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Septi, sinuous branches, which had been hovering above their heads waiting for the right moment, had seized them At the end of each branch were five sers on a hand Each hand rapped tightly around the boys like a well-fitting wooden cage and held the Septi speed, the tree slowed down as it took theh its leaves and branches, taking them into the very center of the tree

Septih the cold night air, but Nicko kept his eyes wide-open in shock is they traveled up, up through thepack of wolverines Nicko glanced below to the ring of yellow eyes that surrounded the tree and were staring, unblinking, at the sight of the night&039;s supperand a good supper toowhisked from their jaws

The tree, like all trees, moved slowly and deliberately Why rush when you had hundreds of years in which to live your life? Why rush when you wereof the Forest? After what felt like a lifetime, Septimus and Nicko were set down in a fork near the top of the tree The branches that had been caging them slowly unwound fro their nextto eat us now, Sep?" whispered Nicko, his voice shaking

"Dunno," htly He could feel how high they were above the ground, but he did not dare look

"But it&039;s let go of us, Sep Maybe we could escape while we&039;ve got the chance"

Septiht; he could no lance doard Through a gap in the leaves he could see the circle of wolverines, eyes glittering hungrily, waiting in the hope that their prey ht still turn upor drop downfor supper Suddenly it crossed Nicko&039;s mind that this must have happened to the wolverine pack before Sometime in the past, some poor victim must have been swept from the pack by a carnivorous tree, and then escaped the clutches of the strangling branches, only to find hiined what a terrible fate that was for so to theroan

"What&039;s theWe&039;re about to be eaten either by a carnivorous tree or a pack of wolverines, and I can&039;t quite make up my mind just nohich one I fancy most"

Septimus forced himself to open his eyes It wasn&039;t quite as bad as he had feared He couldn&039;t see ht was dark and the tree&039;s dense suround "Well, no one&039;s eaten us yet," he said

"Yet," muttered Nicko

But as Nicko spoke, the two branches that hovered above began to rabbed hold ot Septiently "It&039;s now or never We&039;ve got to get out of here I reckon we can ot us because ere too busy with the wolverines to notice it co for us If we climb down fast, it won&039;t be able to catch us"

"But then the wolverines will get us," whispered Septimus, as convinced the tree could hear what they were saying

"They ive up You never know Co the branch

The last thing Septimus wanted to do was to move anywherehe was, after all, at least three hundred feet above the ground But, knowing he had no real choice, Septimus half-closed his eyes so that there was no chance of catching sight of the huge drop to the ground and slowly began to inch his way along the branch behind Nicko Nicko had already reached the fork in the branch where he was planning to start his climb down He turned and held out his hand to Septimus

"Come on, Sep You&039;re even slower than this tree Come on, it&039;s easy"

Septimus did not reply His hands were clammy with fear and he felt sick

"Don&039;t look down," Nicko encouraged "Just look at me Come on, you&039;re nearly there"

Septie faraway buzzing started inside his ears, and his clarip on the smooth branch

Septimus fell

He fell too fast for Nicko to do anything Onehis brother craard hi an empty space And all he could hear was the sound of Septih the tree far below hi wolverines

And then silence Nicko heard nothingof leaves and branches and the stillness of the Forest Nicko sat numbly on the branch, unable to et to Septi to find And so, slowly, reluctantly, Nicko began the long clih the tree, a long thin branch suddenly looped itself around his waist and held hiled and tried to unwind the branch, but it was as tight as a band of iron Angrily Nicko kicked out at the tree

"Let et my brother!" In a fury Nicko tore the leaves around his as he could find

"Ouch," said a low, slow voice, but Nicko heard nothing

"I hate you, you pig tree!" he yelled, punching and flailing at it "You&039;re not going to eat ave way to a frenzy of kicking, shouting and insulting the tree, ree that he had recently picked up at the Port and froe In fact Nicko was surprised at howlike it before

The tree iht while far below it carried on doing what it had been doing ever since Septi at the tree when the branches beside him parted and Septihtly in a cocoon of leaves and twigs Nicko fell silent He hite This, he thought, is what spiders do to their prey Only the week before he had sat on the boat and watched a spider wrap a struggling fly into a cocoon of silk, and then suck it dry while the fly still lived

"Sep!" Nicko gasped "Are you all right?" Septimus did not answer His eyes were closed and he looked deathly white A terrible thought crossed Nicko&039;s mind "Sep," he whispered "Sep, has it started to eat you?" He struggled to reach Septiht

"Nicko," ca why his brother sounded so strange

"Nicko, please stop struggling Youway down and the wolverines are still waiting for you Please keep still"

Nicko stared at Septi his lips

"Sep, stop being silly, will you?"

"Nicko, listen toSeptimus has hit his head He needs to rest"

A chill ran through Nicko, and for the first time in the Forest he felt really scared He had knohere he ith the wolverines and he had knohere he ith the carnivorous treethey had wanted to eat him It wasn&039;t nice and it wasn&039;t friendly but at least it was understandable But this low, ghostly voice was different He had no idea what it was; it see of all was that it knew his name