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‘That’s right’ Silvertongue went so close to the guard that the man took a step back ‘Co’

The guard nodded sullenly ‘Yes, yes, all right,’ heover to the church ‘There’s no point standing guard here anyway What do they think will happen? Do they expect the fire-eater to coold? That felloas always lily-livered, he’ll be well away by now, he--’ But suddenly, while the guard was still looking at the church, Silvertongue seized the gun and hit hied him round behind Capricorn’s house where it was pitch dark

‘Did you hear what he said?’ Farid had quickly gagged the guard and was expertly tying a rope round the er must have escaped! He said "he’ll be well away" He can’t have hter is still here’ Silvertongue gave him the rucksack and looked round, but the square was now so deserted and quiet it was as if they were the only people left in Capricorn’s village Not a sound was heard froht he had eyes for nothing but the events taking place on the brightly lit football field

Farid took two torches and the bottle of inflaot away, he was thinking, he got away! He could alue went back to Capricorn’s house, peered into several s, and finally broke one of thelass to hter and music drifted up from the car park

‘The er’s things until Silvertongue took the rucksack froet the torches ready’

Farid did as he was told He carefully soaked the cotton wool in the acrid-sht, he’ll come back to look for Gwin, and then he’ll fetch me Voices came from one of the alleys Men’s voices For a few terrible ain, sed up by the ht like a foul smell

Silvertongue was still looking for thehis hand fros were smeared over his thumb He wiped theain and threw Farid a box ofelse out – the little book that Dustfinger kept in a side pocket he had sewn inside Farid had often looked at it It had pictures stuck in it, cut-out pictures of fairies and witches, trolls and dragons, brownies, nyh it while Farid was soaking the second torch A photograph was lying between the pages – the photograph of Capricorn’s er and was to die for it tonight! Or had she escaped with hiraph and suddenly it was as if nothing else in the world existed

‘What’s thetorch The flary How beautiful it was! Farid licked his finger and passed it through the flaue It would be best for hih theBut Silvertongue just stood there gazing at the photo

‘That’s the woht too I think he’s in love with her Here’ Once again he held the burning torch out to Silvertongue ‘What are you waiting for?’

Silvertongue looked at him as if he had been woken from a dream ‘In love … in love,’ he murmured as he took the torch froraph in the breast pocket of his shirt, cast another glance at the eh the brokeninto Capricorn’s house

‘Give !’ cried Farid Silvertongue did as he asked The room seemed to be some kind of office Farid saw paper, a desk, a picture of Capricorn on the wall So the sheets of paper covered riting, it licked and gulped, it whispered with delight at such a feast, flared up and leaped on, from the desk to the curtains at theGreedily, it consumed the dark fabric The whole room was filled with red and yellow S Farid’s eyes

‘I ue put him down abruptly The ue ran off along the street leading down to the car park Farid watched hiout of the , then he began shouting ‘Fire! Capricorn’s house is on fire!’ His voice echoed over the e house and looked up at the church tower The guard there had leaped to his feet Farid lit the second torch and threw it at the church porch The air began to suard froze, turned, and – at last – he rang the bell

And Farid ran off to follow Silvertongue

55

Treachery, Loose Talk, and Stupidity

Then he said, ‘Without a doubt, I et out of this narrow prison’

Tales fro considerable courage Of course she still did not know exactly what fate awaited her – and if her niece knew more than she did, she hadn’t told her – but she could be sure it would be nothing pleasant Nor did Teresa give the men who ca her shed tears She couldn’t curse thearer wore Luckily, she had two pieces of paper with her, crumpled, dirty scraps, much too small for all the words unspoken over nine years She had filled the paper with tiny writing until there wasn’t space for a single wordabout herself and what had happened to her, and just waved Elinor’s whispered questions impatiently away There were questions of her own she wanted to ask, question after question about her daughter and her husband Elinor whispered the answers into her ear, very quietly so Basta in the adjoining cell would not realise that the tomen ere about to die with hier one had learned to walk holding on to Elinor’s endless bookshelves

Basta was not in a good way Whenever they looked at hi to the bars, knuckles white under his sun-tanned skin Once, Elinor thought she heard hi, but when they were taken out of the cells his face was as vacant as a dead uards locked thee he crouched on the floor in a corner, and sat as e s pound Several of Capricorn’s rey bars before sitting down on the benches that had been made ready for theh scorn and derision for ten uess at the depths of his despair All the same, Elinor and Teresa kept as far away froe They also kept away froh, the faces the arettes flicked at thelad and sorry to be with one another