‘Maximilian can’t go, though, can he?’ said Lexy. ‘I mean, he doesn’t have his mark or anything.’
‘He did go to the Underworld,’ said Raven. ‘Well, nearly.’
‘That’s different,’ said Lexy, although she didn’t really know anything about the Underworld at all.
‘Maybe they’re not even together,’ said Raven. ‘Maybe . . .’
‘What’s wrong?’ Wolf asked her. His friend’s eyes were suddenly full of tears. He’d never known Raven to cry about anything.
‘It’s Effie,’ said Raven. ‘I probably shouldn’t say anything, but . . .’ She told them about how she’d been out on Echo when she heard the news from the Cosmic Web about Effie being in trouble. ‘Then,’ she said, ‘the next morning they were all saying that . . .’ She gulped, and a single tear started to work its way down her face.
‘What?’ said Wolf.
‘They were all saying that Effie is going to die,’ said Raven. ‘On Friday.’
‘Oh my God,’ said Lexy.
‘That can’t be true,’ said Wolf. ‘We can stop it. Nothing’s set in stone. That’s what you always say. That’s what your spells are for, right?’
‘That’s right,’ said Lexy. ‘We can stop whatever is going to happen. You can do something, surely?’
‘I’ve tried my best,’ said Raven. ‘But I don’t know. I’ll keep trying but . . . I’ve never heard of anything like this before.’
‘We’ve got to find Effie,’ said Wolf. ‘And Max. They’ll know what to do.’
‘We can’t tell Effie,’ said Raven, shaking her head. ‘I wasn’t even supposed to tell you.’
‘Why can’t we tell Effie?’ asked Wolf. ‘I’d want to know if I was going to die.’
‘You just can’t,’ said Raven. ‘It’s a basic rule. Don’t you remember the story Mrs Hide told us about that servant meeting with Death in the marketplace?’
‘Which one?’ said Wolf. He often drifted off during Mrs Beathag Hide’s stories.
‘I remember,’ said Lexy. ‘The one where the servant goes to the marketplace in . . . Baghdad? And meets Death there.’
The three children cast their minds back to the dark and stormy early autumn afternoon when Mrs Beathag Hide had told them about various different fictional meetings with Death.
In this particular story, when the servant sees Death in the marketplace, Death raises his scythe and so the servant flees. The servant then borrows his master’s horse and rides to Samarra, where he goes into hiding. Later, the master goes to the marketplace and finds Death still there. He asks him why he frightened his servant. Death says that he didn’t mean to, but he was surprised to see the servant in Baghdad when he had an appointment with him later in Samarra.
Many of the children had experienced nightmares after this particular English class.
‘But what does it mean?’ said Wolf.
‘Well, if the servant hadn’t been scared and run away . . . I don’t know,’ said Raven. ‘It’s hard to explain. But no one should know the date of their own death. It’s a rule.’
‘Whose rule?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t know. It’s just a universal rule. You always try to escape your fate but end up running straight into it.’
‘Did the Cosmic Web say how she was going to die?’ Lexy asked.
‘No.’ Raven sighed. ‘I really shouldn’t have told you,’ she said. ‘We can’t let Effie know anything’s wrong in case we just push her further into her fate. You’ve all got to promise to act normal around her.’
‘We promise,’ said Lexy. ‘And we mustn’t panic. We can fix this. There’s loads of time until Friday. Raven, you need to keep listening in to the Cosmic Web and find out what else it knows. Neither of us can hear it, so we need to focus on other stuff. I’ll make some potions. A medicine bundle. Wolf will . . . Wolf?’
Wolf was looking quite distracted.
‘Won’t they have been gone a long time by now?’ said Wolf.
‘Who?’
‘Effie and Max.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Raven.
‘Didn’t Max once tell us about time differences between the worlds? And didn’t Effie say that two days in the Otherworld was like forty-five minutes here? They’ve been gone for the whole morning so far. If they are in the Otherworld, what are they doing that would take five days?’
‘Maybe Effie knows she’s in danger and so she’s hiding in the Otherworld?’ suggested Raven.
‘But she can’t stay there until Friday!’ said Lexy. ‘Her dad will have reported her missing by then. And besides, no one stays in the Otherworld for that long. I don’t think people from the Realworld even can.’ Lexy worked in a portal, and so knew about things like this.
‘So where is she?’
‘And where’s Maximilian?’
7
When Maximilian was dressed, he was taken to be presented to his uncle.
‘GOOD,’ boomed Meister Lupoldus. ‘Now we shall go and dine. Franz? Bring the carriage immediately.’
Most people found Meister Lupoldus insufferably loud, vain, ambitious and cruel. He trailed great wafts of scent behind him – patchouli, vanilla and real musk, which comes from the scent glands of dead stags – as well as the tang of cigars, strong coffee and the very darkest magic. Hanging from his belt was an athame with a diamond-studded handle. Maximilian found him fascinating.
The carriage was painted gold and lined with red velvet. Meister Lupoldus got in first. Then Franz helped Maximilian in. The seats in the carriage were softer than anything Maximilian had ever experienced. They were much more comfortable than even his mother’s best sofa at home.
Maximilian breathed in the evening scents. The jasmine, the perfumes, the salty, oily smells coming from the canal. It was still warm. Church bells rang all over the city. Too soon, the carriage stopped and Franz was offering Maximilian help to descend to the cobbled street. Here, things smelled less pleasant. Spilt alcohol, horse urine and decomposing fish mingled unhappily in Maximilian’s nostrils.
‘Let us DINE,’ said Meister Lupoldus.
Maximilian had not seen the small door in the wall. He followed his uncle into a dense garden and along a path until they reached a large, domed gazebo. Inside, everyone was exquisitely dressed. The women all wore dark dresses and diamond jewellery. The men all had complex jewelled belts and colourful tunics. Lupoldus and Maximilian were led to a table in the corner that was raised on a small dais. Maximilian instantly realised that this was the best table in the room.
‘As you can see,’ said Lupoldus, ‘we can easily observe all the other diners in the room from here if we so wish. Or we can ask to be screened off if they become SHRILL or DULL.’
Maximilian said nothing.
‘WELL?’ said his uncle.
‘It’s very nice,’ said Maximilian.
‘NICE?’
‘It seems refined and elegant,’ Maximilian said, adding at the last moment, ‘Meister.’
A