The Witch's Revenge Read Online Free PDF Page A

inside
immediately.
”
    â€œBut …,” Morag began.
    â€œIt’s perfectly safe,” Aldiss assured her. “It’s an old-fashioned Air Elevator. You’re held up by an enchanted draft. Look, I’ll go first and you lot can follow.”
    Before anyone could stop him, Aldiss scampered over to the doorway and with a “Geronimo!” dove into the dark chasm. When he fell into nothing he realized the “enchanted draft” was missing. “Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” he screamed as he plummeted into the murky shadows.
    â€œBother!” said the lift, sounding surprised. “I wasn’t ready. Hold on, sir, hold on!”
    There was a creaking and groaning as the air came on and the screaming stopped. Then there was silence. Morag looked over the edge. She could see nothing, only the sort of darkness that made you think you had lost your sight.
    â€œAldiss?” she shouted, her voice echoing down the chamber. “Aldiss? Are you all right? Aldiss? Answer me! Have you hurt yourself?”
    â€œNo, no bones broken,” Aldiss called back. “No thanks to Rosemary!”
    â€œI’m sorry, sir. If you had only given me a bit of warning …,” retorted the lift.
    â€œWarning? You’re supposed to be ready all the time.”
    Morag rolled her eyes and turned to speak to Shona and Bertie, but found them gone. They were ten stairs down when she called after them.
    â€œWhere are you going? Aren’t you taking the lift?”
    â€œAfter that? I’d rather try and fly!” the dodo answered, plodding down the stairs two at a time.
    â€œWe’ll see you at the bottom,” said the dragon, bounding after him, her great green tail snaking behind.
    â€œWell,” Morag said to herself. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” She strode over and shouted, “Get ready, Rosemary!” With tightly shut eyes, she launched herself into the lift shaft, and into a fierce gust of balmy air.
    â€œGoing down!” called Rosemary cheerfully as Morag watched the doorway speed away from her. Faster and faster she fell, until she thought the skin was going to be blown from her face and her hair ripped out at the roots. The tails of her open duffle coat flew behind her like a woolly red parachute. She jolted to a sudden halt in midair. In the darkness, she could see nothing, hear nothing and smell nothing except for the faint odor of fresh grease.
    There was a blink of light. A Moonstone switched on, filling the narrow lift shaft with a soft blue haze. Morag felt herself being gently set down on the floor as a door opened to reveal Aldiss waiting for her. His little furry face brokeinto a wide grin when he saw her, exposing a set of huge yellow teeth.
    â€œWow!” she laughed as she stepped out. “That was amazing!”
    â€œLet’s do it again!” he cried excitedly.
    â€œThere will be plenty of time for that later,” said another voice firmly.
    They turned to see Bertie on the stairs, followed by Shona.
    â€œCome on, we’ve got work to do,” added the dragon. “Montgomery needs to be told about the missing tooth.
    And fast!”

4
    Montgomery lived in a large house surrounded by high hedges and acres of grassland on the edge of Marnoch Mor. Its solitary position gave him the privacy he needed for his “research.” What that involved was a mystery to everyone but Montgomery, and that was how he liked it. Because the house was set back from the road, its red-tiled roof was all that was visible from the front gate, where Morag, Bertie, Aldiss and Shona now found themselves. The gate was as tall as a double-decker bus and cast from silver from the Denebola star—according to Bertie. It had been shaped by a master silversmith into intricate swirling patterns that, the dodo informed them, depicted the four elements: water, fire, earth and wind.
    â€œAll very nice,” said the dragon,