Page 11

Diamond woke and sat up. He was in his own little room in the loft. Morning sunlight reached in through cracks in the boards of the walls. Then he remembered his dream. Or was it a dream? If he were at the cathedral, how did he get home again? Well, North Wind must have come for him, he guessed. And she must have carried him home asleep.

At breakfast that morning Diamond's mother looked at him closely. "I don't think the boy is looking well, husband," she said.

"Don't you?" his father said. "Well, I don't know, I thik he looks pretty bobish. How do you feel yourself, Diamond, my boy?"
"Fine, Father," Diamond said. "At least, I think I've got a little headache."

"There, I told you," said his father and mother at once. And then they both laughed.

His mother sat down at the table, still looking at Diamond. "I've got a letter from my sister at Sandwich," she said. "She wants Diamond to visit her for a while. I think I would like to go too."

"Well, it's fine with me," said his father, smiling.

So a few days later Diamond and his mother went to the little village of Sandwich.

"She wants Diamond to visit her for a while."

Diamond loved to walk down the streets staring at all the quaint old shops and houses. Years ago Sandwich had been a busy seaport, but the sea trade began passing it by for other, bigger ports. Now it was a sleepy place.

But Diamond's mother had been right about him. He didn't feel well, and he began to tire very easily. On the third day at his aunt's his head ached so much that he had to stay in bed.

North Wind leaped, carrying Diamond.

He woke that night. The lattice window of his room was open and the curtains were blowing gently. And there was North Wind's beautiful face smiling into his own as she bent over his bed.

"Quick, Diamond," she said. "We must go on a journey."

"Where?" he asked, yawning.

"To a very special place," she said, "I have found a chance to take you there."

"But I'm not well," he said.

"I know that, but you will be better with a little fresh air. And you will have plenty of that."

Diamond climbed out of bed. As soon as he was in her arms, he felt better.

"We must hurry before your aunt comes," North Wind whispered. She stepped through the open window and glided up into the starry sky.

In a moment they were out over the sea. "I have found a ship sailing north," North Wind said. "I am going to put you in that. You see, Diamond, it is hard for me to get you to this place, because it lies in the very north itself, and of course I can't blow northward."

"You are quite right. That is my home, Diamond, though I can never get farther than the front door. I am nobody there, Diamond."

"Oh, you dear little man, you will be very glad someday to be nobody yourself. But you can't understand that now. Someday you will. But here we are, below. There's your boat. It's not really a boat, of course. It's a yacht of two hundred tons, and the captain is a friend of mine. I am going to put you down there, in the hold. That's where they keep spare sails. It will be dark in there, but dry and warm and safe. You can go to sleep there. You must not worry. The yacht shall be my cradle, and you shall be my baby."

In a moment they were on deck. Diamond heard North Wind lifting a hatch cover, and then he was down below. The canvas sails smelled sweet and oily.

Soon Diamond fell asleep to the gentle rocking of the ship. How long this lasted he couldn't tell. But it seemed to be only a few hours, though it was actually three days.

On the third day the hatch suddenly opened and sunlight poured in. North Wind's arm reached down and lifted Diamond up on deck. The sky and the sea were deep blue here. Giant blocks of ice floated all around the ship. To one of these blocks North Wind leaped, carrying Diamond. She glided down a steep, craggy slope of the iceberg and landed on a wide, smooth ledge. In the ice wall was a cave. It looked blue against the blinding white of the wall.

Now Diamond looked at North Wind. Her face was very pale, and she looked worn and tired.

She disappeared slowly....like smoke.

"What's wrong, North Wind?" Diamond cried.

"Nothing much," she said. "I feel faint. But you mustn't mind it. I can bear it quite well."

As she spoke she seemed to be fading away. "I am going, Diamond. I will be all right again soon. You must not be afraid. Just go straight on and you will find me on the doorstep."

Then she disappeared slowly, like smoke. Diamond felt like crying. But she had told him not to fear. And she was always right he knew. Still, he did cry, but only little.

He stayed in the ice cave for several days as the iceberg floated northward. The sky was so blue here it seemed almost too bright to look at for long, like the sun. It was strange, Diamond thought, but all this time he never felt hungry.

One day in his cave he felt his iceberg lurch to a stop. He ran out onto the shelf and saw that he had come to land. Just ahead were jagged, snowcovered mountains that rose up so tall that Diamond had to look almost straight up, bending over backward, to see the peaks. The iceberg was butted up against a great flat rock.