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The Rubbish Chute

When Jenna threw herself into the rubbish chute she was so terrified of the Assassin that she did not have time to be afraid of the chute But as she tumbled uncontrollably doard into the pitch blackness she felt an overwhel panic well up inside her

The inside of the rubbish chute was as cold and slippery as ice It was hly polished black slate, seamlessly cut and joined by the Master Masons who had built the WizardTower o The drop was steep, too steep for Jenna to have any control over how she fell, so she tu fro was the dark

It was thick, deep, impenetrable black It pressed in on Jenna froh she strained her eyes desperately to see anything, anything at all, there was no response Jenna thought she had gone blind

But she could still hear And behind her, co up fast, Jenna could hear the swish of daood tiame Maxie had been a little surprised when he had jumped into the chute and not found Silas ready with his ball He was even more surprised when his paws didn&039;t see to find out why Then he had bumped his nose on the back of the scary wo off her hair, but at that point she had given him a violent shove that had flipped him over onto his back

And now Maxie was happy Nose first, paws held in close, he became a streamlined streak of fur, and he overtook theo Past Jenna, who screaht ball And then past hispast Silas, because Silas was Top Dog and Maxie was Not Allowed in Front But the wolfhound had no choice - he sailed by Silas in a shower of cold stew and carrot peelings and carried on down

The rubbish chute snaked around the WizardTower like a giant helter-skelter buried deep inside the thick walls It dropped steeply between each floor, taking with it not only Maxie, Silas, Boy 412, Jenna, Nicko and Marcia but also the remains of all the Wizards&039; lunches, which had been tipped into the chute that afternoon The WizardToenty-one stories high The top two floors belonged to the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, and on each floor below that there were two Wizard apartments That&039;s a lot of lunches It olfhound heaven, and Maxie ate enough scraps on his way down the WizardTower to keep hi for the rest of the day

Eventually, after what felt like hours but was in fact only two minutes and fifteen seconds, Jenna felt the al that was bearable She did not know it, but she now had left the WizardTower and was traveling below the ground, out from the foot of the Tower and toward the basements of the Courts of the Custodians It was still pitch-black and freezing cold in the chute, and Jenna felt very alone She strained her ears to hear any sounds that the others , but everyone kne important it was to keep quiet and no one dared to call out Jenna thought that she could detect the swish of Marcia&039;s cloak behind her, but since Maxie had hurtled past her she had had no sign that there was anyone else with her at all The thought of being alone in the dark forever began to take hold of her, and another tide of panic started to rise But just as Jenna thought she ht shone down frolimpse of Boy 412 huddled into a ball not far in front of her Jenna&039;s spirits lifted at the sight of hi sorry for the thin, cold sentry boy in his pajamas

Boy 412 was in no state to feel sorry for anyone, least of all hiold circle on her head had pushed him into the abyss he had instinctively curled himself up into a ball and had spent the entire descent down the Wizard Tower rattling from side to side of the chute like a marble in a drainpipe Boy 412 felt bruised and battered but no more terrified than he had been since he awoke to find himself in the cohost As he too slowed dohen the chute leveled out, Boy 412&039;s brain began to work again The few thoughts that he ether ca Ar on you in the ht, just as you had fallen asleep and made your cold narrow bed as war Test This ritted his teeth; he wasn&039;t sure, but right now it felt horribly like this was the Die part of the test Whatever it was, there wasn&039;t htly and kept rolling along

The chute took them ever doard It turned left and traveled underneath the Custodian Council Chaht on where it burrowed through the thick walls of the underground kitchens that served the Palace This here things became particularlyup after the Supreme Custodian&039;s midday banquet, and the hatches in the kitchen, which were not far above the travelers in the rubbish chute, opened with alar frequency and showered them with the mixed-up remains of the feast Even Maxie, who had by now eaten as much as he possibly could, found it unpleasant, especially after a solidified rice pudding hit hiest Kitchen Maid who threw the rice pudding caught a glihtmares about wolves in the rubbish chute for weeks

For Marcia it was a nightravy-splattered purple silk cloak with the custard-coated fur lining tightly around her, ducked a shower of brussels sprouts and tried to rehearse the One-Second Dry Clean Spell to use the ot out of the chute

At last the chute took thehtly cleaner Jenna briefly allowed herself to relax, but suddenly her breath was taken away as the chute dipped sharply down under the Castle walls toward its final destination at the riverside rubbish dump

Silas recovered first fro to the end of their journey He peered into the darkness to try to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but he could h he knew that by now the sun had set, he had hoped that with the full h And then, to his surprise, he slid to a halt against sousting It was Maxie

Silas ondering why Maxie was blocking up the rubbish chute when Boy 412, Jenna, Nicko and Marcia cannoned into him in quick succession Silas realized that it was not just Maxie as soft, sli - they all did

"Dad?" Jenna&039;s scared voice came out of the darkness "Is that you, Dad?"

"Yes, poppet," whispered Silas

"Where are we, Dad?" asked Nicko hoarsely He hated the rubbish chute Up until his leap into it Nicko had had no idea that he was terrified of confined spaces; what a way to find out, he thought Nicko hadhi and they would soon be out But now they had stopped And they weren&039;t out