Unseen Academicals - Terry Pratchett [122]
‘But I no longer have the lockpick.’
‘Nature will provide, Mister Nutt.’
Glenda shivered. It had to be her imagination, but they didn’t seem to be in the candle vats any more.
A corridor stretched in front of Nutt. He felt everything drop away from him. Chains, clothes, flesh, thoughts. All there was was the corridor and, drifting gently towards him, the cupboard. It was glass-fronted. Light glinted off the bevelled edges. He raised a hand and extended the claw. It cut through wood and glass as if they were air. There was one shelf in the cupboard and one book on the shelf. There was a title on it in silver and chains around it in steel. These were much easier to break through than last time as well. He sat down on a chair that had not been there until he sat down and he began to read the book. The book was called ORC.
When the scream came, it didn’t come from Nutt, but from overhead in the tangle of pipes. A skinny woman in a long black robe, perhaps a witch, Glenda thought, shocked by the suddenness, dropped down on to the flagstones and looked around like a cat.
No, more like a bird, Glenda thought. Jerky.
And then it opened its mouth and screamed: ‘Awk! Awk! Danger! Danger! Beware! Beware!’ It made a lunge towards the couch, but Trev stepped in the way. ‘Foolish! The orc will eat your eyes!’
And now this was a duet, because another of the creatures had slid down out of the gloom on what might have been a billowing cloak, or might have been wings. They never stopped moving, each in a different direction, trying to get closer to the couch.
‘Do not be afraaaid,’ squawked one of them, ‘we are on your siiide. We are here to protect you.’
Glenda, trembling in shock, managed to stand up. She folded her arms. She always felt better like that. ‘Who do you think you are–dropping out of the ceiling and shouting at people? And you’re shedding feathers. That’s disgusting. This is a—this is quite near a food-preparation area.’
‘Yeah, push off,’ said Trev.
‘That’s telling them,’ said Glenda out of the corner of her mouth. ‘I bet that took a lot of thinking.’
‘You do not understand,’ said a creature. The faces really were strange, as if someone had made a bird out of a woman. ‘You are in great danger! Awk!’
‘From you?’ said Glenda.
‘From the orc,’ said the creature. And the word was a scream. ‘Awk!’
In the shadows in front of the open cupboard the soul of Nutt turned a page. He felt someone at his elbow and looked up into the face of Ladyship.
‘Why did you tell me not to open the book, Ladyship?’
‘Because I wanted you to read it,’ said her voice. ‘You had to find the truth for yourself. That is how we all find the truth.’
‘And if the truth is terrible?’
‘I think you know the answer to that one, Nutt,’ said the voice of Ladyship.
‘The answer is that, terrible or not, it is still the truth,’ said Nutt.
‘And then?’ said her voice, like a teacher encouraging a promising pupil.
‘And then the truth can be changed,’ said Nutt.
‘Mister Nutt is a goblin,’ said Trev.
‘Yeah, right,’ said the creature. And the phrase seemed incredibly exotic for someone whose face was looking more birdlike all the time.
‘If I scream, a lot of people will come running,’ said Glenda.
‘And what will they do?’ said the creature.
And what would they do? Glenda thought. They would stand around saying ‘What’s all this then?’ and asking all the same questions we are. She shuffled again as one of the things tried to get to the couch.
‘The orc will kill,’ said a third voice, and another of the things dropped down almost in front of Glenda’s face. Its breath was like carrion.
‘Mister Nutt is kind and gentle and has never hurt anyone,’ said Glenda.
‘Who didn’t deserve it,’ said Trev hurriedly.
‘But now the orc knows it is an orc,’ said a creature. And now they were milling backwards and forwards in a ghastly pavane.
‘I don’t think you’re allowed to touch us,’ said Trev. ‘I really don’t think you can touch us.’
He sat down suddenly beside the recumbent Nutt and dragged Glenda down next to him. ‘I think you ’ave to obey rules,’ said