Inkheart

44. FARID'S REPORT

When Farid came back Silvertongue was waiting for him.

Elinor was asleep under the trees, her face flushed by the midday heat, but Silvertongue was still standing where Farid had left him. Relief spread over his face as he saw the boy coming up the hill.

"We heard shots!" he called. "I thought we'd never see you again."

"They were shooting at cats, " replied Farid, letting himself drop on to the grass. Silvertongue's concern made Farid feel awkward. He wasn't used to people being concerned for his safety. What kept you? Where have you been all this time? That was the kind of reception he was used to. Even Dustfinger's face had always been closed to him, as uncommunicative as a barred door. But with Silvertongue's face it was different.

Anxiety, joy, anger, pain, love – it was all plain to see, writ ten on his brow, even when he tried to hide it, just as he was now trying not to ask the question that must have been on the tip of his tongue ever since he saw Farid approaching.

"Your daughter's all right, " said Farid. "And she got your message, though she's shut up on the top floor of Capricorn's house. But Gwin is a wonderful climber, even better than Dustfinger, and that's saying something. " He heard Silver tongue breathe a sigh of relief, as if all the cares in the world had lifted from his shoulders.

"I've even brought an answer. " Farid took Gwin out of the backpack, held him firmly by the tail, and untied Meggie's note from his collar. Silvertongue unfolded the paper as carefully as if he feared his fingers might wipe away the words. "An end paper, " he murmured. "She must have torn it out of a book. "

"What does she say?"

"Have you tried to read it?"

Farid shook his head and took a piece of bread out of his pants pocket. Gwin had earned a reward. But the marten had disappeared, probably to catch up on his long-overdue daytime sleep.

"You can't read, is that it?"

"No. "

"Well, not many people could read this anyway. It's the same secret writing that I used. As you saw, not even Elinor can decipher it. " Silvertongue smoothed out the paper. It was a dull yellow like desert sand. He read – and then suddenly raised his head. "Good heavens!" he murmured. "Imagine that!"

"Imagine what?" Farid bit into the bread he had been keeping for the marten. It was stale; they'd have to steal some more soon.

"Meggie can do it, too!" Silvertongue shook his head incredulously and stared at the note in his hand.

Farid propped one elbow on the grass. "I know. They're all talking about it – I heard them. They say she can work magic like you, and now Capricorn doesn't have to wait for you anymore. He doesn't need you now."

Silvertongue looked at him as if this idea hadn't yet crossed his mind. "True, " he murmured. "Now they'll never let her go. Not of their own accord. " He stared at the words his daughter had written on the paper. To Farid they looked like the tracks left by snakes slithering across the sand.

"What else does she say?"

"They've caught Dustfinger and Meggie's to read someone out of the book to come… and kill him. Tomorrow, when it gets dark. " He lowered the note and ran his hand through his hair.

"Yes, I heard about that, too. " Farid pulled up a blade of grass and tore it into tiny pieces. "It seems they've locked him in the crypt under the church. What else is in that note? Doesn't your daughter say who it is she's to bring out for Capricorn?"

Silvertongue shook his head, but Farid saw that he knew more about it than he was saying.

"Come on, you can tell me! Some kind of executioner, am I right? A man who knows all about cutting off heads."

Silvertongue acted as if he hadn't heard him.

"I saw something like that once, " said Farid, "so it's all right for you to tell me about it. If the executioner is good with a sword it's all over quite fast. "

Silvertongue looked at him for a moment, astonished, and then shook his head. "It's not an executioner," he said. "At least, not a man with a sword. Not a man at all. "

Farid turned pale. "Not a man?"

Silvertongue shook his head. It was some time before he went on. "They call him the Shadow, " he said in an expressionless voice. "I don't remember the exact words describing him in the book. All I know is that I pictured him to myself as a figure made completely of burning ashes, red and gray. And without a face."

Farid stared at him. For a moment he wished he hadn't asked.

"They – they're all looking forward to this execution, " he said in a faltering voice. "Those Black Jackets are in a really good mood. They're going to kill the woman Dustfinger was visiting as well. Because she tried to find the book for him. " He burrowed his bare toes into the earth. Dustfinger had tried to get him used to wearing shoes because of the snakes, but when you wore shoes you felt as if someone was pinching your toes, so in the end he'd thrown them on the fire.

"What woman? One of Capricorn's maids?" Silvertongue looked at him with a gleam in his eyes.

Farid nodded. He rubbed his toes. They were covered with ant bites. "She can't talk. Dumb as a sand fly. Dustfinger has a photo of her in his backpack. She's probably helped him quite often. And I think he's in love with her. "

It hadn't been difficult for Farid to explore the village. There were lots of boys there no older than him. They washed the cars for the Black Jackets, cleaned their boots and their guns, delivered love letters. He'd delivered love letters himself in that other life. He hadn't had to clean boots, but weapons, yes – and he'd had to shovel camel dung. Polishing cars was much lighter work.

Silvertongue looked up at the sky. Tiny clouds were drifting by, pale as a heron's feathers, ruffled like acacia flowers. Clouds often passed across this sky. Farid liked that. The desert sky he had known before was always empty,

"Tomorrow, " murmured Silvertongue. "What am I to do? How am I going to get her out of Capricorn's house? Perhaps I can get in somehow by night. I'd need one of those black suits the -"

"I've brought you one. " Farid took first the jacket, then the pants out of the backpack. "Stole them off a clothesline. And a dress for Elinor."

Silvertongue looked at him with such obvious admiration that Farid blushed. "What an extraordinary fellow you are! Perhaps I should ask you how I'm going to get Meggie out of this village. "

Farid smiled awkwardly and looked at his toes. Ask him? No one had ever asked him for his ideas before. He had always been the scout, the tracker dog. Others had made the plans for robberies, raids, revenge. You didn't ask the dog's opinion. You beat the dog if he didn't obey. "There are only two of us, and there are at least twenty of them down there, " he said. "It won't be easy…"

Silvertongue looked over at their campsite and the woman asleep under the trees. "Aren't you counting Elinor? You should! She's much fiercer than I am, and just at the moment she is very, very angry. "

Farid had to smile. "All right, three!" he said. "Three against twenty. "

"Yes, I know, that doesn't sound good. " Silvertongue stood up, sighing. "Come on, let's tell Elinor what you've found out, " he said, but Farid stayed where he was in the grass. He picked up one of the dry branches lying everywhere. First-class firewood. There was any amount of it here. In his old life, people would have gone a long, long way for wood like this. They'd have given good money for it. Farid looked at the wood, rubbed his finger over the rough bark, and looked at Capricorn's village.

"We could get fire to help us, " he said.

Silvertongue looked at him blankly. "What do you mean?"

Farid picked up another stick, and another. He heaped them all up, all the dry twigs and branches. "Dustfinger showed me how to tame fire. It's like Gwin: It bites if you don't know how to handle it, but if you treat it properly it does as you want. That's what Dustfinger taught me. If we use it at the right time, in the right place…"

Silvertongue bent down, picked up one of the branches, and weighed it in his hand. "And how are you going to control it once you've got a fire going? It hasn't rained for ages. The hills will be ablaze before you know it. "

Farid shrugged. "Only if the wind blows the wrong way. "

But Silvertongue shook his head. "No, " he said firmly. "I won't play with fire in these hills unless I can't think of anything else. Let's steal into the village tonight. Maybe we can get past the guards. Maybe they know each other so little they'll think I'm one of them. After all, we managed to slip through their fingers once, so maybe we can do it again."

"That's a lot of maybes, " said Farid.

"I know!" replied Silvertongue. "I know. "