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'You found it!' said Nanny.
'Uh, no,' said Magrat, not daring to look Granny in the eyes. 'Desiderata gave it to ... me.'
The silence crackled and hummed.
'She gave it to you? said Granny Weatherwax.
'Uh. Yes.'
Nanny and Granny looked at one another.
'Well!' said Nanny.
'She does know you, doesn't she?' demanded Granny, turning back to Magrat.
'I used to come over here quite often to look at her books,' Magrat confessed. 'And . . . and she liked to cook foreign food and no-one else round here would eat it, so I'd come up to keep her company.'
'Ah-hal Curryin' favour!' snapped Granny.
'But I never thought she'd leave me the wand,' said Magrat. 'Really I didn't!'
'There's probably some mistake,' said Nanny Ogg kindly. 'She probably wanted you to give it to one of us.'
'That'll be it, right enough,' said Granny. 'She knew you were good at running errands and so on. Let's have a look at it.'
She held out her hand.
Magrat's knuckles tightened on the wand.
'. . . she gave it me . . .' she said, in a tiny voice.
'Her mind was definitely wandering towards the end,' said Granny.
'. . . she gave it me . . .'
'Fairy godmotherin's a terrible responsibility,' said Nanny. 'You got to be resourceful and flexible and tactful and able to deal with complicated affairs of the heart and stuff. Desiderata would have known that.'
'. . . yes, but she gave it me . . .'
'Magrat Garlick, as senior witch I command you to give me the wand,' said Granny. 'They cause nothing but trouble!'
'Hold on, hold on,' said Nanny. 'That's going a bit far-'
'. . . no . . .' said Magrat.
'Anyway, you ain't senior witch,' said Nanny. 'Old Mother Dismass is older'n you.'
'Shut up. Anyway, she's non compost mental,' said Granny.
'. . . you can't order me. Witches are non-hierarchical . . .' said Magrat.
'That is wanton behaviour, Magrat Garlick!'
'No it's not,' said Nanny Ogg, trying to keep the peace. 'Wanton behaviour is where you go around without wearing any - '
She stopped. Both of the older witches watched a small piece of paper fall out of Magrat's sleeve and zigzag down to the floor. Granny darted forward and snatched it up.
'Aha!' she said triumphantly. 'Let's see what Desiderata really said ..."
