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'I'll wait until later,' said Tiffany She didn't want a discussion about Roland at this point or, really, at all She didn't actually dislike him She'd found him in the land of the Queen of the Fairies and had sort of rescued hih he had been unconscious le when they're feeling edgy can do that to a person Of course, without anyone actually lying, everyone at home had coirl ar pan couldn't possibly have rescued a thirteen-year-old boy who'd got a sword Tiffany hadn'ttoo many questions she didn't want to answer or even kno to But he'd taken tohanging around She kept accidentally running into him on walks more often than was really possible, and he always seee events she went to He was always polite, but she couldn't stand the way he kept looking like a spaniel that had been kicked Ad - he was a lot less of a twit than he had been On the other hand, there had been such of lot of twit to begin with And then she thought, Horse, and wondered why until she realized that her eyes had been watching the landscape while her brain stared at the past'I've never seen that before,' said Miss Tick Tiffany welcomed it as an old friend The Chalk rose out of the plains quite suddenly on this side of the hills There was a little valley cupped into the fall of the down, and there was a carving in the curve itlines so that the bare chalk made the shape of an animal 'It's the White Horse,' said Tiffany 'Why do they call it that?' said Miss Tick Tiffany looked at her 'Because the chalk is white?' she suggested, trying not to suggest that Miss Tick was being a bit dense 'No, I meant why do they call it a horse? It doesn't look like a horse It's justflowing lines'that look as if they're ht back in the old days, people said, by the folk who'd built the stone circles and buried their kind in big earth mounds And they'd cut out the Horse at one end of this little green valley, ten tier than a real horse and, if you didn't look at it with yourshape, too Yet they must have known horses, owned horses, seen them every day, and they weren't stupid people just because they lived a long tio Tiffany had once asked her father about the look of the Horse, when they'd come all the way over here for a sheep fair, and he told her what Granny Aching had told him, too, when he was a little boy He passed on what she said word for word, and Tiffany did the same now "Taint what a horse looks like,' said Tiffany It's what a horse be'

'Oh,' said Miss Tick But because she was a teacher as well as a witch, and probably couldn't help herself, she added, The funny thing is, of course, that officially there is no such thing as a white horse They're called grey' [She had to say that, because she was a witch and a teacher and that's a terrible cos to be correct If you want to upset a witch you don't have to mess around with charms and spells, you just have to put her in a roohtly crooked and watch her squirm] 'Yes, I know,' said Tiffany This one's white,' she added, flatly That quietened Miss Tick down, for a while, but she see on herthe Chalk, aren't you?' she said as the cart rattled on 'No,' said Tiffany It's OK to be,' said Miss Tick Thank you, but I'm not really,' said Tiffany 'If you want to have a bit of a cry, you don't have to pretend you've got soht, actually,' said Tiffany 'Honestly'

'You see, if you bottle that sort of thing up it can cause terrible da, Miss Tick' In fact, Tiffany was a bit surprised at not crying, but she wasn't going to tell Miss Tick that She left a sort of space in her head to burst into tears in, but it wasn't filling up Perhaps it was because she'd wrapped up all those feelings and doubts and left them up on the hill by the pot-bellied stove 'And if of course you were feeling a bit downcast at the moment, I'm sure you could open the present he-' Miss Tick tried 'Tell me about Miss Level,' Tiffany said quickly The na to stay with, but an address like 'Miss Level, Cottage in the Woods near the dead oak tree in Lost Man's Lane, High Overhang, If Out Leave Letters in Old Boot by Door' sounded pro 'Miss Level, yes,' said Miss Tick, defeated 'Er, yes She's not really very old but she says she'll be happy to have a third pair of hands around the place' You couldn't slip words past Tiffany, not even if you were Miss Tick 'So there's someone else there already?' she said 'Erno Not exactly,' said Miss Tick 'Then she's got four ar to avoid a subject Miss Tick sighed It was difficult to talk to someone who paid attention all the time It put you off 'It's best if you wait until you ive you the wrong idea I'ood with people, and in her spare tioats, the enized fats'

'What does a research witch do?' Tiffany asked 'Oh, it's a very ancient craft She tries to find new spells by learning how old ones were really done You know all that stuff about "ear of bat and toe of frog"? They never work, but Miss Level thinks it's because we don't know exactly what kind of frog, or which toe-'

'I' to help anyone chop up innocent frogs and bats,' said Tiffany firmly 'Oh, no, she never kills any!' said Miss Tick hurriedly 'She only uses creatures that have died naturally or been run over or coet quite depressed at times' The cart rolled on, down the white, dusty road, until it was lost froh up they were invisible Grass seeds filled the air Sheep baa'd, high up on the Chalk And then so the road It moved like a little sloind, so it could be seen only by the dust it stirred up As it went past, it made a noise like a swarm of flies Then it, too, disappeared down the hillAfter a while a voice, lon in the long grass, said: 'Ach, crivensl And it's on her trail, right enough!' A second voice said: 'Surely the old hag will spot it?'

'Whut? The teachin' hag? She's nae a proper hag!'

'She's got the pointy hat under all the Yan,' said the second voice, a bit reproachfully 'I seen it She presses a wee spring an' the point comes up!'

'Oh, aye, Hamish, an' I daresay she does the readin' and the writin' well enough, but she disnae ken aboot stuff that's no' in books An' I'm no' showin' meself while she's aroond She's the kind of a body that'd write things doon about a le of the Chalk hated writing for all kinds of reasons, but the biggest one was this: writing stays It fastens words down A an rite it down and who knohat he'll do with those words? Ye ht as weel nail a man's shadow tae the wall! But now they had a new kelda, and a new kelda brings new ideas That's how it's supposed to work It stopped a clan getting too set in its ways Kelda Jeannie was fro Lake clan, up in the s down She didn't see why her husband shouldn't, either And Rob Anybody was finding out that Jeannie was definitely a kelda Sas dripping off his forehead He'd once fought a wolf all by hiain with his eyes shut and one hand tied behind hi now He had , as he understood them 1) Steal some paper 2) Steal a pencil Unfortunately there was more to it than that Now he held the stump of pencil in front of him in both hands, and leaned backwards as two of his brothers pushed him towards the piece of paper pinned up on the chamber wall (it was an old bill for sheep bells, stolen from the farm) The rest of the clan watched, in fascinated horror, froalleries around the walls 'Mebbe I could kind o' ease ently,' he protested as his heels left little grooves in the packed-earth floor of the mound 'Mebbe I could just do one o' they co Man, Rob Anybody, so it's fittin' ye should be the first tae do the writin',' said Jeannie 'I canna hae a husband who canna even write his ain name I showed you the letters, did I not?'

'Aye, wurowled Rob 'I dinnae trust that Q, that's a letter that has it in for a , that one!'

'You just hold the pencil on the paper and I'll tell ye whather arms 'Aye, but 'tis a bushel of trouble, writin',' said Rob 'A rit doon can hang a man!'

'Wheest, now, stop that! 'Tis easy!' snapped Jeannie 'Bigjob babbies can do it, and you're a full growed Feegle!'

'An' writin' even goes on sayin' athe pencil as if trying to ward off evil spirits 'Ye cannae tell ht!'

'Oh, so you're afeared o' the letters, is that it?' said Jeannie, artfully 'Ach, that's fine All bigTake the pencil off'f him, Wullie Ye cannae ask a man to face his fears' There was silence in the mound as Daft Wullie nervously took the pencil stub from his brother Every beady eye was turned to Rob Anybody His hands opened and shut He started to breathe heavily, still glaring at the blank paper He stuck out his chin 'Ach, ye're a harrrrd wule!' he said at last He spat on his hands and snatched back the pencil stub from Daft Wullie 'Gimme that tool o' perdition! Them letters won't knohut's hit them!'

'There's my brave lad!' said Jeannie as Rob squared up to the paper 'Right, then The first letter is an R That's the one that looks like a fat , rerunting fiercely and with his tongue sticking out of the corner of his h the curves and lines of the letters He looked at the kelda expectantly after each one That's it,' she said, at last 'A bonny effort!' Rob Anybody stood back and looked critically at the paper 'That's it?' he said 'Aye,' said Jeannie 'Ye've writ your ain naonna go to pris'n noo?' he said

There was a polite cough froed to the Toad He had no other nao in for names Despite sinister forces that would have people think differently, no toad has ever been called To that happens This toad had once been a lawyer (a hue without theod but had been a bit hazy on the difference Now he lived in the Feegle mound, where he ate wor I've told you, Mr Anybody, that just having your name written down is no probleal about the words "Rob Anybody" Unless, of course,' and the toad gave a little legal laugh, It's hed They liked their humour to be a bit, well, funnier Rob Anybody stared at his very shaky writing 'That's my name, aye?'