‘Oh, Raff, I shall be so scared.’
‘I know, Cassie, but if I don’t go, how can I save you? Besides, I promised the animals I would help them.’
‘But, Raff, why not let Gæa help them?’
‘She does, Cassie, through me. I don’t see how she can do any more unless she destroys the city herself. I am her messenger. I must not fail her. The animals alone can’t fight the Sorcerer. He would kill them with the death-ray or his poison gas.’
‘Raff, do you think there is such a person as Gæa?’
Raphael was startled. Sometimes he had wondered. The Mother of All Things. Well, he could fly—he had never been able to do that before. He remembered suddenly, with panic, that his feather suit had been taken away. Could he still fly? The Sorcerer evidently didn’t think so. He must take the chance. It was their only hope.
‘Yes,’ he answered Cassandra after a pause. ‘I believe in Gæa. I can fly and live underneath the sea. I could never do that before.’ Cassandra was half convinced.
‘Cassie,’ said Raphael, ‘I must go now.’
‘Oh,’ said Cassandra faintly. She looked pale and frightened with her dark hair falling down about her face. Raphael was frightened himself.
‘If you’ve got to go, Raff,’ said Cassandra bravely, trying to keep her mouth from trembling and the tears out of her eyes, ‘come back soon.’ And she threw her arms about his neck.