in a mortar, and grynde it all fine till it be enough. Then bring the pouder forthe and put it in a crucible of golde. Add thereto the blood and spittle of ye who wolde traverse the mirrors. Stir widdershins and wake with the first reflexion of moonrise. When cool, parte and sew into bagges of green silke. Wear at the neck.â
âThatâs it,â said Charles. âThen thereâs just a list of ingredients. So whatâs wrong?â
âRead the ingredients,â said Alys.
âOh. Okay. It says we need, uh, dwaleberry and red wulfenite, quicksilver and peacock coal, hornblendeand wild elephantâs ear, stinking smut and bladderwort, flyclub and phoenix feather and sunfish scales and falconâs tooth and â¦â He broke off, looking unhappy. âIt saysâa shard of human bone.â
âWhatâs a shard?â asked Claudia.
âA little piece,â said Janie. âLike a splinter.â
âJeez, Alys, are you sure you transcribed this right? I mean
human
bone? Howâre we going to get hold of that?â
âOh, well,â said Janie, suddenly cheerful. âThereâs always the obvious solution.â
âWhich is?â
âWell, we all have bones, donât we? It would only take a little one. Like this.â Janie grabbed Claudiaâs pinky finger. âThis is a nice little bone, just the size of a shard,â she said ghoulishly.
âJanie!â
âYou wouldnât mind, would you, Claude? Maybe Mom would give you some anesthetic. It would be over in a minute.â
Janie leaned forward, smiling madly at the cowering Claudia.
âJanie, shut up!â
âI told you not toââ
âAbout the other ingredients,â said Charles, placing himself and the list between his sisters. âSome of these sound just as bad.â
âI know. The first thing is to find out what they are. Remember, these are old-fashioned names. Weâll divide the list up and each research a part. Once we know what weâre looking for we can figure out how to get it.â
So the list was divided, and because Claudia wanted to help out, Alys gave her the top ingredient, dwaleberry, and had Janie copy the next four for herself. Janie did this without expression, but as she rose to leave she wiggled her fingers under Claudiaâs nose.
âDonât forget, Claude,â she said. âI mean, itâs not as if you were ever going to play piano or anything.â
âDo I have to copy this?â Charles said as she left the kitchen. âOr can I just tear it in half?â
âCopy,â said Alys positively, standing up. âJust a sec.â She caught up with Janie at the back door.
âNow, Alys,â said Janie, looking at her speculatively, âI hope youâre going to keep your sense of humor. I hope youâre not going to sayââ
âIâve got only one thing to say,â said Alys. âAnd itâs this. If you donât lay off Claudia at once and forevermore I am going to knock your head off.â
Janieâs mouth fell open.
âI may not be a genius,â Alys continued, âbut if thereâs one thing I know about itâs teamwork. And you have to decide right now whether or not youâre on our team. If you donât want to help us, if youâre scared, thatâs fine. But if you plan on working with us, youâre going to act like one of us. Youâre going to
try
to help, and if you have any bright ideas youâre going to tell us right away. Because if you donât I am going to pull your brains out through your nostrils. Understand?â
Janieâs mouth opened and shut like a fishâs.
âGood. Off you go, then.â Alys turned on her heel and marched back into the house.
The next afternoon they gathered in the kitchen once more. Theyâd done well with their research: EvenClaudia had found out that dwaleberry was
Ker Dukey, D.H. Sidebottom