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"Thank you, Witch Mother," Septimus said He hauled Nicko to his feet Nicko&039;s eyes were streahter "I will take my brother away now, Witch Mother I am sorry for his rudeness Thank you for your advice"

"Heed it well, Septi for" Morwenna sood speed on your journey" She turned and disappeared into the tepee

Nicko e of the Circle and threw hi down the grassy slope, still shaking with laughter A moment later Septimus joined hih at a Wendron Witch Mother Ever"

"II&039;m sorry, Sep," spluttered Nicko It was justit was all so seriousand witchyand we all sat waiting andand I thought the third thing would be soreally importantand then she saidshe said"

"Don&039;t go to the circus!" Septihter, he rolled down to the bottom of the hill with Nicko

"You were really disrespectful to the Witch Mother," said Jo-Jo grumpily when he and Wolf Boy joined them at the bottom of the hill "Marissa is ht you"

"Oh, don&039;thic!be silly, Jo-Jo," said Nicko, who had stopped laughing but now had the hiccups

"Are you going now?" Jo-Jo asked in a tone of voice that meant he hoped they were "I&039;ll take you to the boat"

Nicko and Septimus nodded They both wanted to be out of the Forest and on their way to find Jenna before the day drew on

Jo-Jo glanced in Wolf Boy&039;s direction "You still taking hi here?"

Septimus looked at Wolf Boy only to ain He wished he would stop staring like that Surely even Wolf Boy should have got used to the Apprentice robes by now They weren&039;t that weird, were they?

"He&039;s staying here," said Septimus

"But, Sep, we need him He&039;s the reason we came here," said Nicko "We&039;ll never find Jenna without him now The trail is over a day old Only Wolf Boy can pick up a trail that cold"

"But we knohere Jenna is now," said Septimus "She&039;s in the Port"

Nicko was silent for a moment

"You didn&039;t believe that crazy witch, did you?" he asked, amazed

"Nicko! She&039;s not crazy"

"She&039;s a witch though And worse than that, she&039;s a Wendron Witch They used to kidnap babies And if the baby was a boy they&039;d leave hiot lost in the Forest and asked them the way, you&039;d end up in a Witch Pit Bo Tenderfoot&039;s aunt spent teeks in a Witch Pit and she"

"Bo who?"

"Jenna&039;s best friend You remember Nice kid with carroty hair"

"Look, Nik, concentrate We want to find Jenna Remember? That&039;s e&039;re here And I believe Morwenna Even Marcia says Morwenna has second sight, and Marcia thinks witches are a waste of space I think Jenna is in the Port"

"Don&039;t knohy she&039;d go there," grumbled Nicko "It&039;s a dump"

"Sier you said was asking about her and that Morwenna said was looking for her We&039;ve got to get there as soon as we can"

"Okay" Nicko sighed "We&039;ll go to the Port"

Jo-Jo led the way down the beach where the boat was moored, and,despite what Septimus had said, Wolf Boy still followed the thele into the deeper water, Wolf Boy suddenly took a flying leap and landed in the boat, just as the current was taking it out into the middle of the river

"Hey!" yelled Nicko as the boat rocked precariously "What d&039;you think you&039;re doing?" Wolf Boy crouched on the deck like a wild animal and stared at Septier

"Stop staring at me!" he yelled

Wolf Boy&039;s brown eyes did not flicker They looked at Septinition pass through him He had been here before On a boat On the river By the Forest With Wolf Boy

Suddenly he felt cold He squatted down in the boat next to Wolf Boy, staring at him in return "Four-oh-nine?" Septimus whispered

Wolf Boy nodded and spoke for the first tirinned "Four-one-two"

They sailed down the river on the outgoing tide Wolf Boy and Septimus sat on the deck of the boat with their ar broadly

"He reminds me of you e found you," mused Nicko "I remember you never said a word Just stared at us as if ere all ave me the creeps"

"Oh," said Septimus "Sorry"

"We didn&039;t mind Not really We liked you Just couldn&039;t understand why you didn&039;t speak But itto do with the Army Must have been horrible"

"It was," said Wolf Boy very slowly, getting used to the sound of his own voice "You couldn&039;t trust anyone But I trusted 412"

A silence fell in the boat Nicko busied hi the sails and Septimus stared at the river After a while Septio back for you I really did But they wouldn&039;t They wouldn&039;t The Leader Cadet laughed and saidwhat did we expect? It was a Do-or-Die And you were the first Die He was really excited about that I tried to jump in after you but the Leader Cadet knocked me out I came to when the boat landed and they threw me in the water I&039;m sorry I should have saved you"

Wolf Boy said nothing for a while And then he said, "No, I should have saved you I escaped the Army and you didn&039;t I swa I saw you in the Forest But I was afraid of being seen, so I stayed hidden I should have saved you and we could have both been free Not just me"

"It doesn&039;t matter," said Septimus "I would never have found out who I was if you had And we&039;re both free now"

"Free"dreareen water, heading for the Port