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SOMETHING IN THE SNOW

Silas Heap pulled his cloak tightly around hih the Forest, and he was chilled to the bone But in his pockets he had the herbs that Galen, the Physik Woiven him for his new baby boy, Septimus, who had been born earlier that day

Silas drew closer to the Castle, and he could see the lights flickering through the trees as candles were placed in the s of the tall narrow houses clustered along the outside walls It was the longest night of the year, and the candles would be kept burning until dawn, to help keep the dark at bay Silas always loved this walk to the Castle He had no fear of the Forest by day and enjoyed the peaceful walk along the narrow track that threaded its way through the dense trees for e of the Forest now, the tall trees had begun to thin out, and as the track began to dip down to the valley floor, Silas could see the whole Castle spread before hied around the higgledy-piggledy cluht colors, and those that faced west looked as if they were on fire as their s caught the last of the winter sun’s rays

The Castle had started life as a sers had put up soainst the wolverines, witches and warlocks who thought nothing of stealing their sheep, chickens and occasionally their children As more houses were built, the walls were extended and a deepso that all could feel safe

Soon the Castle was attracting skilled craftsrew and prospered, so an to run out of space until sos, which here Silas, Sarah and the boys lived, was a huge stone building that rose up along the riverside It sprawled for three ain into the Castle and was a noisy, busy place filled with a warren of passages and rooms, with small factories, schools and shops ardens and even a theater There was not s, but people did not ood company and someone for the children to play with

As the winter sun sank below the Castle walls, Silas quickened his pace He needed to get to the North Gate before they locked it and pulled up the drawbridge at nightfall

It was then that Silas sensed so alive, but only just He are of a small human heartbeat somewhere close to him Silas stopped As an Ordinary Wizard he was able to sense things, but, as he was not a particularly good Ordinary Wizard, he needed to concentrate hard He stood still with the snow falling fast around hi his footprints And then he heard so—a snuffle, a whih

Underneath a bush beside the path was a bundle Silas picked up the bundle and, to his a into the solemn eyes of a tiny baby Silas cradled the baby in his ar in the snow on the coldest day of the year Sohtly in a heavy woolen blanket, but she was already very cold: her lips were a dusky blue and the snow dusted her eyelashes As the baby’s dark violet eyes gazed intently at hi that she had already seen things in her short life that no baby should see

Thinking of his Sarah at home, warm and safe with Septimus and the boys, Silas decided that they would just have to make room for one more little one He carefully tucked the baby into his blue Wizard cloak and held her close to hie just as Gringe, the Gatekeeper, was about to go and yell for the Bridge Boy to start winding it up

“You’re cutting it a bit fine,” growled Gringe “But you Wizards are weird Waddyou all want to be out for on a day like this I dunno”

“Oh?” Silas wanted to get past Gringe as soon as he could, but first he had to cross Gringe’s palm with silver Silas quickly found a silver penny in one of his pockets and handed it over

“Thank you, Gringe Good night”

Gringe looked at the penny as though it were a rather nasty beetle

“Marcia Overstrand, she gave ot class, ith ’er being the ExtraOrdinary Wizard now”

“What?” Silas nearly choked

“Yeah Class, that’s what she’s got”

Gringe stood back to let him pass, and Silas slipped by As much as Silas wanted to find out why Marcia Overstrand was suddenly the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, he could feel the bundle beginning to stir in the war told hie did not know about the baby

As Silas disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel that led to The Raure in purple stepped out and barred his way

“Marcia!” gasped Silas “What on earth—”

“Tell no one you found her She was born to you Understand?”