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Frozen

The trapdoor slowly rose a few inches, and Boy 412 peered out A chill ran though him The door to the potion cupboard had been throide open, and he was looking straight at the heels of the Hunter&039;swith his back to the potion cupboard, only a few feet aas the figure of the Hunter, his green cloak thrown over his shoulder and his silver pistol held at the ready He was facing the kitchen door, poised as if about to rush forward

Boy 412 waited to see what the Hunter was about to do, but theProbably for Aunt Zelda to walk out of the kitchen

Willing Aunt Zelda to stay away, Boy 412 reached down and held his hand out for Jenna&039;s Shield Bug

Jenna stood anxiously on the ladder below him She could tell that all was not well from how tense and still Boy 412 had become When his hand reached down she took the rolled-up Shield Bug from her pocket and passed it up to Boy 412, as they had planned, sending it a silent good luck wish as she did so Jenna had begun to like the bug and was sorry to see it go

Carefully, Boy 412 took the bug and slowly pushed it through the open trapdoor He set the tiny ar sure he kept hold of it, and pointed it in the right direction

Straight at the Hunter

Then he let go At once the bug uncurled itself, locked its piercing green eyes on to the Hunter and unsheathed its sith a s noise Boy 412 held his breath at the noise and hoped the Hunter had not heard, but the stocky reen made no move Boy 412 slowly breathed out and, with a flick of his finger, he sent the bug into the air, toward its target, with a shrill shriek

The Hunter did nothing

He didn&039;t turn or even flinch as the bug landed on his shoulder and raised its sword to strike Boy 412 was ih, but surely this was taking things too far

And then Aunt Zelda appeared

"Look out!" yelled Boy 412 "The Hunter!"

Aunt Zelda jumped Not because of the Hunter but because she had never heard Boy 412 speak before and so she had no idea who had spoken Or where the unknown voice was co from

Then, to Boy 412&039;s a off the Hunter and tapped it to make it roll back into a ball

And still the Hunter did nothing

Briskly, Aunt Zelda put the bug into one of herwhere the unfaht of Boy 412 peering out froasped "Thank goodness you&039;re all right Where&039;s Jenna?"

"Here," said Boy 412, half afraid to speak in case the Hunter heard But the Hunter gave no sign of having heard anything at all, and Aunt Zelda treated hi more than an aard piece of furniture as she walked around his iure, lifted up the trapdoor and helped Boy 412 and Jenna out

"What a wonderful sight, both of you safe," she said happily "I was so worried"

"But - what about him" Boy 412 pointed to the Hunter

"Frozen," said Aunt Zelda with an air of satisfaction "Frozen solid and staying that way Until I decide what to do with hiht?" asked Jenna as she claone after the Apprentice," said Aunt Zelda

As Aunt Zelda finished speaking, the front door crashed open and the dripping-wet Apprentice was propelled inside, followed by an equally dripping-wet Nicko "Pig," spat Nicko, slao of the boy and went over to the blazing fire to get dry

The Apprentice dripped unhappily on the floor and looked over to the Hunter for help He dripped even more unhappily when he sahat had happened The Hunter stood Frozen ininto space with e wo purposefully toward him, and he knew only too ho it was from the Illustrated Enemy Cards he had had to study before he came on the Hunt

It was the Mad White Witch, Zelda Zanuba Heap

Not to mention the Wizard boy, Nickolas Benjamin Heap, and 412,, the lowlife runaway deserter They were all here, just as he had been told they would be But where was the one they had really co?

The Apprentice looked around and caught sight of Jenna in the shadows behind Boy 412 He took in Jenna&039;s gold circlet shining against her long dark hair and her violet eyes, just like the picture on the Enemy Card (drawn very skillfully by Linda Lane, the spy) The Queenling was a little taller than he had expected, but it was definitely her