Because the Skylands were so much further to the north than Horsmarlonerpool, at least a three hour express train journey, the summer days were very long, and the winter days were very short.
In fact, the days right in the middle of summer were so long that it was still light until nearly midnight, and then only dark for three and a half hours before the sun would come up again.
And the people of the Skylands knew that they were so lucky to have these special summer days, that on mid-summer’s night, they celebrated it in the most wonderful way possible. Captain Hercule would fly into the town of Marbleglow in his gigantic zeppelin - a floating airship as long as a skyscraper is tall - a huge balloon-like structure the shape of a marrow. And below it, a large set of rooms and cabins for people to ride in.
So each year, on Midsummers Day, the whole town of Marbleglow would all gather in the evening at the largest field and watch as the Zeppelin landed. And then all climb aboard for a party. As the sun went down, they would sail out towards the archipelago - a collection of thousands of little islands in the Albion Sea - and then either have a party or a sleepover when it got dark before watching the sun rise three and a half hours later.
Everyone from BlueSky school, and their teachers, and all the grown ups would be invited. And for friends Rene, Cyrano, Erwin and Elly (who were all in Miss Bexhill’s class at BlueSky) it was easily their favorite night of the year.
They didn’t have to stay with their mummies and daddies when they got onboard the zeppelin, but instead found cabins where lots of their other friends were playing instead of going to the grown up party.
The most exciting part was when the zeppelin took off, and all the friends would gather by the cabin windows as the gargantuan airship lifted silently away from the ground and they saw the whole town of Marbleglow spread out beneath them. The best game was to find your own house down below, and Cyrano pointed in hysterics at his and how small it seemed as they floated higher and higher.
Soon, it began to grow dark and the last of the orange sun dipped over the horizon.
Then, Theo, Scarlett and James came to join Rene, Cyrano, Erwin and Elly in the cabin. Scarlett, Theo and James were in Mr Wiggin’s class at BlueSky school, but they would all play togther at lunchtime.
“So, shall we go and explore more of the Zeppelin,” suggested Erwin.
But before anyone could answer, they heard some strange sounds. Was that a dog barking? And a cat meowing? Or even a cow mooing? Or… perhaps it was even a sheep bleating?
They went to the large windows of the cabin where the sounds seemed to be coming from. Opening the window, the warm summer night’s air breezed in and they looked down towards the bottom of the airship. There, to their absolute astonishment, they saw a whole collection of animals - all clinging on tight!
“Oh, no!” cried Rene. “We’ve got to help them!”
She was right. If the animals fell from so high they’d be doomed!
“We’ll have to climb down and save them,” said Elly, bravely.
“But it’s madness!” argued Erwin.
“We’ve got no choice,” insisted Elly, and climbed out of the window and began making her way down to the animals. The others, swallowing their nerves, followed her down, holding on to handles that jutted out from the metal to form a ladder until they were on the underside of the enormous craft.
“What are you all doing here?” asked Elly to the animals.
“We were jealous!” said Sniffs, a brown Labrador dog. “All the humans get to go to the mid-summer party every year, and you always leave us behind.”
“Yeees,” said Martina the Friesian cow.
“Well look,” said Cyrano. “Climb up here to the cabin where it’s safe. We’ll help you.”
The friends carefully helped all the animals climb up the outside of the airship and through the windows of the cabin. But none of the animals looked very pleased - only more worried.
“Well you could say thank you,” huffed Elly.
“It’s Graham,” said Sniffs. “Graham the goat. He’s climbed up to the very top. Goats are very good at climbing.”
Everyone stared at each other and then went back to the window and this time looked up. The huge sausage shape of the Zeppelin bulged out and didn’t let them see the top, but sure enough they heard Graham’s panicked bleats.
“Oh, perfect!” said Rene, shaking her head. She turned to the other animals. “Right. You lot stay here.”
Theo, Scarlett, James, Renee, Cyrano, Erwin and Elly climbed up the outside of the airship until they were standing on the very top. It stretched out before them like a lake of grey canvass. And there, stood by himself was Graham the goat - looking very worried indeed and sounding extremely alarmed.
“You’re okay now,” said Elly. “Come with us.”
But Graham turned and faced into the wind. Everyone looked to the horizon - a huge lightning storm was headed straight for them! The zeppelin might be hit!
“We’ve got to change course!” said Rene, and they rushed along the top of the zepplin when they heard a bark, a meow, a bleat and a moo behind them. All the animals had followed them up!
“Oh, you lot!” shouted Erwin.
“But Graham’s our friend too,” said Sniffs.
Together, they all got to the front of the ship and climbed down to where the cockpit was at the front of the rooms and cabins.
Carefully they all climbed through the windows and found the cockpit to be… completely empty! Where was Captain Hercule?
Through the front windscreen they could see the huge storm getting closer, with pulses of electricity in it and bolts of lightning piercing from the black clouds.
Erwin and Rene spun the big wooden steering wheel as fast as they could and the ship began to turn to the left.
Putting the engines onto full blast, they glided past the storm as a huge white bolt of lightening fizzled through the sky precisely where they would just have flown.
They opened the door to the cockpit and walked down a corridor into the main ballroom were all the grown ups were having their party.
The band stopped and everyone turned in amazement to see a collection of animals trot in.
“What’s the meaning of all this?” said Captain Hercule.
“What’s the meaning of not watching where you’re going when there’s a huge storm ahead?” demanded Elly.
Everyone looked out of the windows on the right hand side and were astonished to see a heavy storm pass right by them.
“If it wasn’t for Graham the goat here,” said Cyrano. “We’d be flying right through that!”
Well, as the the ship glided into calm and clear skies, the sun began to come up again and the band played their traditional sunrise music.
All the friends stood and watched with the animals and grown ups as they floated high over the archipelago and the sky turned from light blue, to orange, to yellow, and then to the deepest blue of a summer’s day.
It was the most exciting midsummer’s adventure on the Zeppelin that anyone could remember. And as a sign of his thanks for saving his beloved ship, Captain Hercule made an announcement that not only would animals be welcome onboard at any time - and go wherever they wished - they would always be the guests of honor every Midsummer’s Night.
