The Battle for Rondo by Emily Rodda

Author:Emily Rodda [Rodda, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781921989605
Publisher: Scholastic Australia
Published: 2012-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter

19

Three Questions

I am the Tideseer.’ The whisper echoed in the cave, soft as foam dissolving into sand. ‘The waters of Rondo gather knowledge from the earth and the air as they flow to the sea. The streams run to the rivers, the rivers run to the ocean, and the tides bring the knowledge to me. Quickly or slowly, all secrets great and small come to me at last. No fact is hidden. No fact is lost. No fact is forgotten.’

Somehow Leo knew that this was the way the Tideseer always greeted her visitors. Perhaps it was the slightly chanting note in the whispering voice. Perhaps it was the rolling sentences, which had the air of having been said countless times before.

‘I am not a fortune-teller,’ the Tideseer went on. ‘I cannot see into the future. I can only predict the probable outcome of events from what I know. The tide may turn one way or another, depending on many things as yet unknown to me. Therefore, if you ask for a prediction I may answer you in riddles.’

‘We understand,’ Mimi said, sounding slightly breathless.

The Tideseer’s head moved in the smallest possible nod. ‘You have questions to ask, but you must give knowledge in return for knowledge. Begin.’

She leaned forward, and it seemed to Leo that a greedy look came into her blind eyes, as if facts were food and drink to her, and her hunger for them was never satisfied.

‘Two of us are Langlanders,’ Mimi said.

The Tideseer made an impatient movement. ‘I know this already,’ she said. ‘Try again.’

Mimi, Leo and Bertha looked at one another, startled.

‘In Langland there are moving pictures called “moovlies”,’ Bertha burst out.

‘That is false,’ said the Tideseer. ‘The word is “movies”. You misheard Mimi Langlander when she spoke it, but the waters beneath Troll’s Bridge carried it faithfully to me.’

Bertha’s mouth dropped open. The tips of her ears went pink. She glanced reproachfully at Mimi and Leo, but they were too astounded to worry about her embarrassment.

If the Tideseer knew about that tiny, long-ago incident by Troll’s Bridge on their first visit to Rondo, how much else did she know?

Everything?

‘The golden dragon saved us from the Ogre of Cruelcliff,’ Mimi said experimentally. ‘She took us to her mountain top. She calls me “Kin of Spark”.’

‘Try again,’ said the Tideseer. Her fingers moved softly in the water and she nodded with interest. ‘The Ogre of Cruelcliff has left his castle,’ she remarked. ‘The three you left behind you on the shore have taken refuge in the entrance to the Crystal Palace Gap. In Flitter Wood, the magic barrier being woven within the Nesting Tree is almost complete, and Hal Langlander is urgently awaiting a message from you.’

… all secrets great and small come to me at last.

The water really does tell her everything, Leo thought numbly. She’s reminding us of that – telling us not to waste time.

‘Leo!’ Mimi whispered urgently.

Leo dug frantically into his memory, pulled out a handful of facts, and did his best. ‘Salted water boils at a higher temperature than plain water,’ he said rapidly.

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