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Cheryl Ammeter, author of Ivey and the Airship has made available chapters from the novel for you to read. Click the link above to download an Adobe Acrobat PDF version.
An additional excerpt from
Chapter 11 “The Ribbon”
They were approaching the Rosmans, a range of rugged peaks that ran along the coast of Northern Cemaria. Ivey had heard at the captain’s table that Miles’ scenic route would venture out over the sea for a hundred leagues before turning and heading northwest toward the docks at the port city of Spirehaven.
From the corner of her eye she saw movement in the corridor behind her. She dropped and flattened herself below the windows’ line of sight.
A man paused on the other side of the hatch.
Oh please, just go away.
As if on command, the man continued moving toward the bridge. Ivey breathed a sigh of relief and peeked into the corridor. Once he was gone, she rose to a crouching position and crept up the stairs.
At the top, Ivey stepped onto the railed service walkway that ran along the entire length of the cabin. Up ahead, a tall metal ladder on the outside of the hull rose from the walkway to the first level of catwalks, which were little more than wooden planks suspended from cables of their own.
She started up the ladder. It was a thrilling climb, but the higher from the body of the cabin she went, the more turbulent the flow of air became. By the time Ivey reached the catwalk, the riggings around her were bobbing in the gusty winds coming over the mountains.
She stayed low, keeping a firm grip on the handrails as she made her way above the cabin toward the cable that held the mystical ribbon.
She came to the point where the catwalk extended away from the side of the ship. Looking down, she saw the ground was hundreds of feet below. The farther she ventured out into the riggings, the more the catwalk pitched and lurched in the wind.
When she finally came alongside the cable with the ribbon, she discovered that it was just out of her reach. Gripping the handrail tightly, she leaned over its edge and stretched her arm out as far as she could. The cable was still beyond her grasp.
Ivey threw her weight from side to side, rocking the catwalk until it finally swung far enough for her to catch ahold of the cable with her left hand. She clutched it tightly, pulling the catwalk as close as possible.
“Hey, you! We’re in mountain currents! What in blazes are you doing up there?” An angry voice rang out from below.
She looked down. Miles Fenchurche and his impeccable timing had struck again.
“You will get yourself killed!”
Ivey held tightly to the cable and let go of the catwalk’s handrail long enough to make a grab for the ribbon with her right hand. A wicked gust of wind jerked her body from the catwalk. If not for her left hand’s desperate grip on the cable, she would have plunged to the ground below.