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Merrin watched the Dragon Boat through his eyeglass He had found the eye glass half buried in a Brownie burrow during one of his many lone expeditions on the Marshes, and it was his little secret fro secrets fro, as she invariably found them out But he was sure that this secret was one that he had lass under a slab of rock on the grassy knoll beside the Hundred-Foot Pit Merrin knew that as long as Aunt Zelda did not see hilass he would be safe, for there was no way she could get across the sinking bog that surrounded the pitonly Merrin was light and agile enough to justones that lay just beneath the surface of the bog

Merrin had guessed, rightly, that the eyeglass had once belonged to his old Master, DomDaniel There was a Darkenesse about it that made Merrin feel comfortable and reminded him of old times They may not have been happy ti and he was not stuck out on a ses and an interfering old witch for colass to his eye, careful not to let the sun glint off it and give his position away, and he smiled to himself to think it was he as still alive on the Marsh and Do more than a pile of bones, picked clean by the Marsh Brownies Serves hileefully That old Necromancer shouldn&039;t have been so nasty to his faithful Apprentice

It was now late in the afternoon and the high spring tidefor it had been a newup the channels of the Marsh Merrin&039;s grassy knoll was now completely surrounded by black, peaty marsh water The Marsh was quiet in the sleepy late afternoon heat and Merrin lay idly on the knoll He had been observing the coon Boat all afternoon and could not make any sense of it Aunt Zelda, as usually so bossy, seeon Boat, while the Princess girl and the pig boy had busied the to Aunt Zelda The Septies, which really irritated Merrin, as he was never allowed on Merrin tried to see what Septi at the tiller while the pig boy was standing beside the Mott, talking to hiht Merrin

"Co "You&039;ve flown her before so you can do it again Easy-peasy"

"But I don&039;t knohat I did, Nik I

The boat did it" Septi at the tillerhe was afraid to put his hand on the tiller, a any, as the last tion Boat had come alive and set off to sea

"Well, you&039;re wearing the Dragon Ring this time, and you weren&039;t before, so it should be even easier," Nicko pointed out "I don&039;t see what you&039;re bothered about, Sep Boats are a piece of cake"

Septiht noished he did not have itas it hion Master? Why couldn&039;t it have been Nicko, who knew all about boats?

"Come on, Septimus" Aunt Zelda&039;s voice cas we just have to do I don&039;t want to let the Dragon Boat go, and you don&039;t want to take her away froo and you have to take herthat&039;s the way it is She must be where she wants to be, and she must be safe It&039;s for the best"

Septimus looked up from the tiller "But ill you do without her?"

"I will get Wolf Boy&039;s hands better and keep an eye on thatout by the Hundred-Foot Pit and thinks I can&039;t see hilass he&039;s found"

"409&039;s staying here? With that awful Apprentice boy?"

"Wolf Boy is too ill to travel, SeptierI intend to take him back to his ot a mother?" Septimus looked amazed

Aunt Zelda smiled "Yes, I think even Merrin has a mother And I suspect she may be your ex-landlady"

"What?"

"Where you stayed in the Port"

"One of the witches? Oh, that makes sense I bet it&039;s that really nasty one, Veronica Come to think of it, she looked a bit like him"

Aunt Zelda shook her head "Believe it or not, I think it&039;s Nurse Meredith"

"Oh, yuck All those dead babies She&039;s worse than a witch So when are you going to take him to the Doll House?"

"As soon as I can leave Wolf Boy for a day, when his fever has gone The burns will take longer to heal, there&039;s a lot of Darkenesse in them They&039;ll need quite a bit more fresh Marsh Bane"

Septiht, won&039;t he?"

"Yes He will I&039;ll bring him back when he&039;s better"

"You&039;ll come to the Castle?" Septi to keep me here now," Aunt Zelda said briskly "And Keepers have been known to pay the Castle the odd visit I&039;m sure Marcia would like to have me to stay, after all the weeks she spent here"

Septiht of Aunt Zelda in Marcia&039;s rooms

"That&039;s better," said Aunt Zelda, noticing Septimus&039;s sood-bye to Wolf Boy and proiven him a weak smile "Not if I see you first," he&039;d said, and then closed his eyes and fallen asleep Septi Spit Fyre fir that Aunt Zelda had found for hion had been fast asleep all day, but the last thing he wanted was Spit Fyre waking up andto fly the Dragon Boat

Now Spit Fyre was safely stowed in a locker beside the tiller, and Seption Boat, ready to leave Aunt Zelda was anxiously eyeing a se She had seen the cloud drift toward theht it strange at the ti from the northeast and Aunt Zelda was sure that the as a westerly Now she orried, for the cloud had not moved for the last half hour, which was not noron Boat was ready It was time to leave

"Jenna," said Aunt Zelda "I have so for you" She reached up on tiptoe and passed so to Jenna&039;s outstretched hand "It&039;s the key to the Queen&039;s Room In the Palace Youyou old key with a round eon&039;s eyes Jenna was confused She had explored every part of the Palace since she had moved there with Sarah and Silas, but she had never seen the Queen&039;s Room

"Butwhere is the Queen&039;s Room?" she asked

"Er, I can&039;t say, Jenna But you will find it when The Tiht You can be certain of that"