Tutor was exiled to his cell, as you know, for the Pancake Episode. The cell is about ten feet below sea level, but the ceilings are high, and about twenty feet above his cot, is a small slit window, just enough to dimly light his dank room. All of a sudden, Tutor sees a shape, all white feathers, a big ball, flailing, shoot past the slit. Then in the Castle pure pandemonium! Sirens, shouting, feet on stairs, then his cell is unlocked. All hands to search for Audrey! Seal Team Seven scrambles the copter, rubber dingies are out in the tossing waves. Fortunately, Audrey somehow cleared the rocks out of which the Castle rises, and managed to hit water. So, now after hot soup, and several hours with solvent, to dissolve the epoxy and scrape off or cut out as many of the feathers as possible, Audrey is safely in her bed, with her Tutor sitting on the bed's edge, debriefing her. As when NASA rockets fail, the first question is: "What have we learned?"
Audrey's red hair is clumped, with big chunks cut out, but still there are bits of feathers, and some big clumps of hair glued together. Audrey is impassive, her eyes focused straight ahead, like a Guard at Buckingham palace, fingers clutching the bedspread, up under her chin.
Tutor: "You were reading that book I gave you?"
Audrey: (Eyelids blink assent.)
Tutor: "Bullfinch's Mythology?"
Audrey: (Eyelids blink assent.)
Tutor: "About Daedelus and and his kid, Icarus, and the maze, and how Icarus flew up and out?"
Audrey: (Eyelids blink assent.)
Tutor: "And you figured that if you did not fly too close to the sun?"
Audrey: (Face front, eyes swiveling to Tutor's.)
Tutor: "So what was different? He flew; you fell."
Audrey: (Eyes front, small smile dawning.)
Tutor: "Yes?"
Audrey: (Loud, arms flailing above her head) "Wax!"
Tutor: "Correct. Wax. You know in the Dungeon where in the old days I used to get to boil people alive, I have this big iron pot over a fire grate. I bet we could melt down a lot of candles....."
Audrey: (Eyes swiveling, face processing, brow furrowed.)
Tutor: "Of course you are all bruised up, so maybe we should have someone else do a test flight."
Audrey: (Pause, eyes lighting up.) "Master Jack!"
Tutor: "That would be my thought, yes."
Audrey: (Giggling) "He won't."
Tutor: "He will."
And so it went. Tutor presented the matter to Master Jack as a matter of Trust. Jack could demonstrate that he really is the Most Trusted Advisor, and Tess would surely appreciate Audrey being spared another life threatening fall. And Audrey, who is only a little kid, not a former All American fullback for the Yale Bulldogs, easily cleared the rocks and hit water. And surely the wax is at least a possible advantage, over epoxy. So, soon, Audrey is tearing open her feather pillows, and Jack is immersed neck deep in wax, neither too hot nor too cold. Seal Team Seven were more than happy to launch the copter, just in case Jack flew too close to the sun. You might think all this ends with Jack in a sling, in his bed. But, no, there is more. He is in a sling, but that is not how it ends.
Tutor and Audrey have now worked out a new aeronautical hypothesis. Wax would have to be beeswax, and they don't have any. But what about a Flying Squirrel? Take a blanket, and tie the four corners to Jack's feet and hands..... So Tutor and Audrey explain the plan to Jack. Jack groans, and tries to roll over, but it hurts too much. Still, the the life of a most trusted advisor is one of constant self sacrifice. Jack would lay down his life, as he has often told Tess, to save her or Audrey, if the time ever comes when the people in the middle class, off the island, ever invade it. His will be the last life taken, once the middle class gets past Seal Team Seven. So, in time, when he has healed up, we can see how he does as a flying squirrel. At least, he will not need to be simmered in the Dungeon's iron cauldron to remove feathers the next time.
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