"What on earth is that?" Marcia demanded crossly, quickly forgetting how relieved she had been the night before to see Septimus and Jenna back safely. But Marcia was not feeling her best. She had woken to see the Shadow lounging on her pillow. This was not unusual, for over the past few months the Shadow had been growing more visible, especially first thing in the morning. But it had always been silentuntil that moment. What had actually woken Marcia was the sound of a low, sepulchral voice calling her name over and over.
"Marcia ... Marcia ... Marcia..."
In a fit of anger, Marcia had thrown one of her best purple python shoes at the ghastly Thing, but the shoe had, of course, gone straight through it. The shoe had shot across the room and smashed a small glass pot that Alther had given Marcia when, as his Apprentice, she had finally mastered a particularly difficult Projection. The broken pot had upset Marcia more than she expected, and she had stormed downstairs in a bad temper. She had had quite enough of the Shadow, she decided as she threw open the kitchen door and yelled at the coffeepot to get a move on will you. After breakfast she decided she would go straight down to old Weasal and insist on getting the Stopperthe very last piece of the ShadowSafeimmediately.
"Septimus," said Marcia in a loud voice.
Septimus sat up with a start and for a moment could not remember where he was. Marcia soon reminded him. "The Wizard Tower," she said, folding her arms crossly, "is a place of Magyk. Not a menagerie."
"What?" asked Septimus.
"Look at my best blanketsfull of holes. I don't know where you found that giant moth, but you can take it straight back."
"What giant moth?" asked Septimus, wondering if he'd missed something.
"Huh?" mumbled Jenna, emerging from under the pile of blankets.
"Oh, hello, Jenna," said Marcia. "Nice to see you back. The rat saidwell, that wretched rat said a lot of things, most of it rubbish as far as I could tellbut he did say that you made it to the MidSummer Visit. Well done."
"Thank you," said Jenna sleepily. She sat up and stuck her foot through a large hole in the blanket. She wiggled her toes as if surprised to see them and suddenly something green pounced. "Ouch!" she yelled.
"Spit Fyre!" gasped Septimus, taken aback. Aunt Zelda had told him that the dragon would grow in sudden spurts but he had not expected this. Spit Fyre had eaten his way out of the dragon-proof bag and was now the size of a small dog. Septimus grabbed hold of the dragon and pulled him off Jenna's foot. "You all right, Jen?" he asked.
"Yes. I think sostill got ten toes," Jenna rubbed her foot, which was a little scratched from the dragon's claws. "Sep," she said, looking at Spit Fyre, whose small green tongue was flicking over Septimus's hand, hoping for breakfast, "he wasn't as big as that last night, was he?"
"No," muttered Septimus. He could tell this was going to be trouble and he hardly dared look at Marcia. He knew what she would say. And, sure enough, she said it. "I told you, Septimus. No pets. No parrots, no iguanas, no tortoises, no"
"Butbut Spit Fyre is not a pet. He's a Magykal tool. Like the practice rabbit in the courtyard."
"Septimus, a dragon is nothing like a practice rabbit. You have no idea of the trouble"
As if to prove Marcia right, Spit Fyre wriggled out of Septimus's grasp and made a beeline for Marcia's feet. He had spotted the purple python shoes. Something in Spit Fyre's ancient dragon memory had just told him that dragons and snakes were enemiesand a nice purple snake would make a good snack before breakfast too. It did not occur to the two-day-old dragon that Marcia's shoes were only the skin of a snake, or that the feet inside them belonged to an irritable and powerful Wizard who had a particular fondness for her shoes and no fondness whatsoever for baby dragons. A streak of glistening green shot across the floor, latched itself onto Marcia's right foot and started chewing.
"Ow!" yelled Marcia, frantically shaking her foot. But Spit Fyre had learned his lesson since Septimus had shaken him off his finger two days earlier. He hung on tight and sank his sharp little dragon teeth into the snakeskin.
"Teeth Releath!" Marcia spluttered with some difficulty. Spit Fyre dug his teeth in harder.
"Teese Release!" Marcia yelled. Spit Fyre hung on and gave the python skin a good shake.
"Teeth Release!" Marcia shouted, getting it right at last. Spit Fyre let go of the purple python shoe, and, as if purple snakeskin was now of no interest to him at all, the dragon sauntered back to Septimus's side, sat down and regarded Marcia with a baleful expression.
Marcia collapsed onto a chair nursing her foot and gazing at her ruined shoe. Septimus and Jenna held their breath. What would she say?
"I suppose, Septimus," said Marcia after a long pause, "I suppose thatthat pest has Imprinted you?"
"Um. Yes," admitted Septimus.
"I thought so." She sighed heavily. "It's not as if I don't have enough to worry about, Septimusdo you know how big they get?"
"I'm sorry," muttered Septimus. "I promise I'll look after him. Really I will. I'll feed him and housebreak him and exercise him andand everything." She looked unimpressed.
"I didn't mean to get one," said Septimus gloomily. "He hatched from Jenna's rock."
"Did he?" Marcia calmed down a little. "Did he really? A Human Hatching ... well, well, that's quite something. Anyway, he will have to stay in your room for the time being. I'm not having him messing up any more things." Andalthough Marcia did not want to tell Septimusshe did not want the impressionable dragon tainted by any contact with the Shadow. If this was to be Septimus's companion then it must be kept as free from Darke Magyk as possible.
Marcia insisted on hearing all the details of Jenna's escape from Simon, and when she was told about the flight of the Dragon Boat to the Castle, she looked just a little triumphant. "So I am now the Keeper," she muttered.
Septimus was surprised. "I don't think so," he said. "I'm sure Aunt Zelda is still the Keeper..."
"Nonsense," Marcia retorted. "How can she be? Stuck miles away out on those Marshes. The Dragon Boat is here at the Castleand quite right, too. She's a sensible boat, that dragon. Well, this Keeper won't let her down. Catchpole!"
Catchpole pushed the door open nervously. "You called, Madam Marcia?" He gulped.
"Yes. Take thirteen Wizards down to the boatyard at once. They are to guard the Dragon Boat with their lives. Got that?"
"Thirteen Wizards ... Dragon Boat ... um, guard with lives. Er, yes. Thank you Madam Marcia. Will that be all?"
"I should think that is quite enough for you to manage at one time, Catchpole."
"Oh. Yes. Thank you, Madam Marcia."
"Ohand Catchpole!"
Catchpole stopped his anxious retreat. "Er ... yes, Madam Marcia?"
"When you've done that you may join us for breakfast."
Catchpole's face fell. "Oh," he said. And then, remembering his manners, "Oh, thank you, Madam Marcia. Thanks so much."
Breakfast was something of an ordeal for Catchpole. He sat awkwardly at the table, unsure of how to behave with Jenna and Septimus, let alone Marcia, who terrified him.
"I said keep the Wizards out, Catchpole, not my Apprentice. Can't you tell the difference?" Marcia told him crossly, while the stove let the coffee boil over for the second time that week. The stove was never at its best in the morning, and it always felt tense and anxious at breakfast. It was not helped by the fact that the coffeepot was upset at being shouted at and was not concentrating on the job at hand. To top it all off, there was a dragon chewing one of its feet. There was a loud hiss as the coffee hit the stove's hot plate and spilled onto the floor.
"Clean," snapped Marcia. A cloth leaped off the sink and quickly mopped up the mess.
Catchpole ate very little breakfast. He sat twisting his plaid hat in his hands, looking anxiously at Spit Fyre, who was in the corner by the stove, loudly gulping down great mouthfuls of porridge.
After breakfastwhich for Spit Fyre was two roast chickens, three loaves of bread, a bucket of porridge, a tablecloth, a gallon of water and Catchpole's hatSeptimus, Jenna and Catchpole sat at the table and listened to the sounds of Marcia taking the dragon upstairs, pushing it into Septimus's room and barricading the door. There was an awkward silence around the table. Catchpole sat holding a pair of damp, detachable earflaps from his hat, which Spit Fyre had coughed up shortly after he had snatched the hat from Catchpole's grasp and swallowed it.
Jenna stood up. "Excuse me," she said, "but I think I'd better get back to Mum and Dad now. You coming too, Sep?"
"Maybe later, Jen. I'll see what Marcia wants me to do first."
"I'll tell you want I want you to do," said Marcia, coming back into the kitchen, somewhat disheveled. "You are to go straight down to the Manuscriptorium and get a copy of The Draxx Dragon Training Manual. You want the original Wizard Fireproof Editiondon't let them put you off with the cheap paper one, it won't last five minutes."
"It's all right," said Septimus airily. "I've got this." He waved his copy of How to Survive Dragon Fostering: A Practykal Guide.
"That rubbish!" Marcia snorted. "Where on earth did you get that?"
"Aunt Zelda gave it to me," muttered Septimus, "and she said I should get"
"The Winged Lizard's Almanac of the Early Years," Marcia finished his sentence for him. "That's a load of rubbish too. Anyway, you won't find any of those as they were printed on some very flammable paper. It has to be Draxx, Septimus, nothing else will do."
To the accompaniment of some ominous thumps coming from Septimus's bedroom, Jenna and Septimus made a hasty exit from the ExtraOrdinary Wizard's rooms and set off in search of Draxx.
Jenna and Septimus walked along Wizard Way, half expecting a black horse and rider to appear again, but all seemed perfectly normal. It was midmorning by now, the sun shone down between a few drifting white clouds and the Way was busy with clerks on important errandsor looking as if they wereand shoppers browsing through the stacks of books and parchments laid out on tables outside the shops.
"What's up with Marcia?" asked Jenna as they neared the Manuscriptorium. "She's even more grumpy than usual."
"I know," said Septimus unhappily. "I think the Shadow is beginning to take her overI wish there was something I could do."
"Look, Sep," said Jenna, concerned, "maybe you should stay with us at the Palace for a while."
"Thanks, Jen," replied Septimus, "but I can't leave Marcia alone with that awful Shadow following her around. She needs me."
Jenna smiledshe knew Septimus would say that. "Well, if it gets too horrible with Marcia, you must come straight to the Palace and tell Mum, promise?"
"Promise." Septimus gave her a hug. "Bye, Jen. Say hello to Mum and Dad from me. Tell them I'll come and see them later." He watched Jenna carry on up the Way toward the Palace until she had safely reached the gate. Then he pushed open the Manuscriptorium door with its familiar ping and walked into the dingy front office.
"Wotcha, Sep.'" a cheery voice came from under the desk.
"Hello, Beetle." Septimus grinned.
"What can I do you for, oh wise Apprentice?" Beetle's head appeared above the edge of the desk. "Heyyou couldn't do me a quick Find Spell, could you? I've lost Old Foxy's best pen. He's back there having a blue fit."
"Well, I shouldn't reallyoh, here, use my Magnet." Septimus took a small red magnet out of his Apprentice belt and handed it to Beetle. "Hold that with the open end pointing to where you think the pen might be and then think hard about the pen. You need to be quite close, thoughthe Magnet's not very strong. I'll be getting a better one when I've finished my FindersSeekers Project."
"Thanks, Sep." Beetle took the Magnet and disappeared back under the desk. A few moments later he emerged triumphantly with a slim black pen stuck on the end of it. "Saved my bacon, Sep. Thanks." Beetle gave Septimus back his Magnet. "You come down for anything special? Can I get you anything?"
"Er, I need The Draxx Dragon Training Manual. If you've got one."
"Wizard Waterproof, Wizard Fireproof, Wizard Advanced? Talking print or moving pictures? Deluxe or Economy Edition? Green or red cover? New or used? Big or"
"Wizard Fireproof," interrupted Septimus. "Please."