Episode The Second:

Flight!

In which Magatha gets a Job; we meet Nikephoros; and several things Take Wing.

Part Two

Thaddeus hurried after Magatha. She had rushed out of the building at both quickly and loudly, without even a glance at him, guilty or otherwise. Really, this time she'd gone too far. . .

"Wait! Miss Gammins!"

Cli-click, cli-click, cli-click. Magatha's footsteps echoed off plaster facades as she hurried down the street.

First he'd had to bring her back to Ankh Morpork with him, and he just knew that she'd hidden Anoia knew how many jewel-encrusted bits and bobs in her underwear case. Well, obviously he didn't know for certain, having not checked, but he strongly suspected it. And then she had claimed not to have anything to pay him with for his trouble.

"Miss Gammins! Magatha!"

Cli-click, cli-click, cli-click.

Well, except for that book. She'd been quite upset when she found it, and had in fact thrown it at Thaddeus' head, despite his protestations that he hadn't put it with her luggage.

"Look, please, I just want to say-!"

Cli-click, cli-click, cli-

Thaddeus halted. Magatha had just rounded a corner ahead of him when her footsteps stopped.

Well, there was an obvious explanation for that, Thaddeus decided. She must have heard him and was waiting, like he'd asked. He picked up his pace and rounded the corner.

There was nobody there. Well, nobody except an old tramp. Nobody important was there, no one who owed him a quite substantial amount of money, no Magatha. Thaddeus blinked. It was a dead end, and there weren't any doors she could have ducked into. Or windows. He didn't even consider entertaining the idea that she would have hidden herself behind the tramp: during their trip to Ankh Morpork, Magatha Gammins had made it quite clear that she had high standards of hygiene. She had washed her hair every day.

"Miss Gammins?"

She had to be somewhere. That much red hair couldn't disappear into thin air, he was sure. She must have not turned the corner, after all. It had been a trick of the light that had made him think so. Thaddeus had read about those- mirages, that was the word for them. He had been the victim of a mirage.

Well, she couldn't have got too far. Thaddeus turned and left the cul-de-sac; there was another corner down the road a bit that she might have ducked around while he was staring into empty alleyways.

Two forty-five, after all. Too late to return to work: he would have to make up some excuse. Pretend he'd been hurt. Actually, Thaddeus thought glumly, the pretence might not be necessary if he ran into Roddy Carlisle today. Damn and blast that girl!

cli-click

"Aiiiiiiieeeee-mmmmf!" Magatha discovered that screaming through black velvet coat-sleeves was a very difficult task to accomplish. What made it worse was that the sleeve was attached to a distressingly strong young man, who was in turn holding onto the end of a rope that was swinging the two of them out across the Ankh.

"Aaaaaaghhmmflesnnrf!" Magatha hoped the rope was of the strong, not-breaking-in-midair-and-leaving-her-to-fall-to-her-doom type.

It had all happened so fast. One minute she was striding down the street, not a care in the world save giving that Tent boy the slip, the next she was whizzing through midair with her skirts around her armpits. Flung over some man's shoulder, no less.

She'd heard stories about the big city, but no one had mentioned anything like this.

cli-click

Thaddeus gave up. He'd spent half an hour scouting up and down every street he thought Magatha had gone down, and a further eighty minutes scouting down those that he wasn't sure she would have taken, but might have. In any case, she was probably half-way across the city by now.

The day really wasn't a bright one for Thaddeus Tent. Missing an afternoon of work was bad enough, but during his foray around the streets of Ankh Morpork he was sure he'd glimpsed several of Carlisle's men hulking in the shadows. In fact, he was certain of it- the reason being, as soon as he turned to check that he had seen them, they weren't there. Not even the shadows (this was the biggest clue- when Roddy Carlisle's "encouragers" were Not There, there was always a distinct lack of large figures blotting out the sunlight).

Worst of all, Thaddeus had just realised that all this running around hadn't been necessary in any case. He could have just waited until tomorrow and then gone and asked to see Miss Gammins at work. Yes, that was what he would do.

But, o- Thaddeus ran through a list of deities in the hope one might be listening- this really was too, too much. He wasn't thinking straight, and now his head was beginning to ache. Funny. It was aching on the exact spot he'd knocked it on the tower's doorstep a month ago, which would have been perfectly normal usually but which was weird in this case because he'd had no trouble from it at all before now.

Time to go home. He'd have a lie-down, calm down a bit. No wonder he was getting headaches, with all the excitement of the day! Definitely time for a nap, and, after that, maybe he would reorganise his bookshelves alphabetically by the author's middle name. . .

"Aaiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeek!"

Thaddeus stiffened, then quickened his pace. Another mugging. No need for him to get involved- and what could he do anyway? Threaten to bravely give the Watch a written description of the event? No. best to keep- ow –

"My purse! He took my purse! Help! Somebody!"

Thaddeus stumbled as his head throbbed. Ow. Tiny glittery stars danced lewdly in front of his eyes. Ow. Gasping, Thaddeus leant back on a wall. Ow. A figure in shabby green cannoned into him, trailing a woman's embroidered handbag.

The world exploded into primary shards of colour before Thaddeus' eyes. He stretched out a hand towards the thief and felt a vice clamping down on his eyes. . .

cli-click

Magatha sniffed, upright and decent once again.

A pity she was on top of the Tower of Art, then.

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A/N: Thanks to all you lovelies who reviewed, and disappointed shakings-of-the-index-finger to everyone who didn't. Tut, tut.

Anyway, I know this was quite short and the last couple of hundred words a bit shaky because I just shoved them down in a hurry, so I'm sad to say this is the last update until after Easter, because what with one thing and another (well, and several large others) I've too much schoolwork hanging precariously over my head to be frittering time away with Magatha and Thaddeus. Aaah, the pain of separation, but I will return! Come on, holidays…