The Battle for

Rondo

Emily Rodda

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

1. Smoke

2. TUFFS

3. Headquarters

4. Big Ideas

5. The Shop without a Name

6. Clues and Crises

7. The Crystal Palace

8. Spoiler in Despair

9. Cruelcliff

10. The Ogre

11. The Eye of the Storm

12. The Forbidden Chamber

13. The Ogre’s Revenge

14. Flight

15. The Mirror

16. The Dragon’s Lair

17. Dilemma

18. The Tideseer

19. Three Questions

20. Rising Tide

21. Farewell to the Coast

22. Under the Counter

23. Press Conference

24. Decision

25. The Plan

26. Stolen Magic

27. Waking Nightmare

28. At the Border

29. The Bonding of Dragons

30. Midnight

31. The Web

32. Treasured Plans

33. Win and Lose

34. Heroes

Also by Emily Rodda

Also by Emily Rodda: The Key to Rondo

Also by Emily Rodda: The Wizard of Rondo

Copyright

Chapter

1

Smoke

It’s almost gone,’ Mimi Langlander sighed, looking up at the fading rainbow arching across the morning sky. ‘But it was a good omen. It means that everything’s going to be all right.’

Her cousin Leo shook his head. His ideas about what was possible had changed a lot in the past two weeks, but he still refused to believe in omens, good or bad. ‘Rainbows don’t mean anything except that it’s been raining,’ he said flatly. ‘They’re just sun shining through water vapour so we see the seven separate colours. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue…’

His voice trailed off. The word ‘blue’ had given him a sharp little stab in the stomach, a stab that was half excitement, half fear. It had reminded him of things he didn’t want to think about – the things that had driven him outside early on a Sunday morning to splash through puddles on familiar pavements, to wander in the rain-soaked park at the bottom of the street, staring at the swings he had so often played on when he was small.

Mimi glanced at him quickly then stooped to pick up her scruffy little dog, Mutt, who had sat down on the damp footpath, signalling that as far as he was concerned this walk had gone on long enough.

‘Everything’s going to be all right,’ she repeated, pressing her cheek to Mutt’s tousled, mustard-coloured head. ‘It’s got to be.’

And that doesn’t make sense either, Leo thought, as they walked on to the gate of his house. But he said nothing. He knew that Mimi was as nervous as he was about their plan for later this morning. If positive thinking helped her cope, then let her think positive.

He led the way up the short path to the front door. As he put his hand to the doorknob he felt again that thrilling stab of excitement and fear, and his mind filled with a picture of the music box waiting silently on his desk, keeping its secret. His inheritance. The Langlander family treasure that was now his responsibility. The exquisitely painted antique box that contained another world.

Another world… A world of magic and danger, threatened by a queen determined to be a tyrant. A world that had been visited for centuries by his Langlander ancestors, and was home to two of them. A world with its own rules, where anything could happen – where even cautious, sensible Leo Zifkak could be a hero. The world he and Mimi had agreed to enter again today, this time fully understanding the risk they were taking.

Rondo.

Leo took a deep breath, pushed the front door open, and froze.

The strange, sweet chiming sound of the music box was drifting from his room upstairs. Leo’s heart gave a sickening thud. For a wild moment he thought that the box had started playing all by itself. Then he saw the pile of crumpled sheets lying at the top of the stairs, and realised what it meant.

His mother was in his room, putting clean sheets on his bed. Leo normally did that job himself. But lately – since Mimi had come to stay, since he’d discovered the secret of the music box – he hadn’t been as well organised as usual.

His mother hadn’t seemed to mind. In fact, she had seemed almost pleased.

‘You know, I think it’s done Leo good, having Mimi in the house,’ Leo had overheard her saying to his father in the kitchen the day before. ‘It’s made him relax a bit. He seems more confident, somehow – less worried about doing the wrong thing. And he’s laughing more.’

‘The boot’s on the other foot if you ask me, Suzanne,’ Tony Zifkak had rumbled. ‘Leo’s done the girl good. She’s improved out of sight. That was quite a decent conversation we had at dinner last night. She actually smiled a couple of times! And she’s stopped picking at her food, I notice.’

At this point Leo had eased away from the half-open kitchen door and crept back to his room, his ears burning.

He had seen for himself that Mimi had changed for the better, and he knew why. Spending time in Rondo, where she could be herself, where she was loved and accepted, had weakened the defences that made her so odd and prickly in the world outside. It hadn’t occurred to him, however, that Rondo had changed him as well – and it had been quite a shock to realise that, at least in his mother’s opinion, this change, too, had been for the better.

Leo’s mind flashed back to the present. He registered that the chiming music was slowing. The music box was running down.

‘Leo!’ Mimi breathed, crowding into the house after him and clutching his arm.

‘It’s okay,’ Leo muttered. ‘Mum wouldn’t break Aunt Bethany’s rules. She wouldn’t turn the winder more than three times.’

As he spoke, the music stopped. There was dead silence upstairs.

‘But we didn’t want the box wound up at all!’ Mimi whispered frantically. ‘We didn’t want life in Rondo to go on too far without us! Even that little bit we did on Monday – to make it daytime, so no one would notice the box looked different – changed things really quickly! And what if Suzanne wound it up more than once? What if the Blue Queen’s had time to do something terrible and we weren’t there to help?’

A draught caught the front door and slammed it behind them. They both jumped. Mutt exploded into a flurry of piercing yaps.

‘Leo, is that you? Leo, can you come up?’

Suzanne’s voice sounded shrill and strained. Leo and Mimi exchanged nervous looks and bounded together up the stairs.

Suzanne was standing in front of Leo’s desk, staring down at the music box. As Leo and Mimi came in she turned her head, and Leo’s heart sank as he saw how shocked she looked. Had his mother noticed changes on the box? Had she realised that people in the street scene at the front had moved? Had a tiger or a bear suddenly become visible in the forest that stretched along one of the sides? Had a sea-serpent risen from the waves of the ocean on the other side to menace a fisherman standing on the beach?

‘Leo!’ Suzanne exclaimed. ‘Oh, Leo, look!’

She stepped aside, waving her hand at the box. And then Leo could see that she had turned it around, so that its back faced into the room.

Mimi drew a quick breath. Leo felt his face grow hot.

When they had left the house, the back of the box had been normal. The Blue Queen’s castle had gleamed white on its hill. The grassy plain had rolled away from the hill on all sides like a smooth green carpet. A dragon had been soaring over the mountains in the distance, its scales glinting in the sunlight. The willow trees that sheltered the little house by the river had been clear and bright.

Now the entire back of the box was a misty blue blur.

‘The sun must have faded the paint!’ Suzanne wailed, glancing at the window behind the desk. ‘I only noticed it just now! Oh, poor Aunt Bethany would turn in her grave!’

‘It’s all right, Suzanne,’ Mimi said quickly. ‘The paint hasn’t faded. It just – just gets misty like that when – when the music box gets warm from being played a lot.’

Suzanne stared at her. So did Leo. Mimi nodded vigorously. ‘When it’s played a lot,’ she repeated. ‘The back is always affected first because – well, we don’t know why, exactly, but it is. It’ll go back to normal after a while. Won’t it, Leo?’

Leo mumbled confused agreement. What else could he do? Mimi’s explanation was ridiculous, but it was obviously the only thing she’d been able to think of on the spur of the moment. And he had to back her up.

He knew as well as Mimi did what the blue haze on the back of the box meant. On their last visit to Rondo, they had discovered that the Blue Queen’s sorcery no longer depended on her staying in her castle. The queen had learned to convert her magic power to blue smoke, and travel with it wherever she pleased. When Mimi and Leo returned home, their Rondo friends had been preparing to warn everyone of the new danger.

But it looked as if the queen had done something unexpected. Instead of using the blue smoke to fly into the attack, she had spread it thin and shrouded her whole domain.

Why? To stop her enemies getting in? To stop someone getting out?

Hal and Tye! Leo thought in panic. What if they were in Hal’s house by the river when the blue smoke spread? What if the others were with them? Conker, Freda, Bertha…

He wet his lips. ‘There’s really no problem, Mum,’ he said, in the calmest, most casual voice he could muster. ‘Once the box has – um – cooled down, it’ll be fine.’

‘I only played it a few times,’ Suzanne said doubtfully. ‘While I was making your beds. I can’t see how that could have – ‘

‘We would have done the beds, Suzanne,’ Mimi broke in. ‘You’ve got enough to do. Weren’t you going to work on the design for that bird book today? Last night you said it was running late.’

It was painfully obvious to Leo that this was an attempt to distract his mother’s attention, but fortunately Suzanne seemed to take it as genuine concern. She smiled at Mimi, glanced at her watch, and moved to the door.

‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘I’d better get on with it. I’m glad – well, I hope – the music box is really okay. I’ll be in the studio if you want me.’

They heard her hurry along the hallway, stop to pick up the pile of used sheets, and clatter down the stairs. Mutt yawned widely and closed his eyes.

‘I won’t be long,’ Mimi said, and ducked out of the room.

Leo quickly changed into the soft white shirt, the rough trousers, the broad belt and the old leather jacket he always wore in Rondo. He was pulling on the high brown boots when Mimi reappeared, suddenly poised and elegant in her high-necked green and gold jacket, slim black pants and soft black shoes. Around her neck, suspended on a silver chain, was the oval pendant that was the Key to the world of the music box.

Leo stared at the pendant. It looked just like a piece of clunky old jewellery. But inside it were hairs from the brush that had created the music box world. It was the Key to Rondo, and inside Rondo it could create and destroy. Inside Rondo it was all-powerful.

He recognised, and fought off, the little wave of envy he always felt whenever he saw the Key around Mimi’s neck. Old Aunt Bethany had left the music box to him – steady, responsible Leo. It was such an irony that, without knowing what she was doing, she had left the means of entering the secret world of the music box, a world she knew nothing about, to Mimi Langlander. Aunt Bethany hadn’t thought Mimi was responsible at all.

But would I want to be going into Rondo alone? Leo asked himself fiercely. No, I wouldn’t. Do I trust Mimi with the Key? Yes, I do – now I know her better, anyway. So what’s the problem?

Only, a small, half-ashamed voice said in his mind, that I’d like to control something so powerful. I’d like to know what it feels like to imagine something, and have it come true. I’d like to have a go at using the Key – just once.

‘Mutt’s sound asleep on my bed,’ Mimi said. ‘The walk was a good idea.’

She went to the desk, turned the music box around, and started scanning the front.

Leo finished putting on his boots and hurried to join her.

Last time they looked, their five Rondo friends had been in plain view. Hal, tall and spare, his greying hair tied back in a warrior’s tail, had been standing by the door of the Black Sheep tavern. Tye the Terlamaine, her tiger-striped face turned to the sky, her lithe, black-clad figure poised to fend off any sudden attack, had been beside him. Sturdy, wild-haired Conker, Freda the brown duck and Bertha the pig had been close by. Now the paved area outside the tavern was deserted except for Jolly, the landlord, collecting some empty glasses.

‘Where are they?’ Leo asked tensely, and turned the box so they could examine the forest side.

Almost immediately, they both gave a gasp of relief. Across the road from the forest, beyond a green field and behind a red-roofed barn, a large pink pig in a flower-laden hat was clearly visible.

‘Bertha’s at Macdonald’s farm!’ Mimi hissed. ‘Right! We’ll go there! And this time, Leo, try not to let the magic make you all confused and weird. This is the third time we’ve done this. You should be used to it by now.’

The third time, Leo thought uneasily. Third time lucky? Or unlucky?

Telling himself not to be superstitious, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach, he lifted the music box and turned the winder on the bottom. One, two, three… four, five, six times. He put the box down and opened the lid to check that the music was playing. He let a few chimes strike, then shut the lid again.

‘Okay,’ said Mimi, putting her hand to the pendant. ‘Focus on the barn…’

‘No!’ Leo exclaimed. ‘Not the barn! There might be blue butterflies in there – Blue Queen spies! If they see us appear, the queen will realise we’re not trapped in Rondo. She’ll realise that the Key still exists – that it wasn’t destroyed! And then…’

Then she’ll never stop trying to get it. Never, ever…

Mimi frowned and nodded. ‘Where, then?’

‘How about under there?’ Leo suggested, pointing to a heap of straw in front of the barn. ‘Then no one will see us arrive.’

‘Good idea.’ Mimi tightened her grip on the pendant. ‘Are you ready?’

‘Yes,’ said Leo, focusing on the straw pile as if his life depended on it. ‘Go!’

‘Let us in!’ Mimi said.

And Leo was falling through a tunnel of chiming rainbows.

Chapter

2

TUFFS

Leo’s nose was pressed into warm, damp earth. His head was spinning. His ears, his hands and the back of his neck were prickling unbearably.

What happened? he thought hazily. Where am I? Did I fall?

He felt a stealthy movement beside him, and stopped breathing. Rough hair brushed his cheekbone. A wormlike tail flicked across his nose. Leo’s whole body thrilled with revulsion. With a yell he sprang to his feet, frantically brushing his clothes, face and hair.

Straw rained down around him as he stood panting and blinking in bright sunlight. He could hear muffled screams somewhere near. As his eyes came into focus, he saw that the screams were coming from a bundle of rags heaving on the ground in front of him.

‘Oh, Leo!’

Leo jumped violently and looked behind him. Mimi was standing there. She had straw in her hair and mud on her chin. As Leo goggled at her, she put her hands on her hips and sighed. ‘We’re in Rondo, Leo,’ she said in a resigned voice. ‘At the farm? Remember?’

The world steadied. Leo stared around, saw white-painted fences, a water trough, a red-roofed barn with a small balcony jutting oddly from its side… His face grew hot.

Mimi shook her head at him and hurried to the shrieking bundle of rags. ‘I’m sorry we gave you a shock,’ she said, putting out her hand. ‘Let me help –’

There was a bang and a flash of light. Mimi screamed and flew backwards, landing on the ground with a thud.

‘Mimi!’ Leo yelled. He ran to her and hauled her to her feet.

‘It’s okay,’ Mimi panted, rubbing her fingertips with her thumb. ‘It just tingled. It’s some sort of force field.’

Leo looked back at the bundle of rags. He had just realised that it was totally surrounded by a layer of air that looked thicker than ordinary air and rippled like water, when he heard the sound of pounding feet.

A large pink pig wheeled round the corner of the barn and came thundering towards them, followed closely by a determined-looking rooster, a ginger cat and a small black sheep. Dozens of small, golden-brown creatures that looked exactly like gingerbread men jumped out of hiding in the long grass and skittered out of their way.

‘Bertha!’ Leo called. ‘It’s all right! It’s only us!’

Bertha skidded to a halt, her hat tilting drunkenly over one eye. The cat swerved nimbly to avoid her but the rooster and the sheep ran into her and bounced back, collapsing in a heap of feathers and curly black wool.

‘Mimi! Leo!’ Bertha gasped, tossing back her hat. ‘Oh, thank goodness! Do you know what’s –’

‘Are Hal and Tye okay?’ Leo burst out, and felt an enormous wave of relief as Bertha nodded.

‘They never went back to Hal’s house by the river,’ she said. ‘He decided it was too risky – and obviously he was right. They’re in Flitter Wood. We’ll go and join them straight away. Hal’s been waiting for you. There’s something he wants us to do.’

‘What?’ Mimi asked.

Bertha hesitated, glancing at the ginger cat who had sat down beside her and was following the conversation with interest. ‘I’d better let Hal tell you,’ she said at last. ‘It’s… well, I can’t see the point of it, frankly. Hal hasn’t been quite himself lately. He’s been under a lot of stress, organising the defence against the queen. And now on top of everything else he’s lost that lovely little house he built with his own hands!’

‘Better to lose your house than to lose yourself,’ the cat put in darkly. ‘As it is, the queen can only have caught a bunch of squirrels and a goat or two. I’ll bet they wish they’d been somewhere else when her power spread. If they can think at all any more, that is.’

Leo’s stomach churned.

‘It’s weird.’ Mimi frowned in thought. ‘The queen’s spies must have told her that Hal wasn’t at home. Why has she bothered to cover the north, when she can take her cloud anywhere she likes? Did she try moving out and attacking anyone before she did it, Bertha?’

‘No,’ said Bertha. ‘We thought Jim and Polly, who helped us in the wood, would be in danger. Not to mention the queen’s stepdaughter, Suki, and the rest of the family, of course. But so far there’s been no attack at all! The first two days after you left – after the queen was repelled from Hobnob – she was really quiet. Recovering, Hal says, from the shock to her power. We did most of our defence organising then, while we had the chance. The third day the blue light in the castle tower got brighter and we all braced ourselves for trouble, but still nothing happened.’

She took a breath and flicked a drooping poppy out of her eyes. ‘The fourth day she sent out swarms of blue butterflies – they were everywhere – and the same thing happened on day five – that was yesterday. I suppose she was trying to find out what we were doing. Then, last night, she smothered the north in smoke. Personally, I think she’s just sulking because the cloud defence committees were organised so quickly, but Hal –’

‘Speaking of defence committees,’ the cat said, gazing at the shimmering bundle of rags, which had finally fallen silent, ‘what happened to Wurzle?’

Bertha sighed and trotted to the rags. ‘Wizard Wurzle!’ she shouted. ‘Drop the shield. There’s no danger!’

The rags stirred. ‘Are you sure?’ a muffled voice quavered.

‘May my new balcony fall to ashes if I’m lying,’ Bertha bellowed. ‘Drop the shield! Please!’

The watery shimmer vanished. As the bundle of rags rose unsteadily from the ground, Leo saw that it was a hooded cloak that had been patched so many times, and with so many different materials, that it was impossible to tell what the original fabric had been.

Huddled inside the cloak’s folds was a thin little man. He caught sight of Mimi and Leo and jumped backwards with a tiny cry.

‘Wizard Wurzle, may I present my friends Mimi and Leo?’ Bertha said quickly. ‘Mimi and Leo, this is Wizard Wurzle, who kindly came here this morning to attend the second official meeting of TUFFS, the Macdonald’s farm defence committee.’

‘TUFFS,’ Leo repeated weakly.

‘Team United For Farm Security,’ Bertha explained, looking very pleased. ‘TUFFS, you see? Isn’t that clever?’

‘You’d better say yes,’ drawled the ginger cat. ‘It took most of the first meeting to work it out.’

Bertha looked at him coldly. ‘This is Marmaduke,’ she told Mimi and Leo. ‘He is the TUFFS Treasurer – that is, he will look after our money. If we ever have any.’

The cat grinned and turned to watch the rooster, who had finally managed to untangle himself from the sheep and was attempting to recover his dignity by rapid preening.

The wizard’s bony hands plucked the front of his cloak. He mumbled into his hood. The only words Leo could hear were ‘straw’ and ‘exploded’.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, Leo, did you have to jump out of the straw?’ Bertha scolded.

‘I couldn’t help it!’ Leo protested. ‘There was something in there with me, and I think it was a rat!’

A pointed nose poked from the ruins of the straw pile. ‘So?’ a squeaky voice said aggressively. ‘I suppose I have as much right to a little nap as you do! More, I daresay. I don’t imagine you were up half the night on cloud-watch!’

‘Oh, hello, Rhoda,’ Bertha said, rather flustered. ‘May I introduce my friends Mimi and –’

‘We’ve met,’ snapped the rat. She emerged from the straw, flicking her tail at two of the golden-brown creatures as they scurried past. ‘The dots are very bad today, Bertha,’ she complained. ‘If you don’t do something about them soon there’ll be a plague!’

‘I have more important things to think about than dots!’ Bertha said with dignity. ‘If you’re worried about dots, Rhoda, perhaps you’d like to have that fox, Sly, back? Sly kept the dots down wonderfully, I understand. Of course, he also nearly ate the whole Flock of Macdonald!’

Marmaduke sniggered. Rhoda glared at him, but subsided into silence.

Having smoothed the last of his ruffled feathers to his satisfaction, the rooster strutted forward. The sheep trotted after him.

‘How do you do?’ the rooster said, nodding graciously to Leo and Mimi. ‘I am Snoot, son of Dawnbreaker, Guardian of the Flock of Macdonald and Vice-President of TUFFS.’

‘Vice-President,’ the sheep bleated behind him. ‘And I’m Sec-re-tary. No one else wanted to be Sec-re-tary, but I did.’

‘That’s right, Barbara,’ Bertha said kindly.

Leo glanced dubiously at Mimi. It didn’t seem to him that TUFFS had much chance of protecting the farm from a dot invasion, let alone an attack by the Blue Queen.

He could see by Mimi’s blank expression that she felt the same way. Bertha, however, seemed quite unconcerned.

‘In my opinion, TUFFS is the most efficient defence area committee in Rondo!’ she told them. ‘We’ve drawn up a roster so that there will be someone on cloud-watch day and night. Any suspicious clouds will be reported to Snoot, who will crow the alarm. Three very loud crows.’

‘Three crows,’ repeated Barbara, nodding her woolly head madly.

‘Immediately on hearing the alarm, everyone will proceed in orderly fashion to one of the official shelters,’ Snoot added importantly. ‘Meanwhile, Wizard Wurzle –’

The little wizard jumped nervously at the sound of his name.

‘Wizard Wurzle might like to explain his role to Mimi and Leo himself, Snoot,’ Bertha said, nodding at Wurzle encouragingly.

‘Oh!’ squeaked the little man, looking terrified. ‘Oh, yes… well, on hearing the alarm, my task is to raise an impenetrable defence shield over W3 – that is, over my defence area. This farm, that is, and the nearby villages and forests and so on.’

‘But – but can you do that?’ gasped Leo in amazed relief, thinking of Flitter Wood and the cottages further north where Jim, Polly, and Suki and their families lived.

‘I do hope so.’ The wizard gnawed at his thumbnail. ‘I’m a bit rusty on large-area shields, I must admit. Normally I just shield myself, you see. But I’ve been practising.’

‘Defence shields are Wizard Wurzle’s specialty,’ Bertha said proudly. ‘We’re so lucky to have him in our area! Imagine being in W7 and having to rely on that impossible Wizard Bing, for example.’

‘Or being in W5 with that hermit wizard No-Name, who’ll only talk to his owl!’ Rhoda smirked.

‘Well, now, I don’t think that’s very fair, you know,’ Wizard Wurzle objected feebly. ‘Bing and No-Name may be a little bit – eccentric, shall we say – but both are very good at defence. As are all the witches and wizards who have been put in charge of defence areas, I might say.’

‘How many of those are there, Wizard Wurzle?’ Mimi asked intently. She had a strange gleam in her eye and Leo wondered what she was thinking about.

‘Oh,’ Wurzle mumbled in confusion, ‘well, there’s me, of course. And Bing and No-Name. That’s three. And then there’s Pandora, the Thorn Witch, and Zillah – all very fine witches – that’s six. And… dear me, who is the seventh?’

‘Wizard Plum,’ Marmaduke the cat put in. ‘And from what Macdonald’s been saying, the townies aren’t too happy about depending on him, either. There’s talk that the shopkeepers have got together to hire a coast witch as back-up.’

‘Yes, I heard that too,’ Bertha murmured, as Wurzle clicked his tongue in distress. ‘But I’m not sure it will help very much. They could only afford to employ her part-time.’

‘Coast witches aren’t reliable anyway,’ the rat sniffed. ‘They’re not licensed. Anyone can set up as a witch on the coast. All you have to do is stop combing your hair and buy a spell book and you’re in business.’

‘This witch seems to be the real thing,’ said Bertha. ‘Jolly says she had very good references. And a wart.’

Snoot puffed out his feathers. ‘Well, fortunately we do not have to resort to coast witches,’ he said. ‘We have Wizard Wurzle, supreme defence expert, on our team, to respond the moment I sound the alarm.’

He bowed to the wizard, who gave a jerky little bow in return.

‘I hate to bring this up again,’ drawled Marmaduke, ‘but what if Wurzle doesn’t hear the alarm? What if a squirrel’s just said boo to him or something and he’s put up his shield? You can’t hear much inside a defence shield.’

Wizard Wurzle blushed and shrank back into the folds of his cloak.

‘We discussed this at the meeting, Marmaduke!’ Bertha said severely. ‘We decided. Wizard Wurzle just has to keep calm and avoid shocks at all costs.’

‘At all costs,’ repeated Barbara.

‘That’s all very well,’ whimpered the wizard. ‘But the whole point about shocks is that… well, they’re shocks, you know. You never know when they’re going to happen.’

‘Just do your relaxation exercises and say your affirmations three times a day, Wizard Wurzle,’ Bertha said. ‘I’m sure you’ll be fine.’

‘I don’t hold with all that flim-flam,’ the rooster declared robustly. ‘Relaxation exercises! Pah! It’s just a matter of keeping your nerves under control, Wurzle. You have to pull yourself together! We’re all depending on you.’

‘Depending!’ Barbara bleated. ‘On you!’

The wizard shrank further into his cloak and began gnawing at his fingernails again.

‘What’s that?’ the cat asked suddenly.

He was looking up. Everyone else looked up too. Leo’s heart lurched. A dark shape was approaching rapidly from the north.

Wurzle squeaked and the air around him began to shimmer slightly.

‘Your affirmations, Wizard Wurzle!’ Bertha cried urgently.

With what seemed to be a tremendous effort the little man pulled back the sleeve of his robe and peered at the words written in red ink on the inside of his wrist.

‘I … am calm,’ he read in a trembling voice. ‘I am brave. I… am… invincible.’ He swayed. He looked as if he was about to faint.

‘It’s coming right for us!’ panted Snoot, his feathers standing on end. ‘This is appalling! Why was the warning not given? Who is on cloud-watch this shift?’

‘You are,’ snapped Marmaduke.

‘Leo! Mimi! Get behind me!’ squealed Bertha. ‘Wizard Wurzle! The defence shield!’

‘I am calm,’ gabbled the wizard. ‘I am in-in-in-invisible…’ He had his eyes tightly shut.

‘I’m off,’ muttered Rhoda, and darted away like a grey streak.

‘It’s all right!’ shouted Marmaduke. ‘It’s not a cloud! It’s only a dragon!’

And sure enough, as the dark shape dropped lower, green scales flashed in the sun, and everyone could see the dragon’s spiked tail and vast, beating wings.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, what a relief!’ Bertha exclaimed. ‘Oh, I feel quite weak in the knees!’

The dragon swept closer, closer, sailing on the wind.

‘Look at it, Leo!’ Mimi breathed. ‘Have you ever seen anything so…’

Magnificent, thought Leo. He was thrilling with excitement. He’d seen dragons in Rondo before, but never as close as this. He watched, entranced, as the great, glittering beast wheeled above them. Then he caught a glimpse of a cold, flat eye in which rainbow colours swirled, and his heart seemed to stop.

‘It is flying rather low,’ Snoot cackled disapprovingly.

‘It doesn’t look very well,’ Bertha said at the same moment.

Leo felt Mimi’s hand tighten on his arm. He heard Bertha’s startled cry, Barbara’s bleat of fright, Marmaduke’s warning yowl. He gaped, rigid with horror, as suddenly, shockingly, the dragon flattened its wings and dived, straight as a spear. The air filled with screams. The beast’s terrible jaws opened. It roared, and fire gushed from its throat. The straw pile burst into flames.

‘Wurzle! Help!’ shrieked Bertha, pushing Mimi and Leo roughly towards the cringing wizard and trying to shield them with her own body.

‘Run for your lives!’ squawked Snoot, and took off in a flurry of singed feathers. Marmaduke had already gone. Barbara the sheep fell over, scrambled up, shook her woolly head uncertainly and fell over again.

Then the dragon was upon them. Its multicoloured eyes rolled in its scaly head. The cruel talons on its back feet opened like the jaws of twin traps, reaching for prey. Bertha, Leo and Mimi hurled themselves sideways, cannoning into Wizard Wurzle.

Leo felt a cool softness envelop him. A vast shape skimmed overhead, blotting out the sun. In terror he heard a muffled roar, a thin, despairing bleat and the beating of mighty wings. Then the shadow was gone, and he could hear nothing but the cries of Wurzle, Mimi and Bertha, and the pounding of his own heart.

Chapter

3

Headquarters

The farm was in mourning when Leo, Mimi, Bertha and Wizard Wurzle left it at last. The barn was scorched. The grass was charred. Bertha’s new balcony was a heap of ash. And Barbara, the little black sheep, was gone.

‘I’m – I’m so sorry,’ Bertha had said to Farmer Macdonald, her lips trembling. ‘Wolves and foxes I can fight. But dragons…’

‘Rogue dragons are rare, but they’re a fact of life, Bertha,’ Macdonald had answered gruffly. ‘Don’t blame yourself.’

But Bertha had refused to be comforted.

It was a subdued little group that trailed across the road and moved onto the narrow forest path leading to Flitter Wood. Bertha was trudging along in front, her head low. Wizard Wurzle was bent almost double, filled with shame because he had failed to extend the defence shield to cover Barbara as well as everyone else. Mimi was silent, her brow creased in thought. Leo wondered if she was still arguing with herself about whether she should have used the Key against the dragon.

‘I thought of using it,’ she’d told him miserably. ‘But I didn’t dare. What if one of the queen’s spies had been hiding somewhere near, and seen me? Then Wizard Wurzle shielded us, and I thought we were safe. But… oh, poor Barbara!’

‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Leo had said, over and over again. But he knew it hadn’t helped.

Bertha slowed down a little. The path had narrowed, and delicate ferns now clustered at its edges like frothy green lace. Massive trees rose straight and tall on all sides. We’re nearly there, Leo thought. And for the first time since the dark shape had appeared in the sky above the farm, he remembered that Hal had a job for them, and wondered what it could be. Bertha clearly disapproved of it, and that was strange. Bertha usually felt that Hal Langlander, the hero who had ended the Dark Time, the Blue Queen’s last reign of terror, could do no wrong.

Leo was considering, and dismissing, the idea that Hal might want them to help him recapture the house by the river, when a low, ominous growl just ahead banished all thought from his mind.

Bertha stopped. A shadow was barring the path in front of her. Sweat broke out on Leo’s forehead as the shadow moved, black stripes flickered, and the growl was repeated.

‘Bertha, Wizard Wurzle, Mimi and Leo to see Hal and Tye,’ he heard Bertha say, very formally. ‘We are expected.’

There was no reply, but the next instant the path was clear, and over to one side there was the stealthy sound of fern stems snapping beneath the pads of heavy paws.

Bertha moved on, keeping her pace slow and even and looking straight ahead. Everyone else followed her example. As Leo passed the place where the shadow had barred the way, he felt hidden eyes watching him, and the back of his neck burned.

Ferns closed in around them, covering the ground. The trees were bathed in green light, their trunks and branches dappled here and there with golden coins of sunlight. The silence was complete, except for the sound of the walkers’ feet on the soft ground.

As Bertha led the way around a bend in the path, Leo saw Mimi start, and heard her catch her breath. He looked over her head, saw what she had seen, and felt his own throat close.

Hal and Tye were standing together in a ferny glade. Right in front of them, a dozen slender figures sat cross-legged on the ground, deftly braiding vines into thick rope. Some of the workers were adult, some were children, but all of them looked like Tye, with tiger-striped faces and spiky black hair. Behind them, in the overhanging branches of a giant tree, younger children were climbing, jumping and swinging.

But there wasn’t a sound. Not a sound, though the children were laughing, the tree branches were swaying, and the adults’ mouths were opening and closing as they chatted at their work.

Bertha had frozen. Wizard Wurzle and Mimi had stopped in mid-stride. Leo held his breath. For a long moment, the vision of the lost world of the Terlamaines held. Then it melted away, leaving Hal and Tye gazing at the place where it had been.

The silence lengthened. No one moved. Then, suddenly, Tye seemed to sense that she was being observed, and looked round. She saw the little group on the path and said something to Hal, who turned and beckoned.

Bertha, Wurzle and Mimi moved forward eagerly. Leo followed more slowly, feeling like an intruder who had blundered into a scene that should have remained private. There was no hint of awkwardness in Hal’s warm greeting, however, and Tye herself gave one of her rare smiles.

‘Did you see?’ she asked softly.

‘We did indeed!’ Wizard Wurzle burst out, before anyone else could speak. ‘What a privilege! To see Terlamaines as they really lived! I – I am overwhelmed! But by what great magic was the vision created? I have never seen its like!’

Suddenly realising that everyone was looking at him, he gulped and shrank back into the folds of his cloak like a tortoise retreating into its shell.

‘Hal –’ Bertha began in a high voice.

‘We heard about the dragon attack, Bertha,’ Hal said quietly. ‘The forest is alive with the news. I’m sorry about your friend.’

Bertha’s eyes filled with tears. Wurzle’s shoulders slumped.

‘Where are Conker and Freda?’ Leo asked, to break the heavy silence.

‘They should be back any minute,’ Hal said. ‘They went to see Peg at the camping shop. She sent a messenger mouse saying she had news for us. It might be the lead I’ve been waiting for.’

Bertha sighed and he glanced at her quizzically.

‘What’s this job you have for us, Hal?’ Mimi demanded.

‘First things first,’ Hal said, turning to her and looking straight into her eyes. ‘You need to get settled. Bertha will show you the way to our headquarters. Everything you need is there.’

In other words, Leo thought, seeing Mimi nod her understanding, somewhere at headquarters there’s a Safe Place where we can hide the Key. And Hal’s not going to tell us anything, or let us do anything, until the Key is safely stowed. But what about Wizard Wurzle? We can’t let him see…

‘Wizard Wurzle, you might prefer to stay here with us and wait for Conker and Freda,’ Hal went on smoothly. ‘If you’d like Tye to tell you a little more about the

Terlamaine vision, that is.’

‘Oh, certainly!’ gasped Wurzle, rising instantly to the bait. ‘Oh, yes, indeed!’

Bertha nudged Leo and Mimi and began leading them out of the glade.

‘The vision of my people as they lived before the Blue Queen destroyed them in the Dark Time was one of the memories of the Ancient One, Wizard Wurzle,’ Leo heard Tye say behind them. ‘As you have heard, Mimi and Leo spent time in the Ancient One’s cloud palace when it came to earth in Hobnob. They found that memories still clung to their clothes and hair, like tiny glittering flecks, when the Ancient One had gone. They collected the memories, and gave them to me.’

Leo glanced over his shoulder and saw the little wizard gaping in awe as Tye showed him the small, plump, drawstring bag that hung from her belt.

‘Tye is a bit – different, isn’t she?’ he said to Mimi when they were well away from the glade. ‘She’s friendlier. Sort of… softer. Do you think it’s because of the Ancient One’s dreams? Because she doesn’t feel so alone any more?’

‘Of course,’ Mimi said absent-mindedly. ‘Leo, have you seen any Flitters yet?’

‘No.’ Leo hadn’t thought about it, but now that Mimi asked, he realised that he hadn’t seen a single one of the tiny green fairy-like creatures that should have been swarming everywhere in Flitter Wood.

‘The Flitters are patrolling the treetops,’ Bertha called over her shoulder. ‘The tigers do a very good job on the ground, but they can’t do much about the queen’s blue butterflies. They’re the Flitters’ responsibility.’

‘But how can the Flitters stop the butterflies?’ Leo asked. ‘It’s not as if they can fight them.’ He smiled at the thought of the fragile Flitters doing anything warlike.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, of course Flitters can fight!’ Bertha exclaimed. ‘If they have to – and if the enemies are their own size, of course. They use thorns from the berry trees as weapons and they’re very fierce with them, too. There isn’t a wasp in Rondo who’d dare to invade Flitter Wood, I can tell you. And now that the Flitters know the blue butterflies are spies, they’re fanatical about keeping the wood clear of them.’

As she spoke, they reached a place that Leo remembered very well. A giant tree rose in front of them, its great boughs, spangled with hanging ferns, spreading wide from a tall, straight trunk.

‘The Flitters’ Nesting Tree!’ Mimi exclaimed.

Bertha sighed and nodded at a neat hut that stood at the edge of the Nesting Tree clearing. The hut was made of dead branches and sheets of bark, and was complete with a door that could be locked and two small windows. To Leo it looked very inviting, like a snug cubby house. On a cleared patch of ground in front of it was a small stone fireplace stacked with dry sticks.

‘That’s where Hal and Tye are living,’ Bertha said, with obvious disapproval. ‘Though why Hal decided to set up his headquarters here, I do not know. He and Tye would be far more comfortable if they stayed in the tavern with me. But they insist that they prefer this.’

Mimi wrinkled her nose, but Leo could understand Hal and Tye’s point of view. ‘Here they don’t have to see other people, if they don’t want to,’ he pointed out. ‘It’s quiet. And they’re in the open air.’

‘That may be,’ said Bertha loftily, ‘but as far as I’m concerned a room supplying hot baths and a comfortable bed is far superior to a forest hut with a gang of tigers as bodyguards!’

She seemed very ruffled. Clearly her loyalty to Hal was warring with her doubts about his common sense. Leo hastily asked her where the Safe Place was.

Bertha gave herself a little shake as if recalling herself to duty, and trotted to the Nesting Tree. ‘Member of the Ancient Order of Safe Places, please show yourself,’ she said.

With a wet, sucking sound a slab of damp, fern-covered earth between two of the Nesting Tree’s enormous roots opened like a shaggy trapdoor, revealing a velvet cushion as richly green as a pad of moss.

‘At your service,’ said a soft, mellow voice.

Leo and Mimi kneeled beside the trapdoor. Bertha discreetly moved away and turned her back.

‘Please state your password,’ said the voice.

‘Marion,’ said Mimi, glancing at Leo, who nodded. No one else in Rondo knew Mimi’s real name, so as a password it was ideal.

‘Marion,’ repeated the Safe Place. ‘Please be aware that I will not open again until this password is repeated. If you wish to continue, place the object to be guarded.’

Mimi took off the Key to Rondo and put it on the cushion. The ugly old pendant and its silver chain gleamed dully against the rich green velvet for a split second. Then the cushion sank rapidly into darkness.

Leo felt the same slight prickle of panic that he had felt the first time he’d seen the Key, his only way home, disappear into the depths of a Safe Place. He told himself not to be stupid. He told himself that entrusting the Key to a Safe Place was far less dangerous than carrying it around. But he still felt strangely hollow as he stood up, brushing leaves and dirt from his knees.

‘Thank you for using the services of a Rondo Safe Place,’ said the voice from deep inside the black hole. ‘Please mind your feet.’ The shaggy trapdoor squelched shut, sealing itself so perfectly that it was impossible to see where it had been.

Feeling worse than ever, Leo glanced at Mimi. She grimaced and shrugged. ‘It feels bad,’ she said. ‘But we had to do it. After last time…’

After last time, when the Key nearly fell back into the Blue Queen’s hands, and Rondo was a breath away from another Dark Time.

‘Mimi! Leo!’ a familiar voice bawled from the trees.

As they shouted back they heard the sounds of tramping feet, and in moments Conker was bursting into the clearing, short, chunky and full of energy, his hair and beard wilder than ever, his fang earring swinging. Freda the masked duck was beside him and Tye, Hal and Wizard Wurzle were close behind.

‘Oh, my heart and lungs, it’s good to see you!’ Conker bellowed, clapping Leo and Mimi on the shoulders. ‘The old team, back together again! And just in the nick of time, too! The quest is on!’

‘What do you mean?’ Bertha asked sharply. ‘Has Peg seen –’

‘As good as!’ Conker led the way to the fireplace, shrugged off his bulging pack, and squatted to light the fire. ‘She checked out the Tavern of No Return for us late last night. It was all locked up, but one of the top-floor windows was wide open, and a rope made of sheets knotted together was hanging out of it, down to the ground.’

‘So?’ Bertha asked coldly.

‘So Grim and Misery Merk were holding him prisoner last night, and he escaped!’ said Conker. ‘Ah, if only Peg had got there earlier! I knew he’d try to get help from his old pals the Merks eventually. And it was dabs to dibs the Merks would lock him up so they could sell him to the highest bidder. You know what they’re like.’

‘Who are we talking about?’ Leo asked blankly.

‘Who?’ roared Conker. ‘Oh, my blood and bones, Leo, who do you think? The villain Hal wants to find! His no-good thieving brother! Spoiler!’

Chapter

4

Big Ideas

The Merks’ prisoner could have been anyone!’ Bertha snapped. ‘They tried to keep Mimi and me prisoner when we went into their disgusting tavern by mistake and –’

‘Peg knows Spoiler’s scent,’ Freda cut in. ‘Her sense of smell’s very good at night.’

When she turns into a bear, Leo thought queasily, remembering the huge, shambling owner of the camping shop.

‘Peg tracked him as far as she could before the sun rose,’ Conker went on, slamming a blackened kettle onto the fire. ‘He was heading north along Woffles Way, towards the Crystal Palace. So if we –’

‘Why do you want to find Spoiler, Hal?’ Mimi broke in. ‘The Blue Queen’s the one you should be worrying about!’

Leo nodded. He was feeling quite deflated. He’d thought that Hal was going to ask them to do something exciting. The idea of trying to catch sleazy, slippery George Langlander was a real anticlimax.

‘I am worrying about the Blue Queen,’ Hal replied calmly. ‘And that’s why I want Spoiler found. He’s out of the queen’s favour now, but he was her henchman for years. He can surely give us some clue about what she’s doing.’

‘But we know what she’s doing, Hal!’ Bertha cried in frustration. ‘She’s sulking in her castle, trying to think of a way to get around the defence committees!’

Hal shook his head. ‘She’s gone quiet because she’s working on something new. We have to find out what it is. We must not be taken by surprise again.’

‘Something new?’ quavered Wizard Wurzle.

Mimi moved restlessly. She took a breath as if she was about to speak, then seemed to change her mind.

Leo frowned. ‘But the queen’s only just perfected the spell that lets her move her power out of the castle,’ he argued. ‘Why would she start on something new so quickly?’

‘That’s what’s bothering me,’ Hal muttered, staring into the fire. ‘The only way it makes sense is if it’s something so important that she couldn’t resist starting on it straight away. I’m sure she spread her power over her domain last night partly so she can work on this thing, whatever it is, in secret, and partly…’

‘To capture some servants to help her,’ Tye finished for him grimly.

‘Servants?’ Bertha said scathingly. ‘But the far north’s deserted, except for –’

‘Oh, my lungs and liver, Hal, that reminds me!’ Conker exploded, making everyone jump. ‘I meant to tell you first thing! Old Winkle’s junk shop was broken into early this morning, and guess who the robbers were? Squirrels! A gang of crazy squirrels!’

Mimi and Leo burst out laughing.

‘Squirrels?’ squeaked Wizard Wurzle.

‘It’s as true as I’m standing here,’ Conker said. ‘We met Winkle on the street and he told us the whole thing. Right, Freda?’

Freda nodded shortly. She had begun to look rather sick.

‘Winkle woke up, heard noises in the shop downstairs, and went to investigate,’ Conker went on. ‘He found the place crawling with squirrels going through his stuff. When he tried to stop them, they came at him in a bunch, knocked him down and tied him up with his own dressing-gown cord. Then they made their escape with some trinket boxes he’d brought back from his last country buying trip.’

‘Conker, are you implying that these were enchanted squirrels, on a mission from the Blue Queen?’ Bertha demanded haughtily. ‘If so, I would be most grateful if you’d tell me what the queen wants with a lot of old trinket boxes!’

‘Oh, my liver and kidneys, how should I know?’ blustered Conker. ‘All I know is, Winkle was robbed by a gang of squirrels.’

‘Squirrels with funny eyes,’ Freda said uneasily.

Leo and Mimi stopped laughing. Bertha’s jaw dropped.

‘The dragon that attacked the farm had weird eyes,’ Mimi said, her voice trembling a little. ‘They were swirling with different colours.’

‘Enchanted!’ quavered Wurzle. ‘An enchanted dragon – oh, spare me! It must have flown straight into the smoke. Out hunting at dawn, I suppose, and thought the smoke was just cloud, or fog…’

‘Oh, lawks-a-daisy,’ Bertha whispered. ‘If the dragon who attacked us was working for the queen, then poor Barbara…’

‘Is in the queen’s hands now,’ said Hal.

Leo looked at him. Hal’s face was creased with lines of strain, but his grey eyes were steady and his mouth was firm.

This hasn’t taken him by surprise, Leo thought. He suspected it. He just didn’t want to tell Bertha – or any of us – until he was sure.

‘Oh, Hal, you were right all along,’ Bertha groaned. ‘The queen was working on something new. She was trying to catch a dragon, and now she has!’

Hal shook his head. ‘The dragon is just a small part of it. The dragon is a servant, nothing more. There’s something else –’

‘Something else?’ wailed Wizard Wurzle. ‘Oh, spare me! A dragon stealing Rondo citizens one by one to become Blue Queen slaves! Isn’t that enough?’

‘We’ll have to strengthen our defences,’ Conker said, splashing boiling water into the teapot. ‘Add dragon-watch to cloud-watch, tell the crow patrol, contact all the defence committee leaders –’ ‘No!’ Mimi exclaimed.

Everyone looked at her in astonishment. She flushed, but went on determinedly.

‘I mean, yes, of course everyone should be warned about the dragon,’ she said. ‘But you – we – have to stop just thinking about defence.’

‘Lawks-a-daisy, Mimi, what do you mean?’ Bertha demanded. ‘What else can we think about?’

‘How to stop this,’ Mimi said fiercely. ‘We’re always going to be afraid of what the queen’s going to do next unless we do something about her, once and for all. And I’ve been thinking –’

‘We can’t fight the Blue Queen, Mimi,’ Conker broke in, with an anxious glance at Hal.

‘No way!’ snapped Freda.

They think Mimi’s talking about attacking the Blue Queen with the Key, Leo thought. They think she’s ignoring all the warnings about how dangerous for Rondo a battle like that would be.

Once he would have jumped to the same conclusion. But now, watching Mimi’s shoulders hunch defensively, he reminded himself that Mimi might be reckless, but she wasn’t stupid. For a start, she wouldn’t risk revealing the secret of the Key by hinting about it in front of Wizard Wurzle.

‘What’s your idea, Mimi?’ he asked quickly.

‘Yes,’ said Tye, leaning forward. ‘Speak your mind, Mimi Langlander.’

The tension in Mimi’s face drained away. She shot Leo and Tye a glance of startled gratitude. But when she spoke she looked at Hal, Bertha and, surprisingly, Wizard Wurzle.

‘It might be a silly idea,’ she began. ‘It might not be possible. But… but these committees you’ve set up – they’re all organised around witches and wizards who can create large defence shields to protect their areas, aren’t they?’

‘Of course,’ said Bertha, frowning in puzzlement. ‘They wouldn’t be much use otherwise.’

Mimi bit her lip. ‘Well,’ she said, ‘I was thinking… if the seven witches and wizards can make shields to keep the queen out, why can’t they get together and make a larger shield to keep her in?’

‘In?’ Bertha gasped, her eyes very round. ‘You mean –’

‘Create a shield wall to stand between the queen and the rest of Rondo,’ Mimi said simply. ‘Let her have the far north – she’s got it anyway. But seal it off, so she can never threaten you again.’

Her colour brightened as Wizard Wurzle squeaked in amazement and everyone else stared at her, dumbfounded.

‘Brilliant, Mimi!’ Conker shouted at last.

But can it be done? Leo thought, meeting Hal’s eyes.

‘Can it be done?’ Freda demanded, and everyone turned to look at Wurzle, who had sprung to his feet and begun pacing up and down in agitation.

‘It is – a fascinating idea!’ Wurzle muttered. ‘It would not be possible to screen off the whole of the queen’s domain, of course. But a smaller area – the area immediately around the castle, for example, to which the queen will surely withdraw at times, probably at night, to renew her energies… That should be possible – it should.’ He paused, his face screwed up in thought, then shook his head. ‘But I doubt… yes, I doubt we could achieve it. Not as things stand, no…’

Mumbling to himself, he wandered off into the trees.

Mimi shrugged. ‘So,’ she said with a crooked little smile. ‘That’s that.’

‘Oh, how disappointing!’ wailed Bertha. ‘It was such a wonderful idea, too! It would have been the answer to –’

There was the sudden clatter of wings. A large black crow swooped down through the treetops and landed with a thud beside the fireplace.

‘Marjorie!’ quacked Freda.

‘Tea!’ the crow gasped, and fell on her side.

Conker half-filled a tin cup with tea and pushed it under the crow’s beak. She took a gulp and swallowed convulsively.

‘Terrible news!’ she croaked. ‘I flew like the wind to tell you. The town has been attacked! Attacked by a dragon!’

As everyone exclaimed in horror, she nodded weakly and took another sip of tea. ‘I saw it all,’ she rasped. ‘The dragon swept right into Main Street, roaring fire. Its scales were green. Its eyes looked mad.’

‘Was anyone hurt?’ Hal asked sharply.

The crow sat up and made an effort to pull herself together. ‘The bank and some shops are on fire, but I think everyone got out safely. Pop the balloon-seller’s eyebrows were singed. Officer Begood was knocked flat on his face by the dragon’s wing and burned on the nose by the hot spinach pie he was eating at the time. And – and Crumble the pie-seller was snatched away!’

‘Crumble?’ Conker roared. ‘Why would the Blue Queen want Crumble?’

‘Why would she want Barbara, for that matter?’ Freda drawled.

‘Maybe she doesn’t care who the dragon takes,’ Hal said, running his fingers despairingly through his hair. ‘Maybe she just wants to cause panic. Distract us…’

‘Well, she won’t succeed,’ Bertha cried, baring her teeth. ‘We’ll do what you say, Hal! We’ll catch Spoiler, and we’ll make him talk. We’ll find out what the queen is up to if it’s the last thing we – eek!’

Wizard Wurzle had come up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

‘Of course, the timing will be everything,’ Wurzle said, as Bertha jumped aside and he hobbled past her to the fireplace with an absent-minded nod of thanks. ‘The barrier must be raised at exactly the same moment all along its length. That will be the key to success.’

He poured himself a cup of tea and drank thirstily. The quest team exchanged bewildered glances.

‘Wizard Wurzle,’ Mimi burst out. ‘Are you talking about my idea? I thought you said it wouldn’t work!’

‘Did I?’ the wizard exclaimed. ‘Oh, well, yes, I suppose I did. Because it wouldn’t work, would it, without something to link the shields?’

He looked around the circle of confused faces. ‘If many defence shields were simply put up side by side, a perfect seal would be impossible,’ he explained earnestly. ‘There would be little chinks at the joins – that couldn’t be avoided. And, as I’m sure you know, defence shields cannot overlap without dire consequences.’

He held up a bony finger. ‘But if,’ he said, ‘the shield magic was attached, as it were, to a physical barrier – a fabric which itself had magical properties, so its weave would absorb and spread the spells – then there would be no problem!’

There was a long silence.

‘Let’s get this straight, Wurzle!’ Conker growled after a moment. ‘You’re saying that if we want to seal the queen off, we have to get hold of a magic cloth big enough to cover her entire castle?’

‘And the hill on which the castle stands, I fancy,’ Wizard Wurzle agreed placidly. He was so engrossed in the plan that his usual timidity had vanished. He smiled to himself as his audience exchanged dubious glances.

‘Now, I know you are going to say that the ideal thing would be a canopy woven of thistles – by a beautiful maiden, preferably,’ he went on. ‘And you would be right, of course. But I fear that a thistle canopy would take too long to complete, and would be too difficult to handle.’

‘Oh, really?’ jeered Freda.

‘I think so,’ said Wurzle. ‘Fortunately, the next best thing – perfectly adequate in my opinion – is a gossamer web. This would be very easy to handle, and the Flitters could spin it in a day or two.’

Everyone stared at him, open-mouthed. He fidgeted, and for the first time since returning to the clearing, looked a little nervous. ‘Well, so they say,’ he added.

‘You’ve spoken to the Flitters about this, Wurzle?’ Hal asked slowly.

‘Of course!’ cried the little man, showing a trace of spirit. ‘Not two minutes ago, I consulted a large off-duty group I found resting by the stream. Did you think I was wandering around the wood talking to myself?’

Conker trod on Freda’s foot before she could say anything.

‘Naturally,’ Wurzle continued fussily, ‘I will have to consult my colleagues. But I am confident they will agree with me. Defence shields are, after all –’ he cast his eyes down modestly’ – my specialty.’

His heart racing, Leo looked quickly around the circle. Mimi’s face was glowing. The tips of Bertha’s ears were scarlet with excitement. Conker was tugging frenziedly at his beard. Freda’s neck feathers were standing on end. Tye’s golden eyes were fiercely bright. Hal was rubbing his chin, looking very serious.

‘This is – wonderful!’ cried Bertha. ‘Just imagine if we could really get rid of the queen once and for all!’

‘Indeed,’ said Wurzle, clasping his hands. ‘And Plum, Pandora and the others will be willing to try it, I believe, if the attack is organised and led by Hal, hero of the Dark Time and a man they have learned to trust.’

‘It’s tempting, Wurzle, but it would be extremely dangerous,’ Hal said soberly. ‘Consider the queen’s fury when she realises what we’re trying to do! We’d be taking a terrible risk.’

‘I would risk anything to see her caged,’ hissed Tye, and Hal glanced at her, his brow furrowed.

‘Hal, if we do this properly, the queen won’t even know what’s happening till it’s too late!’ Mimi cried passionately. ‘If we keep the plan a deadly secret, and put the web in place at night, when the blue butterflies aren’t around to spy –’

‘For all we know, the queen is working on a new spy system right now,’ Hal said doggedly. ‘That’s the point, Mimi! Any plan we make will be affected by what she’s planning. We can do nothing until we know. I’d never forgive myself if –’

‘Well, personally, I’d never forgive myself if more people got snatched by that dragon because we were scared to take a risk!’ Bertha said in a trembling voice.

Hal’s eyes darkened, but still he shook his head.

‘Oh, my lungs, liver and kidneys, Hal!’ roared Conker. ‘We’ve got to try it! We’ve got to! Right, Freda?’

‘Right,’ Freda said firmly.

Hal looked at Leo. ‘Well, Leo?’ he asked quietly. ‘What do you think?’

Chapter

5

The Shop without a Name

Leo hesitated. If he agreed with the others, Hal would lose his one possible ally. If he agreed with Hal, it would strengthen Hal’s determination to be cautious.

And Leo understood Hal’s caution – understood it perfectly. But he also understood the excitement felt by everyone else, because he was feeling it too. Why is it always down to me? he thought fretfully. It’s not fair!

Then he met Hal’s worried eyes and his irritation abruptly died. Hal wanted to stop the Blue Queen just as much as anyone else did. But it wasn’t in his nature to rush headlong into danger without full knowledge of what he might be risking.

It’s not in my nature either, thought Leo, realising yet again just how like Hal Langlander he was. Rondo makes me want to be a hero, and it sometimes makes me act like one, too. But that doesn’t mean I can’t think things through. I can be a hero, and still be me.

And with that thought, everything clicked into place.

‘This is what I think should happen, Hal,’ he said steadily. ‘You, Tye and Wizard Wurzle get the Flitters working on the web straight away. You also organise a secret meeting of the seven witches and wizards to get their agreement and make a final plan.’

He paused, holding Hal’s gaze, waiting for Conker’s whoops and Bertha’s cheers to die down.

‘Meanwhile,’ he went on, ‘Bertha, Conker, Freda, Mimi and I go after Spoiler, and do our best to find out what the queen’s up to. That way, no time will be wasted. By the time we get back, the web will be ready and the plan made. So if we’ve got the information you need, you can go ahead straight away if you want to. And if we haven’t… well, the plan can be put on hold.’

He waited, and with relief saw Hal smile slightly and nod.

‘Not bad,’ Freda said approvingly.

‘Leo, you’re so sensible!’ cried Bertha.

She sounded just like Aunt Bethany! Leo caught Mimi’s gently mocking glance. He felt his face grow hot, but forced himself not to say anything.

‘It is a good plan,’ Tye said crisply. ‘It will indeed save time. And it has another advantage. A search party that includes Leo and Mimi may divert the queen’s attention from what is happening here in the wood.’

A little trickle of fear ran down Leo’s spine, and the vision of the snarling dragon filled his mind. He struggled to remain expressionless.

‘Excellent!’ Conker roared, rubbing his hands. ‘Let’s be off, then, while the trail’s still hot!’

‘Keep in touch,’ said Hal. His voice was casual, but Leo could see he was worried. Bertha was very quiet, too, and Mimi’s mouth was set in a hard, straight line. I’m not the only one to have been scared by what Tye said, Leo thought, and felt a bit better.

‘We’ll be fine,’ Conker said breezily, shouldering his pack. ‘After all, we’ve been in mortal peril before and escaped with our lives. Why should it be any different this time?’

Leo really wished he hadn’t said that.

A few minutes later, the search party was emerging from the swirling grey mist of the Flitter Wood Gap into the deserted first floor of the Black Sheep tavern. Leo felt dizzy and sick, and thought he probably looked it, too, because Mimi kept glancing at him as they followed Conker, Freda and Bertha to the stairs.

‘I’ll be okay in a minute,’ he muttered, before she could say anything.

Mimi nodded. She herself, Leo noted with annoyance, was as clear-eyed and pink-cheeked as she usually was in Rondo. Gaps didn’t bother Mimi. She just accepted them as useful short cuts. When Leo had worried over them at home, finally coming to the scary conclusion that they were the result of tiny spaces left blank by the Artist who had painted the music box, she had serenely agreed that he was probably right. Then she had yawned and started talking about something else.

But for Leo, the idea of plunging into mysterious nothingness – leaping through what might as well be wormholes in space – was deeply disturbing. He doubted he’d ever get used to it.

As they crept downstairs, they began to hear the sounds of people shouting and crying, and to smell the faint, sinister odour of burning wood. Dots scuttled around their feet, making no effort to hide. No one spoke as Conker led the way into the alley that ran behind the tavern.

But it wasn’t until they turned into the path leading up to the main street, and saw the view framed by the path’s narrow mouth, that the reality of the dragon attack really came home to them.

The air was thick with smoke. Posy the flower-seller sat slumped on an upturned bucket, paying no attention to the firefighters still battling the flames in the bank behind her, or the frantic people scurrying past with bundles of rescued possessions in their arms. Sooty water bobbing with the blackened stems of flowers swirled around Posy’s feet. The awning of her stall sagged above her head, its red-and-white stripes hidden beneath a shroud of soggy ash. On her lap was Crumble’s pie tray, scorched scraps of pastry still clinging to its cracked and blistered surface.

As the friends reached the street, Pop the balloon-seller, his face and bald scalp fiery red and streaked with black, limped up to Posy and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

‘Come on,’ said Conker gruffly. ‘There’s nothing we can do here.’

They turned left and began walking, skirting the people who were standing staring at the place where Crumble the pie-man usually sold his wares. Crumble’s space looked desolate. The paving stones were swimming with black water, which eddied sluggishly around a soggy mass of smashed pies and hundreds of scorched, dissolving dots.

The shops and stalls beyond this spot were undamaged, because the dragon had swooped back into the sky once it had snatched up Crumble. But everything was covered in a fine coating of ash, and people were shuffling through a haze of smoke.

Leo’s heart ached as he remembered the last time he had passed this way. Then the street had been bustling, bright with colour, full of life. Now there was no bustle, no colour, and the faces of the people were grim or blank with shock and fear.

Conker, Freda and Bertha crossed the road. Leo was just about to follow when he saw two blue butterflies perched motionless on a lamp-post just ahead. Rage swept through him like flame.

‘Go and tell her, then!’ he shouted at the butterflies. ‘Tell her what a good job her dragon did!’

Startled passers-by glanced at him. The blue butterflies rose into the air and fluttered away towards the north.

‘Leo!’ Mimi pulled at his arm.

He let her drag him across the road. Conker, Freda and Bertha were waiting for them outside the small shop with a heavily curtained window that Leo had always thought of as ‘the shop without a name’.

‘Leo, how could you attract attention to yourself like that?’ Bertha scolded.

‘Get inside, all of you,’ Conker snapped, twisting the knob of the shop door. ‘And keep your mouths shut. I’ll do the talking.’

‘What is this place?’ Mimi whispered, as the door creaked open and a bell jangled.

‘Brewer’s,’ Freda hissed back. ‘Potion ingredients – and other things.’

They followed Conker through the door, which swung shut behind them. The shop was very dim, and its stale air was heavy with strange, unpleasant odours. Glass-fronted cabinets crammed with bottles, jars and packets lined the walls. At the back there was a doorway covered by a knobbly brown curtain. Directly in front of the curtain, a bony man with limp, ginger-coloured hair and thick wire-framed glasses stood leaning over a counter.

‘Hello, Brewer,’ growled Conker.

The man smiled ingratiatingly, showing yellow, rabbity teeth. ‘Why, Conker!’ he said. ‘And Lady Bertha too! This is an honour.’

‘Four bottles of dragon repellent, please,’ said Conker, feeling for his money pouch.

Brewer’s smile broadened. He felt under the counter and drew out four small brown bottles. ‘There you are,’ he said, pushing the bottles towards Conker. ‘Finest quality Dragon’s Bane. That will be eight dabs, thank you.’

Conker froze in the act of opening his pouch. ‘Eight dabs?’ he spluttered. ‘But Dragon’s Bane’s only ten dibs a bottle! It’s always been only –’

Brewer’s face took on an expression of unconvincing regret. ‘Sadly,’ he said, pressing his fingertips together, ‘the price has risen.’

‘Since this morning, I’ll bet,’ said Freda, and snapped her beak.

Brewer took a hasty step backwards. At the same moment the curtain behind him was thrust aside, revealing a wild-haired old woman in a pointed black hat. The woman pushed forward, jabbing the potion-maker violently between the shoulder blades with the handle of the broom she was brandishing in one claw-like hand.

‘Oof!’ Brewer gasped, crashing into the counter.

‘Where is it, Brewer?’ the woman shrieked in a high, cracked voice that set Leo’s teeth on edge. ‘I need it now!’

‘It’s still not ready!’ moaned Brewer. ‘It has to stand a while. I told you!’

‘All I want is a simple hair-growing cream!’ the woman shouted. ‘How long can it take?’

‘You’d think she was hairy enough already,’ Freda muttered.

The old woman glared at her over the counter. ‘Who are you?’ she spat.

‘Who are you, for that matter?’ Conker retorted, moving closer to Freda, his hands on the handles of his dot-swatters.

‘This is Crabclaw,’ Brewer said hastily. ‘She’s the coast witch employed by the town defence committee to help protect –’

‘She didn’t do a very good job today, did she?’ Freda quacked. ‘Half the town’s burnt to a crisp and the pie-seller’s been kidnapped.’

‘Today’s my day off!’ snapped Crabclaw. ‘I’ve got my own affairs to attend to, you know. I just popped through the Gap to pick up the No-Fail Hair-Gro I ordered, and now I find that –’

Brewer groaned under his breath and glanced furtively at Conker.

‘So you do have a Gap in your brewing room!’ Conker crowed. ‘I knew those rumours were true! The Gap ends at Woffles Way, right? Just south of the Crystal Palace?’

‘Yes it does!’ rasped Crabclaw, stomping from behind the counter and pushing her way rudely to the shop door. ‘And if I’d known how inefficient this potion shop was, I’d never have bothered to rent a tower close to where its Gap ends. I thought I’d be saving myself some trouble. Hah! Fat chance!’

She flung herself through the door and out into the street.

Brewer adjusted his glasses. ‘You don’t want to pay any attention to poor old Crabclaw,’ he said, showing his rabbit teeth again. ‘She gets… confused.’

‘Don’t give me that, Brewer!’ Conker snarled, slapping some coins on the counter. ‘Here’s four dabs. That’s payment for four bottles of Dragon’s Bane, with full access to your Gap thrown in. Otherwise, I’ll report you for impeding a registered quest team in the performance of its duty – and you a member of the town defence committee, too! Plus I’ll mention your Gap to Officer Begood.’

Brewer gulped. ‘There’s no need to be so harsh,’ he whined, watching resentfully as Conker pocketed the four small bottles. ‘Use my Gap by all means. I’m happy to be of assistance. Naturally.’

He stood looking stiffly ahead as one by one Conker, Freda, Bertha, Leo and Mimi squeezed past him and pushed through the brown curtain.

The back room of the potion shop was much larger than the room where Brewer saw his customers. Against one wall there was a cluttered workbench where brightly coloured liquids bubbled in glass beakers set over low flames, and bowls of strange substances sat surrounded by jars and sticky stirring spoons. Another wall was equipped with a large sink and a stove from which green smoke was seeping.

The other two walls were packed high with boxes of every size, colour and shape. Hidden away in a corner was a narrow pink door marked Ladies’ Rest Room.

Conker gave a rumble of satisfaction and, ignoring Bertha’s gasp of protest, threw the pink door open. The familiar drifting grey mist of a Gap was revealed.

‘He’s a cunning villain, Brewer,’ said Conker. ‘He knows Begood’s far too much of a gentleman to open a door marked Ladies.’

‘Why does he want to keep his Gap secret?’ asked Mimi, as she followed Conker and Freda through the pink door.

‘He uses it to smuggle out orders he doesn’t want Begood to know about, doesn’t he?’ sniggered Freda. ‘Love potions, truth serums, addling mixtures…’

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ exclaimed Bertha, hurrying after them. ‘But aren’t those things illegal without a doctor’s prescription?’

Leo stepped into the swirling mist. Just before the Gap dizziness overcame him, he heard Conker speaking, his voice sounding very far away. ‘Brewer’s too interested in money, that’s his trouble. One day he’ll really cross the line …’

The voice was still ringing in Leo’s ears when he found himself thudding onto solid ground. Looking blearily around, he saw brown road, green fields and clear blue sky. In the distance, to his right, the glass towers of the Crystal Palace rose above the trees, flashing in the sun.

He shook his head to clear it. He was determined that this time he would show no sign of how upsetting he found Gap travel.

He needn’t have worried. Bertha, Mimi, Freda and Conker were paying no attention to him. They were all gathered together a few steps away, bending over a heavily creased piece of paper that looked like an unfolded paper plane. As Leo walked unsteadily towards them, he realised that Bertha was reading some words aloud.

‘Help!’ Bertha read, her voice rising in excitement. ‘I am Dame Dally, being held prisoner in Crabclaw’s tower. Please save me!’

‘Oh, my lungs and liver!’ Conker grumbled. ‘We haven’t got time for saving damsels now!’

‘That must be the tower over there!’ Mimi exclaimed, pointing to a tall, rather decrepit-looking stone structure in the centre of a nearby field.

‘Not much of a tower,’ said Freda critically. ‘It hasn’t even got a door. Crabclaw must pay a rock-bottom rent. Well, do we go on with the mission or try for a rescue? I’m easy either way.’

‘Rescue,’ Bertha said firmly. Mimi and Leo nodded agreement.

Conker sighed. ‘Let’s get on with it, then,’ he said. ‘But we’ll have to make it snappy. I don’t want that witch catching us releasing her prisoner. She could turn nasty. Which reminds me…’

He pulled out the bottles of Dragon’s Bane. ‘Give yourselves a sprinkle of this,’ he said, handing Leo and Mimi a bottle each. ‘It keeps dragons off like nobody’s business.’

‘It keeps everyone off,’ Freda said sourly as Conker shook a few drops of liquid on to her feathers and a smell like very dirty socks filled the air.

As they tramped towards the tower field, wrinkling their noses at the foul stench now rising from their clothes and hair, they discovered many more paper planes. The planes all bore the word ‘Help’ in large letters, and when unfolded they all contained the same message as the one Bertha had read.

They had nearly reached the tower when yet another paper plane was launched from the window at the top. The plane soared over their heads and buried itself in a thorn bush.

‘Well, she’s a trier, this maiden, or princess, or whatever she is,’ Conker said, appreciatively. He cupped his hands around his mouth. ‘Dame Dally!’ he bellowed. ‘Yoo hoo! Dame Dally!’

‘I told you, witch!’ shrieked a hysterical voice from the tower window. ‘I’ve told you a thousand times! I can’t let down my hair for you to climb up! It’s too short!’

‘Aha!’ said Conker. ‘So that’s why Crabclaw wanted the Hair-Gro cream. I might have known. All right, Freda. Same drill as usual?’

‘Right,’ said the duck.

Conker pulled a rope from his pack and made a noose at one end. Freda took the noose in her beak and flew up to the tower window with the rope trailing behind her.

‘She’ll slip the noose over a bed post or something,’ Conker told Mimi, Leo and Bertha, smothering a yawn as Freda disappeared through the window. ‘That usually does the –’

There was a startled squawk from the tower room and the next moment Freda shot out of the window in a flurry of feathers. She was quickly followed by a large figure in a frilled bonnet. The figure clambered out onto the windowsill, took hold of the rope and began to slide clumsily down, purple skirts billowing in the wind.

‘What’s the matter with Freda?’ squeaked Bertha.

Freda was zooming towards them, her eyes wild. She was quacking loudly, but it was impossible to make out what she was saying.

The rescued prisoner thudded onto the ground and rolled over, displaying a vast expanse of red flannel petticoat, long white pantaloons with lace around the hems, and large black shoes.

Conker, Mimi, Leo and Bertha ran to help, but Freda got there before them. To their astonishment she landed heavily on the prisoner’s stomach and crouched there, her wings raised menacingly.

‘Look at this!’ she hissed.

She leaned forward and tweaked the prisoner’s bonnet aside.

And there, framed in frills, was the red and sweating face of Spoiler.

Chapter

6

Clues and Crises

Spoiler looked up at the circle of astounded faces looming above him. His lips trembled. ‘Saved!’ he croaked, and burst into tears.

‘Stop that!’ snapped Freda, looking disgusted.

‘But you don’t know,’ Spoiler blubbered, pressing hands encased in dainty lace mittens over his eyes. ‘You can’t imagine what I’ve been through! That witch is out of her mind! I thought I’d never get out of that tower. Oh, thank you! Thank you!’ Tears leaked through his fingers and dribbled down his cheeks and neck to soak into the collar of his dainty spotted blouse.

‘We’d better get him out of here,’ Leo muttered to Conker, who was still staring at Spoiler as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. ‘The witch might come back any minute.’

They managed to haul the weeping man to his feet, and hustled him out of the field. He stumbled along between them, his bonnet askew, his feet repeatedly tangling in his voluminous skirts.

‘Where now?’ Bertha asked nervously when they reached the road. ‘We don’t dare take him back through Brewer’s Gap. We might meet Crabclaw halfway through.’

Spoiler moaned at the sound of the witch’s name.

‘We need the flying rug we used the last time we were here,’ Mimi said.

‘The rug’s on cloud-watch patrol.’ Conker frowned, tugging at his beard, then nodded decisively. ‘We’ll make for the Crystal Palace. It’s the nearest shelter, and we’ll be safe there.’ He took Spoiler by the arm, turned him to face the shining towers, and began urging him along the road. Glancing at one another, Freda, Bertha, Mimi and Leo followed.

‘Taking Spoiler to the Crystal Palace is like smuggling a dot into a bakery,’ Freda objected. ‘He’ll steal everything that isn’t nailed down.’

‘Not in his present state, he won’t,’ said Conker grimly. ‘Anyway, we’ll be there to keep him in order. Leo, take his other arm, will you? I can’t manage him on my own.’

Leo hurried to do as he was asked. As he took Spoiler’s meaty arm, crammed into purple satin as tight as a sausage skin, he looked into the tear-stained face framed by the ruffles of the ridiculous bonnet and felt an unwelcome stab of pity.

This is the man who caused the Dark Time, he reminded himself fiercely. This is the Langlander who didn’t have the imagination to use the Key to Rondo himself, so let the queen use it to murder and destroy in return for her keeping him in luxury. Because of Spoiler the Terlamaines were slaughtered and the people of Rondo had years of fear and misery. If Hal hadn’t stolen the Key back from him, and hidden it in our world, the Dark Time would never have ended.

But still he couldn’t take pleasure in seeing Spoiler so broken, so wretched.

He glanced at Mimi. She was looking at Spoiler too, but her face was filled with simple loathing. Mimi didn’t feel a spark of pity for George Langlander, the great-great-uncle who had once tried to kidnap her and turn her over to the Blue Queen.

‘Where did you get those clothes, Spoiler?’ she asked harshly.

‘I found them in a bedroom at the Tavern of No Return,’ Spoiler snivelled. ‘Grim and Misery Merk had locked me in. I got to the tavern just after midnight last night. I’d walked all the way from Hobnob, travelling at night and hiding during the day. I thought the Merks would help me for old time’s sake, but… they attacked me!’

Tears of self-pity welled up in his bloodshot eyes. ‘I was too weak to fight them off. They took my rings, my money, my clothes, my golden egg –’

‘Your golden egg!’ Bertha cried indignantly. ‘It wasn’t yours. You stole it from –’

Spoiler’s lips trembled. ‘The Merks were even worse than I remembered. Grim stank. Misery had this huge boil on the end of her nose. It was hideous!’ He shuddered.

Leo resisted the urge to glance at Mimi. Only he knew that Mimi had lost her temper and used the Key to Rondo to make a pimple appear on Misery Merk’s nose. No doubt Mimi was delighted to hear that the pimple had not disappeared over time, but grown even bigger!

‘All the time they were arguing about whether it would be better to sell me to you, or to the Blue Queen,’ Spoiler blubbered. ‘It was a nightmare! I couldn’t risk falling into the queen’s hands again. I had to get away. So I put on these clothes – I thought they’d be a good disguise – and I knotted some sheets together, and –’

‘We know, we know,’ Conker growled. ‘Then the witch got you, I suppose.’

Spoiler sniffed horribly and nodded. ‘I ran for hours, back the way I’d come. It was dark. I kept tripping on this stupid skirt. All I could think of was that if I could get to the Crystal Palace I’d be safe. But the last time I fell over, I just couldn’t get up again. I must have gone to sleep, because the next thing I knew, that crazy witch had me in a freeze curse, and was flying me up to her tower.’

His knees buckled, and Leo and Conker groaned as they struggled to hold him upright. ‘Sorry, sorry,’ he babbled pathetically, and Leo felt his whole body shaking as he made a huge effort to recover himself.

The bulk of the Crystal Palace was now clearly visible through the trees, and the mouth of the road that led to it was just ahead.

‘Not far to go now,’ Leo murmured. He must have sounded more sympathetic than he had meant to, because Mimi looked down her nose at him and Spoiler turned to him with tearful gratitude.

‘You’re a good, kind boy,’ Spoiler quavered. ‘I don’t deserve it. I’m a rotter and a scoundrel.’

‘You can say that again,’ said Freda.

‘A rotter,’ Spoiler repeated, tears spilling from his eyes and running down his cheeks. ‘You all despise me, and so you should. I traded my self-respect for an easy life, and now I’ve lost everything. I’m an outcast! I haven’t got a friend in the world. Even the squirrels are against me.’

Leo gave a start. He saw Conker’s eyes bulge.

‘Squirrels?’ Bertha squeaked.

Spoiler hung his head. ‘A gang of them mugged me, just before I got to the Tavern of No Return. Jumped out of a tree onto my head and knocked me down. It was like they were waiting for me, in ambush. Their eyes were mad.’

‘They knocked you down,’ Leo said slowly, ‘but they didn’t take the golden egg, or your rings or…’

Spoiler sniffled and shook his head. ‘All they took was a silver trinket box.’

Everyone stopped dead, taking him by surprise so that he stumbled and nearly fell. He blinked around at them.

‘It was just a little trinket box I’d – um – picked up, in Hobnob,’ he said feebly. ‘I was saving it to bribe the Merks. Not that it would have done any good, as it turned out. They would just have stolen it along with everything –’

‘Take cover!’ Freda squawked.

The order was so loud and urgent that everyone obeyed it instantly, diving for the grassy ditch at the side of the road.

‘Is it Crabclaw?’ Spoiler whimpered.

‘Dragon!’ Freda panted. ‘Flying this way, fast!’

They lay motionless and sweating, flattening themselves into the grass. A long minute passed. Then suddenly, terrifyingly, a chorus of shrieks rose from the direction of the Crystal Palace. There was a thunderous roar, a clanking crash and finally, more terrible than any of the other sounds, a single high-pitched scream.

Leo had to know what was happening. He lifted his head. He looked up. And there, soaring over the tips of the crystal towers, was the green dragon, its talons grasping a struggling figure with streaming yellow hair and a long white dress that whipped in the wind like tattered cloud.

‘Oh, my aching eyeballs, it’s got one of the princesses!’ hissed Conker.

The dragon wheeled and sped away to the north, quickly shrinking to a black speck in the blue. The screams of the princess echoed thinly after it, becoming fainter and fainter until at last they could be heard no more.

The quest team climbed from the ditch in shocked silence, Conker and Leo pulling Spoiler behind them.

‘That poor girl,’ Bertha wailed. ‘Oh, this is terrible, terrible! Conker, do you think we could have something to eat? I feel quite faint.’

‘Me too,’ said Freda. ‘It’s way past lunchtime, anyway.’

Conker dug into his pack and soon a brown paper bag bulging with nuts and dried fruit was being passed around.

Ignoring Mimi’s disapproving look, Leo offered the bag to Spoiler, but Spoiler shook his head. His teeth were chattering. His face was grey, and slick with sweat. ‘D-did you see that?’ he babbled. ‘It carried her off! What’s going on? Dragons don’t – they don’t usually…’

‘This one does,’ Conker said.

‘It’s another one of your ex-boss’s little ideas, Spoiler,’ drawled Freda. ‘That’s the third victim today. Haven’t you heard?’

‘I haven’t heard anything!’ Spoiler moaned. ‘I’ve been locked up in that tower for hours.’ He shuddered violently. ‘Dragons! I hate d-dragons! She knows that. She’s probably told it to look for me. She’s after me, I know it! The Merks said her butterflies had been thick around the tavern for days.’

Suddenly he flung himself to his knees in front of them. ‘Oh, please don’t let the dragon get me!’ he implored, clasping his hands beseechingly and rolling his red-rimmed eyes. ‘Don’t let her get me! She’ll feed me to it, piece by piece! You’ve got to protect me!’

‘We’ll think about it,’ Conker grunted, glancing at Freda, Bertha, Mimi and Leo meaningfully. ‘It depends on how well you answer our questions.’

Spoiler’s lips quivered. ‘What questions?’ he asked, climbing unsteadily to his feet.

Leo rushed in before anyone else could speak. ‘For a start, tell us what you stole – what you took with you – when you escaped from the Blue Queen’s castle on the night that – that you and she had your fight, and the Key to Rondo was destroyed.’

‘Why do you want to know that?’ Spoiler asked, looking utterly bewildered.

‘Shut up, you!’ growled Conker. He turned a little away and leaned towards Leo. ‘Why do we want to know that?’ he muttered out of the side of his mouth.

‘Well, you can’t imagine Spoiler running away from the castle empty-handed, can you?’ Leo answered softly. ‘He didn’t have much time, but on his way out he would have taken anything he could see that looked valuable, to sell later on.’

‘So?’ hissed Bertha, who was listening intently, along with Mimi and Freda.

‘So,’ said Leo, ‘I think the queen’s discovered that one of the things Spoiler took was something she needs now – very urgently. And I think it’s a silver box.’

‘How do you work that out?’ Conker shook his head dazedly.

‘Enchanted squirrels mugged Spoiler last night, right?’ Leo whispered. ‘All they took from him was a silver trinket box. But that box was from Hobnob. It was the wrong box! So then the queen sent the squirrels to burgle Winkle’s warehouse. We know that Spoiler went straight to Innes-Trule after he escaped. And we know that Winkle was at Innes-Trule at the same time, on his buying trip. Spoiler could have sold Winkle some of the stuff he’d taken from the palace. I think the Blue Queen suspected he had, anyway. She thought that if Spoiler didn’t have the box she needed, then it would be with Winkle.’

Freda snapped her beak appreciatively. Bertha exclaimed in astonishment.

Spoiler was staring at them blearily. His shoulders were slumped. His big hands hung loose in their flimsy lace mittens. He looked frightened and exhausted.

‘Was a silver box one of the things you stole from the castle, Spoiler?’ Leo coaxed.

Spoiler hesitated, then nodded. ‘It was heart-shaped,’ he croaked. ‘She always kept it in her bedroom, but I’d never seen her open it. I grabbed it as I was leaving. I didn’t think she’d even notice it was gone.’

‘Where is it now?’ Mimi asked urgently. ‘Did you sell it to Winkle?’

‘Winkle wouldn’t buy it,’ Spoiler said sulkily. ‘It was full of sticky brown stuff, and he said it would be too hard to clean up for sale. No one in Hobnob would buy it either. In the end I just gave it to the Crystal Palace fishmonger in return for a couple of fish, when I was on my way to the Merks. I was starving!’

‘Did anyone see you do this trade?’ Conker asked urgently. ‘Blue butterflies? Anyone?’

Spoiler shook his head. ‘The fisherman and I were in the Crystal Palace tool shed at the time,’ he mumbled. ‘I was hiding, trying to get a few winks of sleep. He was on his way home – a Gap that leads to the coast starts in that tool shed.’

‘I’ve never heard of that,’ said Freda suspiciously. ‘The only Gap I know of at the Crystal Palace is the one linking it to the police station.’

‘They keep their Coast Gap quiet,’ Spoiler retorted. ‘They don’t want crowds of people traipsing through the grounds every school holidays, do they? It leads to a part of the coast that’s practically deserted, apparently. The fisherman said he’s the only one who uses it.’

Bertha turned to Conker imperiously. ‘Our way is clear,’ she announced, tossing back her ribbons. ‘We must proceed immediately to the Crystal Palace tool shed!’

‘You’re right!’ Conker rubbed his hands enthusiastically. ‘We’ll trace that fisherman and get the silver box back. Then we’ll get Brewer to analyse whatever’s inside it, and that will give us a clue about what the Blue Queen’s up to.’

‘You’re mad!’ Spoiler shook his head again. ‘You’re mad if you think you can cross her.’

Conker bristled. ‘You keep quiet and brush your frock!’ he ordered. ‘You’re all over dead grass, and we can’t take you to the Crystal Palace looking like that.’

Spoiler opened his mouth to say something, then glanced at Leo and seemed to think better of it. He straightened his shoulders and wiped his face. He brushed the grass from his skirts, and put his bonnet straight. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said to Conker with a weird sort of dignity, ‘Dame Dally won’t let the team down.’

Chapter

7

The Crystal Palace

They crept into the palace grounds unnoticed. The sentry boxes flanking the golden gates were empty, and the only living things visible in the magnificent front garden, with its fountains and winding gravelled paths, were a few blue butterflies and some plump, sleek dots lolling about in the flowerbeds.

The palace was very beautiful – just as beautiful close up as it was in miniature on the music box, Leo thought. But an ugly cloud of thick, dark smoke was rising from behind it, dulling the crystal towers and staining the sky.

As they moved along the side of the palace towards the back, the sounds of many people shouting, the clattering of buckets, and the high whinnying of horses became louder. Smoke was thick in the air, and growing thicker.

‘Keep your head down,’ Conker growled to Spoiler, who was stumbling along beside him, still leaning heavily on Leo’s arm. ‘With a bit of luck no one will recognise you. It sounds as if they’ve got their hands full.’

They rounded the corner of the building and found themselves in a large paved stable yard that had become a scene of chaos. The hay shed beside the stables was on fire, and guards in filthy white uniforms were hurling buckets of water over the flames. Wild-eyed princesses, their frothy pastel dresses streaked with soot and their little silver crowns askew, were leading snorting, terrified horses out of the stables to safety. Weeping maids were rushing around beating out sparks with wet mops. Now and then someone would fall over a pale young man who was lying crumpled on the ground in the middle of the yard, being fanned by a plump woman in a starched apron.

‘Sweet, Pearl, Adora…’ muttered Conker, counting the princesses off on his fingers as they emerged from the stable door. ‘Grace, Charity, Daisy, Dimples, Jewel… but that’s all of them except – oh, my liver and lungs! The dragon must have taken Princess Pretty!’

‘But she’s only just come back from her honeymoon!’ cried Bertha. ‘How tragic!’

‘That looks like the new husband over there,’ Freda said, nodding at the pale young man. ‘He seems to be taking it badly.’

‘How do you expect him to take it?’ snapped Conker.

‘I’d be relieved if I was him,’ said Freda. ‘They say Pretty’s got a very nasty temper.’

‘Keep your voice down!’ Conker hissed, as a maid with a mop turned sharply to stare at them in scandalised fashion. ‘Sp – Dame Dally, where’s this tool shed?’

‘Further down, on the left,’ mumbled Spoiler from the depths of his bonnet.

Slowly they edged through the frantic crowd. No one challenged them, and for a moment Leo thought they were going to escape notice and reach the tool shed without delay.

But it was not to be.

‘Lady Bertha!’ a clear voice cried. ‘Oh, how good of you to come! Dear people, please make way! Make way for Lady Bertha and her team!’

Bertha blushed scarlet with mingled confusion and pleasure. Conker cursed under his breath. Spoiler groaned, hunched his shoulders and crushed his chin more deeply into the collar of his spotted blouse.

The people in front of them scattered, and in seconds they found themselves propelled into a clear space in the centre of the crowd. It was like being in the eye of a cyclone. There was frenzied activity all around them, but here in the centre there was a sad, heavy stillness, and the smell of smoke was mingled with the scent of lavender rising from dozens of mauve flowers lying trampled on the ground.

Four people stood in the middle of the space. There was a sweet-faced woman wearing a golden crown, a handsome man with distinguished grey side-whiskers and a slightly larger crown, an elderly knight in full armour, and Officer Begood, his nose wrapped in a large gauze bandage.

The king and queen smiled sadly in welcome. Officer Begood frowned. The knight looked at Spoiler with interest, and twirled his bristling white moustache.

‘Your majesties,’ said Bertha nervously, dropping a graceful curtsey. ‘You have met Conker and Freda, I know. May I present our colleagues Mimi, Leo and… um… Dame Dally.’

The king and queen nodded graciously as Conker, Leo and Mimi bowed, Freda ducked her head a fraction and Spoiler managed a wobbly bob.

Officer Begood cleared his throat. ‘As her majesty has so rightly pointed out, it was very kind of you to come,’ he said, staring at Conker resentfully. ‘But your services are not required. Sir Clankalot and I have the situation well under control.’

‘Oh, we can see that,’ jeered Freda, glancing around.

Officer Begood pursed his lips. Sir Clankalot looked huffy.

‘When did you get here, Clankalot?’ Conker asked.

‘Not long ago,’ the knight said evasively.

‘We summoned Sir Clankalot this morning, as soon as we heard of the dragon peril,’ said the king, his deep voice sombre. ‘We felt he would be the perfect hero to guard the princesses, having devoted his life to dragon-hunting.’

‘So what went wrong?’ Freda drawled. Clankalot shot her a savage look.

‘Naturally, we kept the girls inside until Sir Clankalot arrived,’ the queen said softly. ‘But after that – well, I had developed a slight headache, and Pretty offered to make me some lavender water to ease it. I was so… well, pleased and touched by her sympathy, I suppose, because Pretty isn’t usually very –’

The king cleared his throat and she broke off, realising that she was on the point of revealing more about her daughter’s character than was proper.

‘Pretty came out to pick the lavender,’ she went on in a trembling voice. ‘Sir Clankalot was with her, so I thought she would be quite safe. But unfortunately…’ The king put his arm around her as her gentle eyes filled with tears.

There was an awkward silence.

‘It all happened so fast,’ Clankalot said defensively. ‘The beast came at us like an arrow from the sky, roaring fire. I’ve never seen anything like it. It missed me by a whisker, grabbed the princess and was away before I could blink. I tried to catch her, but all I managed to save were …’

He moved a little aside so everyone could see two small furry boots sitting side by side on the lavender-strewn paving stones.

The queen sighed. ‘I’ve always believed that losing a shoe brings you luck,’ she said.

‘Not this time, apparently,’ Freda remarked, and moved quickly out of range of Conker’s foot.

‘This was the first time Pretty had worn them.’ The queen stared blindly down at the boots. ‘They’re not very elegant, I know, but they are deliciously comfortable – I tried them on myself when they first came. They were a wedding present from Clogg’s Shoe Emporium in Hobnob. They’re quite unique and very valuable, according to the label on the box. They’re supposed to be magic, though so far we haven’t worked out exactly how.’

‘Didn’t you say they fit anyone’s foot, whatever the size, Ella?’ the king put in.

The queen shrugged. ‘Oh, that’s nothing,’ she said. ‘Clogg’s more expensive shoes have been “one size fits all” for years. There have been quite a few developments in footwear design since we were young, my dear.’

Her face suddenly crumpled. ‘Oh, why am I talking about shoes?’ she burst out, wringing her hands. ‘Oh, my poor Pretty! Doomed to be enslaved by that wicked woman who calls herself a queen! And we can do nothing to save her – nothing! Oh, if only we hadn’t let my old fairy godmother retire! If only she were here!’

‘We had to let her go, Ella,’ the king murmured. ‘She upset the messenger mice – always turning them into things. Think how many times we nearly got banned.’

Conker gave a very false-sounding cough. ‘Ah – that reminds me,’ he said. ‘We have to send a message ourselves – vital quest business, you understand. I need a quiet spot to compose the note.’

‘Somewhere that’s not on fire, preferably,’ Freda put in. ‘Your tool shed, for example.’

‘Oh, certainly,’ the king said distractedly. ‘It’s down below the lavender hedge. Make yourselves at home.’ His wife moaned at the mention of lavender and he bent towards her anxiously. ‘Sweetheart, come away now,’ he begged. ‘We can do nothing here, and we should perhaps help Nanny try to revive Claude. He is in danger of being trampled, and he is our son-in-law, after all.’

The queen glanced through the crowd at the pale young man who was still on the ground being fanned by the plump woman and dodged by firefighting guards. Clearly it was on the tip of her tongue to say she didn’t care if he was trampled or not. Then she gave herself a little shake. ‘Pretty was very fond of him,’ she sighed, as if reminding herself.

She nodded to Bertha and the rest of the team, and allowed the king to lead her away. Officer Begood followed, trying to look grave and dignified in spite of his bandaged nose.

‘After you, dear lady,’ said Sir Clankalot, bowing gallantly to Spoiler.

‘Oh, no!’ simpered Spoiler in a squeaky voice. ‘After you!’ He picked up his skirts and dodged skittishly around the knight, ending up behind him.

‘Shy little thing, isn’t she?’ Clankalot chuckled in Leo’s ear. ‘But a fine figure of a woman. Very fine.’ He twirled his moustache, winked roguishly and clanked off in pursuit of Begood.

‘Right!’ said Conker, as the crowd closed in around them. ‘Let’s get out of here.’

With Spoiler giving flustered directions, they pushed their way out of the stable yard, skirted the lavender hedge and ducked into the tool shed.

As soon as the door was safely shut behind them, Conker pulled out his notebook and scribbled a message for Hal, glancing up suspiciously now and then to make sure that Spoiler wasn’t trying to see what he was writing. He knocked three times on the floor of the shed and silently held up the note for Mimi, Leo, Bertha and Freda to read:

Prisoner secured. Taking him to coast to pursue possible clue to enemy’s secret plan. Will advise developments. Hope your project going well. Conker.

‘Don’t you think we should say a bit more?’ Leo asked doubtfully. ‘That doesn’t really tell him anything.’

‘It tells him everything that matters,’ said Conker, folding the note small. ‘We can’t put everything down in black and white. What if the message falls into the wrong hands?’

‘A note entrusted to the Rondo Messenger Service never falls into the wrong hands!’ a tiny voice said indignantly from a hole in the wall.

A small brown mouse jumped smartly from the hole. It was wearing a nutshell on its head. The nutshell was covered in netting threaded with leaves and twigs.

‘There is a very bad smell in here,’ the mouse said, pinching its nostrils together. ‘I could report you for that, you know. Rule seventy-two clearly states that messengers should not be subjected to stress arising from vulgar sights, loud noises, unpleasant odours –’

‘What’s that supposed to be?’ Conker spluttered, pointing at the nutshell.

‘Camouflage helmets are to be worn by all messengers until further notice,’ squeaked the mouse, holding its nose. ‘The union voted that in this morning. These are perilous times, you know. Who is to receive the message?’

‘Hal, in Flitter Wood,’ Conker growled, with a sideways glance at Spoiler.

The mouse clipped Conker’s message to the chain around its neck, marched smartly back to the hole and disappeared, still holding its nose.

Conker glared after it. ‘Those mice –’ he began.

‘When can we go?’ Spoiler whined. ‘There is a bad smell in here. Like dirty socks. Funny, I didn’t notice it the last time I was here.’ He sniffed around and looked suspiciously at Bertha.

‘Do you mind?’ she exclaimed in outrage.

Mimi and Freda snorted with laughter. Bertha glared at them.

‘It’s Dragon’s Bane, Spoiler,’ Leo said quickly. ‘We’re all wearing it. We’ll give you some when we get to the coast.’

‘I paid good money for that stuff,’ Conker grumbled. ‘I’m not wasting it on him. Freda and I are sharing as it is.’

‘I won’t be much use to you if I’m carried off the moment we hit the sand, will I?’ Spoiler demanded. ‘You’ll never locate that fisherman without me!’

He flounced to a narrow corner cupboard marked POISONS and threw the door open to reveal grey mist that seemed to have fish scales floating in it.

‘Hold on!’ yelled Conker, leaping over to him and grabbing his arm.

‘I wasn’t trying to get away,’ Spoiler protested. ‘I won’t try to get away, I swear! Why should I? I need you!’

Conker pressed his lips together and pushed him through the door. The others followed.

The Gap smelled strongly of salt water, fish and Dragon’s Bane. Leo closed his eyes and wished for it to end. ‘Leo,’ he heard Mimi whispering beside him, ‘do you think Spoiler’s telling the truth? Do you think there really is a fisherman? Or is he leading us into a trap?’

This hadn’t occurred to Leo. He’d accepted Spoiler’s story completely. But suddenly fear gripped him, mixing horribly with the nausea of the Gap.

‘I don’t know,’ he managed to whisper back. ‘We’ll have to be –’

His voice broke off in a grunt as his heels thudded into soft sand. He pitched forward, rolled, and came to rest on his back. The thunder of waves filled his ears. He tasted salt on his lips. He felt hot breath on his face – breath that smelled strongly of fish.

His heart gave a sickening thud. He forced his eyes open.

A whiskery face hung over him, framed by grey sky. The face had faded blue eyes and weather-beaten cheeks. As Leo goggled at it, its lips parted in a gap-toothed grin.

A calloused hand grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. He found himself blinking at an old man in a yellow waterproof coat and rubber boots. The man was holding a fishing rod over one shoulder.

In the sand at his feet stood a cane basket with a lid.

‘Tricky Gap that one, sonny,’ the old man said kindly. ‘Shorter than you’d think, i’n it?’

Leo looked around dazedly and saw that Conker, Mimi, Freda and Bertha were standing right beside him. Conker, Mimi and Bertha looked very excited. Freda was keeping a sharp eye on Spoiler, who had turned his back, his shoulders hunched, his skirts and the frills of his bonnet whipping in the wind.

Conker folded his arms and looked severely at the fisherman. ‘From information received,’ he said, with a sideways glance at Spoiler, ‘I happen to know that you traded some fish for a heart-shaped silver box some days ago. Don’t try to deny it!’

‘Dunno why I’d deny it,’ said the fisherman, rubbing his whiskery chin. ‘I traded for that box fair and square. What’s it to you?’

‘The box is stolen property,’ Conker snapped. ‘We want it back.’

‘Do you now?’ the fisherman asked with interest.

‘Yes, we do!’ cried Bertha. ‘It’s extremely important.’

‘It really is,’ said Mimi earnestly.

The fisherman shrugged. ‘Sorry,’ he said, sounding truly regretful. ‘Can’t help you.’ He picked up the cane basket as if preparing to depart.

‘Don’t move!’ Conker roared, his hands on the handles of his dot-swatters. ‘This is vital quest business! You’ll go and get that box for us, or you’ll regret it.’

The man rubbed his chin again. ‘Well,’ he said slowly, ‘to tell you the truth, I reckon I’d regret it more if I did go and get it.’

‘Why?’ Mimi demanded in frustration.

‘Two main reasons,’ said the fisherman. ‘One, the palace cook’s got fish pie on the menu for dinner tonight, and if I don’t get this fish to her quick smart she’ll have me guts for garters. And two, I gave that silver box to the Ogre of Cruelcliff.’

Chapter

8

Spoiler in Despair

You gave the box to an ogre?’ Conker roared. ‘Oh, my heart, liver and lungs, what did you do that for?’

‘It was either give it to him or get me head bit off,’ said the fisherman.

‘There’s a choice for you,’ said Freda.

‘It’s usually give him fish or get me head bit off,’ the fisherman said gloomily. ‘But this time he got me on the way back from the palace, see, and I didn’t have no fish to give him. The palace cook had taken what she fancied, and I’d traded the rest. It was lucky I had that silver box on me, or I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you now. He likes fancy things even better than fish, that old ogre.’

‘Well, that’s that, then,’ Freda said briskly. ‘Let’s get back to town.’

‘Right,’ said Conker at the same moment. ‘Where does this ogre live?’

He and the duck glared at one another.

‘Where does the Ogre of Cruelcliff live?’ Conker repeated through gritted teeth.

The fisherman stared at him. ‘Well, he lives on Cruelcliff, don’t he?’ he said slowly. ‘That stands to reason.’

Conker clenched his fists.

‘But where’s Cruelcliff?’ Leo asked quickly.

‘Ah!’ said the fisherman, his face clearing. ‘I see what you’re getting at. Well, that there’s Cruelcliff, i’n it? He pointed to the craggy headland that rose at the northern end of the beach. ‘And that up there –’ he raised his finger high’ – is the ogre’s castle.’

The castle was so dark and narrow, and its turrets were so jagged and uneven, that at a quick glance it looked like part of the cliff top. It perched right at the edge of what looked like a sheer drop. Ominous purple clouds massed behind it. Waves beat themselves into creamy foam around the edges of the broad sheet of rock at its base.

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha said in a small voice.

Freda snapped her beak.

‘Well,’ Conker growled, nibbling his moustache thoughtfully, ‘we can’t get up from the front, obviously.’

‘There’s no other way,’ said the fisherman. ‘That old castle’s got no back doors or windows or nothing. And she’s built right out to the cliff face on both sides. No way to get in but by the front. Not that anyone who wasn’t stark, staring mad would want to get in.’

‘My sentiments exactly,’ said Freda.

Conker scowled at the castle, breathing hard through his nose. Seizing his chance to slip away, the fisherman edged quickly to the straggly bush that concealed the Gap and disappeared behind it.

‘We didn’t tell him about the fire at the palace,’ Bertha fretted. ‘He’ll think we’re mad.’

‘He already thinks you’re mad!’ yelled Spoiler, swinging round to face them. ‘And you are mad, the lot of you! Except for the duck. She’s the only one with a grain of sense. If an ogre’s got the silver box, that’s the end of it.’

‘Not necessarily,’ Mimi snapped.

Spoiler goggled at her, then gave a little wail, sank onto the sand and buried his face in his hands.

With a small flurry of sand, a mouse appeared from beneath a tussock of dune grass. Its camouflage helmet, strapped firmly under its chin, was so big that only the tip of its small pink nose could be seen beneath the mass of leaves and twigs.

‘Message for Conker the dot-catcher,’ it announced, its head bobbing around blindly.

‘Here,’ snapped Conker.

The mouse felt its way towards him, holding out the message.

Cursing under his breath, Conker lunged forward and grabbed the square of paper from its paw.

‘No need to snatch,’ squeaked the mouse. ‘Really, the rudeness of some people!’ It turned and stumbled back the way it had come, trying twice to find the way into the tussock of grass before finally disappearing.

Conker backed away from Spoiler and opened the message. Mimi, Leo, Bertha and Freda clustered around him to read it.

Your news gave us hope. Things here going as planned but all depends on your mission. Keep prisoner with you. Do NOT leave him alone with M. and L. Do not trust him. H.

‘Well, that’s clear enough,’ Conker muttered, pushing the note into his pocket. ‘Hal’s depending on us. There’s no choice, team. We’ve got to get our hands on that silver box.’

‘We won’t be much use to anyone with our heads bitten off,’ said Freda. But Leo could tell that Hal’s note had shaken her.

‘From what I know of ogres –’ Mimi began.

‘What could you possibly know about ogres?’ Spoiler wailed, overhearing. ‘You’re a Langlander! You’ve never seen an ogre in your life!’

Mimi looked at him with dislike. ‘I’ve read about them,’ she said. ‘And from what I’ve read they’re bullies, but they’re not absolutely unreasonable.’

‘You don’t think threatening to bite someone’s head off if he won’t give you his fish is unreasonable?’ Leo couldn’t help asking.

Mimi shrugged. ‘By ogre standards, it’s quite reasonable, really,’ she said. ‘Someone has fish. You want fish. You do what you have to do to get what you want. But if, say, some innocent travellers arrive at an ogre’s castle, and ask politely for shelter for the night, I think the ogre would feel he had to agree.’

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha said excitedly, ‘I think Mimi might be right! I’m sure I’ve heard stories like that.’

‘There’s always a catch,’ said Freda. ‘Tell me one of those stories that has a happy ending.’

Bertha fell silent while she thought.

‘If we’re not smart enough to outfox an ogre, I’ll give the game away,’ Conker declared. ‘Onward, team! That cliff looks sheer from here, but if the ogre can climb it, we can too.’

So we’ll climb the cliff and knock at the castle door, thought Leo. We’ll convince the ogre we’re innocent travellers who just happened to be passing. And when he’s taken us in we’ll find the silver box and think of a way to get it back. Right.

In one part of his mind, the rational, cautious part, he knew it was crazy. But in another part of his mind, the part that seemed to be affected by being in Rondo, he was thrilling with excitement.

Conker was right. Hal’s message had reminded them all how important their mission was. If they succeeded – and if the silver box did contain a clue to what the queen was doing – Mimi’s plan to shut off the far north could go ahead, and Rondo would be safe forever. Surely that was worth any risk?

‘If only we didn’t have him with us,’ Mimi complained, glancing at the snivelling Spoiler. ‘He’ll ruin everything. Why don’t we just tie him up and leave him here?’

Conker tugged his beard. He was obviously sorely tempted.

‘Hal’s orders were to keep him with us,’ Freda said flatly.

Conker sighed. ‘That’s true,’ he said reluctantly. ‘We’re stuck with him, worse luck.’ He seized Spoiler by the arm. ‘Come on, you, or we’ll leave you for the dragon!’ he barked.

As Spoiler scrambled hastily to his feet, two furry boots tumbled from beneath his skirts and fell onto the sand.

Everyone stared. Spoiler hung his head.

‘You thieving heap of dot-mush!’ Conker bellowed. ‘You stole Princess Pretty’s boots! You had them tucked up in your petticoat!’

Spoiler’s bottom lip trembled. ‘I couldn’t help it,’ he whined. ‘They were just lying there… and before I even thought about it, I’d taken them. It wasn’t my fault! It was – force of habit.’

‘Lawks-a-daisy, we’ll have to take them back at once!’ said Bertha, very shocked. ‘They’re all the poor king and queen have left of the princess. And they’re very valuable, too, apparently.’

‘We’ll return them later,’ growled Conker, picking up the boots and stuffing them into his pack. ‘By the look of those clouds there’s a storm coming, and we have to get to the ogre’s castle before it breaks.’

They set off along the darkening shore, with Spoiler trudging unhappily behind them. The rising wind blew sand into their faces, and salt spray peppered them as the waves crashed on the shore.

‘I’ve never been fond of the beach,’ said Bertha, plodding along with her head lowered. ‘The sand is very hard on your trotters. And as for the water, well, you can’t even drink it, so what’s the point of having so much? Give me a nice pond any day.’ ‘I’m with you,’ said Freda.

Leo wondered how they could talk of ordinary things when such an impossible, dangerous task lay ahead of them. Now that the journey to the castle had become a reality, his excitement had completely vanished. Once again, as happened so often in Rondo, he felt that he was being swept along by events over which he had no control. He found his mind running in circles as he desperately tried to think of alternatives to facing the ogre.

He glanced at Mimi, toiling along beside him. Her lips were pressed together and her eyes were narrowed against wind, spray and sand. She looked frightened, but grimly determined.

Her mind’s fixed on getting that silver box, Leo thought, and for once he wished that he could be as single-minded as Mimi Langlander. He wished he could stop thinking, and just stubbornly forge ahead as she did when she wanted something badly enough.

But he couldn’t stop thinking and questioning. Was the silver box really as important as they thought it was? Could there be another explanation for the squirrel thefts? What if the silver box had nothing to do with the Blue Queen’s secret plan?

He himself had started all this off, by asking Spoiler what he’d stolen from the queen’s castle. Everyone had seized on the idea that the substance inside the silver box was an important clue, and everything that had happened since had flowed from that. But…

Leo’s stomach gave a sickening lurch, as if he were in a lift that had dropped too fast. Now he came to think about it, they had never asked Spoiler anything else! They were rushing ahead as if the silver box was the only possible way to find out what the queen was planning, when Spoiler might just be able to tell them!

Appalled that he could have been so scatterbrained, Leo hung back and waited until Spoiler caught up with him.

Spoiler looked truly miserable. His skirts and bonnet frills were being tossed and whipped by the wind. His face was red and his eyes were watering. He didn’t even look up as Leo fell into step beside him.

‘It’ll be all right,’ Leo said, to start the conversation. ‘Don’t worry.’

‘Don’t worry?’ muttered Spoiler. ‘Are you joking? Do you think I’m so stupid I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get to that castle? Those lunatics are going to feed me to the ogre, in return for that silver box.’

‘No, they’re not!’ Leo exclaimed.

‘They are,’ said Spoiler, turning to look at him blearily. ‘And why shouldn’t they? I’m their enemy, aren’t I? They despise me. My brother’s their boss, and he despises me too. Everyone despises me. I despise myself! I’m a disgrace to the Langlander name.’

Tears of self-pity welled up in his reddened eyes.

‘No one’s going to feed you to the ogre,’ said Leo, firmly suppressing the fear that the idea might well occur to Freda, if it hadn’t already.

‘How else are they going to get that box?’ asked Spoiler drearily. ‘The ogre isn’t going to give it to them, even to spite the queen. Ogres never give up things once they’ve got them – except in exchange for something they want more. Like a nice, tasty head, for example.’

Leo fought down a wave of nausea. ‘You just leave it to us,’ he said, with far more confidence than he felt. ‘We’ll get the box from the ogre, and no one will get hurt. All you have to do is stay quiet. We’ll do the rest.’

Something gleamed in Spoiler’s eyes and he turned his head away quickly to hide his face. Leo was left wondering what that sudden gleam had meant. He was sure it hadn’t been fear, or even gratitude. Could it possibly have been… admiration?

The thought made Leo feel very uncomfortable. He didn’t deserve admiration. None of them did. What they were doing was foolhardy, and likely to end in disaster. His assurances were worthless, and he knew it.

Still, if Spoiler was feeling admiring, it was time to try to get more information from him.

‘Tell me, Spoiler,’ Leo began, as casually as he could, ‘do you remember the Blue Queen talking about any special spell or potion that she wanted to try? Especially after the Dark Time ended – after she lost the Key to Rondo?’

‘After Hal stole it from me, you mean,’ Spoiler said resentfully, and then winced. ‘There I go again! Hal did the right thing – I know that now. Cleaning up after me, like always. Trying to fix things when I’d messed them up. The good brother and the bad brother – that’s the way it’s always been with us.’ His lips quivered.

Leo resisted the urge to say that Spoiler could have changed that pattern any time he liked. There was no time for that. He decided to try the straightforward approach.

‘Listen, Spoiler,’ he said, ‘we won’t need to go to the ogre’s castle – won’t need the silver box – if we can find out what the queen’s up to. Think really hard. What was she working on in all those years after Hal took the Key, and before Mimi and I turned up with it again?’

‘She was always brewing up something – trying out different potions to keep herself young and beautiful, mainly,’ Spoiler mumbled. ‘The Key to Rondo could do it – that was the thing she really loved about it. She’s obsessed with her looks. Cares more about them than anything else. “Why worry about it?” I used to tell her. “What do looks matter?”‘

Absent-mindedly he pushed back his bonnet and felt his receding hairline, presumably to check how much hair he had lost since the last time he looked in a mirror.

‘There must have been other things, though,’ Leo persisted. ‘We know the queen was working on the spell to move her power out of the castle, for example.’

‘Oh, that.’ Spoiler shrugged and pulled his bonnet forward again. ‘Well, she’s done that now, hasn’t she? And she was always talking about finding a way to get a team of servants to do her dirty work for her, instead of having to rely on phantoms, and on me. She’s done that now, as well.’

He paused, with his head on one side. ‘There was a special potion she always wanted to make, but couldn’t,’ he said slowly. ‘One of the ingredients was impossible to get or something.’

Leo’s heart leaped. ‘What did this potion do?’ he asked urgently.

‘No idea,’ said Spoiler, shaking his head fretfully. ‘I didn’t pay much attention when she went on about stuff like that. It bored me to tears. It was big – she was always saying it was big. And I seem to remember her going on about seven – seven sunsets, I think it was. But she couldn’t make it anyway, so what does it matter?’

He looked ahead, and his face crumpled. Leo looked ahead too and his heart sank to his boots.

Time had run out. They had reached the headland.

Chapter

9

Cruelcliff

The cliff towered above them like a dark, forbidding wall. The wind was blowing a gale and the clouds were dark overhead, blanketing the sinking sun and turning the sea the colour of lead.

And the tide was rising. Already waves were dashing against rocks not far from where they were standing, and foam was hissing into the rock pools that dotted the base of the headland. Spoiler shrank back against the cliff face, looking beaten and terrified.

Conker moved further towards the sea and turned to scowl up at the castle, gnawing his moustache. Everyone but Spoiler moved to join him.

‘We can’t climb that cliff, Conker,’ Leo shouted against the wind.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, of course we can’t,’ cried Bertha. ‘I thought there would be steps cut into the rock, and that would have been bad enough. How in Rondo does the ogre get up and down?’

‘Maybe he uses magic,’ Mimi said. ‘Or lets down a ladder, or something.’

The wind howled. The waves crashed.

‘Freda could fly up with the rope,’ Conker said. ‘But what’s the point? The rope’s not nearly long enough to reach the ground, even if we could all climb it.’

‘Which I certainly can’t!’ Bertha exclaimed. ‘I have my talents, but climbing ropes is not one of them.’

‘How about I have a go at the ogre on my own?’ Freda suggested.

‘Out of the question!’ Conker snapped. ‘We do this together or not at all.’

‘Howdy-doody!’ shrilled a voice at their feet.

They all looked down. A small, weird-looking creature had poked its head out of a rock pool. It would have looked like a golden fish, if it hadn’t been for the slimy green beard that fringed its narrow face.

‘What’s up?’ it piped. When they didn’t answer, it waggled its tail and leaped into the air, performing a neat dive before reappearing at the edge of the pool.

‘You are a fish,’ gasped Leo.

The fish smirked. ‘But what sort of fish am I?’ it asked slyly. ‘That’s the question.’

‘I don’t give two hoots what sort of fish you are,’ Conker growled. ‘You just take yourself off and leave us –’

‘You’re a magic fish!’ Mimi exclaimed, crouching by the pool.

‘The magic fish, as a matter of fact,’ the fish said. ‘Oh, dear! You recognised me!’

It was clear to Leo that it had been dying to be recognised.

‘Your beard’s made of seaweed!’ Mimi said, staring in fascination.

‘Oh, yes,’ the fish admitted, with a very artificial-sounding sigh. ‘I’ve been in disguise for quite a while now. I had to do something. People kept trying to catch me all the time – to get the three wishes, you know. Ah, well, that’s the price of fame, I suppose.’

‘Three wishes?’ Conker said, suddenly alert.

A wave thundered onto the rocks, and hissing foam surged almost to the pool edge. ‘You’re not safe here, you know,’ the fish remarked. ‘The tide comes in fast, once it starts. If you’re not careful you’ll be bowled over and sucked back into the sea. And that’ll be it for you.’

‘About these three wishes, Fish…’ Conker began.

‘Magic Fish to you, Hairy,’ said the fish rudely. ‘And you don’t get three wishes just by seeing me, you know. You’ve got to catch me, first.’

Conker bared his teeth. ‘That can be arranged,’ he growled. He lunged forward and grabbed the fish. It slithered through his fingers and dived deep. With a shout of rage Conker plunged his hand into the water. He felt around fruitlessly for a few moments, then gave up and withdrew his arm, which was soaked to the elbow.

The fish reappeared. Tittering at Conker’s expression, it rose out of the water and waggled backwards, balancing on its tail.

‘Leave it to me,’ Freda said, and snapped her beak.

‘No!’ Mimi shouted, blocking the duck’s way to the pool. ‘No, Freda, you’ll never catch it. It’s much too clever for us.’

The fish chortled.

‘Dots to that!’ quacked Freda, looking dangerous. ‘Out of my way!’

Mimi gave her a quick, hard look and crouched by the side of the pool again. ‘You are clever, aren’t you, Magic Fish?’ she cooed.

‘Of course,’ the fish said smugly.

‘And you must be very brave, too, to spend time in this rock pool, when the Ogre of Cruelcliff lives so near,’ Mimi went on, pointing up at the castle. ‘He must pass by all the time.’

‘Oh, the ogre doesn’t give me any trouble,’ said the fish. ‘He doesn’t even know I’m here.’

‘Really!’ said Mimi, clasping her hands.

The fish puffed out its chest. ‘He’s never seen so much as a scale of me,’ it boasted. ‘He’s very shortsighted, for a start. And anyway, as soon as the cliff opens for him to come out, I dive, quick as a flash, and hide till he’s gone. I do the same thing when he’s on his way back. I always have plenty of warning, because he yells the password before he’s even reached the headland.’

‘Aha!’ breathed Conker, and dug his elbow painfully into Leo’s ribs.

‘Excuse me?’ said the fish, trying to peer around

Mimi.

‘Conker was just saying he knows that password too,’ Mimi said hastily. ‘It’s “Fee, Fie, Fo, Fum”, right?’

‘Wrong!’ the fish cried gleefully. ‘Completely, absolutely wrong! It’s not even nearly right. Does “Cruelcliff, open up or else!” sound anything like “Fee, Fie, Fo, Fum” to you?’

‘Nothing like,’ Mimi said, glancing over her shoulder at Conker, who grinned and put up his thumb to show he’d heard.

‘Watch it,’ said the fish as a new wave broke on the rocks with a crashing roar. ‘Here comes another big one.’

It dived to the bottom of its pool. Mimi scrambled up and hurried with the others to where Spoiler stood cringing by the cliff face. The foaming water surged much further this time, hissing almost to their feet before retreating.

‘Good work, Mimi!’ bawled Conker over the sound of the wind.

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha said faintly. ‘We’re cut off!’

She was looking back towards the beach. Sure enough, a band of surging water now divided the sand from the headland. They were stranded on the rock shelf.

‘Conker!’ snapped Freda.

‘Cruelcliff, open up or else!’ Conker bellowed.

Instantly, a long, jagged crack appeared in the cliff face right beside them. Leo’s skin crawled as, with a hideous grating sound, the split slowly widened, its ragged edges of broken rock looking horribly like teeth.

‘Tally ho!’ roared Conker, and plunged through the opening, dragging the howling Spoiler behind him. Freda darted after them, and Bertha and Mimi followed.

Move! Leo told himself. But the thought of being swallowed by the cliff, of stepping blindly through those gaping stone jaws into blackness, filled him with dread. His eyes were blurry. His feet seemed fused to the rock.

With a thunderous roar, another huge wave rolled in. The opening in the cliff creaked ominously, and began to close. Deep, foaming water rushed towards the cliff face.

There was a shriek as Mimi shot back out of the darkness and grabbed Leo’s hand.

‘Leo!’ she screamed over the wind and water. ‘Quick! Move, or we’ll drown!’

Leo’s eyes cleared. He woke from his dream of fear into sharp knowledge of real, immediate danger. Together he and Mimi dived for the crack in the rock and tumbled through it just before it grated shut.

Leo hit hard ground and lay stunned, listening to the muffled roar of the wave pounding the cliff face where he had stood just moments before. Angry and frightened voices were echoing around him.

‘… think you were doing? Oh, my heart, liver, lungs and kidneys, you could have…’ That was Conker, roaring.

‘… never been so frightened in my…’That was Bertha, squeaking with distress.

‘… all mad. You’re all mad …’ That was Spoiler, moaning the same words over and over again.

‘Stop it!’ Mimi shouted. The babble ceased abruptly, giving way to shocked silence.

Leo realised his eyes were screwed tightly shut. He opened them, but it didn’t make any difference. The darkness was complete and he could see nothing at all.

‘Leo couldn’t help it,’ Mimi said. ‘He’s as brave as any of you about most things, but he hates being shut in. And this time he had no warning – no time to get used to the idea. I should have remembered. I shouldn’t have left him alone out there. Of course I had to go and get him. You shouldn’t have tried to stop me!’

‘Langlanders stick together, eh?’ said Spoiler. His voice was flat and toneless. Without seeing his face it was impossible to tell if he was jeering or not.

‘Yes, well, you wouldn’t know anything about that, so you can shut up,’ Conker spat.

‘Let’s have some light!’ Freda quacked.

With a great deal of clattering and grumbling, Conker set about pulling the lantern from his pack.

‘Leo, are you all right?’ Bertha asked anxiously.

‘Yes,’ Leo assured her, though he wasn’t, really. His arms and legs felt weak and floppy as if all their strength had been used up in that desperate leap to safety. He was also trying to come to terms with the fact that Mimi had saved his life, risking her own life in the process.

‘Thanks, Mimi,’ he said into the darkness. ‘You –’

‘It’s fine,’ she cut in quickly, and he knew that if he could see her face it would be quite expressionless, only a stain of colour on her cheekbones betraying what she was feeling.

A minute later, Conker gave a grunt of satisfaction and held up the glowing lantern. The light seemed feeble in the echoing dark, but it was comforting. Leo felt even better when Conker swung the lantern around to show hundreds of stone steps spiralling up into the blackness above their heads. The steps didn’t look inviting, but they were a way out of this closed, rocky prison relentlessly pounded by the sea.

‘Everyone ready?’ Conker demanded.

‘No,’ whimpered Spoiler. ‘I’m not going up there. You can’t make me – ow!’

Leo guessed that Freda had jabbed him on the ankle, and again felt a stab of unwilling pity.

With Conker in the lead they began to climb in single file. The steps were steep and slimy. The lantern flickered dimly, casting leaping shadows. Spoiler floundered and moaned. Bertha kept giving little squeals as her trotters skidded on the slippery stone. Leo climbed behind her, clinging tightly to the iron railing and praying she wouldn’t fall. He doubted he could save her if she did. It was more likely that she would send him, and Mimi, who was last in line, crashing down with her.

The climb seemed endless. After a while, Leo lost all track of time. If someone had told him he’d been staggering up those steps for a week he wouldn’t have argued.

At last, however, they began to see light filtering down from above.

Almost immediately the air became fresher too, and the stairway grew drier and less treacherous. With every step the light grew brighter, until at last they could see that it was spilling through a high, arched doorway not far above them.

They had almost reached the top of the stairs. Instinctively, they all stopped.

‘Stay alert,’ Conker called over his shoulder in a low voice. ‘Mimi, you’d better come up here. You know a bit about ogres, so you should be the one to do the talking.’

Leo heard Mimi give a little gulp. He didn’t blame her. Reading about ogres was one thing. Talking to a real, live ogre was another.

But without a word Mimi edged past him, squeezed past Bertha, and went on up the steps until she was standing above Conker.

‘Right, team,’ Conker whispered, putting out the lantern and stuffing it back in his pack. ‘Now, don’t forget –’

‘Who goes there?’ boomed a terrible voice from above.

‘Eek!’ squealed Bertha.

Spoiler swayed as if he was about to faint.

‘Pull yourselves together!’ hissed Conker. ‘Mimi –’

‘Who goes there?’ the voice boomed, even more loudly than before. ‘Answer, or face the consequences!’

Mimi took another step up. Leo could see her silhouetted against the light. She looked slender and frail, but she was standing very upright, and her chin was raised.

‘Greetings, Ogre of Cruelcliff,’ she called, in the sweetest, most timid voice Leo had ever heard her use. ‘We are poor travellers, strangers to this shore, who have lost their way. We have come to beg shelter for the night, for we fear a great storm is coming. Please, sir, will you help us?’

‘She’s good, isn’t she?’ Leo heard Freda mutter to Conker.

‘Never let it be said that the Ogre of Cruelcliff turns poor travellers from his door,’ boomed the huge voice importantly. ‘Especially when a sweet-voiced damsel begs for his aid. Enter, if you dare! Welcome to the Castle of Cruelcliff!’

Chapter

10

The Ogre

A tall, broad figure appeared in the light at the top of the stairs. It beckoned majestically and then moved back again. In nervous silence, broken only by the chattering of Spoiler’s teeth, the quest team toiled up the last few steps and moved through the archway, with Mimi in the lead.

They found themselves in a bare stone chamber lit by flaming torches fixed to the walls. The ogre was waiting for them at the far end, in front of a large door bound with bands of iron. He was a truly terrifying sight.

His clothes were of blood-red silk and velvet. His shoes were encrusted with tiny pearls, and his fingers, six on each hand, were heavy with coral rings. His long black hair was curled into oiled ringlets threaded with gold.

But his face was hideously ugly – pitted and twisted and covered in fat brown moles, each one sprouting a crop of coarse bristles. His forehead was so low that his hair and his bushy eyebrows almost met. Blunt yellow fangs protruded from his mouth, and his eyes were small and mean.

The ogre tossed back his velvet cape and puffed up his chest as his visitors crept forward in single file. But his face fell as Mimi reached him and bowed.

‘Damsels are supposed to curtsey, not bow!’ he said crossly, peering down at her from his great height.

‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ Mimi murmured, and did her best to curtsey, without much success.

Scowling, the ogre bent to look at her. Clearly he didn’t like what he saw, because he wrinkled his bulbous nose till clumps of black hair shot, quivering, from his nostrils.

‘Damsels are also supposed to wear long, flowing skirts, not trousers,’ he growled at Mimi. ‘Your voice gave me high hopes, but you are a great disappointment. Your face is fair enough, I suppose, but your hair is much too short and you are very scrawny. You are also quite young, by the look of you. Not at all suitable for an ogre’s bride.’

Uh-oh, Leo thought.

Mimi’s face flushed with temper. Her eyes flashed, and her false meekness dropped from her like a cloak. ‘Well, I don’t want to be an ogre’s bride,’ she snapped. ‘I can’t think of anything I’d like less!’

The ogre seemed to swell. He bared his terrible fangs. Conker sprang forward. He dragged Mimi aside, thrusting her behind him.

And Spoiler was revealed, cowering in front of Bertha and Leo, trying to hide his face in the frills of his bonnet.

‘Ah!’ breathed the Ogre of Cruelcliff.

He stepped forward and put out his hand. Spoiler cringed and trembled.

‘Do not fear, little flower,’ said the ogre. ‘What is your name?’

‘D-D-Dame Dally,’ squeaked Spoiler.

‘A beautiful name,’ said the ogre, bowing. ‘A name well suited to a beautiful damsel who dresses –’ he shot a disdainful look at Mimi’ – as a proper damsel should. Will you not look up, into my eyes, Dame Dally?’

Spoiler gave a terrified giggle and shook his head.

The ogre frowned.

Leo knew he had to do something. He swallowed and moved to Spoiler’s side. ‘Dame Dally is very shy, sir,’ he said in the politest, most apologetic voice he could manage.

‘Ah, yes,’ said the ogre, his frown disappearing. ‘I should have known. All proper damsels are shy and quietly spoken. No doubt that was why the sweet thing sent that scrawny young serving wench ahead of her, to greet me in her place.’

‘Oh… yes,’ Leo agreed, glancing nervously at Mimi’s frozen expression, Conker’s thunderstruck one, and Freda’s smirk.

As he tried to work out what to say next, he heard the click of trotters behind him, and Bertha appeared on Spoiler’s other side.

Bertha curtseyed deeply to the ogre and tossed back the ribbons of her hat. ‘Dame Dally is not only shy, but very tired, and faint with hunger, sir,’ she hinted delicately.

‘Of course!’ said the ogre. ‘How thoughtless of me! Dame Dally, allow me to escort you to the feasting hall!’

He threw open the iron-banded door and offered Spoiler his arm. Spoiler recoiled.

‘Oh, a simple tray in our room will be quite sufficient,’ Bertha said hurriedly. ‘We don’t want to be any trouble.’

‘Nonsense!’ boomed the ogre. ‘This gentle lady must have the best Cruelcliff Castle has to offer.’

Again he offered Spoiler his arm, and this time, nudged urgently by Leo, Spoiler put two mittened fingers gingerly on the bulging sleeve of the red velvet coat.

The ogre puffed out his chest. ‘You will accompany us,’ he ordered Leo, Bertha, Conker, Freda and Mimi. Then he stalked from the room with Spoiler, who kept casting agonised glances over his shoulder to make sure the others were following.

Beyond the entrance chamber was a vast square hall warmed by a roaring fire and hung with huge, gold-framed portraits of the ogre and his relatives. In the centre of the hall a grand stairway led up to a broad landing and a golden door, then turned to rise to yet another level – a high gallery edged with polished wooden railings.

The ogre closed the door through which they had come and drew a bunch of keys from an inside pocket of his blood-red coat. ‘This is the only way in or out of my castle, Dame Dally,’ he said to Spoiler, selecting the largest of the keys and fitting it into the door’s massive brass keyhole. ‘Once it is secure, we will not be disturbed.’

Spoiler gave a muffled squeak of anguish as the key turned. Leo knew exactly how he felt. The sound of that heavy lock clunking into place was terrifying.

Appearing not to notice his companions’ distress, the ogre tucked the bunch of keys back under his coat. ‘The feasting hall is upstairs,’ he told Spoiler, guiding him to the staircase. ‘As are all the main reception rooms. This floor merely houses storerooms and cellars. Oh, and the dungeons, of course. What would a castle be without dungeons?’ He laughed uproariously.

Spoiler made another small, terrified sound and again looked over his shoulder.

‘Do not fear, dear lady,’ said the ogre tenderly. ‘Your servants are close behind us. They will not leave you. They would not dare to disobey me.’

He led Spoiler up the stairs, pointing out various portraits on the way. ‘That was my father, the first Ogre of Cruelcliff,’ he said, gesturing at one particularly large, dim picture of a ghastly old creature who had chosen to be painted holding a dead seagull by the neck. ‘And there beside him –’ he nodded at a smaller portrait of a fair, round-faced young woman wearing a pearl-encrusted wedding dress and staring vacantly over a bunch of flowers’ – is my dear mother. Unfortunately she died young.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Freda muttered, far too loudly.

Leo went cold, but the ogre didn’t turn around. Either he was too intent on impressing Dame Dally to notice sounds behind him, or he was hard of hearing as well as shortsighted.

They reached the top of the first flight of stairs and the ogre opened the golden door. For a split second it was pitch dark beyond the door, but light spilled onto the landing the moment the ogre and Spoiler stepped across the threshold. The quest team followed cautiously.

The room they entered was enormous, and lavishly furnished with vast chairs and sofas and long, low tables. Candles fixed around great metal rings suspended from the ceiling shed soft circles of light. Lush rugs covered the stone floor. Polished, glass-fronted cabinets filled with gold, silver and crystal ornaments lined the walls, and precious objects glittered on every surface.

‘Keep your eyes open for the you-know-what,’ Conker urged under his breath. ‘If you see it, grab it. Then we can get out of here as soon as the tide goes down.’

‘Get out?’ Leo whispered. ‘How? The only door’s locked, and the ogre’s got the key!’

‘We’ll steal the key while he’s asleep,’ said Mimi, as if this was going to be the easiest thing in the world.

‘Good plan,’ Conker agreed.

It sounded like no plan at all to Leo, but he didn’t even try to argue. What was the point? He couldn’t think of a better idea.

He could see by Bertha’s anxious expression that she also felt doubtful about their chances of stealing the ogre’s key and surviving long enough to use it. Freda, on the other hand, looked quite unruffled. She was walking along slowly, peering into every cabinet she passed and scanning the contents before moving on.

Her total concentration was strangely calming. Leo felt his panic die down. Freda’s right, he told himself. Our job now is to find what we came here to find.

Plus stay alive in the meantime, a treacherous voice in his mind reminded him. Resolutely he ignored it and began to follow Freda’s example, checking cabinets, tabletops and shelves.

Chatting to Spoiler all the while, the ogre led the way through another room, and then another, and another. Each room was more brightly lit and more magnificent than the last, and each was crowded with treasures. But though Leo searched till his eyes watered, he saw no sign of a heart-shaped silver box.

Outside, thunder rumbled and waves pounded, the sound muffled by walls of heavy stone and the thick velvet curtains that covered every window. Leo knew that it would be dark outside – dark, cold and wild. But he would a hundred times rather have been out there, taking his chances, than trapped in this luxurious prison.

‘I am extremely rich, as you can see, Dame Dally,’ the ogre declared, as at last he threw open a pair of tall double doors and candles burst into flaming life around the walls of an elegant dining room. ‘My castle is filled with gold, jewels, works of art and all manner of unique and curious wonders. But what good are riches, I ask myself, when I have no one to share my life?’

Spoiler gave a strangled yip and flapped his mittened hands. Leo wondered how they were going to get through the meal to come. It would surely be impossible for Spoiler to keep up his Dame Dally impersonation for very long once he and the ogre were sitting side by side. And what the ogre would do when he discovered the fraud, Leo hated to think.

Spoiler obviously felt the same way, for the moment he saw the throne-like golden chair at the head of the long dining table, he snatched his fingers from the ogre’s arm, picked up his skirts, and ran to sit in a smaller golden chair at the table’s foot.

The ogre blinked in surprise, then slowly nodded with approval. ‘It warms my heart to see you take your rightful place as hostess at my table, Dame Dally,’ he said. ‘That is the chair my mother preferred, so my father always told me.’

Roughly he gestured for his other guests to be seated. Then he clapped his hands. Instantly doors at the side of the room banged open, and with a great bustling and flapping, dozens of silver platters with feathery white wings flew in, loaded with food.

There were platters heaped with fish, crabs, octopus and lobsters. There were platters overflowing with giant meatballs, boiled turnips and baked potatoes. There were platters of steaming seaweed, loaves of bread, whole wheels of cheese and bunches of swollen purple grapes. There were platters on which vast jellies shaped like the creatures of the sea wobbled dangerously.

The platters came in to land on the table, shedding feathers, spilling food and clattering noisily as they jostled for position like seabirds in a crowded nesting spot. No sooner had they settled down and folded their wings than a small flock of fat silver jugs flew in and forced their way between them, slopping gravy, melted butter, iced water and dark red wine onto the tablecloth.

The ogre looked slyly down the table to see if Dame Dally was impressed.

Everyone else was staring at the spectacle, open-mouthed. But Spoiler was merely looking hungrily at the food, as if trying to decide what he would eat first. Perhaps, Leo thought, he had seen so many wonders in the Blue Queen’s castle that the ogre’s flying platters didn’t seem anything very special.

But the ogre was starting to look disappointed, and that was dangerous.

‘This is – amazing,’ Leo said, kicking Spoiler under the table. ‘Isn’t it amazing, Dame Dally?’

‘Oh!’ squeaked Spoiler, dropping a meatball he had just picked up. ‘Oh, yes!’

The ogre beamed, and at once seized a whole lobster, tore off its head and began to eat. If he had learned his eating habits from his father, it was easy to understand why his mother had preferred to sit at the far end of the table. He tore at his food and gulped his drink with such savagery and greed that food scraps, wine and spit flew everywhere, spattering the table, the floor, and his neighbours.

Conker and Bertha, who were the nearest, were the worst affected. Conker, no doubt hardened by years of squashing dots for a living, merely turned slightly away, so that his back and shoulders took most of the spattering. Bertha, however, shuddered fastidiously, and after a while stopped even pretending to eat.

‘What’s wrong with you, pig?’ roared the ogre with his mouth full. He had drunk several glasses of the dark red wine by now, and was in the mood for an argument.

Bertha wisely declined to answer, merely flicking a chunk of chewed crab from a hat ribbon.

‘My table manners disgust you, I suppose,’ said the ogre, with a mocking, crab-clotted grin. My young brother was always telling me I should improve them. He had beautiful manners – and a revoltingly kind nature as well. And where did it get him? Some chit of a girl fell in love with him and kissed him, and he turned into a handsome prince!’

‘Doesn’t sound too bad to me,’ said Conker incautiously.

‘It was a disgrace!’ roared the ogre, pounding the table with his fist and spitting crab and meatball fragments far and wide. ‘The shame of it killed my poor father, and I have lived under its shadow ever since. So I am horribly cruel and dangerous, and have bad manners and pick my teeth! So what? I’m an ogre, aren’t I? Outsiders can take me as I am. I am sick of being compared to my perfect brother. Sick! Sick! Sick!’

‘I know just how you feel,’ Spoiler said unexpectedly from the other end of the table. ‘Good, kind, well-mannered, perfect brothers can ruin a person’s life. People are always comparing you. And you’re the one who always comes out the villain.’

Leo sat up in alarm. Spoiler was suspiciously bright in the eyes as though he, too, had drunk rather a lot of wine.

‘Dame Dally understands me!’ said the ogre in a broken voice, leaning forward with his elbows in one of the jelly platters. ‘She understands me, as no one else ever has. Tomorrow we shall be married, and my loneliness will be at an end.’

He blinked blearily at the appalled faces around the table. ‘I find that I am a little tired, so I will now show you to your bedchambers,’ he said. ‘You see? I am offering you hospitality, as a true ogre should.’

A clap of thunder shook the room. The ogre paused, cocked his head and nodded appreciatively. ‘Outside the storm rages, but here, thanks to me, you will be safe and sheltered,’ he went on. ‘You will have everything the castle can provide, and you may wander it at will. There is only one room you may not enter.’

‘Here we go,’ Freda muttered.

‘Which room?’ Conker demanded eagerly.

‘I will show it to you on our way,’ said the ogre, standing up so abruptly that his chair toppled backwards onto the floor. ‘But I urge you to restrain your curiosity, and obey my order. The room is forbidden. You enter it at your peril!’

Chapter

11

The Eye of the Storm

The ogre strode to the foot of the table and held out his greasy hand to Spoiler. Spoiler stood up unsteadily, tripped on his skirts and pitched forward, crashing into the ogre’s waiting arms then springing back with a muffled squeak.

‘A good night’s sleep is what you need, my little flower,’ said the ogre tolerantly. ‘You must be well rested for our wedding day.’ He burped richly and led Spoiler from the room.

Leo, Mimi, Bertha, Conker and Freda crowded after them, glancing at one another but not daring to speak.

In slow procession they passed through all the grand rooms they had seen before. Again Leo looked frantically for the silver box, and again he saw no sign of it.

At last they found themselves back on the landing of the grand staircase.

‘The bedchambers are above,’ said the ogre, pointing up to the gallery that ringed the vast, echoing space. He yawned hugely, turned and began to climb the second flight of stairs.

The gallery was wide enough for the whole quest team to walk side by side. Paintings of the sea in its many moods hung on the wall to their left. The polished wooden railings to their right cast barred shadows over soft rugs that muffled the sound of their footsteps. Leo peered over the railing, and felt dizzy. They were very high up.

‘This is my chamber,’ said the ogre, throwing open the first door to reveal a vast, dim, evil-smelling room with a magnificent view of the stormy sea. ‘It was my father’s before me, and nothing in it has been changed since his time.’

‘Including the sheets, by the smell of it,’ Mimi said under her breath. Leo glanced at her warningly and she grinned. He wondered how she could smile at a time like this, then found himself grinning back. Their situation was so desperate that it really was laughable.

His eyes were drawn to the view through the ogre’s window. He saw lightning crack the clouds over the white-capped sea, and counted automatically as he waited for the thunder to follow. It came very quickly. The storm was almost directly overhead.

‘I suppose this room is full of treasures too,’ Bertha suggested brightly, craning her neck to see around the door.

‘No, it is not,’ growled the ogre, eyeing her suspiciously. ‘I keep no treasures here. The rats tend to damage them.’

He turned his back on her and swept Spoiler on so fast that the quest team had to run to keep up with them.

‘This is your room, my dear Dame Dally,’ the ogre said, stopping outside the only other door on this side of the gallery. ‘You will be comfortable here, I am sure.’

He opened the door with a flourish, and waited expectantly.

The room was large and luxurious, with another splendid view of the raging sea. It was decorated in shades of pink, from the coral of the velvet curtains drawn back from the windows to the shell pink of the silken hangings that swathed the four-poster bed. A fire glowed on one wall, and candles in a triple-branched silver candlestick shed soft, flickering light.

Everyone stared in. Six pairs of eyes searched rapidly and fruitlessly for a silver, heart-shaped box.

The ogre cleared his throat impatiently.

‘Excellent view,’ said Conker, digging Spoiler in the ribs.

‘Very nice,’ Spoiler simpered.

Their host looked gratified and, bizarrely, Leo felt a stab of pity. The Ogre of Cruelcliff was horrible, there was no doubt about that. But as he had said, he was an ogre, after all. His eagerness to impress the false Dame Dally was as sad as it was ridiculous.

And dangerous, Leo reminded himself. If he finds out he’s been tricked – when he finds out – we’ll be in big, big trouble.

‘Your servants can choose their own rooms,’ the ogre said to Spoiler, waving his hand at the doors lining the opposite side of the gallery. ‘There is just one more thing I must show you before we go to our rest.’

He strode on to the place where the gallery turned at right angles to continue along the side wall of the castle. There, just past the corner, was a black door covered in brass studs. Not only did it look completely different from all the other doors in the gallery, which were of natural, polished wood, it was the only one on this side. The room behind it had to be very large indeed. There was only one thing it could be.

‘This is the forbidden chamber,’ said the ogre unnecessarily. ‘Its secrets are for my eyes only, and only I may enter it. Is that clearly understood?’

He squinted around suspiciously. Everyone nodded and mumbled nervous agreement.

‘Very well,’ the ogre growled. ‘You have been warned.’

He turned on his heel and led Spoiler back to the pink bedroom with the quest team following closely behind.

‘Sleep well, my little flower,’ he murmured, as Spoiler fled into the room without looking back. ‘I will see you in the morning.’

He closed the door gently and scowled over his shoulder at Mimi, Leo, Bertha, Conker and Freda.

‘Get to bed!’ he snarled, with a complete change of tone. ‘I am sick of you gawping and sneaking around my castle, asking impertinent questions about my treasures! After the wedding tomorrow you can get out! Dame Dally will soon learn to do without you, for she will have me as her companion, and no damsel could ask for anything more.’

He stomped back to his own room and went in, slamming the door behind him.

‘Well, I like that!’ cried Bertha, the tips of her ears red with anger. ‘Who does he think he –’

The ogre’s door flew open again, and the ogre’s head popped out. He grinned wickedly at their startled faces, showing the strands of seaweed and chunks of crab claw stuck in his fangs. ‘And remember what I said about the forbidden chamber!’ he snarled.

‘As if we could forget,’ Leo muttered, as the grinning face disappeared and the door slammed once more. He had changed his mind about feeling sorry for the ogre. ‘Why does he keep talking about his stupid secret room? If he hadn’t mentioned it, we’d never have known about it. And why paint the door black and put all those studs on it? He might as well have put up a flashing sign with Secret Room and an arrow!’

‘That’s how ogres work,’ Mimi said. ‘They always have a secret room and they always make such a huge fuss about it being forbidden that their guests finally can’t resist looking inside. Then the ogres have an excuse to slaughter them.’

‘But how – how devious!’ gasped Bertha.

‘That’s ogres for you,’ said Freda, shrugging.

‘It comes with the territory,’ Conker agreed absent-mindedly. He turned to look at the black door and tugged his beard thoughtfully.

Leo’s stomach fluttered. ‘Let’s check the other bedrooms,’ he said quickly. ‘The silver box might be in one of them.’

‘No chance,’ said Freda flatly. She exchanged meaningful glances with Conker, Bertha and Mimi. The fluttering in Leo’s stomach increased.

‘You never know,’ he argued. ‘And we can’t – can’t do anything else until we’re sure he’s asleep.’

Thunder roared above, and rain began to pound on the castle roof. Everyone looked along the gallery to the ogre’s door.

‘Leo’s right,’ Bertha whispered. ‘The ogre might be waiting just inside that door, ready to jump out and catch us… um… doing something we shouldn’t. And at least the bedrooms are where we’re supposed to be.’

They hurried to the corner of the gallery and turned right, the soft rugs muffling the sound of their footsteps. No one looked at the black door as they passed it, but Leo knew that everyone was thinking about it. He knew perfectly well that Conker, Freda, Bertha and Mimi were convinced there was only one place where the silver box could be – the forbidden chamber.

It isn’t logical, he told himself, pressing his hand to his stomach, which now felt as if a thousand butterflies were panicking inside it. We haven’t searched every corner of the castle. There must be a million places where the silver box could be. Why should it be in the worst one possible?

Because that’s how life is, the less rational part of his mind said. He thrust the thought away.

‘What about Spoiler?’ Mimi asked suddenly. ‘We’re not supposed to leave him alone.’

‘He won’t dare come out,’ Conker said. ‘Even if he did, where would he go? He can’t get out of the castle.’

None of us can get out. Gritting his teeth, Leo bundled the thought away with his fears about the forbidden chamber. One thing at a time, he ordered himself, as they reached the opposite side of the gallery. Just pray someone finds the silver box in the next ten minutes.

But in even less time than that, he found himself trudging empty-handed back around the gallery with everyone else. It had not taken long to search the spare bedrooms. Though comfortable and richly furnished, they contained few ornaments, and few places where anything could be hidden.

‘Told you,’ said Freda.

‘It was just as well to eliminate all other possibilities,’ Conker told her. He reached the door of the forbidden chamber and considered it thoughtfully, chewing his moustache. The next moment he had stretched out his hand, gripped the doorknob, and turned it.

‘Conker!’ Leo gasped in terror.

‘Locked,’ Conker growled. ‘Oh, my lungs and liver, what a nuisance! Now we’ll have to –’

‘Shh!’ Mimi warned urgently. ‘Listen!’

A harsh rasping, gurgling sound was rising in the gallery, mingling with the sound of the rain and the crashing of thunder.

It was coming from the ogre’s room.

As one, the quest team jumped guiltily away from the forbidden door.

‘Spoiler’s room’s the closest!’ hissed Leo. ‘Quick!’

They flew on silent feet around the corner and on to Spoiler’s room.

The hideous sound grew louder and deeper till it was like the enraged snorting of a monstrous beast. The ogre’s door was vibrating. Every moment they expected to see it fly open and a scowling face appear. But the sound went on and on, and the door remained shut.

‘Maybe he’s having a fit,’ Freda suggested hopefully.

‘That octopus was very rich,’ Conker agreed.

They all listened intently.

‘No!’ Bertha said after a moment. ‘He’s just fallen asleep. Lawks-a-daisy, I thought my brother’s snoring was bad, but it’s nothing compared to this!’

Spoiler’s door opened a crack, and Spoiler’s red, fearful face, absurdly framed in bonnet frills, peered out.

‘What’s that noise?’ he jabbered hysterically.

‘It’s just your bridegroom snoring,’ snapped Conker.

Spoiler slipped out of the room and cocked his head to listen to the ogre’s snores. ‘Right!’ he said through chattering teeth. ‘Let’s get out of here!’

He dug his mittened fingers under his purple satin sash, and pulled out the ogre’s keys.

Everyone gaped at him. He shrugged. ‘There are times when even my talents come in useful,’ he said, with a touch of defiance.

‘You took the keys when you fell against him after dinner, didn’t you?’ gasped Leo. ‘But I didn’t see a thing! And he didn’t feel it!’

‘Of course not,’ Spoiler said, looking insulted. ‘That’s the whole point!’

‘Give those keys here,’ Conker ordered, holding out his hand. ‘I’ll take care of them.’

Spoiler passed the keys over reluctantly and watched with growing impatience as Conker went through them one by one.

‘Stop wasting time!’ he hissed. ‘The front door key is the long brass one – we know that! Let’s go!’

But Conker had found what he was looking for. ‘Dabs to dibs this is the one we want,’ he said, holding up a key that was very large, and coal black.

Spoiler’s mouth dropped open. Slowly he turned his head to look at the brass-studded black door.

‘You’re insane,’ he croaked.

Conker scowled at him. ‘The silver box is in that room for sure, and we’re not leaving the castle without it. Right, team, it’s now or never. To the forbidden chamber!’

‘Not yet, Conker,’ Bertha said urgently. ‘We should wait until –’

‘Dots to that!’ snapped Conker. ‘Wait? What for?’

Everyone jumped in shock as a gigantic clap of thunder exploded directly overhead. The ogre gave a tremendous snort, and the next moment his loud, sleepy voice rose in grumbling complaint.

Spoiler shot back into his room. Conker, Freda, Bertha, Leo and Mimi hurtled after him. The candles flickered in the draught, and went out. Leo had just managed to close and bolt the door when through the wall came the sound of heavy feet, and a crash as the ogre’s door was wrenched open.

For what seemed a very long time they clung together, breathless, imagining the ogre peering suspiciously around the gallery. Then, at last, they heard his door close again, and the clumping sound of more footsteps. There was a sleepy groan and the creaking of bedsprings. Seconds later, the rasping snores began again.

Spoiler gave a trembling sigh and stumbled to the window, pressing his forehead against the glass.

‘As I was saying,’ Bertha hissed, tossing her ribbons back haughtily, ‘we should wait until the storm has passed. Otherwise the thunder might wake the ogre up!’

‘Yes, well, that was excellent thinking, as it happens,’ Conker muttered. ‘Good work, Bertha.’

Bertha tossed her head again, clearly unimpressed by this shadow of an apology.

But Leo was looking towards the window. Now that the fire was the only light in the room, the view of boiling clouds and lightning forking into the raging sea was even more spectacular. Leo’s attention, however, was on Spoiler, who was staggering back from the glass, his face as white as his bonnet frills, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

‘What is it?’ Leo darted to the lurching man’s side and managed to guide him to a chair before he fell. ‘Spoiler – what’s wrong?’

Spoiler raised a shaking hand and pointed to the window. His face was a waxy mask of terror.

‘It’s her!’ he rasped. ‘She’s out there! She’s come for me! The Blue Queen!’

Chapter

12

The Forbidden Chamber

Conker, Freda, Bertha and Mimi looked round in one abrupt movement, as if they were puppets whose heads were worked by a single string. Spoiler buried his face in his hands and moaned softly as they pressed past him to join Leo at the window.

Leo felt them beside him, but he didn’t move or speak. He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the grotesque, terrifying sight that his mind kept refusing to accept as real.

A glowing cloud was swirling through the storm, its edges torn and whipped by the wind. In the heart of the cloud was the Blue Queen – the Blue Queen as Leo had never seen her before. Her pale gold hair flew about her head, sparking with electricity. Her midnight blue cloak flapped like the wings of a giant, predatory bird. Her face was frowning and intent. Her lips were drawn back from her teeth in a snarl of concentration. Her eyes were burning.

Gone was the immaculate, arrogant woman who haunted Leo’s nightmares. Gone were the cold, beautiful face and the coils of smooth, pale gold hair. Here was the raw force that the smooth exterior concealed. Here was the sorceress unmasked.

‘She can’t see us,’ Mimi breathed. ‘She doesn’t know we’re here.’

And at once Leo realised that it was true. The Blue Queen hadn’t come for them. She had come to the sea, into the heart of the storm, on business of her own. He clutched the windowsill for support as the terror that had held him rigid leaked away and his legs began to tremble.

‘What’s she doing?’ Bertha squeaked.

The queen had drawn a tall blue bottle from beneath her cloak. She took the stopper from the bottle and raised her arms above her head. Her mouth moved, as if she were screaming at the storm. The bottle jerked violently in her hand and with a shout of triumph she thrust the stopper back into place.

‘She’s released something into the wind,’ Conker gasped. ‘Oh, my liver, lungs and kidneys, we’ve got to contact Hal and warn him!’

‘Write a message,’ Leo said urgently. ‘Call a mouse!’

‘The mice won’t come here,’ said Freda.

‘Bunch of cowards!’ Conker fumed. ‘Call themselves a messenger service! Ogres’ castles, vampire dens, dragons’ lairs – they’re all black spots. It’s a scandal!’ He thrust his fingers into his hair and tore at it in frustration.

Lightning flashed. Thunder roared almost at the same moment. The ogre’s snores rose to a crescendo and broke off in a snorting growl. Everyone froze, listening, then breathed out in relief as the snores began again.

Mimi was the first to turn back to the window. She gave a start and leaned forward till her nose was pressing against the glass. ‘Look!’ she urged.

The cloud was plunging towards the surging sea. Leo was seized with the desperate hope that something had gone wrong – that the might of the storm had overcome the queen’s power, and was about to dash her into the waves. But just above the wild, white-capped surface of the water the cloud levelled out. Buffeted by wind, pelted with spray, it rocked, but did not fall. Only then did Leo see that the queen had put the bottle away, and now clutched a blue glass jar. She took the lid from the jar and raised her arms. Again her mouth moved as she shouted words that none of the watchers could hear.

Lightning flashed jaggedly above her, illuminating her face with ghastly radiance. Thunder cracked and roared, and a towering wall of water reared up beside the cloud. For a breathless moment the wave seemed to hold itself motionless. Then its tip whitened and curved, and its whole enormous weight crashed down, smothering the cloud in boiling foam.

‘It got her!’ Bertha squealed, as the thunder roared again.

‘No,’ said Mimi quietly.

And somehow Leo knew that Mimi was right. He felt no surprise when the foam fell away and the cloud was still swirling above the deep, the queen inside it standing untouched, a look of gloating triumph on her face, her hair whipping in the wind like a nest of striking snakes.

The queen capped the blue jar and put it under her cloak. She raised her arms above her head for a third time. The cloud swirled, faster, faster. It rose from the waves, spiralling up into the clouds. Then it was gone.

The room was filled with gusty sighs as everyone breathed out at once.

‘She wasn’t releasing something that time, Conker,’ Mimi said, turning from the window. ‘She was collecting something. And I think that’s what she was doing the first time, too.’

‘Collecting?’ Bertha whispered. ‘You mean –’

‘All she could have collected in that wave is a bit of salt water,’ Conker objected. ‘She could do that anytime. Why do it in the middle of a storm? It doesn’t make sense.’

‘Maybe the storm was the whole point,’ Mimi said slowly. ‘The storm, the wind, and the high tide.’

‘That could be it,’ Freda agreed.

Leo looked round at Spoiler, who was still sitting with his head in his hands. ‘Spoiler,’ he said urgently, ‘that potion that the queen always wanted to make, but couldn’t – the big potion you were telling me about? Was seawater one of the ingredients? Maybe seawater collected in a storm?’

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ Spoiler mumbled. ‘Maybe. I told you – I hardly listened when she went on about spells and potions and stuff like that.’

‘He’s useless,’ Freda muttered.

Spoiler lifted his head. His watery eyes were angry. ‘Useless, am I?’ he said in a trembling voice. ‘If it hadn’t been for me, you’d never have known the silver box existed. If it hadn’t been for me, you wouldn’t have the ogre’s keys. And if it hadn’t been for the ogre taking a fancy to me, you’d have all been in real trouble.’ He jerked his head at Mimi. ‘That little spitfire there lost her temper and insulted him. She nearly got us all killed. She’s the useless one, if you ask me.’

Mimi’s face went stony.

‘Shut your mouth, Spoiler,’ Conker snarled.

The room lit up briefly as lightning flashed outside. The thunder came before Leo could even begin counting. The storm was showing no signs of abating.

They all found places to sit down. Bertha closed her eyes, and fell into a doze. Freda followed her example. The dying coals of the fire settled with a sigh. Spoiler shifted unhappily in his chair. Mimi, Leo and Conker sat staring at one another, listening to the ogre’s snores.

Time passed with agonising slowness. Bertha twitched, groaned and occasionally bared her teeth, perhaps dreaming of her old enemy, Sly the fox. Leo felt his eyelids drooping, and several times he jerked upright, realising that he’d fallen asleep. But every time he woke he saw Conker’s small black eyes gleaming as the lightning flashed, and heard the jingling sound of Conker restlessly fingering the ogre’s keys.

When at last the thunder had become a series of deep rumbles, and the ogre’s snores had settled into a regular rhythm, Conker stood up. ‘We can’t afford to wait any longer,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Let’s go.’

Leo was instantly wide-awake. Bertha and Mimi yawned and blinked. Freda preened her feathers vigorously. Spoiler staggered up from his chair.

‘You stay here, Spoiler,’ Leo said, but the man shook his head vigorously.

‘I’m going with you,’ he gabbled. ‘I’m not letting you out of my sight.’

‘Please yourself,’ said Conker indifferently, shouldering his pack. ‘Just keep quiet and don’t get in our way.’

They let themselves out of the bedroom and crowded silently along the dim gallery. Light still filtered up from the floor below, but the black door would have been almost invisible had it not been for the brass studs that still gleamed faintly through the shadows.

Conker fitted the black key into the lock. It turned smoothly.

‘This is my very first forbidden chamber!’ breathed Bertha. ‘Oh, lawks-a-daisy, the suspense is killing me! What do you think is in there? Besides the silver box, that is.’

‘In a story it would be the heads of all the ogre’s dead wives,’ said Mimi. ‘But this ogre’s never been married.’

‘It’ll be the heads of dead guests, maybe,’ Freda suggested.

Spoiler whimpered.

‘Shh!’ hissed Conker, pulling the key from the lock. ‘So far so good. Now let’s just hope the hinges don’t squeak.’

He turned the doorknob and pushed cautiously. The door swung open without a sound. The chamber within was almost completely dark, but as everyone pressed forward, lanterns hanging from the ceiling began to glow.

‘In! In!’ Conker urged. Feverishly he pushed them all inside and locked the door again, trapping the trailing hem of Spoiler’s skirt in his impatience to hide the light.

‘I’m stuck!’ wailed Spoiler, vainly trying to free himself.

‘Good,’ said Conker. ‘We need someone at the door anyway. If you hear the ogre coming, hoot like an owl.’

Spoiler went pale.

‘Not much point,’ Freda commented. ‘If he springs us in here, he’s got us.’

As the lanterns slowly brightened, everyone could see what she meant. Though the forbidden chamber was as large as a small ballroom, it had no hiding places whatsoever. No doubt, Leo thought, it had been designed with that in mind. Uncurtained windows were evenly spaced along the wall facing the door. Below them stood a long row of tall ornamental jars covered with delicate paintings of fish and seabirds and overflowing with gold coins and jewels. All the other walls were lined with shallow black shelves filled with carefully arranged objects that gleamed in the lantern light.

In all that huge room, there were only two other things to see.

The first was a long, plain wooden table on which sat six small, black chests. It stood close to the windows, where in the daytime it would be flooded with light.

The second, in the exact centre of the stone floor, was a very large iron cage. Leo wondered what fearsome beast it had once contained and felt very glad that it was presently unoccupied.

‘Well, this isn’t my idea of a forbidden chamber,’ Bertha exclaimed, looking around in disappointment. ‘It’s got no atmosphere at all. Except for that cage thing, there’s nothing spooky or terrifying or disgusting about it!’

‘There will be if the ogre turns up,’ said Freda. ‘Six headless corpses, for a start.’

‘Fan out!’ Conker ordered, shrugging off his pack. ‘Let’s find that box and get out of here.’

As the team scattered, Leo made straight for the table and the six black chests. He opened the first chest and saw that, as he had suspected, it was filled to the brim with a mass of different objects – goblets, vases, flasks, trinket boxes, jewelled combs, necklaces, tiaras, silk scarves and even a sad little stuffed bird – all jumbled together as if they had been thrown in at random.

He saw that Mimi had joined him at the table and was rummaging through a black chest too. She had already pulled out a delicate lace shawl, a huge striped seashell, a rope of pearls, a crystal bell and a rather grubby silk purse.

‘I don’t think the box we’re looking for is here after all!’ Bertha cried in distress from the shelves on the back wall. ‘I’ve just noticed – these treasures are arranged in groups. Look! The trinket boxes are all here, in this one section. There are plenty of silver ones, but none of them is heart-shaped.’

‘If it’s here, I’m sure it’ll be in one of these chests,’ Leo called in a low voice. ‘The ogre probably uses them to store things he brings home until he has a chance to sort them and work out what’s worth keeping. And he only got the silver box a few days ago.’

‘Good thinking, Leo!’ said Conker, hurrying over to the table and throwing another of the black chests open.

‘Very logical, Leo!’ Bertha agreed, trotting to join him. ‘And Mimi had the same idea!’

Mimi glanced up with a quizzical smile. ‘No I didn’t,’ she confessed. ‘I was just curious. I love treasure chests.’

‘Hurry up!’ moaned Spoiler from the door. ‘Look at the sky! It’s getting light!’

Startled, everyone looked up. They were shocked to see that the storm had blown away, and that the cloudless sky was a pale grey-green. It was far later than any of them had realised.

Conker opened the nearest window, and poked out his head to peer towards the east. ‘Keep looking,’ was all he said as he turned back to the table. But the fact that he had left the window gaping open, the way he upended the chest he had been searching and began sorting urgently through its contents, told everyone that he knew time was running out.

Leo finished with the first chest, and started on the one next to it, tipping it over as Conker had done. He sorted through the jumble of curious and precious objects on the tabletop, looking for a flash of silver.

He saw it. He scrabbled through the glittering pile and pulled it out.

It wasn’t the silver box. It was a mirror, backed in silver, with a plain silver handle.

Leo stared at his face reflected in the glass. He looked very tired, and far older than he usually did. His resemblance to Hal was very marked.

His thoughts flew to Hal, whose brief message to Conker had said so little, and yet so much.

Things here going as planned…

The image in the mirror shifted. It darkened, and changed. And suddenly Leo was staring not at his own reflection, but at seven cloaked and hooded figures in a shadowy wood.

Leo’s heart seemed to stop. He stared, dumbfounded, as the cloaked figures moved one by one to clasp the hand of a tall man standing at the base of a great tree.

The tree was the Flitters’ Nesting Tree. The man was Hal. Tye was standing behind him. Leo could see her tiger-stripes gleaming through the dimness.

And the cloaked figures, tall and short, fat and thin, could only be the seven witches and wizards who were in charge of Rondo’s defence. The meeting about the barrier plan had taken place.

One by one the cloaked figures gravely shook Hal’s hand, as if to seal an oath. One by one they stepped back, bowed, turned, and melted away into the darkness.

This is happening now, Leo told himself, trying to take it in. This mirror…

‘Got it!’

The scene in the mirror vanished abruptly and Leo’s own startled reflection took its place. He looked up. Emptied black chests littered the table, surrounded by treasure. Grinning in triumph, Conker was holding up a heart-shaped silver box.

It was bigger than Leo had expected – at least as big as his hand. He turned to Spoiler, drooping by the door. ‘Is that it?’ he demanded. ‘The box you took from the queen?’

Spoiler shuddered and nodded.

As everyone gathered around, Conker prised the lid of the box open. Inside was a thick substance that looked like brown whipped cream. Conker touched it with his fingertip. ‘Sticky,’ he said, wrinkling his nose. He started to wipe his finger on his shirt, then changed his mind and wiped it on the windowsill instead.

‘Conker, you shouldn’t have touched it!’ Bertha gasped. ‘It might be dangerous.’

‘It just looks like some sort of face cream to me,’ Mimi said.

With sick dismay Leo remembered what Spoiler had said about the Blue Queen’s vanity, and her endless efforts to keep herself looking young and beautiful after she lost the Key to Rondo. Surely they hadn’t come this far, taken all these terrible risks, to stop the queen getting her favourite face cream back?

Conker snapped the silver box shut and pushed it into his pack. ‘Time to go,’ he muttered, glancing at the window again.

‘Hoo!’ Spoiler screeched from the door. ‘Hoo! Hoo! Hoo…’

The door burst open with a crash. Spoiler flew backwards, screaming in terror, and thudded onto the floor in a tangle of skirts and red flannel petticoat. And into the room stormed the Ogre of Cruelcliff, his face twisted with rage.

Chapter

13

The Ogre’s Revenge

So, Dame Dally!’ the ogre bellowed, snatching Spoiler from the ground and shaking him like a rag doll. ‘You are just like all the rest. You have deceived me! You have broken my heart, and now I will have to –’

‘Quick,’ Conker muttered, picking up his pack and edging towards the door. ‘While he’s busy with Spoiler.’

‘We can’t leave –’ Leo began. But as it happened he didn’t have to argue.

Spoiler’s terrified, bulging eyes fastened on them. ‘Do something!’ he bawled. ‘What are you waiting for?’

The ogre swung round, panting and glaring, and the chamber door slammed shut.

‘You cannot escape,’ the ogre roared, his great voice echoing around the chamber. ‘Thieves do not escape the Castle of Cruelcliff. Cage! Open to receive the prisoners!’

The door of the iron cage creaked open.

Bertha lowered her head and bared her blunt teeth. Conker drew his dot-swatters. Freda sharpened her beak rapidly on the stone floor.

The ogre laughed savagely and moved his huge hands to Spoiler’s throat. ‘Get into the cage, thieves!’ he ordered. ‘Into the cage, or I will snap Dame Dally’s neck like a twig!’

‘Snap away,’ quacked Freda. And she, Conker and Bertha charged.

The ogre’s tiny eyes widened in shock. Before he could raise a hand to defend himself, Bertha had slammed into him, hitting him full in the belly. He dropped Spoiler and doubled up, groaning and wheezing, Freda flew at him, jabbing his head and neck and Conker attacked his arms, legs and chest. Her trotters scrabbling on the hard stone floor, Bertha wheeled to charge into the fray again.

‘Help me, my little ones!’ bawled the ogre. ‘The Ogre of Cruelcliff needs your aid!’

With a clatter, the six black chests rose from the table. Treasure scattered as they hurled themselves at their master’s attackers. Two hit Conker, knocking him sideways. Another hurtled towards Freda, who dodged it but hit the wall and slid, fluttering feebly, to the floor. The remaining three crashed into Bertha with such tremendous force that she staggered and fell.

‘Mimi! Leo! Run!’ Bertha squealed, struggling to get up.

It didn’t even occur to Leo to obey her. The chests had swooped in formation up to the ceiling. They were looping, preparing to dive at their helpless victims again.

He grabbed the straps of Conker’s abandoned pack and threw himself forward, swinging the pack with all his strength. He batted one chest away, and then another, and heard the first crash into the door, and the second smash a window. He swung again and with fierce satisfaction felt his arms shudder as the pack connected with a third chest and dashed it, clattering, to the floor. He heard the ogre roaring in rage, and out of the corner of his eye saw Mimi by the table hurling every hard piece of treasure she could lay her hands on at the three remaining chests.

Mimi’s aim wasn’t very good. But what she lacked in accuracy, she was making up for in energy, and the black chests were weaving wildly off course, trying to avoid flying jugs, bowls, necklaces and goblets.

Leo ran to help Conker, who had crawled to his knees.

Conker waved him off feebly. ‘Freda,’ he groaned. ‘Help…’ Abruptly his dazed eyes widened. He pointed at the air behind Leo. ‘Look – out!’ he croaked.

Leo spun round. He saw a black blur spinning towards him. He yelled and ducked. Something pounded into the side of his head. Pinpricks of light exploded in front of his eyes. He felt a split second of excruciating pain. Then the lights went out.

The first thing Leo knew when he woke up was that his head was throbbing, and filled with dull, echoing sound. The second was that he was lying on something that was hard, cold and ridged, like an iron-framed bed from which someone had removed the mattress. The third was that someone was shaking his arm and calling his name.

‘Leo! Leo!’ It was Mimi’s voice, low and trembling.

After a couple of failed attempts, Leo managed to open his eyes. Mimi’s face was very close to his. It was pale and pinched-looking. Her eyes were red and swollen and there were dark grey smudges beneath them.

As Leo looked at her, she caught her breath and her face lit up as if a light had been switched on inside her head. But at exactly the same moment – and Leo thought this was very strange – tears welled up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. Angrily she dashed them away.

Leo moved his head, and winced.

‘One of the chests hit you,’ Mimi said. ‘You just – dropped.’

Concussion, Leo thought. He tried to remember what he knew about concussion and dug his nails into his fingertips. His fingertips didn’t seem to be numb. That was a good sign. He narrowed his eyes and tried to focus on the black stripes he could see swimming above him. After a while, his vision cleared and he realised they were bars.

‘We’re in the cage,’ he said slowly, taking it in. ‘The ogre got us – after all that.’

Mimi nodded, and glanced fearfully over her shoulder. At the same moment, Leo realised that the rattling sound he could hear was not in his own head, but real.

‘He’s cleaning up,’ Mimi said. ‘Well, the chests are doing it for him, really. He’s just watching to see that every bit of treasure gets picked up. He says he’ll deal with us when it’s done.’

Leo frowned. ‘How long have I been out to it?’ he asked. It seemed important to know.

‘Only a few minutes.’ Mimi swallowed and put her hand to her throat as if it hurt her. ‘After you got knocked out it was all over, really. The ogre grabbed me and threatened to snap my neck like a twig. And Conker and Bertha – gave in.’

Tears were filling her eyes again. ‘They really couldn’t fight any more anyway. They were hurt. But – they were trying. Then he got me, and they stopped. We’re all in the cage. Spoiler too.’

The tears ran down her face and dripped onto Leo’s shirt. This time she didn’t try to wipe them away.

She hadn’t mentioned Freda. Leo wet his lips.

‘Freda?’ he asked.

‘She’s – she hasn’t woken up,’ Mimi whispered. ‘Conker says she’s breathing but – but I don’t know.’

Ignoring her restraining hand, Leo rolled onto his side. His head pounded and he felt sick. He shut his eyes till the pounding and nausea subsided, then slowly opened them again.

Bertha was lying not far away, her hat crushed beneath her head. Her eyes were closed and her skin was covered in darkening bruises. Beside her sat Conker, cradling Freda’s limp body in his arms. One of Conker’s eyes was blackened and closed, and blood was running into his beard from a cut on his cheek. At the back of the cage Spoiler slumped against the pack, his face blank with despair.

Leo felt something digging uncomfortably into his stomach. He looked down and saw that it was the handle of the silver-backed mirror. He realised that he must have stuck the mirror into his belt without realising what he was doing when Conker had yelled that he’d found the heart-shaped box.

Slowly he pulled the mirror out. Amazingly, it hadn’t broken. He stared into it, hardly recognising the haunted face that stared back at him.

He’d seen Hal in the mirror. He’d seen the witches and wizards of Rondo, swearing to do what had to be done to save the land.

Mimi’s plan was under way. The Flitters were weaving the magic web. The witches and wizards were preparing themselves for their great effort. Soon everything would be ready. Then everyone would await Hal’s order to begin. But Hal would do nothing until he heard from Conker, Freda, Bertha, Leo and Mimi.

And here we are, Leo thought grimly. The big heroes. Trapped in an ogre’s cage with a silver box of face cream, knowing nothing at all.

Except that the Blue Queen is collecting wind and seawater, a voice said in his mind. Why is she doing that? What’s she trying to do?

The reflection in the mirror blurred and changed. And suddenly, Leo was staring into a room filled with flickering blue light.

It was a room he knew – the Blue Queen’s tower bedroom. The very sight of its silken walls, its elegant furniture and the black marble fireplace in which blue flames leaped, chilled him to the bone.

The Blue Queen was standing in front of the fire. She was wearing a loose satin gown that was the blue of the deep sea, and her hair hung over her shoulders, smooth as pale gold silk. She was gazing at some containers that stood in a line on the mantelshelf. The blue bottle and the jar of seawater were at one end of the line. Further along stood a small gold box, a black bowl with a lid, and a round silver tin.

The queen stretched out a long white finger and touched the containers one by one. Her finger paused longest on the lid of the gold box. It seemed to Leo that she wanted to look inside it, but was resisting the temptation.

Open it! he urged her silently. Let me see what’s inside! And suddenly, as if she sensed that someone was watching, the queen swung round and glared straight at him.

Leo’s heart gave a tremendous thud. He flipped the mirror over and pressed it hard against his shirt, trying to make his mind blank.

With six separate clatters, the re-filled treasure boxes bounded onto the long table. The Ogre of Cruelcliff paced across the floor to grin into the cage.

‘Soon,’ he said, ‘we are going to play my favourite game. The rules are very simple. I take you out of the cage one by one. You return the treasures you have stolen, and give me anything else of value that you have. Then I bite off your heads.’

He ran his thick tongue over his lips and grinned.

‘It should be ladies first, I think. That is only proper. But which lady shall I choose to begin the game? The scrawny serving wench? The pig? Or Dame Dally, who broke my heart? The duck would be no sport, because by the looks of her she is dead already. A hatchet will do for her neck. Then she can be plucked and baked, to grace my dinner table tonight.’

Conker clenched his fists. The ogre laughed and turned back to his treasure chests, which had begun arranging themselves in a row.

Helpless rage boiled up in Leo. His head began to pound again. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself, forcing himself to think.

It would be pointless to try to bargain with the ogre. Promises wouldn’t work. Neither would explanations, threats, or pleas for mercy. The ogre had them where he wanted them, and he wasn’t going to let them go.

That left trickery and force. The ogre was going to unlock the cage and take them out one by one. So the first thing they had to do was follow Spoiler’s example and get as far away from the cage door as they could.

That would force the ogre to reach deep into the cage to grab his first victim. He would have to bend over to do this, so he would be off-balance. As he thrust his head, shoulders and arms into the cage, they could attack him.

Attack him with what?

Rope! The rope in Conker’s pack! They could try to loop it round the ogre’s neck – maybe tie him to the bars of his own cage, while they made their escape. And, of course! Conker had a knife, too! The ogre’s skin was thick as hide, but surely the knife could do some damage.

It was a desperate plan. Even as it formed in his mind Leo knew it had little chance of success. But anything was better than doing nothing, and simply waiting to die.

He opened his eyes. ‘Help Conker and Bertha get to the back of the cage,’ he said to Mimi. ‘Get the rope and the knife out of the pack. Quick as you can.’

She nodded shortly and moved over to the other side of the cage. Leo saw her whisper to Bertha and Conker, saw them both stir. He began slowly to push himself back, trying not to jar his head.

They were all huddled together beside Spoiler, with the rope and the knife hidden behind them, by the time the ogre turned from his treasure chests and saw that they had moved.

He grinned. ‘Oh, what a pity!’ he said. ‘It is time for my game, and now it seems that you do not want to play! But I do not give up my pleasures so easily.’

He raised his voice. ‘Cage!’ he thundered. ‘The Ogre of Cruelcliff needs your aid! Send the prisoners to me!’

The back of the cage jerked up. The cage floor tilted steeply. Leo, Mimi, Conker and Spoiler yelled in shock and instinctively grabbed the bars to stop themselves from falling. Bertha began sliding towards the door, her trotters pedalling uselessly in the air.

‘So, it seems the pig is to be my first playmate,’ jeered the ogre as Leo, Mimi and Conker lunged at Bertha, trying to catch her and hold her back. ‘The choice has been made for me. I hope the rest of you will enjoy seeing what is in store for you.’

The back of the cage rose a little higher. Bertha tumbled, shrieking, down to the cage door. Smacking his lips, the ogre turned the key in the lock.

Then, suddenly, he paused. His low brow wrinkled slightly and he cocked his head as though listening.

The light dimmed. It was as if a cloud had blocked the rising sun.

And the next moment, there was a thunderous crash of smashing glass and breaking stone. A vast, glittering shape seemed to fill the room. Huge jaws snapped, and fire roared. The ogre fell to the floor, bellowing in shock.

‘Dragon!’ howled Spoiler, clawing at the bars of the cage.

‘Dragon!’ squealed Bertha, struggling to get to her feet.

The cage rocked violently as the dragon seized it in its talons. Bertha, and everyone else, slid helplessly into one corner, screaming and struggling. They felt the cage leave the ground, swinging wildly in the dragon’s grip…

And in an instant, the ogre’s forbidden chamber had disappeared. The dragon had turned and soared back through the gaping ruin of the window wall. Now all that was around them was the pink-stained sky, and all that was below them were jagged rocks, and the crashing, churning sea.

Chapter

14

Flight

Buffeted by freezing wind, the cage swung sickeningly as the dragon wheeled, turning its head towards the rising sun. Clinging to the bars, pressed hard against them as if holding on tightly would somehow protect him, Leo looked down. A wave of dizziness almost overwhelmed him. Already the ogre’s castle looked as small as a child’s model, the sea crawling around it neatly edged with foam.

They were high – so high! At any moment the dragon might lose its grip and drop its burden, as Leo had once seen an eagle drop a small, furred creature it had caught.

What would it feel like to fall so far? How many seconds of terror would there be before the ground rushed up to meet the plummeting cage and it was all over?

Ignoring the stabbing pain in his head, Leo looked up at the vast body of the dragon. His eyes watered and stung in the gale of the beast’s wing beats, but fascinated dread held him, and he couldn’t look away. The dragon’s underside was pale and ridged. The wings flashed blindingly in the rays of the rising sun. The talons grasping the cage were curved like horns, and razor-sharp. They were made for holding soft prey. They slid and squeaked on the smooth iron bars.

Leo tore his eyes away from them and forced his head down. He was trembling all over, but couldn’t tell if the shivering was caused by cold or fear.

‘You said the queen didn’t know we were there!’ he heard Spoiler screaming against the wind.

‘She didn’t!’ Mimi shouted back. ‘I’m sure she didn’t! She didn’t even glance at Cruelcliff. She was only interested in the storm.’

The mirror, Leo thought numbly, looking down at the silver handle stuck through his belt. The queen sensed me spying on her. Somehow she saw me – realised where I was. I didn’t hide myself quickly enough. This is my fault. My fault.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, what does it matter how she found us?’ Bertha cried, her squashed hat flapping wildly on the back of her neck as she struggled to sit up. ‘The point is, she’s got us. Or her dragon has. And soon –’

Her trotters slid from under her and she rolled helplessly across the cage, slamming against the bars on the opposite side. The unlocked door rattled ominously. The cage tilted sharply.

The dragon’s wing beats faltered. Its talons rasped on the metal as it struggled to keep its grip.

Screams of terror filled Leo’s ears, but he was beyond screaming. He had stopped breathing. The image of the talons loosening, of the cage falling down, down, was so clear that he was amazed when the plunge ceased and the dragon began beating its wings again, labouring to regain lost height.

He sat rigidly, clutching the bars, drawing in great gulps of frigid air, as his heart slowed. And only then did he see, directly ahead, the blurry shape of a mountain, dark against the glowing sky.

His stomach turned over. Was this the first sign of the range of hills that lay along the western part of the queen’s border? Surely not! Surely it was too soon, however fast the dragon was flying.

Desperately, as if it would help to know how much time they had left, he tried to remember the pictures on the music box, tried to work out the distance between Cruelcliff and the queen’s domain.

He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t keep his mind focused. It was darting around frantically, like a panicking bird that had flown through a window and become trapped in a crowded room.

The mountain drew nearer. The dragon was tiring – Leo could feel it. Huge and powerful as the beast was, its burden was very heavy. Its talons shifted painfully on the cage bars. Its wing beats slowed… then they stopped altogether.

But the dragon did not fall. Great wings spread wide, it was gliding, riding the wind. Now there was no sound but the soft rushing of the shining air, Bertha’s groans, and Spoiler’s loud, despairing wails.

‘I thought I’d be safe with you,’ Spoiler shrieked. ‘When you dragged me into that ogre’s castle I kept telling myself – they know what they’re doing. In the end, it’ll be all right. I never thought for a minute that – Oh, fool! Fool!’ He beat his head against the bars of the cage, which rocked violently.

‘Stop that!’ Bertha squealed. ‘If the dragon drops us we’ll all be killed.’

‘A quick death would be better than what’s going to happen when the Blue Queen gets her hands on us,’ Conker said.

He sounded completely unlike himself. Leo looked around. Conker sat slumped in a corner of the cage, bent over Freda’s limp body. One of his elbows was hooked through the bars, anchoring him in place. His hair and beard were whipping wildly in the wind. His eyes were dull with misery.

He saw Leo looking at him and his arms tightened protectively around the duck. ‘She’s still alive,’ he muttered, as if he’d read Leo’s mind. ‘I can feel her heart beating.’

‘Of course she’s alive!’ snapped Bertha. ‘It would take more than a wall to stop Freda. And by a miracle, we’re alive, too. We’re in a tight spot, but, speaking personally, I’d rather be in a tight spot than lying in that ogre’s forbidden chamber with my head bitten off. Which is where I’d be right now, I’d like to remind you, if the dragon hadn’t saved us.’

‘It didn’t save us, you crazy pig!’ Spoiler screamed hysterically. ‘It captured us. It’s taking us to the Blue Queen! We’re doomed!’

‘Not necessarily!’ Bertha said crisply. ‘And I’ll thank you to keep a civil tongue in your head!’

She puffed away a hat ribbon that had blown across her mouth. ‘Now,’ she went on, with the air of getting down to business, ‘the ogre unlocked the cage door, didn’t he? That means we can escape.’

‘Escape?’ Spoiler shrieked. ‘We’re up in the clouds, you –’

‘What’s it doing?’ Conker shouted suddenly. ‘Oh, my lungs and liver! The mountain! We’re not going to clear it!’

Leo looked ahead and his heart seemed to stand still. A huge, rough triangle of craggy rock loomed directly in front of them, framed by rays of dazzling sun. The dragon was hurtling towards the mountain top, making no attempt to climb or wheel to avoid it.

Sun in its eyes? Leo thought numbly, Mimi’s screams and Spoiler’s howls echoing in his ears. Exhaustion? The cage too heavy to…

‘Hold on!’ Conker roared. ‘Hold –’

With a shuddering crash the floor of the cage hit rock. The door sprang open. The cage bounced and tipped, but by some miracle did not roll over. Stunned, the prisoners lay where they had fallen as the gale of great wing beats pinned them down.

Then there was a thudding, scrabbling sound, and silence.

Leo felt warm air fan his cheek and ruffle his hair. The smell of ash drifted into his nose. It felt as if he were lying by a fire. Cautiously he opened his eyes.

Terror sparked through his body like an electric shock. He felt sweat break out on his forehead. The hot breeze he could feel was the dragon’s breath. The dragon was right beside him, its snout pressed against the open doorway of the cage. It was huge – so vast that it could have swallowed any two of its captives whole.

But it seemed that, at present, it wasn’t thinking of food. Its flat, golden eyes were inspecting the prisoners closely with what seemed to be puzzled disgust.

It didn’t crash into the mountain, Leo thought slowly. It landed. It dropped the cage then calmly landed beside it. What’s happening?

He ordered his body to move, but his arms and legs would not obey him. His heart was thudding so hard it felt as if it were about to burst through his chest.

‘Show it to me!’ hissed the dragon. ‘I cannot see it, yet I know you have it. Show it to me at once!’

It can talk! Leo thought, and then wondered why he hadn’t expected it. He could hear Bertha, Mimi and Conker whispering behind him. Spoiler was moaning dully in the background. Move! Leo told himself again. But not a finger would stir.

‘Show it to me!’ the dragon repeated. Its nostrils flared. The spikes on its neck rose, quivering. Its eyes hardened.

Its eyes… Something stirred at the back of Leo’s mind. He groped for the thought, but couldn’t drag it into the light.

‘I’m – I’m sorry, but we don’t know what you mean,’ he heard Mimi say breathlessly. ‘What is it you want?’

‘I scented it in the wind before dawn,’ the dragon hissed. ‘Just a trace, but it was enough. I went in search of it, and the scent led me to Cruelcliff, and to you. I know it is in your keeping. I must see it! I must know!’

It raised its awful head. Its forked tongue flicked in and out, tasting the air. Its neck turned and scales glittered golden in the sun. Freed from its gaze, Leo felt as if binding ropes had dropped from his limbs. He rolled away from the bars and managed to sit up.

His mind felt as if it had been turned upside down. None of this made sense. He looked around slowly, trying to get his bearings.

Sky was all around him – blue dappled with bright pink. Far to the north stretched the line of hills that marked the queen’s border, with what looked like mist rising above it. To the west lay Cruelcliff and the glittering sea.

Bertha and Mimi were huddled together behind him. Spoiler was a little further away, lying curled up with his arms wrapped around his head. But the dragon was not looking at them. Its eyes were fixed on Conker, who was crouched against the pack in a far corner of the cage, still clasping Freda in his arms.

‘It is there!’ the dragon hissed. ‘He has it!’

Conker shook his head, gripping Freda’s body more tightly.

‘He has it,’ the dragon said again, baring its fangs and lashing its tail. ‘His hands reek of it.’

His hands reek of it… I scented it in the wind before dawn…

Drifting, jumbled thoughts suddenly clicked into place in Leo’s mind. ‘Conker,’ he said huskily. ‘The silver box!’

Conker stared.

‘The dragon came for us because you opened the box near the window and it smelled the stuff inside,’ Leo gabbled. ‘Conker, the box is in your pack. Get it out! Quickly!’

‘I’ll scrape the stuff out and stamp it into the rock before I’ll turn it over to the Blue Queen,’ Conker snarled. ‘Do you think we can trade our lives for it, Leo? Don’t fool yourself.’

‘This isn’t the queen’s dragon,’ Leo hissed. ‘Don’t you see? Its scales are gold, not green! Its eyes are clear. It’s not under a spell. It’s not acting under orders. It wants the box for its own reasons.’

Bertha gave a muffled cry. Mimi turned abruptly, crawled over to Conker and held out her hand.

Scowling, still not quite convinced, Conker dug deeply into the pack and pulled out the heart-shaped silver box, getting the sticky cream inside all over his fingers in the process. Mimi grabbed the smeared box from him, turned to face the dragon, and opened the lid wide.

The dragon’s tongue flickered. Its eyes went blank. It hissed, long and low.

‘It is not his,’ it said. ‘It is nothing like – too old by far, and female. Ah… thanks be to the sun and the sky and the waves of the deep! I was mistaken.’

It drew back from the cage. The spines on the back of its neck flattened. It turned its head to face the rising sun, and wrinkled eyelids slid sideways over its serpent eyes.

For a brief moment Leo considered trying to rouse the others to make a run for it. He looked around, and dismissed the idea at once. The cage was on a sheet of flat rock just below the very top of the mountain. There were sheer cliffs on every side. There was nowhere to run.

‘Put that box out of my sight,’ the dragon said harshly. ‘It is an abomination.’

Mimi looked down at the creamy substance inside the heart-shaped box.

‘What is it?’ she asked bluntly.

The dragon turned its head. Its eyelids rolled aside.

‘Can you mean you do not know?’ it demanded. ‘You carry this monstrosity about with you, and do not understand what it means?’

‘Indeed we don’t,’ Bertha said earnestly. ‘We have no idea. All we know is that this box once belonged to the Blue Queen.’

‘Ah, yes…’ the dragon hissed. ‘The witch of the north would possess such a thing. But others value it also–value it more highly than rubies. In the past, greedy humans hunted for it. Often they paid for their wickedness with their lives. Sometimes, rarely, the blood spilled was not theirs, but blood far richer and more precious.’

‘Precious?’ Mimi repeated uncertainly. ‘You mean –’

She shrank back as the dragon turned the full force of its golden glare upon her.

‘Ignorant girl!’ the beast spat. ‘Shut that box and put it out of my sight! It sickens me! Do you not understand? The substance within it, pounded, whipped and preserved to make it fit for vile human use, was torn from the body of one of my kind! You hold in your hands a dragon’s heart!’

Chapter

15

The Mirror

Leo heard himself exclaiming with shock and revulsion. He saw Conker wincing and rubbing his sticky fingers on Freda’s feathers, and Bertha fastidiously wrinkling her nose. He saw Spoiler leaning forward, his mouth gaping.

‘Dragon’s heart!’ Spoiler groaned. ‘But dragon’s heart is worth a fortune! And I gave it away for a couple of fish!’

‘Shut up, you buffoon!’ barked Conker.

But fortunately the dragon didn’t appear to have heard what Spoiler had said. It was concentrating on Mimi.

Mimi’s eyes were shining with tears. She closed the silver box and carefully, almost reverently, handed it to Leo. Then she turned back to the dragon.

‘I’m so sorry,’ she said.

The dragon regarded her gravely. ‘Your tears are balm to my troubled mind,’ it said, in a far gentler voice than it had used before. ‘I thank you for your respect, and for your sympathy.’

‘I can’t believe people kill dragons just to get their hearts,’ Mimi said. ‘It’s… wicked!’

‘Indeed it is,’ the dragon agreed bitterly. ‘But the lure of gold is strong, and I sometimes think that the desire to be a swaggering hero is even stronger in some of these wretches. Dragons are feared, so dragon-killers are admired.’

Leo looked down at the silver box in his hand. Dragon’s heart, he thought, his own heart sinking. But that means…

He looked over his shoulder at Conker and Bertha. They both looked very grim, and he knew that they were thinking the same thing he was.

‘Why is dragon’s heart so valuable?’ he asked dully, as he bent to push the box back into Conker’s pack. ‘What can it do?’

He had spoken without thinking, and for an instant he thought he had made a terrible mistake. The dragon stiffened as if it had forgotten that Mimi was not the only person in the cage, and was shocked and angered by the sudden interruption. Then, to Leo’s immense relief, it relaxed and seemed to shrug.

‘I cannot tell you,’ it said. ‘We have never known why our hearts are desired by others. We only know that they are desired, and that we must defend ourselves from those who seek to take them from us.’

It glanced down at the pack then turned away from it again. ‘There are few dragon-hunters in Rondo now, but once upon a time there were many. The heart preserved in that container was taken in those days, I would say. It is very old. I did not realise this when I first caught its scent. The trace was very faint. It told me only that a dragon’s heart was near. I was compelled to follow it, though I should not have left the lair. I had to find out if it was the heart of my mate. He is missing.’

Leo watched it lift its head to look towards the hills to the north, and an awful suspicion slid into his mind.

‘Missing,’ Mimi echoed, in a voice so low that he could barely hear it.

‘Yesterday was his day to hunt,’ the dragon said. ‘We take the days in turn, for one of us must always stay by the lair. Our egg will soon hatch, and our young one will need care when it is new.’

It looked over its shoulder, and Leo noticed for the first time the mouth of a great cave yawning in the rock behind it, bathed in the cold light of the rising sun.

‘It’s a female!’ Spoiler wailed softly. ‘A female with an egg! That’s the most vicious kind!’

‘Keep quiet, you fool!’ Conker growled savagely.

‘My mate left me yesterday at dawn,’ the dragon went on, turning back to the cage. ‘He has not returned. He would not willingly have left me for so long. I fear he is dead.’

She spoke calmly, but there was a terrible sadness in her flat, golden eyes.

Leo waited for Mimi to speak, but she remained silent, her face stricken. He caught Bertha’s anxious gaze, and cleared his throat.

‘Is he – is your mate – green?’ he made himself say.

‘Why do you ask?’ the dragon demanded, swinging her head round to glare at him. ‘What have you seen? Speak!’

Leo swallowed. ‘The night before last, the Blue Queen spread her magic as smoke over her whole domain,’ he said huskily. ‘She enchanted any creatures caught in the smoke. One of these was a… a green dragon.’

The golden eyes flared as if they had suddenly caught fire. Leo shrank back.

‘Does he live?’ the dragon hissed.

Leo swallowed. ‘All we can tell you is that he was alive yesterday,’ he said awkwardly. ‘Alive, but – but not free. He was working for the queen – snatching people and creatures away.’

‘I do not believe you!’ the dragon breathed, the spines rising on the back of her neck. ‘My mate would never serve the witch of the north!’

‘He’s enchanted,’ Mimi said, finding her voice. ‘He can’t help it. He flew into the queen’s smoke, and was caught. Her magic is too strong for him.’

‘No magic is too strong for my mate!’ snarled the dragon. ‘No one could keep him from returning to me while strength remained in his body! You lie to me! You lie!’

She bared her terrible fangs and lunged at the cage, raking the bars with her talons. Mimi screamed and fell backwards. Spoiler howled. The dragon raked the bars again. Her eyes were blank with rage.

‘We’re not lying, dragon!’ shrieked Bertha. ‘We’ve seen your mate with our own eyes! He attacked my farm! He took one of my friends!’

‘He took Princess Pretty from the Crystal Palace!’ Conker shouted. ‘He took the pie-seller from the town! Ask anyone!’

The dragon roared through the open doorway of the cage. Smoke gushed from her jaws. The prisoners cowered, coughing, their eyes streaming.

‘Conker! The Dragon’s Bane!’ Bertha squealed.

Conker began fumbling in his pockets one-handed. Leo turned to help, but as he moved something caught in the bars beneath him and held him back.

It was the handle of the magic mirror. As Leo freed it, a wild idea came to him. He snatched the mirror from his belt and turned to face the raging dragon.

‘Dragon!’ he yelled. ‘Listen to me! I can prove to you that we’re telling the truth!’

The dragon stopped roaring. She glared at Leo balefully. Smoke drifted from her flaring nostrils. ‘Come closer, then, deceiver,’ she hissed. ‘Show me this proof.’

Leo crawled towards the cage doorway, pressing the mirror’s face against his chest. He could feel Mimi, Conker, Bertha and Spoiler staring after him.

‘Leo!’ Mimi whispered fearfully.

Leo shook his head and moved on. There was no time to explain. He tried not to think about what would happen if his idea didn’t work. He had to try it. It was their only chance. The beast would just become more enraged if they repelled her with Dragon’s Bane. She would withdraw a little, then roar fire at the cage and roast them all alive.

His throat felt dry as sand as he held up the mirror.

‘What is this?’ the dragon hissed.

‘It’s a magic mirror,’ Leo said, his voice little more than a croak. ‘I took it from the Castle of Cruelcliff.’

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ he heard Bertha breathe behind him, and resisted the urge to turn round.

‘And how can an ogre’s mirror convince me that you are speaking the truth?’ the dragon enquired coldly.

Leo swallowed. ‘It… it will show you,’ he said. ‘If you look into it, and think about your mate, you will see where he is, and what he’s doing.’

As long as the mirror works for you in the same way as it did for me, he thought. If it does, everything will be all right. If it doesn’t…

‘You are trying to set a trap for me,’ the dragon growled. ‘The mirror is a weapon! I have heard of such things. It will blind me, or hypnotise me, if I look upon it.’

‘It won’t!’ Leo said desperately. ‘I promise it won’t.’

The dragon snorted in contempt. ‘Your promises mean nothing to me. If you are so sure that the mirror is harmless, look into it yourself! Look into it yourself, human, and think of the green dragon you claim to have seen. If you survive to tell me that he has appeared in the glass then I will look, and not before.’

Leo wet his lips. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was look into the ogre’s mirror. What if thoughts of the Blue Queen came into his mind despite all his efforts to block them out? What if the queen sensed him again, and this time guessed who was watching her, and how? What if she saw where he was? He shuddered, fighting back memories of the queen’s avid face, her hair writhing like snakes in the gale that had raged around Cruelcliff.

‘So, deceiver!’ hissed the dragon. ‘You are afraid!’

I’m in danger, Leo told himself. We’re all in terrible danger, right here, right now. I’ve got to take the risk.

He raised his head. ‘Yes, I am afraid,’ he agreed steadily. ‘But not for the reason you think. I’ll do what you’ve asked me to do. I’ll look. Then you can look too.’

He stood up in the doorway of the cage and turned his back to the dragon. He could feel the beast’s hot breath gusting into the nape of his neck. He could see the terrified faces of Mimi, Bertha, Conker and Spoiler at the other end of the cage, floating against a hazy background of vertical black bars and blue sky speckled with apricot-pink clouds. He took a deep breath and focused his mind. He lifted the mirror and looked into it, praying that his gamble would pay off.

For a brief moment he saw only his own face. Then the reflection dissolved and was replaced by the image of the green dragon.

The dragon’s proud head was bowed. Blue smoke floated around him, dulling his scales and masking the shape of the Blue Queen’s castle hulking behind him. On the ground in front of him lay a young woman in a white dress. The woman’s eyes were closed. She breathed steadily, her cheek pillowed on her arm. Her small feet were bare. Her long hair spilled over the grass like liquid gold.

‘There!’ Leo managed to say. ‘Do you see?’

He felt the heat on the back of his neck grow stronger. He knew the golden dragon was peering into the mirror – was seeing what he was seeing. He heard her hissing sigh.

‘It is he!’ the dragon murmured, her breath like fire on Leo’s skin. ‘My mate! But what… Oh!’

Another figure had moved into the scene in the mirror. It was the Blue Queen. She was wearing a cloak with a high, jewelled collar that framed her angry face. She turned contemptuously away from the unconscious Princess Pretty and her mouth twisted as she spoke angrily to the green dragon, stabbing her finger at him. The green dragon cringed, and his head drooped lower.

‘Oh, my darling dear, what has she done to you?’ Leo heard the golden dragon say in a choked voice, and a lump rose in the back of his throat.

At the same moment, the dragon in the mirror raised his head and looked straight at them. All the colours of the rainbow swirled in his glazed eyes, but somewhere beneath the colours something seemed to stir as if a memory was struggling to come to the surface of his clouded mind.

‘He feels my gaze!’ the golden dragon breathed.

Leo’s skin prickled. Panic thrilled through his body. Before he could move the queen had swung round, fast as a striking snake. Her face filled the mirror. Her pale green eyes burned like cold fire, searching…

Leo clapped the mirror face down against his chest. Panting and shaking, he stared blindly at Conker, Bertha, Spoiler and Mimi. Had he moved fast enough?

He heard a shuffling sound behind him, and turned. The dragon was retreating from the cage. Her eyes were fixed on the north.

‘No!’ Mimi shouted, scrambling forward to press her face against the bars of the cage. ‘Dragon, you can’t go after him! The queen will catch you in the smoke too! She will!’

The dragon regarded her coldly. ‘You know nothing of the bonding of dragons, human,’ she hissed. ‘I cannot stay here knowing what I know. My heart would break. If the queen overpowers me, then so be it. I would rather be enslaved with my mate than live in freedom without him.’

She backed further away from the cage, preparing herself for flight.

‘The queen will use you to catch more slaves!’ Bertha called in a high, trembling voice. ‘You can’t –’

‘I must,’ said the dragon, and spread her vast wings. The sun was blotted out. The mouth of the cave was engulfed in shadow.

And Leo suddenly remembered something. ‘What about your baby?’ he burst out.

The dragon hesitated. The scaly skin around her eyes twitched.

‘If you and your mate are both lost, your baby will be all alone here, when it hatches!’ Leo rushed on. ‘It won’t have anyone to feed it. It will die!’

The great wings drooped and folded. The dragon lowered her head.

‘I had forgotten,’ she said in a wondering tone. ‘So great was my pain that I had actually… forgotten!’

Leo felt weak with relief. Then he thought of the queen’s eyes in the mirror, and fear returned with a rush. He looked towards the north. Thin wisps of pink cloud drifted over the long line of the hills. None looked suspicious, but he still felt uneasy.

‘My friends and I have to get away from here, quickly,’ he said, turning back to the dragon. ‘The queen felt me looking at her. I’m afraid she might come after us.’

Bertha squeaked. Conker scrambled up, clutching Freda. Hunched at the back of the cage, Spoiler whimpered softly.

‘Leave, then,’ the dragon said listlessly. ‘You are free to go.’

‘Free to go?’ Conker exploded. ‘Oh, my lungs and liver, how are we supposed to go anywhere? We’re stranded on the top of a mountain in the middle of nowhere, thanks to you, and I’ve got a sick duck here!’

The dragon eyed him, curling her lip. ‘If I had not taken you from the ogre’s castle you would all be dead by now, little man,’ she snarled. ‘If you would prefer death to freedom on my mountain, simply say the word.’

She showed her dripping fangs. Conker puffed up his chest defiantly.

‘Please excuse Conker,’ Bertha said hastily. ‘He’s upset. Dragon, the mountain is too steep for us. Could you – would you – carry the cage to the bottom of the mountain, at least?’

‘I will not leave my lair again until my young one can fend for itself,’ the dragon hissed. ‘This I have sworn. The witch of the north cannot touch us inside our mountain, and we have dried fish enough to survive for a time. Go your way, or stay. It is all the same to me. But I warn you, I am hungry for meat. You would do better to risk the mountain than to trust in my goodwill for much longer. ‘

Leo looked desperately at Mimi. Her tears over the heart in the silver box had moved the dragon. Maybe if she begged and pleaded…

But Mimi clearly wasn’t in the mood for pleading.

‘You mightn’t think it matters if we live or die, dragon,’ she said fiercely. ‘But you’re wrong.’

‘Am I, indeed?’ the dragon sneered.

‘Yes!’ Mimi snapped. ‘We came to the coast because we’re working against the Blue Queen. There’s a plan to stop her hurting Rondo any more, and we’re part of it. The Blue Queen’s taken your mate. She’s your enemy as well as ours. You can’t leave here, so you can’t attack her. But we can. If you help us.’

The dragon had grown very still. The gold of her eyes had deepened. ‘Why, by the stars!’ she said slowly. ‘You are a Langlander!’

Chapter

16

The Dragon’s Lair

Mimi blinked in shock. ‘Yes, I-I am a Langlander,’ she stammered. ‘How did you know?’

‘I did not see it at first,’ the dragon said, gazing at her in fascination. ‘But when you spoke just now, and your eyes flashed, you reminded me of a Langlander I once knew. She was dear to me. I called her “Spark”.’

Colour flooded Mimi’s pale face. ‘What was her real name?’ she asked.

‘I cannot speak her true name!’ the dragon exclaimed, looking shocked. ‘She would never betray mine to a stranger. If you are truly her kin you should know her name! You resemble her. She is small, even for one of your puny kind, but she is brave and beautiful. When we met, I thought she must be a princess, but she said she was not.’

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha whispered to Conker, her eyes very wide. ‘That’s exactly like that Langlander tale, “The Dragon and the Princess Who Wasn’t”, that my mother used to tell my brothers and me! This must be the same dragon!’

‘Could very well be,’ Conker muttered back. ‘What a stroke of luck! Let’s just hope that Mimi has the sense to play along with –’ He broke off, clearing his throat nervously, as the dragon glared at him.

‘Dragon, there are a lot of Langlanders,’ Leo burst out. ‘Mimi can’t possibly guess –’

The dragon snorted. ‘Spark is not someone any member of her family could forget. She told me that she was not like others in her clan. She had run away to Rondo because in Langland she was considered an “ugly duckling” who did not behave as a young lady should.’

‘Oh!’ Mimi gasped. ‘Aunt Alice!’

Alice! Leo thought in astonishment. Hal’s aunt – the one who played the harp, and was always in trouble, and ended up shocking the family by marrying a man who ran a travelling music show. Hal said Mimi was very like her. But I don’t think Hal knows Alice ever came to Rondo. She must have sneaked in, and then sneaked back, and never admitted it to a soul.

The dragon was nodding with pleasure. ‘So you are kin to Spark!’ she said. ‘This is wonderful! I have thought of her so often, and hoped that she found happiness at last. It is long, so long, since we flew together in the Rondo skies. We were both very young in those days. Tell me, how does she fare?’

Mimi bit her lip. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said reluctantly. ‘But you know… maybe Alice – Spark – told you… Langlanders don’t live as long as people in Rondo do.’

‘Ah,’ the dragon murmured. ‘I understand. Spark is sleeping with her ancestors.’ And into the golden eyes came an expression of great sadness.

‘But she was happy – very happy – in her life,’ Mimi went on eagerly. ‘And I’m sure – I’m positive – that coming to Rondo helped her find the way to do it, just like it’s –’ the colour in her face grew painfully bright, but she raised her chin and went on’ – just like it’s helped me.’

‘I am glad of it.’ The dragon regarded Mimi thoughtfully. ‘It is strange, Kin of Spark, that you should come to me at this time of sadness in my life. Perhaps it is an omen that in the end all will be well.’

Mimi nodded, clearly not trusting herself to speak.

The dragon lifted her head. ‘Well, by the stars, this changes everything!’ she said. ‘Now I can show you a way to leave this place. It is a way I could not allow a stranger to –’

She broke off, eyeing Conker. ‘Can you vouch for the good conduct of your friends?’ she asked Mimi abruptly. ‘Can they be trusted?’

‘Well, really!’ exclaimed Bertha, tossing back her ribbons.

‘All but the big one in women’s clothes,’ Mimi said, jerking her head at Spoiler. ‘I can’t vouch for him. He’s no friend of ours.’

‘He has to come with us anyway,’ Leo said loudly, as Spoiler moaned in terror.

‘Explain!’ snapped the dragon. Smoke drifted from her jaws as she turned her golden eyes on Leo.

‘We’re not supposed to let him out of our sight,’ Leo said, feeling his face grow hot. ‘Wherever we go, he has to go too.’

The dragon regarded him curiously for a moment, then nodded. ‘Keep him close by you, then,’ she said. ‘If he makes a wrong move I will kill him. Follow me.’

She turned away and began lumbering towards her lair, her spiked tail making a stealthy sliding sound on the rock.

Mimi, Leo, Bertha and Conker moved out of the cage. Spoiler stayed where he was, biting his lips and shaking his head.

Leo felt a surge of exasperated pity. He went back into the cage, grabbed Spoiler’s arm, and tugged.

But Spoiler clung to the cage bars, refusing to move. ‘It’s going to kill me!’ he wailed. ‘You heard it. The girl told it – told it –’

‘You’ll be fine if you behave yourself,’ Leo said, hoping that this was true. ‘And you’ll be in much worse danger if you stay here. Just keep close to me. I’ll look after you.’

It occurred to him that it was absurd to be promising to protect Spoiler, who was so much bigger and stronger than he was. But Spoiler swallowed, nodded, and at last allowed himself to be led from the cage.

‘I don’t know why you bother, Leo,’ growled Conker, who had waited for them while Mimi and Bertha cautiously followed the dragon.

Leo didn’t know either, really. He loathed having Spoiler so close to him, clutching his arm. The man reeked of stale hair oil and old sweat. His eyes were bloodshot, his nose was running, and his teeth were chattering. His Dame Dally bonnet clung to the back of his head, its frills flapping in the wind.

‘Oh, my heart and lungs, it’s going into its lair,’ Conker muttered.

Leo looked up and saw the dragon disappearing into the mouth of the great cave. Blackness swallowed her golden gleam until all that could be seen was the spiked tip of her tail. Then that, too, slid into the darkness and vanished from sight.

Mimi and Bertha hesitated, looking back. Conker hurried to join them. Leo followed, dragging Spoiler along with him.

A musky smell drifted from the cave mouth. Bones, picked clean, littered the ground in front it.

Conker chewed his moustache. ‘I’m not too sure about this,’ he said, tightening his grip on Freda’s limp body.

‘Yes, well, I must say that following a dragon into her den isn’t my idea of sensible behaviour,’ Bertha agreed. ‘I thought she was going to help us find a way down the mountain.’

‘She is,’ Mimi said positively. ‘The way must be inside the lair – that’s why she couldn’t show it to strangers.’

‘Why do you wait?’ called the dragon, her voice echoing eerily from inside the cave.

‘We’re coming!’ Mimi called back, and darted forward. Bertha sighed and trotted after her. Conker set his lips, and followed.

‘I’m not going in there,’ Spoiler whined, digging in his heels.

Leo felt a surge of resentment. Why did he have to be burdened like this? Why was his stupid conscience making him try to help this man who wouldn’t even try to help himself?

‘Move!’ he said angrily, hauling at Spoiler’s arm. ‘Move or I’ll leave you here. Then you’ll be eaten for sure.’

Spoiler groaned. His shoulders slumped. He let Leo pull him on, through the cave mouth and into the shadow.

The cave was warmer than Leo had expected, and the musky smell was very strong. The rock floor was littered with small dry bones that cracked unpleasantly underfoot.

At first he couldn’t see anything, but as his eyes gradually adjusted to the dim light, he could make out the shapes of Conker, Bertha and Mimi moving in front of him and the great bulk of the dragon leading them on. The walls and roof of the cave were shrouded in darkness, but he had the sense of being in a vast space. Every footstep, every stumble, every gasping breath echoed, so that his ears were filled with whispering sound.

They moved deeper and deeper into the cave. No one spoke. Then the dragon stopped and turned her head, her long neck twisting like a snake. Leo saw her white fangs glimmering in the darkness and his heart gave a sickening leap. Spoiler’s fingers dug into his arm.

‘Is the one who is not to be trusted secure?’ the dragon hissed.

‘Yes,’ Leo called back. His voice sounded hoarse and strange. Yes… yes… yes came the echo.

‘Then wait where you are,’ the dragon ordered.

She turned again and moved on, quickly disappearing into the darkness. Leo could hear the slithering of her tail and the clicking of her talons. Then there was a loud scraping of rock that filled the cave with rumbling thunder.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, what’s happening?’ Bertha squeaked.

The rumbling sound died away. Leo felt a soft, cool draught of air on his face.

‘Come forward,’ called the dragon. Forward… forward… rumbled the echo.

Everyone began to move again. Leo could hear Spoiler’s panting breaths beside him. The arm he held felt heavy, like a dead weight. The draught of air on his face grew abruptly stronger, and suddenly he became aware of the huge bulk of the dragon rising directly ahead. It had been crouched, motionless, waiting for them.

‘This is the way,’ the dragon said. ‘We have never used it, for it is far too small a burrow for us, but I have been told by a friend I meet while hunting fish that it leads to the sea. We keep it blocked to prevent unwanted visitors from entering the lair, but I have opened it for you.’

‘It’s a Gap!’ squeaked Bertha. A Gap… a Gap… a Gap shrilled the echo.

The great shape of the dragon moved uneasily. Leo saw the neck twist as the beast looked over her shoulder at something behind her. Then he saw the glint of fangs as the huge head turned back to face Mimi.

‘We say farewell here, then, Kin of Spark,’ the dragon hissed. ‘It would please me if one day, when Rondo is at peace once more, you could come back and tell my young one stories of Langland, like those that my true friend Spark once told to me.’

‘I’d like that,’ Mimi whispered. ‘I’ll do it, if I can.’

‘And perhaps, if the omen proves true, my mate will be with us, to hear the tales for himself,’ said the dragon quietly. ‘We can only hope.’

The entrance to the Gap was a dark crack in the back wall of the cave. Mimi and Conker passed through it easily, but it was a tight squeeze for Bertha, and Spoiler, bolting after her, became stuck halfway. He kicked and yelled, his head and shoulders in the Gap, the rest of his body, thickened enormously by the bulky Dame Dally skirts, in the dragon’s den.

Furious and swearing, Leo put his shoulder to Spoiler’s vast behind and shoved until the sweat popped out on his forehead. Nothing happened except that Spoiler’s screams grew more frantic, and his kicking shoes connected painfully with Leo’s shins.

The dragon made a disgusted huffing sound. ‘Move aside, Young Guardian,’ she ordered. ‘Come here and stand by me.’

Leo did as he was told, absurdly pleased to have been given a name. The dragon turned slightly. As she did, Leo saw what she had been concealing behind her. It was an almost flat nest of round stones lined with leaves and grass. In the centre of the nest was an egg thickly speckled in green and gold. It was as large as a melon, and across its top was a jagged black line.

As Leo stared, fascinated, there was a scratching sound from inside the egg, and the black line widened.

The dragon snarled. Leo jumped guiltily and glanced around to meet angry golden eyes.

‘I-I was only looking,’ he stammered. ‘It’s – it’s hatching.’

‘Yes,’ hissed the dragon. ‘The noise made my little one curious to see the world outside the egg, no doubt. It is time for you to be gone.’

She turned a little more, and swished her tail. The tail thudded into Spoiler’s bunched-up mass of skirts, batting him effortlessly into the Gap.

‘Go now,’ the dragon said, as Spoiler’s howls echoed through the split in the rock.

The back of his neck burning under the beast’s golden glare, Leo scuttled to the Gap entrance. He took a step into the crack and then impulsively turned back.

‘Thank you for helping us,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry we disturbed you. I’m sorry – about everything.’

‘Possibly I will be sorry too in the hungry time to come, when I think of the easy meal I allowed to go free this day,’ the dragon replied, with what Leo could have sworn was a touch of grim humour. ‘It seems unlikely to me that you puny beings can defeat the witch of the north, whatever Kin of Spark thinks, and whatever the omens say. And by your expression I think you agree with me, Young Guardian.’

‘No,’ Leo lied, fighting down the sinking feeling that returned every time he remembered the contents of the heart-shaped box. ‘What we have to do is hard, that’s all. But we’ll do it in the end – we have to! People are depending on us.’

He knew he was talking as much to himself as to the dragon. Perhaps she knew it too, because she tilted her head and regarded him ironically.

‘Then I wish you well,’ she hissed. ‘But I warn you – do not open that silver box in the open air again. If the scent of dragon’s heart comes to me on the wind I will not be able to resist its call. And if it leads me to you a second time I may not be feeling so generous. Kin of Spark is safe from me, perhaps, but I cannot promise the same for the rest of you.’

Leo nodded, turned, and pushed his way blindly forward. The last thing he heard was the sound of the great rock rolling over the entrance once more. Then the swirling grey nothingness of the Gap had swallowed him up.

Chapter

17

Dilemma

Leo came to consciousness with sun on his face. Waves crashed somewhere near, and as he struggled to clear his mind he was drenched by a shower of cold spray. He gasped, opened his eyes, and saw a mass of misty grey beneath a shelf of wet brown rock thick with limpets and periwinkles. Gap, he thought. I’ve been through a Gap.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up. Mimi’s face loomed above him against a background of bright blue sky. ‘Get up, Leo,’ Mimi urged. ‘Hurry! We can’t stay here.’

He blinked at her dazedly.

‘Get up!’ she begged. ‘The Gap took us back to the rocks on the other side of the Cruelcliff headland! The ogre’s castle’s right above us! He’s up there, rebuilding the wall of his secret chamber. We can see him! We’ve got to get out of sight before he sees us!’

Leo jumped up so quickly that his head swam. He swayed and felt a firm hand seize his arm.

‘Steady on, Leo,’ he heard Conker say. ‘We’ll start by getting you to some cover. That big rock over there will do. See it? It’s just a few steps. Spoiler, take his other arm. Stop complaining! The bruises on your backside can’t be that bad. Right! Here we go…’

Leo saw the big rock ahead. He forced himself to put one foot after the other until he reached it. Then he sank down in its shadow and closed his eyes.

‘What is it with that boy and Gaps?’ drawled a muffled but very familiar voice.

Leo’s eyes flew open again. There in front of him, vigorously preening her left wing, was Freda.

‘Freda!’ he yelled, overjoyed. ‘You’re okay!’

‘Never better,’ said the duck.

‘Didn’t I tell you she’d be all right?’ Conker was beaming. ‘She woke up the second we got into the Gap.’

‘The very second!’ Bertha breathed, settling down in the shade beside Leo. ‘Wasn’t it extraordinary?’

‘I woke up long before that, actually,’ Freda told them, starting work on her right wing. ‘But I decided not to say anything.’

‘What?’ spluttered Conker, as Bertha squeaked in outrage and Mimi burst out laughing.

‘It made sense to me,’ Freda said. ‘I came to and where was I? On top of a mountain, in a cage, with a hysterical dragon bellowing about liars and rattling the bars! Who wouldn’t have kept quiet?’

‘You – you devious duck!’ cried Bertha, who had become very red in the face. ‘Why, when I think of the sympathy I wasted on you! I was sick with worry! I thought you were dying!’

‘Me too,’ said Freda. ‘Then suddenly I felt as fit as a flea. Funny, that.’

‘Oh, my lungs and aching arm bones!’ Conker roared. ‘You mean you let me lug you all the way through the dragon’s den like a bundle of old –?’

‘Don’t shout, you lunatic!’ Spoiler moaned. ‘The ogre might hear!’

Bertha edged to the side of the rock and peered upward. ‘It’s all right,’ she breathed, pulling her head back. ‘He’s still working. But in my opinion we should get around to the other side of the headland as fast as we can. We can talk later.’

‘You’re right,’ growled Conker. ‘Can you walk yet, Leo?’

‘Of course I can,’ Leo snapped, feeling unreasonably annoyed at being treated as an invalid.

‘I can’t,’ Spoiler whined. ‘I’m in agony.’

‘Well, no one’s going to carry you,’ Conker said. ‘You can stay here till the tide comes in for all I care. Right, team! To the cliff! On the double!’

They moved out of shelter and hurried across the slippery sheet of rock, dodging pools that looked like jewelled mirrors winking in the sun. Despite what he’d said, Spoiler gathered up his skirts and managed to run almost as fast as Conker and Freda. Mimi trotted after them. Leo staggered along behind, pretending he was hanging back to look after Bertha, whose trotters continually threatened to slide out from under her.

Halfway to the cliff Leo looked up and saw the ogre standing inside the gaping hole high in his castle wall. The ogre’s arms were raised, and moving. He looked as if he was conducting an orchestra. Great stone blocks were floating around his head and sliding into place one by one, leaving neat spaces for windows.

‘Keep moving, Leo!’ Bertha scolded. ‘He could look down any minute!’

It seemed to take an age to reach the base of the cliff where Conker, Freda, Mimi and Spoiler were waiting. Spoiler was whimpering quietly to himself. Conker was glaring reproachfully at Freda, who had begun preening her feathers again. The sound of softly chinking stone floated from above, mingling with the cries of seabirds and the dull roar of the waves.

They began to walk around the headland, keeping as close to the base of the cliff as they could. For a long time they didn’t speak, but when, sighing with relief, they rounded the headland and saw the golden sand of the beach beyond the rocks ahead, Conker obviously felt that his argument with Freda could be safely resumed.

‘The least you could have done was tell me you were awake, Freda,’ he grumbled. ‘You could have winked at me, or something.’

‘You’d have given the game away if I’d let on,’ Freda retorted. ‘You’re a terrible actor. And it was good tactics for me to play dead. It’s an old trick but a good one. If that dragon had turned really nasty –’

‘Much you could have done about it if it had,’ sneered Spoiler.

Freda turned to snap her beak at him, then paused and pecked irritably at her right wing instead. ‘My feathers are sticky,’ she complained. ‘Your fault, Conker! Your hands must be as mucky as –’

‘Stop fussing,’ Conker growled. ‘It’s just a bit of dragon’s heart. Nothing to –’

‘What?’ Freda quacked, stopping dead.

‘Keep moving, Freda,’ Bertha urged nervously.

‘Did you say dragon’s heart?’ Freda gasped, half-running and half-flying to catch up with Conker. ‘Where in Rondo did you get hold of that?’

Conker puffed out his cheeks and stomped on without speaking.

‘We hadn’t got round to telling you, Freda,’ Mimi said in a low voice. ‘We found out from the dragon that the cream in the queen’s silver box is made of… dragon’s heart.’

Freda shut her beak with a snap.

‘I got some on my hands and wiped them on you, if you want to know,’ Conker said belligerently.

‘Did you?’ said Freda, looking very impressed. ‘You used dragon’s heart to save my life, right under the dragon’s nose? That took a bit of nerve!’

‘What do you mean?’ Bertha squeaked.

‘Freda, are you saying it was the dragon’s heart that cured you?’ Leo asked, glancing at Conker, whose mouth had fallen open in astonishment.

‘Of course!’ said Freda. ‘There’s nothing like dragon’s heart for giving you a big burst of energy. Everyone who’s anyone knows that. Right, Conker?’

‘Right!’ Conker blustered. ‘Absolutely. Common knowledge, isn’t it?’

‘Well, I had no idea!’ Bertha retorted.

‘Oh well, you wouldn’t, stuck away on that farm with a bunch of goodie-goodie hens,’ Freda said. ‘The stuff’s illegal these days – you can’t get it anywhere. Cruelty to dragons, and all that.’

‘I should think so!’ Mimi said fiercely.

‘So it was dragon’s heart the queen was looking for,’ Freda muttered. ‘Well, it’s hard to know how to feel about that. On the one wing, it saved my life. But on the other…’

‘Yes,’ Bertha sighed. ‘On the other trotter, we’re almost back where we started.’

‘What do you mean?’ Mimi demanded, stopping and staring. ‘We’re not back where we started! We got to the dragon’s heart before the queen did! And if it’s as rare as Freda says, she won’t be able to find any more. So she won’t be able to finish whatever potion she’s making, will she?’

There was a small, uncomfortable silence.

‘Well, she won’t!’ Mimi repeated, looking around at her friends’ troubled faces. ‘She’s got the seawater, and the wind, but we’ve got the dragon’s heart!’

It was amazing to Leo that she didn’t see it. He took a deep breath. ‘The queen doesn’t need the preserved dragon’s heart all that desperately any more, Mimi,’ he said gently. ‘She’s got a real, live dragon of her own, hasn’t she? She can take his heart, any time she wants.’

Mimi went very still. ‘She wouldn’t,’ she said in a strangled voice. ‘Surely even she wouldn’t…’

Her voice trailed off as she met Leo’s unhappy eyes.

‘She’d do anything to get what she wants,’ Spoiler said. He sounded half fearful, half admiring.

Mimi glanced at him, expressionless, then looked back at Leo. Her face was very white. ‘But that means – that means because we’ve got the silver box, the green dragon is going to be killed!’ she said. ‘We can’t let that happen! We can’t!’

‘You’re not suggesting we hand the silver box over to the queen, are you?’ Conker demanded. ‘Because I’m telling you right now that –’

‘I’m not suggesting any such thing!’ Mimi flashed back. ‘I’m just saying we’ve got to find a way to save the dragon!’

‘Easy-peasy!’ Freda said sarcastically.

‘Our orders are to find out what the queen’s up to, not get ourselves killed trying to rescue enchanted dragons,’ Conker said, very firmly.

Mimi glared at them both.

‘Howdy-doody!’ squeaked a voice behind them.

Everyone jumped and looked round. A small gold head fringed with a straggling seaweed beard was poking out of a nearby rock pool.

‘You again!’ said Conker in disgust.

‘Didn’t think you lot would be back!’ the magic fish chortled. ‘Drowned or eaten, that’s what I thought.’

‘Well, you were wrong,’ Bertha said haughtily. ‘Please go away. We are having a very important conference.’

‘Is that so?’ the fish jeered. ‘Oh, pardon me!’ It tossed its beard and did a backwards somersault, slapping the surface of the water hard with its tail and showering them all with spray.

‘Pelican bait!’ Freda quacked after it.

‘Now, Mimi,’ Bertha said, tossing a dripping poppy out of her eyes. ‘It’s all very sad about the golden dragon’s mate, but Conker is right. There’s nothing whatever we can do about it.’

Mimi’s mouth set into the familiar straight, stubborn line, but for once this didn’t make Leo prickle with irritation. He understood why Mimi was so upset. He, too, felt that somehow they had cheated the golden dragon, who had given them names, and helped them. He, too, loathed the thought that the green dragon was doomed to die because the Blue Queen had failed to find her silver box of dragon’s heart.

But getting angry at Bertha, Conker and Freda won’t help, he thought. They’re only being practical. There isn’t anything we can do to help the green dragon. And even if there was, Hal sent us to find out what the queen’s doing. That has to be our first priority…

And suddenly an idea occurred to him. ‘Listen!’ he said slowly. ‘There might be a way we can follow orders and save the dragon.’

‘Do tell,’ Freda said dryly.

‘We know the queen has collected wind and seawater, and we know about the dragon’s heart, right?’ Leo said, his eyes on Mimi. ‘We think she’s making some sort of potion that uses those ingredients. If we can find out what the potion is – and what it’s for – we’ll have the information Hal needs.’

‘Oh, my heart and lungs, Leo, we know all that!’ Conker grumbled.

‘But you see, once we’ve got the potion’s name, we can do something else as well,’ Leo went on, refusing to be rattled. ‘We can find out what its other ingredients are. There can’t be just three. There must be others – maybe lots of others. And if we can stop the queen getting even one of them, she won’t be able to make the potion at all! It’s a slim chance, but it is a chance!’

Mimi raised her head, and he felt a rush of warmth as he saw the glow of hope and gratitude in her eyes. She had followed his reasoning and realised where it was leading. But even more importantly, she’d understood that he had taken her feelings seriously and was trying to find a compromise. She knew she wasn’t alone.

‘If we can stop the potion being made it will be good for Rondo – and it will save the green dragon as well,’ he said, spelling it out. ‘The queen won’t kill the dragon for his heart until she has everything else, will she? He’s too useful. She’ll save him till the very end.’

‘Brilliant, Leo!’ shouted Conker, punching the air with his fist.

‘A quest in two parts!’ Bertha exclaimed. ‘How scientific!’

‘Great plan,’ Freda drawled. ‘There’s just one small problem. How in Rondo are we going to work out what the queen’s potion is, just from three ingredients?’

‘I… well, I thought Brewer would be able to help us with that,’ Leo said. ‘He’s the expert.’

‘He’s not a mind reader though,’ said Freda. ‘There are probably thousands of recipes for spells and potions with wind, seawater and dragon’s heart in the ingredients.’

‘Thousands?’ Mimi wailed.

‘Brewer’s got a lot of old books,’ Conker said. ‘Wurzle and Bing and the others would have old books too. We’ll have to go through them all and work out which –’

‘But that could take months!’ cried Bertha. ‘The queen will have completed the potion long before we’ve finished. Oh, this is so disappointing!’

Leo turned to Spoiler, who was leaning against the cliff face picking miserably at the limp frills of his blouse.

‘Spoiler!’ he said urgently. ‘You’ve got to help us! You’ve got to think! That potion the Blue Queen always wanted to make – was one of the ingredients dragon’s heart? What did the potion do? What was its name?’

‘I’ve got no idea!’ Spoiler moaned. ‘I can’t remember, I tell you! It might have had dragon’s heart in it. I think it did. But who knows what it’s called?’

‘The Tideseer would know,’ a squeaky voice piped from the rock pool. ‘The Tideseer knows everything.’

Chapter

18

The Tideseer

The quest team spun round. The magic fish tittered and ducked under the water again.

‘Who’s the Tideseer?’ Bertha asked blankly.

‘Never heard of him,’ said Conker.

‘It’s not “him”,’ Spoiler said. ‘It’s “her”.’

Mimi, Leo, Bertha, Conker and Freda stared at him. He fidgeted, blinking at them uneasily.

‘How do you know that?’ Conker demanded.

‘She always called the Tideseer “her”, that’s all,’ Spoiler mumbled. Clearly he was wishing he’d kept his mouth shut.

‘She? You mean the Blue Queen?’ Mimi snapped.

Spoiler nodded sulkily, pulling at his bottom lip.

‘Spoiler, tell us!’ Leo begged. ‘Who’s the Tideseer? What did the queen say about her?’

Spoiler shrugged. ‘The Tideseer knows things,’ he said vaguely. ‘Knows too much, she says. She tried to get rid of the Tideseer when… when we had the Key.’

‘When you had the Key and were letting her use it, you mean,’ Conker snarled. ‘You rotten, slimy –’ He broke off, scowling, as Leo shot him a warning glance and Bertha trod on his foot.

‘Go on, Spoiler,’ Leo prompted, keeping his voice as light and friendly as he could. ‘The queen tried to get rid of the Tideseer – but couldn’t?’

Spoiler nodded, looking hunted. ‘Couldn’t,’ he repeated. ‘Couldn’t get a fix on her. The Tideseer kept giving her the slip.’

‘But how could this Tideseer possibly know when the queen was planning to use the Key on her?’ Bertha asked, very puzzled.

Spoiler shrugged again. ‘Just did,’ he muttered. ‘I told you – the Tideseer knows things.’

‘She sounds like someone we definitely ought to meet,’ Freda remarked.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, yes!’ Bertha breathed.

‘Spoiler, where does she live?’ Leo asked urgently.

‘How would I know?’ Spoiler muttered. ‘It wasn’t me who wanted to get rid of her, was it? Listen, can we get out of here? We’re standing right outside the ogre’s front door, you know.’

There was an irritated bubbling sound from the rock pool. Leo looked over his shoulder and saw that the magic fish had poked its head up again and was watching them crossly. ‘Well?’ the fish shrilled. ‘Didn’t you hear what I said? Don’t you want to ask me about the Tideseer?’

‘Oh, it’s okay,’ said Mimi casually, before anyone else could speak. ‘Our friend here can tell us everything we want to know.’ She jerked her head at Spoiler, who glowered at her.

The fish quivered with annoyance. ‘Flotsam!’ it said rudely. ‘No one can tell you as much about the Tideseer as I can. I’m the official guide to her, more or less.’

‘Oh, really?’ Mimi said politely, and turned back to Spoiler.

The fish seemed to swell. Its beard flapped, and its goggling eyes looked as if they were going to pop right out of its head.

‘You are not to go to the Tideseer’s cave without me!’ it shrieked. ‘I’m the one who knows when she’s in and when she’s out! I’m the one who swims with her when her tail grows! I’m the one who knows the question rules!’

‘Tail?’ Leo heard Freda mutter to Conker dubiously.

‘Oh, we’ll be fine on our own, magic fish,’ Mimi called, without turning round. ‘Thanks anyway.’

‘I’m the official guide, I tell you!’ stormed the fish, beside itself with rage. ‘If you want to see the Tideseer, I have to lead you to her! It’s what always happens!’

Fighting down a strong urge to laugh, Leo cleared his throat. ‘Mimi, we really ought to obey the rules,’ he said, making a huge effort to sound meek and worried. ‘We’d better let the magic fish take us to the Tideseer.’

Mimi sighed heavily. ‘Oh, all right,’ she said. ‘He can take us.’

‘A very wise decision!’ said the fish severely. ‘That will be six worms, please!’

‘We haven’t got any worms,’ Conker snarled.

The fish looked disappointed. ‘What about newts?’ it asked.

Conker bared his teeth.

‘Oh, give it a bit of bread,’ Freda muttered.

‘I don’t take bread,’ the fish said, overhearing. ‘It dissolves too quickly.’

Swearing under his breath, Spoiler fumbled in his skirt pocket and pulled out something grey and crumbly. ‘Here!’ he said, thrusting the thing into Leo’s hand. ‘Give it this.’ It was the chewed remains of one of the ogre’s gigantic meatballs.

‘Ugh!’ Bertha shuddered.

The fish, however, seemed to find the meatball fragment quite satisfactory, and stowed it carefully away in a crevice of the pool while Leo furtively washed his greasy hand in the water.

‘Can we go now?’ Spoiler begged, glancing at the cliff face and showing the whites of his eyes.

‘Follow me!’ cried the fish. It leaped out of its pool, landing with a splash in another one closer to the beach. The quest team and Spoiler hurried after it.

‘Good work, Mimi!’ Bertha whispered. ‘You tricked him again!’

‘It wasn’t very hard,’ Mimi said, but Leo could see that the praise had pleased her.

‘Keep up, please!’ the fish cried importantly, springing from the second pool into the third in line. ‘My time is valuable.’

Freda snapped her beak, but luckily the fish was under the water at the time, and didn’t hear.

Leaping from pool to pool, it led the way to the end of the headland. At last it jumped into the last pool before the rock shelf ended, and stood up on its tail.

‘Very well,’ it squeaked officiously, ‘the Tideseer’s cave is now only a few steps away. At this point, I usually give some instructions. Please pay close attention.’

Conker grabbed Freda’s beak to prevent her from saying anything.

Leo, Mimi and Bertha smiled respectfully and leaned forward.

‘First,’ said the fish, ‘the Tideseer will only see three clients at a time.’

‘What?’ Bertha frowned. ‘But you didn’t tell us that before!’

‘Three clients only,’ piped the fish. ‘And that’s my final word.’

‘Well, I’m not going into the freak’s cave, anyway,’ Spoiler muttered.

‘No one’s asking you to,’ snapped Conker. ‘If only three visitors are allowed, you’d be a complete waste of space.’

‘I’d like to go,’ Mimi said eagerly.

‘Me too,’ Leo put in, feeling more determined than eager.

‘Well, I’m not keen, frankly,’ Freda said. ‘That tail thing was enough to put me off.’

‘I’ll go with Mimi and Leo,’ Bertha offered brightly. ‘After all, here I am on the coast for the very first time since I was a piglet! I should see all the important tourist spots.’

Following the fish’s instructions, everyone moved onto the sand, trudged down to the low tide mark and located the entrance to a cave that apparently stretched beneath the rock shelf. The entrance was gloomy, and ankle deep in water.

‘Oh, lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha squeaked.

Mimi said nothing, but she looked frightened. Leo wondered if his fear was showing, too.

‘You can’t go in there,’ Spoiler said suddenly. ‘It’s dangerous!’ He sounded as if he really cared about Mimi, Leo and Bertha’s safety. Everyone glanced at him in surprise and his face darkened, as if he was embarrassed to have betrayed himself.

‘Shut up, you!’ growled Conker. But he chewed nervously at his moustache as a wave broke close to shore, and foam ran hissing into the cave entrance.

‘Right!’ chirped the fish, who had jumped into a pool just above them, and was goggling at them over the edge of the rock. ‘Now, here’s the deal. You can ask the Tideseer three questions, and three questions only.’

‘First the Tideseer will only have three visitors, and now she’ll only answer three questions!’ Bertha exclaimed. ‘Why is it always three?’

‘It just is,’ said the fish pettishly. ‘And please note that for every question you ask, a small payment is required.’

‘Payment?’ Conker roared. ‘You didn’t say anything about –’

‘We haven’t got much money,’ Leo said.

‘It’s not a matter of money, sonny,’ jeered the fish. ‘Who do you think you’re dealing with here? What the Tideseer wants is facts. You have to tell her one new fact – a fact she’s never heard before – for every question you want answered. Simple enough, isn’t it?’ He sniggered, and disappeared.

Leo, Mimi, Conker, Bertha and Freda exchanged doubtful glances.

‘If the Tideseer knows everything, how can we tell her anything new?’ Mimi murmured.

‘No one can know everything,’ Leo said. ‘It’s not possible.’ But even as he spoke, he remembered how many ‘impossible’ things had happened to him since he discovered Rondo, and felt a prickle of uneasiness.

‘You’ll have to wing it,’ Freda said flatly.

‘That’s it,’ Conker agreed, still chewing his moustache. ‘Tell her a few things, find out the sort of thing she doesn’t know, and take it from there.’

‘We can’t tell her anything that’s really hush-hush,’ Bertha said in a low voice, turning away from Spoiler so he wouldn’t hear. ‘The barrier plan, for example. It wouldn’t be safe! She is in the business of answering visitors’ questions, after all. But we could tell her that Mimi and Leo are Langlanders. No one’s going to think of asking her about that.’

Mimi nodded. ‘And Leo can easily give her the two other facts. He knows all sorts of useless stuff.’

‘Thanks,’ Leo said.

‘Yes!’ cried Bertha. ‘Like that fascinating fact you told us once about mushrooms being fungus, not vegetables, Leo! And what about moovlies – you know, those Langland moving pictures you told me about when you first came here? I’m sure the Tideseer would find it very interesting to hear about those. I certainly did.’

‘Hoy!’ shrilled a voice from above their heads.

The magic fish had returned. ‘One more thing,’ it said, peering down at them. ‘If you’re going in, you’d better make it snappy. The tide’s turned. The cave will be full of water in an hour. Just thought I’d mention it. Toodle-oo!’ It sprang into the air, somersaulted, and disappeared again.

‘Well, I like that!’ Bertha said, the tips of her ears going red with anger. ‘It didn’t say anything about the tide before! It cheated us! This Tideseer person can’t be very reliable, if she employs an official guide like that.’

‘If you ask me, that fish doesn’t work for the Tideseer at all,’ said Freda sourly. ‘It just likes to look important – and get free food.’

‘Well, at least it showed us where to go,’ Mimi said.

‘I’m not sure.’ Leo eyed the unwelcoming hole beneath the rock. ‘It might be lying to us. The Tideseer mightn’t live in this cave at all. How can she, if it floods when the tide comes up?’

Mimi raised her eyebrows. ‘The fish did say something about a tail, remember,’ she murmured, and gave a nervous little snort of laughter as Leo winced.

Bertha splashed to the cave entrance and peered inside. ‘Yoo-hoo!’ she called in a high voice. ‘Anyone home?’

They all listened intently, but could hear nothing except the slow dripping of water.

Bertha wrinkled her nose and looked back at the others. ‘It looks like you’re right, Leo,’ she exclaimed. ‘That fish made fools of us! It got that piece of meatball by false pretences.’

‘Oh, no!’ Mimi cried in frustration. Without even bothering to pull off her shoes she waded through the shallow water to join Bertha. ‘Tideseer!’ she shouted into the dimness. ‘If you’re there, please answer! We need to ask you some questions! It’s really important!’

‘Enter then, seekers after truth!’ a voice whispered from the depths of the cave.

‘Eek!’ squealed Bertha, jumping back and sitting down with a gigantic splash.

‘Leo!’ Mimi called, beckoning furiously, as Bertha struggled to her feet.

With a last glance at Conker and Freda, Leo tore off his jacket, boots and socks, pulled his trousers up to his knees and hurried to Mimi’s side. The water was cold on his skin. His heart was racing.

‘We can’t stay in there too long, remember,’ he gabbled. ‘Ten minutes at the most. The tide…’

‘Yes, yes!’ Mimi said impatiently, and plunged through the cave entrance without another word.

‘Mimi, wait!’ Bertha squeaked, and hurried after her.

As Leo followed, he found himself stumbling down a gentle slope of silky smooth rock. Water trickled past his feet, pooling a little in a round space at the bottom of the slope, then trickling through a low archway glowing with dim, green light.

Bertha was already disappearing through the archway, presumably in pursuit of Mimi.

I hate this, Leo thought. But there was no turning back now. He set his jaw, splashed his way to the archway and stepped through it, down into the cave beyond.

He had expected something big and impressive, but the cave was narrow, and no larger than his room at home. The sandy floor sloped downward, and was carpeted with the litter of low tide – shells, seaweed, driftwood, feathers, buttons, bottle tops, a pair of spectacles, a draggled sock, many tiny bones, all lying beneath a thin, moving skin of water.

Water dripped sluggishly from the low roof, filling the space with a plinking sound. The walls, smoothed and sculptured by the sea and encrusted with shellfish, glowed faintly green.

Phosphorescence, Leo told himself, absurdly relieved that he’d been able to find the word. He tried not to think about the weight of rock above his head. He pushed away the feeling that the glowing walls were closing in on him. He looked down at the water rippling around his toes. It was being stirred by the slow trickle from the cave entrance – a trickle that would become a torrent when the tide came up.

Panic stabbed at him. His legs tingled with the urge to run – get out – out into the air, and the light. He dug his fingernails into his palms, staring at Mimi and Bertha, who were standing together at the far end of the cave, their bodies masking whatever crouched there in the shadows.

‘Come forward,’ whispered a voice.

Mimi and Bertha both looked around. Bertha was blinking rapidly, and she was breathing hard. Mimi’s face was like a pale disc floating in the weird green light.

Leo forced himself towards them, clenching his teeth to stop them chattering, picking his way through the shells and bones, very conscious of his bare feet. The roof became lower, forcing him to be careful not to bump his head. He reached Mimi’s side, and peered into the shadows.

The Tideseer was sitting on a low, curved seat of polished rock in the centre of a round depression into which water slowly flowed. She was wrapped in a cloak of golden seaweed. Her hands hung down by her sides, trailing in the shallow water that rippled around her throne, her fingers opening and closing rhythmically, transparent as the tentacles of a jellyfish. Her feet, small and perfect as a child’s, were bare.

Feet…

The Tideseer looked up. Leo saw sightless eyes filmed with milky blue. He saw a seamed, ancient face that was as pale as the underbelly of a fish. He saw fine drifts of green and silver scales powdering sharp cheekbones and slanting above eyebrows thin as a pencil line. He saw a veil of fine, bone-white hair spilling over the seaweed cloak, falling to the tiny feet, to waft like bleached weed in the gently moving water.

His breath seemed to stop.

‘So,’ the Tideseer said. ‘Our number is complete. Now, we can begin.’

Chapter

19

Three Questions

I am the Tideseer.’ The whisper echoed in the cave, soft as foam dissolving into sand. ‘The waters of Rondo gather knowledge from the earth and the air as they flow to the sea. The streams run to the rivers, the rivers run to the ocean, and the tides bring the knowledge to me. Quickly or slowly, all secrets great and small come to me at last. No fact is hidden. No fact is lost. No fact is forgotten.’

Somehow Leo knew that this was the way the Tideseer always greeted her visitors. Perhaps it was the slightly chanting note in the whispering voice. Perhaps it was the rolling sentences, which had the air of having been said countless times before.

‘I am not a fortune-teller,’ the Tideseer went on. ‘I cannot see into the future. I can only predict the probable outcome of events from what I know. The tide may turn one way or another, depending on many things as yet unknown to me. Therefore, if you ask for a prediction I may answer you in riddles.’

‘We understand,’ Mimi said, sounding slightly breathless.

The Tideseer’s head moved in the smallest possible nod. ‘You have questions to ask, but you must give knowledge in return for knowledge. Begin.’

She leaned forward, and it seemed to Leo that a greedy look came into her blind eyes, as if facts were food and drink to her, and her hunger for them was never satisfied.

‘Two of us are Langlanders,’ Mimi said.

The Tideseer made an impatient movement. ‘I know this already,’ she said. ‘Try again.’

Mimi, Leo and Bertha looked at one another, startled.

‘In Langland there are moving pictures called “moovlies”,’ Bertha burst out.

‘That is false,’ said the Tideseer. ‘The word is “movies”. You misheard Mimi Langlander when she spoke it, but the waters beneath Troll’s Bridge carried it faithfully to me.’

Bertha’s mouth dropped open. The tips of her ears went pink. She glanced reproachfully at Mimi and Leo, but they were too astounded to worry about her embarrassment.

If the Tideseer knew about that tiny, long-ago incident by Troll’s Bridge on their first visit to Rondo, how much else did she know?

Everything?

‘The golden dragon saved us from the Ogre of Cruelcliff,’ Mimi said experimentally. ‘She took us to her mountain top. She calls me “Kin of Spark”.’

‘Try again,’ said the Tideseer. Her fingers moved softly in the water and she nodded with interest. ‘The Ogre of Cruelcliff has left his castle,’ she remarked. ‘The three you left behind you on the shore have taken refuge in the entrance to the Crystal Palace Gap. In Flitter Wood, the magic barrier being woven within the Nesting Tree is almost complete, and Hal Langlander is urgently awaiting a message from you.’

… all secrets great and small come to me at last.

The water really does tell her everything, Leo thought numbly. She’s reminding us of that – telling us not to waste time.

‘Leo!’ Mimi whispered urgently.

Leo dug frantically into his memory, pulled out a handful of facts, and did his best. ‘Salted water boils at a higher temperature than plain water,’ he said rapidly. ‘People and animals breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, and plants do the opposite. Ants can carry ten to twenty times their own body weight, but their muscles are no stronger than human muscles.’

He stopped for breath and looked at the Tideseer hopefully.

‘Try again,’ she said, sounding bored.

Leo felt a wave of panic. He fought it down. He realised that water was lapping around the soft skin on the inside of his ankles and looked quickly behind him.

Water was no longer merely trickling into the cave. It was spilling over the lip of the archway in a smooth, transparent sheet. Already many of the smaller, lighter objects on the floor were floating, and the strands of seaweed were gently moving. Leo turned back to the Tideseer. His mind was racing. What could he tell her that she did not already know?

Of course! Facts about home! The idea hit him like a thunderbolt, and he cursed himself for wasting time on anything else.

‘One, in Langland there are no fairies, Gaps, wishing wells, ogres, flying rugs, magic fish or dragons,’ he said confidently. ‘Two, in Langland there’s an animal called a platypus that has fur, swims, has a bill like a duck, lays eggs and gives milk to its babies. Three, people in Langland have walked on the moon.’

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha squeaked in amazement. ‘Are you sure, Leo?’

‘Your first “fact” is not a fact, but an opinion,’ said the Tideseer coolly. ‘You cannot know what lies hidden in the darkest corners of your world. Your second fact I knew already. You and your cousin are not the first Langlanders to visit Rondo – you are merely the latest in a long, long line.’

She paused. ‘The last fact I did not know, however,’ she said slowly. ‘I will accept it, because it is interesting, but I will accept no more like it. Langland is your world, not mine. Rondo is my world, and it is my knowledge of Rondo that is my reason for being. Continue.’

Leo wet his lips. ‘We’re – running out of time,’ he said haltingly. ‘The tide is rising. ‘

‘Continue,’ said the Tideseer.

Mimi and Bertha began gabbling facts in any sort of order. Their voices filled the cave, every moment growing higher and more desperate. The Tideseer remained unmoved. She knew that Sly the fox had escaped after trying to slaughter the hens at Macdonald’s farm, and had never been caught. She knew that the quest team had saved Dame Dally from the witch’s tower, and that Dame Dally was Spoiler in disguise. She knew that Leo had taken a magic mirror from the ogre’s castle. She even knew that Bertha’s elder brother played darts and was called Algernon. She made an impatient gesture when, in desperation, Mimi told her that the magic fish had received part of one of the ogre’s meatballs as payment for guiding the team to the cave.

‘The tide brought that news to me before you and your companions had reached the third rock pool, Mimi Langlander,’ she said.

Of course, Leo thought dully. The sea was all around us on the headland. It was windy, too. And the news had no distance at all to travel. Of course the news reached her quickly.

Quickly or slowly, all secrets great and small come to me at last.

Quickly or slowly… Leo’s skin prickled. For the first time, it occurred to him that the words the Tideseer had spoken when the meeting first began might not be merely a ceremonial introduction. What if the Tideseer had been telling her visitors, quite deliberately, that some facts took longer to reach her than others?

The waters of Rondo gather knowledge from the earth and the air. So news about things that happen near water, or where it’s windy – even breezy – would come to the Tideseer faster, Leo thought. And things that happen away from water and wind, and aren’t talked about later, would take longer to arrive. Things like…

He caught his breath and crossed his fingers for luck.

‘The golden dragon’s egg is hatching,’ he said loudly.

Bertha and Mimi both exclaimed in surprise.

‘Ah,’ said the Tideseer, her milky eyes gleaming with interest. ‘That will comfort my good friend in her grief. Very good. Continue.’

Leo felt a stab of triumph. ‘The golden dragon calls me “Young Guardian”,’ he said.

‘ “Young Guardian”?’ The Tideseer’s thin lips tweaked into the ghost of a smile. ‘Very appropriate.’

She settled back a little in her seat. ‘Now you may ask the three questions you have paid for. Choose them wisely and think before you speak. I can only answer the questions you ask.’

Well, of course! Leo thought impatiently. He felt something brush against his leg, jerked his foot in instinctive panic, and looked down. A child’s striped ball was bobbing away from him. The water in the cave was above his ankles.

He looked up again, met the Tideseer’s eyes and saw cold warning there. A little chill ran down his spine.

‘I can only answer the questions you ask,’ she repeated. ‘Do you understand?’ Her fingers moved delicately in the water around her, opening and closing, opening and closing…

‘Yes,’ Leo said. His voice sounded husky and strange. He glanced at Mimi and Bertha. They nodded. He cleared his throat nervously, taking a moment to marshal his thoughts.

‘If the Blue Queen is trying to make a spell or potion that has dragon’s heart, seawater and wind among its ingredients, what would that potion be used for?’ he asked carefully.

The Tideseer’s clouded eyes seemed to dull. It was almost as if she was disappointed by the question.

‘The Great Potion multiplies the power of the one who drinks it by seven times,’ she said.

Leo’s stomach turned over. He heard Bertha give a strangled squeak, and felt Mimi grip his arm. Spoiler’s voice echoed in his mind.

There was one potion she always wanted to make, but couldn’t… It was big – she was always saying it was big…

Big. Spoiler hadn’t paid attention to the actual words the queen had used. She hadn’t said ‘a big potion’, but ‘the Great Potion’.

One of the ingredients was impossible to get…

Something had changed. The ‘impossible’ ingredient had suddenly become available. But how? And what was it?

Not dragon’s heart. The heart-shaped silver box had been in the queen’s room for a long time, Spoiler had said. And the queen must have known what its precious contents were. She would hardly have kept it in her room, the safest place in the palace, if she hadn’t.

‘But – but if the Blue Queen’s power increases by seven times, she’ll be able to spread her smoke over the whole of Rondo!’ Bertha cried, finding her voice. ‘She won’t have to steal people one at a time any more. She’ll have everyone!’

‘I await your second question,’ said the Tideseer. ‘Consider it well.’

Leo didn’t have to consider. He already knew what the second question was, and now it was more important than ever. The queen had to be prevented from finishing the Great Potion. They had to stop her from getting at least one of the ingredients. Nothing was more important than that.

‘What – what is the full recipe for the Great Potion?’ he managed to ask.

Again the Tideseer’s blind eyes dulled, but her lips opened and she answered. ‘To make the Great Potion, mix together one silver spoonful of each of these seven strengths: The dust of a diamond, the tide at its strongest, the wind at its highest, the web of a spider, the heart of a dragon, the hair of a hero, and… the dreams of the Ancient One.’

The shock was terrible. Leo actually staggered, and would have lost his balance and fallen into the rising water if Mimi had not tightened her grip on his arm.

One of the ingredients was impossible to get…

And that ingredient, of course, was the last – a spoonful of the glittering specks that were the memory dreams of the Strix – the Ancient One.

An impossible ingredient indeed, for who would dare to summon the mysterious and terrifying being who lived above the Rondo clouds in order to get it? Who would risk being carried away to drift, lost in the dreams of the Ancient One, forever?

Only chance – bizarre accident – could have delivered the last ingredient of the Great Potion into the Blue Queen’s hands.

And on Mimi and Leo’s last visit to Rondo, that accident had happened. The Blue Queen had stood with them in the cloud palace, surrounded by the swirling dreams of the Strix. And if some of the dream sparkles had clung to Mimi and Leo’s hair and clothes afterwards, they would have also clung to hers.

‘The queen probably didn’t realise the dream sparkles were there, at first,’ said Mimi, her voice so low that Leo could hardly hear it. ‘But after she’d recovered from the shock of being repelled by the Ancient One, she saw them. She collected them, like we did. But she didn’t give hers away.’

She let go of Leo’s arm and pressed her hands to her face. He knew what she was thinking.

This is my fault. The queen has gained the ingredient she needs to overwhelm Rondo forever, because of me. If it hadn’t been for me, the Strix wouldn’t have come to land. If it hadn’t been for me…

And me, Leo thought. The bitter words Hal had said on their first visit to Rondo rang coldly in his mind.

For generations, Langlanders used this world as their personal playground. I thought those days had ended.

We didn’t know, he told himself. We didn’t mean it. We didn’t…

Then it struck him. He still had one question left. What should he ask? What piece of knowledge would help them the most?

‘Oh, lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha cried wildly. ‘Oh, how is this all going to end? What’s going to happen?’

‘Bertha, no!’ Mimi shrieked.

‘That’s not the question!’ Leo shouted at the same moment.

‘The third question has been asked,’ said the Tideseer, her hushed voice cutting effortlessly through the clamour. ‘I must answer it.’

She paused while Leo and Mimi fell silent and the echoes died away. Now the only sound was the pounding of waves outside, and the water rushing ever faster through the archway.

The water was almost to Leo’s knees now. The seat of the Tideseer’s low throne was covered. Her legs were hidden, her seaweed cloak was sodden, and her white hair was floating around her.

We should go, Leo thought numbly. We’ve been here too long.

But the Tideseer had opened her lips to speak, and though he dreaded the thought of hearing her prediction he could not – could not – leave without hearing it to the end.

‘Hear, and remember,’ said the Tideseer, and Leo stood, transfixed, as her slow, piercing whisper filled the cave.

With evil, truth cannot abide

But dies like weed left by the tide.

If treasured plans are long delayed,

Their chances of success will fade.

If faith is placed in debts repaid,

Faith will surely be betrayed.

If stolen magic is regained,

Light will break where darkness reigned.

A Langlander who must decide,

May thrust old ways and thoughts aside

Or may instead refuse to break

The chains that fear and weakness make.

But if that choice is as I see,

The end will follow faithfully.

The enemy will act, and lose

A gift she never cared to use,

And in the flame of battle fires,

Will gain the prize she most desires.

Chapter

20

Rising Tide

The Tideseer’s voice died away. Leo, Mimi and Bertha stood motionless, stunned by those dreadful final words.

‘Three questions have been answered,’ the Tideseer murmured. ‘Leave me.’

She lifted her thin white hands and put them on her lap. But still the fingers opened and closed, opened and closed, and Leo realised with a shock that while she had been speaking, the water had risen to her waist. She was half-submerged now in a shadowy pool. The seaweed cloak floated around her, its yellow fronds plumping and freshening, mingling with the drifting veil of her hair.

Leo blinked. The drifting hair looked green. Was it a trick of the light? Or…

The Tideseer was now ignoring her visitors completely. Perhaps she thought they had already gone. She was breathing slowly and deeply. The slanting lines of scales on her cheekbones and forehead were broadening and brightening. And something was moving beneath the shadowy surface of the water, beneath the coiling seaweed – something large and sinuous.

Leo felt a thrill of fear. He grabbed Mimi’s hand. It was very cold.

‘We have to go,’ he heard himself say.

Mimi turned her head. Her eyes were huge and so dark that they looked almost black.

‘We have to go,’ Leo repeated.

She nodded abruptly.

‘Indeed we do!’ Bertha squeaked, splashing around to face the archway, which now looked like a miniature waterfall. ‘The sooner the better!’

Together they ploughed knee-deep through the rising water, pushing through the clutter of objects bobbing on the surface, kicking aside the seaweed that wound around their legs like flabby fingers. As they neared the archway, the sound of running water grew very loud.

‘We’ve been here much too long,’ Leo muttered.

As he spoke there was a thundering sound from outside, and the next moment, water surged through the archway, almost knocking them over.

‘Quickly!’ Bertha shrieked, as they all regained their balance. ‘Before another big one breaks!’

As he followed her and Mimi out of the cave, Leo looked back. The pool in which the Tideseer sat was hidden in shadow, but he could hear a swirling, splashing sound, as if the rising water was being thrashed to foam. He turned quickly away again, his scalp crawling.

Daylight gleamed like a welcoming beacon at the end of the sloping tunnel that lay beyond the archway. Mimi had almost reached the opening already, despite the water still streaming down the smooth rock. Bertha was close behind her, slipping repeatedly but gamely pushing on.

Leo splashed after them, his mind a blank, his eyes fixed on the patch of light.

Then there was a roar, and the light was blotted out. Foaming water rushed down the tunnel. Choking and screaming, Mimi and Bertha were swept down with it. Then Leo was overwhelmed. For a long, terrifying moment the water raged over their heads, dragging at them, threatening to carry them with it as it thundered through the archway and down into the Tideseer’s cave. Then the flood subsided, leaving them gasping and floundering like stranded fish, with daylight again taunting them from above.

‘Now!’ Leo shouted, staggering to his feet and hauling Mimi up. ‘Quick! The next one will be bigger!’

Sobbing and coughing, Mimi began wading up the streaming slope again.

‘You go next, Leo!’ Bertha cried, nudging him roughly.

Her nose was running. Her eyes were reddened with salt. Her flower-laden hat hung limp and ruined on the back of her neck.

‘Go, Leo!’ she shrieked, nudging him again. ‘I’ll follow!

Leo went. He went with his throat aching and his heart twisting in his chest. He knew that Bertha wasn’t sure she could reach the end of the tunnel before the next wave came. She was making him go first so she wouldn’t hold him back.

Ahead of him he could see Mimi silhouetted against the light. She had turned round and was looking back. He realised that she had reached the mouth of the tunnel and was standing on the sand outside it.

‘Hurry!’ she screamed, beckoning wildly.

Without slackening his pace, Leo risked a quick glance over his shoulder. Bertha was walking unsteadily about a body length behind him. Her head was down and she was frowning, placing her trotters carefully as water rippled past them, down into the cave.

The Tideseer’s pool will be overflowing by now, Leo thought. Soon the whole cave will be full. Soon she’ll have room to swim. Another wave or two…

When he looked back to the front again, he saw a sight that made his throat tighten.

A great, swelling wall of green was rising behind Mimi’s beckoning figure.

‘Mimi, look out!’ he roared.

Mimi swung round and saw her danger. He heard her scream his name as she sprang away from the light, out of sight.

With a yell Leo launched himself forward, fell flat on his stomach and, reaching out desperately with both hands, caught hold of the rock on one side of the tunnel entrance. Instinctively he ducked his head, flattened his body, screwed his eyes shut and held his breath.

And the next instant, the giant wave dashed itself against the rock with a sound like thunder. Foaming water roared over Leo, surging down the tunnel with the noise and force of a speeding train. Leo heard Bertha’s thin scream lost in the raging sound of the flood. Grimly he held on, unshed tears burning behind his eyes.

The roaring sound died. The water no longer dragged at him, but streamed over him softly, lapping over the sandy threshold of the tunnel. For the moment, the sea had drawn back.

Leo made his cold fingers loose themselves from the rock. He crawled painfully out of the tunnel, splashing through the water that trickled over the threshold. He felt fresh air on his face. He saw the sea, calmly lapping against the edge of the rocks beside him, and line upon line of white-capped breakers rolling in. When he stood up, his feet sank so deeply into the sodden sand that he found himself wallowing knee-deep in water. Ahead, another great wave was forming.

He swivelled round and peered into the darkness of the tunnel.

‘Bertha!’ he yelled, his voice breaking.

There was no answer. He thought he could see the dark gleam of water at the end of the tunnel, but he could see nothing else.

‘Leo!’ Mimi’s terrified scream was as faint and high as a seabird’s call.

Leo saw her floundering towards him through the shallow water that now flooded the sand beside the rock shelf. She was beckoning and pointing at the sea. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the great wave rising. If he stayed where he was he would be dashed against the rocks, or swept back into the tunnel.

He pulled his feet free of the sucking sand and blundered towards Mimi, the water grabbing at his ankles as if it were trying to hold him back.

Behind him, the great wave broke with a roar. Water pounded into his back, pitching him forward. He rolled helplessly in surging foam, his eyes stinging, his ears roaring. Then, with a hissing sound, the wave began to retreat. He felt himself being dragged back with it and dug his fingers into the sand, holding himself rigidly still until the danger had passed.

He sat up, dizzy and sick. Water streamed from his nose and rang in his ears. Clambering unsteadily to his feet he saw that the wave had caught Mimi too. Mimi had been swept further along the beach, and dumped closer to the waterline. She was on her knees, coughing and spluttering, utterly bedraggled. Sand was thick in her dripping hair, and a strand of seaweed had wrapped itself around her wrist. She was facing the sea, looking wildly from side to side. It suddenly came to Leo that she was looking for him.

‘Here!’ he croaked, his voice husky with salt.

Mimi’s head jerked round. Her face convulsed with a relief so intense that it looked like pain. She rubbed her eyes with her knuckles in a strangely childish gesture, and stared past Leo, on to the entrance to the Tideseer’s cave. Feeling as if his arms and legs were weighed down with stones, Leo turned and looked too.

Only the top half of the opening was still visible – a dark semicircle glooming above swirling water. Then even that was lost to sight as another wave crashed over the rocks, smothering them in foam.

Bertha. A burning ache seared the back of Leo’s throat. He bent his head. Hot tears filled his eyes and spilled down his cheeks. He let them fall.

Dimly he wondered where Conker, Freda and Spoiler were, and then remembered that the Tideseer had said they were hiding from the ogre in the entrance to the Crystal Palace Gap. No doubt they would emerge soon, see Leo and Mimi alone, and come running, shouting questions, asking about Bertha.

Or perhaps the ogre would come, carrying the fish he had forced the fisherman to give him, hurrying back to his castle before high tide made entry impossible.

Leo found he didn’t care.

Seabirds cried high above him. Water ran up the beach. It reached Leo and surged past him, tugging at his knees. He ignored it, just as he ignored the wave that followed.

By the time he looked up, the rock shelf was swirling with foam, the low sands beside it were flooded, and the entrance to the cave was invisible.

Mimi’s cold hand slipped into his. ‘I can’t believe it!’ she said, her voice choked with tears. ‘Bertha…’

Leo wondered how long she had been standing beside him. He seemed to have lost all track of time.

‘She made me go first,’ he heard himself saying. ‘She was right behind me – I saw her – but the wave… She fell back…’

He stared blindly at the water that now lapped over the place where the cave entrance had once gaped, and watched as it was inundated by another wave. A larger wave was swelling further out, rising relentlessly.

He knew that he and Mimi couldn’t do anything to help Bertha now. They would be drowned, and their bodies dashed to pieces on the rocks, if they tried.

You can’t go in there. It’s too dangerous.

Spoiler had told them – had tried to tell them. Leo knew he should have listened – should have refused to enter the cave, and refused to let anyone else enter it either. He was well aware that sea caves were treacherous. But he had gone anyway – driven by the Rondo effect, obsessed with the questions he wanted the Tideseer to answer. Then, repelled but fascinated by what he had found in the hidden cave, he had forgotten his ten-minute rule.

And what was the result of his stupidity? Bertha had lost her life. All they had received in return for her sacrifice was the certain knowledge that Rondo was doomed – doomed because Leo and Mimi, by their own impulsive, wrong-headed actions, had enabled the Blue Queen to collect the dreams of the Ancient One.

Mimi shrieked and clapped her hand over her mouth. Leo blinked, stared, and his heart seemed to leap into his aching throat.

The latest wave had spent itself, and something large and pale had become visible beneath the surface of the foam-speckled water that hid the tunnel entrance. The thing was moving fast – very fast – growing larger, shooting outward and upward.

And the next moment, in a shower of spray, Bertha was soaring out of the water. Like a leaping pink dolphin with madly pedalling legs, she flew through the air in a great arc, and then, almost opposite the place where Mimi and Leo stood gaping, she plunged headfirst into the heart of the new rising wave.

The faint cries of seagulls filled the air. The tip of the wave whitened. Clinging together, Mimi and Leo clearly saw the shadow that was Bertha struggling inside the towering wall of green. And below it, just as clearly, they saw another shadow – a shadow sleek as a fish, with streaming hair and a long, supple tail – streak through the glassy water, turn, and dive, making for the open sea.

The wave curled and broke. Foam smashed down onto the rock shelf at the base of the headland. Foam surged over the low sands beside it, turning their placid waters into a churning whirlpool. Foam thundered onto the beach where Mimi and Leo stood gaping, and surged around them, knocking them over yet again.

And when at last the giant wave receded, and they managed to crawl upright, they found that they were no longer alone.

There at their feet, sprawled on the gleaming sand, panting, coughing and spluttering, was Bertha.

Chapter

21

Farewell to the Coast

Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha croaked, sitting up and shaking her head till her ears flapped. ‘If that’s surfing, I don’t know what people see in it! Still, I suppose it was my first time.’

She groaned and winced as Leo and Mimi threw themselves down beside her and hugged her. ‘I’m bruised all over,’ she complained. ‘I can’t believe sand is so hard! And as for the very rough way the Tideseer pushed me out of that tunnel – slamming into me and sending me flying – well, the less said about that, the better!’

‘But she saved you!’ Mimi exclaimed.

Bertha sniffed. ‘I don’t think she meant to. Personally, I think she was just mad keen to get out to sea and I was blocking her way! She is extremely strong for such an old creature, I must say. I suppose the tail helps.’

‘I wonder if she can see, when she’s – when she’s in the water,’ Leo said, little chills running up and down his spine.

‘Probably,’ said Mimi. ‘She probably –’

‘Eek!’ Bertha squeaked. ‘Look who’s coming!’

Leo knew what he would see before he turned his head. And sure enough, there at the other end of the beach was the ogre, trudging down a sand dune with a string of fish slung over his shoulder.

‘Ha!’ the ogre roared, catching sight of the bedraggled little group in the distance. ‘Some poor castaways, washed up on my beach, by my life!’

He began walking eagerly towards Leo, Mimi and Bertha. ‘Allow me to offer you the hospitality of the Castle of Cruelcliff!’ he shouted. ‘Is one of you a damsel, by any chance?’

‘He can’t see us properly,’ Mimi whispered. ‘He doesn’t recognise us!’

‘He will,’ muttered Leo. ‘As soon as he gets close enough.’ He looked around desperately, but there was nowhere to hide. He wondered if they could make it to the Crystal Palace Gap before the ogre reached it, and decided they couldn’t.

‘Imagine asking us about damsels!’ Bertha said indignantly. ‘Lawks-a-daisy, he only broke his engagement to Dame Dally this morning!’

‘Ho there, castaways!’ bawled the ogre, sounding a little impatient. ‘Don’t you hear me? You – aargh!’

He stopped dead. His jaw dropped.

‘He’s realised who we are,’ Bertha moaned, getting shakily to her feet.

‘No,’ Leo said in confusion. ‘He’s looking above our –’

He glanced up, yelled, and ducked as a blur of black and white swooped low over his head, missing him by a whisker.

‘Come on, you thick-eared bunch!’ he heard Conker’s voice roaring. ‘Didn’t you hear us? Jump on!’

‘The flying rug!’ Mimi screamed. ‘Leo, it’s the flying rug!’

And it was. The flying rug was hovering right beside them, its fringe twitching with excitement. Spoiler was huddled in its centre with Freda. Conker was kneeling at the edge, beckoning impatiently.

‘Dame Dally!’ bellowed the ogre, and began to run.

Spoiler wrapped his arms around his bonnet and rocked in terror. The rug wobbled.

‘Spoiler, keep still or I’ll throw you overboard,’ Conker snarled. ‘Oh, my heart and lungs, make it snappy, you three! What are you waiting for?’

Dazed, sure that this must be some sort of waking dream, Leo scrambled onto the rug with Mimi and Bertha. The rug dipped under their weight but straightened itself at once and quivered expectantly. Leo noticed that it reeked of Dragon’s Bane.

‘The ogre’s getting close,’ Freda warned, looking over her shoulder.

‘Rug!’ Conker yelled. ‘To the Woffles Way Gap!’

Holding itself flat as a tabletop, its fringe stretched out so stiffly that it looked starched, the rug shot into the air. The ogre leaped for it, but missed. It zoomed over his head and soared away, leaving him stamping and shaking his fists.

‘Hooray!’ Mimi screamed, her face wild with delight.

Leo bowed his head, weak with relief.

‘It’s a miracle!’ gasped Bertha. ‘Conker, how in Rondo did you get your hands on the rug?’

‘I sent for it,’ Conker said grandly, smoothing his beard. ‘Called a mouse while we were hiding from the ogre. Told Hal it was an emergency. I mean, if a murderous ogre isn’t an emergency, what is?’

‘Quite right,’ Freda agreed.

‘We can’t keep it, of course,’ Conker went on, unstrapping his pack and rummaging inside it. ‘We have to drop it off at the Woffles Way Gap. It left its official driver there, and he’s waiting for it. Here, Leo! I’ll bet you thought you’d lost these!’

He pulled Leo’s boots, socks and leather jacket from the pack and passed them over, receiving Leo’s grateful thanks with a smug smile.

Sighing, Mimi prised off her sodden shoes. Water trickled from them as she shook them over the side of the rug. ‘Were you circling above us all the time Leo and I were on the beach, Conker?’ she asked.

Conker nodded. ‘Why you didn’t look up I don’t know!’ he grumbled. ‘There you were, playing around in the surf, and there we were yelling ourselves hoarse –’

‘I thought it was seagulls,’ Mimi said.

‘So did I,’ Leo agreed.

‘We wanted to keep a bird’s-eye view on the ogre,’ Freda explained. ‘He was just beyond the sand dunes, forcing that miserable fisherman to hand over his breakfast. Speaking of which, how about some grub, Conker? I’m famished.’

‘The plan was to swoop down and pick up all three of you together,’ Conker said, delving into the pack again and drawing out a few packets of food. ‘Oh, my lungs and liver, it was a near thing, though, as it turned out. You certainly took your time, Bertha.’

‘Well, I like that!’ Bertha cried indignantly. ‘I’ll have you know –’

‘From up above it looked almost as if the cave entrance was actually underwater!’ Conker went on cheerfully as he slapped the food packets down on the rug. ‘In fact, Spoiler kept saying it was! He thought you were a goner!’

He and Freda laughed. Spoiler glowered.

‘Well, for your information –’ Bertha spluttered, her ears growing very red.

‘And the next thing we knew, there you were, diving out like a champion, and catching a wave to shore,’ said Conker, handing out bread, cheese and pickled cucumbers. ‘It was a pleasure to watch. I said to Freda, “There’s a true quest professional in action,” I said. Right, Freda?’

‘Right,’ said the duck with her mouth full.

Bertha swallowed. ‘Lawks-a-daisy,’ she said in a high voice. ‘It wasn’t all that marvellous!’ She shot a quick glance at Leo and Mimi, who wisely pretended to be concentrating on their food.

‘So what did the Tideseer say, anyway?’ Conker asked, chewing energetically. ‘Anything useful?’

Leo’s glorious feeling of relief abruptly drained away. The food he had taken so eagerly was suddenly as dry as ashes in his mouth. He exchanged glances with Mimi and Bertha, who were both looking stricken.

‘What is it?’ Freda quacked sharply. ‘Is it bad?’

Leo bit his lip. ‘It’s not good,’ he said slowly.

Again he looked at Mimi and Bertha. He could see that they shared his reluctance to tell Conker and Freda about the Tideseer’s terrible prophecy. He wasn’t even sure he could remember it, word for word.

‘Well?’ Conker exploded, spraying Freda with breadcrumbs. ‘Oh, my heart and lungs, Leo, spit it out! What’s the potion?’

The potion! Leo thought. That’s what we were supposed to be finding out about. That’s what I’ll stick to – for now. It’s bad enough news to be going on with.

So, as the rug left the coast behind and wheeled efficiently south, he gathered his wits together and repeated what the Tideseer had said about the Great Potion.

He had expected Conker and Freda to be appalled by the news, but strangely enough it was Spoiler who reacted in the most dramatic fashion. Spoiler swore violently, went purple in the face and, apparently forgetting where he was, actually tried to jump to his feet.

‘What do you think you’re doing, you fool?’ Conker bellowed, as the rug rocked violently, food scattered, and Mimi and Leo threw themselves on top of the squealing Bertha to stop her from sliding over the edge.

‘Didn’t you hear what he said?’ Spoiler shrieked, slumping down again and biting his knuckles feverishly. ‘The Great Potion! I remember now – the name’s brought it all back to me! The dreams of the Ancient One! Seven…’ He boggled and swallowed. ‘Seven strengths!’

‘You told me “seven sunsets”.’ Leo found it impossible not to sound reproachful.

‘You can’t blame me for that!’ Spoiler almost screamed. ‘I was confused! And what does it matter? All that matters now is that we’ve got to stop her making that potion! We’ve got to!’

‘You can drop that “we” business for a start!’ snapped Freda. ‘This has got nothing to do with you.’

‘It’s got everything to do with me, you bone-headed featherbag!’ Spoiler shrieked. ‘Don’t you realise –’ He caught Leo’s eye, gulped, and made an effort to calm down. ‘Don’t you realise that if she makes this potion we’re all in the same boat?’ he finished pathetically.

‘We’re also on the same flying rug,’ Bertha pointed out haughtily, tossing back her limp hat ribbons. ‘Very high up! I’ll thank you to remember that!’

‘Let’s go through those potion ingredients,’ Conker growled. ‘We might as well know the worst. Seven of them, weren’t there?’

He began counting the ingredients off on his fingers. ‘Strix dreams, the tide at its strongest, the wind at its highest…’

‘She’s definitely got those three, worse luck,’ said Freda.

‘Then there’s the dragon’s heart,’ Bertha put in, carefully not looking at Mimi. ‘She can take that whenever she likes. So that’s four.’

‘She can get spider web any time she likes as well,’ muttered Spoiler, who had also been counting feverishly on his fingers. ‘The castle dungeons are crawling with spiders. Big ones.’ He shivered.

‘It’s very odd that spider web is one of the ingredients, in my opinion,’ Bertha said critically. ‘Spider web isn’t very strong.’

‘It is,’ Leo said. ‘Spider silk is stronger than steel of the same thickness. It takes more force to break.’

‘Leo, you know the most amazing things!’ Bertha exclaimed.

Mimi snorted.

‘Right,’ Conker said. ‘That’s five. Then there’s…’

‘Diamond dust,’ Freda put in. ‘Now, that’s something you don’t see every day.’

Everyone looked hopeful.

‘She’s got buckets of the stuff,’ Spoiler said gloomily. ‘Waste of good diamonds, I always told her, but she –’

‘So that’s six,’ Conker muttered. ‘Six out of seven! This isn’t looking good, team.’

‘What’s the one we’ve missed?’ Bertha asked. ‘Oh, I just can’t think of it! My mind’s a blank!’

‘The hair of a hero,’ Mimi said, glancing at Leo. He wondered if she was thinking the same thing he was.

‘Yes!’ Bertha squealed. ‘The hair of a hero! And the queen hasn’t got that, or I’m a mushroom!’

‘I think you’re right,’ Leo said quietly. ‘But she’s trying to get it. I think that’s what she’s using the dragon for – to catch a hero.’

Everyone stared at him disbelievingly. Only Mimi seemed to understand what he was talking about.

‘Well, now, Leo, I’m not sure you’re on the right track there,’ Conker said kindly. ‘I mean, just look at who the dragon’s taken, as far as we know – Barbara the sheep, Crumble the pie-seller, Princess Pretty –’

‘And they’re all about as heroic as one of Crumble’s turnip and chilli pies,’ Freda added.

Leo leaned forward. ‘But think about the way they were caught,’ he urged. ‘Barbara was standing right beside Bertha. Crumble was serving Officer Begood with a pie. Princess Pretty was being guarded by Sir Clankalot…’

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha breathed. ‘Leo, are you saying –’

‘The green dragon is so mixed up by the queen’s enchantment that he keeps making mistakes,’ Mimi finished for her flatly. ‘He keeps overshooting the mark and taking the person next to the hero he was supposed to take.’

Conker clenched his fists. ‘Right!’ he snapped. ‘So our first job when we get back to town is to warn all heroes to stay safely out of sight!’

‘But Conker!’ gasped Bertha, swivelling around to blink into the distance. ‘We’re heroes. And we’re not out of sight!’

‘That’s right!’ Spoiler wailed. ‘You’re flying around in the open air, just asking to be captured!’

The rug stiffened its fringe. Conker bared his teeth. ‘This rug is soaked with Dragon’s Bane, and has been trained in dragon avoidance,’ he snarled. ‘We’re as safe here as we’ll ever be.’

‘It doesn’t matter, anyway,’ Freda commented. ‘We’ll be on the ground in a minute. Look below!’

Everyone looked over the side of the rug. Far below, but not too far ahead, a lonely figure paced to and fro in the middle of the long strip of deserted road that was Woffles Way. As the rug began to lose height, Leo saw the Crystal Palace, the witch’s tower in its field, and, close to the pacing figure, the bushes that masked the Gap leading to Brewer’s potion shop.

Conker began to push the food packages back into his pack. ‘Get ready, team!’ he said tensely. ‘This will have to be a fast transfer. We have to look professional.’

He glanced at Mimi’s bare feet, winced, and dug his hand back into the pack, pulling out Princess Pretty’s boots. ‘Put these on!’ he ordered, pushing the boots at Mimi. ‘It won’t make a good impression, one of us being barefoot. It might look as if the quest ran into trouble.’

‘But it did run into trouble!’ Bertha exclaimed.

‘Conker, those are the princess’s boots!’ Leo protested. ‘We were supposed to return them!’

‘Well, luckily we didn’t,’ said Mimi, slipping on the boots with relief. ‘My feet were cold. It’s all right for you, Leo! Your boots are dry.’

‘Because I had the sense to take them off before I went in the water!’ Leo snapped.

‘Never mind, never mind,’ Conker said, heedlessly stuffing Mimi’s wet shoes into the pack with everything else. ‘Spoiler, straighten your bonnet! We don’t want anyone to recognise you – it’ll just hold us up. Leo, fix up Bertha’s hat! Freda, you’ve got crumbs on your chest feathers!’

‘Whose fault is that?’ Freda retorted, but Leo noticed that she preened away the crumbs as soon as Conker had turned his back.

‘Right, team!’ Conker said, sitting rigidly straight. ‘Prepare for landing!’

Chapter

22

Under the Counter

An old man with a short white beard stood waiting for them as the rug came in to land. He was wearing a brown tweed jacket with many bulging pockets, tweed knickerbockers, very well polished shoes, a riding helmet, and a stern expression. A telescope was tucked firmly under his left arm.

Spoiler gave a frightened squeak and pulled his bonnet frills more closely around his face.

‘Oh, my lungs and liver!’ Conker muttered. ‘It’s that old nuisance Whitebeard! He can’t stand Freda and me.’

‘The feeling is mutual,’ Freda said sourly.

‘Spoiler stole his wallet, once,’ Leo whispered. ‘And he thought Mimi and I were Spoiler’s gang. What if he recognises us?’

‘We’ll knock him down and make a run for it,’ Freda said out of the corner of her beak. ‘Come on, before he gets suspicious.’

The old man watched, frowning, as the quest team and Spoiler scrambled awkwardly off the rug. His mouth tightened slightly as he noted Conker’s black eye and Bertha’s bruises, but he made no comment.

‘Hello, Whitebeard,’ Conker said without enthusiasm.

‘Conker!’ replied the old man. He inclined his head in a short nod, turning with stiff politeness to include the rest of the team in his greeting and clearly failing to recognise Spoiler. Leo concentrated on not wrinkling his nose. The smell of Dragon’s Bane wafting from the tweed jacket was almost overpowering.

Whitebeard stepped up to the rug and inspected it carefully. The rug hovered rigidly at attention.

‘Breadcrumbs!’ the old man snapped. ‘You’re a disgrace, rug! Clean yourself!’

The rug shook itself violently, then returned to attention. Whitebeard inspected it again, then, apparently satisfied, climbed on and sat cross-legged in the exact centre with his telescope over his knees.

‘I trust your mission was successful?’ he asked Conker abruptly.

‘It isn’t over yet,’ Conker said.

The old man rumbled in his throat. ‘I have every confidence,’ he said, looking straight ahead. ‘My young granddaughters – the twins – tell me that your team’s recent performance in Hobnob was outstanding.’

Conker’s mouth fell open.

Whitebeard rumbled in his throat again. ‘Nothing to report here, except that our coast witch, Crabclaw, has been hanging around making a nuisance of herself,’ he said gruffly. ‘She tried to use the Gap, but I wanted to keep it clear for you, so I told her it had been reserved for the war effort and sent her off with a flea in her ear.’

Spoiler gave a muffled whimper, which he tried to turn into a cough.

‘Well, I’d better be off,’ said Whitebeard. ‘Have to make up for lost time. Good luck to you! Rug, patrol pattern 3A, on the double!’

The rug smartly turned up its fringe in what appeared to be a salute. Then it rose rapidly into the air and soared away, with the old man sitting bolt upright on its perfectly level surface.

‘A compliment from Whitebeard!’ Freda muttered to Conker. ‘Now I’ve heard everything!’

‘Yes,’ said Conker, looking rather dazed. ‘And there he goes, risking his life patrolling the skies without a quiver. It just goes to show you never know who your friends are until the chips are down. Right, Freda?’

‘Up to a point,’ Freda said.

‘He’s certainly got that rug very well trained!’ cried Bertha, watching the rug’s progress with admiration.

‘I liked it better the way it was before,’ Mimi said.

You would, Leo thought, then smiled wryly as he admitted to himself that if he was honest, he liked the rug as it had been before, as well. Well disciplined, it was no doubt safer and more useful, but it was also far less interesting.

‘Master Whitebeard was very brave standing up to that witch, as well,’ chattered Bertha, as Conker led the way to the Gap. ‘Lawks-a-daisy, she could have put some dreadful curse on him!’

‘She wouldn’t have dared,’ said Freda. ‘Whitebeard’s President of the town defence committee, and the committee pays her wages.’

They passed through the Gap without incident and very soon found themselves pushing through the pink door in the corner of Brewer’s back room.

‘All right, Leo?’ Conker asked over his shoulder.

‘Fine,’ Leo mumbled. And it was true that he didn’t feel quite as bad as he usually did after going through a Gap. It could have been because he’d tried keeping his eyes shut. Or, he thought gloomily, maybe he was finally getting used to this strange way of travelling – getting used to it just when, maybe, Gaps, and Rondo itself, wouldn’t be part of his life for much longer. If the Blue Queen completed the Great Potion…

Brewer was standing behind his counter gloating over the contents of his loaded till when the quest team crowded through the knobbly brown curtain into the shop. He jumped and pushed the till drawer shut with a bang.

‘You again!’ he muttered, peering at the newcomers through his thick spectacles.

‘You’ve been doing well, Brewer,’ Conker sneered. ‘Been selling plenty of Dragon’s Bane, have you?’

‘Sold out,’ said Brewer, showing his yellow, rabbity teeth in a satisfied smile. ‘I’ve shut up shop until I’ve brewed some more. No point in staying open – Dragon’s Bane is all folk want at present. Now, will you please leave? I’m very busy.’

Mimi whispered urgently in Conker’s ear. Conker thought for a moment, then nodded.

‘Before we go, Brewer,’ he said in a very falsely friendly voice, ‘I’m in the market for some dragon’s heart. Can you help me with that?’

Brewer rubbed his bony hand across his mouth. ‘Dragon’s heart is illegal,’ he said, his eyes sliding furtively from one team member to the other.

‘Oh, yes, well, strictly it is,’ said Conker blandly. ‘But we’re both men of the world, Brewer. I mean, if it’s old stock, where’s the harm? And even if it’s new stock – well, dragons do die of natural causes, don’t they?’

‘So I argued when that stupid law came in,’ Brewer complained.’ “There’s a huge demand,” I said, “and if a person going about his lawful business happens to come upon a dead dragon, well, it would be a crying shame to let its heart go to waste.” But no one would listen. They thought I was only interested in making a profit.’

‘Funny that,’ Freda muttered.

Brewer looked defensive. ‘There’s a lot of work involved in preserving dragon’s heart,’ he said in injured tones. ‘And the cream that results is nothing short of miraculous as a cure for illness, or to supply a quick burst of extra strength when extra strength is needed. Naturally it was expensive. Naturally it was sold in very small jars. What did people expect?’

‘Do you mean that dragon’s heart has to be made into a cream – that it can’t be used fresh, Master Brewer?’ Leo burst out, feeling a sudden flicker of hope.

Brewer peered at him curiously, then glanced around at Conker and the others, who had become very still. ‘No, no, no, I don’t mean any such thing,’ he said. ‘It’s better fresh, if anything.’

A sigh ran around the room. Brewer adjusted his glasses.

‘Still,’ he said slowly, ‘fresh heart doesn’t keep at all well, so most people use it dried, or preserved as a cream – or they did, when it was still available. It’s rare as hen’s teeth now. You can’t get it anywhere. Not that I’d sell it, naturally, even if I had some – which I don’t.’

There was something about the way he said this that made Leo certain he was lying.

Conker obviously felt the same way. He leaned aggressively across the counter and scowled. ‘Listen here, Brewer –’ he began.

‘Don’t you threaten me!’ snapped Brewer, taking a quick step back. ‘You lay a hand on me and I’ll tell Begood you’ve been trying to buy a banned substance!’ He glowered at the team resentfully. ‘What’s going on?’ he demanded. ‘Why is everyone so interested in dragon’s heart this morning? It doesn’t repel dragons. It attracts them! First Princess Pretty’s in here begging me for it, then –’

‘Princess Pretty?’ Conker bellowed. ‘Asking for dragon’s heart? This morning?’

Brewer nodded. He looked around at his visitors’ startled faces, clearly very satisfied with the effect of his announcement. ‘I’d heard she’d been abducted by the dragon, but it turns out that was all eyewash – or else the dragon dropped her,’ he said. ‘She didn’t look quite herself, I must admit. She had no shoes on, for one thing, and her eyes looked funny – too many late nights, I suppose – but it was her, all right.’

‘You wouldn’t know Princess Pretty if you fell over her,’ snarled Conker, rallying a little.

Brewer drew himself up. ‘I certainly would!’ he retorted. ‘It’s not the first time she’s been in my shop, you know.’ He lowered his voice, looked around as if checking for eavesdroppers, and tapped the side of his nose. ‘Between you and me and the doorknob, she came in a year ago to buy a love potion.’

‘So that’s how she got that poor prawn Claude to marry her,’ said Freda.

Brewer winked. ‘Yes, well, being the oldest of the princesses, naturally she was supposed to be the first to get married and live happily ever after. But her bad temper used to scare all the handsome princes off, and for a while it looked as if the next sister, Sweet, was going to beat her to it. Princess Sweet agrees with everything anyone else says, so naturally she’s far more popular.’

‘Brewer!’ Conker said, tearing at his beard. ‘This is urgent! Vital quest information! Just between us. Did you or did you not sell Princess Pretty some dragon’s heart?’

‘No, I did not,’ Brewer said glumly. ‘I hated to disappoint her. She had a touch of sunburn, and a little dragon’s heart applied once a week is very good for the complexion.’

‘Really?’ Bertha said with interest, her eyes flicking to Conker’s pack.

‘She had a big bag of rubies to pay for it, too,’ Brewer said, shaking his head. ‘I can tell you, it nearly killed me to have to say I couldn’t help her.’

He ran the tip of his tongue over his lips. ‘But… since we’re speaking so frankly, Conker – and since this conversation is just between us – I may be able to help you, after all.’

He ducked down behind the counter, scuffled around for a moment, then stood up again with a little black velvet drawstring bag in his hand. Reverently he put the bag down and pulled the strings to open it.

Everyone craned to look. Inside the bag was something that looked like a strip of old leather – part of an ancient belt, perhaps.

‘Dried dragon’s heart does not have quite the strength and reliability of dragon’s heart cream, of course,’ Brewer muttered. ‘But beggars can’t be choosers, and a scrap of this will plump up beautifully in a bit of warm rainwater.’

His eyes, enormously magnified by his thick glasses, were gleaming. ‘Now, how much would you like?’ he coaxed, drawing a set of tiny scales and a silver knife towards him. ‘One shaving? Two? More to the point, I suppose, how much cash do you have on you?’

Gaping at the dried dragon’s heart, Conker began patting his pockets aimlessly.

‘But – but Master Brewer,’ Leo stammered, ‘if you had dragon’s heart all along, why didn’t you sell it to Princess Pretty?’

Brewer looked at him in blank amazement. ‘Why, this heart would have been no use to her, young man!’ he said. ‘This is male dragon’s heart – suitable only for use by males. Ladies require female dragon’s heart. Surely you know that!’

Leo shook his head. His heart was racing. ‘So – the heart of a male dragon is no use at all to – to a woman?’ he asked, wanting to be quite sure. ‘Even in… a potion?’

‘No use at all,’ said Brewer, pushing his glasses back on his nose and staring as Conker punched the air, Mimi and Bertha squealed with excitement and Freda snapped her beak in relief. ‘And, of course, as I told Princess Pretty, dragon’s heart is hard enough to come by, but female dragon’s heart is just impossible! Female dragons don’t get into fights like males do, generally, and they’re harder to find. A cream made of female dragon’s heart would be worth – well, I don’t know what it would be worth! But it’s just not available!’

‘A lot you know!’ spat Spoiler, whose eyes had glazed over at the thought of the money he could have made out of the female dragon’s heart in the silver box. ‘We’ve got –’ he yelled as Freda pecked his ankle savagely.

Brewer cocked his head like a lanky, ginger-crested bird who had just sighted a particularly tasty worm. His tongue flicked out to moisten his lips again. ‘Surely the lady is not saying –’ he began.

‘Dame Dally’s in shock after being chased by an ogre,’ Conker snapped. ‘Take no notice of her.’

Something thudded violently against the front door of the shop.

‘Open up, Brewer!’ a cracked voice shrieked from the street.

Spoiler stiffened. ‘It’s that witch!’ he moaned, rolling his eyes in terror.

‘We’d better hide him,’ muttered Freda. ‘She’ll try to curse us all, otherwise.’

Conker ground his teeth. ‘Get down behind the counter, you!’ he growled at Spoiler.

‘No, no!’ said Brewer, hurriedly closing the velvet bag and stuffing it into the pocket of his apron. ‘I’m not having anyone behind my counter! There are a lot of valuable things here.’ He flashed his yellow teeth at Spoiler. ‘No offence, madam, but a potion-maker can’t be too careful.’

‘Brewer!’ screamed the witch. ‘Open up or I’ll melt the lock!’

‘Coming, Crabclaw!’ Brewer shouted.

He took a squat white jar from a shelf behind him and put it beside the cash register. The jar bore a label reading ‘No-Fail Hair Gro’.

‘She’s come for this,’ he told the quest team in an undertone. ‘As soon as she’s paid for it, I’ll get rid of her. Go through the brewing room and wait in the kitchen at the back till I call you. Keep the door shut. She’ll probably leave through the Gap. Go! Go!’

Swearing under his breath, Conker kicked his pack into the shadows behind the counter and helped Leo haul Spoiler, whose legs seemed to have frozen with fear, through the brown curtain and on to the door at the back of the brewing room. Freda, Mimi and Bertha bolted after them.

Chapter

23

Press Conference

Leo and Conker pushed Spoiler into Brewer’s dingy, sour-smelling kitchen. As the rest of the team followed, they heard the door of the shop being unlocked and the little bell ringing.

‘Ah, Crabclaw!’ Brewer said in oily tones. ‘Perfect timing! Your hair-growing salve is ready and waiting for you.’

‘I don’t want it any more!’ raged the witch. ‘Some interfering busybody has rescued my damsel! She’s got clean away, thanks to that pompous fool Whitebeard! He wouldn’t let me use the Gap to look for her! I had to fly to town!’

‘What a pity,’ said Brewer indifferently. ‘But Crabclaw, this Hair-Gro was an order, I’m afraid. Made up for you specially. And that means you have to pay for it whether you need it or not.’

‘Boil your head, Brewer!’ the witch shouted. ‘And get out of my way! I’m going through the Gap to see if –’

Her voice became muffled as Mimi quickly pushed the door shut.

The small window in the back wall of the kitchen was so smeared with grease and dirt that it let in very little light. The smell of rancid fat and unwashed dishes drifted in the air, and the floor was sticky and teeming with dots.

The dim sound of the witch and Brewer arguing went on and on. Bertha kept giving little shrieks as dots ran, tittering, over her trotters, Conker was trembling with impatience, and the sound of Spoiler’s chattering teeth was putting everyone on edge.

‘Conker, why don’t you send a message to Hal while we’re waiting?’ Leo suggested desperately, and was relieved to see Conker nod and feel in his pocket for his notebook and pencil.

‘I’ll just tell him to call a press conference, and meet us at the Black Sheep,’ Conker muttered, beginning to write in his usual laborious fashion. ‘Bertha will have to tell the papers about this hero business before we can go on to Flitter Wood.’

‘At least we’ve got better news for Hal than we thought,’ said Freda.

‘Yes!’ Bertha nodded excitedly. ‘It’s not just the hair of a hero the queen hasn’t got for her potion. It’s female dragon’s heart as well! No wonder she’s so desperate to find that silver box.’

‘We’ll get rid of it as soon as we get to the tavern – put it in that Safe Place in your room,’ Conker said, without taking his eyes from his notebook. ‘Oh, my lungs and liver, things are looking up.’

‘It’s wonderful!’ Mimi agreed fervently. ‘And the green dragon’s not in danger!’

‘Oh yes, that’s wonderful!’ Freda jeered. ‘Lovely to think he’s going to stay alive to abduct a few more slaves for the queen, isn’t it?’

‘That reminds me,’ said Conker, tearing the page from his notebook. ‘Bertha should put out a general warning about Princess Pretty, too. She’s obviously out and about doing the queen’s dirty work. She could be dangerous.’

He knocked on the sticky floor three times and waited, folding the note small and tapping his foot irritably.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, I can’t get over what Brewer said about Princess Pretty using a love potion on Claude!’ said Bertha. ‘I mean, that’s cheating! Not to mention illegal!’

‘You mustn’t tell anyone about that, Bertha!’ Mimi exclaimed. ‘Pretty was probably desperate. All that pressure to get married – and she really likes Claude, the queen said.’

Leo couldn’t help grinning. Imagine Mimi Langlander, of all people, defending a spoilt princess!

Mimi scowled at him. ‘Pretty’s probably spent her whole life trying to act like a proper little princess, when she’d rather be a firefighter or something,’ she said defiantly. ‘That would make anyone bad-tempered. Plus that sister, Sweet, sounds like a real pain.’

‘She is,’ Freda put in. ‘Smug as a cat, stupid as an owl, and boring as newt spit.’

A muscular mouse with a camouflage helmet tipped casually to the back of its head emerged from a hole in the skirting board. It seemed to be chewing gum.

‘For Hal in Flitter Wood,’ Conker said, holding out the note.

The mouse looked him up and down. ‘You Conker the dot-catcher?’ it drawled.

‘What’s it to you?’ Freda snapped.

The mouse switched its gum to the other side of its mouth. ‘Orders are, any message from Conker the dot-catcher to the Chief to be delivered double quick,’ it said to Conker, ignoring Freda. ‘So are you, or aren’t you?’

‘Yes!’ Conker said through gritted teeth.

The mouse sniffed. ‘Thought you’d be taller,’ it said, clipping the message to the chain around its neck. It marched back to the hole in the skirting board, and disappeared.

‘What’s this “Chief” business?’ Freda said, taking advantage of the fact that Conker had been rendered speechless with rage. ‘It sounds like Hal has come out of his shell a bit since we left.’

‘And about time too,’ Bertha declared. ‘Organising behind the scenes is all very well, but –’

‘Shh!’ Mimi hissed suddenly. ‘Listen!’

‘What is it?’ moaned Spoiler.

‘It’s just awfully quiet out there,’ Mimi said, frowning. ‘You don’t think the witch could have turned Brewer into stone or something, and gone through the Gap without us hearing her, do you?’

‘It’s a possibility,’ Freda said with interest.

Bertha pressed her ear to the door. ‘I can’t hear a thing,’ she breathed. ‘Perhaps we should – eek!’

She toppled through the door as it was abruptly pulled open.

Leo caught a single glimpse of Brewer’s astounded face before the potion-maker fell heavily backwards, with Bertha on top of him.

‘At last!’ Conker roared, bursting out of the kitchen and swerving to avoid the tangle of bodies on the floor. ‘Forward, team! To the tavern!’

He pushed through the brown curtain with Freda flying after him. Bertha scrambled up, shook back her trailing hat ribbons, and followed with as much dignity as she could muster. Mimi and Spoiler were close behind her.

Leo stopped to help the groaning potion-maker to his feet.

‘Leo, come on!’ Mimi yelled from the front of the shop.

‘Oh, never mind about me,’ Brewer mumbled, flapping his hands. ‘Just go along, will you? Go!’

Leo went, glad that Crabclaw’s refusal to pay for her order seemed to have made Brewer forget all about his hopes of selling Conker part of his horrible scrap of dried dragon’s heart. He collected Spoiler, who was skulking on the other side of the brown curtain, apparently reluctant to go any further without Leo to protect him, and joined Freda, Mimi and Bertha at the shop door.

‘Conker grabbed the pack and took off,’ Freda quacked. ‘He wants to see Hal and get rid of the dragon’s heart before the press conference. Let’s go.’

She led the way into the street and turned left to head for the Black Sheep.

The smell of charred wood still hung in the air, but the street looked much more lively than it had when the quest team had last seen it. The cobblestones were clean, the shops and stalls were open again, and people with bags and baskets were shopping or standing in groups chatting, just as they had always done.

Not far ahead, a grey-haired man stood with his back to a lamp-post, energetically banging away at a battered drum set while an old spotted dog wearing a red ruff and matching tap shoes danced on its hind legs behind a hat heaped with bones.

‘Morning, Spot,’ called Freda as she and the others reached the dancing dog. ‘How’s tricks?’

‘Can’t growl,’ yapped the dog, turning a rapid somersault and nodding casual thanks as a passing woman threw a small bone into the hat. ‘Got to keep going, haven’t you? Conker ran by a minute ago, all goggle-eyed. Wouldn’t stop to chat. Keeping busy, are you?’

‘You could say that,’ said Freda. ‘Any news?’

‘Not much,’ said the dog, slowing down to a relaxed time-step. ‘Crumble the pie-seller turned up – he escaped from the dragon, apparently – but now he’s in gaol, accused of trying to poison Begood with a turnip pie laced with enchanted chilli. A gang of squirrels raided an antique shop up in Hobnob and got away with six silver trinket boxes and a toothpick holder. A black sheep was hanging around the tavern asking a lot of questions about Hal’s whereabouts. When Jolly got suspicious she tried to bite him, then ran off before anyone could catch her. The dragon had a go at abducting the old giant-killer, but the g-k’s local witch – Zillah, I think it is – was alerted by the crow patrol and got the defence shield up in time. There’s no sign of Spoiler, and the north is still full of smoke. That’s all. Still, we’re keeping our ears pricked.’

Without raising his head, the grey-haired drummer mumbled something.

‘Oh,’ said the dog. ‘The old man says Hal’s surfaced. He’s at the Black Sheep, and an emergency press conference has been called. Looks like things are moving.’

‘Looks like it,’ Freda said. ‘Well, thanks, Spot. Take it easy.’

‘Not much chance of that,’ said the dog cheerfully, executing a complicated pirouette that involved a perfect storm of taps. ‘Still, it’s a living. Don’t let the dragons get you down!’

The Black Sheep was packed. As well as reporters, a lot of the town shopkeepers and stallholders were milling around, chattering excitedly.

The moment she appeared, Bertha was surrounded. For a while nothing could be seen of her but the roses and poppies bobbing on her hat. Swearing irritably, Freda dived into the throng. In moments the reporters were retreating, many rubbing their ankles or shins, and Jolly, the landlord, was escorting Bertha to a low platform that had been set up in front of the bar.

‘Thank you for coming, ladies and gentlemen,’ Bertha began, with impressive composure. ‘The purpose of this conference is to ask you to spread the word of some important new developments in the Blue Queen’s campaign against us. First, we have reason to believe that Princess Pretty…’

As Bertha went on to warn that, until further notice, Princess Pretty should be regarded with suspicion, Leo looked around the room. The reporters were all scribbling in their notebooks. The other spectators were watching Bertha avidly and whispering to one another. His heart lifted as he saw the tall figure of Hal standing alone at the back of the room. He began to edge around the back of the crowd, pulling Spoiler with him.

Spoiler baulked. ‘I don’t want Hal to see me like this,’ he said under his breath. Leo glanced up at the heavy, red face beneath the limp bonnet frills, saw the watery eyes and the loose, trembling lips, and again felt that stab of exasperated pity that Spoiler so often roused in him.

‘It can’t be helped,’ he said, hardening his heart and dragging the man on. ‘At least no one else will recognise you. You’re not very popular around here.’

Hal turned his head as they reached him. His eyes were cold as he looked at Spoiler, but he seemed unsurprised by the ridiculous Dame Dally disguise. Presumably, Leo thought, Conker had warned him what to expect.

‘… and, unfortunately, the same applies to anyone else known to have been abducted by the queen’s dragon,’ Bertha was saying. ‘Now, the second thing I have to report particularly concerns the heroes among us …’

The grey glass door that led to the tavern stairs swung open a little, and Conker edged into the room, hauling his pack after him. Looking grim, he sidled around the crowd till he reached Hal, Leo and Spoiler.

‘Didn’t you get rid of it?’ Hal asked quietly.

Conker shook his head. ‘The Safe Place rejected it. Said it was still half alive, or some such rubbish.’

‘Oh, no!’ Spoiler moaned. A few people turned to look at him and he cringed and ducked his head.

‘We’ll take it back to the wood and bury it as soon as this is over.’ Hal’s eyes flicked back to Bertha. ‘She’s finishing up. Shouldn’t be too long now.’

‘… and so,’ Bertha was saying, ‘again until further notice, we urge all registered heroes, and anyone who thinks he or she might be a hero, to abandon any quests they might have on at present, stay indoors, and refuse any further pleas for help. Thank you.’

A great clamour broke out as reporters started waving their arms and shouting questions. The loudest cries of all came from a gnome in a purple shirt and tight black trousers. With distaste, Leo recognised Scribble, the unscrupulous reporter from the Rondo Rambler.

‘Verity?’ Bertha said, nodding to a tall woman in the centre of the throng.

‘Verity Wordsmith of the Rondo Herald,’ the woman said crisply. ‘Mistress Bertha, do we know why the Blue Queen is trying to capture heroes in particular?’

‘Not at this point in time,’ Bertha lied smoothly.

‘Scribble of the Rondo Rambler!’ shrieked the gnome in the purple shirt, his rasping voice cutting through all the other sounds in the room. ‘Bertha, you claim that the Blue Queen is hunting heroes?’

‘Yes,’ Bertha said coldly.

‘Then surely you would agree that anyone keeping company with heroes is also in grave danger?’ Scribble asked. ‘And you would warn my readers to avoid it?’

‘Well, I…’ Bertha hesitated, looking uncertain for the first time.

‘And you and the other members of your little quest team, most of whom are present at this meeting, regard yourselves as heroes, I gather?’ Scribble went on, scribbling rapidly in his notebook.

‘Well… yes,’ said Bertha, as the crowd began murmuring uneasily.

‘Perhaps then, dear lady,’ Scribble said nastily, ‘you would like to explain why you have chosen to risk the lives of the members of Rondo’s press, not to mention a large number of innocent bystanders, by forcing them into this tavern with not just one, but six highly dangerous persons?’

The chatter in the room rose to a crescendo. Someone squeaked in fear. The next moment, there was a rush for the door. And in seconds, the tavern was deserted.

Chapter

24

Decision

Only when they had reached the safety of Flitter Wood, and Conker and Freda had disappeared into the undergrowth to bury the dragon’s heart, did Leo begin to feel the full effect of his almost sleepless night and long, action-packed morning. As his tension drained away, his eyes began to prickle, and his brain seemed to slow down to half speed. Feeling as if he were in a waking dream, he sat down with Mimi and Bertha at the fireside and mechanically drank the cup of soup that Tye pressed into his hands.

The soup was good, and its warmth was comforting. By the time Leo had drained his cup he had revived enough to register that Tye had sat down on the other side of the fire, and was gazing at him, Mimi and Bertha with something approaching awe.

‘Hal tells me you saw the Tideseer,’ she said to him as their eyes met.

Leo nodded slightly and looked down at his empty cup. He could hardly bear to think of his time in the Tideseer’s cave. His stomach churned whenever he thought of those blind, milky eyes, those slowly moving hands, that whispering voice.

‘I cannot believe it,’ Tye murmured. ‘All my life I have thought the legend of the Tideseer was a tale invented by the old ones to explain how good and evil, truth and lies, can exist in the same world. And yet… the Tideseer is real! You have seen her! You have seen the Blue Queen’s enemy sister with your own –’

‘Sister?’ Bertha squeaked, jerking her head up from her second bowl of soup.

Mimi leaned forward. Her eyes were shining in fascination. ‘Tell us, Tye!’ she begged.

Tye glanced over her shoulder. ‘Later, perhaps,’ she said quietly. ‘Hal and the others are returning, and there are more important things to be discussed.’

As Conker, Freda and Hal joined the group at the fire, Leo blinked around the circle, and suddenly realised that someone was missing.

‘Where’s Spoiler?’ he asked.

‘Locked in the hut,’ Hal said, nodding at the little shelter. ‘He said he was going to sleep, but I suppose I should check. I don’t want him overhearing us.’

‘I’ll go,’ Leo said hurriedly. He scrambled to his feet and reached for a spare soup cup from the stack by the fire.

‘I’ve already given him some soup, Leo,’ Hal said with a tired smile. ‘What do you think I am?’

Leo nodded, feeling his face grow hot. He backed away from the fireplace and walked quickly to the hut. He could hear the others muttering behind him, and guessed that Conker, Freda and Mimi were commenting on his new, protective attitude towards Spoiler, the man he used to despise.

They don’t get it, Leo told himself angrily. I still despise him. It’s just – he’s helpless now. He’s helpless and scared and pathetic, and I can’t help…

Telling himself to stop apologising for something that in his heart he knew was right, he quietly unbolted the hut door, and peeped in.

Spoiler was lying curled up on a narrow camp bed that stood against the wall opposite the doorway. His thinning hair straggled damply over his forehead, his eyes were closed, and he was breathing with small, puffing snores. The loose shirt and rough trousers he was wearing showed how much weight he had lost during his time on the road. His bulky Dame Dally garments lay discarded on the floor beside the bed, tangled up with his shoes, a bread crust, a bottle of water and an empty soup cup.

Hal lent him some clothes, Leo thought, and felt suddenly ashamed to have assumed that he was the only one capable of treating an enemy with humanity. Hal could have left his brother feeling uncomfortable and looking ridiculous, but he hadn’t.

It’s more than Spoiler would have done for Hal, if their positions had been reversed, Leo told himself. Spoiler would have enjoyed seeing Hal look stupid. He would have laughed at him and left him as he was. But maybe… maybe he’ll learn something from all this. Maybe the fact that I’ve helped him, and Hal’s helped him, will make him see that he can turn over a new leaf, and start to act decently, if he wants to.

He stepped into the hut and bent to retrieve the empty soup cup, which was half-covered by a red flannel petticoat. As he pulled the cup free, something round and hard rolled from a hidden pocket in the petticoat and knocked against his hand.

It was Brewer’s jar of No-Fail Hair-Gro. Spoiler had stolen it from the shop counter on his way out.

Leo smothered a snort of laughter. So much for his hopes of Spoiler’s reforming. He picked up the jar and the soup cup and withdrew from the hut, closing the door silently after him and making sure the bolt was firm before going back to the fire.

‘Spoiler’s asleep,’ he told the others as they looked up enquiringly. He sat down and tossed the jar of Hair-Gro to Conker with a grin. ‘That was in his petticoat. I wonder if Brewer’s noticed it’s gone, yet?’

Conker made a disgusted sound and stuffed the jar into one of his jacket pockets. ‘If he has, he’ll be on the rampage,’ he growled. ‘Oh, my liver and lungs, as if we don’t have enough to think about without returning Spoiler’s stolen goods!’

‘It was unwise to bring him here,’ Tye said, her husky voice throbbing with disapproval. ‘He is not to be trusted.’

‘Which is exactly why he’s locked in the hut, where he can’t see or hear anything of importance,’ Hal said wearily. ‘We had to bring him, Tye. He already knows too much for us to let him out of our sight. He knows about the queen’s potion. He knows about the Tideseer. He knows about the dragon’s heart –’

‘That couldn’t be helped,’ Conker said defensively. ‘I told you –’

Hal held up his hands. ‘I’m not criticising, old friend. You’ve worked wonders – you’ve all worked wonders. You found out what we needed to know. And now…’

His voice trailed off. He ran his fingers through his hair.

Hal’s exhausted too, Leo thought. He was up all night talking to the witches and wizards, planning the attack on the queen, waiting for news from us…

‘Now there’s nothing to stop us from carrying out the barrier plan, is there?’ Mimi asked tensely.

‘Nothing whatever!’ Conker exclaimed, banging down his empty cup and leaning forward. ‘And we should act as soon as we can, while the queen’s still searching for the last two ingredients of the Great Potion. We can’t risk waiting a minute longer than we have to.’

‘It could be done tonight,’ Tye said, with a sideways glance at Hal. ‘The plan is made. The Flitters have almost finished the web. The Seven are preparing themselves, awaiting our signal. We have only to alert the witnesses –’

‘Witnesses?’ asked Bertha.

Hal sighed. ‘Last night the Seven all agreed that their shutting spells would work more quickly, and would have a greater chance of success, if trusted witnesses added their concentration and will to the task. Seven witnesses for each witch and wizard – forty-nine witnesses in all.’

Again he fell silent.

‘Hal is unwilling to risk the lives of so many,’ Tye said. She paused, glancing at Hal again. ‘I believe that this is a risk we must take,’ she added.

‘Oh, my aching brain, of course it is!’ Conker growled. ‘The prize is worth any risk. If we can seal off the queen forever –’

‘If we can!’ Hal said sharply. ‘That’s the point. What if we rouse her fury, and in the process sacrifice Rondo’s best witches and wizards – our only defence against her – and forty-nine other souls, including ourselves – for nothing?’

‘The Seven obviously thought the plan would work,’ Freda argued. ‘They wouldn’t have agreed to try it if they didn’t.’

‘They can’t guarantee it,’ Hal said.

‘In my experience, witches and wizards never guarantee anything!’ Bertha retorted. ‘Personally, I think they just like to keep everyone in suspense.’

‘We could try to gather the rest of the ingredients and make the Great Potion ourselves,’ Leo suggested desperately. ‘Tye has Ancient One memories. Brewer has some male dragon’s heart. If we increased the power of our four wizards by seven times –’

‘We’d have long grey beards by the time we’d collected even one spoonful of diamond dust, let alone four,’ Conker said gloomily.

‘And we would still not have the power to defeat the queen in battle,’ Hal snapped.

‘Well, I don’t see why the plan shouldn’t work perfectly as it is, as long as we take the queen by surprise,’ Bertha declared. ‘The longer we delay, the more chance there is that she’ll find out what we’re doing, or finish the Great Potion, and our chances of success… oh, lawks-a-daisy!’

Her eyes bulged. She swung round to stare at Leo and Mimi, her mouth hanging open.

‘What?’ Leo asked stupidly.

‘The Tideseer’s prophecy!’ Mimi gasped at the same moment.

Bertha nodded and swallowed. ‘If treasured plans are long delayed, their chances of success will fade. Those were her very words!’

Tye hissed and leaned forward.

‘What’s this?’ Hal asked sharply.

‘What prophecy?’ Conker bellowed. ‘You never told us about any –’

‘We were waiting till – till we were all together,’ Bertha squeaked in confusion, her ears very red. ‘To tell you the truth, I’d forgotten all about it till just now. It was so hard to understand at the time. A lot of it could have meant anything.’

‘But the first lines – the ones Bertha just said – are fairly easy to understand now, aren’t they?’ Mimi said flatly, glancing at Hal.

Wordlessly Hal turned to Leo.

Leo felt his cheeks burning and knew they must be as red as Bertha’s ears. He had totally forgotten about the Tideseer’s prophecy too. Maybe, he thought uncomfortably, he’d put it out of his mind because he didn’t want to think about it.

But Hal was waiting. He’s depending on me to give him the facts, Leo told himself. Desperately he tried to make his fuzzy mind focus.

‘The Tideseer is not a fortune-teller,’ Tye said slowly.

Leo nodded. ‘She told us that, right at the beginning,’ he managed to say. ‘She said that she could only predict what would probably happen, given what she knew. Her prophecy was full of “ifs”. She said the tide could turn either way, depending on – on the choices people made.’

‘Especially one particular choice that a Langlander would have to make,’ Mimi put in, her eyes fixed on Hal’s frozen face. ‘She said everything depended on that.’

‘What exactly was said?’ Tye prompted urgently. ‘You must try to recall it – as best you can.’

Mimi stared into the fire, and suddenly, to Leo’s amazement, began repeating the Tideseer’s rhyme, softly but without hesitation. To his even greater amazement, he found himself speaking the words along with her, and heard Bertha saying them too.

With evil, truth cannot abide

But dies like weed left by the tide.

If treasured plans are long delayed,

Their chances of success will fade.

If faith is placed in debts repaid,

Faith will surely be betrayed.

If stolen magic is regained,

Light will break where darkness reigned.

A Langlander who must decide,

May thrust old ways and thoughts aside

Or may instead refuse to break

The chains that fear and weakness make.

But if that choice is as I see,

The end will follow faithfully.

The enemy will act, and lose

A gift she never cared to use,

And in the flame of battle fires,

Will gain the prize she most desires.

The grim final words still sour in his mouth, Leo blinked across the fire. Conker, Freda and Tye were gaping in shocked dismay. Hal had bowed his head.

‘I don’t like the sound of that,’ Freda muttered at last.

‘It’s a bunch of old dot-mush!’ Conker blustered, recovering a little. ‘They must have got the words wrong.’

‘No.’ Mimi bit her lip. ‘The Tideseer said, “Hear and remember” before she gave us the rhyme. It must have been some sort of spell to fix the words in our minds. She wanted to make sure we could repeat them when – when we needed to.’

‘As you have,’ said Hal, and there was such an odd note in his voice that everyone looked at him anxiously.

He raised his head. His face was deeply shadowed, but his eyes were steady. ‘I don’t pretend to understand every part of the prophecy,’ he said. ‘But the first lines, and the last, seem quite clear. The Tideseer based her predictions on what she knew, and Tye tells me that the Tideseer learns everything, sooner or later. The Tideseer therefore knows that I, for good or ill, have been forced to take the lead in our battle against the Blue Queen, and that I’m the one who must decide whether we go ahead with our plan, or not.’

Soberly he looked around. ‘She also knows,’ he went on deliberately, ‘that my natural habit of mind is cautious, that my instinct is to defend rather than to attack, and that I fear, above all things, causing harm to others by my actions. On this knowledge she’s based her final prediction. Weighing all the odds, she’s decided that I’ll hesitate till the chance of success has slipped through our fingers, and that as a result the queen will in time complete the Great Potion, and subdue Rondo forever.’

There was silence around the fire. Hal had just said exactly what Mimi, Conker, Freda, Bertha and Tye had been telling him all along, each in his or her own way. But now that he admitted it himself, none of them could bear to say a word. And Leo’s heart went out to him.

Hal hadn’t asked for leadership. It had been thrust on him, because he was good at organising, and the only person the Seven and the Flitters would trust. Now he was being blamed for hesitating, for thinking twice, for being what he was.

‘The Tideseer might be wrong,’ Leo heard himself saying. ‘She doesn’t know what’s going to happen. She can only predict what will probably happen.’

‘Quite so,’ said Hal, and suddenly grinned so broadly that twenty years seemed to drop from his face. ‘And she’s in for a surprise. She should have taken her own prediction into account. Hearing it has helped me break my chains. I’ve realised that the time for caution is over. The plan will go ahead – tonight.’

Chapter

25

The Plan

It was as if Hal’s announcement had charged the quiet, sun-dappled clearing with electricity. Excitement crackled in the air, and the tired faces around the fire came alive.

A great, swooping surge of nervous energy swept through Leo then receded, leaving him feeling vaguely dizzy. He sat motionless, stunned by the speed with which things had changed. Conker had jumped up and was banging Hal on the back. Freda’s neck feathers were spiked. Tye’s eyes were gleaming. Mimi’s hands were clasped so tightly that her knuckles were white. Bertha was triumphant.

And Hal himself seemed a different man. It was as if his uncertainty had been a heavy old coat that had been weighing him down. Now that it had been thrown off he looked taller, and his shoulders were straighter. His face had relaxed, and the lines around his eyes and mouth looked more like lines of determination than marks of strain. Now he looked like a leader. Like a hero, Leo thought – the true hero he is.

Rapidly Hal began to outline the plan that he, Tye and the seven witches and wizards had made during their meeting.

Wurzle’s prediction that the smoke would shrink back towards the castle at night, so that the queen could renew her energy, had proved to be correct. The owls patrolling the queen’s border had brought word that the smoke had begun to recede just after sunset. By midnight they were reporting that it shrouded only the hill on which the castle stood, and all of the queen’s creatures, including the dragon, were sleeping within its cloud. The crows who took over the patrol just before dawn had said that the smoke only began to spill back towards the border as the sun rose.

The Seven were sure that this pattern would be repeated. The attack on the castle, therefore, would be made in the hours between midnight and dawn.

‘The queen did leave her castle last night, to collect the wind and the tide,’ Bertha pointed out nervously. ‘The smoke might have only pulled back because of that.’

Hal shook his head. ‘The owls saw her go. As she left the castle the smoke shrank further, exposing the hill almost to the moat. It spread again after she returned to her tower, but still only as far as the bottom of the hill. Our one great advantage is that the queen can’t extend her power beyond certain bounds, and it exhausts her to take it to the limit.’

‘The Great Potion would change all that,’ Conker muttered.

‘Which is why we are acting now, before the Great Potion can be made,’ Hal said grimly. ‘This is what we’re going to do…’

Stripped of its detail, the plan was daring and straightforward. Cloaked in darkness, the Seven would travel to a meeting place close to the queen’s border, arriving on the stroke of midnight. The witnesses, travelling in twos and threes so as not to attract attention, would follow them. The Seven and their witnesses would move to the border and form a line directly opposite the castle. The rolled-up web would be placed in position at the witches’ and wizards’ feet by messenger mice, so it would remain untouched by human hands.

At Hal’s signal, the raising of the web would begin. As the web unrolled, the shutting spells would be cast, drenching the web’s delicate fibres with defence magic. The process would take hours to complete, and the last minutes would be the most dangerous, for once the spell-soaked web was fully raised, the wizards and witnesses would have to walk behind it, driving it towards the castle hill. Until the fragile canopy had safely dropped over the smoke that drifted above the castle’s highest tower, and its edges had sealed themselves to the earth at the hill’s base, the shutting spell would not be complete.

Gradually Hal’s listeners became very still, and Leo felt a grim tingle of satisfaction as he saw Mimi’s eyes darken and her lips press together. There, you see? he told her silently. It’s not so easy, is it? Not when you come right down to the nitty-gritty – to people actually taking terrible risks to carry out your idea. Now you see why Hal took his time before committing himself. Why he was right to take his time.

But Hal himself did not show a flicker of doubt or hesitation. It was as if, having decided to go ahead, he had put his fears behind him like a load of useless clutter that would only hinder him.

‘The concentration required will be tremendous,’ he said calmly, when he had finished outlining the plan. ‘The timing must be exact. And, of course, the danger is immense. The queen’s creatures may be asleep, but we can’t be sure that she will be.’

‘If she looks out and sees the web closing in there’ll be trouble,’ muttered Conker. ‘And, oh my heart and lungs, it’s only a week after full moon! There’ll still be plenty of light.’

‘Wurzle and the others all said the task could only be accomplished at night if there was at least some moonlight,’ Tye told him. ‘They have to be able to see where to place the web.’

‘The witnesses, Hal,’ Mimi asked abruptly. ‘Who will they be?’

Hal glanced at her and half-smiled. ‘I’m not going to attempt to leave you and Leo out, if that’s what you mean,’ he said. ‘Tye has convinced me that the team should stay together.’

‘Well, naturally!’ Conker growled, as Leo and Mimi threw Tye grateful glances. ‘We’ll be supporting Wurzle, I suppose?’

Hal nodded. ‘Plum will use members of the town defence committee. I’m providing witnesses for Zillah, No-Name, and the Thorn Witch. Bing and Pandora have insisted on bringing their own.’

‘They would!’ jeered Freda.

Hal stretched wearily. ‘The one thing I regret is that we can’t go to the border earlier, to see the situation there for ourselves, in daylight. But it can’t be helped. We can’t risk raising the queen’s suspicions. Now, I suggest we all try to get a few hours’ sleep. We’ll be quite safe. The tigers are still on guard, and crows have taken over the Flitters’ treetop patrol, so we’ll have plenty of warning if danger approaches from the sky. I’ll leave orders for us to be woken at sunset.’

Leaving Spoiler in sole possession of the hut, everyone found a place to sleep among the ferns. As Leo kicked off his boots and lay down gratefully, he heard a distant growl. He found this comforting, then almost laughed to think he could be reassured by the knowledge that tigers were prowling unseen not far away.

He was slipping deliciously into sleep when a terrified squeal jerked him awake. He sat up, his heart beating wildly. Nearby, Mimi had sprung to her feet, blinking and tousled.

Tye emerged from the bushes on the other side of the clearing. Seeing Mimi and Leo staring at her, she glided over to them. ‘There is nothing to worry about,’ she murmured. ‘Bertha had a bad dream, that is all.’

‘Sly the fox again?’ Leo asked.

Tye nodded. ‘She insists she heard a fern snap, opened her eyes and saw him peering at her from the undergrowth.’

‘Maybe she did,’ said Mimi. ‘No one’s seen Sly since he ran away from the farm. He has to be hiding somewhere.’

‘I doubt he would choose this place,’ Tye said. ‘Flitter Wood has never been a healthy place for foxes, and it is less so now than ever before.’

As if to confirm this, there was another low growl from the shadows of the wood, and twigs cracked beneath heavy, stealthy paws.

With a sigh, Leo lay back. His heart had stopped racing, but the shock of being startled just as he was falling asleep had left him feeling jumpy and restless.

Mimi obviously felt the same. ‘Tye, could you tell us the Tideseer legend now?’ she begged. ‘I really want to hear it.’

Tye gave a tiny shrug. ‘Very well,’ she said quietly. ‘I will tell you the tale as it was told to me, long ago in Old Forest.’

In a single, fluid movement she sank cross-legged onto the ground and folded her hands. With a little shock, Leo saw that for once she was not wearing her thin leather gloves. The palms of her hands were dark, bare skin, but the backs were covered with the same velvety gold and black striped fur as her face. The nails were dark and glossy, like beetle wings.

The gloves were tucked into Tye’s belt. Perhaps she had taken them off to sleep, just before Bertha cried out. The fact that she hadn’t replaced them seemed to Leo a sign of trust and friendship, and he felt warm and deeply honoured.

‘The legend goes,’ Tye began, ‘that at the very beginning of this world, when only the Terlamaines trod the earth, and the Ancient One dreamed alone above the clouds, the Artist made the wild coast, and two female beings of great beauty to share it.’

She glanced at her companions and, apparently reassured that they were listening attentively, went on.

‘One sister wore the colour of the sand and the other wore the colour of the sea, but otherwise they were as alike to look upon as two peas in a pod. The sister who wore the colour of the sea found this displeasing. She was jealous, and could not bear her beauty to be matched by the beauty of another. So one day, when the tide was high, she invited her rival to see the view from the top of the headland called Cruelcliff, and pushed her over the edge, into the boiling sea.

‘But the sister who fell from Cruelcliff did not drown. The sea saw her beauty and her terror, and to save her life it changed her. It fused her legs into a tail, and webbed her hands, and opened gills in her smooth white neck. Her white-gold hair turned green as seaweed, and her blood chilled till it was like cool water in her veins. She swam away from the rocks and felt more freedom than she had ever felt on land, and as she swam the sea whispered to her with many voices, telling her many things.

‘The murdering sister saw what had happened, and was filled with fear. Not because she regretted what she had done, but because her victim still lived, and might one day come back to accuse her.

‘She picked up a killing stone and watched on the headland from one full moon till the next, still and rigid as one of the rocks on which she sat. But her sister did not return, and at last she put down the stone and went away.’

‘And she became the Blue Queen,’ Mimi burst out impulsively, as Tye paused for breath. ‘So she wasn’t always a queen! And the Tideseer wasn’t always – what she is now, either. I mean, the Artist didn’t paint them that way.’

‘The creations of the Artist’s brush were living things, not puppets,’ Tye said rather brusquely. ‘They had the ability to grow and change, and their feet were not fixed on one path or another. Do you want to hear the rest?’

‘Yes, please,’ Leo said quickly, glancing at Mimi to warn her not to interrupt again. ‘What did the Blue – the wicked twin – do then?’

‘Time passed, and she almost forgot that she had ever had a sister,’ Tye went on, her voice falling once again into the lilting rhythms of the story. ‘By sorcery she had remained as beautiful as she had ever been, and as the world grew beneath the Artist’s brush there was still no woman in Rondo to match her. But then, when she was in a different place, and was on the point of gaining the love of a king and the crown and castle she had always desired, she began to hear rumours of a being called the Tideseer who haunted Cruelcliff at low tide. This being, she heard, half-fish, half-human, was full of knowledge, and answered the questions of all seekers after truth.

‘Filled with dread, she went back to the place where she had first drawn breath. And there, in a shadowed sea cave filled with the sound of water, she found her sister waiting for her.’

Tye paused. Mimi made a small, breathless sound. Leo felt a cold tingling in his spine. ‘Go on, Tye!’ he urged.

Tye continued, staring into space as if the scene she was describing was hanging in the empty air in front of her like one of the Ancient One’s dreams.

‘The sisters no longer looked alike. The Tideseer’s face showed the marks left by the passing of the years. She was thin as bone, and pale as the belly of a fish. Her eyes had altered so she could no longer see on land. The glittering tail that swept her so effortlessly through the ocean had changed back to weak and slender land legs with the ebbing of the tide. But the murdering sister quailed, for she could see that the Tideseer knew her, and knew besides every cruel and wicked thing she had done since last they met, from the smallest to the greatest.

‘ “Do not dare betray me, or I will destroy you!” she cried, though she could feel the Tideseer’s power, and was well aware that she did not yet have the strength to carry out her threat.

‘The Tideseer’s smile was as cold as the thin sea blood that trickled through her veins. “It is not my business to betray you, any more than it is the business of the tide to knock down castles of sand built on the shore,” she answered. “It may happen, or then again it may not. The tide does not ebb and flow as it pleases, but must follow the patterns laid down for it. So I may collect knowledge, but I can give it only to those who ask for it. The right question must be asked of me before I can do you harm.”

‘ “No doubt you await that question eagerly!” the murdering sister spat in rage. “But it will never come. I will see to it that this place remains dangerous and desolate, the haunt of ogres, shunned by all but fishermen and fools. And you will grow older and uglier by the day.”

‘ “So will you, my sister,” the Tideseer replied. “In the eyes of truth, at least.”

‘The tide, by this time, was rising. The waves began to beat on the rocks of Cruelcliff, and the cave began to flood. The wicked sister was forced to escape to land or be drowned, and the Tideseer, her tail and sight renewed, swam back out to the welcoming sea.

‘Ever since that day, the sisters have lived like two sides of the same coin, aware of one another but never again meeting face to face. And it is said that when the voices of the sea tell her it is time, the Tideseer still comes to her cave in the Cruelcliff rocks, and waits for the seeker after truth who will ask her the one question she most desires to hear.’

Tye’s voice died away. And as the spell of the story was broken, Leo suddenly understood what was at the root of the sick feeling that clutched at him whenever the Tideseer came into his mind. It was the memory of the shadow that had crossed her face as each question was put to her.

We asked the wrong questions, he thought, stricken. The Tideseer was hoping we would ask her something else. We had our chance – a chance in a million. And we asked the wrong questions!

But what question had the Tideseer been hoping for? What?

Chapter

26

Stolen Magic

Tye had stood up. She was looking down at them, her face very serious, and Leo realised that telling the legend of her childhood had moved her more than she was prepared to admit.

‘Sleep now, young Langlanders,’ she said huskily. ‘You have had your old tale, and it is time to prepare for a new one. If we succeed tonight, there will be a sequel to the legend of the Tideseer.’

She lifted her hand to them and slipped away.

Mimi fell asleep almost at once after that, but Leo lay tossing and turning on the fern bed that had seemed soft when he first lay down, but now felt lumpy and prickly. The Tideseer’s thin white face kept floating into his mind, accusing him.

‘Leo!’ The voice was so quiet that at first Leo thought he’d imagined it. He opened his eyes and was startled to see Hal crouching beside him.

‘I need to talk to you,’ Hal said. ‘I’m sorry to disturb your rest, but this can’t wait.’

He stood up and moved away as silently as he’d come. Very curious, Leo got up and padded after him to the fireplace.

‘Conker has just told me that you took a magic mirror from the Castle of Cruelcliff,’ Hal said, when they were sitting side by side. ‘Do you still have it?’

Leo caught his breath. He had forgotten all about the ogre’s mirror. Instinctively his hand moved to his belt. The mirror was still there. He drew it out, and showed it to Hal.

Hal took the mirror and looked at it intently. The surface of the glass wavered, and slowly his reflection disappeared and a moving mass of green took its place. At first Leo thought he was seeing the ferns of the clearing stirring in the breeze. Then, as he looked more closely, the green mass separated into thousands of tiny, winged creatures clinging to the edges of what looked like drifting folds of green mist.

‘The Flitters,’ he breathed, watching spellbound as the green mist billowed, folded in on itself, sank out of sight and billowed again. He looked up at the fern-shrouded entrance to the hollow in the giant Nesting Tree. He had known the Flitters were spinning the magic web in there. He had accepted it – far more easily than once he would have accepted such a bizarre idea. But to see it happening – actually happening – was another thing altogether.

He looked back down at the mirror glass. The green image had gone.

‘What a stroke of luck,’ Hal said, turning the mirror over in his hands. ‘Leo, I can’t understand how you could have forgotten about this! Surely you realise what a powerful weapon it is? We can use it to spy on the queen, see where she –’

‘No!’ Leo burst out in panic. ‘You mustn’t use it, Hal – not on the Blue Queen. It’s too dangerous. When you’re watching her she feels it, and she looks for you.’

Hal raised a quizzical eyebrow. ‘She may look, but that doesn’t mean she’ll find,’ he said. ‘I’ll use the mirror carefully, but I’d be mad to ignore it. Especially after hearing the Tideseer’s prophecy.’

He saw Leo’s confusion, and suddenly laughed like a boy. ‘You aren’t thinking, Leo!’ he said, holding up the mirror. ‘Don’t you see? This must be the “stolen magic” of the Tideseer’s rhyme – the magic that’s going to light up our darkness!’

Leo’s heart seemed to leap into his throat. Of course, he thought dazedly. Of course!

‘We’ll test it now,’ Hal went on. ‘You watch with me. Two pairs of eyes are better than one. Look for any details that might help us.’

He’s right, Leo told himself. We have to do this. The more information we can get the safer we’ll be. Yet he felt a sense of dread as Hal held up the mirror and stared at it intently once more.

Their reflections faded. Shadows stole over the surface of the glass. Then the shadows cleared to reveal the Blue Queen pacing up and down in her tower room.

The queen was clearly in the grip of some strong emotion. Her teeth were bared, and the bones of her face showed sharply through her skin. Her white hands were clutched together so hard that her many rings were biting hard into the flesh of her fingers.

Leo saw her pass the magic mirror on the wall. It was covered by a shawl, as if the queen could no longer bear to see her reflection.

She reached the fireplace, and sick blue light flickered on her working face as she glared at the five containers on the mantelshelf.

Blue jar, blue bottle, covered black bowl, silver tin, small gold box… . The last time Leo had seen them he had not known what they meant. Now he did. There, in a neat line, were five of the seven strengths that were the ingredients for the Great Potion – the tide at its highest, the wind at its strongest, the web of a spider, the dust of a diamond, and the memories of the Ancient One.

Gnashing her teeth, the queen swung round to look at the throne-like chair that stood in front of the fire. The chair’s velvet seat was cluttered with small silver boxes. As if driven beyond her endurance, the queen snatched up the boxes and hurled them violently into the fire. Blue flames leaped up the chimney, and sparks showered the room. Ignoring them, she threw herself into the chair. Then without warning she froze, turned her head, and looked straight at the glass, her face a mask of fury.

Hal made a strangled sound, jerked the mirror downward and pressed it hard against his chest. ‘I see what you mean, Leo,’ he muttered, looking shaken. ‘Well, what do we draw from what we saw?’

Leo tried to pull himself together. ‘She’s obviously angry,’ he said, making a big effort to keep his voice even. ‘Those silver boxes she threw into the fire must have been the ones her squirrels stole from the Hobnob antique shop. She’d hoped the heart-shaped box would be one of them – hoped Spoiler had sold it while he was hiding in Hobnob.’

Hal nodded. ‘So she’s still looking for her own dragon’s heart. She’s failed to find another supply. That’s reassuring. While she’s angry, we’re safe.’

‘It’s strange.’ Leo frowned, thinking over what he’d seen. ‘She was in a rage the last time I saw her, too, because the dragon had brought her Princess Pretty instead of Sir Clankalot. But this time she seemed more than just angry. She seemed almost – desperate.’

‘She can’t bear to be thwarted, that’s all.’ Wearily Hal passed the ogre’s mirror back to Leo. ‘Take care of this. We’ll check on her again at sunset.’

Leo went back to the fern bed where Mimi was still curled up, dead to the world. As he lay down he remembered the Tideseer and wondered if he should have told Hal about his uneasy feeling that he hadn’t asked her the right questions. Then he shook his head impatiently.

What did it matter, really? Bertha’s question hadn’t been planned, but the other two had. Leo had asked them, and the answers had given them all the information they needed. It was stupid to worry over an old story – stupid to fret because the Tideseer might have wanted to be asked something else.

He tucked the ogre’s mirror into his belt and rolled onto his side. He had barely closed his eyes when sleep engulfed him, deep and thick with dreams of secret things coiling beneath the surface of dark water.

Perhaps he slept for an hour, perhaps more. He had no idea of how much time had passed when he was jerked awake by an explosion of crashing, tearing sound.

In confused terror he flung himself to his feet. He blinked groggily at the mass of broken branches in the clearing and the great, transparent shape that reared and plunged above it. He saw two crows lying crushed in the wreckage, and knew they were dead. His mind was echoing with a shrill clamour of voices like thousands of tiny bells.

Danger! Danger! Danger!

Sun was pouring down through a ragged hole in the forest canopy. The light in the clearing seemed mercilessly bright. The thrashing, colourless shape on the ground roared. Twigs, leaves, and ragged black feathers flew around it. Whirlwind, Leo thought stupidly. Cyclone…

Danger! Danger! Danger!

The voices of the Flitters rang agonisingly in his head. He clapped his hands to his ears in a futile effort to block the sound, which grew louder as four huge, striped beasts pounded into the clearing and pulled up abruptly, snarling in confusion.

The tigers were the guardians of the wood. They had never feared anything in their lives before. But they were dwarfed and daunted by the twisting, unnatural thing on the ground – the shapeless, wavering phantom that trampled great boughs like air made solid.

Then it was as if an obscuring veil slipped from the monstrous shape. Suddenly it was visible – dripping fangs, twisting neck, vast, spiked wings glittering green.

Dragon! The word rose in Leo’s throat and stuck there, choking him. He reeled as the mind-voices of the Flitters rose to a crescendo.

Dragon! Dragon! Dragon in the wood!

The tigers sprang, clawing and snarling. The green dragon bellowed at them, and fire belched from his jaws. Fallen branches exploded into flames all around him. The sad bodies of the dead crows were consumed. The tigers fell back, roaring, scarlet light flickering in their eyes.

The dragon lunged this way and that. Frenziedly his talons raked the blazing branches, tossing them aside. Embers and flaming twigs scattered, and the fire spread. The air began to fill with smoke.

In cold terror Leo saw Hal and Tye struggling on the ground on the other side of the clearing, masked by fallen timber. He guessed they had been resting by the fireplace when the attack came from above. Perhaps they had tried to run to safety, and a branch had come down on top of them.

The green dragon knew they were there. He must have seen them as he crashed through the forest canopy, then lost sight of them as the branches fell. He was searching for them, and soon he would find them. Surely they could see their danger. Why didn’t they get up and run?

Leo heard a sob beside him and swung round to see Mimi, her eyes terrified, her hands pressed tightly to cheeks that were still flushed with sleep.

‘He was invisible!’ Mimi choked. ‘She cloaked him – so the crow patrol didn’t see him – till the last – the last –’

The sound of her voice woke Leo from his daze of horror. They were standing in full view. Any minute the dragon would notice them. He grabbed Mimi and bundled her through the ferns, heading for the hut. As they reached the little shelter and ducked behind it, he could hear Spoiler shouting and blundering around inside.

The Flitters’ silent cries had changed.

Fire! Fire! The trees will burn! Save the web! Fly with the web!

‘No!’ Mimi wept. ‘Oh, no! No!’ But Leo knew she wasn’t talking to the Flitters, or to him. She was crying out in pure horror – the same horror he was feeling, because Flitter Wood, their sanctuary, had been so shockingly invaded, and its silence and safety destroyed.

And all he could think about was the mirror – the Blue Queen’s face filling the ogre’s mirror, and Hal’s grin, Hal’s enthusiastic voice.

Don’t you see? This must be the ‘stolen magic’ of the Tideseer’s rhyme – the magic that’s going to light up our darkness!

But instead the mirror had brought discovery, invasion and terror.

The dragon was still roaring. Half-carrying Mimi, Leo stumbled to the other end of the little shelter, wishing he had thought to pick up his boots. He peered around the corner. He was closer to Hal and Tye now. He could see that Hal’s leg was wedged underneath a heavy branch, and that Tye was struggling to lift the branch clear. Instinctively he let go of Mimi and started forward.

‘No!’ Mimi screamed, seizing his arm and trying to hold him back. ‘Don’t, Leo! There’s no cover. The dragon will see you!’

‘I’ve got to!’ Leo shouted, roughly shaking her off.

And at that moment he saw Conker, with Freda behind him, wriggling out of the undergrowth and crawling towards the place where Hal was lying. He saw Conker reach Tye, struggle with the branch, then half-stand to lift it aside.

The dragon’s head swung round. His swirling eyes fastened on Conker. His jaws opened in what looked like a grin of triumph. And as Leo’s cry of warning rang out, one of the great green front legs shot out, talons spread, and Conker was plucked from the ground.

Freda launched herself at the dragon like a brown fury, her beak stabbing uselessly at his leg, at the talons that curved around Conker like a cage.

The dragon lifted his head and bellowed. Fire roared from his throat, and as the trees around the clearing burst into flames, he launched himself into the air, his leathery wings fanning the blaze into a fury as he laboured to rise through the ragged gap in the forest canopy.

Then he was gone, and Conker had gone with him.

Chapter

27

Waking Nightmare

Flitter Wood was burning. It was green and damp, but this could not protect it once the dragon’s fire had taken hold. Smoke billowed into the clearing and streamed upward as branches became flaming torches and hanging ferns withered and collapsed into ash. The lowest branch of the Nesting Tree was already being seared by the blaze beside it. Soon it, too, would be alight.

Leo could no longer hear the Flitters. He remembered that they had a secret escape hole at the top of their tree. Dully he wondered if they had used it to get away, or if they had been overcome by the smoke and heat and were even now lying inside their hollow, heaped in the ruin of their web, shrivelled like the ferns.

He felt as if he was in a waking nightmare. Nothing seemed real except the terrible, dragging ache in his chest as he struggled to accept the fact that Conker had gone, Conker was lost.

He stood helplessly staring, his eyes streaming, as Wizard Wurzle came tumbling out of the undergrowth from the direction of the stream, leading a jogging line of identical wooden buckets filled to the brim with water. The wizard gestured wildly and the buckets began throwing their contents at the flames. The flames sizzled and some died, but the blaze continued to spread.

Bertha galloped across the clearing, dodging through the line of buckets and hurdling burning branches to reach the place where Tye was still labouring to pull Hal free. Bertha’s back and legs were smeared with ash. Her eyes were red with smoke. She put her head to the branch that was still pinning Hal down and thrust it out of the way.

Hal crawled to his feet, grimacing with pain. He said something to Tye, and to Leo’s surprise Tye turned and ran swiftly across the clearing to the Nesting Tree, vanishing into the bushes behind it.

‘Stay here!’ Leo muttered to Mimi. He left the shelter of the hut and hurried to join Hal and Bertha.

‘Where’s Mimi?’ Bertha asked sharply as he appeared.

‘Behind the hut,’ Leo panted. ‘It’s better there – not too much smoke.’

‘That won’t last long,’ Hal said, wincing as Leo helped him to stand upright. ‘Get Mimi to the Gap, Leo! When you arrive at the tavern, tell Jolly what’s happened. Bertha, you go too.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ Bertha cried. ‘I’m not leaving you here to fight the fire alone!’

‘We won’t be fighting the fire,’ Hal said curtly. ‘Tye has gone to get the web from the Flitters. They abandoned the Nesting Tree a while ago, and they had the web with them. They’ll be at the edge of their territory by now. As soon as Tye gets back she’ll help me to the Gap and we’ll persuade Wurzle to come with us.’

‘But the wood… the Flitters…’ Leo heard himself croak.

Hal’s face was grey. ‘Thanks to my insistence on using that cursed mirror, and revealing our position, the wood will burn. Wurzle is doing what he can to slow it down, but he won’t be able to stop it. No one can stop it.’

Leo stared at him miserably. There was no point in saying anything. Hal knew as well as he did that the Flitters could live only in the ferny shade of their wood. Without it, they would die. Many of the trees would come to life again after the fire finally burned out. New shoots would spring from charred trunks and branches, and after a while new ferns might unfurl their tender stems from the blackened earth. But by that time the Flitters would be long gone.

The Flitters, and… Conker.

No one had mentioned Conker’s name, but his absence was like a dark emptiness reflected in Hal’s closed face, in Bertha’s red-rimmed eyes. Leo opened his mouth to ask about Freda, then shut it again. There was no need to ask. He hadn’t seen Freda leave, but he knew she had, and he knew where she’d gone. Freda had followed the dragon.

Tears burned in his eyes. He turned quickly away from Hal and Bertha, and his heart lurched. Smoke was rising from the roof of the hut. Flying embers had landed on the bark, which had begun to smoulder. And Spoiler was in there.

He ran unsteadily to the little shelter. Spoiler was shouting and beating on the door. Leo wrestled the bolt free. The door flew open and Spoiler fell out into his arms.

‘Oh, thank you, thank you!’ Spoiler babbled, clinging to him. ‘Oh, I thought I was going to die in there!’

Leo saw that Hal and Bertha were picking their way towards the hut, and suddenly felt embarrassed to have Spoiler clinging to him like a long-lost brother. He freed himself awkwardly.

‘It was the green dragon, wasn’t it?’ Spoiler gabbled. ‘The green dragon – not the yellow one?’

Leo nodded.

The man’s face sagged with relief. He ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture that was strangely reminiscent of Hal, and looked sharply around the clearing.

‘We’ve got to get out of this,’ he said. ‘Where are the others?’

Leo felt as if a hand was squeezing his heart. ‘Tye will be back soon,’ he managed to say. ‘The dragon took Conker. Freda’s gone after him.’

Spoiler’s jaw dropped. He looked honestly appalled.

‘What’s Mimi doing out there?’ Hal demanded, as he and Bertha reached the hut.

He pointed to the other side of the clearing. Leo looked around and saw Mimi standing there, wreathed in smoke and talking urgently to Wizard Wurzle. Still vaguely conducting the line of buckets, the wizard was shaking his head doubtfully.

Leo felt a spurt of irritation. ‘That girl’s hopeless!’ he said angrily. ‘I told her to stay behind the hut!’

‘Well, why should she?’ Bertha snapped back. ‘Why is it all right for you to come out and find out what’s going on, but not all right for Mimi? She’s obviously got an idea that might help, and wanted to tell Wurzle about it!’

Leo was just about to retort that he couldn’t imagine what Mimi would have to tell a wizard about putting out a fire when Wurzle shrugged, shook back the sleeves of his cloak and raised his hands uncertainly. As Mimi nodded vigorously, he began to chant and turn on the spot.

The buckets of water stopped in their tracks. A few fell over, spilling their precious contents on the ground. The fire roared and crackled. Sparks flew.

‘What’s he doing?’ Leo exclaimed. ‘The fire –’

‘He’s trying another spell, by the looks of it,’ Hal said slowly.

The light dimmed abruptly. It was as if the sun had been switched off.

Instinctively everyone looked up. The sky still visible through the smoke streaming through the hole in the forest canopy was no longer faintly blue, but darkest grey.

There was a clap of thunder. Then it was as if the dark sky had burst open. Rain poured into the clearing like water hurled from a gigantic, bottomless bucket. It beat on the burning trees, on the torn branches blazing on the ground, on the smouldering hut. It flooded the wilting ferns. It pelted on Hal, Bertha, Spoiler and Leo, who were standing rooted to the ground, open-mouthed with shock.

‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha squealed, flattening her ears against the downpour. ‘I knew Wizard Wurzle was clever, but I didn’t know he could make it rain! I didn’t know anyone could!’

‘I’d say Wurzle didn’t know it either until Mimi persuaded him to try,’ Hal said quietly. His face was quite expressionless.

Leo looked back at Mimi. Through the smoke and rain, he could see her dancing beside Wurzle, urging him on. Mimi’s head was bent, her hair was soaked and dripping, her shoulders were hunched, her eyes were closed… and her hands were clasped tightly together at the base of her throat.

And at last Leo understood what Hal had guessed before him. Mimi had retrieved the Key to Rondo from the Safe Place under the Nesting Tree. She was using the Key to make the rain, to save the Flitters and their wood. And she was using Wizard Wurzle to disguise it. Wurzle clearly thought the rain was all his doing. His movements were growing stronger and more confident by the moment. His hood had fallen back but he was making no attempt to pull it up again. His face was alive with astounded joy.

The burning trees seemed to lift their branches to the sky, bathing joyously in the deluge. The monstrous tongues of fire wavered, shrank, hissed and died in clouds of smoke. Gasping and choking, Bertha, Spoiler, Leo and Hal crowded into the shelter of the hut. But Mimi and Wizard Wurzle stayed where they were – two small, drenched figures capering in the rain. They should have looked ridiculous, but they didn’t. They looked gallant. They looked magnificent.

‘Tye’s back!’ Bertha exclaimed, peering through the window.

Without a word, Hal left the hut again. Leo watched him limp towards Tye, who was standing by the trunk of the Nesting Tree, staring at Mimi and Wurzle as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. Tye’s sleek black clothes were shining with water and the spikes of her hair were flattened to her skull. She had nothing in her hands, and was carrying nothing on her back. Leo winced. Did this mean that Tye hadn’t found the Flitters? Or did it mean that the web had been damaged or destroyed?

‘Where has she been?’ Spoiler asked, peering curiously at Tye over Leo’s shoulder.

‘That’s none of your business!’ Bertha said sharply, trotting to the door and nudging him roughly out of her way. ‘Leo and I are going out. You’ll stay here if you know what’s good for you.’

She trotted out into the rain. As he followed her, Leo looked apologetically back at Spoiler. The man gave a rueful grin, but the smile quickly faded, leaving his face woebegone.

Leo and Bertha were halfway to the Nesting Tree when they heard Mimi call something to Wizard Wurzle. They looked up in time to see the little wizard stop chanting and drop his arms.

The rain stopped as abruptly as it had begun. At the same instant, the darkness above the trees vanished, late afternoon sun streamed down, and a rainbow glimmered through the smoke still veiling the sky.

Wizard Wurzle sank down on an upturned bucket. He looked exhausted. His cloak was sodden, his hair and beard were dripping, but he beamed as Hal, Tye, Leo and Bertha converged on him.

‘I think that was enough, don’t you?’ he said happily.

‘You did splendidly,’ Hal assured him.

Wurzle’s thin chest swelled and his wrinkled face flushed with pleasure. ‘I don’t deserve all the credit,’ he said. ‘I had no idea I could make it rain. I wouldn’t have dreamed of trying it, if my young friend here hadn’t insisted.’

He looked around for Mimi, who had withdrawn a little as the others approached, and was watching them warily.

‘Mimi always has wonderful ideas!’ Bertha glanced meaningfully at Leo. ‘And a good idea is well worth taking a risk for, in my opinion!’

‘And in mine,’ Tye said warmly. Her eyes, fixed on Mimi, made it clear that she knew exactly what had happened, and that she, at least, heartily approved.

Mimi relaxed a little. She was still holding herself very straight, but her wary, defensive expression softened.

‘I couldn’t just let the wood burn, if I could do something about it… safely,’ she said, speaking directly to Hal.

Hal hesitated, then gave a brief nod.

‘The web –’ Leo began.

‘I have it,’ Tye said, and casually touched her belt. Leo saw that a black silk bag hung there, beside the smaller bag of Strix dreams and the jewelled dagger. His eyebrows shot up in astonishment.

Tye smiled. ‘It is as light as air, and fine as spider silk. It takes up very little room, but the Flitters tell me that when unrolled it will be quite large enough to cover the queen’s castle and the hill on which the castle stands, with some to spare.’

‘Naturally, naturally,’ said Wizard Wurzle a little impatiently. ‘That was what we asked for, wasn’t it?’

Hal glanced over his shoulder at the hut. Spoiler was standing at the door, a lonely and rather pathetic figure. Satisfied that he couldn’t overhear, Hal turned back to the others.

‘The dragon attack has changed things,’ he said. ‘Now we can go to the queen’s border and see conditions there for ourselves while it’s still light. If we use the flying rug, we’ll be there well before sunset. I imagine Whitebeard is on his way to us right now anyway. He will have seen the smoke and the storm and he’ll want to investigate. Wurzle, will you come with us? We may need protection.’

‘Why – why, certainly!’ Wurzle stammered.

‘But… I don’t understand, Hal!’ Bertha cried in confusion. ‘You said that if we arrived too soon it might make the queen suspect –’

‘She won’t suspect a thing,’ Hal interrupted in a hard voice. ‘If we appear at her border now she’ll assume we’ve come for Conker, won’t she? In fact, she’s probably expecting us.’

His face tightened as Mimi and Bertha both drew sharp breaths. ‘We can’t save Conker, of course,’ he went on doggedly. ‘He’ll be a prisoner in the queen’s smoke by now. If we went in after him we’d soon be under her power ourselves. Not enchanted, perhaps, because of –’ he glanced quickly at Wizard Wurzle’ – because of the protective spells I wove around us when I defeated the queen in the Dark Time. But certainly we’d be prey to her chains, her cages, her dragon, and anything else she cared to throw at us.’

His mouth twisted in a humourless smile. ‘No doubt she’ll think we’ll risk it, but of course we won’t. We’ll pretend to shilly-shally. We’ll get all the information we need, right under her nose, and she’ll never guess what we’re really up to. Conker’s capture has provided us with the perfect camouflage.’

His voice was very cold, and Leo felt a chill. How could Hal talk so ruthlessly about using Conker’s loss as a disguise for spying on the Blue Queen?

The answer was written in Hal’s grim face, in his haunted eyes. Hal was cutting off his emotions, suppressing his grief and his guilt and pressing on, doing what he felt he had to do.

A shadow fell across Leo’s face and he looked up in sudden panic.

Hovering above the clearing was what looked like a gigantic bird. It took a few, terrified seconds before Leo realised that it was the flying rug. Master Whitebeard was peering over the side with his telescope to his eye.

‘Good,’ said Hal, raising his arm to signal to the old man. ‘Bertha, will you get Spoiler? He’ll have to come with us. I’m not letting him out of my sight till this is over.’

‘I really think Spoiler’s harmless, Hal,’ Leo ventured to say as Bertha trotted away. ‘He’s as keen as we are to stop the queen making the Great Potion.’

Hal gave another bitter smile. ‘I think I know my dear brother better than you do, Leo. He’s succeeded in making you feel sorry for him, I gather, but he must not be trusted. He’s capable of doing anything that he thinks will further his interests.’

He watched the rug begin its slow, careful descent through the blackened trees. ‘Tye, you’d better leave your bag of Strix dreams here,’ he said. ‘The Safe Place under the Nesting Tree is free now, I believe.’

Bright colour rose in Mimi’s cheeks but she said nothing.

‘Surely Mimi and Leo should have first use of the Safe Place,’ Tye said cautiously.

‘No,’ Hal answered curtly. ‘Mimi and Leo will be taking all their possessions with them.’

He turned to Leo and Mimi, who were gaping at him. ‘When we arrive at the border, we will find another Safe Place for… anything valuable you’re carrying,’ he said. ‘I’ve agreed that you can come with us, but for my own peace of mind I need to know that if things go badly tonight you can at least escape quickly. Everything you need must be close at hand. Do you understand me?’

Mimi and Leo swallowed and nodded.

‘Now, please go and find Conker’s pack,’ Hal went on without changing expression. ‘He took it with him when he and Freda went to rest, so it should have escaped the fire. Whatever supplies it still contains will have to be enough for us tonight. We’re leaving at once.’

Chapter

28

At the Border

The sky was dimming as the flying rug and its passengers neared the border of the queen’s domain. It had been a sad, silent journey and a cold one, for the heat had gone out of the sun and no one’s clothes had dried completely despite the wind. Bertha had insisted on wearing her hat, wet as it was, and now the brim sagged, and sooty flowers drooped limply over her eyes. Leo was thinking glumly of his boots, still lying where he had kicked them off to sleep in Flitter Wood. In the haste of departure, he had completely forgotten to pick them up.

His cold feet stopped seeming important, however, as he stared into the blue haze that shrouded the grassy plain and the castle on the hill. From the air the smoke looked almost as dense as cloud, but he could see dark shapes moving at the bottom of the hill. Most looked small. One was very large.

He wet his lips. ‘There’s the dragon,’ he said.

‘I will shield us if it makes a move, never fear,’ Wizard Wurzle said placidly. He sounded sublimely confident. The apparent success of his rainmaking spell seemed to have totally dispelled his usual anxiety. He had even stopped biting his nails.

It doesn’t matter that his spell didn’t make the rain at all, Leo told himself firmly, looking down at his hands. The more confident Wurzle feels, the better it will be for all of us tonight.

He jumped and yelled as something black soared past his ear and landed with a thud on the rug beside him.

‘Marjorie!’ cried Bertha. ‘Oh, Marjorie, have you heard –’

‘That Boris and Nevermore are dead?’ the crow snapped. ‘Yes, I heard. Killed by the dragon then burned to a crisp, Freda told me.’

‘You’ve seen Freda?’ Leo gasped. ‘Is she all right?’

‘She’s been better,’ Marjorie croaked, regarding him with a mournful eye. ‘She’s taken this Conker business hard. She’s just sitting down there, right on the border, staring at him through the smoke. Won’t admit that he’s beyond help. Maybe you can talk her into moving. She won’t listen to me.’

She nodded sharply to them and took off again.

Hal brought the rug down on a patch of grass between an overgrown apple orchard and a little abandoned farmhouse. The castle and its hill rose directly behind the orchard, veiled in blue haze.

‘Tye, take Spoiler into the house and keep him there,’ Hal said. ‘Take the rug with you. And light a fire, will you? It’ll be cold later. Wurzle and Bertha, come with me. Leo and Mimi –’

‘We’re coming too,’ Leo broke in. ‘The queen will expect to see a few of us. It’ll look funny if just the three of you turn up.’

His heart was beating wildly. He was afraid, but he had to know what was happening on the border – what was happening to Conker.

‘No!’ Spoiler burst out. ‘Hal, don’t let them go down there! She’ll be there, waiting! Don’t take them near her. It’s too dangerous!’

As Tye hustled him away, he was still protesting violently, and looking back over his shoulder.

‘Leo and Mimi,’ Hal said, as if there had been no interruption, ‘go to the stream beside the house. You’ll find a bucket there. Underneath the bucket is a Safe Place. Use it and return to us at once. We’ll wait for you. Be quick!’

He ushered Bertha and Wurzle into the orchard, and Leo and Mimi ran to the stream. The Safe Place was just where Hal had said it would be, and in moments, the Key to Rondo had been safely stowed away.

‘How did Hal know this Safe Place was here?’ Mimi asked, sitting back on her heels as the slimy patch of mud sealed itself and Leo put the bucket back on top of it.

‘I think he knows all about this farm,’ Leo said slowly. ‘He told Tye to light a fire because it would be cold later, so that means we’ll be staying here tonight. This must be the meeting place.’

Tonight. Tonight the plan would go ahead. Tonight they would be trying to imprison the queen. And if they succeeded, they would be sealing Conker in with her forever.

His heart aching, Leo looked down at the rippling stream. It came into his mind that in time this crystal-clear water would reach the sea and whisper its secrets to the Tideseer. ‘I wonder what the Tideseer would have told us, if we’d asked the question she’s been waiting for?’ he murmured.

Mimi shook her head impatiently. ‘It’s too late to worry about that now, Leo! Come on!’

In silence they ran to the orchard and found Hal, Bertha and Wurzle waiting for them deep in the dappled green shade. As he led the way out of the trees, Hal drew a sharp breath, and stopped.

A short, grassy slope ran down from the orchard to the plain. A few steps beyond the slope, the smoke haze hung like a gauze curtain. Everything behind the curtain was clearly visible, though slightly blurred and very faintly blue. Freda crouched motionless just in front of it. She didn’t stir as the friends moved cautiously to her side.

‘He’s in there,’ she said. ‘Still alive, as far as I can see.’

The castle rose high in the background. The hill on which it stood was deserted. Both could have been part of a painted backdrop on a stage. But the sweep of grass at the foot of the hill was filled with movement.

Squirrels with rolling, multicoloured eyes skittered this way and that, snapping at the air. Goats with the same strange eyes wandered aimlessly, now and again butting the ground or each other. Princess Pretty, ragged and filthy, her golden hair a bird’s nest of tangles, her white dress in shreds, sat staring vaguely into space. Barbara the sheep was standing with her head down, slowly swaying as if moving to a tune no one else could hear.

The green dragon crouched in the centre of the throng, massive and terrible. And directly in front of him, looking straight at Hal and his companions, was the Blue Queen.

The queen was dressed with great magnificence. Her hair was piled high on her head and encircled by a golden crown. The full sleeves and spreading skirts of her deep blue gown were studded with gems. But Leo’s first thought was that she looked older – much older. She also looked far less beautiful, and not merely because she had aged. She was paying a heavy price for stretching her power to the limit. Her face had sharpened, giving her the look of a bird of prey. Sour lines furrowed her brow and pulled her mouth down at the corners. The strain was allowing her true nature to show, and it was not a pleasant sight.

Bertha gave a muffled cry. Leo glanced at her, thinking she had noticed the same thing he had, but found she wasn’t looking at the queen at all. She was staring at the creature sitting upright and grinning at the queen’s feet.

It was a handsome red fox.

‘Sly!’ Bertha hissed. ‘I might have known! I did see him in Flitter Wood! It wasn’t a dream! He spied on us, and went slinking to the queen. Hal, the ogre’s mirror didn’t betray us. Sly told her where we were!’

Hal made no reply. Only a slight relaxing of the tension in his neck and shoulders showed that he had heard her.

The fox’s grin widened as the queen’s white hand dropped to caress his head. His eyes were quite normal – tawny brown and filled with cunning.

‘He isn’t enchanted,’ Mimi breathed.

‘No,’ Bertha said, her voice trembling. ‘He doesn’t need to be. He’s chosen his side. He’s working for the queen of his own free will. And why not? They’re two of a kind! ‘

The fox yawned offensively, showing white teeth and a long, pink tongue. Bertha tensed.

‘Bertha, stay where you are!’ Hal warned.

The Blue Queen smiled. ‘Are you still giving orders, Hal Langlander?’ she called. ‘I thought that surely you would have given that up by now, having led your pathetic band of followers into one disaster after another. When my new friend, Sly, came to me with the news that he had seen you all in Flitter Wood, sleeping on the ground like a pack of mangy wolves, I could hardly believe my ears! I had not thought of looking for you there. It had not occurred to me that even you would sink so low.’

Hal narrowed his eyes, and waited.

‘You have brought a pet wizard to protect you, I see,’ the queen went on, curling her lip. ‘But you seem to have lost your Terlamaine. Did she perish in the fire, Hal? I do hope not. I have been looking forward to putting a collar around her neck again. Perhaps she merely abandoned you, as any sensible beast would have done long ago.’

Still Hal made no response. The queen glanced at the fading sky and suddenly seemed to tire of her game. She moved to one side, revealing what had been hidden behind her spreading skirts.

Conker was lying between the dragon’s vast front feet, sprawled on the trampled grass in a litter of gnawed goat bones. His eyes were closed, but he was moving very slightly, twitching and mumbling like someone trying to wake from a dream.

‘As you see, the little blowhard still lives,’ the queen said carelessly. ‘I gave him a sleeping draught to keep him quiet and reduce his resistance to my spells, that is all. I could have fed him to my dragon, but I decided he might have a better use. I will exchange him for the silver box you stole from the Ogre of Cruelcliff.’

She laughed at the shocked expressions on their faces.

‘Did you think I would not guess you had it?’ she spat. ‘I realised the moment I heard of that blundering ogre raging through his foul territory bellowing of the thieves who had stolen his magic mirror and a heart-shaped silver box! How he came by my property I have no idea, but I know you have it now. You were the thieves, I am sure of it! Someone has been using a magic mirror to spy on me, and no one would dare to do that but you!’

‘We don’t have your silver box, Blue Queen,’ Hal said.

The queen’s face darkened. ‘Then you have hidden it!’ she hissed. ‘Go and fetch it at once. Return it to me and I will give your grubby little friend back to you. Refuse, and I will feed him to my dragon before your eyes!’

Hal returned her glare steadily, but said nothing.

The lines at the corners of the queen’s mouth deepened. She flicked her fingers at Conker. His twitching body rose from the grass till it was floating just below the dragon’s nose. The dragon bared his fangs and slavered.

Bertha gave a low moan. Numb with horror, Leo stared at Conker and the dragon. Automatically he noted that the smoke had shrunk back a little from the border, and registered that this was because of the power the queen was using to hold Conker above the ground. Then he wondered how he could think of such things at this moment. He found himself praying that Conker would remain unconscious.

‘It is your choice, Hal Langlander,’ crooned the queen.

‘Don’t even think about it, Hal,’ Freda said roughly. ‘She’ll have taken some of Conker’s hair by now. Dragon’s heart is the only thing she needs to finish the Great Potion, and if she does that, she’ll have the whole of Rondo. Conker would tell you the same.’

Leo tore his eyes from the dragon and looked down at her. Her body was rigid. Her eyes were agonised.

‘Well?’ cried the queen. She flicked her fingers again. Conker’s body began to jerk and roll in the air. His moneybag and the jar of Hair-Gro fell from his pockets and burst open on the ground. His dot-swatters, his pocketknife, a grubby handkerchief, a few lemon drops, his notebook and pencil and a comb missing many of its teeth quickly followed.

The dragon’s forked tongue flicked in and out. He roared and rolled his multicoloured eyes.

‘Not yet, my fine fellow,’ purred the queen. ‘Soon, though, very soon, if these thieves will not cooperate.’

The dragon threw back his head and bellowed. His talons raked the ground. His spiked tail lashed. Squirrels and goats scattered. Princess Pretty scrambled to her feet and began stumbling up the castle hill with Barbara galloping unsteadily after her. Sly the fox slid quietly away from the queen’s side and sat down again at a safe distance.

‘Be still!’ the queen shouted to the dragon. She gestured furiously. Conker’s body lurched, and his eyes opened. For an instant he stared around glassily, clearly unable to work out where he was and what was happening to him. Then he saw the dragon. He yelled hoarsely, fumbled for his dot-swatters, found the holsters empty and yelled again.

‘Your loyal friend is awake and calling to you, Hal Langlander,’jeered the queen. ‘Will you save him? Or do you condemn him to death?’

Wizard Wurzle cried out in distress. Bertha wailed softly. Mimi buried her face in her hands.

‘Leo, get them out of here!’ Hal said, his lips barely moving. ‘They mustn’t see this. Take them back to the farmhouse. Go!’

Hardly knowing what he did, Leo attempted to obey. But Wurzle, Mimi and Bertha shook their heads and resisted violently when he tried to lead them away, and finally he gave up. He felt as they did. He didn’t want to leave Hal and Freda alone with this agony. And, more than anything, he didn’t want to turn his back on Conker. They could do nothing to save Conker, but at least they could stay with him to the end.

The dragon rose onto his hind legs and clawed the air. His leathery wings were half-spread, and a ridge of wicked spines stood up on his back like swords.

‘Be still!’ the queen shrieked, swinging Conker violently out of harm’s way. ‘You must wait till I have what I want! Be still, I order you!’ Her eyes were almost frightened.

‘The beast has gone mad!’ Wurzle shouted. ‘She can’t control it!’

The dragon roared in frenzy. An answering roar drifted in the air like a distant echo. And the next moment, something gold and glittering was streaking towards them across the reddening sky.

Chapter

29

The Bonding of Dragons

The queen looked up. She saw the golden dragon and her face broke into a grin of astonished, greedy delight. She threw up her arms, her fingers curved like claws.

Smoke shrank back from the border and spiralled high into the sky, covering the golden dragon, shrouding her in a stifling cloud. At the same moment, Conker dropped heavily to the ground and rolled, disregarded, out of the blue haze.

Freda flew to his side like an arrow. Hal sprang after her, and in seconds had slung Conker over his shoulder and was racing back across the border and up to the edge of the orchard, with Freda flapping behind him.

The Blue Queen didn’t even look at them. She was totally absorbed by the task of securing her prize – the female dragon so unexpectedly, so miraculously, delivered into her hands.

As his friends gathered around him, Conker sat up stiffly and shook his head. ‘Oh, my heart and lungs, that was a near thing,’ he mumbled. ‘How did you manage to –’

Then he caught sight of Hal’s haggard face and looked back towards the castle. He saw the queen, triumphant, arms held high. He saw the golden dragon falling from the sky in a thick blue cloud.

‘The female!’ he said blankly. ‘But she said she wouldn’t come here! She swore…’

The golden dragon thudded to earth. She reared and lashed her tail. Gold still flickered among the rainbow colours spinning in her eyes. The queen’s hands made a rapid circling movement. A heavy chain rose from the grass like a snake and coiled swiftly around the raging beast, binding her legs and wings, sliding around her neck and jaws, tightening until she toppled, helpless and muzzled, to the ground.

‘Don’t!’ Mimi screamed. ‘Let her go!’

Tears were pouring down Mimi’s cheeks. She was shaking all over. Leo put his arm around her, feeling sick with anger and despair. He had been so sure that the golden dragon would keep her vow to stay away from her mate! Now she would die, and the queen would secure the final ingredient for the Great Potion. Tomorrow Rondo would wake to a new Dark Time.

If Mimi had the Key she could stop it, he thought suddenly. Hal was wrong to make her hide the Key away – wrong, wrong, wrong! So pitting it against the queen’s magic is dangerous – so what? Nothing could be worse than this!

He glanced over his shoulder, rapidly calculating how long it would take to run back to the Safe Place by the stream. As he turned back he met Hal’s sombre eyes and realised that Hal had guessed what he was thinking.

‘We can’t use it as a weapon against her,’ Hal said, so softly that only Leo could hear. ‘We must not, whatever the temptation. I know this, Leo – know it in my bones. The Key is a great trust – a Langlander trust. It must be used to create, not destroy.’

‘That’s all very well,’ Leo hissed back. ‘I mean – “create, not destroy” – it sounds good and noble, and all that. But the queen had no trouble using it to destroy in the Dark Time, did she? Now she’s found another way of grinding Rondo down, and we’re just standing here, waiting for it to happen!’

Hal looked at him so bleakly that he felt a twinge of remorse, and this made him even angrier. ‘The Artist must have realised that something like this might happen one day!’ he said furiously. ‘And we’re Langlanders! We’re the ones trusted with the Key! Surely the Artist assumed we’d use it to defend Rondo if we had to? Hal, maybe that’s what we’re for!’

Mimi gave a small, choking cry. Leo looked at her quickly, but saw that she hadn’t been listening to him. She was staring at the queen.

Satisfied that her victim was helpless, the queen had turned to the green dragon. He had quietened at last and was swaying where he stood, his forked tongue flicking in and out, tasting the air.

‘Kill!’ she ordered, pointing to his mate. ‘Tear out her throat, but do not touch the heart. That is mine.’ She closed the fingers of her left hand, and when she opened them a glittering blue dagger lay on her palm.

The green dragon raised his head. His eyes, gleaming in the rays of the sinking sun, suddenly looked pure gold.

‘Kill!’ shrieked the queen. ‘Be quick! Time is running out!’

The green dragon lunged forward. His terrible fangs closed on his mate’s neck.

Mimi buried her face in Leo’s shoulder. Bertha, Conker and Wizard Wurzle groaned and turned away.

And so it was that only Hal, Freda and Leo saw what happened next.

The green dragon pulled back. The loop of chain that encircled his mate’s throat was in his jaws. He tore at it, bellowing fire, and the chain glowed, softened and broke. As the two mangled, smoking ends rattled to the ground, the other coils loosened, and in an instant the golden dragon had freed herself and struggled to her feet.

Briefly, the two dragons touched noses. Then, snarling, they both turned on the queen.

You do not understand the bonding of dragone… The memory of the golden dragon’s voice hissed in Leo’s mind and his heart seemed to swell in his chest. No, he had not understood – and neither had the Blue Queen. She’d had no idea that in ordering the green dragon to kill his mate she was asking him to do something that he would not – could not – do. She hadn’t dreamed that the order would weaken and break her power over her slave, as his fire had melted and broken her magic chain.

The queen threw up her defence shield an instant before the dragon fire struck her. As flames licked the transparent bubble in which she had enclosed herself, the blue smoke shrank further away from the border – shrank until the dragons themselves were standing in almost clear air. But they made no attempt to escape. They merely stood, swaying in confusion. Now that the crisis was over, the queen’s enchantment was taking hold again.

‘Go!’ Leo shouted at the top of his voice. ‘Get away while you can!’

The dragons turned to look at him, but didn’t move.

‘Remember your baby!’ Leo yelled in desperation. ‘Your baby has hatched! Your baby needs you! Fly back to your lair! Go back to your lair – to your baby!’

The golden dragon’s head jerked up. Yellow light glimmered through the rainbows in her eyes. She roared to her mate. His own eyes cleared. Clumsily he spread his wings. And ignoring the Blue Queen’s screeches of rage, both the great beasts took flight and soared away, green dragon and gold, streaking towards the setting sun.

Sitting by the fire in the little farmhouse, surrounded by his rejoicing friends, Conker rubbed the little bald patch on the crown of his head.

‘She ripped it out by the roots,’ he grumbled. ‘What if it doesn’t grow back? I’ve lost the Hair-Gro cream, too. I’ve a good mind to creep down there and try to get it back.’

‘No!’ everyone yelled.

‘It didn’t work, anyway,’ Spoiler said, feeling his receding hairline gloomily. ‘I put some on in Flitter Wood, and it hasn’t grown a single new hair. Brewer’s a fraud. ‘

Despite his complaints, he looked very happy. His relief on hearing that the golden dragon had escaped had been so obviously genuine that even Freda hadn’t complained when Hal invited him to join them by the fire to finish drying his clothes.

‘So Sly the fox was the spy,’ Tye said, shaking her head. ‘He took a great risk, sneaking by the tigers of Flitter Wood.’

‘His eyes are normal,’ Leo told her. ‘If he’d been caught, he’d probably just have said he was lost, or something.’

‘He saw us asleep,’ Bertha said, gnawing her lip. ‘The thing is – how long before we went to sleep did he arrive? I mean, did he hear anything about –’

‘Watch it!’ Freda warned, sliding her eyes towards Spoiler.

‘By the sound of it, Sly came and went very quickly, and heard nothing of importance,’ Hal said smoothly. ‘But it’s best not to discuss the matter now.’

‘I’m not going to –’ Spoiler began sulkily, then froze as there was a sharp tap on the front door.

Tye crossed the room silently and peered through the keyhole. Apparently satisfied, she slipped outside, closing the door behind her.

In a few minutes she was back. ‘The sun has set and the crows are now off duty,’ she told Hal. ‘The owls have taken over the border patrol. Marjorie reports that the smoke has drawn back almost to the castle moat. Princess Pretty, Barbara and the rest of the enchanted beings are inside the castle with the queen.’

Bertha made a small sound of distress, Conker looked grave.

‘Poor Pretty,’ Mimi said in a low voice. ‘Just when she was really happy for almost the first time in her life. Now she’ll never see Claude again. It’s so cruel…’

Spoiler’s presence stopped her saying any more, but Leo knew that, like the rest of the team, she was thinking about what would happen to the prisoners if the barrier plan succeeded.

If the plan succeeded. He dug his fingernails into his palms, trying to relieve the tension he felt, wishing he could get rid of the feeling of foreboding that was growing in him, weighing him down. There was no reason for it. Everything was going as planned.

‘The queen’s voice raised in terrible anger has been heard floating from the tower room,’ Tye continued, unable to stop a look of satisfaction crossing her face. ‘The fox, Sly, is prowling about this house, no doubt attempting to overhear what we say.’

‘The outside walls of this room are still fairly solid,’ Conker said, bending to throw another log on the fire. ‘We should be all right talking in here, as long as we keep our voices down.’

‘Marjorie sends the crows’… good wishes,’ Tye went on. ‘She wished to deliver them personally, but I thought it best not to invite her in, under the circumstances.’

She didn’t glance at Spoiler as she said the last words, but her meaning was obvious.

Spoiler stood up abruptly. ‘Put me somewhere out of earshot and I’ll get some rest,’ he said, speaking directly to Hal. ‘Obviously you’ve got things to talk about, and you don’t want me listening in. Well, that’s fine with me. If I can’t hear your plans, I can’t be blamed if anything goes wrong, can I? And I’m dead tired anyway.’

There was a shabby dignity in the way he spoke. Leo was glad to see that Conker, Tye, Bertha, Mimi and even Freda had noticed this, and were eyeing their old enemy with grudging respect.

‘There’s a bedroom out the back,’ Conker said gruffly, getting to his feet. ‘The bed might be a bit dusty – this is the first time I’ve been back here in years – but you should be comfortable enough.’

‘Thanks,’ said Spoiler, and followed Conker out of the room without a backward glance.

‘This is Conker’s house, isn’t it?’ Leo asked suddenly.

‘It is,’ Hal said, pulling out his notebook and pencil and beginning to scribble a message. ‘We’re lucky to have it. Its position makes it a perfect meeting place.’

‘We left it in the Dark Time,’ Freda said. ‘Escaped from the queen’s monster army by the skin of our beaks. We scraped a living dot-catching in town. Then we met Hal and got into the hero business, and the rest is history.’

‘But you never came back,’ Bertha said wonderingly. ‘Even after the Dark Time ended.’

Freda shrugged. ‘We thought of it. But somehow we didn’t fancy building the place up again, with the queen just over the border. We knew she’d start giving us trouble again eventually.’

‘Besides,’ Conker added, overhearing as he came back into the room, ‘we’d got used to another way of living by then. You know how it is.’

‘Yes,’ Bertha sighed. ‘Questing is so exciting that it spoils you for the peaceful life. I was quite happy being a model and guarding Macdonald’s farm, but now I think I’d find both those things a little bit dull if I did them all the time.’

‘The way I look at it, you need peace as well as excitement,’ said Hal, finishing his message and turning a page of his notebook to begin on another. ‘If we succeed tonight, we can all return to our homes if we want to. Then we can quest a little, and in between quests we can have quiet lives. It sounds good to me.’

‘Me, too!’ Leo said fervently.

Bertha’s stomach rumbled loudly. ‘Pardon,’ she said, blushing a little. ‘But being worried to death always makes me hungry.’

‘I’m starved myself,’ Conker said, rubbing his hands. ‘Let’s see what we’ve got to eat. The sooner we get some food into us, the sooner we can catch up on some sleep. We can’t go into battle yawning.’

He unstrapped his pack and began pulling out the contents at random, making a jumbled pile on the flying rug, which was basking in front of the fire exuding a very strong odour of Dragon’s Bane. Mimi’s shoes came out tangled up with the kettle. She pounced on them with a cry of joy and put them in front of the fire to finish drying.

‘See what Spoiler’s up to, will you, Leo?’ Hal asked in a low voice, looking up from his notebook. ‘I want to send notes to Plum, Bing and the others telling them we’re in position, and I don’t want Spoiler seeing me do it.’

‘It is a great nuisance having the man here, Hal,’ Wizard Wurzle ventured. ‘In a few hours my colleagues and the witnesses will be arriving, and our great effort will begin.’

‘The meeting place is the orchard at midnight, and Spoiler will be in here, tied up, by then,’ Hal said curtly. ‘Tye and I will see to that. For now, however, he might as well be comfortable. Leo?’

With very mixed feelings, Leo took the lantern Tye handed him and padded down the dank little corridor that led to the back of the house.

The sagging door of the bedroom had been pulled only partly shut. Leo peered through the opening. The room was dark and cold. Wind blew through large holes in the walls, and a vine had grown through the shutters covering the window. Leo held up the lantern and made out a huddled shape lying on a narrow bed.

‘Who’s that?’ hissed a voice, and Spoiler sat up abruptly, his face ghastly in the flickering lantern light.

‘It’s only me,’ Leo said. ‘Do you want me to bring you something to eat?’

‘I’m not hungry,’ said Spoiler ungraciously, flopping down again and pulling the blanket over his head. ‘Just leave me alone! And shut that door, will you? I can still hear the sound of your voices, and I don’t want to. I don’t want to hear a thing!’

‘I’ll try.’ The door stuck on the floorboards but Leo finally managed to drag it closed with a scraping sound that set his teeth on edge. He turned away, feeling terrible.

‘Leo?’ Spoiler called, his voice suddenly small. ‘Thanks.’

‘No problem,’ Leo called back, and went back to the light and warmth of the sitting room where everyone was eating, chatting and laughing.

‘He’s in bed,’ he said briefly, as Hal raised his eyebrows.

Hal bent and knocked on the floor seven times. In seconds, seven mice were marching in single file through a hole in the skirting board beside the fireplace. They all wore nutshell helmets covered in leaves, and looked very serious.

Hal handed all but one of them a folded note. ‘To your appointed witch or wizard, if you please,’ he said. ‘Then the orders as discussed.’

Six of the mice marched back through the skirting board. The seventh went over to Wizard Wurzle and stood to attention by the leg of his chair.

‘What’s this?’ Conker demanded, staring at the mouse in distaste.

‘Part of the plan,’ Hal said quietly. ‘Each of the Seven will have a personal messenger mouse from this point on.’

Conker turned to gape at him. ‘Oh, my lungs and liver, Hal, how did you talk the mice into that?’

The mouse by Wurzle’s chair leg narrowed its eyes. ‘Rondo expects every mouse to do its duty,’ it squeaked severely. ‘The messenger service fully understands that its role in this battle is vital.’

‘Oh really,’ Freda jeered.

‘Yes,’ said the mouse. ‘In a few hours–a few short hours – the battle will begin. My comrades and I, handpicked for our speed, will be risking our lives to keep communications open and support our appointed witch or wizard. I’ll thank you to remember that! And I wouldn’t say no to a bit of that cheese, thanks.’

Conker took a breath, then glanced at Hal and subsided, only chewing his moustache furiously as Mimi took the mouse a piece of cheese.

Leo stared, his heart beating fast, the mouse’s words still ringing in his ears. His resentment at the way Spoiler was being treated suddenly seemed completely trivial. He looked around and realised how tense the others were beneath the brittle surface of their smiles and talk.

In a few hours – a few short hours – the battle will begin…

Chapter

30

Midnight

Dark clouds were floating across the sky, but the waning moon was high and bright as Hal led the way through the orchard just before midnight.

When he reached the last line of trees, he stopped. Everyone gathered silently around him and looked ahead.

The castle on the hill gleamed pearly white beneath its veil of smoke. The drawbridge had been raised, the tall front doors were closed, and all the windows were dark. Smoke crawled sluggishly over the moat, but the rest of the hill was clear, and smooth as a silvery egg. The grassy plain was deserted as far as the eye could see. Nothing moved, and there was no sound at all.

‘Any news, Gravis?’ Hal murmured.

Something that Leo had taken for the stub of a broken branch turned its head, showing two round eyes that shone like tiny lanterns. ‘The fox left the castle again just before the drawbridge was raised,’ the owl hooted. ‘It nosed among the goat bones at the bottom of the hill, then returned carrying whatever fragment it had found to eat. That is all.’

‘Even old bones are too good for Sly,’ Bertha hissed in Leo’s ear. ‘I hope he starves!’

‘The smoke level has not changed since our last report,’ the owl went on. ‘The tower room has remained dark.’

‘Good.’ But still Hal took his time keenly scanning castle, hill and plain for himself. His eyes lingered on the willow trees to the east, and Leo knew he was thinking about the little house hidden there beside the river – wondering, perhaps, if he would ever see it again.

Hal’s hair was freshly combed and braided into a warrior’s tail. His clothes were as tidy as he could make them. Everyone else had made similar efforts on waking from a few hours’ sleep by the fire. Somehow it had seemed important to look good – to look confident, and ready for what was to come.

Looking around, Leo decided that only he and Bertha let the team down. Mimi, Tye and Freda looked poised and sleek. Conker and Hal looked tough and impressive. Little Wurzle, his hood thrown back and replaced by a pointed wizard’s hat, his white beard gleaming in the moonlight, at least looked interesting. But the brim of Bertha’s hat still flopped over her eyes despite all her efforts to straighten it, and Leo had been forced to wear Princess Pretty’s boots.

Leo looked down at his feet, and sighed. The boots were very comfortable, and amazingly they fitted perfectly, but they definitely did not look heroic.

He glanced at Mimi standing very upright beside him. She looked almost bored, but he knew that underneath she was tense as a violin string. That was why she had snapped at him for wincing as Spoiler’s yells echoed from the bedroom while he was being tied up.

‘Don’t be stupid, Leo!’ she’d hissed. ‘Hal has to do it! He can’t take any risks. This is too important.’

‘Plum’s here,’ Conker muttered.

Leo turned to look as a plump, bearded figure in a dark red cloak and hat moved towards them through the trees, breathing heavily.

‘Greetings, Plum,’ said Wurzle, bowing.

‘Greetings,’ the plump wizard puffed, bowing in return. ‘Oh, am I the first to arrive? I thought we were starting a bit early.’

‘Better to be safe than sorry,’ a small voice said crisply from his pocket.

‘My mouse is very bossy,’ Leo heard Plum tell Wurzle under his breath. ‘Quite annoying, really. How’s yours?’

‘Not bad,’ Wurzle said cautiously, glancing down at the mouse sitting astride his left shoe with the laces held in its paws like reins.

‘Tye, go back through the orchard and wait for the witnesses,’ Hal said. ‘Keep them back till they’re called. Complete silence.’

Tye nodded, murmured something to him, and slipped away.

‘Tye says Pandora is approaching,’ Hal said in a low voice, inclining his head towards the east.

Wurzle and Plum both hastily smoothed their beards and stood up a little straighter.

Leo thought of the witnesses assembling behind the orchard. Hal had said that Jim the woodcutter would be there. Six members of Jim’s family would be with him, but his wife Polly and Suki, his foster sister and the queen’s hated stepdaughter, would not be among them. Hal feared that the queen might sense Suki if she was near, and Polly was looking after the baby, Rose. Leo could imagine what Suki and Polly were going through, waiting in an agony of suspense, and again silently thanked Tye for persuading Hal to allow him and Mimi to come.

By the time Pandora reached the meeting place, two other witches had emerged from the shadows of the orchard from the other direction, taking everyone by surprise.

The first of the newcomers, who Wurzle greeted as ‘Zillah’, was stocky and middle-aged, with a round, merry face and short, untidy grey hair. Leo didn’t think she looked anything like a witch until he met her shrewd hazel eyes and felt a tiny shiver run down his back.

‘Excuse my hair, won’t you?’ Zillah said cheerfully. ‘I managed to get my old broom going, so I decided to fly.’

She turned her head and grinned maliciously at the sick-looking messenger mouse clinging grimly to her shoulder. ‘It turns out my assistant here has never flown before,’ she added. ‘I don’t think it enjoyed the trip.’

‘Did you fly, too, Thorn Witch?’ Plum politely asked Zillah’s companion, a little old woman with orange hair and a long, crooked nose.

The old woman sighed and shook her head. ‘I had to give up flying after my last smash,’ she said in a high, sweet voice that didn’t match her appearance at all. ‘I promised Officer Begood. I do miss it, though – except when it’s raining.’

‘Speaking of rain, what’s this I hear about you making rain in Flitter Wood, Wurzle?’ Zillah asked. ‘How in Rondo did you do it?’

‘I don’t exactly know, to be frank with you, Zillah,’ said Wurzle. ‘It all happened so fast. I used a version of the water-flow curse, as I remember. ‘

Wizard Plum rumbled disbelievingly. ‘I can’t see how that would –’ he began, then to Leo’s relief broke off to greet Pandora, who swept up at that moment looking stunning in a dark green cloak and hat. Leo recognised her with surprise as the tall, striking woman he’d seen on the music box, buying lilies at Posy’s flower stall.

‘No flies on Pandora,’ he heard Freda mutter to Conker out of the side of her beak. ‘All her witnesses are from the Crystal Palace, I hear. Nothing but the best!’

‘Our number is not complete,’ Pandora said, looking around with raised eyebrows.

‘I’m afraid not,’ Wurzle fluttered, looking worried. ‘No-Name and Bing are still to come.’

A nearby tree seemed to move as a gaunt wizard who had been closely pressed against the trunk leaned silently forward.

Wurzle jumped. ‘Oh, sorry, No-Name,’ he babbled. ‘Didn’t see you there. When did you arrive?’

The gaunt wizard stared at him with hollow, reproachful eyes and patted the pocket at the side of his ragged brown robe.

A startled-looking mouse popped its head out of the pocket. Its helmet was slightly askew. It saw the gathering and clapped its paw over its mouth.

‘Oh!’ it squeaked. ‘I do apologise! We’ve been here for hours. And you can see what he’s like – as much company as a tree stump. I must have nodded off.’

‘Typical!’ Conker muttered. The mouse glared at him.

The minutes ticked by. Wurzle began to pluck nervously at his beard. Zillah kept glancing up at the moon and the drifting clouds. Pandora stood like an ebony statue, staring at the castle. Hal’s face was grim.

‘Could we manage without Bing, do you think?’ the Thorn Witch whispered at last, clearly unable to stand the tension. ‘I know six isn’t the ideal number, but…’

Pandora, Zillah, Wurzle and No-Name shook their heads decisively.

There was a rustle from deep within the orchard. As everyone turned, a tall, thin figure in a tattered cloak and bent wizard’s hat loomed out of the shadows. Leo’s stomach turned over as he recognised Wizard Bing.

‘Sorry I’m late,’ Bing said breezily. ‘I had some trouble with my cooking pot. It wanted to come too. Broke every window in the house trying to follow me. But I fixed it in the end – locked it in the chicken yard.’

He looked around, smirking. No one smiled back.

‘And your witnesses, Wizard Bing?’ Hal asked in clipped tones.

Wizard Bing blinked. ‘Oh – ah – waiting beyond the orchard with the others, as ordered,’ he answered, clearly a little taken aback. It was the first time Leo had seen him even slightly discomforted.

Hal squared his shoulders. ‘We’re starting later than we planned. There’s now no time to lose. Wizards and witches, Rondo’s fate is in your hands. Take your positions!’

The Seven formed a circle and clasped hands in the centre. Then, without a word, they left the shelter of the trees and moved down to the border.

Wizard Wurzle stopped directly opposite the eastern side of the castle hill. Bing, Pandora, No-Name, the Thorn Witch, Zillah and Plum turned and paced in single file towards the west. A cloud sailed across the moon and Leo lost sight of them. By the time the cloud had passed, seven figures were standing perfectly still, evenly spaced along the border.

‘Ooh!’ Bertha breathed. ‘Lawks-a-daisy, they do look impressive, you have to admit!’

‘Quiet!’ Hal ordered, in a voice totally unlike his own. ‘Conker and Freda, fetch Tye and the witnesses.’

Conker and Freda vanished into the trees without a word. After a few minutes, they reappeared with Tye, serious-faced, beside them.

The orchard was suddenly full of faint sounds. Leo looked around and saw that it was crowded with dark shapes.

‘All present,’ Conker said. He looked rather disconcerted.

‘Brewer’s here,’ Freda muttered to Leo, Mimi and Bertha. ‘He didn’t say anything about the Hair-Gro stuff, though. Maybe he hasn’t missed it yet.’

‘He has,’ Conker hissed. ‘Didn’t you see how he wouldn’t look at us? Kept right away from us? He thinks we’re a bunch of thieves!’

‘If he did, he’d have said something,’ Freda said dismissively. ‘He looked guilty himself, if you ask me.’

‘Witnesses, take your positions!’ Hal said, and turned to face the castle.

The owl in the tree fluttered onto his shoulder and he stepped forward. As Tye, Conker, Freda, Bertha, Leo and Mimi moved after him, there was nothing but a faint rustling behind them.

Leo glanced over his shoulder. The crowd of witnesses had melted away, and dozens of shadows were slipping through the trees to the west.

In silence the friends moved down the gentle slope, walked across the grass and stopped behind Wizard Wurzle, who made no sign that he felt their presence.

Leo caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye and looked to the left. Further along the line, the other witnesses were gliding into place. Now that they were out in the open, he could see them more clearly.

Jolly, Officer Begood, Pop the balloon-seller, Posy the flower-seller, Master Whitebeard, Brewer and Monsieur Rouge-et-Noir from the art gallery were already forming a tight semi-circle behind Wizard Plum. Further along, Jim was leading his mother and father and Polly’s parents, grandmother and brother Walter towards Zillah. Further along still, Farmer Macdonald, Snoot the rooster, Rhoda the rat, Marmaduke the cat and three pretty maids were emerging from a clump of bushes beside the orchard, and heading towards the Thorn Witch.

Leo felt Mimi shiver all over. He glanced down at her and touched her hand. Her cold fingers gripped his convulsively, but immediately let go. She doesn’t want me to think she needs reassurance, he thought. She’s determined not to be a problem. He felt a rush of warm feeling for her.

By the time Leo looked left again, the farm witnesses had reached the Thorn Witch and seven very small men wearing hoods were standing behind No-Name. Further to the west, the Crystal Queen and two princesses were fluttering towards Pandora like large moths, with Sir Clankalot and two guards stalking after them, and Pretty’s husband, Claude, trailing behind.

And at last the Hobnob witnesses made their appearance, climbing out of a little hollow and walking steadily towards Wizard Bing, whose tall, thin figure stood motionless directly opposite the western slope of the castle hill. They were too far away for Leo to see their faces clearly, but their shapes were very familiar. Stitch the brave little tailor was in the lead, Mayor Clogg, Bun the baker and Candy Sweet were next, and Simon Humble, Tilly and the little brown hen, Moult, were following.

So many of the friends we’ve made in Rondo are here, Leo thought, and the terrible feeling of foreboding that had tormented him in the farmhouse swept through him again. It’s nerves, that’s all, he told himself. Pull yourself together. Soon you’ll have to concentrate really hard. You don’t want to be the one who spoils the spell.

A moment after Bing’s witnesses had formed their semicircle, a mouse appeared beside Hal’s foot. ‘All witnesses in place!’ it announced, and shot away again.

‘Tye?’ Hal snapped. ‘The web!’

Tye took the black silk bag from her belt and drew from it what looked like a ball of fluffy, pale green knitting wool. Carefully she unwound a little gossamer from the ball and put the loose end on the ground just in front of Wizard Wurzle’s right foot. She put the ball on the ground by his left foot. The mouse on Wurzle’s shoe jumped down and began rapidly rolling the ball towards Wizard Plum, the second wizard in line, leaving a thin green trail of gossamer behind. Reaching Plum, it passed the ball neatly to Plum’s mouse, who began rolling it towards Zillah.

Wurzle’s mouse raced back. ‘Web delivered to Wizard Plum,’ it reported breathlessly, and jumped back onto Wurzle’s shoe.

Plum’s mouse passed the green ball to Zillah’s mouse, who rolled it on towards the Thorn Witch. After that, Leo lost sight of it.

Plum’s mouse reported delivery of the web to Zillah. A moment later, Zillah’s mouse reported delivery to the Thorn Witch.

The reports went on. The tiny voices of the mice were the only sounds. The moon flooded the scene with cold, white light.

Leo was overtaken by a strange sense of unreality. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. He gazed at the flat stretch of silvery grass directly ahead of him. There the Blue Queen had stood sneering at Hal while Conker struggled in mid air and the green dragon reared and roared. There the golden dragon had lain in chains. There the queen had been cheated of her last chance to make the Great Potion.

Now the space was just a piece of ground littered with goat skulls, Conker’s dot-swatters, and the jumble of objects that had fallen from Conker’s pockets.

Leo felt Mimi stir uneasily and again he glanced at her. Her face was pale in the moonlight. When she turned to look at him, her eyes were like dark pools. Her pale lips opened.

‘Something’s – not right,’ she breathed haltingly, as if the words were being wrung out of her. ‘I’ve felt it all night, and even more since we got down here. I can’t explain it…’

It was as if a cold hand had gripped Leo’s heart. He understood how much it had cost Mimi to speak. She expected him to react with impatience, even derision, because she couldn’t give a reason for her ‘feeling’.

But he didn’t doubt her instinct for a moment. He knew it was based on something real, some detail Mimi had unconsciously noticed, or a troubling idea still only half-formed at the back of her mind. He knew it because this had happened before. And he knew it because what Mimi had said struck a chord in his own mind – because he felt the same dread he could see in her eyes.

‘Web delivered to Wizard Bing,’ he heard a squeaky voice say, and looked down just in time to see a brown blob streak back the way it had come.

A wisp of cloud drifted over the moon. The light dimmed. The silence was absolute.

‘Hal –’ Leo began in a low voice.

‘Gravis!’ Hal said at the same moment. ‘Now!’

The owl on his shoulder took off. For a moment Leo could see it against the sky, then he lost sight of it. But from high above them, low but quite distinct, came three single hoots.

On the third hoot, the Seven raised their arms. Their lips began to move soundlessly. The green line at their feet quivered and seemed to expand as the edge of a fragile veil of gossamer peeled away from it. And slowly, steadily, the web began to rise.

Leo’s scalp prickled. His knees began to tremble. He couldn’t tear his eyes from the gauzy web rising from the green line like a live thing, and wavering upward.

The web was closely woven but so light that it seemed to drift in the air like green mist. Already it was as high as Wizard Wurzle’s shoulder.

And it was saturated with magic. The concentrated spells of the Seven were drenching it, spreading through its delicate fibres like water soaking into a sponge. Leo knew this just as surely as he knew that it was magic he could feel – magic that was thick in the very air he breathed, magic that was flooding his mind, tingling on his skin, freezing him where he stood.

He couldn’t resist it. He couldn’t lift a finger. It was as much as he could do to keep breathing. For a time he struggled to remember what it was he’d been thinking about before the magic overwhelmed him, then he ceased to care. His last conscious thought was that it had been pointless to fear that he, or any of the other witnesses, would lose concentration and spoil the spell. He could feel himself sinking deeper into a trance, forgetting everything but the web, the web rising higher, higher, higher…

Chapter

31

The Web

When Leo came to himself he was walking – walking towards the castle hill. His legs felt odd. His neck ached. His whole body felt stiff and strange – as if he were moving for the first time in hours.

Mimi was beside him, and Hal, Tye, Bertha, Conker and Freda were ahead. In front of them was Wizard Wurzle, his arms still raised, a shimmering green mist drifting before him, stretching so high that Leo couldn’t see where it ended and the sky began.

The web. Leo wet his dry lips as slowly consciousness returned. The sky had cleared and paled to grey. The clouds had shrunk to charcoal smudges on the horizon. The white moon no longer hung overhead. Slowly it came to him that a lot of time had passed. He felt as if he were moving for the first time in hours because he was!

Stiffly he turned his head to the left. He saw six groups of shadows strung in a line across the plain. He saw the dark figure of a witch or a wizard walking in front of each group, arms held high. He saw the web floating ahead of them all like a vast, billowing sail, light as thistledown.

He felt something crack under his foot and looked down. He saw that he had trodden on one of Conker’s dot-swatters and snapped its handle in half. He felt a pang of regret and thought vaguely that he should have looked where he was going. All Conker’s things were lying on the ground somewhere here.

His eyes swept the grass – the trampled, bone-strewn grass where the green dragon had roared in sudden frenzy, defying the queen, as Conker turned and twisted under his nose. He saw the second dot-swatter. He saw the burst moneybag, the spilled coins scattered over a gnawed goat skull. He saw the comb, the pocketknife, the handkerchief, a few lemon drops and Conker’s notebook and pencil. He frowned. Hadn’t there been something else? And for no reason at all that he could think of, a memory of Freda’s voice floated into his mind.

He looked guilty himself, if you ask me.

She’d been talking about Brewer – Brewer who had avoided her and Conker when he’d seen them in the orchard. Who surprisingly hadn’t accused them of stealing the jar of Hair-Gro cream, though he must have known…

The Hair-Gro cream.

Leo’s heart gave a strange little lurch. Where was the Hair-Gro cream? It should have been lying with everything else that had been in Conker’s pockets. He looked back over his shoulder, scanning the dim grass. The jar was white. It should be easy to see. There was a flat white disc among the bones. That was the jar’s lid – he remembered it coming off when the jar hit the ground.

But the jar itself wasn’t there. What had happened to it? Who could have taken it? No one had been here. No one except…

The memory of another voice came to Leo – the owl Gravis, making his report.

The fox left the castle again just before the drawbridge was raised. It nosed among the goat bones at the bottom of the hill, then returned carrying whatever fragment it had found to eat.

And suddenly Leo knew that Sly hadn’t been fossicking for food among the bones. Sly had left the castle to retrieve the white jar for the queen. But why would the queen want Brewer’s hair-growing cream? It didn’t even work. Spoiler had tried it.

Leo went cold as the terrifying answer came to him. It was an answer that settled not only this question, but another as well – the question, he now realised, that had been at the heart of his feeling that something was wrong.

Why had the golden dragon broken her vow and recklessly flown to this place?

Everyone had wondered at it. But no one had considered the obvious reason – the one the golden dragon herself had provided.

I warn you… If the scent of dragon’s heart comes to me on the wind I will not be able to resist its call.

The white jar had not contained hair-growing cream. It had contained dragon’s heart!

In a single, horrified instant, Leo saw what must have happened. Brewer had suspected that the quest team was carrying female dragon heart. After the coast witch had left the potion shop, and while the team was still shut in the kitchen, Brewer had seized his chance and ransacked Conker’s pack. He had found the heart-shaped silver box. He had scooped out some of the precious cream and crammed it into the nearest container – the Hair-Gro jar. No wonder he hadn’t complained about the theft of the jar. He probably thought Conker and Freda had taken it because they had guessed what he had done!

The queen could know none of this. She had paid no attention when the white jar fell from Conker’s pocket and lost its lid. But later, brooding in her castle, she must have remembered the green dragon rearing in sudden frenzy, remembered the unexpected appearance of the golden dragon moments later, realised the probable cause, and sent Sly out to…

When stolen magic is regained,

Light will break where darkness reigned…

Stolen magic… not the ogre’s mirror, but the queen’s dragon’s heart. And the light isn’t going to break for us, Leo thought in dread. It’s going to break for her – for the queen!

The Seven and their witnesses had reached the base of the hill.

Everyone was gazing intently at the web, which was now expanding, stretching out like the wings of a giant butterfly over the dark, silent castle.

But if the queen had made the Great Potion, why was the castle dark? Why had the smoke retreated to the moat? There could be only one reason.

Leo stumbled forward. He gripped Hal’s arm.

‘Hal –’ he croaked.

‘Silence!’ Hal hissed.

‘Hal, listen!’ Leo begged. ‘It’s a –’

With an exclamation Hal pushed him away so roughly that he staggered back and bumped into Mimi, nearly knocking her over.

‘It’s a trap!’ Leo panted as Mimi clung to him. ‘She’s been waiting –’

His voice broke off in a choking cry as the hill top blazed with blinding blue light. Smoke erupted from the castle – a tidal wave of smoke, rearing up into the dawn sky. The great, haggard image of the queen’s face appeared in the towering blue wall. And as the image’s mouth opened in a cackle of terrible, gloating laughter, the wave of smoke curled at the tip and crashed down, engulfing the curving, wavering web, swamping the thunderstruck witches and wizards, covering the screaming witnesses.

Wurzle, Hal, Tye, Bertha, Conker and Freda disappeared under a raging flood of smoke. Leo and Mimi turned and ran.

They had only taken a few steps when the smoke wave hit them. Leo’s feet were swept out from under him. Helplessly he rolled and tumbled as the wave swept him on, his nose filled with its sour, metallic smell, his ears ringing with the queen’s screeching laughter.

Then abruptly he was dumped, to lie dazed and gasping on the grass. His right shoulder was aching, and it felt as if he had wrenched his right ankle as well. The handle of the ogre’s mirror was digging painfully into his side. Above the buzzing in his ears he could hear screams of terror. His head swimming, he opened his eyes and as his sight cleared he saw that the smoke wave had carried him almost to the queen’s border. Mimi was sprawled nearby, pale and still.

The smoke was thin here, and it was retreating. He could feel it flowing back over him like cold, foul-smelling water. He dug his fingers into the grass, terrified that it would drag him along with it, but at last it passed. Painfully he crawled to his knees and looked up.

The full fury of the smoke was sweeping back up the castle hill. And it was dragging with it everything in its path. Leo caught glimpses of arms and legs flailing helplessly, Bertha’s head rising briefly, then disappearing again, Wizard Plum’s red hat bobbing, a few flying, tattered fragments of the ruined web…

Get away! Get Mimi away!

Pain shot through Leo’s injured ankle as he crawled to his feet and limped to Mimi’s side.

Mimi was cold to touch, but she was breathing. Leo shook her and called her name, but she didn’t stir. He knew he couldn’t carry her. He thrust his hands under her arms and, trying to ignore the fiery stabs in his ankle and shoulder, began to drag her towards the orchard.

It was a slow, agonising process, but he gritted his teeth and kept going. Only when he had reached the first line of trees did he allow himself to stop, straighten, and look at the hill.

The smoke was still rolling grotesquely upward. The grass at the hill’s base was as smooth and bare as a beach swept clean by the tide. Bertha’s hat and Simon’s striped scarf were all that remained of the vanished witnesses. Of the seven witches and wizards who had tried to save Rondo there was no sign at all.

The smoke reached the top of the hill and tumbled there like a boiling cloud, bathed in the blue light still streaming from the castle. The drawbridge sank slowly down and the castle doors flew open.

The Blue Queen swept out, magnificent in her glittering gown. Princess Pretty stumbled along behind her, carrying her train. Sly the fox padded after them, and after him tottered Barbara the sheep. A crowd of the monstrous phantoms of the castle followed, led by a bald man with bat’s wings, a hairy beast with towering antlers and a stick-like creature with a round, smiling face surrounded by stiff yellow petals.

Leo heard a flapping sound beside him and looked around, straight into the black eyes of Marjorie the crow.

‘What happened?’ Marjorie croaked.

‘The queen attacked us,’ Leo said dully. ‘She destroyed the web. Mimi and I were a bit behind. That must have been what saved us. Everyone else…’ He looked back at the castle.

Marjorie shut her beak with a snap, and took off with a clatter of wings.

I didn’t tell her about the Great Potion, Leo thought, and then shook his head. What did it matter? Marjorie, and everyone else in Rondo, would find out the full extent of the disaster soon enough.

The queen waited at the end of the drawbridge until all her attendants were gathered behind her, then lifted her hand languidly. The smoke began to surge past her, back into the castle, revealing the witches, wizards and witnesses struggling on the ground beside the moat.

Leo’s eyes burned. Bertha, Conker, Freda, Tye and Hal were together. They looked battered and dazed, but all were trying to get up. The queen gestured at them and instantly they were enclosed in a small golden cage.

The queen laughed and turned her attention to the rest of her prisoners. The witch Pandora and Wizard Bing had managed to stand. Plum, Wurzle, Zillah, No-Name and the Thorn Witch were still on their knees. The Seven all flung out their arms. Whether they were trying to cast spells of defence or attack, Leo never knew. The Blue Queen merely nodded carelessly in their direction and in an instant seven white goats stood bleating in their places.

Again the queen laughed. Her laughter rang out, high and piercing, rising over the shocked screams of the witnesses. Her face was haggard, like a grinning skull with dark sockets for eyes, but she laughed and laughed, nodding around at the crowd as if inviting it to share the joke. And wherever her eyes fell, her victim changed into a squirrel, a toad, or a swan.

Gradually, the screams dwindled into a clamour of bleats, croaks, and harsh, honking cries. The transformed witnesses milled in confusion, imprisoned by the drifting veil of smoke that still remained beside the moat. Princess Pretty stared vacantly. Sly’s grin widened. The phantoms on the drawbridge leered.

Sickened, Leo turned away.

‘Psst! Want a hidey-hole?’ a voice hissed.

A black spot had appeared in the grass close to Leo’s right foot. As he stared at it, it widened invitingly. ‘Plenty of room!’ it boasted. ‘Hop in! I can take you and the girlfriend easy! Unless she’s dead – I draw the line at corpses.’

Leo dragged his eyes away from it, and looked back at the castle. The glaring light of the rising sun had brimmed over the horizon and the sky was flooded with pink and gold. The queen spread her arms wide as if to embrace the whole, ghastly scene before her.

‘I have made the Great Potion!’ she cried, her high, cracked voice, shockingly magnified, echoing over the plain. ‘Rondo is mine!’

The monsters behind her howled and stamped, and loud, rollicking music suddenly roared from the castle behind them.

Leo knew the tune. It was ‘The Pom-Pom Polka’, the song that had blasted from the castle the first time he and Mimi had come to Rondo. The queen knew he had escaped her. She knew he was listening. She was using the tune to taunt him. Her jeering message could not have been clearer.

All the friends you love are under my heel, Leo. Soon you will be too. Run away, little boy! Run as far as you like! When my hour of celebration is over I will find you, as I will find and punish every other creature in Rondo who has tried to defy me. You cannot hide from me! You are helpless against me!

And at that moment, a hot wave of pure rage flooded through Leo. It burned into his mind, banishing fear, despair and every thought except one.

Use the Key!

‘Well?’ the hidey-hole said impatiently. ‘I haven’t got all day. D’you want to hide or not?’

‘No!’ Leo said.

The hidey-hole puckered a little. ‘No, you don’t, do you?’ it said, sounding puzzled. ‘My mistake. Ta-ta, then.’ It shrank rapidly to the size of an inkblot, and disappeared.

Leo bent to move Mimi further into the trees. A twig snapped behind him and a voice spoke.

‘I’ll take her, if you like.’

Slowly Leo turned. Spoiler was standing there. His arms hung loosely by his sides. His bloodshot eyes looked inexpressibly sad.

‘You got yourself free,’ Leo said.

Spoiler nodded. ‘I had to,’ he replied simply. ‘I had to warn you. But the ropes were tight. It took too long. I was too late.’

He raised his eyes to the castle hill, to the creatures milling in the mist, the golden cage, the monsters on the drawbridge, the queen triumphant. ‘What now?’ he asked.

‘There’s something I have to do,’ Leo said. ‘Come on.’

Spoiler bent and picked Mimi up, cradling her carefully in his arms.

They turned their backs on the castle, on the music, on the crowing queen, and walked together through the green and gold orchard, Spoiler slowing his pace so Leo could keep up.

‘There was dragon’s heart in the Hair-Gro jar,’ Spoiler said after a moment. ‘Brewer did it.’

‘I know,’ Leo said. ‘How did you –’

‘I worked it out, sitting there in the dark trussed up like a chicken,’ Spoiler said. ‘Why else would that yellow dragon have come here? And I never did trust Brewer. He’s a thief at heart.’ His mouth twisted in a wry smile. ‘Takes one to know one,’ he added.

They had almost reached the end of the trees. Mimi had begun to stir and sigh.

‘Wait here with her, will you?’ Leo said abruptly. ‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ He was burning to get to the Safe Place – to get the Key. He couldn’t wait for Mimi to wake up. If she was still unconscious when he got back, then so be it. He would use the Key on the queen himself. He would use it with pleasure.

Spoiler hesitated and then shrugged. He put Mimi down and squatted beside her.

Leo limped to the end of the orchard without looking back. He stepped out into the open and moved to the stream. The upturned bucket was still where he and Mimi had left it.

He kneeled down awkwardly. The pain of it brought tears to his eyes. He lifted the bucket aside, exposing the patch of mud that had been hidden beneath it. ‘Marion,’ he said.

With a soft, sucking sound, the mud lifted like a trapdoor. The brown cushion of the Safe Place rose to the surface, bearing the ugly old pendant lying on its tangle of chain.

The Key to Rondo.

Voices echoed in Leo’s mind.

We can’t use it as a weapon… It must be used to create, not destroy…

We’re Langlanders! We’re the ones trusted with the Key! Surely the Artist assumed we’d use it to defend Rondo if we had to? Hal, maybe that’s what we’re for!

A Langlander who must decide,

May thrust old ways and thoughts aside…

Leo snatched up the pendant. The cushion sank back down into the depths. The trapdoor squelched shut once more.

Now! Leo thought savagely. Now we’ll see who’s helpless!

A meaty hand reached over his shoulder and plucked the pendant from his fingers. Taken utterly by surprise, Leo tried to grab for it and was pushed sprawling into the mud.

‘Like taking candy from a baby,’ said Spoiler, and, grinning broadly, he bent his head and slipped the chain of the Key to Rondo around his own thick neck.

Chapter

32

Treasured Plans

What – what are you doing?’ Leo asked stupidly. The evidence was before his eyes, but he couldn’t take it in. His injured shoulder exploded in agony as Spoiler jerked him to his feet and pulled him away from the stream. They had almost reached the orchard when Mimi staggered out of the trees. She saw Leo, and her dazed face lit with relief.

‘Get away!’ Leo yelled. ‘He’s got the Key!’

Mimi’s face changed. Clumsily she tried to dodge as Spoiler reached for her, but she had no chance. Spoiler’s hand clamped on her upper arm, his fingers digging into her flesh so hard that she cried out in pain.

Spoiler strode into the orchard, hauling his prisoners with him as easily as if they were rag dolls. He was elated, breathing hard. His bloodshot eyes were glittering.

‘I knew you’d go straight for the Key as soon as things got bad enough,’ he crowed. ‘I was only afraid you’d get yourselves killed before you could lead me to it.’

‘You saw me get the Key out to make the rain in Flitter Wood!’ Mimi panted. ‘You saw me – through the hut window!’

Spoiler threw back his head and laughed. ‘Of course I did! But it only proved what I’d guessed already. I knew the Key hadn’t been destroyed. You all think I’m stupid, but I haven’t survived in this place so long by being stupid. I realised you still had the Key the minute I saw that boil on Misery Merk’s nose, and heard that you and the pig had been prisoners in the Tavern of No Return!’

Mimi gave a choked cry and he laughed again. ‘Couldn’t resist it, could you, you little spitfire?’ he jeered. ‘I thought it’d be you who’d go for the Key this time, too. But in the end it was old Leo who lost his head and did it. On his own! With a bad shoulder and a gammy leg. Without even looking behind him! What do you know about that?’

Leo couldn’t speak. The memory of the blind rage that had driven him so heedlessly to the Safe Place closed his throat.

‘Where are you taking us?’ Mimi asked dully.

‘Where do you think?’ Spoiler jeered. ‘She wants you two nearly as much as she wants the Key.’

‘You haven’t been working for the queen all along,’ Leo managed to say. ‘You couldn’t have been.’

‘Up till last night I was playing a lone hand,’ Spoiler told him grandly. ‘And even now I’m not working for anyone, thanks very much! While you thought I was asleep in that crummy bedroom I was talking to the fox through a hole in the wall, using him as a messenger to offer her majesty a partnership – same deal as before. And she jumped at it. After this, I’ll be set for life, and I deserve it. I’ve worked hard enough for it.’

‘I helped you escape from the dragon.’ Leo shook his head helplessly. ‘I saved you from the burning hut. I…’

‘And you expect me to be grateful?’ Spoiler sneered. ‘You helped me because you thought I was a pathetic, toothless tiger and it made you feel good to throw me some scraps. You’d have done the same for anyone. I don’t owe you a thing.’

The voice of the Tideseer whispered in Leo’s mind.

If faith is placed in debts repaid,

Faith will surely be betrayed…

‘I couldn’t believe my luck when it was you and those other buffoons who rescued me from that witch’s tower,’ Spoiler went on gleefully. ‘And after that I stuck to you like glue, because I wanted what I thought the girl had around her neck. It wasn’t till that ogre locked us up and nothing happened that I realised she must have stashed it away somewhere before you left. You fools nearly got me killed!’

He dragged them from the trees and stopped short, his eyes bulging.

The golden dragon was crouched at the bottom of the grassy slope. She had clearly just landed, for she was still folding her wings.

‘Greetings, Kin of Spark,’ she said soberly. ‘Greetings, Young Guardian. The crows are calling dread news to the wind. I came with a message for you, and just in time, perhaps. I see that the one who cannot be trusted has shown his true colours at last. ‘

She took a step towards Spoiler and bared her terrible fangs.

‘Let us pass, dragon,’ Spoiler spat, pulling Leo and Mimi so close to him that they could smell his hair oil and the rank sweat of his fear. ‘Touch me and your friends die with me!’ His fingers bit into Leo’s arm. ‘Tell her!’ he ordered.

‘Dragon, don’t try to hurt him,’ Leo heard himself croak. ‘He’s carrying dangerous magic – the most powerful magic there is. He can’t use it, but it could kill us all if it’s damaged. ‘

It is said that if the Key is destroyed, Rondo will be undone…

The dragon hesitated. She turned her head to look at Mimi, who nodded wordlessly.

Spoiler’s chest swelled. ‘Right, then,’ he gloated. ‘Now we understand each other.’ Gripping his captives tightly, he skirted the golden beast and made for the hill.

‘You can’t help us!’ Leo heard Mimi say as she passed by the dragon’s head. ‘Go back to your lair and be safe! Please!’

The dragon hissed a reply but Leo was on Spoiler’s other side, and couldn’t hear the words. He managed to glance back over his shoulder as Spoiler hustled him on. The dragon hadn’t moved. She was staring after them, her eyes hard as flat stones.

‘Oh, why doesn’t she go?’ groaned Mimi.

‘What did she say to you?’ Leo asked.

Mimi wiped her brimming eyes with the back of her hand. ‘She gave me a message, but it didn’t make any sense. I must have heard her wrong. It sounded like, “Tell Young Guardian that Saffron’s answer is India”. What can that possibly mean? Who’s Saffron?’

Leo shook his head. The words made no sense to him either.

Spoiler wasn’t listening. His whole attention was on the castle. He put his head down and ploughed up the hill, cursing his limping, stumbling prisoners. He was half-carrying them both by the time he reached the top and began forging through the smoke, kicking his way through the creatures milling in his path.

The Blue Queen was waiting on the drawbridge. As Spoiler panted up to her with Mimi and Leo, she smiled. Her sharpened face creased into a thousand lines, her bones showed white under her skin, and her eyes glowed deep in their shadowed sockets. For the first time, Leo could see her resemblance to the Tideseer.

‘So, George,’ she said sweetly, ‘did you enjoy the performance? I see it had the desired effect.’

‘Yes,’ said Spoiler. ‘The boy fell for it hook, line and sinker.’

The queen sighed. ‘It was a great strain, but you were right. It was the only way to make them reveal the Key – if indeed they had it.’ She touched her withered cheek and frowned. ‘The demonstration cost me dearly. I would have been most… displeased… if you had been deceiving me.’

‘I told Sly to tell you I’d seen the Key with my own eyes!’ Spoiler said aggressively. ‘I told him I’d get it if you put on a good show. I told him I was sure they were going to try something last night. I even told him where to find the dragon’s heart!’

‘Only when it suited you to do so!’ the queen snapped. ‘And if you had not stolen the heart from me in the first place –’ She caught her voice rising, controlled herself with an effort, and forced a smile. ‘But we must not bicker. All that is behind us now. You have done very well, George. And now, if I may…’

‘Be my guest,’ Spoiler grinned, and bowed.

The queen bent forward and plucked the ogre’s mirror from Leo’s belt. Staring fixedly at her haggard reflection, she stretched out her free hand and touched the pendant hanging around Spoiler’s neck. The sour lines, furrows and shadows faded from her face. Her skin firmed and cleared. Her eyes widened and brightened. When she lowered the mirror, she was as dazzlingly beautiful as she had ever been. Smiling in triumph, her fingers still resting on the pendant, she turned and looked down at the golden dragon still crouched at the bottom of the hill. The dragon stiffened. Her glittering scales clouded. Her golden eyes filmed. And in an instant she was nothing but a giant statue gleaming dully in the sunlight.

Mimi cried out and twisted helplessly in Spoiler’s grip. The queen nodded with satisfaction, turned her head again and stared at the willow trees surrounding Hal’s hut by the river. The willows burst into flames. The river began to boil.

‘Ah, how good that feels,’ she sighed, throwing down the mirror and smoothing her hair. ‘How I have missed that effortless power! Even the Great Potion would have been a poor substitute. Still, it would have pleased me to make it. What a pity I could not!’

She glanced at Leo and her smile broadened at the expression on his face.

‘But you did make it!’ Leo said blankly. ‘We saw –’

The queen laughed. ‘No, Leo,’ she cooed. ‘You saw a powerful burst of energy created by dragon’s heart alone. It was a great risk to take, but it was worth it. By taking George’s advice and using more power than I needed to smash the attack, I tricked you into running for the Key without thought or care.’ She was watching Leo avidly, revelling in his horror and confusion.

‘But – but why didn’t you make the Great Potion?’ Leo stammered, trying to take it in. ‘You had all the ingredients.’

‘No, I did not,’ the queen snapped, her smile vanishing. ‘The dragon’s heart came to me too late. From the moment I collected the dreams of the Ancient One they began fading, and yesterday at sunset the last of them turned to ash.’

She shot a venomous look at Spoiler. ‘As my friend George well knew,’ she added, ‘since I myself had told him often enough that the dreams of the Ancient One would survive seven sunsets at the most if they ever came into my hands.’

Leo’s last illusion died as he remembered Spoiler’s shrieks on the flying rug, his frantic counting on his fingers. Spoiler hadn’t been counting off the seven strengths, like Conker. Having at last remembered everything the queen had told him about the Great Potion, he had been trying to calculate how many sunsets had passed since she gained the Strix dreams, how many sunsets remained before the dreams would turn to ash.

‘George waited until he was quite sure the dream grains were dead before sending Sly to outline his scheme and tell me where to find the dragon’s heart,’ the queen went on. ‘He wished to offer me the use of the Key on his own terms, but if I had completed the Great Potion, all his plans would have come to nothing. If I were seven times more powerful, he would hardly have been in a position to bargain. George is not as great a fool as he looks.’

Spoiler tried to look outraged, but a smirk tweaked the corners of his mouth.

‘You, however, Leo, are far more of a fool than you look,’ the queen said spitefully. ‘The demonstration I gave you almost crippled me, and its dramatic effects – the transformations, for example – would not have lasted for more than an hour or two. How does it feel to know you betrayed the Key to me, and delivered Rondo into my hands, for nothing?’

‘Leo, the Tideseer’s prophecy!’ Mimi wailed. ‘She tried to tell us…’

Leo nodded. The first lines of the Tideseer’s verse, the lines they had so wrongly taken to mean that they should hurry on with the barrier plan, were burning in his mind.

With evil, truth cannot abide

But dies like weed left by the tide.

If treasured plans are long delayed,

Their chances of success will fade…

‘What is this?’ the queen snapped, her face darkening. She darted a look at Spoiler, who shrugged and looked uneasy.

‘We saw your sister, Blue Queen,’ Mimi said defiantly. ‘She tried to tell us that the Ancient One’s memories would fade in the presence of evil like yours. She tried to tell us that all we had to do was delay you, to stop the Great Potion being made.’

‘Shut your mouth!’ hissed the queen, and suddenly there was a flicker of fear in her eyes. ‘That odious sea creature is no sister of mine ! Do not speak of her!’

She rounded on Spoiler. ‘Why did you not inform me of this meeting? What else have you kept from me? What else did that loathsome, dragon-loving crone tell them?’

‘Nothing important,’ Spoiler said sulkily. ‘Don’t worry about it. She can only answer the questions you ask, can’t she? And they only asked her about dragon’s heart, and the Great Potion. She went out to sea after that. They didn’t get a second chance.’

Mimi drew a quick breath. Her eyes widened, and two bright spots of colour appeared on her tear-stained cheeks. ‘We did!’ she exclaimed. ‘Leo! The question! By the stream!’

Leo stared at her blankly.

‘The question you asked by the stream when we were putting away the Key!’ Mimi gabbled, the words tumbling over one another in her haste to get them out. ‘It was carried down to the sea and the Tideseer heard it! She sent the answer, Leo – sent the dragon with the answer!’

‘What is she talking about?’ the Blue Queen shrieked at Spoiler. ‘Did the golden beast speak to her?’

‘Oh, it hissed something or other as she passed it,’ Spoiler mumbled. ‘I didn’t pay attention.’

‘Leo, that’s who Saffron is!’ Mimi cried. ‘Don’t you see? The name was part of the message! The dragon said, “Saffron says the answer is –” ‘

With a cry of rage, the queen touched the pendant. Mimi’s voice broke off. She threw up her hands, her face a mask of shock. Then suddenly Mimi wasn’t there any more and a small, fluffy, mustard-coloured dog stood in her place, yapping and growling.

Spoiler hooted with laughter.

The queen laughed with him, though she was breathing hard, as if she had been running. She flicked her fingers and the next moment the little dog was muzzled, and chained to the drawbridge. ‘There,’ she said, her voice trembling slightly. ‘That will stop your tongue, Mimi Langlander! Perhaps you thought you were safe from me. But I have use of the Key now, and your protective spells are undone. Now Mutt has a twin, Leo, do you see? As like as two peas in a pod, are they not?’

There was a roaring in Leo’s ears. He no longer felt the pain in his shoulder as he struggled against Spoiler’s iron grip. ‘Change her back, witch!’ he heard himself yelling. ‘Change her back! What are you scared of? Your sister? The sister you tried to murder? The sister who knows everything about you?’

The moment the words left his lips, he regretted them. But it was too late. The queen’s lips drew back from her teeth in a snarl of fury. Her eyes flashed and she raised a quivering hand. Leo waited for the end he knew must come, cursing himself for enraging her when he should have been keeping quiet, acting scared and thinking, thinking…

‘No!’ Spoiler yelled. ‘Stop!’

Leo’s heart gave a tiny flutter of hope as the queen hesitated. If Spoiler felt he owed Leo something after all, and had decided to protect him, there was still a chance! The Tideseer’s message…

He cast his mind back to that moment by the stream and tried to remember exactly what he’d said. First he had stated a fact – the farmhouse was the meeting place for the Seven and their witnesses. Then, without realising what he was doing, he had asked a question.

I wonder what the Tideseer would have told us, if we’d asked the question she’s been waiting for?

And, according to Mimi, the reply was: Saffron says the answer is India. It still doesn’t make sense, Leo thought desperately. What’s India got to do with anything? Mimi must have heard wrongly, like she said.

Then he remembered Mimi’s face just before the queen had transformed her, cutting off whatever she had been going to say. Mimi had been excited! She had seemed to think…

He suddenly realised that Spoiler was speaking again, and as he focused on the words he wondered bitterly when he was going to stop believing the best of people – when he was going to learn!

‘… those boots he’s wearing are worth money,’ Spoiler was saying. ‘They’re mine by rights, and I don’t want them burned to a crisp. Wait till I get them off him.’

He bent and pulled the furry boots from Leo’s feet. He kicked off his tight shoes and pushed his feet into the boots with a satisfied smile.

‘You never change, George,’ the queen said dryly. ‘It is reassuring. But I am glad you stopped me. The girl may have been a danger, but the boy clearly knows nothing. Why put him out of his misery quickly? It will be far more amusing to keep him alive and in his senses – for a time at least. I will enjoy seeing him watch all his friends brought low, knowing that it is by his doing.’

Casually she waved her hand around the hill top. The last of the smoke floated back into the castle. The golden cage vanished, leaving Hal and the others huddled together on the grass. Witches and wizards crawled where white goats had bleated before. The milling crowd of toads, squirrels and swans disappeared as all the witnesses were returned to their normal forms.

Leo saw Wizard Wurzle staggering to his feet. He saw Jim on his hands and knees, shaking his head, trying to clear it, and Simon sitting up, clasping Moult to his chest. Hal, Tye, Conker, Freda and Bertha were staring at the queen, at Spoiler, at Leo and the little dog chained to the drawbridge, their faces blank with shock.

‘Run!’ Leo shouted. ‘Get away! Hal, get everyone away! Spoiler’s got the Key!’

‘Would you care for a little entertainment, George?’ the queen purred, and as Spoiler shrugged she touched the pendant once more and looked behind her.

Chapter

33

Win and Lose

The monstrous beings on the drawbridge pressed forward, carrying Princess Pretty and Barbara with them. Squirrels shrieked and scattered. Sly, his fur standing on end, leaped aside just in time to avoid being trampled.

The monsters had begun to chitter, roar and howl. Their feet clattered on the boards of the drawbridge as they swarmed past the queen.

They were no longer phantoms. The Key had made them real, and more ghastly creations of the Blue Queen’s imagination had begun pouring through the castle doors into the light – wasp-like beasts with vast, glittering eyes, hideous figures with human bodies and crocodile heads, shambling jelly-like creatures, as pale as if they had just crawled from under a stone…

The little dog that was Mimi struggled against her chain and whined piteously as the monsters passed. Leo couldn’t move. He couldn’t speak. The horror was too great. The knowledge of what he had done to unleash this terror on his friends, on Rondo, froze him to the bone.

The monster horde surged towards the witches and wizards, the witnesses, the quest team, driving them from the hill top, down towards the plain. Screams filled the air as the witnesses fled, many stumbling and falling. The strongest among them tried to help the weakest escape by holding the monsters back with whatever weapons they had, but the sheer weight of enemy numbers combined with the steepness of the slope made the task hopeless. Even Tye, her jewelled knife flashing, a trail of fallen beasts behind her, could do little more than save herself from being overwhelmed. The witches and wizards were shouting and gesturing as they ran, but they were as panic stricken as everyone else, and their half-completed defence spells trembled and fell to ruin beneath the pursuing monsters’ feet.

The crowd had almost reached the bottom of the hill when the queen suddenly laughed uproariously. ‘Look, George!’ she shrieked, pointing. ‘The brave citizens of Rondo have come to save their heroes! Oh, how delicious ! My army will feed well this day! ‘

And Leo’s stomach turned over as he saw that the plain was no longer bare. Figures of every shape and size were crowding over the queen’s border and running towards the hill.

Many were people and creatures Leo knew or had seen before. Many more were strangers. Some were carrying rusty swords, a few had bows and arrows, and Peg from the camping shop, towering over the rest of the group from town, was wielding an enormous axe, but most were armed with sticks, pitchforks, hammers, knives and even pans snatched up from their kitchens.

Leo’s eyes stung as he saw face after familiar face in the crowd. There was Scribble the reporter, carrying a notebook and writing as he ran. There was Suki, her skirts kilted up, her coal-black hair tied back with a red bandanna, striding along clutching a hatchet. There was Crabclaw the coast witch, dipping and weaving on her broom, the Crystal King leading a horde of guards and a flock of princesses, Bun’s wife Patty looking fierce despite her white baker’s cap and apron, and Master Sadd the Hobnob gravedigger, who was brandishing his spade. Even Bodelia Parker, the owner of the Hobnob antique shop, was present, with her big black handbag in one hand and a furled umbrella in the other.

The tigers of Flitter Wood bounded on the eastern flank of the raggle-taggle army. The Ogre of Cruelcliff, plainly never one to miss a fight, whatever the cause, swaggered on the western flank, swinging a great polished club.

Crows wheeled above the crowd, cawing wildly. The crows had spread the word of the disaster. But they didn’t know about the Key. They didn’t know about the monster army. They didn’t know they had called the citizens of Rondo to a battle they could not win.

The fleeing witnesses reached the bottom of the hill and collided with the crowd of newcomers, who had only now seen the strength of the pursuing horde. Above the confusion of screams and growls, Leo could hear Peg bellowing, the Crystal Queen shrieking to Princess Pretty, the people of Hobnob crying out to Simon and Mayor Clogg, the ogre bawling curses, and Jim vainly trying to order Grandma to keep running as he turned to defend her.

Tye and Hal were fighting shoulder to shoulder, beating slavering beasts back. Beside them, Conker was lashing out with fists and boots at a wasp beast, and Freda was a brown streak above him, stabbing at the creature’s glittering eyes. Bertha, her blunt teeth bared, was charging recklessly at jelly-like monsters and tossing them aside. Wurzle, Zillah and Pandora had leaped onto the petrified dragon’s back and were hurling bolts of fire at the enemy, calling to the other witches and wizards to join them. The snarling tigers were bringing down crocodile-headed fighters one by one.

But as fast as the queen’s monsters were felled, more streamed from the castle, sped down the hill, and took their places. The Rondo forces, brave and determined as they were, could not possibly stand against so many.

Leo looked with loathing at the Blue Queen. She was clapping her hands, her face alive with gloating malice. With a wave of her hand she could use the power of the Key to blast her enemies to ash. She could turn them all to stone, like the dragon. She could change the course of the river and sweep them away.

But she wasn’t going to do any of those things, because they would be too quick, too sudden. She wanted to see her victims fight, and sorrow, and die. She was keeping them alive for the same reason she had kept Leo alive – so she could revel in their struggle, defeat and despair.

Leo felt the grip on his arm loosen slightly and jerked his head around to glare at Spoiler. Spoiler met his eyes uncertainly then quickly looked away.

‘You see what she is!’ Leo shouted at him. ‘You see what she’s doing!’

‘Don’t blame me,’ Spoiler said. ‘I’m not doing it, am I?’

‘But it’s happening because you’re letting it happen!’ Leo raged. ‘You’ve given her the power to do what she likes with Rondo, just so you can be rich and safe yourself ! What kind of life is that? She doesn’t care about you! She doesn’t care about anyone but herself! She’s just using you, and if she could get rid of you, she would. You know that!’

Without taking her eyes from the battle, the queen laughed. ‘Don’t waste your breath, Leo,’ she jeered. ‘George knows what you’re playing at. He knows you’re only trying to turn him against me to save yourself.’

‘Not himself.’ Spoiler moved uneasily, staring down at the battlefield. ‘Or not just himself. His friends. And Rondo. He’s fighting to save them, with the only weapon he has left.’

The queen stared at him. ‘Are you ill, George?’ she snapped.

‘I feel – strange,’ said Spoiler, and wet his lips.

The queen snorted with contempt and turned her back on him, the skirts of her midnight blue gown swirling like deep, shining water.

One wore the colour of the sand, and the other wore the colour of the sea…

An astounding thought flashed into Leo’s mind. His skin prickled. Heat rushed into his face.

Obviously the Blue Queen was the sister who always wore the colour of the sea. She had worn blue as a girl, and she wore blue still – it was her trademark. So the Tideseer had been the sister who always wore the colour of the golden sand.

And the Tideseer’s name was ‘Saffron’.

Leo pushed down his rising excitement. Deliberately he closed his eyes to the sight of the battle, and the monsters still streaming from the castle. He closed his ears to the screams and howls rising from the plain. He knew he had to think through the idea that had come to him. He had to think it through logically and carefully, because he would only have one chance to use it. He could not afford a mistake.

In Rondo, true names were kept secret from everyone but family and the most trusted of friends, because knowing someone’s true name gave you power over that person. This applied particularly to sorcerers, and others who lived by magic. Yet the Tideseer had given her name as part of her message to him.

She could have had only one reason for that. Her name was a clue.

I wonder what the Tideseer would have told us, if we’d asked the question she’s been waiting for?

What if the question the Tideseer had been waiting for, the question only she could answer, the question by which she could at last betray her murdering sister was: ‘What is the Blue Queen’s name?’

Saffron says the answer is India… India…

But the Blue Queen’s name isn’t ‘India’, Mimi, Leo thought, his heart beating fast. You didn’t hear that last word properly. I know that because Saffron –

Think it through. Make sure. You’ll only have one chance.

Once she realises what you’re doing…

The sounds of the battle rose. Leo shut them out. He kept his eyes closed. He made himself breathe slowly and evenly. He checked his reasoning, step by step.

Saffron was a yellow spice made of flower stamens, but it was the name of a colour, too – a rich, warm yellow.

The Artist had named Saffron after the colour of the yellow clothes she always wore. Wasn’t it very likely that Saffron’s sister had been named in the same way? Wasn’t it possible – probable – that the queen’s true, secret name was a word that in some way meant ‘blue’? And if so, what could it be but…

Telling himself to consider every alternative, Leo gritted his teeth and racked his brains. Azure, he thought. Navy. Peacock. Aquamarine. Royal blue. Baby blue. Midnight blue. Cyan. Bluebell. Forget-me-not. Hyacinth, Skye…

None of these sounded remotely like ‘India’. But the word he had thought of first certainly did – the word that meant deep, purplish blue, the word he had learned a long time ago, when his father told him the seven colours of the rainbow.

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet…

Leo opened his eyes.

‘Indigo!’ he said loudly.

The Blue Queen jolted as if she had been stung. The ogre’s mirror fell from her hand. She spun round, her eyes bulging, her mouth gaping. The castle doors swung shut with a crash.

‘Indigo!’ Leo said again, putting behind the name all the strength he could muster. ‘Stop this! Call your fighters back! Let the people go!’

The queen shuddered all over. Her face writhed as she fought for control. Spoiler stared at her in bewilderment. On the battlefield, the monsters froze where they stood. The Rondo fighters faltered, and looked up. The little dog chained to the drawbridge whined frantically.

Leo’s eyes were locked with the queen’s. Her pale green glare was cold with hatred. He could feel her recovering from her shock, summoning her strength, pitting her will against his.

And her will was terrible. It was like iron. Sweat broke out on Leo’s forehead. He could feel himself starting to tremble.

‘Do what I say, Indigo!’ It was difficult to speak. He’d had to force the words out, and with a stab of fear he heard that his voice had lost much of its power. It sounded fearful and weak – the voice of a pleading child.

The queen flinched and he felt a moment’s relief. Then the pressure came rushing back, hitting him with a force that rocked him back on his heels.

The breath stopped in his throat. He hadn’t thought this would be easy. He had known the queen would fight him. He had even known that he might not survive a battle of wills with her, though he’d tried not to think about that too much. But this… this was beyond anything he had imagined. He could feel his own will bending, bending until it seemed his mind must break, shatter into a thousand pieces. The strain – the pain – was agonising.

I can’t do this, Leo thought frantically. Maybe Mimi could have done it, but I can’t. I’m not ruthless enough. I’m not single-minded enough. I’ve tried, but it’s no use. I’ve gambled everything on a magic I still can’t quite believe in, and I’m not strong enough…

He saw a glitter deep in the queen’s eyes. She knew she was winning. He felt her will pressing him harder, harder. He felt his throat tighten and his mind begin to cloud. She was going in for the kill.

No, something deep inside him said. No!

He fought back. He fought doggedly, stubbornly, refusing to listen to fear and doubt, throwing his whole body and mind into the effort of simply resisting the pressure of the iron will that was trying to break him. Slowly, slowly, he felt himself gaining ground.

And when at last he felt he could speak again, he put everything he had into one, last effort. ‘Indigo, call off your troops,’ he said hoarsely. ‘Indigo, I call you by the name the Artist gave you, and order you to do as I say!’

The queen swayed as if buffeted by a gale. She fought for breath. Leo felt her grip on his mind loosen. Then with a wave of sick despair, he felt her clawing her way back. Her lips opened.

‘I… reject that name,’ she panted. ‘I am greater than that name. I have grown beyond it. I am all-powerful now. I have the Key to life and death. And I will use it to… destroy you – you and all who defy me!’

She thrust out her hand, reaching for the Key to Rondo.

But her fingers snatched at the empty air. Spoiler had stepped back, out of her reach. He was shaking his head. She stared at him, dumbfounded.

‘George!’ she said harshly. ‘I wish to use the Key!’

Spoiler looked terrified, and his heavy red face was gleaming with sweat, but he went on shaking his head. ‘No,’ he mumbled. ‘No more.’

Screaming, she sprang at him. The attack was so sudden, so violent, that Spoiler staggered. Her hands clawed at the pendant around his neck and tore it free of its chain. Spoiler gasped and tried to snatch the pendant back, but she was too fast for him. In the blink of an eye she was backing to her castle door, panting and clutching her prize to her chest like an animal fearful of losing a hard-won bone.

‘Now!’ she cried, her eyes blazing like pale fire. ‘Now, at last, the Key is mine alone ! Now, at last, it has passed forever from the control of oafish Langlanders into my hands ! Where it should be ! Where it should always have been! For who deserves absolute power more than the greatest and most beautiful one of all?’

Leo stared at her with fascinated disgust that for a moment overwhelmed his fear. She’s just the same now as when she was that vain, jealous girl who tried to kill her own sister so she would have no rival, he thought. She hasn’t changed at all.

The memory of a rumbling voice echoed in his mind. The voice of the Ancient One.

You have learned nothing since first the Artist painted you in your pride, Blue Queen. You have not grown. You have merely grown old.

Perhaps the queen saw in Leo’s face something of what he was thinking, for the mad glitter faded from her eyes, and her expression hardened. She glanced down at the battlefield. Flames caused by the fire bolts of the Seven leaped and crackled among the frozen monster troops. The Rondo fighters were still looking up, making no attempt to flee. The queen raised her eyebrows as if considering, then shook her head and turned back to Leo and Spoiler.

‘They can wait,’ she said. ‘I will begin my reign as owner of the Key by dealing with you two. Will I change you both into statues like the dragon? Or will I burn you like the willows? Let me think!’

She was toying with them, enjoying herself. Leo concentrated on keeping his face blank. He refused to give her the satisfaction of seeing his fear. No doubt she was hoping he and Spoiler would try to run, but there was no point in running. In a moment the queen would use the Key, and it would all be over. He could hear Spoiler moaning in terror, but the little dog by the drawbridge had fallen utterly silent.

‘Statues, I think,’ the queen said, tiring of her game at last. ‘You can stand at the entrance to my castle as a warning to others. Are you ready? Then let us begin!’

Clutching the pendant, she stared at Leo and Spoiler, concentrating on them, her lips curved in a smile of satisfaction, and weirdly it came into Leo’s mind that she had never looked so beautiful.

There was an instant of utter stillness. Then something very strange happened.

The pendant dropped from the queen’s fingers. Her smile grew fixed. Her eyes ceased to blink. Her body flattened, till she was no more than a flimsy cut-out picture of a woman, wavering slightly in the morning breeze.

And the next moment she was no longer standing before them, a living, breathing creature. She was merely a beautiful, exquisitely detailed painting on the castle door.

Chapter

34

Heroes

The celebration on the plain lasted long after the battle fires had died, despite the injuries that many had suffered before the monster horde had stopped fighting. The Seven and their gallant witnesses were hailed as heroes. Everyone wanted to congratulate them and thank them. The heroes in turn wanted to express what it had meant to them to see so many come to their aid.

Leo was especially in demand. To his great confusion, he was widely believed to have caused the miracle that had freed Rondo from the Blue Queen’s reign of terror. No one but Spoiler and Mimi had been close enough to see the queen snatch the Key to Rondo, but in the stillness of the frozen battlefield, many had heard Leo call the queen by her true name. They had also heard her do the unthinkable, and reject it. To reject one’s true name, the golden dragon and all the witches and wizards agreed, was to court disaster, as Indigo, the Blue Queen, had found to her cost.

Leo, Mimi, Hal, Tye, Conker, Freda and Bertha were besieged with invitations to attend the many celebration feasts that were being planned. They politely declined them all. But when at last the golden dragon had flown away, and the happy crowds had departed for the Black Sheep, Macdonald’s farm, the Hobnob Snug, Innes-Trule, the Castle of Cruelcliff and the Crystal Palace, Hal led his friends to the place where they all wanted to be – the little cottage by the river.

As Tye lit a fire, and Conker raided Hal’s pantry and began energetically making pancakes, the others threw open the windows and doors and sat together around the table. A gentle breeze wafted through the room, bringing with it the scent of growing things, and blowing away the smell of dust and fire. At the back of the house, the river flowed peacefully, carrying its secrets to the sea.

‘You did a good job with those willow trees, Mimi,’ Bertha said, looking approvingly at the feathery green branches bending and swaying just beyond the front door. ‘Lawks-a-daisy, they look exactly like they did before they were burned. And you unfroze the dragon. And you made the plain green again, and vanished all the queen’s monsters as well!’

‘Excellent work!’ Conker agreed, flipping a pancake.

Mimi smiled, her hand tightening on the pendant in her jacket pocket. ‘I couldn’t have done any of it if Leo hadn’t used the Key on me first,’ she said.

Leo hunched his shoulders. He still remembered how hard it had been to force all doubts from his mind, focus on the scruffy little dog tied to the drawbridge and imagine it changing back into Mimi Langlander. He had managed it – just – but the effort had been exhausting, and he had handed the Key to Rondo back to Mimi without a moment’s regret, and with a huge sense of relief.

‘How did it feel, being a dog?’ Freda asked Mimi curiously.

‘It felt really strange to be so small,’ Mimi told her. ‘I could hear really well, though – and I never realised how many different smells there were in Rondo! The worst thing was not being able to talk – not being able to tell Leo that the Tideseer had given us a clue about the queen’s name by telling us her own. But in the end that didn’t matter. Leo worked it out for himself – and worked out the name, too. I couldn’t have done that. I didn’t know there was such a colour as “indigo”.’

‘It’s one of the seven colours of the rainbow,’ Leo took pleasure in telling her.

‘You see? That rainbow was a good omen,’ she retorted smartly.

Conker brought a platter heaped with pancakes to the table, Hal found a pot of honey, and everyone began to eat.

‘I must admit I still don’t quite understand exactly what happened,’ Bertha confessed. ‘The name didn’t stop the queen. And even after denying it, she kept on for quite a while –’

‘The name weakened her,’ Hal said. ‘It made her desperate enough to snatch the Key from Spoiler and try to use it after he’d told her she couldn’t. And that was what brought her undone.’

Mimi nodded vigorously. ‘The Key can’t be used without the permission of a Langlander,’ she said with her mouth full. ‘That was the Artist’s safety-switch. When I saw the queen take the Key I suddenly had this really strong feeling that she was making a big mistake. I was sensing a disturbance in the Key’s magic, I suppose. I couldn’t be sure I was right, but… but it turned out I was, thank goodness.’

‘Leo was right, too,’ Hal said. ‘The Artist did see Langlanders as Rondo’s guardians.’

‘Just not in the way I thought,’ Leo said, looking down at his plate. Whatever the final result, he still felt ashamed when he remembered the reason for his frenzied rush to reclaim the Key.

‘And the Tideseer was right,’ Tye said quietly. ‘A Langlander’s decision led to the end, just as she predicted. But it wasn’t Hal’s decision, as we thought. It was Spoiler’s. We forgot that Spoiler is a Langlander too.’

Seeing that Bertha still looked puzzled, Mimi slowly repeated the last part of the Tideseer’s rhyme.

A Langlander who must decide,

May thrust old ways and thoughts aside

Or may instead refuse to break

The chains that fear and weakness make.

But if that choice is as I see,

The end will follow faithfully.

The enemy will act, and lose

A gift she never cared to use,

And in the flame of battle fires,

Will gain the prize she most desires.

Bertha shook her head till her ears flapped. ‘Well, I might be being dense, but if I can see how that last bit is right, I’m a mushroom!’ she declared. ‘The queen didn’t –’

‘My brother broke the habits of a lifetime by refusing to let the queen use the Key, Bertha,’ Hal explained soberly. ‘Then the queen acted in character by seizing it. But in trying to use it against Spoiler’s will, she broke the magic that had given her life. As a result, she lost the gift she had never used or valued – the ability to grow and change – and gained the deepest desire of her heart – beauty that will never fade.’

Leo shivered, thinking of the exquisite, lifeless painting on the castle door.

‘So in the end we owe the victory to Spoiler,’ Conker grumbled, sucking honey from his moustache. ‘That’s a hard dot to swallow – right, Freda?’

‘Right,’ said the duck. ‘Where is Spoiler, by the way?’

Hal smiled ruefully. ‘I asked him to come with us, but he slipped away with Brewer. They’re heading for Flitter Wood, I’d say – to try to work out where you buried the heart-shaped box, and steal back the rest of the dragon’s heart.’

‘What?’ Conker spluttered, spraying crumbs all over the table.

Freda quacked with laughter.

‘But – but I thought Spoiler had reformed!’ Bertha cried in dismay. ‘He risked his life to save Leo! And he let Leo pick up the Key after – well, after the queen wasn’t a threat any more. He didn’t say a thing when the ogre took the magic mirror. Lawks-a-daisy, he even returned Princess Pretty’s boots! She was wearing them when she went home with Claude!’

Leo sighed. ‘Spoiler couldn’t wait to get rid of them. He said he didn’t like the way they made him feel.’

‘If stolen magic is regained, / Light will break where darkness reigned,’ Tye quoted with a smile.

‘Bertha, the stolen magic in the rhyme wasn’t the ogre’s mirror or the dragon’s heart,’ Mimi said gently, as Bertha again shook her head in bewilderment. ‘It was Princess Pretty’s boots! Everything changed when Spoiler took them back and put them on, because their magic is special. Anyone who wears them understands what it feels like to be the person who wore them before.’

‘Oh, my lungs and liver!’ Conker exploded. ‘Are you sure?’

Mimi nodded. ‘Leo and I suspected it because – well, mainly because of what Spoiler said and did after he had them on, but also because we remembered that when I’d worn them, I seemed to understand what it must be like to be Princess Pretty, who had worn them before me.’

‘I thought that was weird at the time,’ Freda said to Conker, who nodded.

‘And then we remembered that when Princess Pretty put on the boots for the first time, she felt sorry for her mother, who had tried them before her,’ Leo put in hastily, as Mimi went pink. ‘So we checked it with Clogg before he left, and he said we were right. He said that’s why he and Mistress Clogg had thought the boots would make a good wedding present. When they sent them they enclosed a note suggesting that Pretty and her new husband take turns wearing them, but the note must have been thrown away with the wrapping paper by mistake, because no one read it.’

‘Anyway,’ Mimi said, recovering her poise a little, ‘when Spoiler took the boots off Leo’s feet and put them on himself, he suddenly realised what it was like to be Leo! He understood exactly how Leo felt. And that’s why…’

‘Why he couldn’t bring himself to let the queen kill me and release her monsters to slaughter everyone else,’ Leo finished for her. ‘It must have been a shock to him. It was probably the first time in his life that he’d ever got outside himself and thought about someone else’s feelings.’

‘So now Pretty will know how it feels to be Spoiler,’ said Conker. ‘I wouldn’t fancy that myself.’

‘Me neither,’ said Freda, looking queasy.

‘Lawks-a-daisy, she might decide that stealing and cheating for a living is fun!’ Bertha exclaimed.

Mimi grinned. ‘I doubt it,’ she said. ‘Knowing how someone feels isn’t the same as wanting to be exactly like that person. It just helps you to understand them. And anyway, Spoiler might go back to his old ways a bit, but I’m sure he’ll think more carefully before he really hurts other people from now on. Standing in someone else’s shoes, even once, makes you see the world differently. I don’t think the effect will wear off completely. It hasn’t with me.’

‘Or me,’ Leo agreed, carefully not looking at her.

‘You don’t really need magic boots, Leo,’ she said. ‘You already think about how other people feel. It’s half your trouble – and one of the nicest things about you.’

‘It runs in the family,’ Tye murmured, glancing at Hal.

Bertha snuffled. Freda snorted. Conker cleared his throat noisily and bustled to the fireplace to make tea. Hal and Leo sat with identical embarrassed expressions on their hot faces.

They sat together for another sweet hour, talking over all that had happened. Bertha bemoaned the fact that Sly the fox had escaped yet again, though she finally agreed that having his tail bitten off by a Flitter Wood tiger as he ran away would probably dampen his spirits for a while. Mimi said that Officer Begood and Candy Sweet of Hobnob had left the battlefield arm in arm, and she was sure they were about to announce their engagement. Tye commented on how valiantly Suki had fought, and Freda said that in her opinion courage was what being a real princess was all about. Conker swore he had heard Brewer and the Ogre of Cruelcliff haggling over the price of a long-lasting love potion. Then Leo saw that Bertha’s head had begun to nod, met Mimi’s eyes across the table, and knew it was time to go.

They all moved out of the house, through the willow trees, and onto the grassy plain beyond.

Everything looked as bright and clear as if it had been freshly painted. The golden dragon soared over the western hills, her scales glinting in the sunlight. The river was like a shining ribbon, winding slowly down from the distant mountains on its journey to the sea. The rolling plain was deserted except for a few goats peacefully cropping the grass. The towers of the fairytale castle on the hill gleamed against the sky, and from a distance the beautiful blue-gowned woman painted on the castle door looked almost real.

‘Hal, do you think there could be other worlds like Rondo?’ Leo asked abruptly, as Mimi took his hand and raised her fingers to the Key. ‘Do you think the Artist might have…’

Hal smiled. ‘For all we know the Artist painted as many worlds as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand on the shore. But I doubt that any of them is quite like this one.’

‘No world could be like this one,’ said Mimi seriously, looking from him to Conker, Freda, Bertha and Tye. ‘This is where you are!’

‘You too, young Langlanders,’ Leo heard Tye murmur as the chiming rainbows closed in around him. ‘Whenever you wish.’

And her words were still warming his heart long after the last chime had faded away.

Teachers’ notes for The Key to Rondo, The Wizard of Rondo and The Battle for Rondo can be downloaded from www.scholastic.com.au

Also by Emily Rodda

The Wizard of Rondo

The Key to Rondo

Deltora Quest series

Rowan of Rin

Rowan and the Travellers

Rowan and the Keeper of the Crystal

Rowan and the Zebak

Rowan of the Bukshah

Crumbs!

Dog Tales

Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers 2: The Timekeeper

Also by Emily Rodda

The Key to Rondo

IMPORTANT!

Turn the key three times only.

Never turn the key while the music is playing.

Never pick up the box while the music is playing.

Never close the lid until the music has stopped.

The old music box, painted with scenes of villages, dark forests, a castle on a hill and a queen in a long blue gown, has been handed down through Leo’s family. Now it belongs to Leo, and although he respects its rules, his least favourite cousin Mimi does not. When the rules are broken, Leo’s ordered life changes forever as they plunge together into the fantastic world of Rondo.

‘… the work of a gifted storyteller at the height of her powers’

Rosemary Neill, Weekend Australian

‘… image-rich prose and compelling action’

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

‘… a contemporary classic’

Joy Lawn, Junior Bookseller and Publisher

Also by Emily Rodda

The Wizard of Rondo

If you owned a magical music box, one that could transport you to another world, wouldn’t you want to use it? Leo owns just such a music box, but he knows that danger lurks in the world of Rondo. His cousin Mimi isn’t so wary. ‘Don’t worry, Leo. We’ll be safe,’ she says. But Leo knows that in Rondo, nothing is ever safe or predictable…

The outstanding sequel to the highly acclaimed

The Key to Rondo.

‘… shrewdly plotted, unflaggingly inventive… Highly recommended.’

Rosemary Neill, Weekend Australian

‘… the tales of Rondo will most certainly ignite the imagination, injecting a dose of anything’s-possible into the ordinary everyday’

Sydney Morning Herald

‘Rondo is a seductive place… strongly recommended.’

Magpies

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First published by Omnibus Books in 2009

This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited, 2014

E-PUB/MOBI eISBN 978-1-921-98960-5

Text copyright © Emily Rodda, 2009

Character illustrations copyright © Martin McKenna, 2009

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.