Muriel

A few miles downriver the sailboat Muriel was running with the wind, and Nicko was in his element. He stood at the helm of the small crowded boat and guided her skillfully along the channel that wound down the middle of the river, where the water flowed swift and deep. The spring tide was ebbing fast and taking them with it, while the wind had risen enough to make the water choppy and send Muriel bouncing through the waves.

The full moon rode high in the sky and cast a bright silver light over the river, lighting their way. The river widened as it traveled ever onward toward the sea, and as the occupants of the boat gazed out they noticed that the low-lying riverbanks with their overhanging trees and occasional lonely cottage appeared increasingly distant. A silence descended as the passengers began to feel uncomfortably small in such a large expanse of water. And Marcia began to feel horribly sick.

Jenna was sitting on the wooden deck, resting against the hull and holding on to a rope for Nicko. The rope was attached to the small triangular sail at the prow that tugged and pulled with the wind, and Jenna was kept busy trying to keep hold of it. Her fingers felt stiff and numb, but she did not dare let go. Nicko got very bossy when he was in charge of a boat, Jenna thought.

The wind felt cold, and even with the thick sweater, big sheepskin jacket and itchy woolen hat that Silas had found for her in Sally's clothes cupboard, Jenna shivered in the chill from the water.

Curled up beside Jenna lay Boy 412. Once Jenna had pulled him into the boat, Boy 412 had decided that there was nothing he could do anymore and had given up his struggle against the Wizards and the weird kids. And when Muriel had rounded Raven's Rock and he could no longer see the Castle, Boy 412 had simply curled up into a ball beside Jenna and fallen fast asleep. Now that Muriel had reached rougher waters, his head was thumping against the mast with the movement of the boat, and Jenna gently shifted Boy 412 and placed his head on her lap. She looked down at his thin, pinched face almost hidden beneath his red felt hat and thought that Boy 412 looked a lot happier in his sleep than he did when he was awake. Then her thoughts turned to Sally.

Jenna loved Sally. She loved the way Sally never stopped talking and the way she made things happen. When Sally breezed in to see the Heaps, she brought with her all the excitement of life in the Castle, and Jenna loved it.

"I hope Sally is all right," said Jenna quietly as she listened to the steady creaking and gentle purposeful swish of the little boat speeding through the shining black water.

"So do I, poppet," said Silas, deep in thought.

Since the Castle had disappeared from view, Silas too now had time to think. And, after he had thought about Sarah and the boys and hoped they had reached Galen's tree house in the Forest safely, his thoughts had also turned to Sally, and they made for uncomfortable thinking.

"She'll be fine," said Marcia weakly. She felt sick, and she didn't like it.

"That's just so typical of you, Marcia," snapped Silas. "Now that you're ExtraOrdinary Wizard you just take what you want from someone and don't give them another thought. You just don't live in the real world anymore, do you? Unlike us Ordinary Wizards. We know what it's like to be in danger."

"Muriel's going well," said Nicko brightly, trying to change the subject. He didn't like it when Silas got upset about Ordinary Wizards. Nicko thought being an Ordinary Wizard was pretty good. He wouldn't fancy it himself - too many books to read and not enough time to go sailing - but he reckoned it was a respectable job. And who would want to be ExtraOrdinary Wizard anyway? Stuck in that weird Tower for most of the time and never able to go anywhere without people gawking at you. There was no way he would ever want to do that.

Marcia sighed. "I imagine the platinum KeepSafe I gave her from my belt will be of some help," she said slowly, gazing studiedly at the distant riverbank.

"You gave Sally one of your belt Charms?" asked Silas, amazed. "Your KeepSafe? Wasn't that a bit risky? You might need it."

"The KeepSafe is there to be used when the Need is Great. Sally is going to join Sarah and Galen. It may be of some use to them too. Now be quiet. I think I'm going to be sick." An uneasy silence fell.

"Muriel's doing nicely, Nicko. You're a good sailor," said Silas some time later.

"Thanks, Dad," said Nicko, smiling broadly, as he always did when a boat was sailing well. Nicko was guiding Muriel expertly through the water, balancing the pull of the tiller against the force of the wind in the sails and sending the little boat singing through the waves.

"Is that the Marram Marshes, Dad?" asked Nicko after a while, pointing to the distant riverbank on his left. He had noticed that the landscape around them was changing. Muriel was now sailing down the middle of what was a wide expanse of water, and in the distance Nicko could see a vast stretch of flat low-lying land, dusted with snow and shimmering in the moonlight.

Silas stared out across the water.

"Perhaps you should sail that way a bit, Nicko," suggested Silas, waving his arm in the general direction where Nicko was pointing. "Then we can keep an eye open for the Deppen Ditch. That's the one we need."

Silas hoped he could remember the entrance to the Deppen Ditch, which was the channel that led to Keeper's Cottage, where Aunt Zelda lived. It had been a long time since he had been to see Aunt Zelda, and the marshland all looked much the same to Silas.

Nicko had just changed course and was heading in the direction of Silas's waving arm when a brilliant beam of light cut through the darkness behind them. It was the bullet boat's searchlight.