by Angie Sage
Chapter 7 The Laboratory
Septimus stepped over a large paper bag full of carrots and followed Una Brakket down the dark hallway. Previously he had only been allowed into the narrow front room that overlooked the street, but, as he followed the housekeeper deep into the gloomy recesses of the hall, Septimus was surprised to find that the house seemed to go on forever. Una Brakket stopped by a low door and lit a candle. Soon Septimus was following her down some steep wooden steps into a damp and musty-smelling cellar. The cellar was long and narrow with a low vaulted roof, and the sounds of the paddleboats being dragged out of the boathouse echoed eerily through the walls. It was stuffed full of what looked like years of accumulated junk: there were heaps of rusty tripods and Bunsen burners, stacks of wooden boxes stuffed full of ancient yellowing papers, piles of broken scientific instruments and even an old pair of ice skates hanging on the wall.
With Septimus trotting behind, Una strode to the back of the cellar and went through a small archway. The light of her candle quickly faded as she disappeared around a corner, and Septimus found himself in pitch-blackness, unsure of which way to gobut that didn't worry Septimus, for the Dragon ring that he wore on his right index finger began to glow, as it always did in the dark, and soon he had enough light to see where he was again.
"Where are you? I haven't got all day," Una Brakket's sharp voice cut through the gloom as she came back to see where Septimus had gone. "I don't allow boys with candles down here," she snapped, noticing the light glowing from his hand.
"But" Septimus protested.
"In fact I don't allow boys down here at all. And if it were up to me I wouldn't even let them in the house. Nothing but trouble, boys. "
"But"
"Now just put that candle out and follow me. " Septimus stuffed his right hand into his tunic pocket and followed Una Brakket into a narrow brick-lined tunnel. The tunnel wound its way deep beneath the streets of the Castle, taking them underneath the neighboring houses and gardens. The candle flame flickered and guttered in the cold gusts of air that eddied through the tunnel, bringing with them damp smells of earth and mold. As they progressed onward, an icy chill settled in the air; Septimus shivered and began to wonder where exactly Una was taking him.
Suddenly she stoppeda thick wooden door barred the way. From a bundle of keys that hung from her belt, the housekeeper selected the largest one and pushed it into the keyhole, which was oddly placed in the middle of the door. Septimus was just peering around her to see what she was doing when a loud whirring noise started up from behind the door.
Una Brakket jumped back suddenly, landing heavily on Septimus's foot.
"Ouch!"
"Get back!" She gave Septimus a hefty shove and sent him flying back into the tunnel a split second before the wooden door came crashing down in front of them like a small drawbridge.
"Wait there," snapped Una. "You are not to come any farther. I will tell Madam Marcia that she is required. " With that Una Brakket strode across the door as if it really was a drawbridge.
Septimus followed her into the Laboratory.
Professor Weasal Van Klampff's Laboratory was the strangest place that Septimus had ever seen, and he had seen some very odd places since he had become Marcia's Apprentice.
The Laboratory was bathed in a low blue light. It was a long, thin, vaulted underground room and contained a forest of murmuring, bubbling vials and flasks, flagons and funnels, all connected by a large glass tube which looped and soared down the entire length of the Laboratory. From the end of this apparatus a blue gas, which Professor Van Klampff believed Kept Shadows at bay, bubbled into the air, giving the whole place a distinctive smell that reminded Septimus of burned pumpkin.
Septimus peered through the blue haze, trying to see where Marcia was. At the far end of the Laboratory he could just about make out the tall figure of Marcia and the stumpy shape of the Professor. Marcia was holding a tall glass tube full of a shiny black liquid; she had been startled by the bang of the door falling open and was staring into the blue vapor to see what was going on.
"What are you doing here?" she called out, surprised at Septimus's sudden appearance behind Una. "It's meant to be your day off, Septimus. I don't want your mother complaining again. "
"It's Jenna!" yelled Septimus, expertly dodging Una Brakket as she reached out to grab him and setting off through the haze toward Marcia.
"What? What's Jenna?" asked Marcia, confused, her head still spinning from the endless mathematical formulae that Professor Van Klampff had been explaining in an effort to show Marcia why the ShadowSafe was taking so long to make. He had been busy showing Marcia the amazingly complex molds that were used to construct each interconnecting part of the ShadowSafe when Septimus had rung the doorbell and Una Brakket had very reluctantly gone to answer it. Marcia had been glad to see the housekeeper go, for Una was hanging around like an irritating bluebottle, which Marcia had had great trouble resisting the urge to swat.
"She's gone!" yelled Septimus, reaching the ExtraOrdinary Wizard just before Una Brakket could grab him. He ducked behind Marcia, leaving her standing between him and the irate housekeeper.
"Well, I'm glad to hear it," said Marcia, confused at the dance Septimus and Una appeared to be doing around her. "I thought Sarah was leaving it a bit late to get her off to the Dragon Boat. It's only two days to MidSummer Day. "
"No!" said Septimus. "She's not gone to Aunt Zelda's. She's been kidnapped. "
"What?" Marcia dropped the glass tube she was holding. The Professor and Una Brakket both gasped in dismayfor the tube contained the Amalgam for the ShadowSafe.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Marcia asked, staring at the glistening black sludge that now covered her purple snakeskin shoesand at Professor Van Klampff, who had fallen to his knees and was desperately trying to scrape up his precious Amalgam.
"No," said Septimus bleakly. "I wish it was. "
"Oh, it's bound to be a joke. Or more likely a fib," Una Brakket said bitterly as she joined the Professor on the floor and took a large metal scraper to Marcia's shoes.
"Get off my shoes, will you?" said Marcia icily. "I don't want this stuff rubbed into them. " Marcia fixed Una with a glare. "Anyway," she declared, "Septimus always tells the truth. "
"Huh," said Una Brakket, angrily scraping. "Just look what's happened. You let a boy into the Laboratory and something gets broken. I knew it would. "
"Jennakidnapped?" said Marcia, trying to move away and finding that her feet were stuck to the floor. "How. . . "
"Simon," said Septimus, anxious to be gone. "Simon took her away on his horse. We have to go after her, we should send some Trackers out and"
"Don't do that, Una. Simon who?" asked Marcia.
"Simon. My brother. Come on, Marcia, please hurry. "
"Simon Heap?"
"Yes. I tried to stop him. I Transfixed his horse but"
"Did you? A whole horse," said Marcia, pleased with her Apprentice. "Well done. If you can Transfix a horse you can Transfix anything. But he Overcame you?"
"Nowell, yes, I suppose so, sort ofbut that's not the point. " Septimus's voice was rising to a despairing shout. "The point is that Jenna has been kidnapped and we're not doing anything!"
Marcia put her arm around Septimus's shoulders. "It's all right, Septimus. Simon is Jenna's brother; she's quite safe with him. You really mustn't worry so much. I'm afraid that spider bite has put you a little on edge. It's one of the side effects of Darke Spider Venom, you know. But I can see it's time we went. "
Marcia addressed Weasal Van Klampff, who was staring woefully at the black sludge that Una Brakket was painstakingly scooping up and putting into a jar. "I am going now, Weasal. I shall expect the piece tonight. "
"Tonight?" gasped the Professor. "But, Marcia, I thought you understood how complicated it is. How difficult the mold is to configure and"
"You've already done the mold, Weasal. You've just showed it to me. All
you have to do is make some more of that stuff and pour it in. I don't see what the fuss is about. "
The Professor looked anxious. "But Una is going out tonight," he said. "Country dancing. "
"Well, jolly good for Una," snapped Marcia. "Just stop dithering, Weasal, and get a move on. "
Weasal Van Klampff cast a worried glance at Una Brakket, who was wearing an extremely disgruntled expression. "B-but," he stuttered, "if weI mean I, ermake the Amalgam too quickly,it's possible that a Shadow might Appear here. In the Laboratory. . . " whispered the Professor.
"Well, I'm sure Una will take care of it," said Marcia crisply. "I will be down to collect the piece tonight. "
"And what time tonight would that be, Madam Marcia?" Una inquired frostily. "Approximately. "
"Approximately when I get around to it," Marcia replied in glacial tones that would have sent anyone other than Una Brakket into a complete panic. "And now, Mrs. Brakket, if you would care to show my Apprentice and myself out?"
Una Brakket smiled for the first time, or rather, the corners of her mouth moved upward and showed her teeth, which glowed blue in the Laboratory lights.
"With great pleasure," she said.
