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With a gurgling groan, the golden floor sagged, and rippled, and cru hole opened up at their feet, its edges hissing and s inside but darkness Brunty whooped joyfully and lunged like a terrible lion He seized Anne’s arm in one newspaper-hand and Branwell’s neck in the other, the crook of the ar on to thatat once Mr Bud and Mr Tree bellowed in rage and ap Ee, cursing and hollering and calling their brother and sister’s names

Brunty’s burning glare bored into Branwell and Anne His grip on their bones crushed down, as unstoppable as stone He smelled like new books, and the perfect capital O’s of his eyes narrowed until they were shaped like bitter, bitter almonds

“Are you mad?” he snarled He stared like he could blow open their skulls if he only looked hard and hateful enough “Are you? Can four together catch the same madness?”

“Are you?” snapped Bran defiantly “Go set yourself on fire”

“No,” whispered Anne, who could not convince her chest to breathe

The hulking book nodded, the way aover a job nearly done He squeezed Bran and Anne to his massive chest and bellowed: “You filth of Glass Town! You deserve this! You deserve every single thing that is about to happen! You have killed yourselves!”

“Now, that’s just uncalled for,” Mr Tree sputtered, deeply hurt

Emily was so close She was almost there She could almost touch Anne’s sleeve

But Brunty just grinned He grinned, and laughed, and howled, and with Branwell, Anne, and his dread ht down into the poisonous pit he’d made and vanished Inside half a second, the acid had writhed and wriggled and seared itself back together, leaving nothing but a long, ugly, green scar down the middle of The Governess’s Tale

Charlotte and Emily stood horribly still, stunned silent and quite alone, apart fro editors, in the lobby of Bud & Tree Publishing House

PART III

I Am No Bird

TWELVE

Gone, Gone, Gone

Not us! Not our fault!” cried Mr Bud, holding out his leather ar us—I can see you want to! Stop that right now, right this instant Stop looking like that! It’s distressing Mr Tree, can’t you see?”