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‘But The Evil stopped us,’ said Jack, ‘and so we had to make a new ward instead.’
Grandma X raised her eyebrows. ‘Just like that?’
‘Well, we don’t really kno
w how we did it . . .’
‘Only that we did,’ said Jaide. ‘Custer checked it and everything was fine. Did we do something wrong?’
‘Not at all, not at all. You simply did something very difficult, something that normally takes years of practice and an astonishingly well-matched pair of Wardens to achieve. It always takes two, you see, to ensure the new ward is completely secure.’
‘We’re twins,’ said Jack brightly. ‘That must be why it worked for us.’
‘Indeed. But in that regard you are not unique. All troubletwisters are twins, but not all twins are troubletwisters.’
Before Jaide could untangle that sentence, Grandma X produced something else from under her apparently inexhaustible nightgown.
‘Now, I have brought something else to show you, something that is normally kept safe in the blue room, where it cannot be interfered with by anyone.’
It was a huge blue folder the size of a very fat encyclopaedia. They flipped it open to reveal a great mass of different-sized pages loosely held together by a spiral binding. The pages at the front were modern computer printouts, but as Grandma X flipped the pages to the back, the paper got thicker and older, with some of it typewritten and some of it in beautiful, flowing handwriting. The pages right at the bottom were not paper at all, but vellum or parchment, and the writing was particularly ornate, with gilded capitals and little illustrations. There were also many other full-page drawings, maps and diagrams throughout the folder, the earlier ones hand drawn and the later ones obviously done on a computer.
‘Next time something like this happens, this is where you come first.’ Grandma X closed the folder and showed the children the spine, where a card had been stuck in the plastic sleeve. The whole loose-leaf collection was called A Compendium of The Evil.
‘Wardens have fought against The Evil for millennia, with varying degrees of success. This Compendium contains as much of our collected experience as has survived the perils of both The Evil and history in general. Every Warden in this current era has one. Use it as needed, and you will be wiser for it. But be aware that it will not always answer you, and you may not be able to find things you have just now glimpsed, for this is not as simple a pile of old papers as it seems, and there are things that troubletwisters should not know, or should be spared the knowledge of. But if ever you cannot ask me something for any reason, you may ask the Compendium. Think of what you want to know, browse through the pages, and if it is something you can be told, you will find the right paper.’
The twins nodded, sensing that with this small piece of advice their tutelage had properly begun. Where it would lead them they didn’t know, and what perils lay ahead they couldn’t imagine, but they were on the path now. At least they had a path.
‘I’m glad you understand,’ said Grandma X, ‘because tomorrow you’re going to write down everything that happened to you and put it into the Compendium yourselves. If necessary, it will illustrate your work —’
‘It will illustrate it?’ asked Jaide.
‘Well, it would be more accurate to say that it will find the Warden best able to illustrate whatever is required,’ replied Grandma X. ‘Perhaps one of you may have that Gift, of drawing the thoughts and writings of others. But apart from other Wardens, you mustn’t ever tell anybody else what you write about —’
‘Except for Warden Companions,’ said Kleo. ‘Like us.’
‘Some things may be told to Warden Companions,’ continued Grandma X with a quelling glance. ‘But secrecy is a matter greater even than life and death for us. We are part of an unending struggle against a terrible opponent. We risk our lives and fight great battles, but the rest of the world must not know of the existence of The Evil.’
‘Why not?’ asked Jack.
‘Because it is a sad fact of human nature that there are people who fall easily under The Evil’s sway,’ said Grandma X bleakly. ‘There are even those who would volunteer to join it, or work for it, or who would sell themselves or others for things The Evil can give.’
‘Oh,’ said Jack thoughtfully.
She studied him a second longer than was comfortable, then added, ‘Not even Wardens are immune.’
He looked away, hoping she was only guessing how The Evil had tried to turn him against her, and swearing that she would never know.
‘Did we really damage the East Ward?’ he asked.
‘Perhaps,’ she said. ‘It was old and damaged by your father once, and your presence here might have weakened it to the point of failure. But it wasn’t something you did deliberately, and you did put things right in the end, didn’t you? I wouldn’t spare it another thought – except to listen to me when I tell you to be careful, in the future.’
‘Yes, Grandma.’ Jack couldn’t tell if she was telling the whole truth or being kind, but either way he did feel a bit better.
‘Will you tell us about the other wards tomorrow?’ Jaide asked. ‘And will you show us where they are?’
‘All in good time,’ their grandma said. ‘We have to get your Gifts under control first. You would not normally have learned of the wards so early in your development as troubletwisters.’
Jaide nodded. She was already firmly convinced of the need to get their Gifts under control.
‘What about school?’ asked Jack. ‘Do we really have to go back when it opens again?’
‘I’m afraid so. The rest of the world won’t stop while you learn what it means to be a troubletwister.’ She smiled fondly at them. ‘Now, I think it is time for sleep. Cats, you may retire, too.’
‘Good night,’ said Kleo to the twins. ‘You have done well.’
She jumped up and licked Jaide’s face, then leaped over to lick Jack, who was less keen. Ari followed suit, but he did not lick Jack, merely butting his head against him.
‘It is an honour to work with you, troubletwisters,’ said Ari gravely.
Grandma X watched the cats walk out, then came and kissed the twins herself.
‘You have done extraordinarily well,’ she said. ‘And I am proud of you, grandchildren.’
Grandma X turned out the light. A moment later they heard her soft tread on the stairs, so different from the sharp beat of her daytime boots.
‘I guess this isn’t turning out as bad as we thought,’ said Jack. ‘Apart from no television.’
‘I guess so.’ Jaide yawned. ‘But what was it she said about twins and troubletwisters?’
‘Hmmm?’ answered Jack. His thoughts were elsewhere. ‘You know, it would be so cool to travel by lightning . . .’
Jaide didn’t answer. She was already asleep, and within moments, so was Jack.
GARTH NIX was born in Melbourne, grew up in Canberra, and has lived in various parts of Sydney for the last twenty-four years. None of these moves were because he blew his house up with uncontrolled troubletwister Gifts. However, Garth did learn to blow things up when he was much younger and served as a part-time soldier in an Assault Pioneer platoon of the Australian Army Reserve. He also learned the importance of ancient texts when he worked as a bookseller, book sales representative, book editor and literary agent. These were his day jobs while he was also writing at night, utilising his Gift of night vision to save on electricity bills. Despite constant international warden tasks to keep The Evil contained, Garth has somehow also found time to write more than twenty books, including the bestselling The Keys to the Kingdom series and the Old Kingdom Trilogy, numerous short stories and other works. He has two troubletwisters of his own, but no Warden Companion cats, though he does live with a couple of budgies who know too much. More information can be found in A Compendium of The Evil or, perhaps more easily, at www.garthnix.com.
SEAN WILLIAMS was born in a small coastal town that no one has ever heard of. No, not Portland, but his father’s family did come from the Portland in Victoria, where Sean first read T
he Lord of the Rings. That formative experience led him to write stories of his own, and he has spent most of his life since doing exactly that, producing forty novels and collections, eighty shorter works, and several disreputable poems in quick succession. If he has a particular Gift, it is to write through pretty much anything, even attacks of the hairy spiders that often infest his study, and so swiftly that some of his books appear to have been finished before they were started (rather suspiciously). He lives in Adelaide, South Australia, where he likes to DJ at the odd party and to cook the even odder brussels sprout curry – Gifts his wife and family probably wish he didn’t exercise quite so often. Details of further exploits can be found at www.seanwilliams.com.
