Excerpt of Magyk by Angie Sage
(Page 2 of 9)
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"You're cutting it a bit fine," growled Gringe.
"But you Wizards are weird. Waddyou all want to be out for on a day like
this I dunno."
"Oh?" Silas wanted to get past Gringe as soon as he
could, but first he had to cross Gringe's palm with silver. Silas quickly
found a silver penny in one of his pockets and handed it over.
"Thank you, Gringe. Good night."
Gringe looked at the penny as though it were a rather nasty
beetle.
"Marcia Overstrand, she gave me a 'alf crown just now.
But then she's got class, what with 'er being the ExtraOrdinary Wizard
now."
"What?" Silas nearly choked.
"Yeah. Class, that's what she's got."
Gringe stood back to let him pass, and Silas slipped by. As much
as Silas wanted to find out why Marcia Overstrand was suddenly the ExtraOrdinary
Wizard, he could feel the bundle beginning to stir in the warmth of his cloak,
and something told him that it would be better if Gringe did not know about the
baby.
As Silas disappeared into the shadows of the tunnel that led to
The Ramblings, a tall figure in purple stepped out and barred his way.
"Marcia!' gasped Silas. "What on earth—"
"Tell no one you found her. She was born to
you. Understand?"
Shocked, Silas nodded. Before he had time to say anything,
Marcia was gone in a shimmer of purple mist. Silas spent the rest of the long
winding journey through The Ramblings with his mind in turmoil. Who was this
baby? What did Marcia have to do with her? And why was Marcia the ExtraOrdinary
Wizard now? And as Silas neared the big red door that led to the Heap family's
already overcrowded room, another, more pressing question came into his mind:
What was Sarah going to say to yet another baby to care for?
Silas did not have long to think about the last question. As he
reached the door it flew open, and a large red-faced woman wearing the dark blue
robes of a Matron Midwife ran out, almost knocking Silas over as she fled. She
too was carrying a bundle, but the bundle was wrapped from head to toe in
bandages, and she was carrying him under her arm as if he were a parcel and she
was late for the post.
"Dead!" cried the Matron Midwife. She pushed Silas
aside with a powerful shove and ran down the corridor. Inside the room, Sarah
Heap screamed.
Silas went in with a heavy heart. He saw Sarah surrounded by six
white-faced little boys, all too scared to cry.
"She's taken him," said Sarah hopelessly. "Septimus
is dead, and she's taken him away."
At that moment a warm wetness spread out from the bundle that
Silas still had hidden under his cloak. Silas had no words for what he wanted to
say, so he just took the bundle out from under his cloak and placed her in Sarah's
arms.
Sarah Heap burst into tears.
Chapter Two
Sarah and Silas
The bundle settled down into the Heap household and was called
Jenna after Silas's mother.
The youngest of the boys, Nicko, was only two when Jenna
arrived, and he soon forgot about his brother Septimus. The older boys slowly
forgot too. They loved their little baby sister and brought home all kinds of
treasures for her from their Magyk classes at school.
Sarah and Silas of course could not forget Septimus. Silas
blamed himself for leaving Sarah alone while he went out to fetch the baby's
herbs from the Physik Woman. Sarah just blamed herself for everything. Although
she could hardly remember what had happened that terrible day, Sarah knew she
had tried to breathe life back into her baby and had failed. And she remembered
watching the Matron Midwife wrapping her little Septimus from head to toe in
bandages and then running for the door, shouting over her shoulder,
"Dead!"
From Magyk: Septimus Heap Book 1 by Angie Sage. Copyright Angie
Sage 2005. All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of the
publisher, Harper Collins. No part of this book maybe reproduced without
written permission from the publisher.
