Inkheart

21. BASTA

Meggie woke up when Mo stopped. The path had brought them almost to the crest of the hill. It was still dark, but the night was growing paler as if lifting her skirts a little way off to let the new morning appear.

"We must take a breather, Dustfinger, " Meggie heard Mo saying. "The boy can hardly keep up, Elinor's feet must need a rest, and if you ask me this wouldn't be a bad place for one."

"What feet?" asked Elinor, sinking to the ground with a groan. "You mean those poor sore objects attached to my legs?"

"That's what I mean, " said Mo as he pulled her up again. "But they must go just a little farther. We'll rest up there. "

A good fifty meters to their left, at the very top of the hill, there was a house, if you could call it that, huddled among the olive trees. Meggie slipped off Mo's back before they climbed up to it. The walls looked as if someone had piled up a number of stones in a hurry, the roof had collapsed, and where there must once have been a door only a black hole now gaped.

Mo had to bend low to make his way in. Broken shingles from the roof covered the floor, there was an empty sack in a corner, some broken earthenware shards, perhaps from a dish or a plate, and a few bones gnawed clean. Mo sighed.

"Not a very comfortable place, Meggie, " he said. "But try imagining you're hiding out with the Lost Boys, or…"

"Or in Huckleberry Finn's tub. " Meggie looked around. "I think I'd rather sleep outside, all the same. "

Elinor came in. The accommodation didn't seem to appeal much to her either.

Mo gave Meggie a kiss and went back to the door. "Believe me, it'll be safer in here, " he said.

Meggie looked at him in concern. "Where are you going? You have to get some sleep, too. "

"Oh, I'm not tired. " His face gave away his lie. "Go to sleep now, all right?" Then he went out again.

Elinor pushed the broken shingles aside with her foot. "Come on, " she said, taking off her jacket and spreading it on the floor. "Let's try to make ourselves comfortable together. Your father's right, we must just imagine we're somewhere else. Why are adventures so much more fun when you read about them?" she murmured, stretching out on the floor.

Cautiously, Meggie lay down beside her. "At least it isn't raining, " remarked Elinor, looking at the collapsed roof. "And We have the stars above us, even if they're fading. Perhaps I ought to have a few holes knocked in my own roof at home. "

With an impatient nod, she told Meggie to lay her head on her arm. "In case any spiders try crawling into your ears while you're asleep, " she said, closing her eyes. "Oh Lord, " Meggie heard her add in a murmur, "I'll have to buy a new pair of feet, I really will. There's no hope for these. " With that she was asleep.

But Meggie lay with her eyes wide open, listening to the sounds outside. She heard Mo talking quietly to Dustfinger, but she couldn't make out the words. Once she thought she heard Basta's name. The boy Farid had stayed outside, too, but he made no sound.

Elinor began snoring after only a few minutes, but hard as Meggie tried she couldn't get to sleep, so she got up quietly and slipped outside. Mo was awake, sitting with his back against a tree, watching the morning light drive the night from the sky above the surrounding hills. Dustfinger was sitting a little farther off. He raised his head only briefly when Meggie came out of the hut. Was he thinking of the fairies and the goblins? Farid lay beside him, curled up like a dog, and Gwin was sitting at his feet eating something Meggie quickly turned her head away.

Dawn was breaking over the hills, casting light on summit after summit. Meggie saw houses in the distance, scattered like toys on the green slopes. The sea must lie somewhere beyond them. She put her head on Mo's lap and looked up at his face.

"They won't find us here, will they?" she asked.

"No, of course not!" he said, but his face wasn't half as carefree as his voice. "Why aren't you asleep in there with Elinor?"

"She snores, " murmured Meggie.

Mo smiled. Then, frowning, he looked down the hillside to the place where the path lay, hidden by rockroses, brambles, and thorns.

Dustfinger never took his eyes off the path, either. The sight of the two men on watch made Meggie feel better, and soon she was sleeping as deeply as Farid – as if the ground outside the tumbledown house were covered with downy feathers instead of thorns.

When Mo shook her awake, at first she thought it had all been just a bad dream – but his hand was over her mouth. He was holding a finger to his lips in warning. Meggie heard the rustle of grass and the barking of a dog. Mo pulled her to her feet and pushed her and Farid into the shelter of the dark hovel. Elinor was still snoring. She looked like a young girl with the light of dawn on her face, but as soon as Mo had woken her all her weariness, anxiety, and fear came rushing back.

Mo and Dustfinger stationed themselves by the doorway, one to the left and the other to the right, their backs pressed to the wall. Men's voices broke the quiet of the morning. Meggie thought she could hear the dogs sniffing and wished she could dissolve into thin air, odorless and invisible air. Farid stood beside her, his eyes wide. Meggie noticed for the first time that they were almost black. She had never seen such dark eyes, and his lashes were as long as a girl's.

Elinor was leaning against the wall opposite, biting her lips nervously. Dustfinger made a sign to Mo, and before Meggie realized what their plan was they made their way out. The olive trees where they took cover were stunted, with matted branches hanging almost to the ground, as if the weight of their leaves was too much for them. A child could easily have hidden behind them, but did they provide enough shelter for two grown men?

Meggie peered out of the doorway. Her heart was beating so fast that it almost suffocated her. Outside, the sun was rising higher and higher. Daylight crept into every valley, beneath every tree, and suddenly Meggie wished for the night again. Mo was kneeling down so his head couldn't be seen above the tangled branches. Dustfinger was pressed hard against a crooked tree trunk, and there, terrifyingly close, twenty paces at most away from the two of them, was Basta. He was making his way up the slope through thistles and knee-high grass.

"They'll have reached the valley by now!" Meggie heard a rough voice call, and next moment Flatnose appeared beside Basta. They had brought two vicious-looking dogs with them. Meggie saw the dogs' broad skulls pushing through the grass and heard them snuffling.

"What, with two children and that fat woman?" Basta shook his head and looked around. Farid peered past Meggie – and flinched back as if something had bitten him when he saw the two men.

"Basta?" Soundlessly, Elinor's lips formed his name. Meggie nodded, and Elinor went even paler than she was already.

"Damn it, Basta, how much longer are you going to trudge around here?" Flatnose's voice echoed a long way in the silence that lay over the hills. "The snakes will soon be waking up, and I'm hungry. Let's just say they fell into the valley with the car. We'll give it another push and no one will find out! The snakes will probably get them anyway. And if not, then they'll lose their way, starve, get sunstroke – oh, who cares what happens? But anyway we'll never see them again."

"He's been feeding them cheese!" Basta furiously hauled the dogs to his side. "That bloody little fire-eater has been feeding them cheese to ruin their noses. But nobody would believe me. No wonder they whine with joy every time they see his ugly mug."

"You beat them too much, " grunted Flatnose. "That's why they won't work for you. Dogs don't like being beaten. "

"Nonsense. You have to beat them or they'll bite you! They like the fire-eater because he's like them – he whines, he's sly, and he bites. " One of the dogs lay down in the grass and licked its paws. Angrily, Basta kicked it in the ribs and hauled it to its feet. "You can go back to the village if you like!" he spat at Flatnose, "But I'm going to get that fire-eater and cut off all his fingers one by one. Then we'll see how cleverly he can juggle. I always said he couldn't be trusted, but the boss thought his little tricks with fire were so entertaining."

"OK, OK. Everyone knows you can't stand him. " Flatnose sounded bored. "But he may have nothing to do with the disappearance of that bunch. You know he's always come and gone as he pleased. Maybe he'll turn up again tomorrow knowing nothing about it."

"Yeah, right, " growled Basta. He walked on. Every step brought him closer to the trees behind which Mo and Dustfinger were hiding. "And Silvertongue stole the fat woman's car key from under my pillow, did he? No. This time no excuses will do Dustfinger any good. Because he took something else, too – something of mine."

Involuntarily, Dustfinger put his hand to his belt, as if he were afraid that Basta's knife could call out to its master. One °f the dogs raised its head and tugged Basta on toward the trees.

"He's found something!" Basta lowered his voice. "The stupid creature's picked up a scent!"

Ten more paces, perhaps fewer, and he would be among the trees. What were they going to do? What on earth were they going to do?"

Flatnose was trudging along after Basta with a skeptical expression on his face. "They've probably scented a wild boar, " Meggie heard him say. "You want to be careful; they can run you right down. Oh no, I think there's a snake there. One of those black snakes. You've got the antidote in the car, right?"

He stood there perfectly still, rooted to the spot and staring down at the ground in front of his feet. Basta took no notice of him. He followed the snuffling dog. A few more steps and Mo would only have to reach out a hand to touch him. Basta unslung the shotgun from his shoulder, stopped, and listened. The dogs pulled to the left and jumped up at one of the tree trunks, barking.

Gwin was up there in the branches.

"What did I say?" called Flatnose. "They've scented a marten, that's all. Those brutes stink so strong even l could pick up their smell!"

"That's no ordinary marten!" hissed Basta. "Don't you recognize him?" His eyes were fixed on the ruined hovel.

Mo seized his opportunity. He sprang out from behind the tree, seized Basta, and tried to wrench the gun from his hands.

"Get him! Get him, you brutes!" bellowed Basta, and obviously the dogs were willing to obey him this time. They leaped up at Mo, baring their yellow teeth. Before Meggie could run to his aid, Elinor seized her and held her tight no matter how hard she struggled, just as she had done before back in her own house. But this time there was someone else to help Mo. Before the dogs could sink their teeth into him, Dustfinger had grabbed their collars. Meggie thought they would tear him apart when he dragged them off Mo, but instead they licked his hands, jumping up at him like an old friend, and almost knocking him down.

But there was still Flatnose. Luckily, he wasn't too quick on the uptake. That saved them – for a brief moment he simply stood there staring at Basta, who was still struggling in Mo's grip.

Meanwhile Dustfinger had hauled the dogs over to the nearest tree and was just winding their leashes around the cracked bark when Flatnose came out of his daze.

"Let them go!" he bellowed, pointing his shotgun at Mo.

With a suppressed curse, Dustfinger let the dogs loose, but the stone Farid threw moved faster than he did. It hit Flatnose in the middle of the forehead – an insignificant little stone, but the huge man collapsed in the grass at Dustfinger's feet like a felled tree.

"Keep the dogs off me!" called Mo as Basta fought to get control of his gun. One of the dogs had bitten Mo's sleeve. At least, Meggie hoped it was just his sleeve. Before Elinor could restrain her again she ran to the big dog and seized its studded collar. The dog wouldn't let go, however hard she pulled. She saw blood on Mo's arm, and she almost got hit on the head with the barrel of Basta's shotgun. Dustfinger tried to call off the dogs, and at first they obeyed him, or at least they let go of Mo, but then Basta succeeded in freeing himself, "Get him!" he shouted, and the dogs stood there growling, not sure whether to obey Basta or Dustfinger.

"Bloody brutes!" shouted Basta, pointing his shotgun at Mo's chest, but at that very moment Elinor pressed the muzzle of Flatnose's gun against his head. Her hands were shaking.

and her face was covered with red blotches as it always waswhen she was worked up, but she looked more than determined to use the gun.

"Drop the gun, Basta, " she said, her voice unsteady. "And not another word to those dogs! I may never have used a gun before but I'm sure I can manage to pull the trigger."

"Sit!" Dustfinger ordered the dogs. They looked uncertainly at Basta, but when he said nothing they lay down in the grass and let Dustfinger tie them to the tree.

Blood was trickling from Mo's sleeve. Meggie felt herself turn faint at the sight of it. Dustfinger bound up the wound with a red silk scarf that soaked up the blood. "It's not as bad as it looks, " he assured Meggie as she came closer, feeling weak at the knees.

"Got anything else in your backpack that we can use to tie him up?" asked Mo, nodding at the still unconscious Flatnose.

"Our friend with the knife here will need some packaging, too, " said Elinor. Basta glared at her viciously. "Don't stare at me like that, " she said, jamming the barrel of the gun into his chest. "I'm sure a gun like this can do as much damage as a knife, and believe you me, that gives me some very unpleasant ideas."

Basta twisted his mouth scornfully, but he never took his eyes off Elinor's forefinger, which was still on the trigger.

There was a length of cord in Dustfinger's pack, strong if not particularly thick. "It won't be enough for both of them, " Dustfinger said.

"Why do you want to tie them up?" inquired Farid. "Why not kill them? That's what they were going to do to us!"

Meggie looked at him in horror, but Basta laughed. "Well, fancy that!" he mocked. "We could have used that boy after all! But who says we were going to kill you? Capricorn wants you alive. Dead men can't read aloud. "

"Oh, really? And weren't you planning to cut off some of my fingers?" asked Dustfinger, tying the cord around Flatnose's legs.

Basta shrugged. "Since when does a man die of that?"

Elinor jabbed the barrel of the gun into his ribs so hard that he stumbled back. "Hear that? I think the boy's right. Maybe we really ought to shoot these thugs. "

But of course they didn't. They found a rope in the back pack that Flatnose had brought with him, and it gave Dustfinger obvious pleasure to tie up Basta. Farid helped him. He clearly knew something about tying up prisoners.

Then they put Basta and Flatnose in the ruined house. "Nice of us, right? The snakes won't find you quite so soon," said Dustfinger as they carried Basta through the narrow door way. "Of course it'll get pretty hot in here around midday, but maybe someone will have found you by then. We'll let the dogs go. If they have any sense they won't return to the village, but dogs don't often have much sense – so the whole gang will probably be out searching for you by this afternoon at the latest."

Flatnose did not come around until he was lying beside Basta under the ruined roof. He rolled his eyes furiously and went purple in the face, but neither he nor Basta could utter a sound because Farid had gagged them both, again very expertly.

"Wait a minute, " said Dustfinger, before they left the two men to their fate. "There's something else – something I've always wanted to do, " And to Meggie's horror he drew Basta's knife from his belt and went over to the prisoners with it.

"What's the idea?" asked Mo, barring his way. Obviously the same thought had occurred to him as it had to Meggie, but Dustfinger only laughed.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to cut a pattern in his face theway he decorated mine, " he said. "I only want to scare him a little. "

And he had already bent down to cut through the leather thong that Basta wore around his neck. It had a little bag closed with a red drawstring hanging from it. Dustfinger leaned over Basta and swung the bag back and forth in front of his face. "I'm taking your luck, Basta!" he said softly, straightening up. "Now there's nothing to protect you from the evil eye, and the ghosts and demons, black cats, and all the other things you're afraid of. "

Basta tried to kick out with his bound legs, but Dustfinger avoided him easily. "This is good-bye forever, I hope, Basta!" he said. "And if our paths should ever cross again, then I'll have this. " He tied the leather thong around his own neck. "I expect there's a lock of your hair in it, right? No? Well then, perhaps I'll take one. Doesn't burning someone's hair have a terrible effect on him?"

"That's enough!" said Mo, urging him away. "Let's get out of here. Who knows when Capricorn will realize these two are missing. By the way, did I tell you that he didn't burn quite all the books? There's one copy of Inkheart left. "

Dustfinger stopped as suddenly as if a snake had bitten him.

"I thought I ought to tell you," said Mo. "Even if it does put stupid ideas into your head."

Dustfinger just nodded. Then without a word he walked on.

"Why don't we take their van?" suggested Elinor when Mo headed back to the path. "They must have left it on the road. "

"Too dangerous, " said Dustfinger. "How do we know who might be waiting for us down there? And going back to it would take us longer than going on to the nearest village. A van like that is easily spotted, too. Do you want to set Capricorn on our trail?"

Elinor sighed. "It was just a thought, " she murmured, massaging her aching ankles. Then she followed Mo.

They kept to the path because the snakes were already moving through the tall grass. Once, a thin black serpent wriggled over the yellow soil in front of them. Dustfinger pushed a stick under its scaly body and threw it back into the thorn bushes. Meggie had expected the snakes to be bigger, but Elinor assured her that the smallest were the most dangerous. Elinor was limping, but she did her best not to hold up the others. Mo, too, was walking more slowly than usual. He tried to hide it, but the dog bite obviously hurt.

Meggie walked close to him and kept looking anxiously at the red scarf Dustfinger had used to bandage the wound. At last they came to a paved road. A truck with a load of rusty gas cylinders was coming toward them. They were too tired to hide, and anyway it wasn't coming from the direction of Capricorn's village. Meggie saw the surprised expression of the man at the wheel as he passed them. They must have looked very disreputable in their dirty clothes, drenched with sweat, and torn by all the thornbushes.

Soon afterward they passed the first houses. There were more and more of them on the slopes now, brightly color washed, with flowers growing outside their doors. Trudging on, they came to the outskirts of a fairly large town. Meggie saw multistory buildings, palm trees with dusty leaves, and, suddenly, still far away but shining silver in the sun, a glimpse of the sea.

"Heavens, I hope they'll let us into a bank, " said Elinor. "We look as if we'd fallen among thieves. " "Well, so we have, " said Mo.