AN: So, in this chapter you will find out more about Sian's history with Katalina Outsider, which is important for the second part of book 7, so please remember it. Also, two characters die rather graphically, so keep an eye out for that. And also, I should point out that Sian's time is running out now, and that this will be important in the next chapter, where you will need to bring your tissues, but more on that next time. Oh, and I also added a little more about how Chris, Chrissie and Kiara are coping with Sian in the last chapter now that Kiara knows what Sian is going through. It's just a small paragraph, but it's something. For now, though, enjoy this chapter, and I will update with the penultimate chapter of the first part of the seventh book same time next week.
Chapter 27
Malty Manor
KIARA
I looked around at the other three, now mere outlines in the darkness. I saw Chris point his wand, not towards the outside, but into my face; before I could react or ask what he was doing, there was a bang, a burst of white light, and I buckled in agony, unable to see. I could feel my face swelling under my hands, as heavy footfalls surrounded me.
"Get up, vermin."
Unknown hands dragged me roughly off the ground. Before I could stop them, someone had rummaged through my pockets and removed the blackthorn wand. I clutched at my excruciatingly painful face, which felt unrecognisable beneath my fingers, tight, swollen and puffy as though I had suffered some allergic reaction. My eyes had been reduced to slits through which I could barely see as I was bundled out of the tent; all I could make out were the blurred shapes of four or five people wrestling Chris, Sian and Chrissie outside too.
"Get - off - here!" Chris shouted. There was the unmistakable sound of knuckles hitting flesh: Chris grunted in pain, which I somehow felt too, as I shouted, "No, leave him alone! Leave him alone!"
"Your boyfriend's going to have worse than that done to him if he's on my list," said the horribly familiar, rasping voice. "Delicious girl ... what a treat ... I do enjoy the softness of the skin ..."
My stomach turned over. I knew who this was: Rasputin Silverfur, the werewolf who was permitted to wear Love Destroyer robes in return for his savagery.
"Search the tent!" said another voice, as I heard Chrissie whimper imploringly, "Please, please be careful with my sister! She's ill! She can't walk!"
"Shut your trap!" said another voice. There was a sound of flesh hitting flesh: Chrissie let out a cry of shock, and I heard Sian whimper at Chrissie's distress.
"Let's see how well your sister can stand on her own feet, shall we?" said a new, harsh voice that I instantly realised belonged to Alice Abster: I turned my head towards where I thought the voice was coming from, and through the slits in my eyes I could just make out two figures supporting a third, who I knew to be Sian. They dropped her and she fell in a heap on the ground, not having any support at all in her legs to sustain her.
"Well it seems your sister was right," said Alice, amidst the laughter. "You're like a Mudblood with those legs, aren't you, you - what's this?" Alice sounded puzzled by something. "Why've you got your hood up? What're you hiding?"
When Sian didn't answer, Alice said in a more commanding tone, "I said, what are you - "
There was a pause, and I could just see Alice jumping back in shock and alarm at the state of Sian's weak and thin body after she had thrown Sian's hood back, and a beam of wandlight hit her face. After a few moments, Silverfur spoke again.
"What a waste of flesh you are." More laughter answered his statement. "Such a shame, really ... I could imagine you as quite a pretty girl ... ah well, someone else will finish you off in time. Now, what happened to you to look like this?"
"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," said Sian hoarsely, some fire behind her words.
"Look at that, girls, a talking corpse!" Silverfur sneered. More laughter ensued. "Now, where's your wand, skinny bones?"
"It broke, months ago," Sian answered. "My brother, sister and our companion have been helping me in my ... condition."
"Is that so?" Silverfur sneered. "Well, I don't think it's worth asking for your name, considering you're at death's door anyway - "
"I know I'm a dying woman, you don't have to keep taunting me with that knowledge!" Sian spat, before coughing heavily.
There was a pause, then Silverfur said, "Well don't just stand there - search the tent!"
I was thrown, face down, on to the ground. Two thuds told me that Chris and Chrissie had been cast down on either side of me. We could hear footsteps and crashes: the women were pushing over chairs inside the tent as they searched.
"Now, let's see who we've got," said Silverfur's gloating voice from overhead, and I was rolled over on to my back. A beam of wandlight fell in my face and Silverfur laughed.
"I'll be needing Butterbeer to wash this one down. What happened to you, ugly?"
I did not answer immediately.
"I said," repeated Silverfur, and I received a blow to the diaphragm that made me double over in pain, "what happened to you?"
"Stung," I muttered. "Been stung."
"Yeah, it looks like it," said a second voice.
"What's your name?" snarled Silverfur.
"Carol," I said.
"And your first name?"
"I - Ursula. Ursula Carol."
"Check the list, Scarro," said Silverfur, and I heard him move sideways to look down at Chrissie, instead. "And what about you, brunette?"
"Harriett Hallmark," said Chrissie.
"Like 'ell you are," said the woman called Scarro. "We know Harriett Hallmark, she's put a bit of work our way."
There was another thud.
"I'b Maria," said Chrissie, and I could tell that her mouth was full of blood. "Maria Bawson."
"A Dawson?" rasped Silverfur. "So you're related to blood traitors even if you're not a Mudblood. And lastly, the handsome boy ..." The relish in his voice made my skin crawl.
"Easy, Silverfur," said Scarro, over the jeering of the others.
"Oh, I'm not going to bite just yet. We'll see if he's a bit quicker at remembering his name than Maria. Who are you, boy?"
"Patrick Clearstone," said Chris. There was a slight waver in his voice, but he sounded convincing.
"What's your blood status?"
"Half-blood," said Chris.
"Easy enough to check," said Scarro. "But the 'ole lot of 'em look like they could still be Dragon Mort or 'Ogwarts age - "
"We'b lebt," said Chrissie.
"left, 'ave you, brunette?" said Scarro. "And you decided to go camping? And you thought, just for a laugh, you'd use the Scarlet Lady's name?"
"Nod a laugh," said Chrissie. "Aggiden."
"Accident?" There was more jeering laughter.
"You know who used to like using the Scarlet Lady's name, Dawson?" growled Silverfur. "The Order of the Centaur. Mean anything to you?"
"Doh."
"Well, they don't show the Scarlet Lady proper respect, so the name's been Tabooed. A few Order members have been tracked that way. We'll see. Bind them with the other two prisoners!"
Someone yanked me up by the hair, dragged me a short way, pushed me down into a sitting position, then started binding me back-to-back with other people. I was still half-blind, barely able to see anything through my puffed up eyes. When at last the woman tying us had walked away, I whispered to the other prisoners.
"Anyone still got a wand?"
"No," said Chris, Sian and Chrissie from either side of me.
"This is all my fault, I said the name, I'm sorry - "
"Kiara?"
It was a new, but familiar, voice, and it came from directly behind me, from the person tied to Sian's left.
"Dena?"
"It is you! If they find out who they've got -! They're Snatchers, they're only looking for truants to sell for gold - "
"Not a bad little haul for one night," Silverfur was saying, as a pair of hobnailed boots marched close by me and we heard more crashes from inside the tent. "A Mudblood, a runaway fawn and four truants. You checked their names on the list yet, Scarro?" he roared.
"Yeah. There's no Ursula Carol on 'ere, Silverfur."
"Interesting," said Silverfur. "That's interesting."
He crouched down beside me, and I saw, through the infinitesimal gap left between my swollen eyelids, a face covered in matted, grey hair and whiskers, with pointed brown teeth and sores at the corner of his mouth. Silverfur smelled as he had done at the top of the Tower where Crighton had died: of dirt, sweat and blood.
"So you aren't wanted, then, Ursula? Or are you on that list under a different name? Which school were you in? Which house?"
"Dragon Mort was my school, and Snake-Eyes was my house," I said.
"Funny 'ow they all thinks we want to 'ear that," jeered Scarro out of the shadows. "But none of 'em can tell us where the common room is."
"It's in the dungeons," I said clearly. "You enter through the wall. It's full of skulls and stuff and it's under the river, so the light's all green."
There was a short pause.
"Well, well, looks like we really 'ave caught a little Snake-Eyes," said Scarro. "Good for you, Ursula, 'cause there ain't a lot of Mudblood Snake-Eyes. Who's your mother?"
"She works at the Ministry," I lied. I knew that my whole story would collapse with the smallest investigation, but on the other hand, I only had until my face regained its usual appearance before the game was up in any case. "Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes."
"You know what, Silverfur," said Scarro. "I think there is a Carol in there."
I could barely breathe: could luck, sheer luck, get us safely out of this?
"Well, well," said Silverfur, and I could hear the tiniest note of trepidation in that callous voice, and I knew that Silverfur was wondering whether he had indeed just attacked and bound the daughter of a Ministry official. My heart was pounding against the ropes around my ribs; I would not have been surprised to know that Silverfur could see it. "If you're telling the truth, ugly, you've got nothing to fear from a trip to the Ministry. I expect your mother'll reward us just for picking you up."
"But," I said, my mouth bone dry, "if you just let us - "
"Hey!" came a shout from inside the tent. "Look at this, Silverfur!"
A dark figure came bustling towards us, and I saw a glint of silver in the light of their wands. They had found Lion-Heart's sword.
"Ve-e-ry nice," said Silverfur appreciatively, taking it from his companion. "Oh, very nice indeed. Looks faun-made, that. Where did you get something like this?"
"It's my mother's," I lied, hoping against hope that it was too dark for Silverfur to see the name etched just below the hilt. "We borrowed it to cut firewood - "
"'Ang on a minute, Silverfur! Look at this, in the Squabbler!"
As Scarro said it, my scar, which was stretched tight across my distended forehead, burned savagely. More clearly than I could make out anything around me, I saw a towering building, a grim fortress, jet black and forbidding; Zira's thoughts had suddenly become razor-sharp again; she was gliding towards the gigantic building with a sense of calmly euphoric purpose ...
So close ... so close ...
With a huge effort of will, I closed my mind to Zira's thoughts, pulling myself back to where I sat, tied to Chris, Sian, Chrissie, Dena and Grimzhann in the darkness, listening to Silverfur and Scarro.
"'Sian Dawson and Christopher Rickers,'" Scarro was saying, "'the Sackbrain and half-blood who are known to be travelling with Kiara Pride-Lander.'"
My scar burned in the silence, but I made a supreme effort to keep myself present, not to slip into Zira's mind. I heard the creak of Silverfur's boots as he crouched down in front of Chris.
"You know what, boy? This picture looks a hell of a lot like you."
"But that could be anyone who looked just like me, for all you know!" Chris said quickly. There was another short pause, then the sound of flesh hitting flesh again, accompanied by a loud groan of pain from Chris, which made me flinch.
"So we know it's the boy, Silverfur, but what about dead legs over there?" Scarro said. "Is she Crighton's eldest?"
"Hmm," Silverfur murmured. "It could be her in better days, couldn't it?" I heard Silverfur moving to Sian. "So, is it you, girly? Are you Crighton's Sackbrain child?"
Laughter from overhead answered him, but Sian's voice rasped emotionlessly, "I think you know the answer to that one, don't you?"
It broke my heart to hear my friend speak so, but I knew why she did: not only because she knew the game was up, but also because she had accepted her fate.
"' ... known to be travelling with Kiara Pride-Lander'," repeated Silverfur quietly.
A stillness had settled over the scene. My scar was exquisitely painful, but I struggled with all my strength against the pull of Zira's thoughts: it had never been so important to remain in my own right mind.
"Well, this changes things, doesn't it?" whispered Silverfur.
Nobody spoke: I sensed the gang of Snatchers watching, frozen, and I felt Chris' arm trembling against mine; I groped for his hand, squeezing his fingers, relishing the pressure he returned. Silverfur took a couple of steps to where I sat, crouching down again to stare closely at my misshapen features.
"What's that on your forehead, Ursula?" he asked softly, his breath foul in my nostrils as he pressed a filthy finger to the taut scar.
"Don't touch it!" I yelled; I could not stop myself; I thought I might be sick from the pain of it.
"Well, can you believe it, girls?" rasped Silverfur. "We've caught her! We've caught Kiara Pride-Lander!"
They all took several steps backwards, stunned by what they had done. Seeing as I was still fighting to remain present inside my own splitting head, I could think of nothing to say, and thought it best to stay quiet, anyway: fragmented visions were breaking across the surface of my mind -
... she was gliding around the high walls of the black fortress -
No, I was Kiara, tied up and wandless, in grave danger -
... looking up, up to the topmost window, the highest tower -
I was Kiara, and they were discussing my fate in low voices -
... time to fly -
"To the Ministry?"
"To hell with the Ministry," growled Silverfur. "They'll take the credit, and we won't get a look in. I say we take her straight to She-You-Know."
"Will you summon 'er? 'Ere?" said Scarro, sounding awed, terrified.
"No," snarled Silverfur, "I haven't got - they say she's using the Malty's place as a base. We'll take the girl there."
I thought I knew why Silverfur was not calling Zira. The Love Destroyer might be allowed to wear Love Destroyer robes when they wanted to use him, but only Zira's inner circle were branded with the Death Trail: Silverfur had not been granted this highest honour.
My scar seared again -
... and she rose into the night, flying straight up to the window at the very top of the tower -
"... completely sure it's 'er? 'Cause if it ain't, Silverfur, we're dead."
"Who's in charge here?" roared Silverfur, covering his moment of inadequacy. "I say that's Pride-Lander, and her plus her wand, that's two hundred thousand Galleons right there! But if you're too gutless to come along, any of you, it's all for me, and with any luck, I'll get the boy thrown in!"
... the window was the merest slit in the black rock, not big enough for a woman to enter ... a skeletal figure was just visible through it, curled beneath a blanket ... dead or sleeping ...?
"All right!" said Scarro. "All right, we're in! And what about the rest of 'em, Silverfur, what'll we do with 'em?"
"Might as well take the lot - "
"Really?" said Scarro, surprised. "Even dead legs over there? She doesn't look like she could last long - "
"Whether she survives or not on this trip is no matter," said Silverfur gruffly. "She's a Dawson, and therefore someone worth taking. Besides, she's a Sackbrain, too, so she's worth something, at least. So, we've got a Sackbrain and a Mudblood, that's another ten Galleons. Give me the sword, as well. If they're rubies, that's another small fortune right there."
The other prisoners and I were dragged to our feet. Chris and I grasped our hands tighter, neither of us daring to let go.
"Grab hold, and make it tight. I'll do Pride-Lander!" said Silverfur, seizing a fistful of my hair; I could feel his long, yellow nails scratching my scalp. "One - two - three - "
They Disapparated, pulling us prisoners with them. I struggled, trying to throw off Silverfur's hand, but it was hopeless: Chris, Sian and Chrissie were squeezed tightly against me on either side and behind me, I could not separate from the group, and as the breath was squeezed out of me my scar seared more painfully still -
... as she forced herself through the slit of a window like a snake and landed, lightly as vapour, inside the cell-like room -
The other prisoners and I lurched into one another as we landed in a country lane; Sian, now having little to nothing left inside her to chuck up, was gasping for air as she was dragged roughly along. My eyes, still puffy, took a moment to acclimatise, then I saw a pair of wrought-iron gates at the foot of what looked like a long drive. I experienced the tiniest trickle of relief. The worst had not happened yet: Zira was not here. She was, I knew, for I was fighting to resist the vision, in some strange, fortress-like place, at the top of a tower. How long it would take Zira to get to this place, once she knew that I was here, was another matter ...
One of the Snatchers strode to the gates and shook them.
"How do we get in? They're locked, Silverfur, I can't - blimey!"
She whipped her hands away in fright. The iron was contorting, twisting itself out of the abstract furls and coils into a frightening face, which spoke in a clanging, echoing voice: "State your purpose!"
"We've got Pride-Lander!" Silverfur roared triumphantly. "We've captured Kiara Pride-Lander!"
The gates swung open.
"Come on," said Silverfur to his cronies, and we prisoners were shunted through the gates and up the drive, between high hedges that muffled our footsteps. I saw a ghostly white shape above me, and I realised that it was an albino peacock. I stumbled and was dragged on to my feet by Silverfur; now I was staggering along sideways, tied back-to-back to the five other prisoners. Closing my puffy eyes I allowed the pain in my scar to overcome me for a moment, wanting to know what Zira was doing, whether she knew yet that I was caught -
... the emaciated figure stirred beneath its think blanket and rolled over towards her, eyes opening in a skull of a face ... the frail woman sat up, great sunken eyes fixed upon her, upon Zira, and then she smiled. Most of her teeth were gone ...
"So, you have come. I thought you would ... one day. But your journey was pointless. I never had it."
"You lie!"
As Zira's anger throbbed inside me, my scar threatened to burst open with pain, and I wrenched my mind back to my own body, fighting to remain present as the other prisoners and I were pushed over gravel.
Light spilled out over all of us.
"What is this?" said a man's cold voice.
"We're here to see She Who Must Not Be Named!" rasped Silverfur.
"Who are you?"
"You know me!" There was resentment in the werewolf's voice. "Rasputin Silverfur! We've caught Kiara Pride-Lander!"
Silverfur seized me and dragged me round to face the light, forcing the other prisoners to shuffle round too.
"I know she's swollen, sir, but it's 'er!" piped up Scarro. "If you look a bit closer, you'll see 'er scar. And this 'ere, see the girl? I know she looks a bit thin, sir, and 'er legs are dead, but that's the blood traitor Sackbrain who's been travelling around with 'er, sir. And that boy, sir? 'E's the 'alf-blood who's been with 'em, sir. There's no doubt it's 'er, and we've got 'er wand as well! 'Ere, sir - "
I saw Latchna Malty scrutinising my swollen face. Scarro thrust the blackthorn wand at him. He raised his eyebrows.
"Bring them in," he said.
The others and I were shoved and kicked (or, in Sian's case, dragged) up broad stone steps, into a hallway lined with portraits.
"Follow me," said Latchna, leading the way across the hall. "My daughter, Danielle, is home for her Easter holidays. If that is Kiara Pride-Lander, she will know."
The drawing room dazzled after the darkness outside; even with my eyes almost closed I could make out the wide proportions of the room. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, more portraits against the dark purple walls. Two figures rose from chairs in front of an ornate marble fireplace as myself and the other prisoners were forced into the room by the Snatchers.
"What is this?"
The dreadfully familiar, drawling voice of Narissa Malty fell on my ears. I was panicking now: I could see no way out, and it was easier, as my fear mounted, to block out Zira's thoughts, though my scar was still burning.
"They say they've got Pride-Lander," said Latchna's cold voice. "Dani, come here."
I did not dare look directly at Dani, but I saw her obliquely: a figure slightly taller than I was rising from an armchair, her face a pale and pointed blur beneath white-blonde hair.
Silverfur forced us prisoners to turn again so as to place me directly beneath the chandelier.
"Well, girl?" rasped the werewolf.
I was facing a mirror over the fireplace, a great gilded thing with an intricately scrolled frame. Through the slits of my eyes, I saw my own reflection for the first time since leaving Warts House.
My face was huge, shiny and pink, every feature distorted by Chris' jinx. My golden hair was stretched right down my back and there was a dark shadow around my jaw. Had I not known that it was me who was stood there, I would have wondered who had my exact hair colour and natural style. I resolved not to speak, for my voice was sure to give me away; yet I still avoided eye contact with Dani as the latter approached.
"Well, Dani?" said Narissa Malty. She sounded avid. "Is it? Is it Kiara Pride-Lander?"
"I can't - I can't be sure," said Dani. She was keeping her distance from Silverfur, and seemed as scared of looking at me as I was of looking at her.
"But look at her carefully, look! Come closer!"
I had never heard Narissa Malty so excited.
"Dani, if we are the ones who hand Pride-Lander over to the Scarlet Lady, everything will be forgiv- "
"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught her, I hope, Mrs Malty?" said Silverfur menacingly.
"Of course not, of course not!" said Narissa impatiently. She approached me herself, came so close that I could see the usually languid, pale face in sharp detail even through my swollen eyes. With my face a puffy mask, I felt as though I was peering out from between the bars of a cage.
"What did you do to her?" Narissa asked Silverfur. "How did she get into this state?"
"That wasn't us."
"Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me," said Narissa.
Her grey eyes raked my forehead.
"There's something there," she whispered, "it could be the scar, stretched tight ... Dani, come here, look properly! What do you think?"
I saw Dani's face up close, now, right beside her mother's. They were extraordinarily alike, except that while her mother looked beside herself with excitement, Dani's expression was full of reluctance, even fear.
"I don't know," she said, and she walked away towards the fireplace where her father stood watching.
"We had better be certain, Narissa," Latchna called to his wife in his cold, clear voice. "Completely sure that it is Pride-Lander, before we summon the Scarlet Lady ... They say this is hers," he was looking closely at the blackthorn wand, "but it does not resemble Wandwick's description ... If we are mistaken, if we call the Scarlet Lady here for nothing ... remember what she did to Roscoe and Dali?"
"What about the Sackbrain, then?" growled Silverfur. I was nearly thrown off my feet as the Snatchers forced us prisoners to swivel around again, so that the light fell on Sian instead. "I know that she looks like she's on her last legs now, but - "
"Wait!" said Latchna sharply. There was a pause, and I could tell that he was studying Sian closely. At last he said, "Yes - yes, I think it's here! I remember her being in Sir Waldin's with Pride-Lander! I saw her picture in the Squabbler! Look, Dani, isn't that the Eldest Dawson Girl?"
"I ... maybe ... yeah."
"But then, that's the other Dawson girl! And that's the Rickers boy!" shouted Narissa, striding round we bound prisoners to face Chris and Chrissie. "It's them, Pride-Lander's friends - Dani look at them, aren't they two of Matthew Dawson's children, what are their names - ?"
"Yeah," said Dani again, her back to we prisoners. "It could be."
The drawing-room door opened behind me. A woman spoke, and the sound of the voice wound my fear to an even higher pitch.
"What is this? What happened, Latchy?"
Katalina Outsider walked slowly around us prisoners, and stopped on my right, staring at Sian through her heavily lidded eyes, and Sian, I could just see, looked terrified at the sight of her, not that I could blame her.
"But surely," she said quietly, after a few moments, "this is the Sackbrain girl? This is the Eldest Dawson Girl?"
"Is that all you know me as, Outsider?" came Sian's hoarse voice suddenly.
Everyone was silent, listening and watching Sian intently, all looking at her with looks of mingled curiosity, interest and confusion as to what she was talking about. Katalina then knelt down in front of Sian, confusion and curiosity marking her own features now.
"What are you talking about, girl?" she snapped at Sian. "Should I know you?"
"Yes, I believe you should," said Sian simply, looking up at her. "After all, I haven't forgotten about you, not once these past thirteen years, so I'm quite surprised that you have forgotten about me."
Sian stared at Katalina intently. I watched as Katalina studied Sian slowly, carefully, until, at last, a spark of recognition flashed in her eyes. She then stood up quickly, cackling madly, her eyes gleaming with evil mirth and triumph.
"Oh, this is precious!" she trilled to the room at large. "I can't believe I haven't recognised Susan Crighton's eldest child, the one who, though some of you here won't know it, the Scarlet Lady asked me to get information out of about her darling mother as soon as she was old enough to talk properly, and then, once I had got everything I needed out of her," Katalina grinned maliciously at Sian, "... to kill her."
I glanced at Sian, whose face remained composed, though I was sure I saw a glimpse of fear in her eyes.
"Crighton saved her, though, didn't she?" Latchna said.
"Yes, Latchy, she did," Katalina growled. "And how she screamed and how she cried for her mother, but what more can you expect from a sweet, innocent girl of four?" Katalina then turned her head at a chillingly slow pace back to Sian, her evil, malicious grin back in place. Then, without warning, she lunged for Sian's right arm, but Sian leaned as back as she could go, given that she was tied up, just in time, her face a mask of mixed anger and fear.
"It still hurts, doesn't it?" said Katalina tauntingly. Sian said nothing, but kept glaring at her.
I, however, was remembering something, something that Sian herself had told me a little over a year ago: "When I was a little girl, I was cursed by a witch ..." I then thought back to all the times we had either seen Katalina or talked about her, and I remembered how scared Sian would get, no matter how hard she would try to deny it ...
Could it be true? Was Katalina Outsider the woman of Sian's nightmares, just as Zira was with mine? I caught Sian's eye then: she seemed to know what I was thinking, for she blinked once before turning quickly back to face Outsider.
"So what happened to you then, Siany, to look like this?" Katalina said tauntingly, her eyes hungry, still wearing that evil grin. "For surely you haven't always looked like a rotten corpse?"
Jeers and laughter met this comment; Sian bowed her head, unwilling to answer, but Scarro said, "She won't tell us, ma'am. She says we wouldn't believe 'er if she told us."
"Really?" said Katalina curiously to Scarro. "That's interesting ..." Then, turning her attention back to Sian, she said, "So, who made you like this? Oh, don't tell me, don't tell me, it was your darling mother?"
Sian raised her head, looked Katalina straight in the eye and said bleakly, "In a manner of speaking."
Katalina's eyes widened with delicious surprise. "Do you hear this?" she said delightedly. "Do you hear this, Latchy? The once great Susan Crighton kills her own daughter! Can you imagine what the Scarlet Lady will say when she hears about this? So, the rumours about Crighton being no good must be true then, if this is what happens to her most beloved - "
"Don't you dare speak of my mother like that!" Sian spat. "She may have done some bad things in her youth, but she's not all - "
"You are in no position to speak that way, girly!" snapped Katalina, striking Sian across the face: Sian did not yell, but her face bore a red mark on her deathly-pale cheek. Straightening up, Katalina smirked evilly and said, "So it appears I'll be finishing the job I started in the first place, Siany, and this time your mother won't be around to stop me."
Sian said nothing, but bowed her head, her face conveying nothing but sadness and hopelessness. Still keeping her gaze on Sian, Katalina said, "Who else do we have with us? Do we know any of them?"
"Yes, we think that's Pride-Lander beside her!" cried Narissa. "Pride-Lander and her friends caught at last!"
"Pride-Lander?" shrieked Katalina, and she backed away, the better to take me in. "Are you sure? Well, then, the Scarlet Lady must be informed at once!"
She dragged back her left sleeve: I saw the Death Trail burned into the flesh of her arm, and I knew that she was about to touch it, to summon her beloved mistress -
"I was about to call her!" said Narissa, and her hand actually closed upon Katalina's wrist, preventing her from touching the Trail. "I shall summon her, Katie, Pride-Lander has been brought to my house, and it is therefore upon my authority - "
"Your authority!" she sneered, attempting to wrench her hand from Narissa's grasp. "You lost your authority when you lost your wand, Narissa! How dare you! Take your hands off me!"
"This is nothing to do with you, you did not capture the girl - "
"Begging your pardon, Mrs Malty," interjected Silvefur, "but it's us that caught Pride-Lander, and it's us that'll be claiming the gold - "
"Gold!" laughed Katalina, still attempting to throw off her sister-in-law, her free hand groping in her pocket for her wand. "Take your gold, filthy scavenger, what do I want with gold? I seek only the honour of her - of - "
She stopped struggling, her dark eyes fixed upon something I could not see. Jubilant of her capitulation, Narissa threw her hand from her and ripped up her own sleeve -
"STOP!" shrieked Katalina. "Do not touch it, we shall all perish if the Scarlet Lady comes now!"
Narissa froze, her index finger hovering over her own Trail. Katalina strode out of my limited line of vision.
"What is that?" I heard her say.
"Sword," grunted an out-of-sight Snatcher.
"Give it to me."
"It's not yours, Missus, it's mine, I reckon I found it."
There was a bang and a flash of red light: I knew that the Snatcher had been Stunned. There was a roar of anger from her fellows: Scarro drew her wand.
"What d'you think you're playing at, woman?"
"Stupefy," she screamed, "stupefy!"
They were no match for her, even though there were four of them against one of her: she was a witch, as I knew, with prodigious skill and no conscience. They fell where they stood, all except Silverfur, who had been forced into a kneeling position, his arms outstretched. Out of the corners of my eyes, I saw Katalina bearing down upon the werewolf, the sword of Lion-Heart gripped tightly in her hand, her face waxen.
"Where did you get this sword?" she whispered to Silverfur as she pulled his wand out of his unresisting grip.
"How dare you?" he snarled, his mouth the only thing that could move as he was forced to gaze up at her. He bared his pointed teeth. "Release me, woman!"
"Where did you find this sword?" she repeated, brandishing it in his face. "Triphorm sent it to my vault in Fauntrotts!"
"It was in their tent!" rasped Silverfur. "Release me, I say!"
She waved her wand and the werewolf sprang to his feet, but appeared too wary to approach her. He prowled behind an armchair, his filthy, curved nails clutching its back.
"Dani, move this scum outside," said Katalina, indicating the unconscious women. "If you haven't the guts to finish them, then leave them in the courtyard for me."
"Don't you dare speak to Dani like - " said Latchna furiously, but Katalina screamed, "Be quiet! the situation is graver than you can possibly imagine, Latchy! We have a very serious problem!"
She stood, panting slightly, looking down at the sword, examining its hilt. Then she turned to look at us silent prisoners.
"If it is indeed Pride-Lander, she must not be harmed," she muttered, more to herself than to the rest of us. "The Scarlet Lady wishes to dispose of Pride-Lander herself ... but if she finds out ... I must ... I must know ..."
She turned back to her brother again.
"The prisoners must be placed in the cellar, while I think what to do!"
"This is my house, Katie, you don't give orders in my - "
"Do it! You have no idea of the danger we are in!" shrieked Katalina: she looked frightening, mad; a thin stream of fire issued from her wand and burned a hole in the carpet.
Latchna hesitated for a moment, then addressed the werewolf.
"Take the prisoners down to the cellar, Silverfur."
"Wait," said Katalina sharply. "All except ... except for the Sackbrain."
Silverfur gave a grunt of pleasure.
"No!" shouted Chris. "You can have me, keep me!"
"Or me!" yelled Chrissie. "You can have either of us, just please, please don't harm our sister! She's dying!"
Katalina hit them both across the face; the blows echoed around the room.
"If she dies under questioning, I'll take either of you next," she said. "Blood traitor is next to Sackbrain in my book, and the fact that your sister is both is an added bonus. Take them downstairs, Silverfur, and make sure they are secure, but do nothing more to them - yet."
She threw Silverfur's wand back to him, then took a short silver knife from under her robes. She cut Sian free from the other prisoners, then dragged her by the hair into the middle of the room while Silverfur forced the rest of us to shuffle across to another door, into a dark passageway, his wand held out in front of him, projecting an invisible and irresistible force.
"Reckon she'll let me have a bit of your sister when she's finished with her?" Silverfur crooned, as he forced us along the corridor. "Mind you, I'm not too sure I'll be wanting a scrap or two, seeing how much meat is currently left on her bones ... but I could always take you two, couldn't I? Eh, brunette, sandy?"
I could feel Chris and Chrissie shaking. We were forced down a steep flight of stairs, still tied back-to-back and in danger of slipping and breaking our necks at any moment. At the bottom was a heavy door. Silverfur unlocked it with a tap of his wand, then forced us into a dank and musty room and left us in total darkness. The echoing bang of the slammed cellar door had not died away before there was a terrible, drawn-out scream from directly above us.
"SIAN!" Chrissie bellowed, and she started to writhe and struggle against the ropes tying us together, so that I staggered. "SIAN!"
"Be quiet!" I said. "Shut up, Chrissie, we need to work out a way - "
"SIAN! SIAN!"
"Chrissie, Kiara's right," said Chris desperately. "I'm worried about Sian too, but we need to calm down and think of a plan - we need to get these ropes off - "
"Kiara?" came a whisper through the darkness. "Chris? Chrissie? Is that you?"
Chrissie stopped shouting. There was a sound of movement close by us, then I saw a shadow moving closer.
"Chris? Kiara? Chrissie?"
"Lincoln?"
"Yes, it's me! Oh, no, I didn't want you to be caught!"
"Lincoln, can you help us get these ropes off?" I said.
"Oh, yes, I expect so ... there's an old nail we use if we need to break anything ... just a moment ..."
Sian screamed again from overhead, and we could hear Katalina screaming too, but her words were inaudible, for Chrissie shouted again, "SIAN! SIAN!"
"Madam Wandwick?" I could hear Lincoln saying. "Madam Wandwick, have you got the nail? If you just move over a little bit ... I think it was beside the water jug ..."
He was back within seconds.
"You'll need to stay still," he said.
I could feel him digging at the rope's tough fibres to work the knots free. From upstairs we heard Katalina's voice.
"I'm going to ask you again! Where did you get this sword? Where?"
"We found it - we found it - PLEASE!" Sian screamed again; Chrissie struggled harder than ever and the rusty nail slipped on to my wrist.
"Chrissie, please stay still!" Lincoln whispered. "I can't see what I'm doing - "
"My pocket!" said Chrissie. "In my pocket, there's a Deluminator, and it's full of light!"
A few seconds later, there was a click and the luminescent spheres the Deluminator had sucked from the lamps in the tent flew into the cellar: unable to rejoin their sources they simply hung there, like tiny suns, flooding the underground room with light. I saw Lincoln, all eyes in his white face, and the motionless figure of Wandwick the wandmaker, curled up on the floor in the corner. Craning round, I caught sight of our fellow prisoners: Dena and Grimzhan the faun, who seemed barely conscious, kept standing by the ropes that bound her to us humans.
"Oh, that's much easier, thanks Chrissie," said Lincoln, and he began hacking at our bindings again. "Hello, Dena!"
From above came Katalina's voice.
"You are lying, filthy Sackbrain, and I know it! You have been inside my vault at Fauntrotts! Tell the truth, tell the truth!"
Another terrible scream -
"SIAN!"
"What else did you take? What else have you got? Tell me the truth, or I swear, I shall run you through with this knife!"
"There!"
I felt the ropes fall away and turned, rubbing my wrists, to see Chrissie running around the cellar, looking up at the low ceiling, searching fro a trapdoor, as Chris stood beside me, watching her every move. Dena, her face bruised and bloody, said, "Thanks," to Lincoln and stood there, shivering, but Grimzhan sank on to the cellar floor looking groggy and disorientated, many welts across her swarthy face.
Chrissie was now trying to Disapparate without a wand.
"There's no way out, Chrissie," said Lincoln, watching her fruitless efforts. "The cellar is completely escape-proof. I tried, at first. Madam Wandwick has been here for a long time, she's tried everything."
Sian was screaming again: the sound went through me like physical pain. Barely conscious of the fierce prickling of my scar, I, too, started to run around the cellar, feeling the walls for I hardly knew what, knowing in my heart that it was useless.
"What else did you take, what else? ANSWER ME! CRUCIO!"
Sian's screams echoed off the walls upstairs, Chrissie was half sobbing in Chris' arms, and I, in utter desperation, seized Mina's pouch from around my neck and groped inside it: I pulled out Crighton's Snitch and shook it, hoping for I did not know what - nothing happened; I waved the broken halves of the phoenix wand, but they were lifeless - the mirror fragment fell sparkling to the floor, and I saw a gleam of brightest green -
Crighton's eye was gazing at me out of the mirror.
"Help us!" I yelled at it in made desperation. "We're in the cellar of Malty Manor, help us!"
The eye blinked, and was gone.
I was not even sure that it had really been there. I tilted the shard of mirror this way and that, and saw nothing reflected there but the walls and ceiling of our prison, and upstairs Sian was screaming worse than ever, and next to me, Chrissie was bellowing, "SIAN! SIAN!"
"How did you get into my vault?" we heard Katalina scream. "Did that dirty little faun in the cellar help you?"
"We only ... met her ... tonight!" Sian sobbed. "We've never ... been inside ... your vault ... it isn't the ... real sword! It's a copy, just a ... copy!"
"A copy!" screeched Katalina. "Oh, a likely story!"
"But we can find out easily!" came Narissa's voice. "Dani, fetch the faun, she can tell us whether the sword is real or not!"
I dashed across the cellar to where Grimzhan was huddled on the floor.
"Grimzhan," I whispered into the faun's flapping goatlike ear, "you must tell them that the sword's a fake, they mustn't know it's the real one, Grimzhan, please - "
I could hear someone scuttling down the cellar steps; next moment, Dani's shaking voice spoke from behind the door.
"Stand back. Line up against the back wall. Don't try anything, or I'll kill you!"
We did as we were bidden; as the lock turned Chrissie clicked the Deluminator and the lights whisked back into her pocket, restoring the cellar's darkness. The door flew open; Malty marched inside, wand held out in front of her, pale and determined. She seized the tall faun by the arm and backed out again, dragging Grimzhan with her. The door slammed shut and at the same moment a loud crack echoed inside the cellar.
Chrissie clicked the Deluminator. Three balls of light flew back into the air from her pocket, revealing Dokey the house-elf, who had just Apparated into our midst.
"DOK-!"
I hit Chrissie on the arm to stop her shouting, and Chrissie looked terrified at her mistake. Footsteps crossed the ceiling overhead: Dani marching Grimzhan to Katalina.
Dokey's enormous, tennis-ball-shaped eyes were wide; she was trembling from her feet to the tips of her ears. She was back in the home of her old masters, and it was clear that she was petrified.
"Kiara Pride-Lander," she squeaked, in the tiniest quiver of a voice, "Dokey has come to rescue you."
"But how did you - ?"
An awful scream drowned my words: Sian was being tortured again. I cut to the essentials.
"You can Disapparate out of this cellar?" I asked Dokey, who nodded, her ears flapping.
"And you can take humans with you?" Dokey nodded again.
"Right. Dokey, I want you to grab Lincoln, Dena and Madam Wandwick, and take them - take them to - "
"Sam and Ferdinand's," said Chrissie. "Sandwaves Cottage on the outskirts of Portmeirlon!"
The elf nodded for a third time.
"And then come back," I said. "Can you do that, Dokey?"
"Of course, Kiara Pride-Lander," whispered the little elf. She hurried over to Madam Wandwick, who appeared to be barely conscious. She took one of the wandmaker's hands in her own, then held out the other to Lincoln and Dena, neither of whom moved.
"Kiara, we want to help you!" Lincoln whispered.
"We can't leave you here," said Dena.
"Go, both of you! We'll see you are Sam and Ferdinand's."
As I spoke, my scar burned worse than ever, and for a few seconds I looked down, not upon the wandmaker, but on another woman who was just as old, just as thin, but laughing scornfully.
"Kill me, then, Zira, I welcome death! But my death will not bring you what you seek ... there is so much you do not understand ..."
I felt Zira's fury, but as Sian screamed again I shut it out, returning to the cellar and the horror of my own present.
"Go!" I beseeched Lincoln and Dena. "Go! We'll follow, just go!"
They caught hold of the elf's outstretched fingers. There was another loud crack, and Dokey, Lincoln, Dena and Wandwick vanished.
"What was that?" shouted Narissa Malty from over our heads. "Did you hear that? What was that noise in the cellar?"
Chris, Chrissie and I stared at each other.
"Dani - no, call the Absters! Make them go and check!"
Footsteps crossed the room overhead, then there was silence. I knew that the people in the drawing room were listening for more voices from the cellar.
"We're going to have to try and tackle them," I whispered to Chris and Chrissie. We had no choice: the moment anyone entered the room and saw the absence of three prisoners, we were lost. "Leave the lights on," I added, and as we heard the footsteps of two people descending the steps outside the door, we backed against the wall on either side of it: Chris and I on one side, Chrissie on the other.
"Stand back," came Alice Abster's harsh voice. "Stand away frim the door. We are coming in."
The door flew open. For a split second, the Abster's gazed into the apparently empty cellar, ablaze with light from the three miniature suns floating in mid-air. Then Chris, Chrissie and I launched ourselves upon them. Chrissie seized Wormy's wand arm and forced it upwards, Chris doing the same with Alice's, then covering her mouth with his free hand. Meanwhile, I slapped a hand over Wormy's mouth, muffling his voice. Silently Chris and Alice and Chrissie, Wormy and I struggled: Wormy's wand emitted sparks; his silver hand closed around my throat.
"What is it, Absters?" called Narissa Malty from above.
"Nothing, Narissa!" Chrissie called back, in a passable imitation of Alice's harsh voice. "All is well! Just Abster being his usual pathetic, cowardly self!"
Alice fixed her glare on Chrissie instead of Chris, and I was barely breathing.
"You're going to kill me?" I choked, attempting to prise off the metal fingers. "After I saved both your lives? You owe me, Absters!"
The silver fingers slackened. I had not expected it: I wrenched myself free, astonished, keeping my hand over Wormy's mouth. I saw the rat-like man's small, watery eyes widen with fear and surprise: he seemed just as shocked as I at what his hand had done, at the tiny, merciful impulse it had betrayed, and he continued to struggle more powerfully, as though to undo that moment of weakness.
"And we'll have that," whispered Chrissie, tugging Wormy's wand from his other hand.
Wandless, helpless, Wormy's pupils dilated in terror. His eyes had slid from my face to something else. His own silver fingers were moving inexorably towards his own throat.
"What are you doing, Abster?" hissed Alice, who had successfully wriggled out of Chris' grip. "Don't tell me you're going to be a coward and listen to Pride-Lander, are you, you pathetic lump?"
Wormy froze. Then, ever so slowly, he turned to Alice. Gone was the terror that had masked his face. Now his whole face was alight in a blazing fury that none of us had ever seen before as he turned to his wife. Alice's normal hardened expression turned to one of pure surprise, and as her eyebrows went up to her hairline, the grip on her wand slackened, and it dropped to the floor, unnoticed by either of the Absters. Chris quickly picked it up as Wormy slowly walked to his wife.
"Abster, what are you doing?" Alice growled, trying to gain control of the situation. "Stop this right now!"
But Wormy did not listen to her, and when he was in touching distance of his wife, both his hands clasped, tight, around his wife's throat.
Alice's eyes widened with shock for a split second. Then, her expression turned fierce, and she put her hands around her husband's throat, clenching it in a vice-like grip.
As husband and wife fell to the floor, throttling each other, Chris, Chrissie and I ran forward, trying to separate them, but they were both too strong. After realising that nothing we could do was going to stop them, Chris, Chrissie and I stood back, panting, watching the Absters wrestle on the floor, their faces slowly turning blue. At last, as Sian gave a dreadful scream from overhead, Alice and Wormy's eyes rolled upwards in their purple faces, before both of them gave a final twitch and were still.
Chris, Chrissie and I looked at each other, then, leaving the Absters' bodies on the floor behind us, we ran up the stairs and back into the shadowy passageway leading to the drawing room. Cautiously we crept along it, until we reached the drawing-room door, which was ajar. Now we had a clear view of Katalina looking down at Grimzhan, who was holding Lion-Heart's sword in her long-fingered hands. Sian was lying at Katalina's feet. She was barely stirring; if it hadn't been for the slight, rapid rise and fall of her chest, I would have thought she was dead.
"Well?" Katalina said to Grimzhan. "Is it the true sword?"
I waited, holding my breath, fighting against the prickling of my scar.
"No," said Grimzhan. "It is a fake."
"Are you sure?" panted Katalina. "Quite sure?"
"Yes," said the faun.
Relief broke across her face, all tension drained from it.
"Good," she said, and with a casual flick of her wand she slashed another deep cut into the faun's face, and she dropped with a yell at her feet. She kicked her aside. "And now," she said, in a voice that burst with triumph, "we call the Scarlet Lady!"
And she pushed back her sleeve and touched her forefinger to the Death Trail.
At once, my scar felt as though it had split open again. My true surroundings vanished: I was Zira, and the skeletal witch before her was laughing toothlessly at her; she was enraged at the summons she felt - she had warned them, she had told them to summon her for nothing less than Pride-Lander. If they were mistaken ...
"Kill me, then!" demanded the old woman. "You will not win, you cannot win! That wand will never, ever be yours - "
And her fury broke: a burst of green light filled the prison room and the frail old body was lifted from its hard bed and then fell back, lifeless, and she returned to the window, her wrath barely controllable ... they would suffer her retribution if they had no good reason for calling her back ...
"And I think," said Katalina's voice, calling me back to my own mind, body and dangerous situation, "we can dispose of the Sackbrain. Silverfur, I would have offered her to you, but I don't think you'll have much fun with her, given her condition, so it looks like I'll have to finish her off instead."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Chris and Chrissie had burst into the drawing room; Katalina looked round, shocked; she turned her wand to face Chrissie instead -
"Expelliarmus!" she roared, pointing Wormy's wand at Katalina, and hers flew into the air, which I caught after sprinting after Chris and Chrissie. Narissa, Latchna, Dani and Silverfur whirled about; Chris and I yelled, "Stupefy!" at exactly the same moment, and Narissa and Latchna Malty collapsed on to the hearth. Jets of light flew from Dani and Silverfur's wands; Chris, Chrissie and I duelled them both, spells flying in all directions, hitting furniture, the walls, the mirror, everything they could hit, until -
"STOP OR SHE DIES!"
Panting, I looked round. Katalina was supporting Sian, who seemed unconscious, and was holding her short silver knife directly over Sian's heart.
"Drop your wands," she whispered. "Drop them, or we'll see how many beats her frail heart still has left!"
Chris, Chrissie and I all stood there, rigid, they holding the Abster's wands, and I holding Katalina's.
"I said, drop them!" she screeched, the blade now right against Sian's chest.
"All right!" I shouted, and I dropped Katalina's wand on to the floor at my feet. Chris and Chrissie's then did the same with the Abster's. The three of us raised our hands to shoulder height.
"Good!" she leered. "Dani, pick them up! The Scarlet Lady is coming, Kiara Pride-Lander! Your death approaches!"
I knew it; my scar was burning with the pain of it, and I could feel Zira flying through the sky from far away, over a dark and stormy sea, and soon she would be close enough to Apparate to us, and I could see no way out.
"Now," said Katalina softly, as Dani hurried back with the wands, "Silverfur, I think we ought to tie these little heroes up again, while I take care of Miss Sackbrain. I am sure the Scarlet Lady will not begrudge you those two next to Pride-Lander, Silverfur, after what you have done tonight."
At the last word there was a peculiar grinding noise from above. All of us looked up in time to see the crystal chandelier tremble; then, with a creak and an ominous jingling, it began to fall. Katalina was directly beneath it; dropping Sian, she threw herself aside with a scream. The chandelier crashed to the floor in an explosion of crystal and chains, falling on top of Sian and the faun, who still clutched the sword of Lion-Heart. Glittering shards of crystal flew in all directions: Dani doubled over, her hands covering her bloody face.
As Chris and Chrissie ran to pull Sian and Grimzhan out of the wreckage, I took my chance; I leapt over an armchair and wrested the four wands from Dani's grip, pointed all of them at Silverfur and yelled, "Stupefy!" The werewolf was lifted off his feet by the quadruple spell, flew up to the ceiling and then smashed to the ground.
As Dani was crawling out of harm's way, Katalina sprang to her feet, her hair flying as she brandished the silver knife, but quickly stopped as she looked at the doorway.
"Dokey!" came a man's voice. Unbeknownst to any of us, Latchna Malty had come round and had got back to his feet. His voice had nothing but shock. "You! You dropped the chandelier - ?"
The tiny elf trotted into the room, her shaking finger pointing directly at her old master.
"You must not harm Kiara Pride-Lander!" she squeaked.
"Kill her, Latchy!" shrieked Katalina, but there was another loud crack, and Latchna's wand, too, flew into the air and landed on the other side of the room.
"You dirty little monkey!" bawled Katalina. "How dare you take a wizard's wand, how dare you defy your masters?"
"Dokey has no master!" squealed the elf. "Dokey is a free elf, and Dokey has come to save Kiara Pride-Lander and her friends!"
My scar was blinding me with pain. Dimly, I knew that we had moments, seconds before Zira was with us.
"Chris, Chrissie, catch - and GO!" I yelled, throwing them a wand each: Chrissie caught both of them, seeing as Grimzhan was on her back, and Chris had his arms full of Sian. As Chrissie passed Chris one of the wands, I seized Dokey's hand and I spin on the spot to Disapparate.
As I turned into the darkness, I caught one last view of the drawing room: of the pale, frozen figures of Latchna and Dani, of the streak of brown that was Chrissie's hair, and a blue of flying silver, as Katalina's knife flew across the room at the place where I was vanishing -
Sam and Ferdinand's ... Sandwaves Cottage ... Sam and Ferdinand's ...
I had disappeared into the unknown; all I could do was repeat the name of the destination and hope that it would suffice to take me there. The pain in my forehead pierced me, as Dokey's hand jerked in mine; I wondered whether the elf was trying to take charge, to pull us in the right direction, and I tried, by squeezing her fingers, to indicate that that was fine with me ...
And then we hit solid earth and smelt salty air. I fell to my knees and relinquished Dokey's hand, as Chris put Sian's legs on the ground and Chrissie lay Grimzhan gently to the ground.
"Are you all right?" I said, as the faun stirred, but Grimzhan merely whimpered.
I squinted around through the darkness. There seemed to be a cottage a short way away under the wide, starry sky, and I thought I saw a movement outside it.
"Dokey, is this Sandwaves Cottage?" I whispered, clutching the two wands I had brought from the Maltys', ready to fight if I needed to. Have we come to the right place? Dokey?"
I looked around. The little elf stood feet from me.
"DOKEY!"
The elf swayed slightly, stars reflected in her wide, shining eyes. Together, she and I looked down at the silver hilt of the knife protruding from the elf's heaving chest.
"Dokey - no - HELP!" I bellowed towards the cottage, towards the people moving there. "HELP!"
I did not know or care whether they were wizards or Muggles, friends or foes; all I cared about was that there was a dark stain was spreading across Dokey's front, and that she had stretched out her thin arms to me with a look of supplication. I caught her and laid her sideways on the cool grass.
"Dokey, no, don't die, don't die - "
The elf's eyes found mine, and her lips trembled with the effort to form words.
"Kiara ... Pride-Lander ..."
And then with a little shudder the elf became quite still, and her eyes were nothing more than great, glassy orbs sparkled with light from the stars they could not see.
At that precise moment, Sian, who was holding on to Chris, appeared to be stirring. And then, quite suddenly, she went completely limp in his arms again, her breath now coming in great, sharp, gasping rasps of air.
