Goodly and Grave in a Case of Bad Magic. Justine Windsor

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СКАЧАТЬ who had kidnapped him. Now Lucy herself was a proud member of MAAM. Of course Violet didn’t know any of this. As far as she knew, the ball was to celebrate Bertie’s return home.

      Naturally, Lucy had been very keen to find out exactly what Hester Coin had done that was so bad. However, Lord Grave had refused to tell her.

      “She committed so many crimes, it would take too long to explain them all. And, for various reasons, we don’t like her last and most heinous crime to be widely known. She was finally defeated here at Grave Hall, and only we Graves and Lord Percy’s family know the full details.”

      Although she was warm and toasty inside her thick cloak, Lucy couldn’t help shivering a little as she remembered the look on Lord Grave’s face when he’d said this. He’d looked afraid. Lord Grave was a courageous man who didn’t scare easily, so Hester Coin must have done something very bad indeed.

      

      After about an hour, Lucy and Violet reached St Isan’s, the old church that stood at the edge of Grave Village. The church clock began to chime eleven, sending the crows perched on the spire flapping and cawing into the sky. By now the rain had stopped and the sun had come out, although the day was still chilly. The two girls pushed back the hoods of their cloaks as they took a shortcut through the graveyard to reach the high road where the shops were. Violet murmured to Caruthers in a soothing manner as they walked.

      “Don’t worry. It’s daytime. All the ghosties will be asleep,” she told him.

      The two girls picked their way between the gravestones. Some were very old and spotted with lichen, their inscriptions faded. Violet pointed to a particularly decrepit one, which leaned over at an angle.

      “Look, Lucy. When a gravestone’s all lopsided like that it means the person buried under it’s been trying to get out,” she said in a hushed voice, her eyes wide.

      “Who told you that?” Lucy asked.

      “Becky.”

      Lucy sighed. Becky loved to tease and scare Violet. “That’s a load of rubbish! Don’t believe anything she says.”

      They left the graveyard behind, and headed through the church gate out into Grave Village high street. It was a bustling place. People hurried to and fro across the cobbled pavements, and horses and carts rumbled along the road. There were plenty of shops to visit. There was a draper’s, where Violet’s mother worked as a seamstress; a candle-maker; a butcher’s and a greengrocer’s. There was also a shop called Busby’s Buns that sold confectionary and cakes. Violet immediately dragged Lucy to the window of this shop where all sorts of delicious indulgences were on display. There were buns oozing cream, tarts with glossy jewel-coloured fruit fillings, as well as chocolate-covered gingerbread men – Lucy’s favourite. Her mouth watered as she imagined the spicy-sweet taste of them.

      “Shall we go in and spend our threepenny bits?” Violet asked. Mrs Crawley had generously given each of them one of the silver coins to buy themselves a treat.

      “Let’s wait until we’ve done the shopping,” Lucy replied. “Where is it we have to go?”

      “Surprising Supplies. The owner is Mrs Crawley’s cousin twice removed, isn’t she, Caruthers?”

      Lucy wondered if Mrs Crawley’s cousin twice removed was a magician, but of course she couldn’t ask Violet this. “I’m guessing that means it’s an unusual sort of shop?”

      “Ooh, yes. It sells some very odd things, like powdered worms and ants soaked in brandy,” Violet said, wrinkling her nose. “We have to go down that alleyway to get to it.”

      Violet pointed to a narrow alley, which ran between the butcher’s shop and The Grave’s End, the village pub. There was a tall blonde girl, aged about sixteen, standing near the entrance to the alleyway. She was holding a violin, and a large, shaggy brown-and-white dog sat at her heels, panting. Its breath steamed in the cold air. The girl tucked her violin under her chin and began to play it as Lucy and Violet approached. The tune was a very popular one about a man deceived by his sweetheart. Violet began softly singing some of the words that accompanied it. “The mask she wore, the mask she wore, to hide herself from me …”

      Lucy was about to enter the alleyway when Violet suddenly stopped singing and grabbed her sleeve, pulling her back.

      “What’s wrong?”

      “It’s Caruthers. He’s scared. It’s too dark down there.”

      Lucy peered into the alleyway. It was rather narrow and gloomy. “What about all the times you’ve been here before? Caruthers wasn’t scared then, was he?”

      Violet shook her head. “No, but that’s because Mrs Crawley was with us. She’s tall and strong. He felt safe with her.”

      “We can hold hands if you’re scared, Violet.”

      “I’m not scared,” Violet insisted. “It’s Caruthers. He doesn’t think I’m big enough to defend him from robbers.”

      Lucy sighed. “What about if I look after Caruthers?”

      “That’s a good idea. And we could hold hands, I suppose, to make him feel extra safe.”

      Violet handed Caruthers to Lucy, who stuck the little knitted frog down the front of her cloak, so that only his button-eyed head peeped out. Then she took Violet’s hand and the two of them stepped into the alley. Although Lucy had been rather dismissive of Violet’s fears, she felt a prickle of unease as they left the autumn sunshine for the gloomy dankness of the alley. There were no cobbles to walk on and the ground was muddy underfoot. Lucy was glad she was wearing her sturdy winter boots, as there were filthy puddles to splash through.

      They were halfway down the alley when they heard a noise.

      “Awwww! Awwww!”

      “What’s that?” Violet said, clutching Lucy’s arm.

      “I don’t know.”

      “We should go back!”

      “Awwww! Awwww!”

      “I think someone’s hurt,” Lucy said. She gathered her courage and ventured a little way further into the alley, with Violet still grasping her sleeve. A very strange sight soon met their eyes. A boy around the same age as Violet was sitting in one of the mucky pools of water, sobbing loudly. He had golden curly hair and a chubby, cherub-like face, which was streaked with dirt, as was his neck. His gaze flickered first towards Lucy, then to Violet.

      “Miss, you’ve a kind face!” he said to her. “Please help me!”

      “Oh, of course I will!” Violet said, her fear forgotten. She moved closer to the boy. “Whatever’s the matter? Are you hurt?”

      “He stole my bun money!” the boy wailed. “I’ve been saving up for buns for my mum’s birthday tea. It’s СКАЧАТЬ