“They knock you on the head,” said Shrub. “And stick you in the river.”
“Are you sure you’ll be safe?” Anya was surprised Shrub was so keen to go. He hadn’t seemed to be particularly brave in their previous adventures.
“Sure,” said Shrub. “Like I told you, they know me there. Here, sling me a gold noble.”
He opened his mouth wide. It opened a lot wider than it looked like it could or should, and the inside was a kind of an unpleasant, pallid orange. He didn’t have any teeth or, as far as Anya could see, a tongue.
“How do you talk?” asked Ardent. “You haven’t—”
“Here’s the money!” interrupted Anya quickly. Shrub might only be able to talk because he didn’t know he didn’t have a tongue, but by some quirk of the transformation magic, he could still speak as if he did. If he started wondering what his tongue was doing, and felt that he didn’t even have one, he might lose the power of speech.
She dropped the coin into the newt’s mouth.
“Fanks,” he croaked, talking around the heavy gold noble. “Back soon, I hope. Tol lol.”
*
Rather surprisingly, Shrub returned before Smoothie. He came slithering down the bank between two huge twisted willow roots just upon dusk. Ardent, who’d smelled and heard him coming, yipped a quiet greeting. Anya, who’d been having an extra rest on the carpet, woke up, and for an instant thought something bad was happening before she realized it was just the newt.
“Got a boat,” Shrub announced. “Told ’em it was for Bert, I was working for ARR, so no questions or else.”
“They know Bert here?” asked Anya. She was surprised. She’d thought they were far beyond the robber’s influence, which she’d presumed was local to Trallon Forest and nearby.
“Course,” Shrub scoffed. “There’s groups of the Association of Responsible Robbers all over the place. They call ’em chapters, like in a book. Not so many members in New Yarrow, ’cos of people being more selfish in the city, but there’s some. Enough that the regular thieves and pirates take them serious and won’t cross ’em. Anyhow, I got a boat, and food and water. Boat’s tied up right on the end of the inn’s jetty. Which sticks out from the bowling green. Where’s Smoothie?”
“Not back yet,” said Anya with a trace of anxiety. “I hope the otters treat her all right. She feels bad enough being half otter, half human.”
“Least she’s got fingers,” said Shrub. “Sort of, anyway. I’m going to catch some water-skaters in the shallows.”
Water-skaters were the long-legged insects that slid crazily over the surface of the water and never sank, even when they stopped. There were always plenty on the moat back at Trallonia, and they were a staple part of the frogs’ diet there.
“Catch some for Denholm, please,” said Anya. She was still very worried about the frog prince. He’d continued to be very quiet in his little cage, apart from the brief bout of croaking when they’d landed in the river.
It was full dark before Smoothie returned. Shrub had caught at least a dozen water-skaters for Denholm by then, and the frog had eaten them, though not with his usual relish.
Smoothie was not alone. Two very large otters came with her. They were almost as big as Anya, far larger than any otters she’d ever seen before. She’d thought Smoothie’s fine-haired hide was sleek, but these otters’ hides were even sleeker. They had an almost silvery gleam about them, which was not a reflection of the moon, because the silver moon wasn’t up yet, and if the blue moon was, it was so dim and low Anya couldn’t see it.
Smoothie appeared to be very cheerful, Anya was pleased to notice. The half otter came gamboling up to Anya on all fours, stood up, and delivered a kind of bow. The full otters were more careful, looking around in all directions and moving in a stop-start fashion, ready to change direction and bolt back for the river if anything went amiss.
“Two of my senior cousins,” said Smoothie, by way of introduction. She emitted a series of strange yowly, growly yips, then translated these as Swiftsure One Bite Salmon Slayer and Deepest Water True Diver. The otters inclined their heads as their names were mentioned, but only by a fraction, and they remained wary.
“Swiftie and Diver know the canals and the sewers,” said Smoothie. “They’ll lead us to the sunken rooms of the old palace; they’re cellars now, and only partly flooded. We can get into the meetinghouse above from there. Apparently, we take Bank Street from the river—”
“Bank Street?” asked Anya.
“It’s a canal now,” said Shrub, eager to show off his knowledge of the city. “You know New Yarrow is built on top of the ruins of the old Yarrow, what they called Yarrow the City? Well, in the old days, there were a couple of big canals—that’s the Heavy Way and the Light Way. They’re so big you can get a ship down them! But when the Deluge hit, it scoured out more canals, so lots of the old streets, they’re canals now.”
“We take Bank Street from the river,” resumed Smoothie. “Turn right into a little canal—it hasn’t got a name—where the statue without a head is. Go along that, and under the second bridge there’s an outflow from the sewers. The grating’s busted, so we go in there, head along a bit, and there we are.”
“Sounds straightforward,” said Ardent.
“I bet it isn’t,” Anya warned. “How far can we take the boat?”
“How big a boat?” asked Smoothie.
“Rowing dinghy,” Shrub replied. He spoke slowly, and was licking his eyes, a sure sign he was thinking about something. “Twelve-footer.”