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‘That’s okay,’ said Arthur ‘I knew you orking for Suzy What I want to know right nohat’s happened to ed a surprised look
‘We are expert searchers and finders of information as all else,’ said Monckton ‘But clearly your sources are as good It was only five days ago that I entered into an agreement with Miss Leaf’
‘Five days,’ Arthur repeated, ain the weird time shifts between the House and the Secondary Real him
‘Yes, five days,’ Monckton confirht?’ said Arthur impatiently ‘What happened?’
‘The court was held this , before Captain Swell chose to sail away Miss Leaf was charged with being a stoay --’ ‘I know! What happened to her?’
‘With the potential punish a death sentence for a mortal, I was acutely aware of the stakes However --’ ‘What happened? Is she?’
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‘NO, NO, SHE’S NOT DEAD,’ replied Monckton ‘But she has been pressed’
‘Pressed!’ Arthur exclaimed ‘What do youwas bad enough, but to be pressed flat --
‘No, no! Pressed, as in forcibly enlisted,’ said Monckton ‘I was able to prove that she did not go aboard the Flying Mantis of her own free will, so she was not a stoay But she was not a passenger either, nor a distressed sailor Ulti she could be was one of the crew So she was pressed into service as a ship’s boy’
‘Ship’s girl,’ said Arthur
‘Ship’s boy,’ said Monckton ‘They’re always called ship’s boys, even when they’re girls There are plenty of both aboard the ships of the Border Sea Though apart from your friend Leaf, they’re all the Piper’s children, of course, and therefore our brethren We help one another, where we may’
‘But ill happen to her?’
‘It’s a hard life, but the Mantis is a well-found ship and a fair one,’ said Longtayle ‘Your friend ht work her way up, become an officer, even captain her own ship in time Mortals learnwhere she’ll end up’
‘But she won’t want to be a ship’s boy! She has to get honed the ship’s articles,’ Longtayle reported ‘There’s no breaking them’
‘Except by executive order from Drowned Wednesday,’ corrected Monckton
‘So I could release her once I get the Will to make me Master of the Border Sea,’ said Arthur ‘Or Duke, or whatever it is’
Both Rats nodded in agree to assume control over the Border Sea
‘I suppose Leaf will be safe enough on board the Mantis,’ Arthur said in a hopeful tone She was probably better off than he was, being out of the trouble he was heading into, but still he wished he’d got to the Triangle earlier and could have helped Leaf get off the ship and go hoht With the mirror and the shell …
‘She’ll be safer than ood ship, but there’s always stortayle ‘The Shiver has been sighted too often in recent ti, not to mention so of the Nightdream’
‘That’s why I’m here,’ said Arthur ‘Kind of I need to find Feverfew’s secret harbour, and I need to go in there and get so I must ask for your help’
‘We are mercantile Rats,’ said Monckton ‘That is to say, we do not do anything without payment of some kind’
‘Do you actually knohere Feverfew’s harbour is?’ Arthur asked ‘Or can you find out fairly quickly? Iabout pay’
‘We think we knohere it is,’ said Longtayle ‘That is to say we have deduced its location from some evidence, but we have not actually been there ourselves As for getting you thereif we’re right then that’s an even more difficult proposition’
‘Okay,’ said Arthur, ready to bargain ‘What payment do you want for the location, to start with?’
‘We deal in information,’ said Monckton ‘So if we answer your questions, we’d like you to answer an equivalent nu to pay a ransoold or treasure This seemed too easy
‘Is that all?’ he asked
‘That ed ‘I don’t have anything to hide At least I don’t think I do’
‘Then you shall ask three questions of us,’ said Monckton ‘And we shall ask three of you’
‘There’s no trick to this, is there?’ Arthur asked suspiciously ‘I mean, what I just asked doesn’t count as a question, does it? Because I’nificant questions count,’ said Monckton ‘So, you want to knoe know about Feverfew’s secret harbour?’