Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac

his wrist. ‘Sting me not — O
white worm!’ he gasped and stood very still, hoping the snake would crawl back
into its strange home without biting him.
     

     
    Then he
realized that it wasn’t a snake after all and poked at it. He tasted it and
found that he liked it, so he squeezed another white worm from the tube and
licked it up with relish, while behind him water from the basin began to
overflow on to the floor because the plug was in the plug hole, a precaution
Mrs Gowdie always took to keep spiders out.
    There
came a warning croak from Touchwood, marooned between the taps. Catweazle
looked round and saw the water pouring on to the carpet. He grasped the tap and
shook it.
    ‘O
water, I command thee vanish!’ he cried in a panic. ‘Salmay. Dalmay. Adonay!’
He drew Adamcos and waved it hopefully. The water took no notice and Catweazle
began to fizz with panic as Touchwood lowered himself grumpily into the water
and floated across the basin and croaked to be lifted out.
    ‘Nothing
works,’ whimpered Catweazle. ‘Nothing works!’
    The
bedroom was immediately above the sitting room where the Collingfords were
having tea.
    ‘You
haven’t written much this term,’ said Lady Collingford.
    ‘I’ve
written half an opera,’ said Cedric.
    ‘We
meant to us, Cedric,’ said Lord Collingford. ‘Music’s a jolly good hobby but
you don’t want to get too wrapped up in it. You seemed to spend most of the
Easter holidays in your bedroom.’
    Cedric
said nothing. They didn’t know that it was during the Easter holidays he had
found the secret staircase and the magic chamber, and he was sure Lord Alfred
had hidden the treasure somewhere inside it.
    ‘It’s
such a pity you can’t find a friend who lives reasonably near,’ said his
mother, and then looked up as a large drop of water fell into her tea cup. An
ominous crack was spreading across the ceiling. Beads of water ran along it and
began to drip down steadily.
    Cedric
jumped to his feet and tore out of the sitting-room leaving his parents staring
at the ceiling in horror.
     

     
    He shot
up the stairs two at a time and ran along the corridors until at last he
reached his bedroom.
    The
floor seemed to be one big puddle. Quickly he pulled the plug out of the basin
and turned the tap off. The secret panel was not quite shut and he knew the
strange old man was hiding behind it.
    ‘I’ll
kill you,’ he hissed at the panel. Catweazle slid it open and looked out
anxiously.
    ‘Kill
me not,’ he said.
    ‘You
ought to be locked up.’
    ‘Nay,
not again!’ cried Catweazle, sliding the panel shut as his thumbs pricked once
more.
    A
moment later Lady Collingford appeared in the doorway carrying a mop. ‘Oh
Cedric!’ she sighed, looking at the pool of water.
    ‘I must
have forgotten to turn off the tap,’ said Cedric unhappily, ‘I’m terribly
sorry. I’ll mop it up.’
    He
looked so miserable that his mother relented. She handed him the mop. ‘I know
it was an accident,’ she said. ‘I’d better go and calm your father.’
    When
she had gone, Cedric opened the panel again.
    ‘What
did you mean. Not again?’ he asked a cringing Catweazle.
    ‘I come
from the time of the Normans,’ the magician confided as he climbed back. ‘They
imprisoned me, but I escaped.’
    ‘Oh,
did you?’ said Cedric backing away nervously.
    ‘ ’Tis
my second journey hither,’ said Catweazle, putting his finger on the light
switch. ‘I know of thy magic. ’Tis thine electrickery. Shine tiny sun!’ and he
switched on the light. He wondered if Cedric would reveal more of the
mysteries.
    ‘Teach
me all thy magic,’ he said, ‘and I will teach thee mine.’
    ‘Teach
me magic!’ gasped Cedric. ‘You’re not serious?’ ‘Did I not read thy flying
spell?’
    ‘Look,
this is the twentieth century! If I want to fly I’ll get on a plane.’
    ‘Nay,
not a plain — a mountain. Thou must be on high. But first we must find the
thirteen signs.’
    ‘I’ll
be as potty as you in a minute! Listen, you find them and then come back and
show me how well you can fly.’
    ‘Wilt
thou not help me?’
    Cedric
looked at Catweazle. There was certainly something very mysterious about him.
    ‘All
right, I’ll see,’ he said. ‘But you’ve got to go now, so follow me and keep
quiet.’
    There
was nobody about as they reached the staircase. Cedric perched on the banister
rail and slid silently and smoothly down to the hall. ‘All clear,’ he whispered
up to the