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"You're getting good at this Magyk stuff," Jenna whispered to Septimus.
Septimus grinned. He loved the feeling of a spell working right. The Bother hung from the ceiling patiently awaiting an answer. "Could you please show us the way out?" Septimus asked it politely.
"With pleasure," replied the Bother. "Follow me, please." The creature detached itself from its piece of string and landed lightly in front of them on all four of its spindly legs. Then it scuttled off and, to everyone's surprise, leaped into an open trapdoor.
"Quick," said Septimus, "we'd better follow it. You go first, Nik, so that we're still Silent."
They followed the Bother down a long and very precarious ladder, which took them all the way through the house. The ladder bounced and flexed with the unaccustomed weightfor none of the witches ever dared use itand by the time they reached the ground, Septimus was shaking.
As they stepped off the ladder into darkness they were greeted with a chorus of malevolent hissing. Wolf Boy hissed back.
"What's that?" Jenna whispered.
"Cats," muttered Septimus. "Loads of them. Shh, 409, don't annoy them." But Wolf Boy's hissing had done the trickthe cats were quiet, terrified by the sound of the biggest, fiercest cat they had ever heard.
The Bother waited until they were all safely off the ladder. "As you see, ladies and gentlemen, we are now in the Coven kitchen, which is the hub of household activities. Follow me, please, and I will conduct you to the exit."
The Coven kitchen smelled of old fried fat and cat food. It was too dark to make out much except for the dull glow of the stove and the green glittering of a forest of cats' eyes, which followed their Silent progress across the room.
They were soon out of the kitchen and keeping close behind the Bother as it scuttled along a narrow passage. It as hard to see where they were going, for the house was very dark and gloomy; black cloths were pinned up at the windows and the walls were covered with a dirty brown paint and a few cracked paintings of witches, toads and bats. But as they squeezed around a narrow corner, a dusty shaft of light suddenly fell across the passagewaya door creaked open and a witch wandered out.
Nicko stopped dead and Septimus, unable to see him, crashed into him, followed closely by Jenna and Wolf Boy. Stanley, who was running in front of Nicko, was caught in the shaft of light.
The witch stared at Stanley with wide eyes, and, aghast, Stanley stared at the witch.
"Hello. You're my rat, aren't you, boy?" the witch said in a strange singsong voice. "Let me turn you into a nice fat toad."
Stanley's mouth opened and closed again, but no sound came out. The witch blinked slowly; then she turned and peered at Septimus, Jenna and Wolf Boy, who had all shrunk back into the shadows.
"You've brought your friends with you too ... mmm yum. Children. We like children, we do ... and here's my own special Bother, which I hung up last night..."
"Hello, Veronica," said the Bother, somewhat disapprovingly. "Are you sleepwalking again?"
"Mmm," murmured the witch. "Sleepwalking ... lovely."
"Go back to bed now," the Bother said crossly. "Before you fall down that trapdoor again and wake them all up."
"Yes. Back to bed now ... nighty-nighty, Bother," murmured the witch, and she shuffled off down the passageway, eyes wide-open and staring into space. Jenna and Wolf Boy squeezed against the wall to let the sleepwalking witch go by.
"Oh, phew," breathed Septimus.
"This way now, if you don't mind please, ladies and gentlemen," said the Bother briskly, and it scuttled off under a thick black curtain that was draped across the passageway. Septimus, Jenna, Wolf Boy, Stanley and the Silent Unseen Nicko pushed their way around the dusty curtain and sighed with reliefon the other side was the front door.
The Bother ran up the door like a lizard on a hot wall and busily set about opening an array of bolts, locks and chains. Jenna smiled at Septimusthey were nearly out.
And then it started.
"Ow! Help. Help! Someone's attacking me. Help. Get off. Get off me!" screamed a piercingly high metallic voice. One of the locks was Alarmed.
"Shh, Donald," the Bother told the lock crossly. "Stop fussing, it's only me."
But the lock would not be shushed. It set itself into a loud, repetitive wail. "Ooh-ooh-ooh help ... Ooh-ooh-ooh help ... Ooh-ooh-ooh help..."
Suddenly above their heads came the sound of running footsteps and then agitated voices. The Port Witch Coven was awake. A few moments later came sounds of heavy footsteps on the stairs, followed by a loud crack of splintering wood and a scream.
"You idiot, Daphne!" yelled a voice. "I'd only just fixed that step and now look at it. Ruined." An answering groan came trom Daphne.
Another voice shouted, "I smell intruders. I smell a rat! Quick, quick! Go down the back way." What sounded like a herd of stampeding elephants thundered above. The house shook. The Port Witch Coven was on its way.
"Ooh-ooh-ooh help ... Ooh-ooh-ooh help..." shrieked the lock.
"Sep?" Jenna turned to Septimus in a panic. "Sepcan you do anything?"
"Dunno. I'm thinkinghang on." Septimus fumbled in his Apprentice belt again and pulled out a small packet labeled Rush Dust. Quickly he poured it into his palm and threw it over the Bother. The Bother coughed and spluttered; then suddenly it speeded up until it was nothing more than a blue blur, scrambling up and down the door, shooting bolts, undoing locks and freeing chains, while all the time the lock continued its ear-splitting wail. "Ooh-ooh-ooh help ... Ooh-ooh-ooh help ... Ooh-ooh-ooh help..."
Suddenly Jenna heard the sounds of witches downstairs in the kitchen, but at that moment, the front door flew open, pinning the Bother flat against the wall. In a flash Jenna, Septimus, Nicko, Wolf Boy and Stanley were out of the house and tearing down The Rope Walk, hardly daring to glance behind to see if a stream of witches were after them.
Back in the house of the Port Witch Coven the hall floor finally surrendered to years of being eaten by Daphne's giant woodworm colony and plunged the entire Coven headlong into the basementwhere their fall was broken by the accumulated contents of a leaking sewage pipe.
Chapter 25 The Causeway
Jenna, Septimus, Nicko, Wolf Boy and Stanley took the Causeway out of the Port toward the Marram Marshes. Jenna led the way and behind her trotted Thunder, shaking his head and snorting in the cool morning air, glad to be out of the smelly stable he had spent the night in at the rear of the Doll House.
Jenna had insisted on going back for Thunder. She was afraid that if they left the horse behind, Nurse Meredith might have been tempted to sell him to the meat pie shop down by the harbor. So, when they had rounded the end of The Rope Walk and still no witches had come out of the house, Jenna had crept down the dirt track that ran behind the houses and led Thunder away.
The Causeway ran along the high ridge that skirted the fields at the edge of the Port. As they walked in the early-morning haze, Jenna could see the faded circus tent and smell the well-trodden grass from the crowds the night before. It was a quiet and peaceful scene, but Jenna was on edgethe burn on her arm from Sleuth stung and was a constant reminder that Simon now had a Tag on herand any sudden movement or sound made her jump. So when, out of the corner of her eye, Jenna saw a small dark shape making a strange clattering noise and heading toward her, she panicked and grabbed hold of Septimus.
"Ouch!" gasped Septimus. "What's up, Jenwhat is it?" Jenna ducked behind him. Something was heading straight for her.
"Eurgheurgh gettitoff! Gettitoffme!" Jenna yelled, frantically brushing a large spiky insect off her shoulder.
The boys knelt down and peered at the bug, which lay on its back in the fine dust of the Causeway, legs slowly waving in the air and making a faint buzzing noise.
"But I thought it was dead," said Septimus, poking at the bug with his finger.
"How did it get here?" asked Nicko, shaking his head.
Wolf Boy stared at the bug. It didn't look very edible to him. Far too crunchy, he reckoned, and spiky too. He would not be surprised if it had a nasty sting.
Jenna peered over their shoulders. "What is it?" she asked.
"It's your Shield Bug," Septimus said.
"No!" Jenna dropped to her knees and very gently picked up the bug and laid it in the palm of her hand. She brushed as much dust off it as she could, and after a few moments, watched by a fascinated audience, the bug stood up and shakily began cleaning its wings, buzzing and fussing as it tried to get everything back into working order. And then, suddenly, with a triumphant clatter of wings against its green armor-plated shell, the bug rose into the air and took its rightful place on Jenna's shoulderjust as it had done more than a year ago when it had first been created at Aunt Zelda's cottage. Jenna's spirits lifted; now she had something to defend herself with ifor was it when?Simon came looking for her.
