SandRider by Angie Sage

and Tod retreated to the Pyramid Library to work out the best routes for Jim Knee to take. As PathFinder, Tod—accompanied by Edd and Erik Heap as bodyguards—was to show the jinnee how to navigate the first route, then she and the twins would return. After that Jim Knee was on his own. It was not until late in the afternoon that Septimus and Tod had three long lists of numbers, one list for each desert and a number for every arch that Jim Knee must walk through.
    Septimus sent a message to the Manuscriptorium to saythey were ready, and they met Beetle in the Great Hall. Jim Knee respected Beetle—and Septimus knew he was going to need all the respect he could get. Beetle and Septimus looked down at the sleeping jinnee, who still lay dozing on the visitors’ bench beneath his quilts. “Right,” said Septimus. “Time to wake him.”
    Beetle grinned. “Good luck,” he said.
    â€œJim Knee, wake up!” Septimus said in a commanding voice.
    There was no response. The jinnee’s eyes remained closed, his long, elegant hands folded peacefully over the top of the feather quilts. With the gaze of Edd and Erik upon him, Septimus was not going to let his jinnee get away with such disrespect. He took a small spiky red ball from his pocket and Activated it. The Alarm emitted a loud screech and began to jump up and down on Jim Knee’s long, elegant nose. In a moment the jinnee was sitting up, an expression of outrage upon his face.
    Septimus got in first. “Jim Knee, I Command you to find the Egg of the Orm.”
    â€œWhat, now ?” asked Jim Knee.
    â€œNow,” said Septimus. “And I give you an overridingCommand: keep my Apprentice safe.”
    â€œWill do,” Jim Knee replied laconically. “And just to check. I do have free will to Transform ?”
    â€œFree will,” Septimus agreed. “But only in pursuit of my Commands. Understand?”
    Jim Knee thought that gave him plenty of scope. “Okeydokey,” he replied.
    Tod led the way. She murmured the password in the offhand manner that all Apprentices soon acquired, then the tall silver doors to the Wizard Tower slowly opened and Tod stepped out into a beautiful winter scene. A hazy sun was already low over the rooftops of Wizard Way, sending rosy sparkles of light dancing on the frosty snow that lay on the courtyard before her. The Big Freeze had been long, cold and deep that year but Tod had loved every minute of it. The snow made her feel happy and optimistic, and as she walked slowly down the white marble steps, Tod felt sure they would soon track down the Egg of the Orm.
    Behind Tod came the disparate trio of Septimus, Beetle and Jim Knee. The Chief Hermetic Scribe had a firm grasp on Jim Knee’s right elbow, while Septimus had an equally firm grip on the left. Close behind them came Edd and Erik Heap intheir green robes with purple Senior Apprentice ribbons on the cuffs of their sleeves. They were reassuringly broad and had a slightly wild look to them.
    â€œI really can’t see why you don’t use our new Way in the Manuscriptorium,” Beetle was saying. “It would be so much easier than going through Marcia’s Hub. And you know what she thinks about Jim Knee.”
    â€œFor security reasons we have agreed to keep that Way closed, Beetle, as you know ,” Septimus said. “I still wish you would let me put a Seal on it, just to be sure.”
    Beetle had been able to use the Manuscriptorium Way only once—when he and his deputy, Foxy, had nervously ventured to the other side of the world with a stack of leaflets advertising their services—before Septimus had insisted on it being closed. It was an open secret that the Chief Hermetic Scribe felt frustrated by Septimus’s veto over what he saw as his own jurisdiction. Beetle had even joked among his scribes about declaring independence. “We are perfectly capable of policing our Way, thank