Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac

‘Its colour matches the soil on which it lives. The
female is somewhat larger than the male.’ He gave a little tap, and an elephant
appeared on the screen upside down.
    ‘No.
No!’ said Habbleman.
    ‘No,’
said Groome testily. ‘I know.’ ‘Take it out!’ said Habbleman.
    The
screen went blank.
    ‘As I
have said,’ he went on, ‘the female is somewhat larger than the male,’ and he
gave another little tap.
    The
next slide appeared to be from Professor Habbleman’s holiday album and showed
him standing in the sea with Mrs Habbleman, who was very definitely somewhat
larger than the male.
    ‘Are
you mad?’ shouted Habbleman at Groome. ‘Are you completely mad?’
    ‘You
said these slides were in order,’ retorted Groome, very aggrieved.
    Habbleman
went storming up to him and everybody turned from the screen to watch the
argument. This gave Catweazle his chance and he crawled out from behind the
curtain and took Touchwood from the box.
    ‘I
always check. Why don’t you concentrate?’ said Habbleman angrily.
    ‘In
order,’ repeated Groome stolidly. ‘That’s what you said.’
    Habbleman
turned on his heel and marched back to the brightly lit screen. Catweazle crept
under the table.
    ‘Next
slide please,’ said Habbleman loudly.
    Another
toad appeared on the screen.
    ‘Good!’
said Habbleman. ‘Here we see Bufo calamita. The Natterjack or Running Toad.’
    Catweazle
decided to try escaping through another window so, using the darkness and the
fact that everyone seemed to be looking in the direction of the beam of light
from the projector, he crawled over to the wall. Then he remembered he had
forgotten Touchwood’s boot and he turned back to get it.
    ‘The
Natterjack,’ said Habbleman, unaware that a magician was creeping about in the
dark on his hands and knees, ‘is much greener than the Common Toad.’ He tapped
the table and a bright red lobster appeared on the screen. Catweazle, gasped
when he saw it. It was Scorpio!
    ‘What
are you doing?’ screamed Habbleman at Groome. ‘That’s a lobster!’
    ‘I’m
doing my best, that’s what I’m doing!’ shouted Groome.
    Catweazle
started back towards the screen while once more a furious row developed. He
reached up out of the darkness and tried to grab the lobster. Several people
saw his skinny hand appear in the beam and an old lady in the front row started
screaming.
    Cedric
bent down and pulled the flex from the power point. The projector’s beam went
out and the room was plunged into darkness. Everyone began getting to their
feet, scraping their chairs on the wooden floor.
    ‘Keep
calm!’ commanded Lord Collingford.
    ‘Lights!
Lights!’ shouted Habbleman, but instead, Cedric opened the door hoping that
Catweazle might get out that way,
    Catweazle
was still trying to get the Sign of the Scorpion and there was a crash as the
screen collapsed into its long black box.
    Groome
blundered over to the door, pushed Cedric to one side and switched on the
lights.
    ‘The
screen!’ cried Habbleman. ‘Someone’s taken the screen!’
    Cedric
could see the curtains by the table were moving slightly. It was only a matter
of seconds before Catweazle was caught.
    ‘The
toad! My toad!’ yelled Habbleman, finding the little basket was empty.
    ‘Look!
Out in the hall!’ called Cedric, pointing at an imaginary thief. Everybody
stumbled out of the room.
    As soon
as they’d gone Cedric ran to drag Catweazle from the curtains.
    ‘I have
it!’ said the excited magician. ‘I have the Sign of the Scorpion!’ He put the
screen on the table and pulled it up from the box. ‘It hath vanished!’ he
gasped.
    ‘It’s a
slide — you idiot!’ said Cedric, glancing anxiously towards the door.
    ‘Slide?
muttered Catweazle.
    Cedric
took the little colour transparency from the projector and held it up to the
light.
    ‘ ’Tis
tiny,’ whispered Catweazle, peering at it. Clearly the wizard had the power to
make things grow large or small at will.
    ‘Time
you got out of here,’ said Cedric, and opened the curtains and shutters while
Catweazle surreptitiously put the slide into his pocket. They drew the curtains
behind them, and climbed outside.
    ‘The
boot,’ said Catweazle, ‘I have forgot the boot!’
    ‘There’s
no time! You’ve got Touchwood, that’s the main thing. Now get going!’
    ‘Nay,’
said Catweazle, turning back to the window.
    ‘Well
I’m off,’ said Cedric, and fled.
    Habbleman
had already found Touchwood’s boot