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T hat evening another gale ca slates off roofs and y

Septile eye of Marcia Overstrand He was beginning the complicated preparations for his first Projection, which was an important milestone in an Apprentice&039;s studies A first Projection traditionally involved the Apprentice choosing a se of this object inside the communal areas of the Tower in the hope that it was believable enough to pass for the real thing All Projections werethe Apprentice was careful not to choose so on it, this did not usually ly innocuous "broom" would be propped up in a dark corner, a sh up on an inaccessibleledge or a new "cloak" would hang in the closet Throughout the time of the first Projection, an air of excite they were doing so allbets on what exactly the Apprentice would Project

With Septimus shut away in the Projection roo the traces of Spit Fyre froot Catchpole to do it for her However, by that evening Catchpole had locked himself in the Old Spells cupboard and would not coarde, the sub-Wizard on door duty at the Palace, to coarde arrived ept and out of breath, having run all along Wizard Way, thrilled that at last she had received the su wished for But instead of being offered a post as an Ordinary Wizard, Hildegarde was given a large brooarde, deter herself sternly that any job at the Wizard Tower brought her one step nearer to her dreaarde was Terry Tarsal&039;s first custoht a sturdy pair of waterproof boots

With the eagle-eyed Hildegarde gone froer crept along the corridors but walked with a swagger Twice he nearly bu unexpectedly around a corner The second time he was tempted to walk past her and see if she noticed, but at the last ht better of it and hid behind a curtain

Jenna may well not have noticed Merrin even if he had walked past her She was too preoccupied thinking about Nicko and the map Unable to keep away from the Manuscriptorium, she stopped by to see Beetle at least twice a day Beetle had s about this He loved to see her but every ti, in the particular way he was convinced it did only when pushed by Jenna - he braced himself to tell her that there was no news from Ephaniah Grebe But on the third day that Jenna caood

It was late in the afternoon and the dark clouds made it feel even later Beetle had just lit a candle and placed it on his desk He was getting ready to do the last round of the day - the LockingUp round - when pi-ing, the door flew open and Jenna was blown in She pushed the door closed, pulled her ept hair froold circlet securely down on her head and, with an anxious look, said, "Any news?"

Beetle had been dreading this ood news, I&039;"

He handed the large piece of white paper to Jenna On it ritten: Re: Ancient Paper Frag Please advise

"I suppose it&039;s not surprising," said Beetle with a sigh

"But we searched everywhere," Jenna protested "And I looked again when I went back And the next day just to make sure There can&039;t be" Her voice trailed off Now that she thought about it, she kneould be a

"I went to ask Sep what to do but they wouldn&039;t let e Said he was not to be disturbed Marcia&039;s as good as got hi piece There "

"We could ask Ephaniah," said Jenna "He et an Ordinary Wizard to do it for us"

It see shot to Beetle, but he couldn&039;t think of anything else to suggest "Okay," he said

The Manuscriptoriuone hoer at nightfall Even Jillie Djinn had retired upstairs to the Chief Hermetic Scribe&039;s rooms As the wind rattled the office partition door, Jenna and Beetle crept though the rows of desks, which rose high above theave Jenna the creeps At the top of the bases - a couple of spells to be ReSet and an old treatise in need of rebinding Beetle picked it up and took it doith thereen baize door and set off through the cellars, which were alht in contrast to the shadowy Manuscriptoriuain the cellars were eh and headed for the last one There they found Ephaniah Grebe peering through a large lass and hunched over the table, which was covered with hundreds of tiny scraps of paper spread out like a huge, iht your basket," said Beetle, setting it down on the floor

Ephaniah started and turned to greet theht of the rat face, but this time Ephaniah addled in his wraps and all they saere his green eyes, hugely lass spectacles The Conservation Scribenoise and beckoned them over He handed them a piece of paper On it ritten: I have succeeded in ReUniting all papers bar one

Ephaniah waved his hand toward a neatly stacked pile of papers on a shelf behind hi to cheer up Jenna "They&039;re all back together There&039;s only onepiece is one of those boat doodles, there were lots of those Chances are it won&039;t be important, just a scribble"

Jenna was about to say that all of Nicko&039;s scribbles were important to her when Ephaniah placed another piece of paper in front of thethened all the papers but for future safekeeping I should like to bind them Do I have your permission?