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"What do you

"Well, so pessimistic" Lola took a spoonful of soup from the pan and tasted it "Oh, yuck!" she ain"

Suddenly she raised her pointed nose and sniffed Her ears twitched

Twigleg looked at her in alarely loud voice As she spoke, she discreetly pointed one paw to the place behind her where the plane was parked, wedged in place with a couple of large stones So held his breath "Soup?" he faltered "Er, yes, yes, I’d love soet the soup bowls," announced the rat, standing up

Then, with a sudden leap, she dived between the wheels and tugged at a stout leg Twigleg ca dwarf out fro "It’s that nored hi Lola down the er than a rat or a pale little homunculus But just as Gravelbeard broke free of Lola’s clutches, Twigleg knocked the hat off his head

I He narrowed his eyes, staggered back froleg snatched the hat just before it started rolling downhill and put it on his own head It slipped al it Quite the contrary He went to stand on the very edge of the precipice, the toes of his shoes projecting into empty space, and he didn’t feel the least bit dizzy

"Astonishing," he h back for him to see out from under its bri and shi stared around hiiveout of her flying suit "Weback to hisyou reotten it co on the dwarf’s stomach while Lola tied up her prisoner "What a busy little spy you are Much busier than I ever was in all the three hundred years I served Nettlebrand"

"Traitor!" growled the dwarf, spitting at Twigleg "Give ed his shoulders "No, why should I?" He bent over the dwarf "I know exactly why you’re so keen to serve olden scales Only how are you going to get at the some off while he’s asleep, are you? I really wouldn’t advise it You kno he treasures every single one of the to eat the professor just for having a single one of his precious scales? What do you think?" He put his head a little closer to the dwarf’s "Is he afraid someone will discover what his ar out what’s inside that casket he calls his heart?"

Gravelbeard bit his lips furiously and glared into the fire

"What are we going to do with hiht ideas, homompulos?"

"Take him with us, what else?" said a voice behind the spun around in alarm, but it was only Sorrel She had suddenly appeared in front of the rocks, and Burr-Burr-Chan was grinning at the in surprise "Did you find the dragons’ cave?"

"We did," replied Sorrel "And I see you’ve caught the little spy Not bad And guess what," she added, biting the shriveled mushroom she had in her paw "On the way back to you we found some old mushroom beds from when the Dubidai still lived here Theher lips, she cocked an eyebrow at Twigleg "Got a new hat, little titch?"

The homunculus felt its brim "It’s a very special hat," he said