Grimsdon by Deborah Abela Page B

leave.
    â€˜You can come back,’ he said. ‘Can you bring more of these?’
    Isabella nodded. ‘As many as you like.’
    Xavier made sure they were out of the old man’s hearing before he spoke. ‘Are you crazy? Why do you want to come back?’
    â€˜Griffin would love to see the astrolabe.’ She paused. ‘And I want to know more about how the floods happened.’
    â€˜Does it matter?’
    â€˜It might. That’s what I plan to find out.’

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
A Murdering Madman

    Meanwhile, far to the west, the Wicked Witch was sitting outside her castle, surveying her kingdom. She had only one eye, but it was as powerful as a telescope. She could see everything in her kingdom. When she looked around, she spotted Dorothy and her friends. The Wicked Witch was very angry that they had dared to enter her kingdom. She blew hard on a silver whistle hanging around her neck, summoning a snarling pack of big, grey wolves. They had long legs, fierce eyes, and extremely sharp teeth.

    â€˜Go find those strangers and tear them apart!’ commanded the Wicked Witch.

    â€˜Aren’t you going to make them slaves, the way you usually do?’ asked the wolf pack’s leader.

    â€˜No,’ snapped the Wicked Witch. ‘They would not make very good slaves. One is made of tin, one is made of straw, and the lion is a coward. That leaves a weak girl and her silly little dog.’

    (From The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum)
    â€˜We’re here!’ Xavier jumped through the window.
    The twins leapt up from the lounge where they’d snuggled under a blanket with Fly. ‘What did you bring back?’
    Xavier held out his hands as Isabella climbed in behind him. ‘Nothing.’
    â€˜Nothing? You’ve been gone for hours!’ Griffin lay The Wizard of Oz on the table.
    â€˜We met someone.’ Xavier sat at the table and took an apple from the bowl.
    â€˜You met someone?’ Griffin asked Isabella. ‘Where?’
    â€˜At the State Library.’
    â€˜An adult.’ Xavier took another bite.
    â€˜Who was he?’
    Xavier screwed up his face. ‘Not sure. Interesting guy to talk to.’
    â€˜You talked to him?’ Griffin asked. ‘What if he was a murderer? What if he had a weapon?’
    â€˜He did. He tried to attack us with a fish.’
    â€˜A fish?’ Raffy asked.
    â€˜That’s silly.’ Bea laughed.
    â€˜And a bit smelly.’ Xavier sniffed. ‘And what if he was an interesting man who cooked us great-tasting fish and knows a whole lot about what happened three years ago?’
    â€˜What was his name?’ Griffin asked.
    â€˜He couldn’t remember,’ Isabella said. ‘But he had an astrolabe.’
    â€˜An astrolabe? A real one?’
    â€˜What’s an astrolabe?’ Raffy asked.
    â€˜It’s like an ancient computer used to predict the position of the sun and planets and–’
    â€˜And the floods,’ Xavier added. ‘Along with some kind of ancient book.’
    â€˜What book?’ Griffin asked.
    â€˜The Predictions,’ Isabella said.
    Griffin sank back into his seat. ‘So it really exists?’
    Fly held up her notepad: What is it?
    â€˜A book written by a philosopher called Galeotto over a thousand years ago. The Church and government accused him of challenging their authority and ordered the book to be destroyed. One man’s whole life’s work wiped out, just because he suggested the world worked differently than we thought. They say he went mad after that. Philosophers for centuries have suspected secret copies existed.’
    â€˜It seems at least one does.’ Isabella smiled.
    â€˜So maybe it was good we spoke to this murderous madman after all?’ Xavier finished his apple and slapped Griffin on the back.
    â€˜He still could be a murderer.’ Griffin’s eyebrows knotted. ‘He’s just a much more