Page 27 (1/2)

Merrin Meredith hadin the doorway of Larry&039;s Dead Languages Larry didn&039;t like loiterers and was out the door like a spider that has felt the twitch of a tasty fly in its web He was nonplussed at finding a Manuscriptorium scribe in his doorway

"You corowled

"Uh?" squeaked Merrin, wheeling around

Larry was a beefy, red-headedtoo e texts "Translation?" he repeated "Or what?"

In his juan to back out of the doorway

"There he is!" Barney&039;s high voice squealed in excitement "He&039;s at Mr Larry&039;s!"

Merrin briefly considereda dash for it into Larry&039;s shop, but Larry was prettythe entire doorway, so he scooted out into the wilds of Wizard Way and took his chances

A few seconds later Barney Pot was clinging to Merrin&039;s robes like a little terrier Merrin struggled to pry Barney off, but Barney hung on even tighter, until a large rottweiler in patchwork bustled up and grabbed him Merrin said a very rude word

"Merrin Meredith, not in front of little children!"

Merrin scowled

Aunt Zelda looked Merrin in the eye, so she knew he did not like He looked away "Now, Merrin," she said sternly, "I don&039;t want any lies from you I knohat you&039;ve done"

"I haven&039;t done anything,"anywhere but at Aunt Zelda

"What are you fish faces staring at?" he yelled "Go away!" This he addressed to a gathering group of onlookers, most of whoument with Marcia They took no notice whatsoever; they were having a good day out and were not about to let Merrin spoil it One or two of them sat down on a nearby bench to watch in comfort

"Now listen to me, Merrin Meredith - "

"Not my name," Merrin muttered sullenly

"Of course it&039;s your name"

"Not"

"Well, whatever you call yourself, you listen toto do before I let you go - "

Merrin perked up So the old witch was going to let hi taken back to that s forced to eat cabbage sandwiches for the rest of his life began to subside "What things?" he deize to Barney for what you did to hi to him" Merrin looked at his feet

"Oh, do stop playing gaed him, for heaven&039;s sake And you took his - or rather my - SafeCharm"

"Some SafeCharize"

The croas growing larger, and all Merrin wanted to do was to get out of there

"Sorry," he muttered

"Properly," Aunt Zelda deest: &039;Barney, I a, and I hope you will forgive me&039;"

Very reluctantly Merrin repeated Aunt Zelda&039;s words

"That&039;s all right, Merrin," said Barney happily "I forgive you"

"So, can I go now?" asked Merrin petulantly

"I said two things, Merrin Meredith" Aunt Zelda turned to the onlookers "If you will excuse ood people, I would like to have a confidential ith this young man Perhaps you would allow us a few moments?"

The onlookers looked disappointed

Merrin rallied "Important Manuscriptorium business," he told them "Top secret and all that Good- bye"

Reluctantly the onlookers drifted away

Aunt Zelda shook her head in exasperation - that boy had nerve Before Merrin could make a break for it, Aunt Zelda put a hefty boot on the he robes

"What?" demanded Merrin

Aunt Zelda lowered her voice "Now give me the bottle back"

Merrin looked at his boots once more

"Give it to me, Merrin"

Very reluctantly Merrin pulled the little gold bottle from his pocket and handed it over Aunt Zelda inspected it and saith dismay that the seal had been broken "You opened it," she said angrily

For once Merrin looked guilty "I thought it was scent," he said "But it was horrible I could have died"

"True," Aunt Zelda agreed, turning the eold bottle over and over in her hand "Now, Merrin This is important, and I do not want any lies, understand?"

Sulkily Merrin nodded

"Did you tell the jinnee you were Septimus Heap?"

"Yeah, &039;course I did That is hed This was bad "It is not your real name, Merrin," she said patiently "It is not the naave you"

"It was the name I was called for ten years," he said "I&039;ve had it longer than he has"

Despite her anger with him, Aunt Zelda had some sympathy for Merrin What he said was true, he had been called Septimus Heap for the first ten years of his life Aunt Zelda knew that Merrin had had a rough tiive him license to terrorize little children and steal froh of that, Merrin," she said sternly "Noant you to tell me what you said when the jinnee asked you, &039;What Do You Will, Oh Master?&039;"

"Yeah, well"

"Well what?" Aunt Zelda tried not to iht have asked the jinnee to do

"I told it to go away"

Aunt Zelda felt a surge of relief "You did?"

"Yeah It called o away"

"And did it?"

"Yeah Then it locked ot out It was horrible"

"Serves you right," Aunt Zelda said briskly "Now, one last thing and then you can go"

"What now?"

"What does the jinnee look like?"

"Like a banana" Merrin laughed "Like a stupid giant banana!" With that, he pulled free of Aunt Zelda and raced toward the Manuscriptoriuo "Well, I think that narrows the field," she muttered She took hold of Barney Pot&039;s hand "Barney," she said, "would you like to help rinned "Ooh, yes please," he said