Jinx On The Divide (29 page)

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quick flight myself, since it's a nice day and I need to twisty-strip some sunlight. I've cleared it with Betony."

"Fine," said Felix sleepily. When the carpet had gone, he dozed for a bit longer. Then he got up and fished in his backpack for his toothbrush. There was a real bathroom here, which would be a luxury after the recent hardships. His fingers closed around the cataloguing quill.
Drat!
he thought, /
didn't give it back to Ironclaw.
He took out his notebook and scribbled a reminder to himself to hand it over to Betony when they got home, so she could bring it back with her.

[Image: The quill.]

Then he laid the pen on the notebook and went into the bathroom for a shower. When he came back, he noticed that the quill had been busy on its own. He glanced briefly at what it had written, but it didn't make immediate sense. It was getting late, so he put both the quill and the notebook away and went downstairs. Betony and Rhino were already there, eating smoked roe on pepper bread and drinking hot honeyed milk.

"Are you ready, then?" asked Rhino.

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"Ready for what?" Felix sat down. He dug his knife into the big yellow pat of cuddyak butter and smeared it over his bread.

"Dropping the jinx box into molten rock, of course," said Rhino. "I wonder if it'll explode."

"Oh," said Felix. Trust Rhino to bring him down. "Can we do it after breakfast?"

"You're just chicken," said Rhino cheerfully. "I don't see why, though. The box may have tricked you into saying one of those powerwords, but nothing much happened."

"Nothing much?" squealed Betony.
"Nothing much?
My parents only came back to life, that's what. Not to mention a lot of other things."

Felix stopped with a forkful of food halfway to his mouth. "A lot of other things? What do you mean?"

"Some other statues."

"What other statues? How do you know?"

Betony looked shamefaced. "I wanted to see some more of my parents, so I used the crystal ball again when I went up to my room. It didn't show them to me, as it happens, but it showed me a lot of other things. You know that statue of Flintfeather, outside the library?"

Felix nodded.

"It's not there anymore."

"Maybe someone stole it."

"Don't be silly, it's huge."

"I thought that was a real statue."

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"So did I. But Quillfinger the small-tail's gone as well, and so has ..."

"Hang on," said Felix, as something occurred to him. "What's Thornbeak going to do if Flintfeather turns up alive and well? Her book was a biography of him."

"Oh, I'm sure Thornbeak's perfectly capable of getting around that," said Betony airily.

"So you don't think that was actually the
bad
effect of the powerword, then?" snapped Felix. "I was kind of hoping it was. I was kind of hoping that was the end of it. I was kind of hoping we hadn't unfrozen something ghastly that has yet to make itself known to us."

"Why are you so touchy?"

"Because I want to eat my breakfast."

"Well, get on with it, then," said Betony.

Felix glared at her, but he seemed to have lost his appetite. He was scared of the effect the jinx box had on him. Even just talking about it. That was it. He was
scared.
And it wasn't just the jinx box he was frightened of, and whatever self-defense mechanisms it had -- what about the picture the box had shown him of Betony, standing on the Divide, tears running down her face? What was that all about?

He suddenly realized he'd been drifting, a hunk of pepper bread halfway to his mouth. Rhino was deep in conversation with Betony. The pair of them were laughing as though they'd known each other for years, and Felix felt a stab of jealousy.

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Rhino said something under his breath, and Betony had a fit of the giggles.

"What's the joke?" asked Felix, pushing his plate away.

"There isn't one," said Betony. "That's why it's funny. What's a pachyderm, Rhino? The jinx box called you a pachyderm, ages ago."

"Someone who's handsome and brave and ..."

"And as strong as a cuddyak," said Betony, and the two of them went into hysterics.

"It means to be like a rhinoceros," said Felix coldly. "Thick-skinned."

Suddenly, the door slammed open with a bang. An icy draft blew through the opening, accompanied by a flurry of snow. The beautiful start to the morning had vanished in a cloud of snowflakes. Felix could hear a faint jingling of bells outside, and the snort of a cuddyak. The figure that marched in was almost completely submerged beneath layers of fur, although some of his ginger hair was barely visible beneath his hat. He had a pair of the local-style feathered earmuffs hanging around his neck like two dead chickens. After a moment's pause, he kicked the door shut, stomped over to the bar, and thumped his fist on it. The pewter mugs jumped on the spot, clinking as they landed, and a cheese rolled across the counter, tipped over the edge, and fell to the ground. The landlord came rushing out of the kitchen, looking worried.

"I've got a very important person in my sleigh," said the

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japegrin, "and he wants lodging for the night." He glanced across at Felix, Betony, and Rhino and said, "And you can tell them to get lost. This is a japegrin inn."

The landlord opened his mouth to say something, and then shut it again.

The sleigh driver opened his greasy fur coat and pulled out the crossbow he'd been carrying beneath it. It was like watching a magician pull a rabbit out of a hat -- the weapon seemed far too big to have been hidden there. He slammed it down on the bar and said, "Either you get rid of them or I will." His gaze flitted over Felix and Betony and came to rest on Rhino. "Got to be a half-and-half, he has, with his red hair and his muddy eyes."

"At least I wash," said Rhino.

There was a stunned silence.

After a moment the landlord said, "He was just leaving."

And then, out of the blue, the eerie wail of snagglefangs started up -- distant, but unmistakable. The driver looked sharply at the landlord. "Since when have snagglefangs hunted by day?"

The landlord became defensive. "They don't. Ever. No one's even
seen
a live one by daylight. They turn to stone at sunrise."

"Really?" said the driver sarcastically. "Doesn't sound like it to me."

The landlord looked at Felix. "Can you hear them?" Felix nodded.

The landlord turned to Betony. "You?"

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Betony nodded.

"So can I," said Rhino.

The landlord looked horrified. The howls got a little louder.

"I've got the thane of Yergud in my sleigh," said the japegrin. "I'd better go and bring him inside."

"I thought the thane had resigned," said Rhino.

"This is the new one, half-trash," said the driver, heading for the door. "His name's Snakeroot."

Felix and Betony looked at each other, aghast.

"Snakeweed," said Betony.

"Grimspite and Ironclaw can't have found him, then," said Felix gloomily.

"Or ..." Betony didn't finish her sentence.

"Grimspite can take care of himself, surely?" said Rhino. "He's got jaws like an industrial vice and fangs like carving knives."

"He can still be killed with a wand," said Betony. "Ssshh -- listen," said Felix. "The snagglefangs have gone quiet."

"That's bad," said the landlord. "That's really bad. They always go quiet when they're creeping up on something. Makes sense."

The driver reappeared in the doorway and bundled someone through. Then he went out again, presumably to get the cuddyaks to safety in the barn.

"This is an honor, Your Excellency," said the landlord, with a hurried bow to the new arrival. "Did you see any ... er ..."

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"Snagglefangs? No." The figure unwound his purple scarf, shook off his hood, and looked around the room. "Well, if it isn't Felix," he said. "How are you?"

The landlord's mouth dropped open at such familiarity.

"A lot worse than I was five minutes ago," said Felix.

"Not on my account, I hope," said Snakeweed. "Grimspite said you were over here."

Before Felix could react to this, there was a lot of bellowing and bell tinkling from outside, followed by the twang of a crossbow, some swearing, and a yelp.

"Where
is
Grimspite?" asked Felix, trying not to think about what was going on outdoors.

"On his way to Andria. He's going to publicize my new venture for me."

Felix shook his head. "Grimspite working in partnership with you? Never."

Snakeweed shrugged. "We came to an understanding. And talking of understandings, I understand you're in possession of a certain jinx box?"

Felix stiffened.

"Oh, don't worry, I'm not about to relieve you of it," said Snakeweed, and to Felix's surprise he shuddered. "No, thank you. But you do realize it was the last powerword you used that released the snagglefangs from their stone prisons so that they could hunt by day?"

"No," said Felix, with a sinking feeling. "I hadn't realized." It was so obvious, now that he thought about it.

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Flintfeather coming back to life hadn't been nearly horrible enough to be the downside of
hocus pocus.
This was. Once again, he'd tried to do the right thing, and had caused a lot of misery instead.

"Unpredictable stuff, magic," said Snakeweed. "Sort of like science, really."

The door slammed open again. The japegrin driver staggered through and barred the door behind him. "They're out there," he said. "At least twenty of them. We're surrounded. I did get one, though. And the cuddyaks are safe."

"There's plenty of salted meat and pickled fruit in the cellar," said the landlord. "Not to mention three whole barrels of fertle juice. We can hold out."

Rhino looked dubious.

"It won't come to that," said Betony quietly. "When Fuzzy comes back from her hunt, she'll scare them away."

"Hot drinks all around, then," said Snakeweed. "On me." He dumped a handful of coins onto the counter.

The landlord went out the back to heat up some milk. After a moment there was a clattering sound, as though something had been knocked over -- then silence. They all looked at one another, and Snakeweed drew his wand. The driver picked up his harpoon and fitted another bolt. After that, the only sound was of people breathing and the occasional crackle from the fire at the far end of the room.

The white shape slipped into the room so smoothly that

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Felix almost didn't see it. Then, quite suddenly, and directly opposite him, was the grizzled face he remembered so well. The last time he'd seen it, it had been pressed against the window of the rescue hut. This time, the body beneath it was tensed to spring.

Betony made a funny little noise in her throat, and Rhino shouted,
"Run!"

The snagglefang leaped. It seemed to hang in the air, defying gravity -- then it crashed into the wall next to him, and there was a shower of purple sparks.

Snakeweed wiped his wand against his cloak, a faint smile on his face.

Felix stood up, feeling a bit wobbly. "You saved my life," he said.

"Makes a change from trying to take it," said Snakeweed. "The landlord must have left the back door open. Let's get it shut. Grab one of those torches off the wall, and light it from the fire."

Felix did as instructed. The pitch sparked and spluttered, and he felt a lot better with a weapon in his hands. The two of them headed for the kitchen. To Felix's horror, there were two more snagglefangs in there, and the landlord was sprawled across the floor, quite dead. Felix didn't look too closely.

There was something about the frozen immobility of the person who had been alive and talking a few moments before that chilled him to the bone.

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He lifted his torch. The flame caught the draft from the open back door and flared up, and the snagglefangs turned tail and ran. Felix slammed the door shut behind them and went to the window. The snow was clearing. As he watched, a shadow crossed the road outside -- and suddenly, the snagglefangs were streaking away into the distance, exactly the way they had done at the rescue huts.

Fuzzy had returned from her hunt.

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***

17

***

"I think there's something you ought to know," said Fetlock the wise-hoof, standing in the doorway to Thornbeak's office in the library.

"You've found the statues?" said Thornbeak, glancing up at the librarian from the manuscript she was studying.

"Not exactly." Fetlock looked uncomfortable.

"Not exactly? They've been broken up for building rubble or something?"

"Not exactly."

Thornbeak closed her book. "What, exactly?"

"I think you should fly down to the beach."

"Why?"

The wise-hoof looked even more uncomfortable. "Fetlock, you're being very annoying."

"I know," said the wise-hoof. "Sorry. But I really think you should go."