Page 44 (1/2)

T hey spread the map out on the snow below the tree As they unfolded it the stiffened paper crackled and looked yellow against the frosty whiteness

"No, Ullr," said Jenna "You are not sitting here" She held up thespecial?" she asked "Like say the ReUnite or sorinned "It&039;s ready to go"

Jenna let go of the circular piece of paper and slowly it fluttered down Ullr went to bat at it with his paw but Jenna grabbed the cat and held hi piece hovered for a few seconds above the hole, turning this way and that, deciding which way to go - and then, to the accompaniment of

"Yaaay!" it slipped into place Snorri&039;s ," said Jenna "You can&039;t even see the join"

Beetle inspected the map with a professional air "Nice work," he said

Septi Glass from his Apprentice Belt and held it over the center of the lass passed across, they watched the minutely annotated details rendered in Snorri&039;s neat hand spring into focus They saw an octagonal building shaded a delicate gray In heavy letters over the gray, Snorri had written HOUSE OF FORYX In the on Snorri had drawn a key, and wrapped around the outside of the octagon was a huge snake The House of Foryx was on what see land by a spidery contraption of a bridge Beside the bridge was a tree and a s to it Snorri had written in tiny writing, BEWARE THE TOLL-MAN She had also written the words BOTTOMLESS PIT across the gap that the bridge spanned, but Septimus did not care He was so relieved that the Queste had not taken them away from the House of Foryx after all that he felt he could walk over a hundred bottoh he would rather not One was quite enough

With Ullr securely ensconced in her backpack, Jenna stood for a ateway to the bridge She looked up and saw it rise, black and spiderlike into the white air, its thin wire ropes shining with da, loail came from somewhere far below

Jenna sed hard This was the way to Nicko, she told herself, and this was the way she would have to go She stepped between the pillars and onto the icy dusting of unmarked snow that lay on the first precarious plank Ahead of her the line of planks rose up into a curve and disappeared into the fog Jenna put out her hands to take the wire handrails They were taut, cold, and felt frighteningly fliathered her courage and took another step forward The bridge gave slightly under her weight She froze, horribly aware that there was nothing but a thin plank of wood between her and a plunge to oblivion - but she was determined not to sho scared she was "It&039;s fine," she said brightly "Come on, Sep"

Septiave hie Jenna e swayed In a panic, Septirabbed the wire handrails

"Wait fore, which ain Septie calround - but suddenly he knew he couldn&039;t

Jenna glanced back and saw that Septireen eyes ith fear "It&039;s okay, Sep," she said "The trick is to just take one step at a time One foot in front of the other is all you have to think about It doesn&039;tto get to the other side All we have to do is put one foot in front of the other, okay? It&039;s easy"

Septimus nodded His mouth was too dry to speak

Like a trio of snails creeping along a washing line, they set off up the bridge with Jenna counting out the steps "Onetwothreefourfivethat&039;s it, Sep, you&039;re doing great Look how far we&039;ve gone already - oh no, I didn&039;t , teneleventwelvethirteen"

Septi one foot in front of the other like one of Ephaniah&039;s autoht ahead into the- always a few feet of bridge in front of the into the whiteness Soust of wind blew some of the mist away and revealed a little more of the stretch in front but Septimus did not see it, as whenever that happened he closed his eyes until the bridge stopped swaying

But closing his eyes did not take away the terrible wails and despairing cries that issued fro planks, clinging onto the ice-cold handrails with nuers, the cries became louder and ever e and he began to sing his own very special tuneless version of an old Castle favorite,

"How Much Is That Weasel in the Window?" For the first time ever, Septimus did not object

And so, to the accompaniment of Beetle&039;s drone - which was at tiuish from the moans far below - they put one foot in front of the other and clier than a quarter of an hour on the bridge when Jenna said, "It&039;s flattening out Can you feel it? We must be nearly at the top"

At the mention of "top" Septimus had a sudden vision of them suspended in theabsence of earth traveled up from the soles of his feet and ht hi stopped "Hey, steady, Sep Easy does it"

Septiripped the wires, his knuckles white Jenna felt his fear seeping into her, too A long, desolate la as if telling the lonely tale of the lost souls who inhabited the fog Septie to let hi and join the voices below He loosened his grip on the handrails At that e black bird fly across their path She gasped in surprise

Septimus woke from his trance "Jenwhat is it?" he croaked

"Nothing, Sep" But the flight of the bird had triggered her thoughts "Sep, the Flyte Charm

Remember?"

At Jenna&039;s words, Septi had cleared fro of the Charolden arrow fluttering like the wings of a tiny bird, the Charan to feel lighter and less anchored to the rickety planks of the bridge His legs no longer felt like jelly and the keening voices fro To the acco behind him, Septimus took a step forward

"Come on," he said "We&039;ll soon be there"

Septie - his head was full of the i else But as Jenna and Beetle walked down the last few yards of the bridge, the gaunt shape of the House of Foryx slowly

"It&039;s massive," whispered Jenna

Beetle replaced the weasel song with a long, lohistle

With a huge feeling of relief, Jenna stepped off the bridge As she kneeled to set Ullr free from the backpack, she found her eyes drawn up to the House of Foryx It was a daunting sight It towered above theranite blocks perched on top of a rocky escarp, it consisted of a central octagonal coluonal towers that disappeared into the milky white sky, the tops of their crenulated battlements hidden by a lo cloud A few se swirling sheen - like oil on water - covered them They reminded Jenna of the eyes of a blind old cat that she and her friend Bo had once adopted

Spurred on by the resu, Septie He stepped fro of exhilaration - he had done it - he let go of the ie of the Flyte Charm His feet felt heavy once round Painfully, Septiht to the freezing wire handrails, but they would not move He shoved his frozen hands into his tunic pockets and the Questing Stone slipped into his right hand and nestled into his palasped

"What are you talking about?" said Jenna "It&039;s freezing"

Septimus did not reply

Gently, Jenna took Septie of the chas"

But Septiin So he took his clenched hand fro Stone It was glowing a brilliant orangy-red now, and it shone out in the white, s like a beacon

"What&039;s that?" asked Beetle suspiciously

"Huh," said Jenna "It&039;s a Magykal hand-warht have told us, Sep, we could have all used that"

"It&039;s not a hand-warmer," muttered Septimus

"No, it&039;s not, is it?" said Beetle, peering down at the Stone "You kept this quiet, Sep"

"Kept what quiet?" asked Jenna

"The Questing Stone," said Beetle "He&039;s got the Questing Stone Sep - why didn&039;t you say?"

"Because ere looking for Nik and Snorri, that was the i And, well, at first I didn&039;t think itStone and you didn&039;t think it hast

"Give me a break, Beetle I didn&039;t knoas the Stone when I took it, did I? I wouldn&039;t have taken it if I had Hildegarde gave it to me just before we escaped from the Wizard Tower She said it was her SafeCharm"

"Well, it&039;s obviously not her SafeCharm," said Beetle snappily

"And she wasn&039;t Hildegarde," said Septi on?" asked Jenna crossly "Who wasn&039;t Hildegarde? Tell arde," replied Beetle, a trifle unhelpfully