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so the frantic witches around the hiver, where there was an occasional flash and sparkle of ic She had a calm, faraway look Tiffany brushed Miss Tick's arm away, ducked under the rope and ran up to her 'Granny!' The blue eyes turned to her 'Yes?'

'In stories, where the genie or the ives you three wisheswhat's the third wish?'

'Ah, stories,' said Granny That's easy In any story worth the tellin', that knows about the way of the world, the third wish is the one that undoes the harm the first tishes caused'

'Yes! That's it! That's it!' shouted Tiffany, and the words piling up behind the question poured out 'It's not evil! It can't be! It hasn't got a mind of its own! This is all about wishes! Our wishes! It's like in the stories, where they-'

'Calm down Take a deep breath,' said Granny She took Tiffany by the shoulders so that she faced the panicking crowd 'You got frightened for ato turn back, not now, 'cos it's desperate It don't even see the crowd, they don'tto it It's you it wants It's you it's after You should be the one who faces it Are you ready?'

'But supposing I lose-'

'I never got where I a lady You beat it once, you can do it again!'

'But I could turn into so terrible!' Then you'll face round But that won't happen, will it? You were fed up with grubby babies and silly women? Then this isthe other stuff It's noon now They should've started the Trials proper, but, hah, it looks as though people have forgotten Now, thendo you have it in you to be a witch by noonlight, far away from your hills?'

'Yes!' There was no other answer, not to Granny Weatherwax Granny Weatherwax bowed low and then took a few steps back 'In your own tiht Tiffany, distracted, fu in her pockets for the bits to ives us e think ant! And what do people ask for? More wishes! You couldn't say: A ot into my head and made me do it She'd wished the ht You couldn't say: Yes, but I'd never have really taken it! The hiver used what it found - the little secret wishes, the desires, the s that real hunore the flipped out of her hands, trusted in gravity and smashed on the toe of her boot She stared at it, the blackness of despair darkening the noonlight Why did I try this?

I've never made a shamble that worked, so why did I try? Because I believed it had to work this time, that's why Like in a story Suddenly it would all beall right But this isn't a story, and there are no h up and the sound of it took Tiffany home in the bounce of a heartbeat It was a buzzard, in the eye of the sun, getting bigger in its plunge towards the field It soared up again as it passed over Tiffany's head, fast as an arrow, and as it did so, soo its hold on the buzzard's talons with a cry of 'Crivens!' Rob Anybody dropped like a stone, but there was a thwap! and suddenly a balloon of cloth snapped open above him Two balloons, in fact, or to put it another way, Rob Anybody had 'borrowed' Hao of them as soon as they'd slowed him down, and dropped neatly into the sha onto the strings 'I'ht noo!'

'What? I can't!' said Tiffany, trying to shake his! What goose?'

'Dinnae argue!' shouted Rob, bouncing up and down in the strings 'Do it! Or ye're no' the hag of the hills! An' I know ye are!' People were running past now Tiffany glanced up She thought she could see the hiver now as a le in her hands and at Rob's grinning face The s, said her Second Thoughts Get past the 'I can't' O-KWhy hasn't it ever worked before? Because there was no reason for it to work I didn't need it to work I need it to help nore the noise, ignore the hiver rolling towards her over the trodden grassShe'd use the things she'd had, so that was right Calm down Slon Look at the shas fros at all This tied at the silver horse around her neck, breaking its chain, then hanging it in the threads Suddenly her thoughts were as cool and clear as ice, as bright and shiny as they needed to be Let's seethat looks better thereand that needs to be pulled this wayThe ently, passing through the threads and Rob Anybody, who said, 'Didnae hurt a bit! Keep goin'!' Tiffany felt a tingle in her feet The horse gleamed as it turned

'I dinnae want to hurry ye!' said Rob Anybody 'But hurry!' I'ht Tiffany, in the same clear way, but I have it in ain- Ahh Can I be a witch away from my hills? Of course I can I never really leave you, Land Under WaveShepherds on the Chalk felt the ground shake, like thunder under the turf Birds scattered froround trembled Some people said a shadow crossed the sun Some people said they heard the sound of hooves And a boy trying to catch hares in the little valley of the Horse said the hillside had burst and a horse had leaped out like a wave as high as the sky, with a mane like the wave of the sea and a coat as white as chalk He said it had galloped into the air like rising ot punished for telling stories, of course, but he thought it orth it The sha froht, she saw the hiver reach her and spread out until it was all around her, invisibility ht oddly In those glints and sparkles there were faces, wavering and stretching like reflections in water Ti slowly She could see, beyond the wall of hiver, witches staring at her One had lost her hat in the co in the air It hadn't had tiers moved The hiver shimmered in the air, disturbed like a pond when a pebble has been dropped into it Tendrils of it reached towards her She felt its panic, felt its terror as it found itself caught- 'Welcome,' said Tiffany Welcome? said the hiver in Tiffany's own voice 'Yes You are welcome in this place You are safe here' No! We are never safe! 'You are safe here,' Tiffany repeated Please! said the hiver Shelter us! The wizard was nearly right about you,' said Tiffany 'You hid in other creatures But he didn't wonder why What are you hiding fro, said the hiver 'I think I knohat you mean,' said Tiffany Do you? Do you knohat it feels like to be aware of every star, every blade of grass? Yes You do You call it 'opening your eyes again' But you do it for a moment We have done it for eternity No sleep, no rest, just endlessendless experience, endless awareness Of everything All the time Hoe envy you, envy you! Lucky humans, who can close youryou call boredom? That is the rarest talent in the

universe! We heard a song, it went 'Twinkle twinkle little star' What power! What wondrous power! You can take a billion trillion tons of flath, and turn it into a little song for children! You build little worlds, little stories, little shells around your minds and that keeps infinity at bay and allows you to wake up in the ! Completely binkers! said a cheerful voice at the back of Tiffany's memory You just couldn't keep Dr Bustle down Pity us, yes, pity us, said the voices of the hiver No shield for us, no rest for us, no sanctuary But you, you withstood us We saw that in you You have minds within minds Hide us! 'You want silence?' said Tiffany Yes, and more than silence, said the voice of the hiver You hus You are almost blind and almost deaf You look at a tree and seejust a tree, a stiff weed You don't see its history, feel the pu of the sap, hear every insect in the bark, sense the chereen, the tiny rowth of the wood'But you don't understand us,' said Tiffany 'I don't think any huive us what you think ant, as soon as ant it, just like in fairy stories And the wishes always go wrong' Yes We know that now We have an echo of you now We haveunderstanding, said the hiver So noe coht 'Yes,' said Tiffany 'That's always the last wish, the third wish It's the one that says "Make this not have happened"' Teach us the way to die, said the voices of the hiver 'I don't know it!' All humans know the way, said the voices of the hiver You walk it every day of your short, short lives You know it We envy you your knowledge You kno to end You are very talented I ht Soet past the 'I can't'She held up the glittering shaht still spun off it, but she didn't need it any more She could hold the power in the centre of herself It was all a ing in the threads, but all his hair had coreat red ball He looked stunned 'I could just round, where he swayed slightly, then she put the rest of the shamble in her pocket 'Thank you, Rob,' she said 'But I want you to go now It could getserious' It was, of course, the wrong thing to say 'I'm no' leavin'!' he snapped 'I proet on wi' it!' There was no arguing Rob was standing in that half-crouch of his, fists bunched, chin out, ready for anything and burning with defiance 'Thank you,' said Tiffany, and straightened up

Death is right behind us, she thought Life ends, and there's death, waiting Soit must be close Very close It would bea door Yes An old door, old wood Dark, too She turned Behind her, there was a black door in the air The hinges would creak, she thought When she pushed it open, they did So-ooshe thought, this isn't exactly real I'h for it all to work I just have to keep balanced on that edge for it to go on working, too And that's as hard as not thinking about a pink rhinoceros And if Granny Weatherwax can do that, I can too Beyond the door, black sand stretched away under a sky of pale stars There were soh, said the voices of the hiver 'If you'll tak' my advice, you'll no' do that,' said Rob Anybody from Tiffany's ankle 'I dinnae trust the scunner one wee bitty!'

'There's part of me in there I trust that,' she said 'I did say you don't have to coh there alone, aot a clan and a wife, Rob!'