Rose 3: Rose and the Magician's Mask by Holly Webb Read Free Book Online Page A

him?’ Freddie asked, creeping closer, though he still shivered at the sight of the doll.
    ‘He was going to offer us what we deserved. After we’d been despised and imprisoned, perhaps we would have thought we really did deserve the right to take over. That’s what he wanted. Magicians in power, with himself at their head.’
    ‘He wanted to be king?’ Rose asked slowly.
    Mr Fountain shrugged. ‘Why stop at ruling Britain? I see it now. If the ice had covered the sea and the invasion had been successful, he would have been the Talish emperor’s closest adviser. His most trusted adviser. Which would probably have meant the emperor lasted less than a year. His heir is two yearsold, you know. Little Prince Leopold. Who would be the most likely candidate for Lord Protector, or whatever they call it in Talis? He would have been one of the most powerful men in the world. An Emperor Magician.’
    ‘But we stopped him…’ Freddie faltered.
    Mr Fountain nodded. ‘So he’s gone elsewhere. He has the mask to play with now. Maybe he’s given up on the idea of leading us all in some crazy crusade. He’s going to find some other way of controlling people. Power, that’s what he’s after.’
    ‘He’s quite mad, isn’t he?’ Rose asked, in a small voice.
    ‘Did you see any hint of where he is?’ Gus asked, springing into Mr Fountain’s lap.
    Mr Fountain frowned, stroking Gus’s white fur slowly. ‘Water. A strong sense of water. But that could be anywhere! Probably he’s on a ship, somewhere, although it didn’t feel quite like that.’
    ‘The doll said that too…’ Freddie frowned. ‘Didn’t it, Rose?’
    ‘She said he was hidden in the water, and not to let him pull me under,’ Rose agreed in a whisper. ‘Sir, if he felt you, he knows we’re watching him!’
    ‘He knew that anyway!’ Gus’s reply was scornful. ‘Of course we are chasing him! All he knows is that we arestrong enough to have found him, hiding away from us like some nasty black spider. A healthy fear, that’s what we want him to have. Exactly…’
    The white cat purred, soft and complacent, but Mr Fountain shook his head. ‘No. Rose is right. I’ve warned him, don’t you see? He’ll put up more guards.’ He thumped his hand on the table angrily, and the doll shook in Rose’s hand. ‘We need to find him. Now, before he has time to redouble his protection.’
    Rose hardly heard him. The doll was still moving in her fingers, trembling, as though eager. ‘Could I use her, somehow?’ She lifted the tiny figure, supporting her sawdust-stuffed body under the arms, as though it had suddenly grown heavier. More solid. The little body twisted in her hand as she said it, and she felt the miniature fingers pinching her own. She sucked in a deep breath, and her blood seemed to surge and churn inside her, as if the droplet inside the doll was calling.
    ‘Rose?’ Freddie touched her shoulder, cautiously. ‘She’s cold,’ he muttered. ‘What’s it doing to her?’
    Rose slumped back into her chair, the doll held loosely in her hands, her eyes misty. The doll spoke for both them, its tiny voice clear and bell-like.
    ‘It’s taken him home. It wanted to go home. You really ought to read the book, I think.’
    ‘Fiori’s book? But we can’t find it!’ Mr Fountainprotested, and the doll shook its head disapprovingly. Even though it was moving, its china hair stayed all of a piece, the real Rose noted vaguely. This felt like a dream, but she was almost sure it was really happening.
    ‘The chair! Think! When the chair kept wobbling! Rose, you should clean better, then you’d have known.’ It settled back to being a doll again, this time smirking slightly, without her doll-like otherworldly calm. The tiny sweeping brush swung from a loop on its wrist.
    ‘I do try,’ Rose murmured, as she shook the strange fogged feeling away. ‘But we’ve all been so busy, with Christmas…’
    ‘Don’t let a doll make you feel guilty,’ Mr