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26.1: WOLVES, WERE AND OTHERWISE (part 1)

In which the merits of wolf-back riding are considered, and there is rather a lot of noise.

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"Pim! There you are at last. We've been looking all over for you."

Pim lifted her head groggily from the thatch, plucking a strand of straw from her face. She peered at the two fuzzy shapes leaning over her.

"Where am I?"

"Philomena Christine Ursula Pinchfinger Morbid-Hilt the Fourth! Wake up this instant!" This order, and the sharp prod that emphasised it, brought Pim's eyes fully open. The fuzzy shapes before her clarified into the heads and shoulders of Elizabeth and Edmund.

Edmund wiggled his fingers at her. "Evening, Pim."

"Evening?" Pim pushed herself up and took in the darkened village. "Oh, imp's breath..."

"Imp's breath indeed!" Elizabeth snapped, hands planted on hips. "You were supposed to be keeping watch. I trusted you, Philomena."

"Well, where were you?" Pim retaliated.

She expected her aunt to snap back at her, but instead Elizabeth's face fell. "We were occupied. We didn't find Rupert, but we found..." She hesitated. "We met an old acquaintance, whom we were obliged to help. We had to give him our gig. It took longer than expected." She pursed her lips. "But that is no excuse for your slacking. Now, what did you see before you took your untimely nap?"

As much as Pim was bursting to ask about the 'old acquaintance' Elizabeth had mentioned (whom she'd like to thank for ridding them of that cramped gig, if she was honest), she bit back her questions. Her aunt was obviously not in the mood to indulge her.

"It's been boring here," Pim said. "Nothing happened. Fang and those Middlers took the Winkton girl into that inn, and—" She stopped, gaping. For now that she looked over to the inn, she saw that the top storey window was wide open. Beyond it, the room lay empty. "But—" Pim stammered. "But it was jammed! I saw! She tried to open it and she couldn't."

"Then," said Elizabeth icily, "it looks as though someone helped her, doesn't it?"

"I..." Pim groped for an excuse as she stared wildly about, desperate to spot something that would help redeem her mistake. Luckily for her, that something was just visible on the outskirts of the village: a tiny purple shape vanishing into the forest, and behind it a red-haired figure, who hesitated for a moment before following.

"There!" Pim exclaimed. "There, Aunt Lizzie, did you see? It was Juggalug. My Juggalug! And that girl..."

"I did see." Elizabeth's anger evaporated. She leant forward with shining eyes, hands clasped against her chest. "It was Juggalug! But still no Rupert..."

"Come on," Pim cried, starting up. "He was probably just ahead of them."

Elizabeth was moving to follow her cousin when Edmund grabbed their arms and pulled them both back onto the thatch.

"Darling, what's this? We have to—"

"Hush!"

Just as Edmund shushed their protests a gabble of shouts erupted from a nearby street and a crowd of people spilled round the corner. Some held aloft lighted torches while some hefted pitchforks. Others, clearly not au fait with this kind of thing, wielded pillows.