Twelve-year-old Carmen has a secret: she can talk to her cat Grim. But the powerful Brotherhood has banned pets, and the penalty is death.
Ward is the most wanted boy in the world. The only thing standing between him and the hangman's noose is maste...
She led them down a crazy staircase strewn with bricks, and into a dark corridor. It was uncomfortably close inside. The ceiling seemed ready to fall in at any moment. She pushed aside an old door that lay in a corner, revealing a ladder that vanished down a shaft. They climbed in one by one.
Waiting for them at the bottom, holding a lanthorn, was a sentry Ward recognised as an Oodle, though he couldn't recall its name.
"Who're they?" the Oodle said to Mildew.
"Mind your own business Whelk."
"It is my business. Something's up. I've been arksed to be double suspicious."
"By who?"
"The Spectaculum."
Mildew snorted. "These two've got information for the Kidsman. He'll have your hide if he hears you didn't let em in."
"Kidsman ent round anyhow."
"Where's he gone?"
"None of my business is it?" He held up the lanthorn and peered at each of them in turn, even squatting down to direct the lanthorn at Grim, as if to confirm that he really was a fel. "Something's up," he said again, as if that clarified everything.
"We'll wait for the Kidsman below then," Mildew said, pushing past Whelk and into the passage beyond. "Don't worry, I won't tell him you tried to stop us."
Ward apologised to the flustered Oodle as he passed.
"Simply gotta put stouter coves on sentry duty," Mildew said with a shake of her head. She had taken the lead as they moved down the lamplit tunnel.
"They've taken Mere and Pere to Bedlam," Carmen whispered to Slops.
Slops's face drained of colour.
"Where were you?" Ward said.
"Around. Mildew came and found me." His face coloured, and he quickly changed the subject. "What about Grandmere?"
"Oh," Carmen said. Clearly she had forgotten all about Grandmere.
Mildew looked back over her shoulder at Slops. "We'll send someone to tell your folks. The Kidsman'll know what to do."
"Mere and Pere'll take care of Grandmere," Slops said.
"Slops, what are we going to do?" Carmen said.
"Go to Corvus."
"Corvus? I don't know. How did Tamerlane know so much? Except for us, Corvus and Nick were the only ones who knew about the Oliphant, and I don't see Nick going to Tamerlane, do you? We... we can't trust Corvus, Slops. We just can't. We've got to get the Oliphant back ourselves, and give it to Tamerlane."
"Where is it anyway?" Slops said.
"Mildew knows," Ward said.
For a moment Mildew showed no sign of having heard, but then she turned on Ward: "Well you obversely know, so why don't you tell em?" She climbed down into a new shaft and vanished from sight.
Ward hesitated before the questioning looks of Carmen and Slops, then followed Mildew down the shaft.
She was waiting for them at the bottom, at some distance from the shaft, a shape in the darkness. "I just figured Nick'd want it," she said. "When I left his office I went and found Lightie."
"Lightie?" Carmen said, putting Grim down on the tunnel floor (she had climbed one-handed down the shaft with him tucked under her arm).
"Lightfinger," Ward explained.
"The boy who can't speak?" Carmen said. "But how did he get it out of my bag?"
Mildew laughed. "He could've taken the teeth out of your head if I'd arksed him to." She looked away down the tunnel. "I'm sure you don't want – I better go." She moved off.
"We promised to help Nick," Carmen said into the darkness. "So how can you've broken that promise when you were just following his orders?"
"But he didn't order -"
"Let's just say he did," Ward said.
"Don't go," Slops said.
The only sound was Mildew's footsteps echoingaway into the distance.
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