Chapter 2

Trevor had been in the Castle before, only once or twice, when he'd had to guard the Wizard Tower, but now he saw it in a completely different light. Sam Heap didn't seem at all as comfortable in the Castle as he had been in the Forest, he must have liked nature or something… Trevor hated nature.

Sam had given him some form of a robe to wear, it felt like it had once belonged to an animal but Trevor didn't mind, it was warm, it wasn't rags and it had never come from the Young Army.

Sam stopped outside a large building and turned to Trevor. "Hey kid, I have to go now… Here's the Manuscriptorium, ask for Beetle remember. Say I sent you, he's a family friend…"

"Thanks Sam… Have fun in the Forest…"

Sam smiled broadly. "Good luck, kid…"

When Trevor pushed the door open there was a faint dinging and several quills stopped scratching to stare at him. Slightly demoralised, Trevor walked towards the desk and hit the small bell resting on it. A boy with thick black hair appeared; he seemed about the same age as Trevor.

"What can I do for you?" he asked as politely as possible though it was obvious he was bored out of his brain.

"Sam Heap told me to ask for a Mr. Beetle…"

"Oh, that's me… Just Beetle… What do you need?"

Beetle had to be extra careful with new customers; he'd already lost his job once and only got it back because the ExtraOrdinary Wizard, Marcia Overstrand, had put a hex on his employer, Jillie Djinn, after Beetle had helped her Apprentice, Septimus Heap, on his Queste.

"I need to find out who I am. I just got discharged from the Young Army yesterday."

"Sure you're not related to the Heaps or anything? You look quite similar to Nicko Heap…"

"You're the second person to tell me that."

"Oh. Well, the records are down here… Do you know anything that could narrow it down..?"

Beetle led him down a flight of stares into the Hall of Records, there were row upon row of records, births, deaths, marriages, the list could go on, but Trevor wasn't the best at reading. Reading was something else that was discouraged in the Young Army.

The ghost of Tertius Fume drifted towards Beetle, it had been his fault that Septimus had even been sent on the murderous Queste and Beetle had taken a strong dislike for him. Beetle Passed Through Tertius Fume without a second thought, leaving the ghost breathless. Trevor's eyes widened as he carefully stepped around the suffering ghost.

"Serves him right," was Beetle's justification.

"How old are you… Sorry, I didn't catch a name…"

"Er… Trevor. It isn't the name I was born with. I'm fifteen…"

"So, we want births and deaths of infants fifteen years ago… That's… aisle… seven… Do you know anything else?"

"I was drafted in mid-summer…"

"Mid-summer? Before or after Mid-summer Day?"

"I think it was on Mid-summer Day… That was when I was conscripted; they told me when they discharged me…"

Beetle pulled out two files from the shelf and blew the dust of one. There was a large stain where the name of the father ought to have been written.

"Confounded Merrin Meredith! He's split some junk all other this form… Why did she even give him a job? So, there are two here… No, wait, that other one died a few weeks later… Who filed it here? For God's sake… OK, so there's only one…"

"May I see it?"

"It's got a stain across it, so you can only see the mother's name… Flora Mason… I remember her. Died of the plague a couple of years back. I could get Ephaniah Grebe to restore this for you…"

"Really? How long would that take?"

"Depends how much work he has at the moment. Everyone is doing clean up jobs from Merrin Meredith."

Trevor's face fell. "I don't have anywhere to stay and I don't have a job or anything… What should I do?"

"You can stay with me and my mum. As for a job… Rupert Gringe has gone on holiday to the North and'll probably be gone a while… I'll take you to the Dockyard. Wait while I leave this certificate in the to-do pile."

Beetle disappeared from view momentarily and then re-emerged near the foot of the stairs. Beetle had a lot more freedom in his job now Jillie Djinn was under Marcia's hex and so leaving mid-shift was much easier than it would have been before.

"Do you know any of the Heaps then, Trevor?"

"I met Sam and Edd and Eric in the Forest… I was 412's dorm captain for ten years."

"Sep? You kidding? Sep's my best friend."

Trevor found that his opinion of Beetle deteriorated a lot after he said that. He did not like Septimus Heap one bit.

Once they reached the Dockyard, Beetle led Trevor to a wooden shed-like structure. Inside were a woman and a boy who looked quite similar to Trevor himself. Trevor knew that this must be Nicko Heap.

"Beetle! What are you doing here?" Nicko asked excitedly.

"Trevor needs a job. I thought, as Rupert's going on holiday, you could take him on as a temporary apprentice…"

The woman stood up and offered a hand to Trevor, he noted she had a strong vice-like grip as he shook it. "Jannit Maarten," introduced herself as.

"Trevor… er… Mason."

"He's new from the Young Army. He was Sep's dorm captain," Beetle explained.

"Nice. I'm Nicko Heap, pleased to meet you."

Jannit smiled as she realised just how similar the two boys were, Nicko was taller and stronger and more tanned, but they could have passed for twins.

"Welcome to the Castle Dockyard. You can start tomorrow; do you have a place to stay for the night? I can find you a bunk after that…"

"He's staying with me tonight," said Beetle, though now Trevor wasn't so sure he wanted to stay with Septimus Heap's best friend. Then again, he spent last night with his brothers and probably will spend the next few weeks at least with another of his brothers, he had been prepared to never see Septimus Heap or have anything to do with him ever again, but it seemed his plans had been thwarted. Everyone in the Castle seemed to have something to do with Septimus Heap!