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But the floor was shuddering violently underneath thely close to the surface Then the floorboards directly ahead buckled upwards in slowclawed and dark tore its way up and through It dragged itself up into the passageway in a vast clashing of gears and clinking of metal It was all oil-slass-panelled on either side to e flat translucent eyes It was clearly fron as the o, but smaller and faster

‘What’s this?’ Bradaainst the sound of splintering wood, grinding

‘I think it must be the Iron Brotherhood,’ Irene answered ‘They probably followed Silver’

‘Oh, this is si ridiculous,’ Bradamant sniffed ‘Which way next?’

The insectoid robot head swivelled to focus on Irene and Bradamant It took a jointed pace down the corridor towards the it along and leaving horrible gashes in the wood Its top scraped the ceiling, bringing down cobwebs that had probably been centuries in theswathe of scoured white plaster in its wake

‘Go right,’ Irene shouted to Bradamant on no particular evidence, and ran in that direction She was already calling vocabulary to her lass, struts and nuts and bolts But there was always the chance that the construct would decide to chase Silver and the olves rather than them, and it seemed a shame to wreck it if so

‘It won’t work, you know,’ Brada her ‘Do you seriously think that thing won’t chase us?’

‘It’s worth a try,’ Irene gasped She turned and looked back over her shoulder

The iron auto rattle of steps, then halted as it reached the junction With a whirr the head turned to edge itself into the passage that Bradaan to creak after it, e after the train

Irene and Bradaears if you do the joints,’ Irene said

‘Right,’ Bradamant said ‘Give it a ed to half-negotiate the turn Its claws dug into the floor as inner springs rewound thee lenses set into the head reflected the tomen, mirror-like If they were in fact s, it was i behind the her voice to carry as far as possible ‘In head, in claws, in body, and in every part which can hear ears, seize solid and stand firm!’

The robot ca of blocked joints and gears Even the distant howling of the olves was drowned out Wires and cables tensed and broke One claw rotated backwards, caught itself in the floor at an angle, and snapped And a fragh-toned ring ofitself

Both wo, past closed offices and storerooms The air was full of fresh dust, the smell of oil and burnt metal A part of Irene’s es Probably She didn’t like ood Librarian was supposed to read headlines, not make them

‘There!’ Bradamant pointed unnecessarily to a stairway ahead of the wide on the banister at the curve and al Irene The door at its base opened on to the ground floor, revealing a rooroups turned to look at thely

Irene smiled her iciest smile, brushed sorip on the precious ledger Behind her, Brada to the door lock Irene couldn’t quite e

Hopefully they had a couple of minutes before any olves, Fae, Iron Brotherhood, or other book-hunters caught up with them Irene spotted a sht Brada her chin towards it

‘Absolutely,’ Bradareed

The two of thelass cases full of dried sea anehtly coloured objects that were probably happier when they’d been underwater With a polite nod to an elderlyframe, Irene quietly tried the handle of the office door

‘Is it shut, dear?’ Brada her voice down ‘In fact, this door is open’ The Language rolled in herobediently to let the pair of the the door behind them She looked around for a key, saw none, and ain

Irene glanced round the room It was clearly someone important’s office: the desk and chairs were newer than the ones downstairs, the pieces of artwork and diagra on the walls had fra,’ she said, walking over to the desk She sat down and flipped the ledger open ‘Sole" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true">