can do that, can’t you? One with a pistol – no, not just a pistol, armed to the teeth: knives, rifles, everything, and so big that Basta’s black heart would stop at the mere sight of him! How does that sound?” Meggie saw Mo suppress a smile with difficulty.
“How does it sound? As if you’d been reading too many thrillers, Elinor.” “Well, I have read a lot of thrillers,” she said, injured. “They’re very informative if you don’t usually mix much with criminals. What’s more, I can’t forget seeing Basta’s knife at your throat.” “Nor can I, believe me.”
Meggie saw his hand go to his throat as if, just for a moment, he felt the sharp blade against his skin again. “All the same, I think you’re worrying unnecessarily. I had plenty of time to think it all over on the drive back, and I don’t believe Basta will come all the way here just to get revenge. Revenge for what? For being saved from Capricorn’s Shadow and by us? No. He’ll have had this Orpheus read him back by now. Back into the book. Basta never liked our world half as much as Capricorn did. Some things about it made him very nervous.” He spread jam on top of his bread and cheese. Elinor watched this, as usual, with horror, and Mo, also as usual, ignored her disapproving glance.
“So what about those threats he shouted after the boy?”
“Well, he was angry that he’d gotten away, wasn’t he? I don’t have to tell you the kind of things Basta says when he’s angry. I’m only surprised he was actually clever enough to find out that Dustfinger had the book. And I’d like to know where he found this man Orpheus, too. He seems to be better than me at reading aloud.”
“Nonsense!” Elinor’s voice sounded cross but relieved, too. “The only one who may be as good at it as you are is your daughter.”
Mo smiled at Meggie and put another slice of cheese on top of the jam. “Thanks, very flattering.
But, however that may be, our knife-happy friend Basta has gone! And I hope he’s taken the wretched book with him and put an end to that story forever. There’ll be no more need for Elinor to jump when she hears something rustling in the garden at night, and Darius won’t have to dream of Basta’s knife – which means that the news Farid has brought is in fact very good news! I hope you’ve all thanked him warmly!”
Farid smiled shyly as Mo raised his coffee cup to him, but Meggie saw the anxiety in his black eyes. If Mo was right, then by now Basta was in the same place as Dustfinger. And they all thought Mo was right. You could see the relief in Darius’s and Elinor’s faces, and Resa put her arms around Mo’s neck and smiled as if everything was fine again.
Elinor began asking Mo questions about the books he had so shockingly abandoned to answer Meggie’s phone call. And Darius was trying to tell Resa about the new system of classification he had thought up for Elinor’s library. But Farid looked at his empty plate. Against the background of its white china, he was probably seeing Basta’s knife at Dustfinger’s neck.
49
Basta. The name stuck in Meggie’s throat like a pebble. She kept thinking the same thing: If Mo was right, Basta was now where she soon hoped to be herself. In the Inkworld.
She was going to try it that very night, she would try to use her own voice and Orpheus’s words to make her way through the thicket of written letters, into the Wayless Wood. Farid had pleaded with her to wait no longer. He was beside himself with anxiety for Dustfinger, and Mo’s remarks had certainly done nothing to change that. “Please, Meggie!” He had begged her again and again. “Please read it!”
Meggie looked across the table at Mo. He was whispering something to Resa, and she laughed.
You heard her voice only when she laughed. Mo put his arm around her, and his eyes sought Meggie. When her bed was empty tomorrow morning he wouldn’t look as carefree as he did now. Would he be angry or merely
“How does it sound? As if you’d been reading too many thrillers, Elinor.” “Well, I have read a lot of thrillers,” she said, injured. “They’re very informative if you don’t usually mix much with criminals. What’s more, I can’t forget seeing Basta’s knife at your throat.” “Nor can I, believe me.”
Meggie saw his hand go to his throat as if, just for a moment, he felt the sharp blade against his skin again. “All the same, I think you’re worrying unnecessarily. I had plenty of time to think it all over on the drive back, and I don’t believe Basta will come all the way here just to get revenge. Revenge for what? For being saved from Capricorn’s Shadow and by us? No. He’ll have had this Orpheus read him back by now. Back into the book. Basta never liked our world half as much as Capricorn did. Some things about it made him very nervous.” He spread jam on top of his bread and cheese. Elinor watched this, as usual, with horror, and Mo, also as usual, ignored her disapproving glance.
“So what about those threats he shouted after the boy?”
“Well, he was angry that he’d gotten away, wasn’t he? I don’t have to tell you the kind of things Basta says when he’s angry. I’m only surprised he was actually clever enough to find out that Dustfinger had the book. And I’d like to know where he found this man Orpheus, too. He seems to be better than me at reading aloud.”
“Nonsense!” Elinor’s voice sounded cross but relieved, too. “The only one who may be as good at it as you are is your daughter.”
Mo smiled at Meggie and put another slice of cheese on top of the jam. “Thanks, very flattering.
But, however that may be, our knife-happy friend Basta has gone! And I hope he’s taken the wretched book with him and put an end to that story forever. There’ll be no more need for Elinor to jump when she hears something rustling in the garden at night, and Darius won’t have to dream of Basta’s knife – which means that the news Farid has brought is in fact very good news! I hope you’ve all thanked him warmly!”
Farid smiled shyly as Mo raised his coffee cup to him, but Meggie saw the anxiety in his black eyes. If Mo was right, then by now Basta was in the same place as Dustfinger. And they all thought Mo was right. You could see the relief in Darius’s and Elinor’s faces, and Resa put her arms around Mo’s neck and smiled as if everything was fine again.
Elinor began asking Mo questions about the books he had so shockingly abandoned to answer Meggie’s phone call. And Darius was trying to tell Resa about the new system of classification he had thought up for Elinor’s library. But Farid looked at his empty plate. Against the background of its white china, he was probably seeing Basta’s knife at Dustfinger’s neck.
49
Basta. The name stuck in Meggie’s throat like a pebble. She kept thinking the same thing: If Mo was right, Basta was now where she soon hoped to be herself. In the Inkworld.
She was going to try it that very night, she would try to use her own voice and Orpheus’s words to make her way through the thicket of written letters, into the Wayless Wood. Farid had pleaded with her to wait no longer. He was beside himself with anxiety for Dustfinger, and Mo’s remarks had certainly done nothing to change that. “Please, Meggie!” He had begged her again and again. “Please read it!”
Meggie looked across the table at Mo. He was whispering something to Resa, and she laughed.
You heard her voice only when she laughed. Mo put his arm around her, and his eyes sought Meggie. When her bed was empty tomorrow morning he wouldn’t look as carefree as he did now. Would he be angry or merely
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