The Song of the Winns (4 page)

“What are they all waiting for?” Tibby Rose asked.

“They probably have meetings with Tobias too,” Slippers explained as they strode along a corridor. “He's using the principal's office as his headquarters.”

Suddenly a dark gray mouse with sharp features came out of an office and barred their way. “Pink, Thompson, what are you doing here? Who let these children in?” He scowled at Alistair and Tibby.

“Out of the way, Flanagan,” Feast Thompson said brusquely. “Tobias invited us—and them.”

“We'll see about that,” the dark gray mouse muttered, and turned to rap on the door he had just closed behind him. When a voice called, “Enter!,” he slipped into the office, leaving the others standing in the corridor.

“Who's he?” asked Alistair.

“Tobias's assistant,” said Slippers Pink. “He's a bit . . . overprotective . . . when it comes to Tobias.”

“Flanagan thinks he's the only one who should have access to Tobias,” Feast elaborated, not bothering to hide the dislike in his voice.

They stood in silence as a murmured exchange went on behind the closed door, then Flanagan emerged and gestured to them. “Tobias will see you now,” he said ungraciously.

The marmalade mouse sitting behind the principal's desk half stood as Alistair and the others entered the office. He was wearing a pair of wire-framed reading glasses, which he removed to reveal tired, red-rimmed eyes. While he had seemed vigorous and energetic when rallying the FIG members in the hall, up close his weariness was unmistakable.

“Have you got enough chairs? Just pull some over from the table there, will you, Feast?”

“You look completely worn out, Tobias,” Slippers said as she lowered herself into a seat.

But Tobias waved away her concern. “I'm fine,” he said, slumping back into his chair. “Just busy.” He waved a hand at the piles of paper on his desk. “We've got a few operations on at the moment, and a few more in the planning. Speaking of which . . .” He leaned forward and turned a kindly look on Alistair and Tibby Rose. “What a pleasure to see a couple of young faces,” he said. “I've got a son about your age who's spending summer vacation with a friend. I'm afraid he doesn't write nearly as often as I would like.” He shook his head fondly at a framed photo of a miniature version of himself. “And speaking of young mice who worry their elders, you've had quite an adventure, I hear. All the way from Souris to Shetlock.” If he was angry at them for running away from the house in Templeton where Tibby's Grandpa Nelson and Great-Aunt Harriet lived, he wasn't showing it. If anything, he sounded amused, Alistair thought.

“They certainly have,” Slippers Pink agreed, sounding distinctly less amused. “But I think the information they have for us now might be worth all the trouble they caused me and Feast.” She lifted the corner of her mouth in a smile. “Tell Tobias what you told us, Alistair.”

Taking a deep breath, Alistair stood up, unwound his scarf from around his neck and laid it flat on Tobias's desk. He quickly explained how he and Tibby Rose had encountered the mysterious mouse named Timmy the Winns on their journey through Souris, and how Timmy
had sung him a song about the Winns. Alistair hadn't known at the time where the Winns was—indeed, he'd known hardly anything about Gerander at all back then—but Timmy's song about the river had nonetheless sounded familiar. Alistair repeated the first verse now:

“From rock to ridge to tunnel to tree

The songs are there for you to see;

Read the land and follow the signs,

Read the river between the lines.”

“I asked Timmy about the Winns, and he said . . .” Alistair thought for a minute as he tried to recall Timmy's exact words. “He said, ‘It is the spine that knits our head to our feet.'

“And then we met you,” Alistair said, looking now at Slippers Pink and Feast Thompson, “and you told us about the secret paths through Gerander that my mother knew, and it was almost like you expected me to know them too.”

“I was hoping Emmeline might have told you,” Slippers admitted. “But you hadn't heard of them.”

“She'd never mentioned them,” Alistair confirmed. “Then Tibby Rose and I met up with Alice and Alex, who were coming to find me. On the way back home to Smiggins, we stopped off in Stubbins to show Tibby the house where we used to live. And I was thinking about Mom and Dad, and about how Mom had given me this scarf the night before they left, and then I remembered
a song she had sung. It was the same tune as Timmy the Winns's song.” He recited the words:

“A burning tree

A rock of gold

A fracture in the mountain's fold,

In the sun's last rays when the shadows grow long

And the rustling reeds play the Winns's north song.”

As Alistair reached the end of the verse there was a knock on the door and the dark gray mouse entered.

“What is it, Flanagan?” Tobias asked absently, his gaze still fixed on Alistair's scarf.

“An urgent message has come for you. It's sealed, and it's marked for your eyes only.”

Tobias put on his reading glasses and held out a hand for the envelope, but instead of giving it to him his secretary said, “Perhaps you'd better step outside to attend to it, sir.” He didn't even glance at the four mice who sat between him and Tobias.

Tobias sighed. “Excuse me,” he murmured. “I'd better see what this is about.” He rose from his chair and left the room.

When he re-entered the office a few minutes later he seemed distracted. He stood by the door, his eyes drifting around the room before settling on the scarf spread out on the table. He stared at it as if transfixed, then, with an impatient noise, he crumpled the letter he was holding into a ball and lobbed it toward the wastepaper basket by his desk. “Nothing important,” he said dismissively.

“Is it just my imagination, or is Flanagan even more paranoid than usual?” Slippers asked as Tobias slid back into his seat.

“We, ah . . .” The marmalade mouse paused. “There have been some security issues,” he said finally.

Beside him, Alistair sensed a new alertness about Slippers Pink.

“Security issues?” she prompted.

Tobias pushed his glasses to the top of his head and pinched the bridge of his nose with one hand. “A leak.”

“How high?” Feast asked immediately.

“High,” said Tobias, then held up a hand to indicate that he didn't want to talk about it.

“But—” Slippers protested.

“My concern,” Tobias said firmly. “Not yours. Now, where were we?”

“I was just explaining about my scarf,” Alistair reminded him. “Timmy the Winns was looking at it just before he talked about the Winns knitting our head to our feet. I think he was trying to tell me something. And this blue stripe, it runs from the top to the bottom of the scarf. That could be like head to foot, couldn't it?”

Tobias ran a hand through the rumpled marmalade fur on his chin. “And you think the song Emmeline sang is another clue?”

“We think the song might be about particular landmarks pointing the way to a secret path,” Tibby Rose said. “A rock of gold and a burning tree.”

“And that the scarf might be a map,” Alistair finished.
“And that we could use it to find the secret paths.”

Tobias was nodding. “It's possible,” he said. Then he sat up straighter. “Yes. It's definitely possible.” He put his glasses back on and studied the scarf, its vivid colors and strange design. “And have you found these landmarks—the rock of gold and the burning tree—on the scarf?”

Tibby and Alistair exchanged excited glances. Tobias believed them!

Alistair pointed to the burst of orange he and Tibby had found. “That could be a burning tree.”

“And this could be the golden rock,” Tibby said, pointing to a patch of yellow near it.

Tobias peered intently at the rock and the tree, then traced the blue stripe of the river with his finger to the top of the scarf. “Up here,” he said, “to the north, this looks like the source of the Winns.” He rested his fingertips on a dark green oval and closed his eyes. “It's a magical place,” he murmured. “A deep mountain spring. The old folk say it has healing properties.”

“Have you been there?” Tibby asked.

“I have,” said Tobias. “I spent many vacations in the area as a boy.”

“It looks like the golden rock and burning tree aren't far from the source.”

“Well, if we've got some landmarks to guide us, and know they're near the source of the river, the next step is obvious,” said Feast. “Slippers and I should go to Gerander and find the secret paths.”

Before Tobias could respond, Alistair said, “Tibby and
I want to go to Gerander too. I have to find my parents—unless you already have a plan to rescue them?” His heart started to beat faster in anticipation of the marmalade mouse's response.

Tobias shook his head slowly. “I'm afraid we've been finding it rather difficult to organize,” he said heavily. “It is nearly impossible to travel through Gerander undetected.”

“Not anymore!” Alistair said triumphantly. “The secret paths go all over Gerander, don't they? I bet we could use them to get to Atticus Island.”

“Not so fast,” Slippers Pink broke in. With an apologetic look at Alistair and Tibby Rose, she said to Tobias, “Feast and I, we're more than willing to go. But there's no way Alistair and Tibby Rose should be sent into Gerander. It's too dangerous.”

Tobias was drumming his fingers on the table thoughtfully, and Alistair felt a spark of hope. Despite Slippers's objections, the marmalade mouse actually appeared to be considering his idea!

Tobias cleared his throat. “I'm afraid it's not that simple, Slippers,” he said. “It's not just because they are hidden that the secret paths have remained a secret. You see, not everyone can read the signs. They are passed down within families, but not to every family member. Those who read the signs recognize others with the same ability, as Emmeline must have recognized the ability in Alistair when she gave him this scarf. I don't like it anymore than you do but, as dangerous as it may be for Alistair to join you on this mission, I think he is essential to
its success. And after everything they've been through, I think Alistair and Tibby Rose should stay together.”

“I couldn't go without Tibby,” Alistair said. “I never would have made it out of Souris if not for her.”

“We're agreed then,” said Tobias. “Now, we have been able to find out a little more about the situation on Atticus Island from one of our members who was imprisoned there. I have a detailed description of where Emmeline and Rebus are being held.” He rummaged through the scraps of paper littering his desk, finally alighting on one. “Here.” He gave it to Slippers Pink, who promptly slipped it into one of her shiny black boots. “Oswald will help you, I presume?”

Slippers nodded once, her mouth set in a mutinous line. Alistair could tell she wasn't happy that Tobias had agreed to let him and Tibby Rose accompany her and Feast on the mission—even if there could be no mission without Alistair to find the secret paths.

“There's one more thing,” Tobias said seriously. “You are not to talk about this mission to anyone. And I mean anyone. I'm afraid to say that includes your family, Alistair. We cannot afford any lapses in security, especially now. Once you have left, I will inform your family that you have been sent on an assignment.”

There was a rap on the door and Tobias stood, which seemed to signal that their meeting was over, for Slippers Pink and Feast Thompson rose too.

“Will there be any reply to the message which came earlier?” Flanagan asked, craning his head around the door.
Again, he acted as if there were no one else in the room.

Tobias cast a resigned look at the wastepaper basket. “I'll deal with it myself, Flanagan.”

As Flanagan withdrew, Alistair took the scarf from Tobias's desk and hastily wrapped it around his neck, then he and Tibby Rose followed Feast and Slippers to the door.

Tobias accompanied them; at the doorway he laid a warm hand on Alistair's shoulder. “Well done,” he said. “Working out the clue Emmeline left in the scarf was very clever.”

“I think Timmy the Winns worked it out before I did,” Alistair confessed. Then, remembering that he still hadn't seen the midnight blue mouse, he asked, “Is Timmy here?”

A pained expression crossed Tobias's face. “No,” he said quietly. “Timmy hasn't turned up.”

“Hasn't turned up?” Slippers sounded surprised.

“Timmy is . . . missing,” Tobias said unhappily. He shook his head. “We think the leak . . .” His voice trailed off.

“Timmy's missing?” Slippers's voice was shrill. “But if even Timmy's not safe, what about Zanzibar?”

“My concern,” Tobias said firmly, just as he had earlier. “Not yours.” Then he added more gently, “Don't worry, Zanzibar is safe.” He ushered them into the corridor. “Good luck,” he said. “All of you. . . . Flanagan? I'm ready for my next meeting now.”