Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac

free Catweazle.
When he reached it, the doors were open and the back of the van was empty.
    Catweazle
had managed to open the doors of the van, and had become lost between the rows
of parked cars. Groome saw him from the Rolls and set off in pursuit of the
madman who had once tried to make him eat a gramophone record.
    When
Catweazle saw Groome he gave him the slip by crawling under some rhododendron
bushes, then came face to face with a curious tent-like structure. Someone was
talking quite loudly on the other side of it. Her voice sounded familiar, but,
he was so intrigued by the strange tent that he drew Adamcos and crawled
inside, only to find another victim of the evil wizard! A young woman fiad been
turned to stone, but when Catweazle saw what she held in her frozen grasp, he
could hardly believe his good fortune. The unhappy creature was blindfolded and
held the Sign of Libra — the Balances. This was the magic Sign he sought!
    He
climbed on the pedestal, little knowing that on the other side of the curtain
Lady Collingford was nearing the end of her speech. ‘And so, Mr Mayor, ladies
and gentlemen — ’ she said and then paused. There were bumps and fizzing noises
coming from behind the curtained scaffolding. She smiled nervously. ‘I unveil
Themis, the Greek Goddess of Law — ’ Under the curtains, Catweazle was pulling
frantically at the scales and the statue was beginning to rock on its pedestal.
    ‘Better
known to all of us as Justice,’ continued Lady Collingford. She looked anxiously
at the Mayor and took hold of a cord. ‘Long may she hold sway,’ she said, and
pulled.
    There
was a terrible crash as the statue toppled to the ground. The curtains fell
away from the scaffolding and revealed Catweazle, still covered in plaster,
standing on the pedestal with Adamcos in one hand and the scales of Justice in
the other. For a moment he stood paralysed with fear; then, as Gobling went
completely berserk and Groome suddenly appeared through the rhododendron bushes
behind him, Catweazle jumped down and ran forward into the astonished audience.
They fell over each other in their eagerness to get out of his way. Groome and
Gobling tried to chase him, but the milling crowd made it impossible. Policemen
blew whistles, women fainted, and there was total confusion.
     

     
    The
evening paper carried an interesting headline and Cedric took it to Duck Halt
to show Catweazle. ‘ “Mystery man K.O.’s Justice,” ’ he read. ‘ “Rag-students
deny all knowledge.” ’
    Catweazle
wasn’t at all interested. ‘The Sign of the Balances,’ he said, holding up the
scales. ‘My power grows stronger.’
    ‘Oh
Catweazle, what am I going to do with you?’ sighed Cedric.
    ‘ ’Twas
the demon in thy demon-box led me to it.’
    ‘My
demon-box?’ said Cedric. ‘You don’t mean the TV set do you?’
    ‘Nay,
Owlface, thy demon-box. Would that I had one,’ said Catweazle wistfully.
    ‘You’d
never get any magic done then,’ smiled Cedric.
    Catweazle
put the scales down above the House of Libra on the Zodiac ring and opened his
magic book. Cedric looked at the spiky squiggles. ‘Could you teach me to read
that?’ he asked hesitantly.
    Catweazle
looked at him and picked up the newspaper. ‘Ay, if thou wilt teach me also,’ he
said.
    ‘O.K..’
said Cedric. ‘You ought to. It’s about time.’ ‘About Timé?’ repeated Catweazle,
looking at the broken clock. ‘Then I will learn thy magic.’
    ‘And I’ll learn yours,’
said Cedric. Perhaps there was something in it after all. Perhaps Catweazle’s
magic could lead him to the lost treasure.

SCORPIO
     
    Catweazle was very upset because Touchwood was ill. He was off his food and
crouched inside the boot hour after hour.
    Catweazle
tried every healing spell in the book to help him but none of them made
Touchwood any better and at last he decided to take him to Kings Farthing, hoping
that Owlface might have some New Magic which could help.
    Because
Catweazle was so worried about his familiar, he was less careful than usual,
and Lady Collingford, out for a morning walk, caught a glimpse of him as he
hurried through the woods. She was very alarmed and went straight back to tell
her husband what she had seen.
    ‘Charles,’
she said to Lord Collingford, ‘you must do something.’
    Lord
Collingford, who was supervising the preparations for a lecture that afternoon,
was surprised to see her looking so distraught. ‘What’s the matter,