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Down at tbe North Gate, Silas Heap was playing a gae had recentlyfeud When Simon Heap, Silas&039;s eldest son, had tried to run off with and e had been horrified Gringe had shut Lucy up in the gatehouse attic to stop her froain It was not until Silas caone off into the Marrahtand had not been seen sincethat Gringe had at last let Lucy out of the attic For Gringe kneell as anyone that the chances of surviving in the Marrae found they had a lot in common There was Lucy and Simon for a startand then there was Counter-Feet Both Silas and Gringe had fondCounter-Feet as boys Counter-Feet was now a very rare board gah it had once been coue final used to be the highlight of the year
At first sight the gaame played with Counters The Counter-Feet board consisted of two castles pided by a river down the center Each player had a set of Counters of various shapes and sizes in their own teaet asplayer&039;s castle But there was a twist in the game: the Counters had minds of their ownand, ame was so popular, but unfortunately this was also the reason for the game&039;s rarity The Charms that created the Counters had been lost in The Great Fire three hundred years ago And since then, radually become incomplete as over the years their Counters had up and left in search of adventure or just in search of abox of Counter-Feet And while no one ever objected to opening his or her box and finding that a whole new colony of Counters had taken up residence, it was a different ot bored with you and left So three hundred years later, most Counters had disappeared: flushed down drains, trodden into the ground or siood time in small, undiscovered Counter colonies under the floorboards
Most Wizards, including Silas, played the Magyk version of Counter-Feet, where the castles and the river on the board were realalthough se had alanted to play with a Magyk set of Counter-Feet When Silas had e that he actually had a coyk Counter-Feet set soe haddislike of the Heap faaular occurrence which both looked forward to
Earlier that , Silas had left the Palace and taken the shortcut to the North Gate, carrying with him his precious box of Counter-Feet Silas had walked slowly, for beside hie, unkeer the young dog he had been, but he still went everywhere with his master As an Ordinary Wizard, Silas Heap wore a deep-blue tunic fastened with a silver belt Like all the Heaps he had fair, curly hair, although his was now beginning to acquire a dusting of gray, but his green eyes were still bright As he walked through the sunny, early- streets, he hummed a contented tune to himself, for unlike Sarah Heap, Silas did not worry about anything for very long and reckoned that things eventually turned out for the best
Silas and Gringe had sat down coatehouse and set up the Counter-Feet board, while casting expert eyes over the Counters and trying to work out what their characters ht be that day Counters were fickle, and you never kne they ao where vou wanted them to; others were not Some would appear to do as you asked and then betray you at the last minute So i havoc The trick was to quickly understand both your Counters and your opponent&039;s Counters, then use your knowledge to get across the board and into the opposing castle Every garessive and the best were hilariously funny Which is why, as Septi he heard was Gringe&039;s loud guffaw
"Ha, you didn&039;t expect &039;iht one that little fat one is I thought &039;e&039;d do summat like that I think that puts e, a stocky, soue round Counter out of a tub by the side of the board The Counter kicked its short, fat legs with excitement and ran onto the board
"Hey," protested Gringe, disht into the river and disappeared into the depths of the water, "yer not supposed to go in there you little b well, well, ain&039;t this your little lad, Silas? Where did &039;e coet just about everywhere, you do"
"I&039;e" Silas chuckled, intent on trying to persuade one of his Counters, the Tunneler, to squeeze into the tunnel that led under Gringe&039;s castle "I knohat you&039;re up to, Gringe As soon as I take my eyes off the board, your Kicker will have kicked my Tunneler into the river I wasn&039;t born yesterday, you know"
"But it&039;s your little Apprentice lad, Silas I think &039;e&039;s up to so some time to wear off He still looked a bit misty Underneath the table, Maxie whined and the hairs on the back of his neck rose
"Good try, Gringe," said Silas, trying to get his Pusher to shove the Tunneler under the castle without much success
"No, &039;e is &039;ere Hello, lad Come to see your dad, have you?"
At last Silas took his eyes off the game and looked up "Oh, hello, Septi Transports already? He&039;s a clever one, est Apprentice to the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, you know," Silas told Gringe, not for the first tie, who had his ar to retrieve his Counter froame was the deluxe version that cae
"Dad, Dad!" yelled Septi this way Get Gringe to raise the drawbridge
Quick!"
"What?"
Silas could see Septi Septie, Dad!" Septimus&039;s voice came back on the last word
"Yes, what is it? No need to shout, Septimus"
The clatter of horse&039;s hooves sounded behind them and Septimus kneas too late He jumped out in front of the horse in a last, desperate atterabbed hold of hiet yourself trampled"
Si to Septi of the horse&039;s hooves and the rush of the wind as the huge black horse sped past
Septio pounding over the drawbridge When they reached the dirt track on the other side, Siht, and, with its hooves slipping on the dry dirt as it turned, the horse sped off toward the North Road The North Road, as Septi the river, over the One Way Bridge and after a day&039;s fast riding would take them into the Border Country, or Badlands, as it was often called in the Castle
"Disgusting!" exclai after the horse "That was a case of reckless riding if ever I saw one Showing off to his girlfriend, that&039;s all it was Young men should not be allowed fast horses if you ask me With theht of anyone else"
"Dad!" shouted Septiet a word in "Dadthat was Simon!"
"Simon?" Silas looked confused "What do you mean? Our Simon?"
"It&039;s Simon and he&039;s taken Jenna!"
"Taken her where? Why? What is going on? Why doesn&039;t anybody ever tell inning to go wrong and not sure exactly why
"I&039; to tell you," said Septimus, exasperated "That was Siain Lucy Gringe, a pretty girl with deep-brown eyes and light brown hair tied into two long plaits that hung to her waist, had appeared at the gatehouse door She wore a si, white summer tunic, which she had embroidered herself with an odd assortment of flowers, and on her feet was a pair of heavy brown boots laced up with pink ribbon Lucy ell known for her unusual approach to clothes
"Si pale under her freckles "Did you say that was Simon?"
"Lucy, I will not have youat the Counter-Feet board and wondering how such an enjoyable htmare But, he told himself sternly, he should have known better Wasn&039;t that always the ith the Heaps? They were nothing but trouble
"Yes, it was Simon, and he has taken Jenna away," said Septione from his voice as he realized that it was too late now to do anything about it
"But," murmured Silas, "I don&039;t understand"
Lucy Gringe understood She understood only too well "Why?" she screamed "Why didn&039;t he takelike, a madman, Sarah," puffed Silas, who had found Sarah with her friend, Sally Mullin, potting herbs in the Palace greenhouse at the bottoarden "He would have traround if I hadn&039;t pulled the lad clearand Jenna was screaasped "I don&039;t believe it"
"Jenna wasn&039;t screa not to upset Sarah any more than she was already "Jenna wouldn&039;t screa, that&039;s all"
"What?" asked Sarah "What did she shout?"
"I don&039;t know," said Septi soshe&039;d be back soon Maybe Si the river," said Sarah, trying hard to convince herself and not doing a very good job of it
Sally, as living at the Palace while her Tea and Ale House was being rebuilt, put a consoling hand on Sarah&039;s arm "You mustn&039;t worry yourself, Sarah," she said "He&039;s just a headstrong youngoff his fast horse to his sister They all do it He&039;ll be back soon"
Sarah gave Sally a grateful glance, but, deep down, Sarah had a very bad feeling about Sied hi to catch his breath He and Septi Maxie asleep under the Counter-Feet table and Gringe dragging Lucy up to the gatehouse tower to stop her fro off in pursuit of Simon
Alther Mella floated anxiously above the potting bench He had spent the previous night down at the Hole in the Wall Tavern, a favorite haunt for ghosts, and had not left as early thatas he should have Alther was annoyed with himself If he&039;d been there, h Alther wasn&039;t quite sure how But at least he could have tried