Septimus Heap, Book Six_ Darke - Angie Sage [25]
“Happy Birthday,” said Beetle. He looked embarrassed. “I . . . I’ve got something for you but it’s not wrapped up yet. I wasn’t expecting to see you until this evening.”
Jenna looked embarrassed too. “Oh. Gosh. That’s not why I came. I wasn’t expecting anything.”
“Oh. And, um, sorry about the mess,” Beetle said, suddenly seeing the kitchen through Jenna’s eyes. “Larry gets really angry if I clear it up. He says mold is good for you.”
“Slime too?” asked Jenna, looking at a bag of carrots that were pooling across the floor.
Beetle felt mortified. “Let’s go to Wizard Sandwiches,” he said. “I’m owed some time.”
Some ten minutes later—after Jenna had witnessed a new and impressive Beetle telling Larry he was taking his lunch hour now and it was actually going to be one whole hour—they were sitting at a small window table in Wizard Sandwiches’ newly opened upstairs café. They made a striking couple. Beetle wore his blue and gold admiral’s jacket and his thick black hair was, for once, behaving just the way he wanted it to. Jenna’s gold circlet shone softly in the light of the small candle that stood in a pool of wax on their table. She sat with her red, fur-lined cloak still pulled around her, slowly warming up after the chill of the outside, while she gazed around the exuberantly painted room with its steamed-up windows. Jenna noticed with relief that no one was staring at her (the members of the Wizard Sandwiches Cooperative did not believe in hierarchical systems and acted accordingly). She felt like an everyday person—a grown-up everyday person going out to lunch. Even better than that, she had her happy and excited birthday feeling back.
“What would you like?” asked Beetle. He offered Jenna the menu, which was covered with Wizard Sandwiches in-jokes and colorful drawings of sandwiches but offered no clue as to what the sandwiches might contain.
Jenna picked a tall, triangular stack of small sandwiches called “Edifice.” Beetle chose a large cube-shaped sandwich called “Chemistry.” He took the menu and went up to the counter to order (Wizard Sandwiches did not believe in the servitude of waitstaff. This also kept the wage bills down.) Beetle returned carrying two WizzFizz specials, which were as near to a FizzFroot as it was possible to get. He set a pink and green drink in front of Jenna with a flourish.
“Minty strawberry,” he said. “It’s new.”
“Thank you,” Jenna said, feeling suddenly shy. Being out with Beetle like this felt different from being with Beetle in the everyday way she had become used to. It seemed that Beetle felt the same, as for some minutes they both looked intently out the window, although there was little to see apart from a wintry Wizard Way and a couple of people scurrying along with boxes of candles in preparation for the Longest Night illuminations.
Eventually Jenna spoke. “Actually, I wanted to ask you something,” she said.
“Did you?” Beetle felt pleased.
“Yes. I asked Sep last night and he won’t do anything.”
Beetle felt rather less pleased. Jenna did not notice. She carried on, “Sep’s weird at the moment, don’t you think? I’ve asked him a few times now and he’s always made excuses.”
Beetle now felt distinctly un-pleased. He was tired of being second best to Septimus. It was, in fact, one of the reasons why he had refused Marcia’s offer of a place at the Wizard Tower.
“Edifice! Chemistry!” A shout came from the counter.
Beetle got up to collect the sandwiches, leaving Jenna with a vague feeling that she had said something wrong. He returned with a teetering stack of triangles and a huge cube.
“Wow,” said Jenna. “Thank you.” She tentatively took the top triangle off the pile and bit into it. It was a delicious mixture of chopped smoked fish and cucumber with Wizard Sandwiches’ famous sandwich sauce.
Beetle regarded his large cube with dismay. It was one solid lump of bread made from half a loaf. In it were drilled nine holes filled with different colored jams and sauces, and from the center hole a wisp of