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Meggie saw Basta’s shoulders tense with anger ‘I left him my name He won’t need hter Tell Capricorn I’es’ With these words he turned on his heel and stalked back to Meggie and Fenoglio

‘Capricorn’s not here and I don’t knohen he’ll be back!’ Mortola called after hie until then, and inyour job recently as well as we expect’

Basta swung round as if he had been bitten in the back of the neck, but Mortola continued uner steal a set of keys fros and we have to send a search party out into the pie put out her hand

‘What?’ Basta hite, like a boy being punished in front of the whole class

‘You heard I’es, the crypt and the fuel store Bring theht to theave theain’ He turned away once more

‘And so he will!’ Mortola called after hiets back Maybe he’ll understand better than I do why you didn’t bring Silvertongue’

Basta did not reply Seizing Meggie and Fenoglio by the arpie called soie couldn’t make out what it was And Basta did not turn back this tilio in the shed ht, you can wait here till your father arrives!’ he said before pushing Meggie inside

She felt as if this were a nightain Only here there wasn’t evenfroht did coh a narrow hole in the wall

‘Oh, wonderful!’ said Fenoglio, sitting down on the cold floor with a sigh ‘A cowshed How uniinative I really would have expected Capricorn at least to have a proper dungeon for his prisoners’

‘Cowshed?’ Meggie leaned her back against the wall She heard the rain pattering against the locked door

‘Well, yes, what did you think it was? They always built houses like this in the old days: roo quarters for the faoats and donkeys like that in es Haven’t you noticed when they’ve driven the ani heaps of dung left lying in the streets, and you tread in thelio plucked a hair fro quite so bristly grew in his nose, and flicked it away ‘This is really rather uncanny,’ he ined Capricorn’s ether, even the way she folds her arie looked at hipie?’

‘Magpie! Is that what you call her?’ Fenoglio laughed softly ‘She has exactly the sa Be careful of her She’s not a very pleasant character’

‘I thought she was his housekeeper’

‘That’s probably what you’re supposed to think So keep our little secret to yourself for now, all right?’

Meggie agreed, although she didn’t really understand What did itThis tiht It had all been for nothing – as if they had never run away at all She went over to the locked door and pressed her hands against it ‘He’ll come,’ she whispered ‘Mo will come, and then they’ll lock us up here for ever and ever’