Septimus Heap, Book One_ Magyk - Angie Sage [59]
Jenna noticed the smile and felt pleased. She was about to try another question when, in a voice that made the potion bottles rattle, Aunt Zelda yelled, “Message Rat!”
Marcia, who had taken over Aunt Zelda’s desk at the far end of the room, got up quickly and, to Jenna’s surprise, grabbed her by the hand and hauled her off the sofa.
“Hey!” protested Jenna. Marcia took no notice. She headed up the stairs, pulling Jenna along behind her. Halfway up they collided with Silas and Maxie, who were rushing down to see the Message Rat.
“That dog should not be allowed upstairs,” snapped Marcia as she tried to squeeze past Maxie without getting any dogdribble trails on her cloak.
Maxie slobbered excitedly on Marcia’s hand and rushed down after Silas, one of his large paws treading heavily on Marcia’s foot. Maxie paid very little attention to Marcia. He didn’t bother to get out of her way or take any notice of what she said because, in his wolfhound way of looking at the world, Silas was Top Dog and Marcia was right at the bottom of the pile.
Happily for Marcia, these finer points of Maxie’s inner life had passed her by, and she pushed past the wolfhound and strode upstairs, trailing Jenna in her wake, out of the way of the Message Rat.
“Wha-what did you do that for?” asked Jenna, getting her breath back as they reached the attic room.
“The Message Rat,” said Marcia, a little puffed. “We don’t know what kind of rat it is. It might not be a Chartered Confidential Rat.”
“A what rat?” asked Jenna, puzzled.
“Well,” whispered Marcia, sitting down on Aunt Zelda’s narrow bed, which was covered with an assortment of patchwork blankets that were the result of many long, solitary evenings by the fireside. She patted the space beside her, and Jenna sat down too.
“Do you know about Message Rats?” asked Marcia in a low voice.
“I think so,” said Jenna uncertainly, “but we never got one at home. Ever. I thought you had to be really important to get a Message Rat.”
“No,” said Marcia, “anyone can get one. Or send one.”
“Maybe Mum sent it,” said Jenna in a hopeful voice.
“Maybe,” said Marcia, “and maybe not. We need to know if it is a Confidential Rat before we can trust it. A Confidential Rat will always tell the truth and keep all secrets at all times. It is also extremely expensive.”
Jenna thought gloomily that in that case Sarah could never have sent the rat.
“So we’ll just have to wait and see,” said Marcia. “And meanwhile you and I will wait up here just in case it’s a spy rat come to see where the ExtraOrdinary Wizard is hiding with the Princess.”
Jenna nodded slowly. It was that word again. Princess. It still took her by surprise. She couldn’t quite believe that that was who she really was. But she sat quietly next to Marcia, gazing around the attic room.
The room felt surprisingly large and airy. It had a sloping ceiling in which was set a small window that looked out far across the snow-covered marshes. Huge sturdy beams supported the roof. Below the beams hung an assortment of what looked like large patchwork tents, until Jenna realized that they must be Aunt Zelda’s dresses. There were three beds in the room. Jenna guessed from the patchwork covers that they were sitting on Aunt Zelda’s bed, and the one tucked away low in an alcove by the stairs and covered in dog hair was likely to belong to Silas. In the far corner was a large bed built into the wall. It reminded Jenna of her own box bed at home and gave her a sharp pang of homesickness when she looked at it. She guessed that it was Marcia’s, for beside the bed was her book, The Undoing of the Darkenesse, a fine onyx pen and a pile of the best quality vellum covered in Magykal signs and symbols.
Marcia followed her gaze.
“Come on, you can try out my pen. You’ll like that.