The Blue Deck Podcast: Into the Attic of the World

After waking up in the sleeping car, Charles visits with Dawn while William and Ozzie sleep. They’re no longer in the desert, but outside, the passing landscape has changed to hills of luscious green.

Dawn reveals to Charles that they’re going to Atsuma, the great city, to see a king called Katsuro the Destroyer. The Destroyer—really?!?! That sounds awful. Also, Dawn tells him that before he woke up, she walked around the bus-train and saw a girl looking for a merit badge under her pillow. So sad. The girl didn’t know the fairy was missing.

After that, Charles risks asking Dawn about his vision in the smoker’s cabin. He nods to William who’s sleeping across the aisle. “Notice anything odd about him?”

“No,” Dawn says. “Why?”

“He looked different,” Charles admits, but after that, he’ll say nothing more, in fear Dawn will tell the captain he’s going crazy.

When the other boys wake up, they grab a table in the dining car and eat until they’re stuffed. That is when Charles tells them how he really feels about the mission. If they don’t find Castatine in Atsuma, they should abandon the quest and go home. To his surprise, they agree, all but Ozzie who’s decided he’ll catch Castatine and knock her upside the head with his baseball bat. But after remembering his mother—no doubt worried to death back home—even Ozzie agrees…with one condition. Charles must tell Captain Kid about the deadline. They can’t just ditch him because, In Ozzie’s words, “he’s the coolest guy I ever met.”

When Captain Kid shows up, Charles fulfills Ozzie’s requirement.

Captain Kid takes the news pretty well. He even understands, but he proposes Charles is supposed to be right where he’s at, searching for the fairy and looking after his friends. The captain reminds them of the shuttle, how it changed just for them. “Notice there wasn’t a seat for the marshal,” he points out. Then Dawn remembers the bracket on the wall, perfect for Joseph, the captain’s pet crab.

Already, the tides are turning against Charles, but their deal is made. If they don’t find Castatine in Atsuma, they’re going home. And even Captain Kid admits she’s probably too far ahead.

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