28

A New Tenant

Claudia slipped into the post office sorting room. If it had been creepy in daylight, it was positively sinister at night-time.

‘You have news?’ the client’s voice rasped from the darkness.

‘Better than that,’ Claudia said, trying to hide her nerves. She reached into her handbag and pulled out a small wriggling creature.

‘Kindly unhand me, madam!’ Crumpeck said weakly. Claudia ignored him. She found a drawing pin and pinned Crumpeck by his coat to a noticeboard nearby. ‘I must protest at this indignity!’ he said, flapping his arms and legs about like an upturned tortoise.

‘Is that all?’ said the client.

‘No.’ There was a hint of triumph in Claudia’s voice. She reached once more into the handbag and brought out the Great Jewel, which sparkled in the gloom. The client inhaled sharply.

‘You’ve found a piece of the Mirror! Finally!’

‘And we know that Gafferty Sprout has another piece. That just leaves the third.’

‘Ah, I know where that is. I have remembered.’ The client chuckled. ‘And it’s right under the Smidgens’ noses.’

‘Tell me,’ said Claudia. ‘I’ll go and fetch it at once.’

‘No,’ said the client. ‘I no longer have need of you. Our contract is terminated.’

‘What? You can’t do that!’ Claudia was shocked. This was very irregular. She felt uneasy. Her instincts told her there was something else going on here. It began to feel like a trap.

‘I can do that, and I have. However, I have someone here who is very keen to do business with you.’

From the shadows a figure stepped forward, his black eyes unblinking, his clammy bald head glistening. The figure smiled and licked his lips with his black tongue.

‘Good evening, Claudia,’ said Mr Ribbons. She gasped.

‘What’s the meaning of this?’ she shrieked.

Ribbons just kept smiling hungrily. He moved slowly and deliberately towards her, saying words she didn’t understand. Magic tingled over her skin. She didn’t remember anything else after that.

Some time later, she woke. She found herself sitting inside … what exactly? Smooth, transparent walls surrounding her. Windows on all sides. She was inside an object made of glass. Fear crept through her, a cold realisation. She glanced to either side. There were two other glass objects beside her, two faces staring back at her: Totherbligh and Hinchsniff. They looked at her curiously, almost pityingly. She was one of them. She was trapped inside a bottle. And that could only mean one thing: she was now a ghost …