Rose (19 page)

“What?” Rose, Freddie, and Gustavus snapped together, and Mr. Fountain looked at them in surprise, as though he'd almost forgotten they were there.

“Ah. Well, I wonder if she might retain some of her own strength within the elemental force.”

Rose frowned. “But…it ate her,” she pleaded.

“She was very strong,” Freddie agreed, sitting down rather heavily on an ottoman. “She might have fought back.”

“You said all her power was in the glamours!” Rose rounded on Gus, who had leaped onto the ottoman too and was now washing his ears in the way of a cat who wants to be busy.

“Mmmpf. So it was. But even an elemental spirit might be changed if it consumed all that magic,” he murmured in between swipes of his paw.

“So she's coming back.” Rose subsided onto the ottoman next to them. “It was all for nothing.”

“Rose!” Mr. Fountain sat up swiftly and caught her chin, holding her face up to glare into her eyes. “How can you say that? Look at them.” He turned her face to stare at the children soaking up the firelight. “You, Freddie, my own daughter. All these other sons and daughters. People's children! You brought them back.”

“Actually, a lot of them are orphans,” Rose whispered.

“Sons and daughters once, and still precious,” Mr. Fountain said sternly. “All life is precious.” He turned her to face him once more, and gazed at them all with troubled eyes. “Strange though it sounds, I'm almost relieved you didn't kill Alethea Sparrow. You think you'd be glad now, but killing people weighs on you. Even if there are reasons that seem too good to be denied. You're too young to have killed someone, both of you.”

Gus yawned, showing his very long teeth, and stood up, stepping delicately onto Rose's lap. “Rose, dear,” he mewed plaintively. “Interesting as this philosophical discussion is, I haven't eaten since those rather squashed fish-paste sandwiches.” He butted her chin affectionately, his face like bristly velvet. “Don't worry, dear girl. Even if she does come back, it won't be for a while. You've got time to learn how to get her for good.”

Rose stared at him and couldn't help smiling. For a moment she'd forgotten that she was going to be allowed to do more than clean the workroom. She was going to be Mr. Fountain's apprentice. Even if Freddie was bound to make her do all the most boring bits of the spells for months and months. She hugged Gus gratefully and stood up, dropping Mr. Fountain a last awkward curtsy around Gus's solid furry body.

“Excuse me, sir,” she murmured politely. “I have to feed the cat.”

Holly was born and grew up in southeast London, but spent a lot of time on the Suffolk coast. As a child, she had two dogs, a cat, and at one point, nine gerbils (an accident). At about ten, Holly fell in love with stories from Ancient Greek myths, which led to studying Latin and Greek, and eventually to reading Classics at university. She worked for five years as a children's fiction editor before deciding that writing was more fun, and easier to do from a sofa. Now living in Reading with her husband, three sons, and one cat, Holly runs a Guide unit. The Rose books stem from a childhood love of historical novels, and the wish that animals really could talk.