61 The Storm

Chapter 61 The Storm lightning lit up the entire room for a fraction of a second, and then the ear-splitting sound of thunder rolled around the conical walls. It was louder than anything Peanut, Rockwell and Little-Bit had ever heard in their lives. 'Ow!' shouted Little-Bit. 'My ears are ringing!' 'It's because we're so close to it,' shouted Rockwell. 'We need to keep going and climb through the cloud before...' He didn't finish his sentence. A huge bolt of lightning

shot through the air, missing them by no more than a couple of metres. It was accompanied by another deafening cracking noise that sounded like a bomb going off. 'Oh no,' shouted Rockwell. 'We're in the centre of the storm! We need to hurry!' 'I want to go back down, Peanut,' said Little-Bit. 'I'm scared!' 'I'm afraid we can't, LB,' said Peanut. 'We have to keep going. Everyone is counting on us. I know you're scared, but take my hand. We can do this together. They continued running up the stairs as the rain began to fall in huge, black, inky drops. A violent headwind began to whip around them, slowing their climb. Suddenly, another bright fork of electricity split the room, and the deafening noise that came with it nearly toppled Peanut off the edge of the staircase. Luckily, Rockwell was there to grab her arm and stop her from falling. Maybe LB's right,' shouted Peanut as Rockwell hauled her back onto the staircase. Her face was white. 'It's too dangerous. Maybe we should go back down!' Rockwell frowned.

Little-Bit turned to look at him. She recognised his brainwave face and smiled. He smiled back. 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?' he asked. ' Let's make a lightning conductor,' she replied. ' Yes!' said Rockwell. 'Pass me a pen. As quickly as he could, Rockwell drew a long, straight line with a small ball at its tip. He then drew another line perpendicular to the first, making an enormous and unwieldy L shape. Right, we need to attach this to the wall!' All three of them moved the drawing into position so that it stuck out from the wall and extended horizontally over the void below them. The end with the ball at the top pointed straight up at the dark cloud above them. 'Brilliant, Rocky,' said an ink-streaked Little-Bit. 'Hopefully that'll intercept the next lightning bolt and channel all of that voltage into the walls of the Spire and safely down into the ground. 'I still think that maybe we should go back down,' Peanut said, unconvinced. 'Don't give up now, Peanut!' shouted somebody just behind them. It was Dad! He had caught up with them, along with Mum and a limping Leo.

'Listen! We have a chance to put an end to this whole thing, once and for all,' he yelled as the wind blew his curly, red hair straight. 'We must stop Nerys! The whole world is depending on us! Creativity is depending on us!' 'But... the lightning...' shouted Peanut. 'It's too much...' 'You have weathered bigger storms than this one, my little artist,' Dad said, smiling. 'I know all about your adventures in Chroma, Peanut. You're the bravest one out of all of us. If anyone can do this, it's you. Come on! One more push! One last adventure! And this time, we'll be right there with you. CRACK! Another lightning bolt flew from the cloud, but this time it hit the conductor, which instantly fizzed with energy. The whole group watched as the electricity travelled along Rockwell's drawing and disappeared harmlessly into the wall. 'It worked!' shouted LB. 'Rocky, it worked! Go science!' 'Brilliant, Rockwell,' shouted Dad. ' Just brilliant!' Peanut smiled. She could feel her courage returning.

She wiped the black, inky rain from her face and remembered everything her dad had been through to get to this point. She thought about the sacrifices he'd made. Then she looked at the faces of all her favourite people: Dad, Mum, Little-Bit, Leo and Rockwell. Nerys had said that love was her greatest weakness, but she'd been wrong. Love was Peanut's greatest strength. 'You're right, Dad,' she said. ' Let's finish this. together!'