Chapter 4: The Dream

By Conception.Creation

Disclaimer: The Bartimaeus Trilogy is property of Jonathan Stroud

A/N: Thank you everyone for your helpful comments. We'll see if I can improve on Bartimaeus's point of view next chapter.

Kitty lifted the heavy trapdoor as discretely as she could. From where she stood on the ladder leading to the roof, she could see the djinni's form silhouetted against the pastel shades of the dawn sky. He'd been up there for an hour now, absolutely motionless, staring pensively out over the vast palm orchards that stretched out to the horizon, filling the entire Siwa valley. Kitty was beginning to feel a little worried for him.

She scaled the ladder noiselessly and drifted over to where the Egyptian boy stood, still as a statue. She cleared her throat.

"So… Erm, I guess this place brings back a few memories, huh?"

Bartimaeus stirred, looking over at her.

"I traveled the entire length of the Western Desert in Ptolemy's day," He said, "Just rocks and dunes and boring stuff, mostly. But this particular place always stuck out in my memory," He sat down cross-legged on the flat mud-brick surface of the roof, and gestured for Kitty to follow suit. "It wasn't a part of Egypt at the time. There was no road here, and the place was settled entirely by the Berber people. It was its own place with its own culture."

"It still is," Kitty said, "I think you'll find that very little here has changed. It's like going back it time…"

There was a moment of silence. The pair sat side-by-side, watching the sun peak up over the rust-coloured mountains on the horizon. Kitty spoke again.

"After Nathaniel died I couldn't bear to be in England anymore." She looked down at her hands. "So I traveled. I went to Brugges first, visited my friend Jakob. Remember him?"

Bartimaeus snorted.

"I hope he's lost some weight."

Kitty shrugged.

"Not really. Anyways, after I returned from Belgium, I knew I still wasn't ready to face everyone, so I thought I'd give Egypt a try."

The Egyptian boy quirked an eyebrow.

"Wow. I wonder who gave you that idea."

"Well, yes," She replied, "Your stories about it intrigued me." In fact, Kitty had found herself fascinated by nearly anything Bartimaeus spoke of. Whether it was the cyclic nature of history, or tales from his own past, the djinni always had something interesting and insightful to say–once you cut through the sarcasm.

Kitty realized she had trailed off. She cleared her throat. "So… I went to Cairo, saw the pyramids, toured around the country. Eventually I found this place–so calm and secluded. It just resonated with me somehow. I've never left it since."

The djinni's scrutinizing eyes locked with her own. Kitty knew that his slender face and tousled, black hair was a perfect replication of the Egyptian magician who'd died so long ago, reproduced with all the accuracy of two thousand years of practice. But something in the expression of those dark eyes spoke of a life as old as civilization itself: of a thousand different stories, of the rise and fall of countless empires. The eyes gave him away.

The jarring clatter of someone scampering up the ladder dispelled her thoughts. Rebecca Piper burst up onto the roof, her face a ghastly shade of grey.

"Rebecca, what's the matter?" Kitty said with concern. Her friend looked extraordinarily distressed.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Rebecca said through clenched teeth. Not waiting for an answer, she grabbed Kitty's arm and pulled her over to the far side of the roof.

"Look," Rebecca said, "You've unleashed a dangerous spirit. I can't change that now. But I'm not going to let you commit suicide by running off alone with that thing!" She peeped over at Bartimaeus. "We're not talking about another mite, or even a foliot. That thing over there is a fourth level djinni, and you can't kill it with a silver hairpin if it gets out of control."

"I can hear you, you know," The spirit in question called from where he sat on the other side of the roof. Kitty ignored him.

"That's the entire point of trust, Rebecca," Kitty said patiently, "Yes, Bartimaeus could kill us. We are letting him free anyways because we have faith in him–that he will choose not to harm us."

"Maybe you think so, but I don't," Said Rebecca. Her lips compressed into a thin white line.

Kitty crossed her arms. Her face hardened into its most stubborn expression.

"Look here!" She declared with fury, "I'm going to prove to the world that humans and spirits can work together, I'm going to change the way humans think about djinn. I'm going show magicians and demons how to settle their differences," Kitty leaned in close, "And I'm going to start with you, Rebecca Piper."

The magician gaped at her.

"Cute speech. But absolute rubbish considering that we're an endangered species nowadays." said Bartimaeus

"It's never too late." Kitty said vehemently. She prayed fervently that she was right.

"Kitty, that thing is making faces at me!"

Kitty rolled her eyes. The three of them had been out for less then ten minutes, yet Rebecca and Bartimaeus were already bickering like two-year-old children.

Kitty had decided the best thing she could do to foster some cooperation between the two before the meeting tomorrow night would be to go on an outing together. So they had set out down the dirt road towards Birket Siwa, a salt lake to the west of the village. She only now realized what a foolish idea it had been.

"My face always looks like this," Said Bartimaeus, whose tongue was lolling out of his right ear. Kitty shot him a glare.

"Bartimaeus, we are in public. Behave with some decorum please."

The djinni harrumphed, and then changed his form. His features morphed into those of a thin, brown-haired girl; Rebecca Piper, to be precise.

Rebecca choked.

"Kitty, do something! What if someone sees him like that?"

Indeed, a few passing cyclists were giving the trio curious stares.

"What?" said Bartimaeus "Is this form too gruesome for the weak stomachs of the general populous? I admit it is rather unsightly. All skin and bone…"

"Cut it out, Bartimaeus," Kitty said sternly, "Am I going to have to separate the two of you?"

"It's not my fault if it harasses me!"

"Hey, you're the one who tried to enslave me."

"Idiot demon!"

"Lowlife magician!"

"Shut up, both of you, we're here."

They had arrived at the shore of a vast lake. Its pale blue waters reflected the image of the low conical mountains on the other shore. Its edge was dotted with salt-loving plant life, and the occasional date palm. Out in the middle of the lake a palm-covered island sprang up, looking as inviting as the Garden of Eden.

Forgetting her annoyance, Rebecca sprang forwards, splashing into the inviting waters of the lake. Her feet kicked up clouds of salt as she passed. Bartimaeus turned his nose up at the prospect of the salty water. Taking the form of a crane, he began to fly in low circles around the lake, enjoying a bird's eye view of the bizarre landscape.

So much for forcing everyone together, thought Kitty. She wandered along the edge of the lake shore, the marshy ground sucking at her feet as she walked. She came to a standstill under the shade of a scraggly palm tree, and gazed out over the lake. She could see Rebecca sloshing through the shallow waters on the other side. Kitty lay down among the reeds, gazing up at the cloudless sky. A soft salty breeze caressed her face.

She sighed, closing her eyes and relinquishing the stress of the past few hours. Only now did she realize that she had been awake all night.

So tired…

She let the gentle rhythm of the lazy afternoon lull her into unconsciousness.

Though Kitty was asleep, she could still sense where her body lay. She could hear the waves lapping at the shore, could feel the ground beneath her back. Yet somehow she knew that she was no longer awake. Her vision was dark, but whether it was part of her dream or simply the view of the backs of her eyelids, she could not tell. Her body felt as limp and boneless as a spaghetti noodle.

Something shifted around her. Goosebumps shot up and down her arms. There was something surrounding her, filling her, making her skin crawl. The individual hairs on her arms prickled. Her body seemed to crackle with a foreign energy. Inexplicable panic overtook her as a burning, metallic taste filled her mouth.

She tried to move, to pry her eyes open, to do anything. It was like moving through glue. She was powerless and immobile against the strange presence that surrounded her like a halo. Then a horrible sickening feeling as something fluid seemed to gather itself deep within her, pushing itself out through her pores, bursting from her body, and dissipating into the emptiness around her. Kitty opened her mouth in a silent scream of terror.

"Kitty!"

A pair of hands shook her roughly by the shoulders, and she was awake. Daylight burst into her line of vision as she found she could open her eyes. Bartimaeus's face floated above her, his eyes wide with concern.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Kitty's arm felt unnaturally heavy as she wiped the cold sweat from her brow.

"I was dreaming…" It had been a strange, unnatural dream that had left her feeling as if she'd been run over with a cement truck.

"You aura's gone crazy," Bartimaeus said, "It's always been weird, but now it's completely overpowering."

"Is something wrong with me?" Kitty asked faintly.

Just then, Rebecca Piper stumbled up the bank, gesturing wildly. Her wet hair was sticking up in all directions.

"Get away from her!" She cried. "Kitty, are you alright?"

Only then did Kitty realize that Bartimaeus was still gripping her shoulders. With an embarrassed grimace, he set her free and turned to glare fiercely at Rebecca. The air around Kitty felt oddly cold as he moved away. She shivered.

"If you hadn't been so busy frolicking around in the water, you might have noticed that something's happened to Kitty." Bartimaeus said.

"Me? Why you hypocritical wretch! I didn't see you sticking around here!" Rebecca yelled.

Kitty sighed. How on Earth was she going to accomplish anything with these two for accomplices?