Deep Secret (Magids 1) - Page 69

If your feet are speedy and light

You can get there by candle-light.”

Rob was saying the words too, I noticed. Interesting. Maree seemed to be murmuring them along with Nick. Nick spoke them out with a will, until I saw him realise that he was going to have to coax Maree along through seventy miles – no, a hundred and forty miles – before these candles burnt out. He faltered a little and stared at me in some horror, but he kept on speaking the verse.

I spoke my own verse next. That seemed to me to be where it should come.

“Where is the road to Babylon?

Right beside your door.

Can I walk that way whenever I want?

No, three times and no more.

If you mark the road and measure it right

You can go there by candle-light.”

Halfway through this verse, Nick’s eyes widened. I could see him focus on something well beyond the walls of the room. He pulled at Maree and they both began slowly to walk forward, between the two rows of candles. We moved towards them, striking light from increasingly hot lighters, lighting a candle, moving on. I said Stan’s verse next.

“How do I go to Babylon?

Outside of here and there.

Am I crossing a bridge or climbing a hill?

Yes, both before you’re there.

If you follow outside of day and night

You can be there by candle-light.”

By that time we were on the last two candles. Even at Maree’s slow shuffle, she and Nick had nearly reached the wall of the room. Will struck a light. It burnt him and his face pursed up with pain as he said his verse.

“How hard is the road to Babylon?

As hard as grief or greed.

What do I ask for when I get there?

Only for what you need.

If you travel in need and travel light

You can get there by candle-light.”

We lit the last two candles, both stifling exclamations of pain from hot lighters, crouched in the awkward space beside the door. From there, to my awe and relief, we could see the road. It wound into undulating dark distance beyond the two candles at the end, and it seemed to be made of, or picked out in, faint grey light. There was a sketch of a countryside out there, but awesome because it was on a different plane from the carpet and curtains surrounding it. As Stan’s verse stated, it was entirely outside here and now. I was relieved, because the old magic had worked and, thanks to Will, worked without so much as nudging the node, and because it is so much easier to hold open a road you can actually see. And whatever plane it was on, the physical presence of the place out there was undeniable. There was a sharp downwards slope in the road just beyond the two final candles. Nick and Maree were going down it, only visible from Maree’s head upwards as they went. This meant they were going out of earshot. I was glad. There was still one more verse to say and I hoped they would not hear it. Rob again joined in as Will and I recited it.

“How long is the way to Babylon?

Three score years and ten.

Many have gone to Babylon

But few come back again.

If your feet are nimble and light

Tags: Diana Wynne Jones Magids Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024