Page 31 (1/2)

‘You don’t have to worry about the pirates,’ said Leaf ‘They’re a gutless bunch Feverfew could make them brave, but without him, they’re hopeless’

‘I just about had heart failure when I saw you with the?’

‘How about "thanks for the great kick"?’ said Leaf crossly ‘I was staying alive, what do you think? Feverfew said he only enslaved Denizens Or Piper’s children at a pinch, because they’re as hardy as Denizens and a sight cleverer First off he was going to throw et a ransom for me’

‘From who?’

‘Froot all interested’

‘And you told him whatever he wanted to know!’

‘Duh! I didn’t have any choice! He could read my mind for starters’

‘Sorry! Sorry!’ said Arthur ‘Let’s start again Thank you for that wonderful kick Thank you, Suzy, for an equally fantastic smash with the stick’

‘That’s better,’ said Leaf ‘You canme out of here and back ho!’

‘Good idea,’ said Suzy She pointed up at the sky ‘If we can get out’

Arthur looked up The sun obbling in the sky and there were strange, streaky black clouds spreading out from it

‘Uh-oh They’re cracks!’

‘This worldlet is collapsing,’ said the Carp, oncecarried by Jebenezer ‘But we must believe in a way out, for then we shall find one’

‘The augury puzzle,’ snapped Arthur He turned around to look for Feverfew’s body ‘It rab that, find so the slaves, take a ship --’ He stopped talking Where Feverfew’s body had been there was just a big dark stain on the ground and long, thin, useless strips of curling paper

The ground rumbled under Arthur’s feet Branches dropped froan to spread beyond its shores, oozing oilily across the yellow earth

‘How long have we got?’ Arthur asked the Carp ‘And can you do anything to stop it or slow it down?’

‘I have no power over such structures as this I estimate the worldlet will last between six and twelve hours Perhaps a little less, perhaps a little more It depends on the nature of the eventual de, or cataclyset out, Arthur?’ asked Leaf

‘By submersible,’ said Arthur ‘One run by the Raised Rats But it can only fit half a dozen Denizens, and --’

As he spoke, he got out the box and opened it to check the bottle But the bottle was gone, in its place a pile of green glass dust and a tiny frag anyone up anyway They’ve already left Or been destroyed’

‘So we’re stuck here, which means we’re dead,’ said Leaf

‘How about the Improbable Stair?’ asked Suzy ‘We did it before, Arthur It ain’t so bad You lead the way and we all troop along behind’

‘I can’t get onto the Stair without a Key,’ said Arthur ‘But maybe the Will can --’ ‘Not in this form,’ said the Carp

‘At least we destroyed Feverfew,’ said Suzy philosophically ‘Even if it’s one of those whatchaet all the loot and everything’

‘A pyrrhic victory,’ said Leaf ‘Great There has to be some other way out of here We need to try and think outside the square Or laterally Or with different hats Beyond the norht be a way out,’ said Arthur slowly ‘We have to get everyone to the harbour Onto the Moth’

‘But it’s an old tub,’ protested Leaf ‘If you think you can get a ship out, we should take the Mantis!’

Arthur shook his head

‘We can’t get a ship out The Rats were sure Feverfew’s Gore-Draken augury puzzle was the only way to find a gate in or out, and I bet that’s true But therethe Moth, because part of the Moth’s insides are actually somewhere else, inside the House’

‘What?’ asked Leaf and Suzy at the saet there,’ said Arthur ‘Jebenezer, you’d better send someone back to the cavern and order the Followers to the harbour before they start spreading out everywhere Oh, and did anyone stick those two Denizen’s heads backoh, goodwill they be all right?’

‘They will survive,’ said the Carp ‘But they will suffer for many months, and they will not be able to drink for a year’

‘Good,’ said Arthur absently ‘Let’s go! Carp, I presume you can free the slaves held down at the town?’

‘Now that Feverfew is gone, I can loose their shackles even from here,’ said the Carp It swelled up like a blowfish, flared as bright as the sun for an instant, then flashed around its jar in its usual shape at immense speed for several seconds ‘There, it is done!’

By the time they reached the town, it was a shambles The suddenly freed slaves had turned on any pirates still left TheMantis, had re-for their ships with supplies and the choicest pieces of salvage from the vast selection in Feverfearehouses The slaves who had been there longerto be told what to do by somebody

When Arthur arrived he first had a brief but very welco the resupply of the Moth But long explanations had to wait, so after a little back-slapping that left his shoulders sore, Arthur had the Carp use its ability to make its voice heard everywhere around the harbour, to tell the former slaves that the worldlet was doomed and that if they wanted to live and return to the House, theyonly one se each

Naturally this caused a panic, only quelled by the Carp using its voice more forcefully, and Jebenezer, Sunscorch, Pannikin, and various others using their voices and belaying pins to bring order to the et on any of the four small boats that could take them from the harbour wall to the Moth

Leaf also had an i Captain Swell that heMantis, and that even such a practised Navigator-Sorcerer as he would not be able to find a way to sail it out As he had already tried every augury puzzle he could find, the logic of it was clear, but it was still very hard for hih on ten thousand years

Captain Catapillow presented a different problem, for he did not want to let anyone into his quarters, for fear that they would destroy his stamp collection But when Arthur lost his temper and spoke sharply to hi the curtains after him