Page 26 (1/2)

‘Aye, aye, sir’

A few lobe revealed the surface of a sea within Drowned Wednesday, or a large lake It was illuh above, a glow Doctor Sca with particles of the House, both of the

‘Very dangerous,’ the sorcerer added, staring into the globe with fascination and dread ‘Too ed to unfix from the House particles and it beca like awell, anything big enough to be Feverfeorldlet?’ asked Arthur

‘Rotate top-eye’

The view in the crystal globe slowly reenlit sea Then there was a sudden flare of colour, bright enough todoh and five or sixwith all the colours of the spectruiant soap bubble in the sun

‘Immaterial Walls,’ commented Doctor Scamandros ‘Very fine work, particularly on such a scale’

‘That’s it,’ said Arthur ‘It has to be Noe need to find the entrance’

‘Keep us at top-eye depth,’ instructed Longtayle ‘We’ll do a circu is visible Snout-eye view’

‘Probably be guards somewhere,’ said Suzy ‘Or traps or the like I mean, it is a pirate’s secret worldlet, ain’t it? If it were uards and traps all over the place’

‘Let’s hope not,’ said Arthur ‘I iant whale, to start with, and Feverfew co anyone to co of salvage slaves, I think that tayle He pointed at a dih’

Arthur leaned forward to get a better look There was a hu still on the stohts shone through the ure became clearer It was humanoid, rather than human About seven feet tall, it had a hu hair, but its reen scales, and there ebbing between its fingers

‘A Nisser,’ said Longtayle ‘But petrified or frozen’

‘What’s a Nisser?’ asked Arthur The creature had been stilled in the act of reaching out for sory, hisuards,’ said Longtayle ‘Like the Coed Servants of the Night in the Middle House She ate theh,’ said Suzy ‘Do you reckon we can wake hilasses on his forehead and peered at the globe Then he shook his head

‘He is tightly wound with a very sophisticated binding I could unpick it, but not easily, and not underwater’

‘Feverfew, I guess,’ said Arthur ‘Hey! There’s another one, closer in’

‘Port ten and slow ahead,’ instructed Longtayle

The subressed closer to the rainbow-hued do the white beams from the submersible’s front In this ripple of colours, there was a dark silhouette Another Nisser, this time frozen in the instant she had raised a trident for a killing thrust

‘And another two,’ said Suzy ‘Over there, right near the doe of the snout-eye view But when the Balaena drew closer, the two figures were not Nisser They were Denizens, or rather the skeletons of long-drowned Denizens, dressed in rags andbetween the with rusty flakes and curls

Arthur was both horrified and fascinated to see that the Denizen’s bones were, as far as he could tell in the rainbow light, a dull golden colour

‘Interesting,’ said Scamandros ‘Denizens don’t usually decompose I suppose this water must have stomach acids in it, like acontamination I presutayle’s tail twitched Arthur saw hins of the corrosive sea already affecting the subtayle ‘We erous to the Balaena, so we cannot linger I’ive you twelve hours, Lord Arthur After that, we must attempt to leave the Leviathan’

‘Is that twelve hours from e find the way in?’ asked Suzy

‘Twelve hours fro into the globe There was so about the rainbow-hued wall just beyond the two skeletons If he looked froht be an arched doorway But when he looked straight on, all he could see were swirls of colour, shifting and changing like oil in a puddle on the road

‘Can anyone else see a door?’ he asked ‘An archway, about eight feet high, just behind the left-hand skeleton?’

‘Nope,’ said Suzy

‘No,’ said Longtayle

Doctor Scalasses on his forehead and looked closely where Arthur was pointing

‘Mmmm, an archwayyesyes, there is a tay h the Immaterial Wall Very cleverly concealed How did you spot it, Arthur?’

‘I was just looking,’ replied the boy ‘But I can only see it out of the corner of my eye’

‘A useful talent,’ said Doctor Scamandros ‘Particularly for you, Lord Arthur I shouldout of the corner of your eye You never knohat ht be there, unseen’

‘If there is a doorway there,’ said Longtayle, ‘we’d best drop you off, Lord Arthur, and find somewhere to hide the Balaena’

‘Hoill you knohen to cotayle reached into his pocket and pulled out a sreen bottle packed in cotton wool

‘This is a one-shot bottle,’ he said ‘Paired to one here It can send only a single word, which is already in it All you have to do is pull out the cork and the et it, we’ll co happens to us and we can’t pick you up, the bottle will crumble to dust’

‘Thanks,’ said Arthur He turned his head to look sideways at the globe The arched door was still there, about fifteen feet away ‘Doctor Sca in the Immaterial Wall -- does that mean there’ll be air on the other side of the door?’

‘Probably But not certainly’

‘Have you got one of those clothespeg char?’

‘I fear not, Arthur Has the one Wednesday’s Dawn provided already failed?’