Читать книгу One Beastly Beast: Two aliens, three inventors, four fantastic tales - Гарт Никс, Garth Nix - Страница 9

Chapter Five

Still holding his mouth closed, Peter followed the doctor to the drain. He’d expected it to be just a small concrete tunnel full of water, but there was actually a very deep hole and a rope ladder that descended into darkness. The captain was standing on one of the upper rungs, consulting a pocket chronometer and a thick book with very thin pages.

“Look sharp!” he ordered. “This hole will close in a few minutes.”

Without waiting, the captain started down. Peter and the doctor followed quickly. It wasn’t until they were about fifty rungs down that Peter felt better and dared to open his mouth.

“Where are we going?” he asked. “And what do you mean, this hole will close?”

“We’re going back to the Neverworld,” replied the captain easily, not at all out of breath from climbing, despite his heavy coat and sword. “That’s where we come from. Sometimes holes poke through from the Neverworld to your world and people cross over. There are books that predict where these world-holes will appear. Interworld almanacs – like the one you just saw me use. But these pirates have managed to get their hands on something even more useful, I’m afraid.”

“An orrery,” said the doctor.

“What’s a… what you said?” asked Peter.

“Mostly it’s pricklesome hard to pronounce,” replied the captain. “Oh-rair-ree. See what I mean?”

“An orrery is usually a model of how the planets move around the sun,” explained the doctor, ignoring Captain Rattus. “But there were some special sorcerous orreries made by the famous magician Leonardo Ratinci several hundred years ago. A Ratinci’s orrery can show you where all the holes between the worlds are and when they will be.”

“Those detestable pirates stole a Ratinci orrery from a rich merchant,” explained the captain. “We’ve been following them for days, trying to get it back. If we don’t, they’ll pop up all over your world and do their evil business, stealing DVDs and suchlike.”

“I see,” said Peter, beginning to understand the situation. Mostly he wanted to get his own DVDs back, but clearly a Ratinci orrery shouldn’t be left in the hands of pirates. Thinking of his own DVDs made him realise he couldn’t possibly deliver them before two o’clock or get back before his mother finished shopping.

“Oh,” he said, stopping. “I’ve just realised that I have to go back. My mum’ll miss me.”

“No, no,” cried the doctor. “Keep on! The world-hole is closing above us!”