The Abbess’s paws knotted into the hem of her sleeve and her eyes were wide with fright as she breathed the terrible name. “Dryditch Fever! Are you sure, Mr. Furgle?”

The woodland recluse nodded his head sadly. “I wish I weren’t, Abbess, but it’s Dryditch Fever all right!”

15

Mara was awakened by something heavy descending upon her. The air was filled with wild gleeful croaking as she tried to stand but fell flat with the smothering weight. Her voice sounded muffled as she called out. “What’s going on? Pikkle, wake up!”

Beside her she felt Pikkle stirring into action. “Phwaw! I say, what’s apaw? This thing stinks!”

Mara managed to push him flat. She lay still a moment as she tried to make some sense of the situation. Instantly it became clear and the icy paw of fear gripped her. They were both enveloped in the meshes of a sprawling net fashioned from tough dried reedgrass and weighted all around with boulders. Through the small apertures she could see literally hundreds of large toads; the slimy creatures were waddling and hopping about in a primitive victory dance, their baggy throats puffing and swelling as they croaked a horrid tuneless chant. Most of them were armed with tridents or a curious type of flail with stone-tipped thongs.

The sand lizard Swinkee leaped triumphantly forward, brandishing the dagger and broken javelin that had been their only weapons. Thrusting his leering face close to the net, he slithered his tongue in and out as he watched the plight of Pikkle and Mara.

“Ksss! Howja feel now? Kaha kaha! Want ta pull me tail off, steal me den, abeat me up? Kksss!”

Mara was about to say that they had not harmed him, but she thought better of it. Unknowingly they had made a dangerous enemy. She tried reasoning with Swinkee. “I’m sorry about what happened. We didn’t mean to upset you. We promised to reward you if you took us back home.”

“Kksss! Liarssss!” The lizard spat through the meshes at her. “Youa don’t fool Swinkee. Kahaha! I got plenty swampflies ’n’ marshworms off King Glagweb inna trade for you. Swinkee-a like revenge. Kksss!”

Pikkle pawed at the net in helpless fury. “You’re an absolute bounder, Stinkee. D’you hear me? If I could get out of this confounded shrimp trap I’d raise a blister on your noggin that wouldn’t go down in a season!”

Before they could exchange further insults, the lizard was swept aside by a massively bloated toad, red-eyed and covered in repulsive yellow warts which blotched its slime-green skin from end to end. The toad prodded a long trident through the meshes, narrowly missing their eyes. “Thrrruk! Foodslaves be silent, krrik! Or you die!”

“Best do as he says—I think he means it!” Mara whispered under her breath to Pikkle.

The lizard bowed fawningly before the massive toad. “Kksss, Swinkee bring you gooda trade King Glagweb.”