SandRider (17 page)

“I will,” said Jenna. She stood on tiptoe and gave Septimus a quick kiss. “Bye, Sep.” And then she was off, hurrying across the drawbridge.

Septimus watched her go and suddenly he knew he could not bear to let her travel alone. And so, despite knowing he was playing with the safety of the Castle, he called out, “Jen! Wait!”

Jenna stopped and turned. She saw Septimus framed in the North Gate arch, his purple robes blending into the shadows. She saw him crouch down and talk to the tiger, and when Septimus untied the rope and the tiger began to pad toward her, Jenna knew what he was doing. She waited for the tiger to come to her. It sat down in front of her and gave a low growl. Jenna took a step back. It had a severe case of cat breath.

Jenna searched the tiger's deep yellow eyes for any sign of the jinnee within but she could find nothing. “You
are
Jim Knee, aren't you?” she asked warily.

The tiger put its head on one side and winked.

Jenna wondered if she had imagined it. “If you are Jim Knee, I command you to do that again.”

The tiger stared up at her unblinking.

Bother
, Jenna thought.
Not blinking on purpose is just the kind of thing Jim Knee would do
. Jenna glanced across to Septimus who was watching from the shadows of the North Gate.

“He's yours, Jen!” he called out. “Send him back when you're safe!”

Jenna decided that Septimus must know his own jinnee. “Come with me, Jim Knee,” she said. The tiger gave another low growl and winked—twice. That was good enough for Jenna. “Thanks, Sep!” she called out.

Septimus watched Jenna walk quickly away, her cloak red against the snow, the yellow-and-black tiger loping beside her. As they reached the edge of the Forest, the tiger began to disappear as its stripes blended with the trees. Septimus squinted into the shadows and thought he caught a quick flash of silver—the telltale sign of a Wendron Witch, for the
young ones all wore a mass of silver rings—and then Jenna's red cloak was gone, vanished into the Forest.

Septimus watched for a while longer. He thought of Jenna moving through the Forest with the witches and despite himself, he was impressed. He knew that as ExtraOrdinary Wizard he should not approve of Jenna's contact with witches. The old saying that
“a Wizard and Witch shall never agree, that one and one and one makes three,”
was true. And yet what Jenna was doing felt right. She was venturing into the Forest on her own terms. She was making it hers. Maybe that was why the Wendron Witches wanted a Princess so much. Maybe they knew that one day, if they did not get their Princess, the Castle Queen would get
them
.

As Septimus walked briskly back along the Castle battlements, Tod, Oskar and Ferdie were sitting on the landing stage beside the old Manuscriptorium boathouse. The sky was blue and cloudless and the winter sun shone down on the icy Moat and its snow-covered banks. Bright blue and
gold pennants fluttered in the breeze showing the path of the racecourse, which ran in front of them along the Moat to a ramp—known as Forest Ramp—that led up the opposite bank away to their right, marked by two tall flagposts. This took the sleds out on a long loop, routing them close to the trees some hundred yards away on the outskirts of the Forest. Although the treetops were covered with snow, the trunks were dark and the Forest beyond looked mysterious in its winter gloom.

From there the racecourse ran alongside the trees until in a breathtakingly steep dive it dropped into the Forest Pit—an old quarry. It then climbed out of the Pit and ran behind the old Infirmary before it took a sharp bend back toward the Castle and the North Gate drawbridge. After that a series of ramps took the sleds up onto the top of the Castle Wall—with a terrifying drop on either side—and then a steep descent down the final long ramp would send the sled hurtling down to the finish.

But Tod did not want to think about the race. She had Septimus to see and she had Tribe of Three business to sort out. She jumped straight in. “The Orm Egg is about to hatch,” she said.

“What?”
Oskar and Ferdie chorused. And then,
“How do you know?”

Tod told them about Kaznim, the cards, Jim Knee and finally about Darius and the
Egg Timer
. She fished the tiny
Egg Timer
out of her pocket to show them.

“Wow . . .” Ferdie and Oskar said together. “That is
beautiful
.”

“Isn't it?” Tod said, letting the little gold-and-lapis hourglass lie flat on her palm and feeling the ancient
Magyk
once more. As they gazed at it they were all amazed to see a tiny, luminous grain of silver float from one very nearly empty chamber and burrow its way into the much fuller chamber. “I think,” Tod said, “that this is some kind of
Magykal
countdown to when the Orm Egg is going to hatch.”

“Then it's going to hatch pretty soon, by the look of it,” Oskar said.

“I wonder how often a grain goes through,” Ferdie said. “If it's just one a day, then there's still some time left. But if it's one every hour, then . . .”

“There's hardly any time left at all,” Tod finished for her.

Oskar had been thinking. “Tod,” he said, “what exactly did Kaznim look like?”

“Well . . . she was quite small. Dark curly hair and she was wearing a long red coat—thin, like a sleeping robe. Oh, and sandals on bare feet.”

“Pigs!”
Oskar said.

“Pigs
what
?” asked Ferdie.

There was something Oskar knew he should tell Tod and Ferdie, but he had made the solemn Manuscriptorium Promise, which meant he had sworn not to talk about anything he saw or heard in the Manuscriptorium. “We agreed that our promise to the Tribe of Three comes before anything else. Right?”

“You know we did, Oskie,” Tod said. “That's why I just told you about Kaznim and the cards and the
Egg Timer
.”

Oskar stared down at the Moat. He felt bad about breaking the Manuscriptorium Promise, but he knew what he had to do. “Kaznim didn't run away,” he said. “She was downstairs in the Manuscriptorium. I saw her.”

Tod and Ferdie looked at him, stunned. “You
saw
her?”

Oskar nodded. “She was in the corridor in the Conservation basement. I thought she was probably someone's little sister, but we were busy so I didn't really pay her much attention. But later, when I was leaving, I saw the ghost of Jillie Djinn in the
front office and she seemed in a really good mood, even though Romilly's baby sister was lying on the floor having a tantrum. Jillie Djinn was laughing and saying over and over again that little girls will always get their own
way
. It was weird how she kept emphasizing ‘way.' It didn't make any sense at the time, but it does now. I think Kaznim went through the Manuscriptorium Way. And I think Jillie Djinn helped her,” Oskar finished gloomily.

They sat in silence for a few moments until the high-pitched
ring-riiiiiiiing
of a bell intruded on their thoughts. Oskar leaped to his feet. “It's the half-hour bell,” he said. “We'd better go.”

Ferdie was indignant. “Oskie, you can't still be racing,” she said. “There are
far
more important things to do.”

“But what
can
we do?” Oskar asked.

“I have to go too,” Tod said. “I've got to tell Septimus about Kaznim and the
Egg Timer
.”

“So what about us?” Ferdie asked a little sharply. “What about the Tribe of Three finding the Orm Egg?”

Tod sighed. “Ferdie, I can't keep Kaznim and the
Egg Timer
a secret from Septimus. It's way too important. You must see that.”

Ferdie felt horribly disappointed. The Tribe of Three, she realized, was just a kids' game—there was no way it could compete with the Wizard Tower. “What I see,” she said bitterly, “is that you belong to the Castle now. Whatever you may say, you don't really belong to the Tribe of Three. Your promise that we would all stick together and find the Orm Egg means nothing to you.
That's
what I see.”

“But I can belong to the Castle and the Tribe of Three,” Tod protested. “We
all
can. You belong to the Castle just as much as me, Ferdie.”

“No I don't.” With that Ferdie got to her feet and walked away.

“No! Ferdie, wait!” Tod called out, but Ferdie did not even look back. Tod watched her friend hurry up the steps and stalk off along the top of the Castle Wall, heading for her lookout post at the old Infirmary where she was due to monitor the Apprentice race. Biting back tears, Tod turned to Oskar. “Oh, Oskie,” she said. “I
have
to tell Septimus. You see that, don't you?”

Oskar nodded. He was learning fast how hard it was to have two loyalties. “When you think about it,” he said slowly, “all that really matters is getting to the Orm Egg in time. It
doesn't matter who gets there first—whether it's us or someone from the Castle—as long as it's not Oraton-Marr. And telling Septimus makes that more likely to happen. Not less.”

Tod smiled. “Thank you, Oskie,” she said, and she gave him a hug.

Oskar blushed. “Anytime,” he said.

Tod cast one last look after the vanished Ferdie and said, “I'd better go and find Septimus.”

“Hurry back,” Oskar said. “You know we've got to be in the shed five minutes before Lead Out or the subs get to race. I don't want that Drammer sucker racing the
Wiz
. I want to race against you. And win!”

Tod grinned. “In your dreams, Oskar Sarn.” And she hurried off.

With no idea where Septimus might be, Tod decided to head for the Wizard Tower and hope to find him there.

A puzzled Darius unhooked the rope and watched Tod disappear into the crowd that was gathering for the start of the
Apprentice Race. The sight of the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice pushing her way through caused many mutterings.
What was she doing? Wasn't she racing? What was wrong?
Tod heard them and realized how right Septimus had been about her racing. But some things, she thought, were more important than keeping up appearances. Frustratingly slowly, Tod pushed her way through the crowd. Suddenly someone barred her way. It was Drammer Makken.

“Hey,” he said. “Look who it is.”

“Get out of my way, Drammer,” Tod said.

“Okeydokey, pig-in-a-pokey.” Drammer grinned and stepped to one side. His older brother, Newt, immediately took his place and Tod realized she was encircled by Drammer's friends. It was not a good feeling.

“Let me through, Newt,” Tod said.

Newt looked lazily at his timepiece. “Patience, Alice,” he sneered. “Of course I will let you through. In ten minutes and—ooh, let me see—twenty-three seconds. That's when the Lead Out bell goes, isn't it? But until then we can just have a little chat, can't we?”

“No, we can't,” Tod said. “Let me past.” She went to sidestep Newt but the group pushed Tod toward the courtyard
wall. Newt stuck his arm out between Tod and the wall so that she couldn't go forward. She tried to step back and found her way blocked. She was trapped.

“Get out of my way!” Tod yelled. Newt and his cronies burst into loud, forced laughter, drowning Tod's shouts.

The seconds were ticking by and Tod was getting desperate. Her chances of finding Septimus were rapidly disappearing along with her chances of racing the
Wiz
. Tod began to realize that there was no way she could get to Septimus in time now—wherever he might be. All she could do now was race the
Wiz
, as he had wanted her to.

Tod took a deep breath and yelled as loud as she could, “Get out of my way!”

“In a minute, little girl,” said one of the larger boys, laughing.

“Little
Apprenticey-wentice
,” jeered another.

Tod had had enough. She knew there was no way the gang was going to let her free. She was going to have to do something a little more dramatic than shout. Her hand moved surreptitiously to her Apprentice belt and she took out a
Scare Charm
, one of the basic
Charms
with which Septimus had loaded the belt when she had been Inducted as Apprentice.
The
Charm
was not, he had impressed upon her, to be used lightly.

Tod slipped the
Scare Charm
into her hand, made a fist and squeezed the
Charm
as hard as she could to
Activate
it. Then, remembering that she must turn it on and tell it what she wanted it to do, she yelled, “On! Set me free!” and opened her hand. There was a blinding flash of red light, and a small red ball bristling with needle-thin spikes flew out. It headed straight for Newt's arm. “Ouch!” he yelled. He grabbed hold of his arm and leaped away from Tod, leaving her with a clear space in front. The
Charm
ricocheted off the wall, bounced back and began leaping from one member of the gang to another. In the midst of the yelps and yowls, Tod pushed her way free and headed for the safety of Sled Alley.

Darius watched her heading toward him in alarm. “Argh!” he yelled. “There's a horrible red bug chasing you!”

Tod wheeled around to see the
Charm
bouncing after her like a faithful puppy. She scooped it off the ground and told it, “Stop.” As an afterthought, she said, “Thank you.” Tod wasn't sure if one was meant to thank
Charms
, but it seemed only polite. The
Charm
pulled its spikes into itself and its angry red light faded. In a moment Tod had a little rubbery red ball
sitting quietly in her hand. She was exhilarated. The
Magyk
had worked brilliantly. “Thanks, Darius,” she said. “Can you let me through, please?”