The Book of Mysteries by J.R. Wallis

Author:J.R. Wallis [Wallis, J. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK

Jones’s first idea was to sort through everything in their limitless pockets and work out what might be useful. They worked silently, laying out everything on the grass, the space between them crackling with unsaid words.

Ruby had no idea how a bag of pear drops, various pens and pencils and a book on fungi had made it into her jacket. That was one of the problems with limitless pockets: you could drop anything in and easily forget about it. After sorting through both pockets she found that she had: Sloop’s Lucky Drops; vials of salt and rosemary; a pair of silver balls that could be hurled to create nets of finely spun silver; a pair of broken sunglasses; the Pocket Book Bestiary and some supplementary books about particular types of creatures (largely to please Jones) and some dog biscuits for the Scucca. Most important of all was the silver whistle and her tin of scrying polish as well as The Black Book of Magical Instruction.

Jones’s collection consisted of: his Learning Book; vials full of various coloured dusts; some small tubs of brown ointment; Maitland’s jars of fungal shrinking dust; a couple of the expensive potions they had bought in Deschamps & Sons; Slap Dust; a little mirror; some Boom Balls;a large jar of salt and rosemary and some books which Ruby noted were collapsible into tiny squares, one of them springing open to reveal the title Rare, Rarer and Rarest Horticultural Wonders by P. L. Tierney. Jones also had his catapult and a number of silver ball bearings which sat on the grass and glinted in the sun. He founda bottle of tonic too, half of which he drained and then offered the rest to Ruby in moody silence. Ruby thought about refusing but because it was hot she drank it and set the empty bottle down.

‘Right,’ said Jones, picking up a Boom Ball. ‘We need to know what we’re dealing with. Can you get your Scucca to open the doorway?’

‘I’m pretty sureI can.’ Ruby acted out what she wanted the creature to do by raising its paw and scratching at the air as she had done before. It understood and duly obliged, creating a small opening through which they could see a small patch of cool night.

‘Call it back.’

Ruby blew the whistle but the dog didn’t seem to hear, being more interested in the opening, and Ruby had to blow the short tune more than a few times to encourage it back to her.

‘Stand further back,’ warned Jones as he pulled a small pin from the Boom Ball and hurled it at the opening and ran. The Boom Ball exploded with a tiny pop that made Jones’s shoulders droop as he frowned.

‘That en’t right,’ he said. ‘It’s called a Boom Ball for a reason.’

He took a few tentative steps forward, watching the doorway disappear, and toe-poked the ashy remains of the Boom Ball. Bending down he took a sniff and shook his head.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Smells like it’s gone off, like a rotten egg or something.

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