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Nicko and Septile beach in a se of the Forest Nicko kneell; this here he always moored his boat when he came to visit his brothers They had sailed about fivetide Jannit had insisted on Nicko taking a sood riverboat which had a cabin in case they had to spend the night in it, but Nicko had hopes of getting straight into the Forest and finding the boys&039; cah the Forest at night, for it was a dangerous place after dark Wild packs of wolverines roah the trees and s hovered in the air Soht: they would swoop their branches down and enfold their victi there would be nothing left but a dried-out skeleton hanging a the leaves

It was late afternoon when they arrived at the beach, and Nicko knew they had five hours of daylight left which was, he reckoned, easily long enough to reach the boys&039; camp safely

Septi Arhts there as part of the Do-or-Die night exercises that the boy soldiers had to endure They would be woken in the erousvery often it was the Forest

There were two nights in the Forest that Septiet One was the time that his very best friend, Boy 409, had rescued him A pack of wolverines had trapped nim and were about to pounce Boy 409 had rushed to his side, yelling so loudly that the lead wolverine had, for a brief moment, become confused, and in that moment Boy 409 had hauled Septiht had been when Septimus wouldn&039;t have cared very much if a pack of wolverines had pounced on him That hen Boy 409 had fallen overboard on their way down the river to the Forest The river was rough and flowing fast and a freak wave had hit the Young Army boat The boat was overloaded and Boy 409 had lost his footing and fallen overboard He was never seen again Septio back for Boy 409 but he had refused Boy 409 was just another Expendable, and the whole point of a Do-or-Die exercise had been to weed out "the weak, the scared and the stupid," as the Leader Cadet had put it But usually the Do-or-Dies, as they were known, simply weeded out the unlucky

When Nicko was satisfied that the boat was properly tied up to allow for the rise and fall of the tides, and everything onboard was neatly stoay, he pulled a tattered piece of paper fro it to Septiling lines that wandered across the scrap of paper like slug trails over a pane of glass "Oh," he said He didn&039;t think much of the ht," said Nicko reassuringly "I know the way FollowNicko as they started their journey into the Forest The outskirts of the Forest were fairly easy to walk through; the trees idely spaced, and dappled sunlight shone through the branches high above their heads Nicko confidently took a narrow track and walked briskly along, weaving in and out of the trees along the winding, snakelike track

As Nicko led theer and grew closer together, the sunlight faded into dark green shadows and a heavy silence began to enclose therew narrower andto rehts He ondering what he was doing, walking deep into the Forest when he had set off to go to the Farmlands Jenna must be miles away by now, on the other side of the riverand here he was going in the opposite direction, just because Nicko had persuaded him to After a while Septimus broke the silence and said, "Are you sure they&039;ll want to help?"

"Of course they will," replied Nicko "They&039;re our brothers, aren&039;t they? Brothers stick together Except for Simon, of course"

Septi his brothers He had been reunited with most of his family for a year and a half, but in all that ti wild in the Forest Silas had promised to take Septimus to visit them but somehow it had never happened Marcia was either too busy to let hi day

"What are they like?" Septi fisherht see hi places Edd and Erik are just a laugh Always playing jokes on everyone and switching places They still look so alike that I can&039;t always tell the difference And Jo-Jo is quiet but really clever He likes herbs an&039; stuffa bit like Mu to picture theet used to being part of such a large fa the first ten years of his life with no family at all

"But," said Nicko, "like I said, the one we&039;ve really come to see is the tracker, Wolf Boy"

"The one they found in the Forest?"

"Yeah He lives with the with the wolverines for a while, but the wolverines probably chucked hi like a cub He hen the boys first ca and scratched Erik quite badly His fingernails were horribleall yellow and long and they were curved like claws But he got taave hih, but then they all are You get used to it after a bit But Wolf Boy is the best tracker ever He&039;ll lead us straight to Jenna, that&039;s for sure"

"Does he have big teeth and fur?" asked Septis and hairy hands"

"Really?"

Nicko turned around and gave Septirin "Gotcha!"

After a while they reached a sested they stop for a few minutes to look at the map Septiht that he thought he h the trees "Want athe purple tube of Mint Blasts to Nicko

Nicko looked at the tube suspiciously "What do they do?" he asked warily Nicko knew all about Septiotten over eating a self-renewing banana chew that had kept Reappearing in his mouth no matter how ," said Septiht then"

"Hold out your hand" Septireen balls into Nicko&039;s hand Nicko tipped his head back and shoved the Mint Blasts into his ulp of medicine