Stolen Magic by Gail Carson Levine

Author:Gail Carson Levine
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollinsPublishers
Published: 2015-02-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Silence fell.

After a minute, Masteress Meenore said, “This boy has an original mind, Lodie.”

Master Robbie fairly glowed.

Elodie felt a pinprick of jealousy. Which was better, she wondered, penetrating or original? “The recess in the chimney is darker than the rest of the room,” Elodie conceded. “There are no glowworms in the hiding place. A person could be fooled.”

IT blew green smoke, signifying dragon confusion. “A new possibility when there already are too many. Master Robbie, you have wandered the corridors of the Oase since your arrival, have you not?”

“Sometimes.”

“Can you incise in the dirt a map of the corridors around High Brunka Marya’s room? Include the chambers there, and do not omit either the storage area or the garderobe to which Johan-bee was wont to retire.”

Master Robbie fetched a coal brazier poker and crouched to scratch lines in the dirt of the stable floor. While he worked, Elodie strained her ears for any sound that might mean His Lordship’s return.

ITs smoke grayed. “Lodie, why do you think I have no difficulty deciphering the lines of a map and yet cannot make out a single letter in a word?”

The tragedy of ITs life lay in ITs inability to read.

If they’d been alone, she’d have ventured to pet ITs leg. “I don’t know, Masteress.”

Master Robbie stood and backed away.

“Mmm. Fascinating. Mmm.” IT was silent. “Mmm.” More silence. “Listen well. If the thief, who, naturally, knew where the Replica was hidden, had merely picked the lock of the storage area—”

“Masteress—”

“Do not interrupt your betters, Lodie. What did you want to say?”

“I forgot to tell you—”

IT glared at her.

“The high brunka said the lock was made on the mainland and can’t be picked.”

“There is no lock that may not be picked unless a spell has been put on it, and perhaps one was. This lock may merely be difficult to pick, a lengthy endeavor, which the thief would wish to avoid. We will theorize along other lines. Assist me in my reasoning.”

Elodie knew from experience that IT wanted no assistance.

“If the Replica was an imitation, why not leave it there? But the recess was empty when you saw it, Lodie, yes?”

She nodded.

“Regrettably, you have not added anything to our deliberations, Master Robbie.”

“I’m sorry. I—”

“However, I admire your ingenuity. I continue my reasoning: When Ursa-bee said she and Johan-bee had verified that the Replica was still in its place, I suspected that the thief was concealed in the chamber with the two of them, but the storage room offers an even better hiding place. Let us assume then that the theft happened on their watch, and the blizzard frustrated escape. Master Robbie, your—”

“If that’s when it happened, that’s good, isn’t—”

“You have interrupted me again, Lodie.” IT sighed elaborately. “Yes. The later the better, although the urgency has hardly diminished. Master Robbie, your request to see the Replica again brought the theft to light. We may assume that the thief, or thieves—”

“Thieves, Masteress?”

“I will get to that, Lodie. The thief—or thieves—is alarmed, and frightened people may be deadly.

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