “ Come on now, Allon, how
about a sip, eh?” Mrs Furrowfog held the cup to the headmaster’s
lips and rubbed his back with her other hand.
    He stopped laughing and sniffed the air.
“Something smells rotten in here,” he said, and snatched it from
her before downing the bright liquid in three huge gulps, throwing
the empty cup across the room, then seizing up like a wooden plank
and dropping to the floor.
    Mrs Furrowfog sighed.
    “ Seckry, is that what you’d
prefer to be called, for short?”
    “ Yeah, everyone calls me
Seckry.”
    “ Seckry, I’m so sorry you
had to see that.”
    Seckry waved it away. “It’s fine. Uh . . . Is
he okay?”
    “ Mr Gobbledee will be up and
about in a few moments and back to normal again.”
    Seckry stared at the lifeless headmaster
uncomfortably.
    “ What was, uh . . . what was
wrong with him?”
    “ Mr Gobbledee has a very
rare medical condition. It’s not something that is widely discussed
with pupils so I can’t comment on it further, but I regret that you
had to see your headmaster in this fashion. Especially on your
first day.”
    “ It’s no problem, honestly,”
Seckry said, and he could see that the headmaster’s eyes were
opening.
    There was a groan and the headmaster sat up
sluggishly, looking around the classroom.
    “ Oh Merrinda,” he said,
devastated. “I wasn’t . . . ?”
    Mrs Furrowfog nodded quickly and helped him
into a chair.
    “ Oh, dear me, I am so sorry.
And who do we have here?”
    “ My name’s Seckraman,
sir.”
    “ Very nice to meet you,
Seckraman,” said the headmaster, and then quietly he whispered,
“ Did the boy see everything, Merrinda?”
    “ I’m afraid so,” Mrs
Furrowfog whispered back.
    The headmaster patted his chest searchingly.
“Good heavens, I haven’t even put on my tie.” He pulled a bright
red tie from his trouser pocket and fastened it around his
neck.

Chapter Two
Late for Cutson
     
     
     
    “ It’s very unusual for
somebody to name their son Seckraman, isn’t it?” said the
headmaster, curiously.
    “ Yes it is,” Seckry replied,
hoping that the headmaster wasn’t about to crack some terrible
joke.
    Seckry had been born with his left eye
slightly greener than his hazel coloured right eye, exactly like
the ancient descriptions of Seckraman, the son of Gedin the
Almighty, which was why his mum had given him the name. He had been
teased about it at school when he was younger which was why he
asked everyone to call him Seckry nowadays.
    “ It’s a shame there aren’t
more Seckramans around, I say. Fantastic name, very majestic. Now,
down to business.”
    Mr Gobbledee flicked through a heap of
papers, pulled his glasses to the tip of his nose, and peered at
one of the sheets.
    “ Seckraman Sevenstars, here
we are. So it seems that you have, until this point, been studying
the subjects of mathematics, science, literacy, geography, art, and
history, is that correct?”
    “ Yes, sir.”
    “ I see. Dear me, the
limitations of these poor schools . . .” He shook his head, smiling
briefly. “Well, at least you’ll have the basics. I’m sure you’ll
pick things up fairly quickly. I daresay with a surname like
Sevenstars you’ll be a dab hand at astronomy.”
    “ Astronomy?” Seckry