Septimus Heap, Book One_ Magyk - Angie Sage [118]
Three worried faces looked at the ghost.
“Listen to me, all of you. You must go straight back to Keeper’s Cottage. I want you to tell Zelda to take you all to the Port first thing tomorrow morning. Alice—she is Chief Customs Officer down there now—is finding you a ship. You are to go to the Far Countries while I try and sort things out here.”
“But—” gasped Jenna, Nicko and Boy 412.
Alther ignored their protest.
“I will meet you all at the Blue Anchor Tavern on the Harbor tomorrow morning. You must be there. Your mother and father are coming too, along with Simon. They are on their way down the river in my old boat, Molly. I am afraid that Sam, Erik and Edd and Jo-Jo have refused to leave the Forest—they have gone quite wild, but Morwenna will keep an eye on them.”
There was an unhappy silence. No one liked what Alther had said.
“That’s running away,” Jenna said quietly. “We want to stay. And fight.”
“I knew you’d say that,” sighed Alther. “It is just what your mother would have said. But you must go now.”
Nicko stood up.
“All right,” he said reluctantly. “We’ll see you tomorrow at the Port.”
“Good,” said Alther. “Now, be careful and I’ll see you all tomorrow.” He floated up and watched the three of them trail disconsolately back to the Muriel Two. Alther stayed watching until he was satisfied that they were making good progress along the Deppen Ditch and then he sped off along the river, flying low and fast, off to join Molly. Soon he was just a small speck in the distance.
Which was when the Muriel Two turned around and headed straight back toward the Vengeance.
41
THE VENGEANCE
There was much discussion in the Muriel Two.
“I really don’t know about this. Marcia might not even be on the Vengeance.”
“I bet she is, though.”
“We’ve got to find her. I’m sure I could rescue her.”
“Look, just because you’ve been in the Army doesn’t mean you can go storming ships and rescuing people.”
“It means you can try.”
“He’s right, Nicko.”
“We’d never make it. They’ll see us coming. Every ship always has a watch on board.”
“But we could do that spell, you know the one…what was it?”
“Cause Yourself to be Unseen. Easy. Then we could paddle out to the ship and I’ll climb up the rope ladder, and then—”
“Whoa, stop there. That’s dangerous.”
“Marcia rescued me when I was in danger.”
“And me.”
“All right. You win.”
As the Muriel Two rounded the last bend of the Deppen Ditch, Boy 412 reached up into the pocket inside his red beanie hat and drew out the dragon ring.
“What’s that ring?” asked Nicko.
“Um, it’s Magyk. I found it. Under the ground.”
“It looks a bit like the dragon on the Amulet,” said Nicko.
“Yes,” said Boy 412, “I thought that too.” He slipped it on his finger and felt the ring grow warm. “Shall I do the spell, then?” he asked.
Jenna and Nicko nodded and Boy 412 began to chant:
Let me Fade into the Aire
Let all against me know not Where
Let them that Seeke me pass me by
Let Harme not reach me from their Eye.
Boy 412 slowly faded into the drizzle, leaving a canoe paddle hanging eerily in midair. Jenna took a deep breath and tried the spell for herself.
“You’re still there, Jen,” said Nicko. “Try again.”
The third time was a charm. Jenna’s canoe paddle now hovered in the air next to Boy 412’s.
“Your turn, Nicko,” said Jenna’s voice.
“Hang on a minute,” said Nicko. “I never did this one.”
“Well, do your own, then,” said Jenna. “It doesn’t matter as long as it works.”
“Well, er, I don’t know if it does work. And it doesn’t do the ‘Harme not reach me’ thing at all.”
“Nicko!” protested Jenna.
“All right, all right. I’ll try it.”
“Not seen, Not heard…um…I can’t remember the rest.”
“Try ‘Not seen, not heard, not a whisper, not a word,’” suggested Boy 412 from out of nowhere.
“Oh, yes. That’s it. Thanks.”
The spell worked. Nicko faded slowly away.
“You all right, Nicko?” asked Jenna. “I can’t see you.”
There was no reply.
“Nicko?”
Nicko’s paddle waggled frantically up and down.
“We can’t see him and he can’t see us because his