Chapter 19.
Gandor held his order to the tribe, until Lex came to tell him where the games were to be.
“Something special is going on,” said Lex “Luke had every squadron move to Ben’s yard. He is planning the games for the night of no moon.”
“Good,” said Gandor, “I will make it extra special. We will be waiting for him.”
“The games will begin when the brightest firefly light he has ever seen, flashes. The entire air force will fly in when they see the light.”
“You did a Great job son.”
The comment stunned Lex. It was the first time Gandor had ever paid him a compliment, and called him “son.”
“Thanks Dad. I have to leave now.”
“Why are you leaving?”
“I’m going back to spy on the Lucerns. Don’t you want me to get more information?” Lex had to think fast because Luke counted on him to help deliver the message.
“No, my son, I need you here with me tonight. Besides, after tonight I won’t need to know what Luke is up to.”
“Why not?”
“When the bright light flashes, our tribe will be waiting. Our lights will be off so they will not see us. When Luke flies into our space, we will capture him and his air force. Now, come with me.”
Lex could not leave Gandor now, that would reveal his secret. Gandor believed Lex was spying from a distance.
Gandor will kill me if he finds out that I confessed to Luke. I told Luke that I was sorry for spying, and he forgave me. I promised to be true to him. I cannot let Gandor know that. What do I do? If I leave now, I risk losing Gandor’s approval that took a long time to get. If I stay, I betray Luke. What should I do?
“Quickly,” said Gandor. “We are wasting time.”
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The sun dropped, and the night of no moon finally arrived. Morty scooted to where Luke waited for him with the air force.
“Is everything ready?”
“Yes it is. Except one thing, Lex didn’t return yet.”
“Hmm, he must have a problem.”
“I hope for his sake that you are right, I don’t like pilots who don’t keep their word.”
“Let’s get started. I want Torch to come with me,” said Morty.
Torch came forward and settled on Morty’s curl. Morty touched the turbo button on Skye, and they were gone.
“Leave your light out until I say it is okay.”
They landed in Ben’s yard. Gracie met them outside.
“Ben is still inside,” said Gracie.
“Good,” said Morty, “this is what I want you, to do. . .”
Morty explained his plan to them.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes,” replied Gracie.
“Nervous, but ready,” answered Torch.
“Okay, climb into the jar and go with Gracie, remember to keep your light off until she tells you to flash.”
“Yes sir.” Torch saluted.
The two angels became invisible, and took off in different directions. Gracie held the jar with Torch inside. She hovered in place high above all the bushes in the center of the yard…
Gandor and the Phyro tribe waited in the darkness of the grass below. The tribe was loyal to Gandor. He kept them in food all summer, and protected them from attack. They knew the plan well, and were anxious to get started.
High above them, a single Lucern firefly hovered in a glass container. He was waiting to play his part. Gracie got her queue from Morty, he was in position and ready.
“On the count of three,” called Morty over the Sentra-Vision, “one, two, and three.”
“Go Torch,” she commanded.
Torch lit his tail in a magnificent long bright flash. It was so yellow it was like the sun. He pushed so hard to make the light bright that he thought he would burst. He held it for as long as he could. He took a quick breath, and then flashed again. Over, and over he flashed. His flashes lit up the whole yard like lightening.
“There it is,” said Gandor. “Go get them.”
The Phyro tribe rose out of the grass. They spiraled upward covering the yard from one end to the other. Gracie saw them, but Torch was too busy to look
“Keep flashing,” she said. “Come and get them Morty.”
Morty remained invisible, but started blinking his halo mimicking a firefly. He was in the next yard when Gandor spotted the blinking halo coming toward them. Thinking it was Luke and the air force approaching, Gandor ordered, “Hold your lights until he is in the yard.”
The tribe obeyed.
Morty reached the edge of the yard.
“Stop flashing,” she said. She took off and left the yard. She remained invisible while still holding the jar with Torch in it. With Torch secure in the jar, he was out of the hands of the Phyros. Morty’s halo continued to blink, but he and Skye were invisible. They entered the yard with the dark Phyros.
Gandor watched as Morty’s light crossed over the line.
“Turn on your lights,” he ordered.
All at once, thousands of blinking lights covered the yard. The Phyros were anxious to capture Luke, the air force, and the Lucerns. Instead, Morty’s flying scoop shuttled them into the bottle. Morty’s invention worked beautifully.
“That is beautiful,” said Torch.
He and Gracie watched as Morty flew a snake pattern around the yard.
“Look, he snared Gandor and Lex,” he said.
They struggled to get out, but the momentum of the chute moving forward pulled them to the center. The harder they tried to get out of the chute, the faster they moved into the glass jar.
Morty finally made himself visible on his final flight around the yard. The jar glowed bright yellow from the flashing Phyros. Together, they gave off a light as bright as Torch’s. With the Phyros all in the jar, Gracie capped it. She wore sunglasses because the light was so bright.
Confused and bewildered, Gandor and Lex thought they were going to capture the air force, instead, they were the ones trapped.
Skye landed, and Morty unhitched the chute, and removed the capped jar. He used duct tape to paste the jar onto Skye Scooter’s nose.
“They can help light my way through the night.”
Just then, Gracie landed next to him with Torch.
“Let Torch out of the bottle now.”
“Wow, can we do that again?” asked Torch. “That was fun to watch.”
“Please bring Ben onto the patio,” said Morty. “The air force is ready to start the message.” Torch signaled Luke to start.
“I have some business to take care of,” he told Gracie. “I’ll be back in a flash.”
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He flew North at warp speed. In a very short time, he landed on a farm field in Minnesota. He carefully removed the jar from Skye, and gave the lid two turns. The jar was open.
“You are free to go,” he said. At first, they did not make a move. Slowly, one, by one the fireflies found their way out of the bottle. Soon, a steady stream of fireflies spiraled from the jar into the night sky. They blinked a beautiful magical pattern as they escaped.
Gandor and Lex were among them. Lex stopped in front of Morty.
“Thanks.”
“For what?” asked Morty?
“Thank you for giving my people another chance and for keeping my secret.”
“You belong with Gandor. He needs someone to teach him how to be trustworthy. Now go, and start a new life together.”
Lex blinked a final thank-you and flew off.
To Be Continued . . .
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