Clothilde and Effie turned. In her arms Bertie was holding the most beautiful rug Effie had ever seen. It had been carefully woven in soft Otherworld yarns, and its unusual colors were interspersed with gold, turquoise and pink. It looked both brand new and a million years old. From the way Bertie was holding it, it seemed a lot more important than other rugs.

Clothilde gasped and put down her basket.

“You didn’t!” she said. “How long have you been working on this?”

“Oh, only the last year or so,” said Bertie shyly. “I had a fancy that you could be using one, especially when I heard you had plans to take the young one out more often. Do you like it?”

“Like it?” said Clothilde. “Oh, Bertie, I simply adore it! But it must have taken you much longer than a year. It’s exquisite. Look at all the perfect little stitches. Did you do it all on your own?”

“I did,” said Bertie, nodding proudly. “Course, it was the magic that took the longest. But anyway, now it should be fully charged with around a hundred or so moons of flying time. That’ll be enough to last a good long while. When it starts to wane, bring it back to me and I’ll recharge it for you.”

“A flying carpet?” said Effie.

Clothilde nodded. “Yes, made especially for us! Isn’t Bertie magnificent?”

“Absolutely!” said Effie, grinning. “Can we try it out now?”

“Of course,” said Clothilde. “I might just go and get my . . . Hold this!”

Clothilde gave Effie the rug and ran lightly up the stairs. When she returned she was wearing a necklace with a large shiny green gemstone in it.

“What’s that?” Effie asked.

“Greenstone,” said Clothilde. “Perhaps you call it jade, or pounamu.” She touched it, and it almost seemed to glow.

“Is it a boon?” asked Effie.

“Yes,” said Clothilde. “I hardly ever get to use all my explorer boons, because I so rarely go out. I mean, I do use them in the Great Library but that’s in quite a different way and . . .” She blushed. “I’ve always dreamed of having my own magic carpet. Only explorers can fly them, you see.”

“I didn’t know you were an explorer,” said Effie. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

Effie had gone through a phase of being quite obsessed with everyone’s kharakter and art. She’d quizzed all members of the Truelove household—including Bertie and the gardeners—and knew that Rollo, Clothilde’s brother, was a scholar engineer and Pelham Longfellow was a hunter witch. Bertie was an elysian hedgewitch. Cosmo was a wizard, of course, which meant he was now every kharakter and art at once, but Effie had got him to tell her about his time as a young cleric guide. Her cousin, however, had always found some way of avoiding having this conversation with Effie.