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Sarah and Silas

The bundle settled down into the Heap household and was called Jenna after Silas&039;s est of the boys, Nicko, was only then Jenna arrived, and he soon forgot about his brother Septiot too They loved their little baby sister and brought hoyk classes at school

Sarah and Silas of course could not forget Septi Sarah alone while he went out to fetch the baby&039;s herbs fro Although she could hardly remember what had happened that terrible day, Sarah knew she had tried to breathe life back into her baby and had failed And she re her little Septi for the door, shouting over her shoulder, "Dead!"

Sarah reht

But Sarah soon loved her little baby girl as much as she had loved her Septimus For a while she was afraid that someone would come and take Jenna away too, but as thebaby, Sarah relaxed and al

Until one day when her best friend, Sally Mullin, arrived breathless on the doorstep Sally Mullin was one of those people who knew everything that was going on in the Castle She was a ser hair that was forever escaping frorubby cook&039;s hat She had a pleasant round face, a little chubby froenerally covered in sprinkles of flour

Sally ran a sn over the door announced:

THE SALLY MULLIN TEA AND ALE HOUSE

CLEAN ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE

NO RIFFRAFF

There were no secrets in Sally Mullin&039;s cafe Anything and anyone arriving at the Castle by water was noticed and co to the Castle did prefer to arrive by boat No one apart froh the Forest that surrounded the castle The Forest still had a bad wolverine probleht and was infested with carnivorous trees Then there were the Wendron Witches, ere always short of cash and had been known to set traps for the unwary traveler and leave them with little more than their shirt and socks

Sally Mullin&039;s cafe was a busy, stea hut perched precariously over the water All shapes and sizes of boats would moor up at the cafe pontoon, and all sorts of people and animals would tumble out of the at least one of Sally&039;s fierce beers and a slab of barley cake, and by telling the latest gossip And anyone in the Castle with half an hour to spare and a ru tummy would soon find themselves on the well-trodden path down to the Port Gate, past the Riverside A the pontoon to Sally Mullin&039;s Tea and Ale House

Sally made it her business to see Sarah every week and keep her up to date with everything In Sally&039;s opinion Sarah was much put-upon with seven children to care for, not to mention Silas Heap, who did very little as far as she could see Sally&039;s stories usually involved people Sarah had never heard of and would never meet, but Sarah looked forward to Sally&039;s visits all the sa on around her However, this time what Sally had to tell her was different This was ossip, and this time it did involve Sarah And, for the first ti about it that Sally did not

Sally swept in and closed the door conspiratorially behind her "I&039;ve got some terrible news," she whispered

Sarah, as trying to wipe breakfast from Jenna&039;s face, and everywhere else that the baby had sprayed it, and clean up after the neolfhound puppy all at the sa

"Hello, Sally," she said "There&039;s a clean space here Come and sit down Cup of tea?"

"Yes, please Sarah, can you believe this?"

"What&039;s that, then, Sally?" asked Sarah, expecting to hear about the latest bad behavior in the cafe

"The Queen The Queen is dead!"

"What?" gasped Sarah She lifted Jenna out of her chair and took her over to the corner of the room where her baby basket was Sarah lay Jenna down for a nap She believed that babies should be kept well away from bad news

"Dead," repeated Sally unhappily

"No!" gasped Sarah "I don&039;t believe it She&039;s just not well after her baby&039;s birth That&039;s why she has not been seen since then"

"That&039;s what the Custodian Guards have been saying, isn&039;t it?" asked Sally

"Well, yes," aduards, so they uarded by such a bunch of thugs, I don&039;t understand"

Sally took the cup of tea that Sarah had placed in front of her

"Ta Mmm, lovely Well, exactly" Sally lowered her voice and looked around as though expecting to find a Custodian Guard propped up in the corner, not that she necessarily would have noticed one amid all the s In fact, they are the ones who killed her"

"Killed? She was killed?" exclaimed Sarah

"Shhh Well, see here" Sally pulled her chair closer to Sarah "There&039;s a story going around - and I have it from the horse&039;s mouth"

"Which horse would that be, then?" asked Sarah with a wry s triumphant, Sally sat back and folded her arms - "that&039;s who"

"What? How co with the ExtraOrdinary Wizard? Did she drop by for a cup of tea?"

"Almost Terry Tarsal did He had been up at the WizardTower delivering some really weird shoes that he hadabout her taste in shoes and how much he hated snakes, he said that he had overheard Marcia talking to one of the other Wizards Endor, that little fat one, I think Well, they said the Queen had been shot! By the Custodian Guards One of their Assassins"

Sarah could not believe what she was hearing "When?" she breathed

"Well, this is the really awful thing," whispered Sally excitedly "They said she was shot on the day her baby was born Six wholeabout it It&039;s terribleterrible And they shot Mr Alther too Dead That&039;s how coasped Sarah "I can&039;t believe it I really can&039;tWe all thought he&039;d retired Silas was his Apprentice years ago He was lovely"