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CHAPTER 1

A Clang Well Done

Sos

It was a su rain as fast as a winter storm

Miss Perspicacia Tick sat in what little shelter a raggedy hedge could give her and explored the universe She didn’t notice the rain Witches dried out quickly

The exploring of the universe was being done with a couple of twigs tied together with string, a stone with a hole in it, an egg, one of Miss Tick’s stockings (which also had a hole in it), a pin, a piece of paper, and a tiny stub of pencil Unlike wizards, witches learn to make do with a little

The iteether to make a…device It moved oddly when she prodded it One of the sticks see, for exa a mark

“Yes,” she said quietly, as rain poured off the rim of her hat “There it is A definite ripple in the walls of the world Very worrying There’s probably another world o there But…according to my left elbow, there’s a witch there already”

“She’ll sort it out, then,” said a small and, for now, mysterious voice from somewhere near her feet

“No, it can’t be right That’s chalk country over that way,” said Miss Tick “You can’t grow a good witch on chalk The stuff’s barely harder than clay You need good hard rock to groitch, believe“But enerally very reliable”

“Why talk about it? Let’s go and see,” said the voice “We’re not doing very well around here, are we?”

That was true The lowlands weren’t good to witches Miss Tick wasbits of hts She’d twice been thrown into ponds

“I can’t barge in,” she said “Not on another witch’s territory That never, ever works But…” She paused “Witches don’t just turn up out of nowhere Let’s have a look…”

She pulled a cracked saucer out of her pocket and tipped into it the rainwater that had collected on her hat Then she took a bottle of ink out of another pocket and poured in just enough to turn the water black

She cupped it in her hands to keep the raindrops out and listened to her eyes