Goodie Dreamer's Arc

Chapter 7 of 13

The big pillow raft slid past the cottage edge with all her guests aboard. Goodie froze, teapot in hand, watching them drift into open sky. The stardust jar at her feet still pulsed, but its glow could not hold a raft this heavy. She had to act before the wind took them too far. Goodie grabbed a length of braided cloud floss rope from the porch. She looped one end around a sturdy cloud-post at the sky's edge and knotted it tight. Then she ran, the other end coiled in her arms. "Catch!" she shouted, and threw. The rope arced. A guest at the raft's rim caught it and held fast. Millicent Windborne stepped up beside her and took hold of the line. "Pull," she said. "Slow and steady." They pulled together. The raft swung in a wide curve and bumped gently back against the cottage cloud. Guests cheered. Tea sloshed but did not spill. Goodie tied the rope off and let out a long breath. Her guests were safe, tethered, and laughing. But the raft sat outside her cottage now, in open sky, and every neighbour on it was looking at her — waiting for the tea she had promised, with nowhere proper to set the cups.