Catweazle

this a sec,
will you?’
    Mr
Bennet held the dress up, feeling rather silly, while Leslie tried various
coloured ribbons against it. Satisfied, he took back the dress and began sewing
the ribbon into place.
    ‘Whose
is that one?’ asked Mr Bennet.
    ‘Mrs
Thomas. Maid Marian. She had eight fittings. Thought I’d go berserk. Hope these
seams hold.’
    ‘Sam’s
wearing his already.’
    ‘Well,
I told the soldiers to come dressed. Thirty men changing in that tent would be
like the black hole of Calcutta.’
    Mr
Bennet took Adamcos from his pocket and showed it to Leslie.
    ‘Where
did you get this?’ asked the little man, examining it.
    ‘I
found it. Worth anything, do you think?’
    ‘Wouldn’t
like to say. I’m more china and glass. Could be Art Nouveau. Why, d’you want to
sell it?’
    ‘Oh,
no,’ said Mr Bennet. ‘You can have it. I wouldn’t want Carrot fooling about
with a thing like that, you see.’
    ‘You
are kind,’ said Leslie, putting it round his neck. ‘It’s very bizarre.’
    ‘Colonel
Upshaw might like it. He collects daggers and spears. He’s got another monkey
you know.’ Leslie knew all the local gossip. ‘Thanks ever so much, Mr Bennet.
By the way I’ve still got that decanter you liked.’
    ‘I
can’t afford it at the moment,’ said Mr Bennet hurriedly.
    ‘Don’t
worry,’ said Leslie. ‘I keep it hidden behind Madam,’ and he nodded towards a
large picture of Sarah Bernhardt propped on a chest of drawers.
    ‘I
bought that in a moment of utter madness,’ he said pointing to an Egyptian
mummy case, standing in the corner. ‘I’ll never get rid of it. Gives me the
creeps. You in a hurry Mr B.?’
    ‘Well I
- ’ began Mr Bennet.
    ‘I’m
awful aren’t I? I’d natter all day. Have I held you up?’ said Leslie packing
Mrs Thomas’s costume in one of the baskets.
    ‘No, of
course not,’ said Mr Bennet edging his way to the door. ‘But I’d better go back
to see if the Chairman’s arrived yet.’
    ‘Bye-bye,
then,’ waved Leslie. ‘And thanks for the old dagger.’
    Mr
Bennet was hardly out of sight, before Carrot cycled up to the shop with
Catweazle sitting on the carrier.
    ‘Bet
Dad brought it here,’ said Carrot breathlessly: ‘Mr Milton’s an antique
dealer.’
    Catweazle
followed him up to the door. ‘Adamcos lies within?’ he asked.
    Carrot pointed
glumly to a ‘Closed’ sign behind the glass.
    ‘ ’Tis
a spell?’ said Catweazle.
    ‘No, it
just means we can’t get in,’ said Carrot.
    ‘O
door!’ said Catweazle, making signs at it, 'I charge thee, yield unto me!’
    ‘Great
burglar you’d make!’ said Carrot, and then looked with surprise as the magician
pushed open the door.
    ‘See,
poke-weed!’ said Catweazle.
    ‘How
did you do that?’ gasped Carrot.
    ‘Ah!’
said Catweazle, who didn’t know.
    They
tiptoed inside and Catweazle brushed against a large vase on a stand. Carrot
just managed to grab it before it toppled over.
    ‘Whatever
you do,’ he whispered to Catweazle, ‘keep quiet and don’t break anything.’
    He
looked round wondering where to start. There were so many places Adamcos might
be that it would take them hours to find it. Catweazle opened an ornamental box
which immediately began to play ‘The Bluebells of Scotland’.
    ‘Why
don’t you just bang a gong and have done with it,’ said Carrot and slammed it
shut. At that moment he heard footsteps in the back room, and he only just had
time to push the old man behind a high-backed chair, covered in costumes,
before Leslie came into the room. He was carrying a pile of hats which
concealed the fact that he was wearing Adamcos round his neck.
    ‘Hullo,
Carrot,’ he said cheerfully, ‘you’ve just missed your Dad.’
    Carrot
was surprised that Leslie should take the break-in so calmly.
    ‘I
thought you might be closed,’ he stammered.
    ‘I put
the sign up to discourage customers. I’m so busy with all this, you see. But I
didn’t bother to lock the door.’
    So much
for magic, thought Carrot.
    ‘Wouldn’t
like to help, would you?’ asked Leslie, ‘I must pop out for some bits. Could
you stay and mind the phone?’
    ‘Oh,
yes, I’d be glad to,’ said Carrot with alacrity.
    Leslie breezed
out and Carrot went over to the chair. Catweazle was shivering again.
    ‘There
is ice in my bones,’ he said. ‘My death draws nigh,’
    ‘Don’t
give up,’ said Carrot. ‘I know we’re going to find Adamcos,’
    ‘I
freeze,’ croaked