by Emily Rodda
He grinned at the envious look on Conker’s face. ‘Ah yes,’ he said carelessly. ‘They cost a fortune – almost every dib I had left on me, as a matter of fact – but you have to pay for quality. Something you wouldn’t know much about, dot-catcher.’
He left hurriedly as Conker clenched his fists. To everyone’s surprise, Mimi darted after him. She said a few smiling words to him, then came running back to take her place on the rug. Conker glowered at her.
‘To the Black Sheep,’ Freda said, and the crowd cheered as the rug rose rapidly into the air. For a brief moment the lights of the Snug were twinkling below, and Leo was looking down at a sea of upturned faces and waving hands. Then the rug swooped over the treetops and on into the night.
Conker touched his cheek rather wistfully. ‘I don’t know what a clever girl like Tilly sees in Simon Humble,’ he complained. ‘He might have a good heart, but he’s got no brains at all.’
‘She’s got enough brains for both of them,’ said Freda. ‘A bit like us, really.’
Conker lunged at her fruitlessly, then turned his back on her. ‘What do you mean by giving an interview to that villain Scribble, Mimi?’ he growled.
‘Oh, it wasn’t an interview,’ Mimi said, looking down at her hands. ‘I was just recommending a place where he could get some breakfast on his journey home. He was very grateful. He’d never heard of the Tavern of No Return.’
Chapter
40
Farewells
Along, breezy ride later, the rug settled to the ground in the lane behind the Black Sheep. Not long afterwards Conker, Freda, Leo and Mimi were reunited with Bertha, Tye and Hal, who were waiting up for them in front of the fire in Merry and Jolly’s private sitting room.
For a while everyone talked at once. Bertha, Tye and Hal had to hear about the amazing events at the Snug. The newcomers had to hear about how Bertha had leaped upon Sly from the flying rug, saving Violet Orpington-Dunk, whose head was actually in Sly’s mouth at the time, from a horrible death.
‘Bertha was the hero of the hour,’ said Hal. ‘As soon as the mice went back to work I sent word to Jack Macdonald, and he and Mary came rushing home. They were so grateful to Bertha. Jack’s begging her to come back and work for him again.’
‘He didn’t have much choice,’ said Bertha, tossing her head. ‘The flock made it very clear that they would no longer stay on a farm that offers sub-standard security.’
‘It’s not just that, Bertha,’ Hal said. ‘Jack’s really missed you. Mary told me the farm wasn’t the same without you. The dots had gone, but all the fun had gone out of life too, she said, and Jack’s been moping ever since you left.’
‘Oh,’ said Bertha in a small voice. ‘Well, that’s … very nice.’ She blinked away a few happy tears.
Jolly came in with a huge tray of sandwiches, a whole apple pie, a big brown pot of tea and a foaming jug of cider, and all talk ceased while everyone ate and drank. The newcomers were ravenous, and so was Bertha, though she’d eaten earlier. She said that saving hens from vicious foxes always made her hungry.
‘I’m only sorry that I didn’t hit Sly harder,’ she said regretfully, swallowing the last of the sandwiches. ‘Somehow he managed to get up and sneak away while we were giving Violet first aid. He could be anywhere by now.’
‘Like Spoiler,’ grumbled Conker. ‘He’s on the loose as well. I wish we’d let him stay a bread-man. At least then he’d have had trouble creeping around without being recognised.’
‘I’m surprised he was able to use the wishing well to change himself,’ Bertha commented. ‘He hadn’t been in Hobnob very long. It’s a wonder he knew that the well worked backwards.’
‘Indeed,’ murmured Hal, and glanced at Mimi. She returned his gaze unblinkingly, but two red patches appeared on her cheekbones.
He knows, Leo thought, feeling his own face grow hot. He knows Mimi didn’t leave the Key in the Safe Place – that she used it on Spoiler.
Hal leaned forward, his steady grey gaze fixed on them, and Leo held his breath. But Hal said nothing about the Key. Instead, he started talking about their escape from the Blue Queen.
‘I thought we’d lost you,’ he said gravely. ‘I cursed myself for not realising till too late that the queen had left the castle without my knowledge, in a way I’d never imagined.’
‘I kept telling them the Blue Queen was no problem,’ Conker said, tugging dismally at his beard.’ “She’s got no power outside her castle”, I kept saying. Well, all that’s changed now.’
‘Yes,’ said Bertha. ‘Now she can go anywhere she likes! And we can’t depend on the S – the S-thingy – to save us next time.’
‘The Ancient One will not return,’ Tye said sombrely. ‘Not in our lifetime.’ Firelight flickered in her golden eyes like the living memories she had seen in the mist.
‘The Blue Queen won’t try to impersonate the Strix a second time, either,’ said Hal. ‘She knows that the story of this night will soon be all over Rondo. She’ll use her new power in a different way.’
Leo wet his lips. ‘You don’t think she’s been hurt at all by – by what happened?’
Hal shook his head. ‘The Strix dismissed her from its presence – sent her back to her castle, that was all. When her shock and rage have died down she’ll realise that the first important test of her new spell was successful in every way but one. Certainly she failed to capture you, Mimi and Bertha, but she succeeded in moving herself and her power to another place. It won’t be long before she starts planning her next move.’
‘What do you think that will be, Hal?’ asked Bertha.
‘If I knew that I would be a happier man,’ Hal said with a wry smile. ‘What I do know is that the queen is now free to wander Rondo at will, and there is nothing we can do to stop her. From this night on life here will be far more dangerous – especially for us.’
‘Folk will have to be warned,’ growled Conker.
‘Yes,’ Hal said. ‘Bertha, I fear you’ll have to hold one more press conference before you return to the farm.’
‘Oh,’ cried Bertha. ‘But why me? Why not you, Hal?’
‘Folk are far more likely to listen to Bertha the quest heroine than Hal the burned-out wizard,’ Hal said with a tired grin. ‘I think I’ll be more useful working in the background with Conker, Freda and Tye – and with Mimi and Leo, if they still want to be involved.’
‘Of course we do,’ Leo said instantly. ‘We’re not going to leave you to fight the queen alone.’
Mimi hesitated. The red patches on her cheeks had faded, leaving her very pale. ‘I can see why you’d want Leo, Hal,’ she said abruptly. ‘Leo’s smart, and he’s … reliable. He notices things, and he can work things out. And he’s brave as well. He’s … a hero, like you, Hal – like all of you. I’m different. All I do is cause trouble.’
‘Mimi, that’s not true!’ Bertha cried.
‘It is, Bertha,’ said Mimi. ‘I did it again this afternoon. You and Leo nearly died because you came after me.’
‘That’s true,’ said Freda, and squawked as Conker trod on her foot.
‘The trouble is, I can’t promise it won’t happen again,’ said Mimi, staring straight ahead, looking at no one. ‘I’m – not good at being on a team or listening to other people. At home I’ve got used to just – listening to myself, because … because a long time ago I realised that people don’t see things the way I do, and they think I’m … you know … a bit weird.’ Her lips twisted into a mirthless little smile that made Leo’s heart ache.
‘Mimi –’ he began, but she shook her head.
‘I’m not making excuses, Leo,’ she said, avoiding his eyes. ‘I’m just saying how it is. And things have got really serious here, now. Hal and the others can’t afford to have someone with them who’s going to be trouble.’
She took a quick breath. ‘So I’ve decided not to come back,’ she said in an off-hand voice. ‘I’ll give you the Key, and you can come alone, next time. The queen
won’t suspect anything as long as her spies see you. She’ll just think I’m hiding somewhere with Mutt.’
Her face was quite expressionless. Only the stiffness of her body and her tightly clasped hands showed what her decision was costing her.
This is what I wanted, Leo thought. But he found that now he didn’t want it at all. He remembered Mimi coping efficiently with Bertha’s trouble at the well, murmuring reassurances to Bliss, wading, laughing and fully clothed, into the Snug bath. He remembered Mimi seeing that Bing’s cloak and hat were clues, insisting Spoiler had been in Bing’s house, defending Moult, saying Leo was a hero, telling him not to brush away the sparkling memories of the Strix …
It’s up to me to make her change her mind, he thought. I’m the one who’s been fighting with her from the very start of all this.
He struggled to think of something to say – something that didn’t sound feeble, sentimental and unconvincing. But to his surprise it was Tye who broke the heavy silence.
‘You may feel a stranger in Langland, Mimi, but you are not a stranger here,’ Tye said slowly. ‘You may find you will be less inclined to take matters into your own hands if you understand how much we value you. In the time to come we will need Leo’s courage and practical intelligence, certainly, but your instincts and imagination will be just as important.’
‘I agree!’ Bertha exclaimed.
‘And I,’ said Hal.
‘We all agree,’ said Conker. ‘Right, Freda?’ ‘Absolutely!’ said the duck.
‘I think so too, Mimi,’ Leo said awkwardly, finding his voice at last. ‘They need us both. You can see things I can’t. We think – differently. And you’re more at home in Rondo than I’ll ever be.’ He paused. It had been so hard to admit that, but suddenly he wondered why.
Suddenly he wondered how he could have begrudged Mimi’s feeling at home in Rondo, when in her own world she felt such an outsider.
Mimi’s eyes widened. She went crimson, and a delighted smile began tugging at the corners of her mouth.
‘Excellent!’ said Conker, rubbing his hands. ‘So it’s decided. The team’s still intact.’
‘There’s just one thing, Mimi,’ Hal said. ‘While you’re here, especially now that the queen is free, the Key to Rondo must always be kept in a Safe Place. No arguments, no deceptions.’
‘Absolutely,’ Conker agreed. ‘Why, my heart and lungs, just think what might have happened if you’d had the Key on you when the queen trapped you this time!’
Mimi looked hunted. ‘I understand,’ she mumbled. ‘I really do.’
Bertha suddenly yawned hugely. ‘Oh, pardon,’ she said. ‘It’s just that it’s been a long night, what with all the fighting and the emotional strain …’
Hal grinned and stood up. ‘We all need rest,’ he said. ‘And it’s time for Mimi and Leo to leave us.’
They all went up to Bertha’s room, climbing the stairs quietly so as not to wake the sleeping tavern. Everyone waited outside while Mimi went through the charade of recovering the Key from the empty Safe Place. Then Bertha opened the doors to her balcony and they all went out into the cool night air.
‘I will miss this balcony when I go home to the farm,’ Bertha sighed. ‘Balconies are so romantic.’
‘You won’t have any trouble persuading Macdonald to build you one for your sty now,’ Hal said. ‘I think he’d give you the moon and the stars if he could.’
‘Oh!’ gasped Mimi. ‘That reminds me.’ She dug in her pocket and brought out the little drawstring moneybag Conker had given her. It was round and plump. She pushed it into Tye’s hands.
‘What is this?’ Tye asked, frowning.
‘Strix dreams,’ Mimi said. ‘The sparkles fell out of our clothes and hair after we had a bath in the Snug. But they didn’t sink into the moss because we stood on a tablecloth while we were drying off. We gathered them up – as many as we could – for you.’
‘For me,’ Tye repeated. Her lips hardly moved. Her voice was expressionless. It was impossible to tell what she was feeling.
‘Yes,’ said Mimi, rather breathlessly. ‘I – we’re sure that some of the dreams of Terlamaines will be among the rest. They were very thick around us when the Ancient One first looked at you. And we thought … you should have them.’
Tye was silent for a moment, gazing down at the little bag in her black-gloved hands. When she looked up, her eyes were like liquid gold. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly.
Bertha sniffled. Conker wiped his eyes roughly with the back of his hand. But Hal’s face broke into a grin that made him look ten years younger. ‘Goodbye, you two,’ he said. ‘Till we meet again.’
Leo took Mimi’s hand. She put her free hand to the pendant at her throat. ‘Home,’ she said softly.
Chiming rainbows closed around Leo, whirled around him, bright as the dreams of the Strix. He felt himself falling, drifting weightless, his head filled with music … Then his feet hit solid ground and the rainbows cleared from his eyes. He was back in his room. He saw his bed, his desk, the black-and-white rug on the floor. Dust motes swirled in the air, shining like tiny specks of glitter in the mellow afternoon light. The sound of laughter drifted in from the garden.
‘Open the box, Leo.’
He looked around. Mimi was beside him, blinking owlishly. ‘Open the box,’ she repeated. ‘So the music will run down.’
Leo moved unsteadily to his desk and opened the lid of the music box, releasing the sweet, chiming music, the music of the rainbows. He stared at the front of the box and suddenly his knees felt weak. He slumped down in his chair. What did I expect? he thought. But it was so strange. He felt Mimi move up behind him and knew that she was staring at the box too.
The bright, painted colours had dimmed. The sky was grey-blue, paled by the light of an enormous moon, spangled by the gleaming pinpoints of a thousand stars. Near the top, a tiny village was ablaze with light.
‘They’re still dancing in Hobnob,’ Mimi murmured.
With one movement, she and Leo both leaned over to look at the back of the box. Moonlight flooded the rolling grass, turning it to silver. The willow trees clustered by the river were dark. The castle on the hill shone with sulky blue light.
Leo sank back into his chair. He stared at the front of the box, and with a trembling finger traced the line of the road that led down from the bright village to the square bulk of the camping shop. Somewhere along that road, skulking in the shadows, was Spoiler, the golden egg safe in his pocket. Somewhere Peg prowled, huge, shaggy paws padding, white teeth gleaming.
The street at the bottom of the box was deserted. Street lamps shone on the dark police station, the shuttered shops, and the red-and-white striped awning drawn down over Posy’s flower stall. But soft light glowed in an upstairs room of the Black Sheep. And on the balcony outside that room stood five familiar figures – a tall, lean man with greying hair tied back in a warrior’s tail, a slender woman in black, her arm raised in a wave of farewell, a short, chunky man with a wild beard, a masked duck, and a pig wearing a flower-laden hat.
High above them, the pale sky gleamed. A few tiny shreds of cloud drifted across the brilliant moon. But of the Ancient One’s cloud palace there was no sign. No sign at all.
Also by Emily Rodda
The Key to Rondo
IMPORTANT!
Turn the key three times only.
Never turn the key while the music is playing.
Never pick up the box while the music is playing.
Never close the lid until the music has stopped.
The old music box, painted with scenes of villages, dark forests, a castle on a hill and a queen in a long blue gown, has been handed down through Leo’s family. Now it belongs to Leo, and although he respects its rules, his least favourite cousin Mimi does not. When the rules are broken, Leo’s ordered life changes forever as they plunge together into the fantastic world of Rondo.
‘… the work of a gifted storyteller at the height of her powers’
Rosemary Neill, Weekend Australian
‘… image-rich prose and compelling action’
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review
‘… a contemporary classic’
Joy Lawn, Junior Bookseller and Publisher
Copyright
Published by Scholastic Australia
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First published by Omnibus Books in 2008
This electronic edition published by Scholastic Australia Pty Limited, 2014
E-PUB/MOBI eISBN 978-1-92198-959-9
Text copyright © Emily Rodda, 2008
Character illustrations copyright © Martin McKenna, 2008
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.
