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"Aha!" growled Nettlebrand "Wonderful! We’ll let the little hu for us How very useful!" He stretched his hideous et the answer, spider-legs?"

"Oh, it’s probably going to take us a few days to reach the djinn," Twigleg faltered "You’ll have to be patient a little longer, runted Nettlebrand "Patient! Patient! My patience has run out I want to go hunting properly again I’m sick of cows and sheep Follow the boy and his friends and report back whenever you can, do you hear? I want to know exactly where this dragon is Have you got that?"

"I’ve got it,the wet hair back froan to fade

"Wait!" cried Twigleg "Wait ato follow the" Nettlebrand’s voice sounded a long way off as his ie became more and more blurred "You’re a clever little fellow"

All was quiet now except for the roaring of the sea Twigleg looked at the dark waves unhappily Then, sighing, he jumped down from the rock, landed on the damp sand, and laboriously cliasping for breath, he saw Firedrake co the dry riverbed toward him with Ben, Sorrel, and the professor

The rass Nohat? What should he say when they asked where he’d been? That brownie girl would definitely ask Oh, why hadn’t they stayed in the cavern just a little longer? Then he could have slipped back, quiet as a mouse, and no one would have noticed that he’d been away

Scarcely three hu place, the four of them stopped

"Well, friends," said the professor, "here are the provisions I pro "I’m afraid I didn’t have verya little dried fruit froues’ tents There’s sunscreen in there, too You shoulda pale cloth around the boy’s head, "this is what they wear in this country to protect theht to keep you fro sunstroke, as we pale-skinned folk do only too quickly in these parts As for you two," he added, turning to Sorrel and the dragon, "your scales and fur are probably adequate protection Now, about the route again…"

He switched on a flashlight, and he and Ben bent over the ether "Froht, the journey will probably take you about four days First, as I told you earlier, youonly by night, and by day you must choose the shadiest places you can find to rest in, for the heat will be fierce There are any nu your way -- tumbledown fortresses and sunken cities Most of theo, but you’ll always find soon Since you’ll always be flying along the coast" -- he ran his finger down the coastline -- "you’ll have a reliable guide even in the dark And you should be able to see the coastal road clearly with the ht as it is now The road continues south On the fourth night of your journey the land will beco to the rocks there like the nests of giant birds Then, around ht, you should reach a place where the road forks, and there’s a signpost with Arabic lettering on it, like this"

The professor wrote on the edge of the iven in English as well, but here’s the Arabic, just to be on the safe side It says ‘Shibam,’ the name of a wonderful old city Follow the road until it turns north When you reach a ravine, that’s the one you’re after It’s a good thing Firedrake can fly, because there’s no path leading down into the ravine No hue over it" Barnabas smiled "Some say that it hides the entrance to hell, but I can tell you that’s highly improbable! As soon as you’ve landed safely, look around for a big car without any s Once you find it, honk the horn, sit down on the ground exactly seventeen paces away from the car, and wait"

"A car?" said Ben, astonished

"That’s right!" The professor shrugged his shoulders "Asif stole it from a rich sheikh, or so the latest tales about him say It’s a mistake to believe that spirits and fabulous creatures always live in caves or ruined buildings They soht be called o, I found two djinns living in plastic bottles in the ruined city where I was looking for unicorns"

"A? Ground-elves like to live in eround!" Sorrel called down from Firedrake’s back

She had cliood order, for the storood idea even for her to lash herself firon’s crest "Cans are a wonderful way of terrifying passersby," she went on "The elves just beat on their insides with acorn hammers" -- Sorrel chuckled -- "and you should see how it"I can well believe that of elves," he said, folding up theit back to Ben "About elves, by the way: There’s a certain elf species you ht near the ruined cities that lie buried there They’ll swirl around you and try to drive you off course Take no notice, but don’t be too rude to thereat nuisance, just like their relations in the cold north"

"Oh, no!" groaned Sorrel from Firedrake’s back "Elves will be the end of me!" She rolled her eyes "The trouble I’ve had with those pesky creatures! They once shot their nasty itchy arrows at me just because I climbed an elf hill to pick some mushrooms"

The professor chuckled "I’m afraid their Arab relations are no better behaved, so keep away froht" Ben put the map in his jacket pocket and looked up at the starry sky The heat of the day had gone and he felt a little chilly, but it was good to breathe cool air

"Oh, and here’s soave Ben a fat, well-thuood-bye present fros ever said to have existed in this world It may come in useful on your journey"

"Oh, thank you, Professor!" Ben accepted the book with a shy sh it

"Coed "We can’t stay here while you read a book See how high the moon has risen already"

"Yes, okay!" Ben took off his backpack and put thehis own things