Septimus Heap: Darke Part 36

411 Matthew Marwick. Status: Forced Conscription. Traitor Family.

412 Merrin Meredith. Status: Foundling. Mother denies child.

The first three entries were what Beetle had suspected-Wolf Boy was one of triplets. He grinned. He hadn't suspected he'd be called Mandy, though.

Beetle was, however, dismayed by the entry for 412, which he knew had been Septimus's Young Army number. Surely Sep wasn't really Merrin Meredith? And then he remembered what Septimus had told him one rainy afternoon in the back kitchen of the Ma.n.u.scriptorium over a mug of FizzFroot . . .

"I saw it, Beetle. Aunt Zelda was scrying in her pond and we saw moving pictures of what happened. It was weird-and really sad too. . . . The midwife s.n.a.t.c.hed me away from Sarah-I mean Mum-when I was only a few hours old. She told Mum I was dead, but it was a plot. I was wanted by DomDaniel to be his Apprentice-because I am the seventh son of a seventh son. The midwife took me to the Young Army Nursery, where DomDaniel's Nurse was going to come and collect me. But when she arrived she was in a hurry and really fl.u.s.tered and she just grabbed the first baby she saw-the midwife's baby. I think because the midwife was cuddling him when the Nurse arrived. The midwife went crazy-really crazy-when the guard stopped her from chasing after her own baby.

"Serves her right," Beetle remembered saying.

"Yeah. I s'pose it does. But what a horrible thing to happen-to her baby, I mean. And of course the midwife would have told everyone that I was not her child but they wouldn't have listened. They never listened to anything. As far as they were concerned I was the midwife's baby who she had suddenly abandoned. And that is how I got taken into the Young Army. I suppose I am in the Young Army register under the name of the midwife's child, which is weird. But the weirdest thing is I now know that I've met the midwife again-she was the landlady of that horrible guesthouse that Jen took us to in the Port. Aunt Zelda found that out and told me."

Beetle closed the register and handed it back to the clerk-along with the pair of white cotton gloves she had made him put on. So it was true, Merrin Meredith was Nurse Meredith's-Nursie's-son.

Beetle walked slowly back to the Ma.n.u.scriptorium, thinking of those few moments just over fourteen years ago that had affected so many people's lives. Now he understood Marcia's reply when he had questioned her about the wisdom of letting Merrin go free. "Everyone deserves a chance to be with his mother, Beetle," she had said. At the time Beetle had actually spent so long gathering the courage to ask Marcia the question-and was so amazed when she had actually answered him civilly-that he had not liked to ask what she meant. Now he understood.

SNORRI AND ALFRuN.

Snorri and her mother, Alfrun, were away for the Longest Night and missed the Darke Domaine. They returned the morning of The Great Undoing.

The previous year, Snorri had rescued her trader's barge-which actually belonged to her mother-from some boat thieves who had stolen it from Quarantine Dock. She had brought the Alfrun back to the Castle where Jannit Maarten's boatyard restored it.

Snorri had become unhappy living in the Palace with the Heaps. She missed her home and, she was surprised to find, she missed her mother too. It seemed to Snorri that she and Nicko had spent enough time together. Five hundred years, she said to Nicko, was long enough for anyone. It was time for them to do something new with their lives. Nicko had not answered, which had annoyed Snorri. The arrival of Alfrun Snorrelssen had made Snorri's decision for her. It was time to go home.

And so Snorri and her mother took the Alfrun out to sea for a test run. The barge performed perfectly and the decision was made-they would return home to the Land of the Long Nights. Snorri dreaded telling Nicko; she was sure he would not understand but to her surprise he did.

Snorri, Ullr and Alfrun left the day after the MidWinter Feast. As they waved good-bye to the little group gathered on the Palace Landing Stage, Snorri was surprised at how tearful she felt seeing Nicko waving to her as they drew away from the Palace and headed for the fast waters in the middle of the river. Snorri waved until the Alfrun disappeared around Raven's Rock and she could see Nicko no more, then she went below into the beautiful cherrywood cabin that her father, Olaf, had built. As Snorri sat in the cabin, looking up through the hatch at her mother on the tiller, an unexpected feeling of happiness came over her. She was going home. All would be well. It was then she saw the ghost of Olaf Snorrelssen sitting on the bench in the shadows opposite, smiling at her.

Snorri whispered, "Papa?"

Olaf nodded happily. "Snorri," he said. He smiled. They were a family once more.

On the Palace Landing Stage, Nicko stood gazing through the thickly falling snow at the departing Alfrun. And when, at last, the trading barge had disappeared from view, Nicko felt as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders. He was free.

THE ROOM BEHIND THE BIG RED DOOR.

Sarah and Silas set up home once more in the room behind the Big Red Door. Sarah went over to the Palace every day to see Jenna, but the Palace was now Jenna's home-not hers. The room behind the Big Red Door soon regained its previous lived-in look, and sometimes Sarah found it hard to believe they had ever left.

Thunder survived the Darke Domaine and took up residence in the stables at the back of a small house on Snake Slipway. Sarah cleaned the room from top to bottom until there was no clue that a horse had once spent a week there, although, in damp weather, Sarah still thought she could smell horse poo.

Ethel was never quite right after the Darke Domaine. The duck had had a difficult start in life and now became so nervous that she would not let Sarah out of her sight. Sarah made a duck bag-with two holes for Ethel's legs to poke through-and she carried Ethel with her wherever she went. Silas harrumphed a lot about that daft duck bag but Sarah and Silas were far too happy being back home again to let a duck in a bag come between them.

THE DRAGON TRAIL.

Dragon blood is indelible and the drips of blood from Spit Fyre's head wound left a track right across the Castle, from the South Gate to the Wizard Tower. While some drips fell onto roofs, most left a winding trail along tiny alleyways. The dragon blood track soon became a favorite trail for Castle children and visitors alike.

Spit Fyre recovered well from his injuries and, now that he was truly an adult dragon, he began to calm down a little-but only a little.

Darke Week: RESULTS Septimus pa.s.sed his Darke Week.

Immediately below, for your interest, is part of a piece of paper found ripped to pieces in Marcia's wastepaper bin. Following that is Septimus's report sheet with Marcia's comments.

WIZARD TOWER SAFETY COMMITTEE.

Basic Health and Safety Report for Apprentice projects. Must be completed by Wizard Tutor.

APPRENTICE PROJECT: Darke Week NAME OF APPRENTICE: Septimus Heap WIZARD TUTOR: Marcia Overstrand AREA OF OPERATION: the Darke Halls Risk-benefit a.n.a.lysis scaled 0 to 49 (where 49 is the greatest and 0 is the least).

RISKS: 49++ What do you expect?

BENEFITS: 49+++.

Do you consider that the risk-benefit ratio was acceptable? Of course I do.

Would you undertake this a.s.sessment in the same manner again? Never again, thank you.

What sanitary facilities were provided? Oh, for goodness' sake . . .

EXTRAORDINARY APPRENTICE DARKE WEEK a.s.sESSMENT.

TUTOR: Marcia Overstrand. ExtraOrdinary Wizard.

APPRENTICE: Septimus Heap. Senior ExtraOrdinary Apprentice.

Apprentice a.s.sessment scaled 0 to 7 (where 7 is the greatest and 0 is the least).

RELEVANCE OF CHOSEN DARKE TASK: 7.

Highly relevant.

METHOD OF ENTERING THE DARKE: 6.

Septimus, I dock one mark due to your unauthorized use of the Darke Disguise. I do realize that without it you would not have survived, but even so, I feel the rules must be given some respect here.

MAGYKAL SKILL: 7.

Your Revoke of the Banish was word perfect first time. You used your past connection with the Flyte Charm to great effect (see me later about supervised access to this from now on). You also attained Synchronicity with a dragon. What more can I say?

DECISION-MAKING AND INITIATIVE: 7.

You used your initiative to decide where to enter the Darke and why. You used logic to reason your way through the Darke Halls. Excellent.

GENERAL CONDUCT: 7.

You were polite to the young ghost and showed great presence of mind when encountering Tertius Fume. Very good indeed.

METHOD OF EXITING THE DARKE: 7.

Very good.

SUCCESS OF DARKE TASK: 7.

Totally successful.

TUTOR'S a.s.sESSMENT OF SUITABILITY OF CANDIDATE TO INCORPORATE A BALANCED AND RESPONSIBLE USE OF THE DARKE IN HIS OR HER FUTURE STUDIES: 8.

I consider this candidate eminently suitable. I also reserve my right to give what mark I choose.

TOTAL SCORE OUT OF 49: 49.

DARKE WEEK RESULT: (strike through those that do not apply) FAIL: no retake permitted FAIL: retake permitted BORDERLINE Pa.s.s: retake theory only Pa.s.s.

Pa.s.s WITH MERIT.

Pa.s.s WITH DISTINCTION.

Signed: Marcia Overstrand.

And on behalf of: Alther Mella. Thank you, Septimus.

About the Author.

ANGIE SAGE was born in London and grew up in the Thames Valley, London, and Kent. She now lives in Somerset in a very old house that has a secret tunnel below it. The first five books in the Septimus Heap series are international bestsellers. She is also the author of the Araminta Spookie series. Visit her online at www.septimusheap.com or follow @AngieSageAuthor on Twitter.

Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

Also by Angie Sage.

Septimus Heap, Book One: Magyk.

Septimus Heap, Book Two: Flyte.

Septimus Heap, Book Three: Physik Septimus Heap, Book Four: Queste.

Septimus Heap, Book Five: Syren.

Septimus Heap: The Magykal Papers.

Araminta Spookie: My Haunted House.

Araminta Spookie: The Sword in the Grotto.

Araminta Spookie: Frognapped.

Araminta Spookie: Vampire Brat.

Araminta Spookie: Ghostsitters.

end.