insist we return to the Agenda!”
“Okay, okay,” said Arthur.
He turned to Leaf but was suddenly unable to think of anything to say. He hadn’t known her long but she already felt like an old friend, and he was asking her to do something really huge for him. He didn’t know how to tell her how grateful he was for her friendship and help.
“I…I’m sorry I got you into this, Leaf. I mean I really appreciate it…you…uh…even my old friends back where I used to live wouldn’t be as…anyway…I wish there was something…oh!”
He bent his hand back behind his neck and pulled off the string with the Mariner’s medallion. It was the only thing he had that he could give.
“I don’t know if it will be any use, but if things get really bad, try calling the Mariner. Maybe…not that he was very quick last time, but…well, good luck.”
Leaf dropped the string over her head, nodded firmly, and turned away.
“Never gave me nuthin’,” mumbled an unseen voice. Arthur looked down at the chair Leaf had just left and sawSuzy there, hunched over under the table. She was eyeing Dame Primus’s foot and holding a large darning needle. She grinned at Arthur and stuck the needle in, but it had no effect. Tiny letters moved apart to allow the needle entry and then a savage red spark shot along the metal. Suzy dropped it and sucked her fingers as the needle became a small puddle of molten steel.
Arthur sighed and gestured at Suzy to come and sit next to him. She shook her head and stayed where she was.
Even though Leaf hadn’t seen Sneezer move, he was already at the door when she reached it. She was about to go through when Dr. Scamandros scurried over and put something in Leaf’s hand as she went past.
“You’ll need this,” he whispered. “Won’t be able to see the House without it or find the Front Door. Dame Primus is a bit impatient—not intentionally, I’m sure.”
Leaf looked at what he’d given her: an open leather case that contained a pair of gold wire-rimmed spectacles, with thin lenses that were heavily cracked and crazed with tiny lines. She snapped the case shut and slipped it into the tight waistband of her breeches.
“This way, please, Miss Leaf,” said Sneezer asScamandros ran back to his place at the table. “Will you be requiring clothes more suitable to your own Secondary Realm and era?”
“If you’ve got something, that’d be great,” said Leaf, who was wearing a wide-sleeved cotton shirt and blue canvas breeches, the basic uniform of a ship’s boy from the Flying Mantis . She hadn’t even started to think about how to explain her clothes. Explaining why she hadn’t been to see her parents, aunt, and brother in quarantine for at least sixteen hours was going to be hard enough.
As she left, Leaf heard Dame Primus say something to Dr. Scamandros and then launch into a speech. She sounded like a politician in a televised debate, wary of her opponent’s delaying tactics.
“I trust, Lord Arthur, that we may now proceed as you have requested, with the Agenda rearranged in order of importance.”
“Sure,” said Arthur wearily, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the Spirit-eater, this “Skinless Boy” who was pretending to be him. What was the creature going to do? His parents would have no idea. They’d be helpless, and so would his sisters and brothers. The thing would take over their minds and then…even if the Spirit-eater was destroyed and Arthur could go back, he might not have a family anymore.
Something penetrated Arthur’s thoughts. Dame Primus had just said something. Something very important.
“What was that?” he asked. “What did you just say?”
“I said, Lord Arthur, we now suspect that the Morrow Days’ misgovernance is no accident. They have been influenced or induced to behave as they do, with the ultimate aim being the complete and utter destruction of the House—and with it, the entirety of creation.”
“What!?” Arthur jumped out
“Okay, okay,” said Arthur.
He turned to Leaf but was suddenly unable to think of anything to say. He hadn’t known her long but she already felt like an old friend, and he was asking her to do something really huge for him. He didn’t know how to tell her how grateful he was for her friendship and help.
“I…I’m sorry I got you into this, Leaf. I mean I really appreciate it…you…uh…even my old friends back where I used to live wouldn’t be as…anyway…I wish there was something…oh!”
He bent his hand back behind his neck and pulled off the string with the Mariner’s medallion. It was the only thing he had that he could give.
“I don’t know if it will be any use, but if things get really bad, try calling the Mariner. Maybe…not that he was very quick last time, but…well, good luck.”
Leaf dropped the string over her head, nodded firmly, and turned away.
“Never gave me nuthin’,” mumbled an unseen voice. Arthur looked down at the chair Leaf had just left and sawSuzy there, hunched over under the table. She was eyeing Dame Primus’s foot and holding a large darning needle. She grinned at Arthur and stuck the needle in, but it had no effect. Tiny letters moved apart to allow the needle entry and then a savage red spark shot along the metal. Suzy dropped it and sucked her fingers as the needle became a small puddle of molten steel.
Arthur sighed and gestured at Suzy to come and sit next to him. She shook her head and stayed where she was.
Even though Leaf hadn’t seen Sneezer move, he was already at the door when she reached it. She was about to go through when Dr. Scamandros scurried over and put something in Leaf’s hand as she went past.
“You’ll need this,” he whispered. “Won’t be able to see the House without it or find the Front Door. Dame Primus is a bit impatient—not intentionally, I’m sure.”
Leaf looked at what he’d given her: an open leather case that contained a pair of gold wire-rimmed spectacles, with thin lenses that were heavily cracked and crazed with tiny lines. She snapped the case shut and slipped it into the tight waistband of her breeches.
“This way, please, Miss Leaf,” said Sneezer asScamandros ran back to his place at the table. “Will you be requiring clothes more suitable to your own Secondary Realm and era?”
“If you’ve got something, that’d be great,” said Leaf, who was wearing a wide-sleeved cotton shirt and blue canvas breeches, the basic uniform of a ship’s boy from the Flying Mantis . She hadn’t even started to think about how to explain her clothes. Explaining why she hadn’t been to see her parents, aunt, and brother in quarantine for at least sixteen hours was going to be hard enough.
As she left, Leaf heard Dame Primus say something to Dr. Scamandros and then launch into a speech. She sounded like a politician in a televised debate, wary of her opponent’s delaying tactics.
“I trust, Lord Arthur, that we may now proceed as you have requested, with the Agenda rearranged in order of importance.”
“Sure,” said Arthur wearily, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the Spirit-eater, this “Skinless Boy” who was pretending to be him. What was the creature going to do? His parents would have no idea. They’d be helpless, and so would his sisters and brothers. The thing would take over their minds and then…even if the Spirit-eater was destroyed and Arthur could go back, he might not have a family anymore.
Something penetrated Arthur’s thoughts. Dame Primus had just said something. Something very important.
“What was that?” he asked. “What did you just say?”
“I said, Lord Arthur, we now suspect that the Morrow Days’ misgovernance is no accident. They have been influenced or induced to behave as they do, with the ultimate aim being the complete and utter destruction of the House—and with it, the entirety of creation.”
“What!?” Arthur jumped out
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