Page 15 (1/2)

Midnight at the Beach

"Uncle Alther!" yelled Jenna happily She scra on the beach staring, puzzled, at a fishing rod he was holding

"Princess!" Alther bea, which always h a warh her "Well, well," said Alther, "I used to coht the fishing rod too I hoped I hed She could not believe that Uncle Alther had ever been a boy "Are you co with us, Uncle Alther?" she asked

"Sorry, Princess I can&039;tYou know the rules of Ghosthood:

A Ghost , he has trod before

And, unfortunately, as a boy I never got farther than this beach here Toothe subject, "is that a picnic basket I see in the bottoy coil of rope was the picnic basket that Sally Mullin had roaned "What has she put in it?" Silas lifted the lid "Ah, that explains it" He sighed "Stuffed full of barley cake Still, it ood ballast, hey?"

"Dad," remonstrated Jenna "Don&039;t be mean Anye like barley cake, don&039;t we, Nicko?"

Nicko pulled a face, but Boy 412 looked hopeful Food He was so hungry - he couldn&039;t even re he had to eat Oh, yes, that was it, a bowl of cold, lu It seemed a lifetime away

Silas lifted out the other rather squashed items that lay under the barley cake A tinder box and dry kindling, a can of water, so a s the can of water over it to boil while everyone clustered around the flickering fla on the thick slabs of cake

Even Marcia ignored the barley cake&039;s well-known tendency to glue the teeth together and ate alulped down his share and finished off all the bits that anyone else had left too Then he lay back on the daain He felt as though someone had poured concrete into him

Jenna put her hand in her pocket and took out Petroc Trelawney He sat very still and quiet in her hand, Jenna stroked his and waved the on his back like a stranded beetle

"Oops, wrong way up" Jenna chuckled She set hiht way up, and Petroc Trelawney opened his eyes and blinked slowly Jenna stuck a crumb of barley cake on her thumb and offered it to the pet rock

Petroc Trelawney blinked again, gave the barley cake soht, then nibbled delicately at the cake crumb Jenna was thrilled "He&039;s eaten it!" she exclaimed

"He would," said Nicko "Rock cake for a pet rock Perfect"

But even Petroc Trelawney could not azed around him for a few more minutes and then closed his eyes and went back to sleep in the warmth of Jenna&039;s hand

Soon the water in the can over the fire was boiling Silas melted the dark chocolate squares into it and added the milk He mixed it up just the way he liked it, and when it was about to bubble over, he poured in the sugar and stirred

"The best hot chocolate ever," Nicko pronounced No one disagreed as the can was passed around and finished all too soon

While everyone was eating, Alther had been practicing his casting technique with his fishing rod in a preoccupied manner, and when he saw that they had finished, he wafted over to the fire He looked serious "So happened after you left," he said quietly

Silas felt a weight lurch to the bottom of his stomach, and it wasn&039;t just the barley cake It was dread

"What is it, Alther?" asked Silas, horribly sure that he was going to hear that Sarah and the boys had been captured

Alther knehat Silas was thinking "It&039;s not that, Silas," he said "Sarah and the boys are fine But it is very bad Doasped Marcia "He can&039;t coot the Amulet And I&039;ve left the Tower stuffed full of Wizards - there&039;s enough Magyk in that tower to keep the old has-been buried in the Badlands where he belongs Are you sure he&039;s back, Alther, and it&039;s not so little rat - is playing while I&039;m away?"

"It&039;s no joke, Marcia," Alther said "I saw him myself As soon as Muriel had rounded Raven&039;s Rock, he Materialized in the Wizard Tower Courtyard The whole place crackled with Darke Magyk Smelled terrible Sent the Wizards into a blind panic, scurrying here, there and everywhere, like a crowd of ants when you tread on their nest"

"That&039;s disgraceful What were they thinking of? I don&039;t know, the quality of the average Ordinary Wizard is appalling nowdays," said Marcia, casting a glance in Silas&039;s direction "And where was Endor? She&039;s meant to be my deputy - don&039;t tell me Endor panicked as well?"

"No No, she didn&039;t She came out and confronted him She put a Bar across the doors to the Tower"

"Oh, thank goodness The Tower is safe" Marcia sighed with relief

"No, Marcia, it&039;s not DomDaniel struck Endor doith a Thunderflash She&039;s dead" Alther tied a particularly co line "I&039;m sorry," he said

"Dead," Marcia mumbled

"Then he Removed the Wizards"

"All of them? Where to?"

"They all shot off toward the Badlands - there was nothing they could do I expect he&039;s got them in one of his Burron there" "Oh, Alther"

"Then the Supreme Custodian - that horrible littleand practically drooling all over his Master The next thing I know he&039;s escorted DomDaniel into the Wizard Tower and up toer, well, up to your rooms, Marcia"

"My rooms? DomDaniel in my rooms?"

"Well, you&039;ll be pleased to knoas in no fit state to appreciate theot up there, as they had to walk all the way up There wasn&039;t enough Magyk left to keep the stairs working Or anything else in the Tower for that matter"

Marcia shook her head in disbelief "I never thought DomDaniel could do this Never"

"No, neither did I," said Alther

"I thought," said Marcia, "that as long as we Wizards could hang on until the Princess was old enough to wear the Croould be all right Then we could get rid of those Custodians, the Young Ar Darkenesse that infests the Castle and makes peoples&039; lives so miserable"

"So did I," said Alther, "but I followed Do on to the Supreme Custodian about how he couldn&039;t believe his luck - not only had you left the Castle, but you had taken the one obstacle to his return with you"

"Obstacle?"

"Jenna"

Jenna gazed at Alther in dismay "Me? An obstacle? Why?"

Alther stared at the fire, deep in thought "It see that awful old Necro there And very likely your mother did too I alondered why he sent the Assassin for the Queen and not for me"

Jenna shivered She suddenly felt very afraid Silas put his arh now, Alther There&039;s no need to frighten us all out of our wits Frankly, I think you just dropped off to sleep and had a nightet thes that any decent ExtraOrdinary Wizard would have seen off years ago"

"I a to just sit here and be insulted like this," Marcia spluttered "You have no idea the things we have tried to get rid of them No idea at all It&039;s been all we can do to keep the WizardTower going sometimes And with no help from you, Silas Heap"

"Well, I don&039;t knohat the fuss is all about, Marcia DomDaniel&039;s dead" Silas replied

"No, he&039;s not," said Marcia quietly

"Don&039;t be silly, Marcia," snapped Silas "Alther threw hio"

Jenna and Nicko gasped "Did you really, Uncle Alther?" asked Jenna

"No!" exclaimed Alther crossly "I didn&039;t He threw himself off"

"Well, whatever," said Silas stubbornly "He&039;s still dead"

"Not necessarily" said Alther in a low voice, staring into the fire The light fro shadows over everyone except Alther, who floated unhappily through the to undo the knot he had just tied in his fishing line The fire blazed for a moment and lit up the circle of people around it

Suddenly Jenna spoke"What did happen on top of the WizardToith DomDaniel, Uncle Alther?" she whispered

"It&039;s a bit of a scary story, Princess I don&039;t want to frighten you"

"Oh, go on, tell us," said Nicko "Jen likes scary stories"

Jenna nodded a little uncertainly

"Well," said Alther, "it&039;s hard for me to tell it in my oords, but I&039;ll tell you the story as I once heard it spoken around a caht with a full h in the sky, and it was told by an old and wise Wendron Witch Mother to her witches"

And so, beside the fire, Alther Mella changed his forreen Speaking in the witch&039;s quiet Forest burr, he began

"This is where the story begins: on top of a golden Pyra a tall silver Tower The WizardTower shih that the crowd of people gathered at its foot appear like ants to the youngup the stepped sides of the Pyra man has looked down at the ants once already and felt sick with the giddy sensation of height He now keeps his gaze firure in front of hireat advantage, has no fear of heights The older man&039;s purple cloak flies out from him in the brisk wind that always plays around the top of the Tower, and to the crowd below he looks like nothingup to the point of the Pyramid

"What, the watchers below ask the? And isn&039;t that his Apprentice following hi him even?

"The Apprentice, Alther Mella, now has his Master, Dorasp DomDaniel has reached the pinnacle of the Pyraold inlaid with the silver hieroglyphs that Enchant the Tower Do out behind hi in the sun He is daring his Apprentice to come closer