It was in the mood to grant wishes. But where had everyone gone? And now who was this, suddenly flying through the night sky on a small broomstick with a black cat sitting at the end of it? Could it be . . . ? Well. What joy! It was the Luminiferous Ether’s favorite correspondent, Raven Wilde. She always wrote it such polite letters, always enquired after its health, always asked for such interesting, selfless things. Well, thought the Luminiferous Ether, she was certainly in the right place at the right time. Well sort of. After all, it wasn’t that safe for any human to be in the sky at this moment, with ball lightning flashing more regularly, and a tornado just starting up over the Mrs. Joyful School.

The Old Town was really being hammered. There were Blue Jets, Red Sprites, tennis ball–size hail, a couple of fire devils, and one large example of the phenomenon known in warmer climes as a willy-willy, a spinning vortex of dust and debris that had unfortunately got hold of the Blessed Bartolo sports dome and deposited it far out to sea.

The Luminiferous Ether quickly created a large, soft lenticular cloud and put his friend and her cat inside it. They would now be safe while they told the Luminiferous Ether exactly what they wanted.

Orwell Bookend was having a lovely evening so far. It didn’t matter that it looked as if the world was going to end outside. Orwell was one of those people who did not really believe in weather, and so the massive hailstones currently pulverizing the neighborhood didn’t bother him at all. It was cozy inside anyway, with the fire dancing in the grate and baby Luna eating a bowl of custard while everyone else had thick chestnut soup and homemade focaccia.

Terrence Deer-Hart had complimented Orwell on his choice of wine but then looked baffled and a little afraid when Orwell and Cait began talking about all the notable children’s books they’d read in their lifetimes. Any talk about other authors simply drove Terrence mad. He sort of felt like poking out his own eyes.

Not long after six, Effie looked at her watch. Wasn’t Terrence supposed to be kidnapping her? She wondered how he was going to do it. Whatever he had planned wasn’t going to work anyway, even if he did remember his mission. Effie was full of power, and, with her ring on, had the strength of several adults. It was becoming clear that if she wanted to infiltrate the Diberi, she was going to have to kidnap herself.

“I’ve got to go back to the university,” Effie said, standing up. “I’m helping set up for the Midwinter Lecture.”

“In this weather?” said Cait.

“It’s only a bit of hail,” said Orwell.

“A bit of hail!” said Cait. “Orwell, have you looked out of the window lately? There was an actual tornado before.”