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He raised his head when Basta opened the door His eyes were almost as pale as the rest of hiht as silver coins The wolanced up when they came in, then bent over to resu have arrived,’ said Basta ‘I thought you ht want to speak to them at once’

Capricorn leaned back in his chair and cast a brief glance at Dustfinger Then his expressionless eyesthe book to her chest, her ar as if he kneas in it He htened up, sie She looked like an old rey hair scraped back and a pointed nose that didn’t see to Capricorn, she left the roo table with eight chairs, a cupboard and a heavy sideboard There were no lamps in the room, only candles, dozens of theie that they filled the rooht

‘Where is it?’ asked Capricorn When he scraped back his chair Meggie flinched involuntarily ‘Don’t tell irl this time’ His voice was more impressive than his face It was dark and heavy, and the ot it with her In that bag,’ replied Dustfinger before Meggie could say so herself His eyes wandered restlessly fro flames interested hi book This woer, pointing to Elinor, ‘changed the books round without telling him She’s a real bookworm I think she lives on print Her whole house is full of books – looks as if she likes the out of Dustfinger’s mouth as if he wanted to be rid of them ‘I didn’t like her froue He always thinks the best of everyone He’d trust the Devil hiie looked at Elinor She was standing there as if tongue-tied Anyone could see she had a guilty conscience

Capricorn htened the belt of his dressing gown, clasped his hands behind his back, and caie She did her best not to flinch, to look firmly and undaunted into those colourless eyes, but fear constricted her throat What a coward she was after all! She tried to think of some hero out of one of her books, soer, bigger, braver Why could she rehtened people when Capricorn looked at her? She usually found it so easy to escape soht inside the minds of people and animals who existed only on paper, so why not now? Because she was afraid ‘Because fear kills everything,’ Mo had once told her ‘Your ie bit her lip to stop herself shaking, but she knew the fear showed in her eyes, and she knew that Capricorn saw it She wished she had a heart of ice and a clever s lips of a child whose father had been stolen away

Now Capricorn was very close to her He scrutinised her No one had ever looked at her like that She felt like a fly stuck to a flypaper just waiting to die

‘How old is she?’ Capricorn looked at Dustfinger as if he didn’t trust Meggie to know the answer herself

‘Twelve!’ she said in a loud voice It wasn’t easy to speak with her lips quivering so hard ‘I’m twelve And I want to knohere my father is’

Capricorn acted as if he hadn’t heard the last sentence ‘Twelve?’ he repeated in the dark voice that weighed so heavily on Meggie’s ears, ‘Three or four , useful to have around the place We’ll have to feed her up a bit, though’ He felt her ars on theie tried to pull away, but Capricorn was gripping her tightly as his pale eyes exaht have looked at a fish A poor little fish wriggling on a hook

‘Let the girl go!’ For the first tilad Elinor’s voice could sound so sharp And Capricorn actually did let go of her arie and put her hands protectively on her shoulders ‘I don’t knohat’s going on here,’ she snapped at Capricorn ‘I don’t knoho you are, or what you and all these e, and I don’t want to know either I’ets her father back We’ll leave you the book you’re so keen to have – although that’s enough to give ie’s father is safe in my car And if for any reason he wants to stay here we’d like to hear it from his own lips’

Capricorn turned his back to her without a word ‘Why did you bring this woirl and the book, I said Why would I want the woirl and the book The words kept repeating inside her head, like an echo The girl and the book, I said Meggie tried to look Dustfinger in the eye, but he avoided her gaze as if it would burn him It hurt to feel so stupid So terribly, terribly stupid

Dustfinger perched on the edge of the table and pinched out one of the candles, gently and slowly as if waiting for the pain, the sharp little stab of the candle flame ‘I’ve told Basta already: our dear friend Elinor couldn’t be persuaded to stay behind,’ he said ‘She didn’t want to let the girl go with ive up the book’

‘And wasn’t I right?’ Elinor’s voice rose to such a pitch that Meggie juued ht to have called the police when he turned up again He came back for the book; that was the only reason’

And for er pretended to be preoccupied with pulling a loose thread from his coat-sleeve But his hands, usually so skilful, were shaking

‘And as for you!’ said Elinor, jabbing Capricorn in the chest with her forefinger Basta took a step forward, but Capricorn waved him away ‘I’ve had a lot of experience with books I myself have had a number of books stolen froot there exactly as they should have done – perhaps you know the saying that all book collectors are vultures and hunters? But you really seem to be the craziest of us all I’m surprised I’ve never heard of you before Where’s your collection?’ She looked enquiringly round the big roole book’

Capricorn put his hands in his dressing-gown pockets and signed to Basta Before Meggie kneas happening, Basta had snatched the plastic bag from her hands He opened it, peered inside suspiciously as if he thought it could contain a snake or soht out the book