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"What on earth is that?" Marcia de how relieved she had been the night before to see Septi her best She had woken to see the Shadow lounging on her pillow This was not unusual, for over the past fewBut it had always been silentuntil that moment What had actually woken Marcia was the sound of a low, sepulchral voice calling her name over and over
"MarciaMarciaMarcia"
In a fit of anger, Marcia had thrown one of her best purple python shoes at the ghastly Thing, but the shoe had, of course, gone straight through it The shoe had shot across the rooiven Marcia when, as his Apprentice, she had finally mastered a particularly difficult Projection The broken pot had upset Marcia more than she expected, and she had storh of the Shadow, she decided as she threw open the kitchen door and yelled at the coffeepot to get a o straight down to old Weasal and insist on getting the Stopperthe very last piece of the ShadowSafeimmediately
"Septimus," said Marcia in a loud voice
Septimus sat up with a start and for a moment could not remember where he was Marcia soon re her arerie"
"What?" asked Septimus
"Look at my best blanketsfull of holes I don&039;t knohere you found that giant iant
"Huh?"from under the pile of blankets
"Oh, hello, Jenna," said Marcia "Nice to see you back The rat saidwell, that wretched rat said a lot of things, most of it rubbish as far as I could tellbut he did say that you made it to the MidSummer Visit Well done"
"Thank you," said Jenna sleepily She sat up and stuck her foot through a large hole in the blanket She wiggled her toes as if surprised to see thereen pounced "Ouch!" she yelled
"Spit Fyre!" gasped Seption would grow in sudden spurts but he had not expected this Spit Fyre had eaten his way out of the dragon-proof bag and was now the size of a son and pulled hiht, Jen?" he asked
"Yes I think sostill got ten toes," Jenna rubbed her foot, which was a little scratched fro at Spit Fyre, whose s over Septi as that last night, was he?"
"No,"to be trouble and he hardly dared look at Marcia He knehat she would say And, sure enough, she said it "I told you, Septiuanas, no tortoises, no"
"Butbut Spit Fyre is not a pet He&039;s a Magykal tool Like the practice rabbit in the courtyard"
"Septi like a practice rabbit You have no idea of the trouble"
As if to prove Marcia right, Spit Fyre wriggled out of Septirasp and made a beeline for Marcia&039;s feet He had spotted the purple python shoes Soon ons and snakes were eneood snack before breakfast too It did not occur to the two-day-old dragon that Marcia&039;s shoes were only the skin of a snake, or that the feet inside theed to an irritable and powerful Wizard who had a particular fondness for her shoes and no fondness whatsoever for baby dragons A streak of glistening green shot across the floor, latched itself onto Marcia&039;s right foot and started chewing
"Ow!" yelled Marcia, frantically shaking her foot But Spit Fyre had learned his lesson since Septi on tight and sank his sharp little dragon teeth into the snakeskin
"Teeth Releath!" Marcia spluttered with so his teeth in harder
"Teese Release!" Marcia yelled Spit Fyre hung on and gave the python skin a good shake
"Teeth Release!" Marcia shouted, getting it right at last Spit Fyre let go of the purple python shoe, and, as if purple snakeskin was now of no interest to hion sauntered back to Septiarded Marcia with a baleful expression
Marcia collapsed onto a chair nursing her foot and gazing at her ruined shoe Septimus and Jenna held their breath What would she say?
"I suppose, Septi pause, "I suppose thatthat pest has Imprinted you?"
"Uht so" She sighed heavily "It&039;s not as if I don&039;t have enough to worry about, Septiet?"
"I&039;m sorry," muttered Septimus "I promise I&039;ll look after him Really I will I&039;ll feed hi" She looked uniet one," said Septiloomily "He hatched from Jenna&039;s rock"
"Did he?" Marcia calwell, well, that&039;s quite so Anyway, he will have to stay in your roo up any h Marcia did not want to tell Seption tainted by any contact with the Shadow If this was to be Septimus&039;s coyk as possible
Marcia insisted on hearing all the details of Jenna&039;s escape froon Boat to the Castle, she looked just a little triumphant "So I am now the Keeper," she muttered
Septimus was surprised "I don&039;t think so," he said "I&039;m sure Aunt Zelda is still the Keeper"
"Nonsense," Marcia retorted "How can she be? Stuck on Boat is here at the Castleand quite right, too She&039;s a sensible boat, that dragon Well, this Keeper won&039;t let her down Catchpole!"
Catchpole pushed the door open nervously "You called, Madaulped
"Yes Take thirteen Wizards down to the boatyard at once They are to guard the Dragon Boat with their lives Got that?"
"Thirteen WizardsDragon Boatuuard with lives Er, yes Thank you Madam Marcia Will that be all?"
"I should think that is quite enough for you to e at one time, Catchpole"
"Oh Yes Thank you, Madam Marcia"
"Ohand Catchpole!"
Catchpole stopped his anxious retreat "Eryes, Madam Marcia?"
"When you&039;ve done that you may join us for breakfast"
Catchpole&039;s face fell "Oh," he said And then, re his manners, "Oh, thank you, Madam Marcia Thanks soof an ordeal for Catchpole He sat aardly at the table, unsure of how to behave with Jenna and Septimus, let alone Marcia, who terrified him
"I said keep the Wizards out, Catchpole, not my Apprentice Can&039;t you tell the difference?" Marcia told him crossly, while the stove let the coffee boil over for the second ti, and it always felt tense and anxious at breakfast It was not helped by the fact that the coffeepot was upset at being shouted at and was not concentrating on the job at hand To top it all off, there was a dragon chewing one of its feet There was a loud hiss as the coffee hit the stove&039;s hot plate and spilled onto the floor
"Clean," snapped Marcia A cloth leaped off the sink and quickly mopped up the mess
Catchpole ate very little breakfast He sat twisting his plaid hat in his hands, looking anxiously at Spit Fyre, as in the corner by the stove, loudly gulping down great e
After breakfastwhich for Spit Fyre o roast chickens, three loaves of bread, a bucket of porridge, a tablecloth, a gallon of water and Catchpole&039;s hatSeptimus, Jenna and Catchpole sat at the table and listened to the sounds of Marcia taking the dragon upstairs, pushing it into Septi the door There was an aard silence around the table Catchpole sat holding a pair of dahed up shortly after he had snatched the hat frorasp and sed it
Jenna stood up "Excuse et back to Mu too, Sep?"
"Maybe later, Jen I&039;ll see what Marcia wants me to do first"
"I&039;ll tell you want I want you to do," said Marcia, coo straight down to the Manuscriptoriu Manual You want the original Wizard Fireproof Editiondon&039;t let them put you off with the cheap paper one, it won&039;t last five ht," said Septiot this" He waved his copy of How to Survive Dragon Fostering: A Practykal Guide
"That rubbish!" Marcia snorted "Where on earth did you get that?"
"Aunt Zelda gave it to et"
"The Winged Lizard&039;s Almanac of the Early Years," Marcia finished his sentence for him "That&039;s a load of rubbish too Anyway, you won&039;t find any of those as they were printed on so else will do"
To the acco from Septimus&039;s bedroom, Jenna and Septimus made a hasty exit from the ExtraOrdinary Wizard&039;s rooms and set off in search of Draxx
Jenna and Septi a black horse and rider to appear again, but all see by now, the sun shone down between a few drifting white clouds and the Way was busy with clerks on i as if they wereand shoppers browsing through the stacks of books and parchments laid out on tables outside the shops
"What&039;s up with Marcia?" asked Jenna as they neared the Manuscriptoriurumpy than usual"
"I know," said Septi to take her overI wish there was so I could do"
"Look, Sep," said Jenna, concerned, "maybe you should stay with us at the Palace for a while"
"Thanks, Jen," replied Septimus, "but I can&039;t leave Marcia alone with that awful Shadow following her around She needs me"
Jenna sets too horrible with Marcia, you ht to the Palace and tell Mu "Bye, Jen Say hello to Mum and Dad from me Tell them I&039;ll come and see them later" He watched Jenna carry on up the Way toward the Palace until she had safely reached the gate Then he pushed open the Manuscriptoriuy front office
"Wotcha, Sep&039;" a cheery voice came frorinned
"What can I do you for, oh wise Apprentice?" Beetle&039;s head appeared above the edge of the desk "Heyyou couldn&039;t do me a quick Find Spell, could you? I&039;ve lost Old Foxy&039;s best pen He&039;s back there having a blue fit"
"Well, I shouldn&039;t reallyoh, here, use net out of his Apprentice belt and handed it to Beetle "Hold that with the open end pointing to where you think the pen ht be and then think hard about the pen You need to be quite close, thoughthe Magnet&039;s not very strong I&039;ll be getting a better one when I&039;ve finished my FindersSeekers Project"
"Thanks, Sep" Beetle took the Magnet and disappeared back under the desk A few ed triumphantly with a slim black pen stuck on the end of it "Saved net "You co?"