Catweazle

knocking that old hen-house down?’
    ‘Right, boss,’ said Sam with determination.
    From the bushes, Carrot watched with horror as Sam set off with a large
axe over his shoulder. There was nothing the boy could do to stop him so,
keeping out of sight, he followed Sam up to the hen house which stood rotting
away in the corner of Top Field.
    Sam tried the door but it wouldn’t open because Catweazle had tied it
shut with a piece of twine. ‘That’s funny,’ muttered Sam, tugging at the handle.
Hearing Sam outside, Catweazle struggled into his damp robe as quickly as he
could. Sam pulled harder and as the twine finally snapped, he staggered back
and sat down.
    Catweazle poked his head out of the door and the two of them stared at
each other.
    ‘I’m nuts,’ muttered Sam unhappily. ‘I ought to be locked up.’
    ‘I am invisible, invisible,’ quavered Catweazle, waving Adamcos.
    ‘I wish you was,’ groaned Sam getting unsteadily to his feet.
    ‘Sator, Arepo, Tenet, Opera, Rotas,’ Catweazle went on but Sam suddenly
leant forward and touched him. At this Catweazle’s nerve deserted him, and he
ran back into the shed and shut the door.
    ‘You’re real,’ roared Sam. ‘You ain’t no hallucination!’ and he shook
the hen-coop furiously. Catweazle held grimly to the handle as the shed began
to disintegrate around him. Finally in the face of Sam’s onslaught the whole
thing collapsed like a pack of cards. For a moment Catweazle stood amidst the
wreckage, still clutching the handle, while Sam thrashed about under the door,
then with a howl he turned and ran into the wood behind him.
    ‘I’ll
get you, you old devil,’ said Sam, as he crawled out from under the door.
Brandishing his axe, he set off in pursuit, with Carrot once again following
some way behind, but Catweazle just melted into the wood and search as he might
Sam couldn’t find him. He searched with less and less hope till eventually he
gave up, satisfied at least that he had frightened the ‘hallucination’ away
from the farm forever. There were certain questions he wanted to ask Carrot, he
thought to himself as he shouldered the axe and made his way back to the farm.
    Carrot continued to search. He felt worried about the old man.
‘Catweazle,’ he called. ‘It’s me. Where are you?’ But there was no reply.
    Carrot didn’t give up easily. The wood was large, but he knew it well
and presently he found himself near the Forestry Estate which joined his
father’s property. Years ago, during the war, there had been an army camp here.
Now the only thing left was an old water tower covered in rusty barbed-wire and
with a big ‘Danger. W.D. Property’ notice on the scaffolding.
    ‘Well, that’s that,’ thought Carrot. ‘He’s gone.’
    He was about to turn for home when Catweazle’s head appeared at the top
of the water tower.
    ‘Here, boy,’ he called down. Carrot looked up in astonishment. The old
man waved a skinny arm at him.
    ‘How did you get up there?’ called Carrot.
    ‘I climbed,’ said Catweazle.
    ‘You can’t live in that!’
    ‘Why not?’
    ‘It’s full of water.’
    ‘Nay, boy,’ the old man
shook his head, ‘ ’tis empty.’ ‘Are you sure?’ said Carrot.
    ‘Come and see,’ beckoned Catweazle.
    ‘But it belongs to the army - ’
    ‘I see no soldiers,’ replied Catweazle, looking round.
    ‘ ’Tis my castle now.’
    ‘But Dad says it isn’t safe,’ said Carrot, remembering his father saying
he was never to climb it.

    ‘No arrow could pierce it,’ said Catweazle, confidently banging at the
rusty steel tank. ‘Come up.’
    Carrot could see that Catweazle had managed to pull the barbed-wire away
from the iron ladder, and setting his feet on the rungs he began to climb. The
ladder creaked as he climbed and Catweazle held out his arm to help him as he
reached the top.
    ‘Thanks,’ said Carrot.
    ‘Follow me,’ said Catweazle and descended the inspection hole.
    Carrot followed. It was like going into a submarine. As his eyes got
used to the dim light inside the tank, Carrot could see that he was in a steel
box with small girder-like struts at angles to the walls. It was indeed empty
except for dead leaves that had blown in through the open inspection hole.
Light filtered in through cracks between the steel plates and the whole place
was festooned with thick cobwebs.
    ‘Welcome,’ said Catweazle, his voice echoing impressively round the
tank.
    ‘This is super!’ said Carrot, wishing