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In the early hours of tbe next on Master dozed at the tiller, the Dragon Boat sailed around Raven&039;s Rock and negotiated the tight left turn where the Moat branched off fro the Moat, watched only by soulls and Una Brakket
The housekeeper, as not sleeping well these days, had just woken fro to do with Marcia Overstrandalthough she could not quite re relieved that she had woken up, but when Una saw the Dragon Boat sail by, her spirits sank She ht She peered out to see if Marcia was on the boat and sure enough, there was that irritating boy as her Apprentice, so Marcia could not be far away The housekeeper sighed and wished her drea forever She sat and watched the Dragon Boat sail around the bend that led to the boatyard and waited for Marcia to appear
The boatyard was deserted as the Dragon Boat drew up to the pontoon Nicko jumped fro to secure her to a large post as she caon Boat appeared to have other ideas
"Whoa!" yelled Nicko, running to keep pace with the boat&039;s progress along the pontoon "Stop her, Sep She&039;s overrunning!"
Septimus ide awake now "She won&039;t stop, Nik! Jen, tell her to stop"
There was a splash as Nicko was forced to let go of the rope to avoid being dragged into the water Septimus started to panic How do you stop a boat, especially one that appeared to have a mind of her own?
Jenna called back to Septimus, "She says she&039;s not there yet, Sep"
"Not where?" Seption Boat carried on toward a deserted cutting at the far end of the boatyard, a dead end that was known as the Cut
"Not where she will be safe!" Jenna replied "Hang on, Sep She&039;s going in here!" The Dragon Boat made a wide arc out into the Moat and then turned so that she was facing straight into the Cut
Nicko caught up and ran alongside theon Boat was the dead end of the Cutthe unyielding Castle Walland Nicko knew that the Dragon Boat was traveling too fast to stop They were going to hit the wall
Helplessly he yelled, "Stop! Stop her, Sep!" But Seption Master At the prow, Jenna saw the great mass of wall rear up before them, threw herself onto the deck and waited for the inevitable crash
"Woho!" Jenna heard Nicko&039;s yell of astonishment and felt the air suddenly chill and darken A sround daon Boat came to a haltinside the Castle wall, in a vast, vaulted lapis lazuli cavern
Jenna picked herself up from the deck and whistled under her breath "You can open your eyes now, Sep," she said "The Dragon Boat&039;s come home"
On the other side of the boatyard, a candle flared to life in theof the small ramshackle hut Jannit Maarten was suddenly awake A moment later the door to Jannit&039;s shack opened, and the flickering flame disappeared as her candle dropped from her hand
"What thewhat in the naasped She set off across the yard like a fox after a rabbit, leaping over the boats and the boatyard clutter, and a fewnext to Nicko Lost for words, Jannit surveyed an incredible new dimension to her beloved boatyard Granted, it was a little ostentatious for Jannit&039;s siigantic boat-house in lapis lazuli of all things, and sheall those funny little pictures over it; and as for the gold inlay around the doorwell that was just plain silly But Jannit could see that it was a truly astounding spaceand within it lay an incredible boat Jannit, as not given to emotion, found herself a little overcohy
"Nicko," Jannit said faintly "Isis this so to do with you? Did you find this?"
"No, thethe Dragon Boat found it She knew" Nicko ran out of words He could not get the i fasttoo fastalong the Cut
And then, as he stared in horror at the thick Castle Wall looold disk set high up in the wall that he had never noticed before The dragon had breathed a ribbon of fire froold, the see lapis lazuli cavern had been revealed Nicko had watched the Dragon Boat glide serenely inside and co that he had ever seen He only wished Jannit could have seen it too
Seption Boat and walked carefully along the on House They joined Nicko and Jannit outside, and silently all four watched the Dragon Boat settle herself, like a swan on her nest, into the safety of the Dragon House
"You know," said Jannit, after a while, "once, when I was a girl, I read about soave me a wonderful book Noas it called? Oh, yes, I ree and Curious Tales for Bored Boys Got me interested in boats, that did But of course, it can&039;t be the boat I read about"
"Well," Septimus said quickly, "that was just a story"
Jannit shot hi that he was Marcia&039;s Apprentice "Yes," she said quickly, "of course"
Jenna and Seption Boat and set off for the Wizard Tower Septi and saw to his relief that Spit Fyre was still fast asleep, and so, carefully carrying the sleeping dragon, they walked wearily through the deserted streets The new moon had set and it was dark, but Jenna and Septiht in the streets of the Castle, unlike those of the Port; they knew the twists and turns, the alleys to avoid and the shortcuts to take As they neared Wizard Way, the glow froht, and they slipped down a narrow path Soon Septiate that led into the courtyard of the Tower
They had decided that Jenna would spend the rest of the night at the Wizard Tower and go back to the Palace in theJenna followed Septimus up the steep marble steps; hesilently open
Noiselessly the pair crossed the Great Hall Jenna glanced down to see the words WELCOME, PRINCESS AND APPRENTICE, UPON YOUR SAFE RETURN, WELCOME, SPIT FYRE flickering in subdued nighttime colors across the floor The inside of the Tower felt as strange as always to Jenna; the strong siddy, and although she are of being surrounded by Magykal sounds she could not hear them properlyit was as if they were just out of reach Jenna picked her way across the floor, which felt as though she alking across sand, and followed Septian to move upward, both she and Septi journey to the top of the Tower