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B eetle shone his light onto a hatch in the roof of an ice tunnel It was no h to touch if they juh The hatch formed an oval depression with the usual metal Seal beside it All around it was a thin line of clear ice

"See," said Beetle, "it&039;s the same here The ice has melted and refrozen And, let&039;s seeyes, it&039;s been ReSealed too Weird"

"Hmm" said Septimus, not totally surprised He knehose hatch this was

Beetle peered up at the hatch "Of course this one could just be a faulty Seal on the other side

Soet in there and check, but soo Bit of a recluse, apparently Won&039;t even answer the door"

"I know," said Septis yet"

"Do you know him, Sep?" asked Beetle, surprised

Septimus made a decision - he would confide in Beetle He was tired of keeping his visits to Marcellus a secret "Well, yes, I do Buter, Marcia doesn&039;t know I corumpy at the osh - Beetle, have you got your tirinned proudly He had a state-of-the-art timepiece that had been found in pieces at the back of a Manuscriptorium cupboard and thrown out He had rescued it and over several months, with the help of the Conservation Scribe, had painstakingly put it back together It was a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, completely silent due to a complicated flywheel ood time

Proudly, Beetle took the tiold and silver and was attached to a thick leather cord On the top was a large handle with a winder in theBeetle&039;s hand like a small, fat tortoise

Septimus was impressed "How did they make them so small?" he asked

"Dunno," said Beetle "You just don&039;t get them like that any close toto be late Jenna will be really mad"

"Jenna?" Beetle seemed to have developed a squeak

"Yeah I&039; her here and I - "

"What - here, Sep?"

"No, not down here I mean up there" Septimus pointed up to the hatch "In the house"

"Are you?"

Septimus had an idea "Would you like to come too? I could ask Marcellus if we could check the hatch frouy who lives there?"

"He&039;s not really weird," said Septis"

"The name sounds familiar," said Beetle "Hey, isn&039;t he the one who kidnapped you through that Glass - the crazy old Alchemist?"

"Um, yes," admitted Septimus "But he&039;s not crazy And he doesn&039;t even look old anyh," said Beetle "No wonder that hatch is a problem Sheesh, I&039;m surprised we haven&039;t had a totalBeetle had been such a good idea, but it was too late now "I&039;ll open the hatch, then, okay?" he said "It won&039;t hurt for a few minutes I can ReSeal it from inside"

Beetle looked shocked "Open a Sealed hatch?"

"Well, yes Then we can get in that way andPrincess Jenna up there?" Beetle asked

Septi up and down to keep war to feel like blocks of ice

The te Jenna was too much for Beetle "Okay, then," he said "But I really shouldn&039;t Miss Djinn would throw a fit if she knew" From underneath his sled he took what Septimus realized was a telescopic ladder, opened it up and propped it against the wall "I&039;ll hold the ladder, Sep, and you can UnSeal the hatch Probably better that way"

Tenthe long, eway that led from the hatch all the way to the house on Snake Slipway Septimus knew the ell He had first been there when it had belonged to Professor Weasal Van Klahastly housekeeper, Una Brakket, had taken hie had been dark and dusty then, but noell kept, with old-fashioned rush-lights placed in holders at regular intervals along the walls It was just as it had been when Septie months in another Time as Marcellus Pye&039;s Alchemie Apprentice Now Beetle followed Septi the turning that led to the old Laboratory and following the long zigzag path underneath the houses that backed onto the Moat

It was not long before Septied into the large vaulted cellars below the house Septih them and, worried that he was already late for Jenna, ran up the cellar steps and pushed open the cellar door under the stairs "Marcellus?" he called out "Marcellus?" There was no reply

Septimus padded into the house, closely followed by a wary Beetle The place smelled odd to Beetle

The waxy scent of candles was coes, cloves and soet rid of the feeling that he had soone back in time

It had the same effect on Septimus He was used to it now, but when he had first visited Marcellus just after the old Alchemist had moved in, Septimus had suddenly become convinced that he was still trapped in Marcellus&039;s Ti more than a dream In a terrible panic he had run out of the house, and to his joy he had seen Jillie Djinn bustling past Jillie never did figure out quite why Marcia&039;s Apprentice had thrown his arms around her and said how thrilled he was to see her, but she had gone back to the Manuscriptoriu in her step People did not often throw their arms around Jillie Djinn

The silence of the house fell upon Septi the narrow hallhich was lit with more candles than Beetle had ever seen in his life When they reached the foot of a steep flight of dark oak stairs, Beetle was amazed to see a lit candle had been placed on each step

"All these candles, they&039;re weird," whispered Beetle, feeling somewhat spooked

"He doesn&039;t like the dark," whispered Septimus "Shhh, I can hear footsteps upstairs Marcellus?

Marcellus," he called out

"Apprentice?" came a wary voice from the floor above "&039;Tis you?"