Stolen Magic(32)

“You’re not coming, too, Masteress?” Master Robbie asked.

IT didn’t answer. “My interviews yielded little. The so-called historian was as unrevealing as a clam. See if you can get more from him. The sugary Ursa-bee and the lumpish Johan-bee admitted to leaving their posts at the same time.”

“Lambs and calves!”

“Whales and porpoises!”

IT continued calmly. “Johan-bee frequently visits the privy and remains there interminably, attested to by all the bees I spoke with. Ursa-bee heard weeping, which she was unable to resist. That was likely the handkerchief you so ably mansioned, Lodie.”

“Thank you.”

“Johan-bee and Ursa-bee were the only two who confessed to abandoning their station, but others may have as well. Everyone was exceedingly lax, as if a theft could never occur.”

“After they returned,” Elodie said, “did Johan-bee and Ursa-bee look to see if the Replica was gone?”

“They did, and the Replica remained. We know then, at the very least, that at that time, the morning before the blizzard, the Replica still stood where it was supposed to—”

“Unless . . .” Master Robbie said.

Elodie stiffened.

ITs smoke reddened. “Do not interrupt me, boy.”

“Beg pardon!”

“Granted. I hope you have something important to contribute.”

“Unless there was a replica of the Replica that could have tricked them.”





CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE



Silence fell.

After a minute, Masteress Meenore said, “This boy has an original mind, Lodie.”

Master Robbie fairly glowed.

Elodie felt a pinprick of jealousy. Which was better, she wondered, penetrating or original? “The recess in the chimney is darker than the rest of the room,” Elodie conceded. “There are no glowworms in the hiding place. A person could be fooled.”

IT blew green smoke, signifying dragon confusion. “A new possibility when there already are too many. Master Robbie, you have wandered the corridors of the Oase since your arrival, have you not?”

“Sometimes.”

“Can you incise in the dirt a map of the corridors around High Brunka Marya’s room? Include the chambers there, and do not omit either the storage area or the garderobe to which Johan-bee was wont to retire.”

Master Robbie fetched a coal brazier poker and crouched to scratch lines in the dirt of the stable floor. While he worked, Elodie strained her ears for any sound that might mean His Lordship’s return.

ITs smoke grayed. “Lodie, why do you think I have no difficulty deciphering the lines of a map and yet cannot make out a single letter in a word?”

The tragedy of ITs life lay in ITs inability to read.

If they’d been alone, she’d have ventured to pet ITs leg. “I don’t know, Masteress.”

Master Robbie stood and backed away.

“Mmm. Fascinating. Mmm.” IT was silent. “Mmm.” More silence. “Listen well. If the thief, who, naturally, knew where the Replica was hidden, had merely picked the lock of the storage area—”

“Masteress—”

“Do not interrupt your betters, Lodie. What did you want to say?”

“I forgot to tell you—”

IT glared at her.

“The high brunka said the lock was made on the mainland and can’t be picked.”

“There is no lock that may not be picked unless a spell has been put on it, and perhaps one was. This lock may merely be difficult to pick, a lengthy endeavor, which the thief would wish to avoid. We will theorize along other lines. Assist me in my reasoning.”

Elodie knew from experience that IT wanted no assistance.

“If the Replica was an imitation, why not leave it there? But the recess was empty when you saw it, Lodie, yes?”

She nodded.

“Regrettably, you have not added anything to our deliberations, Master Robbie.”

“I’m sorry. I—”

“However, I admire your ingenuity. I continue my reasoning: When Ursa-bee said she and Johan-bee had verified that the Replica was still in its place, I suspected that the thief was concealed in the chamber with the two of them, but the storage room offers an even better hiding place. Let us assume then that the theft happened on their watch, and the blizzard frustrated escape. Master Robbie, your—”

“If that’s when it happened, that’s good, isn’t—”

“You have interrupted me again, Lodie.” IT sighed elaborately. “Yes. The later the better, although the urgency has hardly diminished. Master Robbie, your request to see the Replica again brought the theft to light. We may assume that the thief, or thieves—”

“Thieves, Masteress?”

“I will get to that, Lodie. The thief—or thieves—is alarmed, and frightened people may be deadly. Be sure to tell the high brunka that. Say deadly.”

She reminded IT, “Thieves?”

“A single thief may have done it. A pair would be more certain of success. The bees know Johan-bee’s routine, and the guests and the barber-surgeon do as well, do they not, Master Robbie?”

He nodded.

“When Johan-bee has left for the privy . . . But how does the thief know the precise moment he leaves? Although Ursa-bee said he often goes shortly before the end of a watch, this would have to be timed with exactitude.”