Superior Saturday(27)

‘The cheese is ready,’ said Dr Scamandros. He held up the two pieces, each roughly triangular and about ten inches long.

‘Do we have to eat it all?’ Arthur didn’t sound excited by the prospect.

‘Um, perhaps not.’ Scamandros hesitated. ‘About two-thirds should do the trick . . . but it would be best to err on the side of completion.’

‘Right,’ said Arthur. ‘All we need now is Lieutenant Finewhisker to open the Nebuchadnezzar – oh, I almost forgot. You were going to give me something to hide the Key’s thingummies—’

Dr Scamandros nodded and fossicked about inside his coat for a few moments before bringing out a crumpled piece of glittering metallic cloth that looked rather like a crushed tinfoil hat. He smoothed it out and pushed the edges apart, revealing that it was a small rectangular bag.

‘Put the Key in there, and they won’t sniff it out,’ he said, handing it over. ‘At least not unless they’re very close and looking for it.’

Arthur took the mirror-shaped Fifth Key and put it in the bag. He pulled its drawstring tight, then opened it again, to put Elephant inside as well. Then after almost closing it, he added the Mariner’s medal that he’d been wearing on a makeshift dental-floss chain around his neck. With all three items safely in the bag, he finally drew the drawstring tight and tied the cord securely around his left wrist.

‘The cheese will complete your transformation,’ said Scamandros.

‘Except the Raised Rats usually wear clothes, so we’ll need some too,’ said Arthur. ‘We should get some of the sailor’s breeches or something. Is there anything in that chest over there?’

No one moved.

‘Have a look, please, Suzy,’ Arthur said.

Finally Suzy wandered over, threw open the chest, and rummaged about, retrieving several very fine uniforms that must have belonged to Lieutenant Finewhisker. Suzy threw a pair of breeches and a white shirt over to Arthur, and put on a similar set herself. She looked longingly at a long, swallow-tailed coat with its swirling azure patterns before reluctantly returning it to the chest.

‘Keep track of my gear, Doc,’ she said to Scamandros. ‘I’ll be wanting it, by and by.’

‘I guess we’re good to go,’ said Arthur. He looked across at Suzy and raised his cheese. She raised her lump back, as if making a toast.

‘Let’s eat!’ said Arthur, and he bit his cheese.

It wasn’t very tasty cheese. Arthur swallowed another huge mouthful and felt suddenly quite sick, the cabin spinning as it never had before. He started to say something about seasickness, and the change in the swell, but stopped. He was dizzy because he was shrinking and his eyes were moving in his head. His field of vision was changing – the things in front of him were harder to see, but he could see far more to the sides. The cabin was brighter than it had been too.

‘Excellent!’ exclaimed Scamandros. A tattooed torrent of Rats ran out from under his neckcloth and up the side of his face. ‘It works.’

‘Yes,’ said Arthur. He looked down at his odd, foreshortened arms and saw they ended in pink paws. ‘I’m a Raised Rat.’

His voice was higher-pitched and husky. He raised one paw to check that the bag with the Key and Elephant was still there. It felt much heavier than it had before, but it was securely fastened.

Arthur slowly began to get dressed, his paws fumbling till he got used to them, and to his different vision. He’d just finished doing up his trouser buttons when Lieutenant Finewhisker knocked and entered the cabin without waiting for a reply. He saluted Arthur, who inclined his snout in greeting.

‘Ready for the Nebuchadnezzar, Lord Arthur?’ Finewhisker asked.

‘Yes,’ Arthur replied.

‘Very nice clothes you have on, if I may say so,’ said Finewhisker cheerily. ‘Excellent taste. Now, a twist here, a twist on the other side . . .’

He deftly removed the wire cage that held the cork in place, and then gently turned the huge cork, easing it out. It made a screeching fingernails-on-the-blackboard noise as it slowly revolved out, and then a surprisingly small pop as it came free and Finewhisker staggered back with it in his arms.

A thin waft of smoke billowed out the neck of the bottle – black, choking coal smoke.

‘You need to jump straight through the neck,’ Finewhisker instructed. ‘A good strong jump with your paws forward. Avoid touching the glass if you can.’

‘Thank you, Finewhisker,’ said Arthur. ‘Thank you too, Doctor Scamandros. I will see you at the Citadel, I hope.’

‘Good luck, Lord Arthur,’ said the sorcerer. He bowed and added, ‘The spell will last a few hours, I should think.’