“Everyone’s dancing provided the power Wolf and Leander needed to unbind everyone.”

“How did unbinding people save the world?”

“Well, it wasn’t just that. It was Lexy, and Raven, and not letting the Diberi do what they had planned. . . .” Effie didn’t know exactly how to explain it all. “Actually a lot of the most powerful members of the Gothmen had been bound. Even Mrs. Hide from my school.”

“How did your fat friend avoid it?”

“I was giving him extra power,” said Effie. “I owed him.”

“And how were you doing that?”

“It’s a bit complicated to explain.”

“Why are you so special anyway? You seem to be the center of all these things.”

“I don’t know, Dad. I really have no idea.”

“Anyway,” said Orwell. “I hope you realize that I still don’t believe in magic.”

“I know.”

“Or weather.”

“Yes, Dad.”

There was a long pause.

“And what happened to Professor Thingy? Hardforest, or whatever he was called?”

“Gotthard Forestfloor? Oh. He got recycled. Did you miss that bit? You can’t have. It was very dramatic.”

“Recycled? What does that mean? Are we going to be getting a visit from the police?”

“Raven explained it to me,” said Effie. “He’d eaten so many animals in his life that she and the Free Cats League were able to perform an ancient spell on him. You can summon the spirits of all the animals a person has ever eaten and then the spirits take back from the person energy equivalent to what the person took from them. The energy is released back into the universe. If it’s more energy than the person has, then . . . That’s pretty much it. It wouldn’t affect most normal people in the world now because most people get their energy in lots of different ways, and don’t live long enough for it to be a problem. But it turns out it’s a very reliable way of killing a two-hundred-year-old carnivore.”

“So you’ve basically just killed someone.”

“Nope. It was just bad karma. He did it to himself.”

“Right. And what about the Guild?”

“I don’t know.” Effie sighed. “I don’t think they’re going to like any of this. Pelham Longfellow and Professor Quinn just left for a meeting with Masterman Finch in London, but no one has high hopes.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Effie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because you seem actually interested for once.”

Orwell Bookend sighed. “We can take on the Guild,” he said quietly. “We’ve done it before.”

“We?” said Effie, raising her eyebrows.

But Orwell didn’t reply. He just frowned and went back to looking intently at the road.

When they got in, Orwell started telling Cait everything she’d missed. He employed his usual storytelling style, which involved exaggerating everything that was actually insignificant, and completely glossing over the most exciting bits.