"My horse!" he screamed. "It's eaten my horse!"
Jenna woke with a start from a bad dream. She sat up awkwardly, feeling cold and damp, to find she was surrounded by a circle of curious sheep, lazily chewing the grass around her. Jenna stood and stretched. She had wasted enough time asleep; she and Thunder had to get moving and somehow Jenna had to get to Aunt Zelda's. She climbed into the saddle while Stanley snored on.
"Stanley," said Jenna, shaking the rat awake.
"Wherrr...?" mumbled the rat, half opening his eyes and gazing blearily at Jenna.
"Stanley, I want you to take a message to Aunt Zelda. You know where she lives and"
Stanley raised a paw in protest. "Let me stop you right there," he said. "Just so that we understand each other, I do not take messages anymore. Absolutely, no way, do I perform the duties of a Message Rat. My license was revoked after that nasty business with the ExtraOrdinary, and I have positively no wish to venture into the Message Rat area of operations again. Ever. No, sir. I mean Madam."
"But it's MidSummer Day tomorrow, Stanley, and I" protested Jenna.
"And, if you think I am going out onto those wretched marshes again you are sadly mistaken. It was a miracle I survived the last journey what with the Marsh Python eyeing me up for supper and those vicious Brownies with their little teeth snap, snap, snapping at my feet, not to mention that moaning-minnie of a Marsh Moaner following me, wailing in my ear and driving me crazy. Ghastly place. Why a cultured young person like yourself wants to set foot in that pestilential pit again is beyond me. If you take my advice I'd"
"So that's a 'no' then, is it?" Jenna sighed.
"Yes. I mean no. I mean yes it's a 'no'." The rat sat up in the saddle and looked around him. "It's nice here, isn't it?" he said. "Came here on holiday with my ma when I was a little lad. We had some relations who lived in the ditches that run out of the Marshes to the sea. Lovely sand dunes down on the beach and convenient for the Port if you hitched a ride on a donkey cart"Stanley shivered"or preferably a fast horse. We had some good times hanging out down at the Port when I was a teenager. Lots of rats there. You wouldn't believe the things that went on. I remember"
"Stanley," said Jenna, an idea forming in her mind. "Does that mean you know the way to the Port?"
"Of course," said Stanley indignantly. "As a member of the Secret Rat Service, you can rely on me to get you anywhere. I am as good as a map. Better than a map, in fact. I have it all in my head, see"the rat tapped the side of his head"I can go anywhere, I can."
"Apart from the Marram Marshes," observed Jenna.
"Yes. Well. The Special Marsh Rats do that. More fool, them. Like I said, I am not setting foot in that noxious swamp ever again."
"Ah, well. Walk on," said Jenna, giving Thunder a gentle nudge with her heels.
"Very well then," said Stanley, "if you feel like that about it." The rat jumped from the saddle and landed a little awkwardly on the grass.
Jenna stopped the horse.
"Stanley, what are you doing?" she asked.
"What you told me to do," said Stanley grumpily. "I'm walking."
Jenna laughed. "I was talking to the foorse, silly. Get back up here."
"Oh. Thought you were cross I wouldn't take you through the Marshes."
"Don't be daft, Stanley. Just get back on the horse and show me the way to the Port. I can remember the way to Aunt Zelda's from there."
"You sure?"
"Yes. Please, Stanley."
Stanley took a running jump, leaped into the air and landed lightly behind Jenna.
It was a beautiful summer's morning. The Sheeplands stretched before them, and on the horizon in the far distance Jenna could see the thin, brilliant white line of the sea glinting as the early-morning sunlight glanced off the water.
A firm, gravelly track took Thunder, Jenna and Stanley across the pastures, leading them along invisible boundaries, past lambing pens and the occasional reed bed and over wide plank bridges that crossed the water channels running from the Marshes on their way to the sea. Jenna let the horse amble slowly along and stop whenever he wanted to snatch at a tasty-looking tuft of grass and munch on it as he went. As the heat of the sun began to burn off the last of the mist, which still hung over the water channels, Jenna relt the dampness in her clothes evaporate, and at last she began to feel warm.
But as the chill from the Badlands left her, Jenna started to think more clearly. And the first thing she thought about was Simon. What was he doing now? Anxiously, Jenna glanced behind her. The steep black rock of the slate quarries rose from the flat Sheeplands like a cliff from the sea; above it lay the low gray cloud, casting a deep shadow. The Badlands were still too close for Jenna's liking; she needed to put some distance between them.
"Gee up, Thunder," said Jenna, urging the horse into a brisk walk and resisting taking him into a trot. She knew Thunder must be tired and they still had a long day's ride to the Port ahead of them. Behind her the rat sat up perkily on the horse's back, hanging on to the saddle with one paw with the air of a seasoned rider. Jenna turned around again and checked the Badlands. Suddenly she had an uncomfortable feeling that her escape had been discovered.
Chapter 20 Camp Heap
The next morning in the Forest found Nicko and Septimus standing at Grandpa Benji's feet. Or foot. The bright summer sun shone through their grandfather's leaves and cast a pale green light on the Forest floor. And on the chewed remains of Septimus's backpack.
"My whole kitgone," Septimus complained. "They've eaten everything."
"Everything except for us," Nicko pointed out, "which is probably the most important thing."
Septimus was not listening. He was on his hands and knees examining the ground at the foot of the tree.
"I wouldn't run my hands through those leaves like that," said Nicko with a grimace.
"Why not? I'm looking for something."
"Use your head, Sep. Loads of wolverines. Hanging around waiting for supper. Getting excited. Eating Mint Blasts. So what do you think they do?"
"It must be here. They can't have eaten that ... I dunno, Nik, what do they do?"
"Poo."
"Eurgh!" Septimus jumped to his feet.
"And then they hide it under the leaves."
"Eurgh, no!" Septimus wiped his hands on his tunic, stepped back and trod on what he was looking for. "Found it! It's here. Oh, fantastic."
"What?" asked Nicko, curious. "What's so important?"
Septimus held up the iridescent green rock that he had so carefully packed in his backpack.
"Oh," said Nicko, suddenly reminded of why they were in the middle of the Forest. "I see."
"Jenna gave it to me."
"I know. I remember."
They were both silent for a moment and Septimus stared intently at the rock. Then suddenly he burst out, "Oh, I hate wolverines! Look what they've done. They cracked it." Septimus cradled the rock in his hands and showed it to Nicko. "Look," he said, "there." A small jagged crack ran across the widest part of the rock.
"Well, it could be worse, Sep," said Nicko. "It's not broken. I suppose one of the wolverines must have crunched it or something. I bet it didn't do its teeth much good."
"I hope not. I hope they all fell out," said Septimus as he put the rock into the pouch that hung from his Apprentice belt.
It took Septimus and Nicko a while to say good-bye to their grandfather, and many promises to bring the rest of the family to visit him, but at last they set off through the Forest in search of the boys' camp.
Sometime later, just as Septimus's ankle was beginning to throb painfully and he was wondering if they were lost again, they came across a wide path.
"I know where we are!" said Nicko triumphantly.
"Really?" There was some doubt in Septimus's tone.
"Really. Just follow me, Sep."
"Now when did I hear that before?" said Septimus.
"Don't be mean," said Nicko sheepishly. "Lookdown therecan you see the camp?"
Nicko and Septimus were standing at the top of a small incline. The path dropped away in front of them, winding between the trees and leading to a small clearing. A thin line of smoke rose slowly into the still, early-morning air, and, as Septimus watched, the gangly figure of one of his brothers stepped out from what looked like a large pile of leaves and stretched and yawned in the warm sun.