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Bleak Creek was a dank and diseance, a Darke ship once berthed there, its waters lay deep and still, trapped between two rocky hillsides A few stunted trees halfheartedly clung to the gaunt slopes butand had fallen into the water, where they lay rotting, providing a perfect breeding ground for the infae of veno White Leech In the sunats patrolled the banks of the creek, but in the winter they were gone, thankfully Their absence wasBeetles, which ventured onto the land once the water grew cold Log Beetles could juh as six feet and would fasten their pincers into any flesh they could find and begin to chew The only way to remove them was to snap their heads off and wait for the pincers to die So for days until they fell off

Dotted a the sharp rocks that littered the hillsides were a few stone hovels built by ancient hermits, misfits and the odd person who had wanted a house by the water but had clearly suffered from a total lack of coh Septimus knew that at least one was Possessed

Not surprisingly Bleak Creek did not receive hostly ship or even to the hostile wildlife and the pungent s in the air It was because its entrance was guarded by the notorious Bottomless Whirlpool

Every Castle child knew the story of the Bottoreat battle between two Wizards in ancient times; hoas said that each Wizard had stirred up the waters into a frenzy in an effort to drown the other; that they had circled one another, faster and faster, until they had both been sucked into the depths and were never seen again Everyone knew that the whirlpool went down into the very center of the earth, and soht out to the other side

There were occasional day trips from the Castle to see the Bottomless Whirlpool These were often a thirteenth-birthday present After sailing into Bleak Creek to try and spot the Vengeance, the boats - full of new teens screa with excitement - would circle the whirlpool However, these trips were run by experienced skippers who knew the safe distance frons that a boat was being dragged toward it It was only the biggest, heaviest ships - as the Vengeance had once been - that could pass close by

Nicko knew for sure that Annie was not one of these He also knew that he was not one of those skippers who understood the safe distance frons that they were being dragged too close And so, as the forbidding rocky outcrops that heralded the entrance to Bleak Creek caan to feel nervous - but not as nervous as Septi alone in the prow of the boat, just behind the bowsprit and its large red sail that billowed in the wintry wind He had never - not even on the Do-or-Die Night Exercises in the Forest - felt so scared He glanced down at a small sheet of paper covered with Marcellus&039;s neat handwriting that set out so to fix in his head They were not unlike the Young Army Pre-Exercise Pointers (or PEPs) that the boys had had to memorize and then chant before each expedition This sense of deja vu added to Septi of doo Ar else And so, as he sat behind the bowsprit, Septiray water and chanted under his breath, learning the responses heDarke

"Who be you? Sum"

"How be you? Darke"

"What be you? The Apprentice of the Apprentice of the Apprentice of DomDaniel"

"Why come you here? I seek the Apprentice of DomDaniel"

Septimus was so absorbed that he did not notice Jenna and Nicko slipping into the spaces on either side of hi and then Jenna spoke

"We are co with you," she said

Septimus looked shocked "What?"

"Nik and Iwe have decided to coo alone," said Jenna

This had the opposite effect from what Jenna had intended - Septimus suddenly felt totally alone He realized that they had no idea about the utter impossibility of their request He shook his head

"Jen, you can&039;t It&039;s not possible Believe me"

Jenna saw the look in Septimus&039;s eyes "OkayI believe you But if we can&039;t co Marcellus knows, even Simon knows, so I think Nik and I deserve to know too"

Septimus did not reply He stared out at the water and wished that Jenna and Nik would leave him alone He needed to disconnect

But Jenna would not let him She reached beneath her witch&039;s cloak, took out The Queen Rules and opened it to a page she kneell She thrust it under Septi her finger at a grubby, orn paragraph

Reluctantly Septiot out his birthday present froe He read:

"The P-I-W has a Right To Know all facts pertaining to the security and wellbeing of the Castle and the Palace The ExtraOrdinary Wizard (or, in absentia, the ExtraOrdinary Apprentice) is required to answer all the P-I-W&039;s questions truthfully, fully and without delay"

With his head full of what he had to do, Septi at - and then it ca of his birthday, which seemed so far away now He smiled as he recalled Marcia&039;s comment about "the wretched red book with its tiddly-squiddly type, the bane of every ExtraOrdinary Wizard&039;s life" So this hat she hadthe Wizard Tower and the Castle as it had been, and with Marcia&039;s beautiful birthday gift in his hand, Septi once more and he also, he realized, felt relieved He wanted to tell Jenna where he was going, he wanted her to be part of what he was doing Even though she couldn&039;t co of hih the Darke Halls to the other side Septi Nicko too, but he no longer cared about should or shouldn&039;t

And so, as they drew near to Bleak Creek and they saw the telltale chop of the water that heralded the Bottooing to find Alther and bring hieon Number One He told theuise And even though he didn&039;t believe it, he told them that he would be fine and he would see the, Nicko and Jenna were silent Jenna wiped her eyes with her sleeve and Nicko coughed

"We&039;ll be there waiting, Sep," said Jenna

"Outside Dungeon Number One," said Nicko

"No You can&039;t do that"