Hyacinth and the Secrets Beneath by Jacob Sager Weinstein

Author:Jacob Sager Weinstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2017-05-23T04:00:00+00:00

I pounded on the door again. The only response came from the prisoners, who stomped along, as if I were beating out the rhythm for some kind of demented chorus.

Not the reaction I was hoping for.

I looked over at the stone lion, but he was still slumped unconscious on top of the unicorn. I was on my own.

Backwards Head wobbled towards me. He was not exactly a graceful walker, since he had to walk backwards to see where he was going. Then he got close enough to grab me, which meant he had to turn around so that his arms were pointing in the right direction for grabbing. But that meant, of course, that he couldn’t see where he was grabbing, so I ducked out of his reach easily.

I was just beginning to wonder what I had been so frightened of when somebody shoved me from behind and I went falling right into Backwards Head’s arms. Backwards Head spun me around and held me tight, allowing me to see who had done the shoving.

It was the tuxedoed mosquito. He must have broken his chains while I was busy with Backwards Head. His long nose twitched, sniffing up and down my arm in a disgustingly ticklish way.

“I’ve been terribly rude,” he said. “I haven’t even introduced myself. Seeing how I’m going to be deep within your veins, you ought to at least know my name. Geoffrey Noctofimus, at your service.”

“That’s very kind,” I said. “But I don’t actually require any services at the moment.”

His nose twitched higher, up towards my elbow. “Ah, but you do. You very much do. You see, those of you who dwell in London have a problem. You consume a small portion of magic with every glass of tap water, and the closer you live to one of the rivers, the larger that portion is. And you live right above a source, don’t you? I can smell it on you. Too much magic—well, it’s not good for anybody. So allow me to remove it for you.”

I tried to break free, but Backwards Head was holding me too tightly. Geoffrey Noctofimus plunged his needlelike nose into my arm, and, although it didn’t actually hurt, I screamed in surprise and disgust. He started slurping something out of me. I could see the clear, glowing fluid snorkeling up his snout. Whatever he was taking out of me, it wasn’t blood.

When he spoke again, his voice was slurring a little bit, like he was getting drunk. “Now, then, that’s better, isn’t it?”

I tried to answer, but nothing came out of my mouth. Things were going gray. I mean, the prison hadn’t exactly been the most colorful place I’d ever visited, but in the back of my mind, I could at least remember what lay outside. But as the fluid slid up his snout, I could feel everything interesting about the world slipping away. It was all dimming. Grandma’s farm…Mom and Dad, dancing together before everything went bad…Aunt Rainey sitting on the porch…

Wait.

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