T hirty seconds later a very drowsy Jenna was outside the tepee with Septimus and Beetle standing on either side of her like sentries. She blinked into the bright moonlight and looked around, puzzled.
Ullr yawned and stretched, digging his claws into the damp grass.
Far on the other side of the Summer Circle an argument about a cooking pot was developing. Under the cover of the raised voices Septimus whispered, "Jen - we've got to get out of here. Right now.
Come on."
"But why? I'm so tired, Sep."
"Too bad, Jen. You can't stay here. Come on."
"But where to? I'm not going into the Forest at night. No way."
"Come on, Jen." Septimus gave Beetle a look - then they both grabbed an arm and lifted her off her feet.
"Hey!" Jenna protested.
"Shhh..." Septimus and Beetle hissed.
"Put...me...down," Jenna whispered, and then, veering into Princess voice, "Right now." Beetle and Septimus put Jenna down.
"Come on, Jen," Septimus pleaded. "You have to trust us. Please."
Jenna trusted Septimus completely, but what she did not trust was the Forest at night. Reluctantly, she walked down the hill with Septimus and Beetle, leaving behind the warmth of the campfire and the circle of illuminated tepees like upturned yellow cones on the hilltop, and headed to the dark uncertainty of the Forest. Even with the NightUllr by her side, Jenna felt fearful - and then she saw something that made her feel very afraid. Far below, half hidden in the trees, was a flickering flame coming toward just the point they were heading for. Jenna stopped and glared at Septimus and Beetle, daring them to even think about picking her up again. "There's a Forest Wraith," she whispered. "It's heading straight for us."
"It's not a Forest Wraith, Jen." The moonlight caught Septimus's grin and Jenna saw his green eyes shine. "It's Sam."
"Jo-Jo will kill me," said Sam, sounding remarkably cheerful about the prospect.
"I'm really sorry," said Septimus as they followed him along the track between the tall Forest trees.
"I'm not," Sam replied. "I've had enough of those giggling witches keeping me awake at night.
They're a pain. I don't know what Jo-Jo, Edd and Erik see in them."
Beetle thought he did know, but he didn't say anything. He was too busy trying to keep up. Sam set a fast pace. He was carrying a long branch of oak that had been dipped in tar and burned with a strong flame, and Beetle wanted to keep as close to it as he possibly could. The track narrowed and plunged into a particularly dark patch, and the group was forced to travel single file, with Beetle the last in line. Stories about wolverines picking off the weakest stragglers kept going through his head, and he was determined not to give the slightest impression of straggling.
Sam was a confident leader. He strode on steadily and slowed only once when a long, rolling growl rumbled out of the darkness in front of them. Despite an answering snarl from Ullr, the growl continued and on the path ahead Beetle saw the yellow glint of two pairs of eyes. Suddenly Sam jabbed his torch into the dark - there was a sharp yelp and a smell of singed fur. Quickly, they hurried on, with Beetle almost treading on Septimus's heels in an effort to keep up. But he kept glancing behind just in case the yellow eyes had decided to try their luck.
A few minutes later the track broadened and Beetle began to feel much better - he could see the dancing flames of a campfire flickering through the trees and he knew they must be approaching Camp Heap. As they followed Sam into the wide clearing, three gangly figures jumped up from where they had been lolling around the fire and ran to greet them.
Beetle had never met Septimus's Forest brothers before, although Septimus had told him all about them. Beetle was surprised; he realized he had been expecting larger versions of Septimus but they were all young men - tall, thin and gangly with a wild look to them. They wore an assortment of furs and colorful tunics, woven by various admiring young witches, and they looked, thought Beetle, as though they belonged in the Forest even more than the witches did. The only similarity between Septimus and his brothers was the Magykal green eyes and the Heap hair - straw-colored curls that the Forest Heaps had turned into long, matted rat tails.
"That was quick," said one with feathers woven into his rat tails.
"Yeah," replied Sam, "and a lot quieter than usual."
"Marissa...Marissa?" Another Heap with a collection of plaited leather headbands around his rat tails peered at the group behind Sam. "Hey, he's brought a load of kids. Where's Marissa?"
"For your information, Jo," said Sam, "this load of kids is your brother and sister, not to mention your sister's panther." Sam waved his hand at Ullr, who was almost invisible in the shadows. The boys whistled, impressed. "Oh..." Sam tried to remember what Septimus had called the older boy with the black hair. "Oh yeah, and there's Cockroach."
"No, actually it's Bee - " But Beetle's protests were lost in the argument that was rapidly developing between Jo-Jo and Sam.
Jo-Jo Heap looked angry. "So you haven't brought Marissa?"
"No."
"Pigs, Sam. It's been ages. All that time Dad was hanging around here I couldn't see her and then when he was up at the Circle I couldn't, and now he's gone and I can and you haven't brought Marissa."
"Well, you go get her, then," said Sam, thrusting the burning torch into Jo-Jo's hands. "I'm tired of doing all the night stuff anyway. You can do it."
"All right, then, I will." Jo-Jo strode off with the branch and Sam watched him go with a surprised look.
"Will he be okay?" asked Septimus.
Sam shrugged. "Yeah. I expect so." Then he grinned. "He'll be fine on the way back that's for sure.
Marissa will scare anything away."
The two remaining brothers - Edd and Erik - laughed. Then one of them said, a little shyly, "Hello, Jen."
"Hello, Edd," said Jenna, equally shyly.
"Hey, you can tell."
"Of course I can. I never got you muddled up, did I? Not even when you tried to fool me."
Edd and Erik both laughed. "No, you didn't, not once," said Erik, remembering that they could sometimes fool even their mother - but never Jenna.
Sitting by the warmth of the campfire, with the comforting snap and crackle of the logs and the faint sizzle of a row of tiny fish cooking in the background, Jenna listened to Septimus and Beetle as they related what they had heard that night from the other side of the tepee.
"Well, that's just stupid," she said. "Ephaniah wouldn't do that. Anyway, he couldn't. No one can give a person to someone."
"It's different with witches," said Septimus.
"I'd like to see them try," said Jenna scornfully.
"He's right, Jen," said Sam. "It is different with witches. There are different rules - their rules. You think you are doing what you want, but then you find out that all along you've been doing what they want. Look at Jo-Jo."
"Jo-Jo's doing exactly what he wants," sniggered Edd and Erik.