You gave the box to an ogre?’ Conker roared. ‘Oh, my heart, liver and lungs, what did you do that for?’
‘It was either give it to him or get me head bit off,’ said the fisherman.
‘There’s a choice for you,’ said Freda.
‘It’s usually give him fish or get me head bit off,’ the fisherman said gloomily. ‘But this time he got me on the way back from the palace, see, and I didn’t have no fish to give him. The palace cook had taken what she fancied, and I’d traded the rest. It was lucky I had that silver box on me, or I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you now. He likes fancy things even better than fish, that old ogre.’
‘Well, that’s that, then,’ Freda said briskly. ‘Let’s get back to town.’
‘Right,’ said Conker at the same moment. ‘Where does this ogre live?’
He and the duck glared at one another.
‘Where does the Ogre of Cruelcliff live?’ Conker repeated through gritted teeth.
The fisherman stared at him. ‘Well, he lives on Cruelcliff, don’t he?’ he said slowly. ‘That stands to reason.’
Conker clenched his fists.
‘But where’s Cruelcliff?’ Leo asked quickly.
‘Ah!’ said the fisherman, his face clearing. ‘I see what you’re getting at. Well, that there’s Cruelcliff, i’n it? He pointed to the craggy headland that rose at the northern end of the beach. ‘And that up there –’ he raised his finger high’ – is the ogre’s castle.’
The castle was so dark and narrow, and its turrets were so jagged and uneven, that at a quick glance it looked like part of the cliff top. It perched right at the edge of what looked like a sheer drop. Ominous purple clouds massed behind it. Waves beat themselves into creamy foam around the edges of the broad sheet of rock at its base.
‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha said in a small voice.
Freda snapped her beak.
‘Well,’ Conker growled, nibbling his moustache thoughtfully, ‘we can’t get up from the front, obviously.’
‘There’s no other way,’ said the fisherman. ‘That old castle’s got no back doors or windows or nothing. And she’s built right out to the cliff face on both sides. No way to get in but by the front. Not that anyone who wasn’t stark, staring mad would want to get in.’
‘My sentiments exactly,’ said Freda.
Conker scowled at the castle, breathing hard through his nose. Seizing his chance to slip away, the fisherman edged quickly to the straggly bush that concealed the Gap and disappeared behind it.
‘We didn’t tell him about the fire at the palace,’ Bertha fretted. ‘He’ll think we’re mad.’
‘He already thinks you’re mad!’ yelled Spoiler, swinging round to face them. ‘And you are mad, the lot of you! Except for the duck. She’s the only one with a grain of sense. If an ogre’s got the silver box, that’s the end of it.’
‘Not necessarily,’ Mimi snapped.
Spoiler goggled at her, then gave a little wail, sank onto the sand and buried his face in his hands.
With a small flurry of sand, a mouse appeared from beneath a tussock of dune grass. Its camouflage helmet, strapped firmly under its chin, was so big that only the tip of its small pink nose could be seen beneath the mass of leaves and twigs.
‘Message for Conker the dot-catcher,’ it announced, its head bobbing around blindly.
‘Here,’ snapped Conker.
The mouse felt its way towards him, holding out the message.
Cursing under his breath, Conker lunged forward and grabbed the square of paper from its paw.
‘No need to snatch,’ squeaked the mouse. ‘Really, the rudeness of some people!’ It turned and stumbled back the way it had come, trying twice to find the way into the tussock of grass before finally disappearing.
Conker backed away from Spoiler and opened the message. Mimi, Leo, Bertha and Freda clustered around him to read it.
Your news gave us hope. Things here going as planned but all depends on your mission. Keep prisoner with you. Do NOT leave him alone with M. and L. Do not trust him. H.
‘Well, that’s clear enough,’ Conker muttered, pushing the note into his pocket. ‘Hal’s depending on us. There’s no choice, team. We’ve got to get our hands on that silver box.’
‘We won’t be much use to anyone with our heads bitten off,’ said Freda. But Leo could tell that Hal’s note had shaken her.
‘From what I know of ogres –’ Mimi began.
‘What could you possibly know about ogres?’ Spoiler wailed, overhearing. ‘You’re a Langlander! You’ve never seen an ogre in your life!’
Mimi looked at him with dislike. ‘I’ve read about them,’ she said. ‘And from what I’ve read they’re bullies, but they’re not absolutely unreasonable.’
‘You don’t think threatening to bite someone’s head off if he won’t give you his fish is unreasonable?’ Leo couldn’t help asking.
Mimi shrugged. ‘By ogre standards, it’s quite reasonable, really,’ she said. ‘Someone has fish. You want fish. You do what you have to do to get what you want. But if, say, some innocent travellers arrive at an ogre’s castle, and ask politely for shelter for the night, I think the ogre would feel he had to agree.’
‘Lawks-a-daisy!’ Bertha said excitedly, ‘I think Mimi might be right! I’m sure I’ve heard stories like that.’
‘There’s always a catch,’ said Freda. ‘Tell me one of those stories that has a happy ending.’
Bertha fell silent while she thought.
‘If we’re not smart enough to outfox an ogre, I’ll give the game away,’ Conker declared. ‘Onward, team! That cliff looks sheer from here, but if the ogre can climb it, we can too.’
So we’ll climb the cliff and knock at the castle door, thought Leo. We’ll convince the ogre we’re innocent travellers who just happened to be passing. And when he’s taken us in we’ll find the silver box and think of a way to get it back. Right.
In one part of his mind, the rational, cautious part, he knew it was crazy. But in another part of his mind, the part that seemed to be affected by being in Rondo, he was thrilling with excitement.
Conker was right. Hal’s message had reminded them all how important their mission was. If they succeeded – and if the silver box did contain a clue to what the queen was doing – Mimi’s plan to shut off the far north could go ahead, and Rondo would be safe forever. Surely that was worth any risk?
‘If only we didn’t have him with us,’ Mimi complained, glancing at the snivelling Spoiler. ‘He’ll ruin everything. Why don’t we just tie him up and leave him here?’
Conker tugged his beard. He was obviously sorely tempted.
‘Hal’s orders were to keep him with us,’ Freda said flatly.
Conker sighed. ‘That’s true,’ he said reluctantly. ‘We’re stuck with him, worse luck.’ He seized Spoiler by the arm. ‘Come on, you, or we’ll leave you for the dragon!’ he barked.
As Spoiler scrambled hastily to his feet, two furry boots tumbled from beneath his skirts and fell onto the sand.
Everyone stared. Spoiler hung his head.
‘You thieving heap of dot-mush!’ Conker bellowed. ‘You stole Princess Pretty’s boots! You had them tucked up in your petticoat!’
Spoiler’s bottom lip trembled. ‘I couldn’t help it,’ he whined. ‘They were just lying there… and before I even thought about it, I’d taken them. It wasn’t my fault! It was – force of habit.’
‘Lawks-a-daisy, we’ll have to take them back at once!’ said Bertha, very shocked. ‘They’re all the poor king and queen have left of the princess. And they’re very valuable, too, apparently.’
‘We’ll return them later,’ growled Conker, picking up the boots and stuffing them into his pack. ‘By the look of those clouds there’s a storm coming, and we have to get to the ogre’s castle before it breaks.’
They set off along the darkening shore, with Spoiler trudging unhappily behind them. The rising wind blew sand into their faces, and salt spray peppered them as the waves crashed on the shore.
‘I’ve never been fond of the beach,’ said Bertha, plodding along with her head lowered. ‘The sand is very hard on your trotters. And as for the water, well, you can’t even drink it, so what’s the point of having so much? Give me a nice pond any day.’ ‘I’m with you,’ said Freda.
Leo wondered how they could talk of ordinary things when such an impossible, dangerous task lay ahead of them. Now that the journey to the castle had become a reality, his excitement had completely vanished. Once again, as happened so often in Rondo, he felt that he was being swept along by events over which he had no control. He found his mind running in circles as he desperately tried to think of alternatives to facing the ogre.
He glanced at Mimi, toiling along beside him. Her lips were pressed together and her eyes were narrowed against wind, spray and sand. She looked frightened, but grimly determined.
Her mind’s fixed on getting that silver box, Leo thought, and for once he wished that he could be as single-minded as Mimi Langlander. He wished he could stop thinking, and just stubbornly forge ahead as she did when she wanted something badly enough.
But he couldn’t stop thinking and questioning. Was the silver box really as important as they thought it was? Could there be another explanation for the squirrel thefts? What if the silver box had nothing to do with the Blue Queen’s secret plan?
He himself had started all this off, by asking Spoiler what he’d stolen from the queen’s castle. Everyone had seized on the idea that the substance inside the silver box was an important clue, and everything that had happened since had flowed from that. But…
Leo’s stomach gave a sickening lurch, as if he were in a lift that had dropped too fast. Now he came to think about it, they had never asked Spoiler anything else! They were rushing ahead as if the silver box was the only possible way to find out what the queen was planning, when Spoiler might just be able to tell them!
Appalled that he could have been so scatterbrained, Leo hung back and waited until Spoiler caught up with him.
Spoiler looked truly miserable. His skirts and bonnet frills were being tossed and whipped by the wind. His face was red and his eyes were watering. He didn’t even look up as Leo fell into step beside him.
‘It’ll be all right,’ Leo said, to start the conversation. ‘Don’t worry.’
‘Don’t worry?’ muttered Spoiler. ‘Are you joking? Do you think I’m so stupid I don’t know what’s going to happen when we get to that castle? Those lunatics are going to feed me to the ogre, in return for that silver box.’
‘No, they’re not!’ Leo exclaimed.
‘They are,’ said Spoiler, turning to look at him blearily. ‘And why shouldn’t they? I’m their enemy, aren’t I? They despise me. My brother’s their boss, and he despises me too. Everyone despises me. I despise myself! I’m a disgrace to the Langlander name.’
Tears of self-pity welled up in his reddened eyes.
‘No one’s going to feed you to the ogre,’ said Leo, firmly suppressing the fear that the idea might well occur to Freda, if it hadn’t already.
‘How else are they going to get that box?’ asked Spoiler drearily. ‘The ogre isn’t going to give it to them, even to spite the queen. Ogres never give up things once they’ve got them – except in exchange for something they want more. Like a nice, tasty head, for example.’
Leo fought down a wave of nausea. ‘You just leave it to us,’ he said, with far more confidence than he felt. ‘We’ll get the box from the ogre, and no one will get hurt. All you have to do is stay quiet. We’ll do the rest.’
Something gleamed in Spoiler’s eyes and he turned his head away quickly to hide his face. Leo was left wondering what that sudden gleam had meant. He was sure it hadn’t been fear, or even gratitude. Could it possibly have been… admiration?
The thought made Leo feel very uncomfortable. He didn’t deserve admiration. None of them did. What they were doing was foolhardy, and likely to end in disaster. His assurances were worthless, and he knew it.
Still, if Spoiler was feeling admiring, it was time to try to get more information from him.
‘Tell me, Spoiler,’ Leo began, as casually as he could, ‘do you remember the Blue Queen talking about any special spell or potion that she wanted to try? Especially after the Dark Time ended – after she lost the Key to Rondo?’
‘After Hal stole it from me, you mean,’ Spoiler said resentfully, and then winced. ‘There I go again! Hal did the right thing – I know that now. Cleaning up after me, like always. Trying to fix things when I’d messed them up. The good brother and the bad brother – that’s the way it’s always been with us.’ His lips quivered.
Leo resisted the urge to say that Spoiler could have changed that pattern any time he liked. There was no time for that. He decided to try the straightforward approach.
‘Listen, Spoiler,’ he said, ‘we won’t need to go to the ogre’s castle – won’t need the silver box – if we can find out what the queen’s up to. Think really hard. What was she working on in all those years after Hal took the Key, and before Mimi and I turned up with it again?’
‘She was always brewing up something – trying out different potions to keep herself young and beautiful, mainly,’ Spoiler mumbled. ‘The Key to Rondo could do it – that was the thing she really loved about it. She’s obsessed with her looks. Cares more about them than anything else. “Why worry about it?” I used to tell her. “What do looks matter?”‘
Absent-mindedly he pushed back his bonnet and felt his receding hairline, presumably to check how much hair he had lost since the last time he looked in a mirror.
‘There must have been other things, though,’ Leo persisted. ‘We know the queen was working on the spell to move her power out of the castle, for example.’
‘Oh, that.’ Spoiler shrugged and pulled his bonnet forward again. ‘Well, she’s done that now, hasn’t she? And she was always talking about finding a way to get a team of servants to do her dirty work for her, instead of having to rely on phantoms, and on me. She’s done that now, as well.’
He paused, with his head on one side. ‘There was a special potion she always wanted to make, but couldn’t,’ he said slowly. ‘One of the ingredients was impossible to get or something.’
Leo’s heart leaped. ‘What did this potion do?’ he asked urgently.
‘No idea,’ said Spoiler, shaking his head fretfully. ‘I didn’t pay much attention when she went on about stuff like that. It bored me to tears. It was big – she was always saying it was big. And I seem to remember her going on about seven – seven sunsets, I think it was. But she couldn’t make it anyway, so what does it matter?’
He looked ahead, and his face crumpled. Leo looked ahead too and his heart sank to his boots.
Time had run out. They had reached the headland.