Diggers (21 page)

“I don't think I understood all of it, either,” Masklin added.

“Which parts didn't you understand?”

“Nearly all of them,” said Masklin. “All the bits after ‘gone into.'”

“Someone with the right name is here and waiting in a special room to get on a big silver bird that flies in the sky to go to a place called Florida,”
said the Thing.

“What big silver bird?” said Angalo.

“It means jet plane. It's being sarcastic,” said Masklin.

“Yeah? How does it know all this stuff?” said Angalo suspiciously.

“This building is full of computers,”
said the Thing.

“What, like you?”

The Thing managed to looked offended.
“They are very, very primitive,”
it said.
“But I can understand them. If I think slowly enough. Their job is to know where humans are going.”

“That's more than most humans do,” said Angalo.

“Can you find out how we can get to him?” said Gurder, his face alight.

“Hold on, hold on,” said Angalo, quickly. “Let's not rush into things here.”

“We came here to find him, didn't we?” said Gurder.

“Yes! But what do we actually
do
?”

“Well, of course, we . . . we . . . that is, we'll . . .”

“We don't even know what a departure lounge is.”

“The Thing said it's a room where humans wait to get on an airplane,” said Masklin.

Gurder prodded Angalo with an accusing finger.

“You're frightened, aren't you,” he said. “You're frightened that if we see Grandson Richard, 39, it'll mean there really
is
an Arnold Bros and you'll have been
wrong
! You're just like your father. He could never stand being wrong either!”

“I'm frightened about
you
,” said Angalo. “Because you'll see that Grandson Richard is just a human. Arnold Bros was just a human, too. Or two humans. They just built the Store for humans. They didn't even know about nomes! And you can leave my father out of this, too.”

The Thing opened a small hatch on its top. It did that sometimes. When the hatches were shut, you couldn't see where they were, but whenever the Thing was really interested in something, it opened up and extended a small silver dish on a pole, or a complicated arrangement of pipes.

This time it was a piece of wire mesh on a metal rod. It started to turn slowly.

Masklin picked up the box.

While the other two argued, he asked, quietly, “Do you know where this lounge thing is?”

“Yes,”
said the Thing.

“Let's go, then.”

Angalo looked round.

“Hey, what are you doing?” he said.

Masklin ignored him. He said to the Thing: “And do you know how much time we have before he starts going to Florida?”

“About half an hour.”

TERRY PRATCHETT's novels have sold more than thirty-two million copies and have inspired a devoted worldwide following. In addition to his best-selling adult books about Discworld, Mr. Pratchett has also written several books for young readers, including
THE WEE FREE MEN
and the Johnny Maxwell trilogy:
ONLY YOU CAN SAVE MANKIND, JOHNNY AND THE DEAD
, and
JOHNNY AND THE BOMB.
Mr. Pratchett was awarded Britain's highest honor for a children's novel, the Carnegie Medal, for
THE AMAZING MAURICE AND HIS EDUCATED RODENTS.

Visit him online at www.terrypratchettbooks.com

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www.AuthorTracker.com
for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.

The Wee Free Men
A Hat Full of Sky
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
The Carpet People
The Dark Side of the Sun
Strata

THE JOHNNY MAXWELL TRILOGY
Only You Can Save Mankind
Johnny and the Dead
Johnny and the Bomb

The Unadulterated Cat
(illustrated by Gray Jolliffe)
Good Omens
(with Neil Gaiman)

THE DISCWORLD SERIES

The Color of Magic
The Light Fantastic
Equal Rites
Mort
Sourcery
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
Guards! Guards!
Eric
Moving Pictures
Reaper Man
Witches Abroad
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies
Men at Arms
Soul Music
Feet of Clay
Interesting Times
Maskerade
Hogfather
Jingo
The Last Continent
Carpe Jugulum
The Fifth Elephant
The Truth
The Thief of Time
Night Watch
Monstrous Regiment
The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable

(illustrated by Paul Kidby)

Cover art © 2004 by S. Saelig Gallagher

Cover design by Bradford Foltz

HarperTrophy® is a registered trademark of
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

The Bromeliad Trilogy
Copyright © 1998 by Terry and Lyn Pratchett including

Diggers

THE BROMELIAD TRILOGY
Copyright © 1998 by Terry and Lyn Pratchett including
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

First Harper Trophy edition, 2004
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EPub Edition © JANUARY 2012 ISBN 9780062193810

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*
Nome generations, that is. Nomes live ten times faster than humans. To them, ten years is a long time.