The Ever Breath by Julianna Baggott

Author:Julianna Baggott
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780375893681
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2009-10-19T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The Ruin’t Letter

Binderbee Biggby was small—even for a mouse—but he was quick. He’d been posted by the Office of Official Affairs to a nest in the dirt walls of Miss Spottem’s cellar for only two days, awaiting some kind of proof of illegal activity from a suspected jarkman, Artwhip Ostwiser. Binderbee had curled his long, thin tail around himself to keep warm, his small, pink ears perked.

And finally it had come, in the form of the nearly ruin’t letter.

He’d waited for the jarkman to leave, then tipped over a wastebasket, with a good bit of effort, and collected the letter. He’d folded it up and put it in his briefcase and run as fast as he could to the Office of Official Affairs, nearly getting trampled by some galumphing kid and an angry mewler along the way.

And then he’d slipped along the marbled floors, past all the workers in cubicles and under the humming lights. And talked his way past the secretary into Dobbler’s grand gilded office with its mantel adorned with photographs of Dobbler shaking hands with the most venerable of venerables and his chrome microphone that sent out the alerts and warnings heard from the bullhorn speakers throughout the city. Dobbler even had a private washroom with a lock and key.

And here sat Dobbler himself, the president of the Office of Official Affairs, a strapping man, thickly feathered. Quills peeked out of his suit-jacket sleeves. His nose curved in a hawk’s beak. He sat behind the enormous mahogany desk on a leather-upholstered chair with thick golden casters.

Binderbee popped open his briefcase and pulled the letter out. He’d gotten here so quickly that the letter was still damp from the chatterbroth tea, and so he had to be careful. “I’ve got something good in here! I can feel it! I just need time to look over the evidence, piece it together a little,” he boasted, waddling in a frantic half circle to get a better angle on the unfolding of the letter. Binderbee was bowlegged, and this gave him an extra swagger that he tried to live up to.

“We’re hoping you mice will pay off,” Dobbler said, picking his sharp teeth with a swizzle stick. His desk was covered with blueprints. The sight of them excited Binderbee. The Office of Official Affairs was always looking to expand. On the edge of the desk was a plate with only a smear of gravy and bits of soggy bread left on it. Dobbler smiled at Binderbee. “Do you want to see something?”

“Um, sure,” Binderbee said.

“Look at that hat on the peg over there.”

Binderbee turned around and saw the hat. It was a shimmering white fedora.

“That’s a gift from an old friend of mine from my youth. And watch this!” Dobbler whistled and then lifted his plate and tapped it on the desk. The hat opened in a burst of wings and scattered, then formed a small, quick cloud of locust fairies who swarmed Dobbler’s plate, finishing off his gravy and bread bits, in a buzzing whir, until the plate was clean.

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