Meggie had enjoyed her time away from Capricorn's village and his men. She enjoyed her mother's return even more. Resa and Mo, shall we say, adopted Farid as if his world was easy to forget. Dustfinger, on the other hand, was just a visitor, but Meggie thought of him as a second father, despite the fact that Mo would be hurt if he heard that. Elinor and Darius had moved in with each other, which made Darius feel welcomed and Elinor less lonely. However, there was a few concerns for Meggie. Both were related to the issue with Capricorn and their names were Mortola and Basta, Capricorn's mother and a devoted henchman who loves his knife. Meggie wouldn't know to begin what nightmares she had with Basta threatening to kill her and her family and their new friends and Mortola, better known as the Magpie to her and Fenoglio, was finding new ways to torture and cause all sorts of pain for her.
Meggie shook her head; no, she wouldn't think about it now. She had to be grateful that the nightmare was over. She should celebrate and relax instead of worrying so much. One day, Resa wrote to her daughter saying, Is there something bothering you, Meggie? Meggie smiled and shook her head.
"I'm fine, Mom," she said. "Really. I'm just lost in thought, I guess." Resa smiled and patted her daughter's hand. Meggie stood up and said, "I'm going for a walk, Mom."
"Meggie," Mo began, "be careful. You never know when Basta or Mortola or whoever else worked for Capricorn might attack you." Dustfinger and Farid's eyes widened and they both stood up simultaneously.
"I'll go with you," they both said. They both stared at each other in surprise.
"I know more about Capricorn's men than you do," Dustfinger said.
"I care about Meggie just as much as you do," Farid argued.
"Guys!" Meggie said. The three men and two women looked at her. "I'm old and smart enough what to do if any of Capricorn's men or Mortola show up."
"Okay," said Elinor. "But I don't want to remember anything of those despicable and foul people for the rest of my life. So if you see any of them, don't tell me first!"
"I won't," Meggie said. She headed outside and took in the scenery. How she enjoyed this peace and happiness! She ran out and laughed merrily, running in circles. She panted after seven minutes of running and fell down. She sat up and stared at the clear, blue sky and watched a few clouds drift away. She stood up and walked over to a nearby lake. She saw a school of fish swim by. However, she thought saw Basta in the lake. She gasped and turned around. Meggie saw nobody when she was back around and stared to wipe away her tears . She breathed easily and said, "Okay. Calm down, Meggie. It's just your imagination." She stood up and walked back to the house when she felt something cold and sharp touch her throat and a hand clasp her mouth, silencing her cry of terror.
"Hush," whispered a familiar voice. " Hush, hush, hush. There's no need for screaming here." She then saw Basta's recognizable face. She bit her lips and squeezed her eyes shut. No, she wouldn't cry in front of Basta. Unfortunately, she felt Basta's fingers brush against her cheeks, wiping away some tears that escaped. She was pinned to the ground, Basta's hands almost made her body merge with the ground. "I missed you," he said, heavily emphasizing "missed" with sarcasm.
"Wh-wh-what do you want?" Meggie asked, not controlling her tears trickling down her cheeks.
"Aw," cooed Basta, wiping the tears away, "why so sad? I mean you no harm. That is, so long as you cooperate with me." Meggie only wept more; she didn't like where this was going. "I believe you owe big time, little witch."
"For what?" she asked, spitting at him. Basta pressed her against the earth more firmly.
"For all the misery you put me through," he growled. "Because of everything you did to me, I figure you should do something to make up for that." Meggie narrowed her eyes.
"What if I don't?" she asked. Basta smirked.
"Then I slice your throat open," he said. Meggie wanted to kick herself for asking that. Of course Basta got himself a new knife. She inhaled for another stupid question.
"What is it you want me to do?" she asked.
"Reread Capricorn out of the book," Basta said with another smirk. Meggie almost cried again, but then she remembered something.
"You don't have a copy of Inkheart," Meggie said triumphantly. "Capricorn burned every copy there was in the world and you know it." She laughed.
"Oh, did he?" Basta asked, pulling out the familiar book. Meggie's laughter quickly turned back into weeping. Basta relished this greatly and wiped away the tears once more. "You'll not read him out here," Basta continued.
"Then where am I going to read him out?" Meggie asked. Before she knew what was happening, Basta pulled her to her feet, bound and gagged her.
"Some place far away here," Basta said. "However, if you fail to read him out, you'll just be the bait to lure your father so he can reread him. If he did it before, he surely can do it again." Basta flung Meggie over his shoulder and walked over to a small car, one of the kinds that you have to unlock from the outside with the key. Basta unlocked one of the back doors and tossed Meggie in. He quickly slammed the door closed and locked it. Meggie, in the meantime, managed to get free of the bindings. Basta walked around to the other side, unlocked the driver's door, climbed in, buckled up, closed the door, and started up the car. He turned around to smirk at Meggie. "Aw, what's the matter?" he asked in a mocking voice. "Does someone want me to come back and comfort her?"
"Not as long as I'm alive," Meggie said, buckling up herself. Basta frowned.
"You should be lucky I have you and that I'm not going in your house," he hissed. "Otherwise, you'd never see your family, the boy, or even that worthless fire-eater."
"Don't call Dustfinger that!" yelled Meggie. Basta's only response was a slap.
"Don't talk to me like that ever again!" snarled Basta. Meggie clutched her swollen cheek and shrank away. Basta then turned back around and drove away. For one moment, Meggie thought she saw Dustfinger running after the car, vainly shouting her name, what it seemed. Basta looked her way and smirked. "Well, well, what do we have here?" he asked. "Dirtyfingers seems to be sad." He looked back at Meggie. "Seems like he's going to miss you, don't you think?" Meggie glared at him.
"Why don't you just let me go now?!" Meggie yelled.
"What if I don't want to let you go?" Basta asked. "What if I want to keep you with me?" Meggie rolled down the window before she got the chance to cry again.
"Dustfinger!" she yelled. "Dustfinger, help!"
"Meggie!" cried Dustfinger. He ran towards the car and tried clutching her hand. He saw the smirking Basta through the window. "That bastard," he whispered.
"Long time, no see," Basta said. "Now if you don't mind, I have some important business to take care and it involves this witch. " With that, Basta made a sharp turn and Dustfinger was tossed aside like a bag of dirty laundry no one wants to do. Dustfinger swore and let out a frustrated cry.