The Golem's Eye

hand into her jacket. "Your friend's life hangs by a thread. Sophocles, reveal yourself!" The grinning foliot on Hyrnek's shoulders shrugged off its invisibility on the first plane, gave the girl an insolent wink and snapped its teeth beside its prisoner's ear.
    The girl's shoulders sagged a little; she looked crestfallen. "Very well," she said.
    "Your weapon—whatever it is in your coat. Bring it out. Slowly."
    She hesitated. "It's not a weapon."
    Nathaniel's voice grew dangerous. "I don't have time for this! Show it, or your friend will lose his ear."
    "It's not a weapon. It's a present." So saying, she drew forth her hand. In her fingers was something small, circular, glinting in the light. A bronze disc.
    Nathaniel's eyes widened. "That's mine! My scrying glass!" [8]

    [8] Recognizable from the dreadful workmanship of the exterior. The cheeky, workshy imp on the interior is even worse.
     
    The girl nodded. "Have it back." She flicked her wrist. The disc flew spinning high into the air. Instinctively, we watched it go: Nathaniel, the foliot, and I. As we watched, the girl acted. Her hands reached out and snared the foliot around its scrawny neck, jerking it backward off Hyrnek's shoulders. It was taken by surprise, its grip was loosened, its talons snicking in midair, but its slender tail looped around Hyrnek's face, fast as a whip, and began to squeeze. Hyrnek cried out, clawing at the tail.
    Nathaniel was stepping backward, following the spinning disc. He still held the Staff, but his free hand was stretched out, hoping to catch it.
    The girl's fingers bore down upon the foliot's neck; its eyes bulged, its face grew purple.
    The tail tightened on Hyrnek's head.
    I watched all this with great interest. Kitty was relying on her resilience here, on her power to counteract the foliot's magic. It all depended how strong that resilience was. It was quite possible that the foliot would soon reassert itself, crush Hyrnek's skull, and move on to deal with her. But the girl was strong, and she was angry. The foliot's face swelled; it uttered a reproachful sound. A crisis point was reached. With the sound of a balloon popping, the foliot burst into vapor, tail and all; it dissipated on the air. Both Kitty and Hyrnek lost their balance, tumbled to the ground.
    The scrying glass landed safely in Nathaniel's hand. He looked up, and for the first time took in the situation. His prisoners were unsteadily getting to their feet.
    He uttered a cry of annoyance. "Bartimaeus!"
    I was sitting myself quietly on a post. I looked over. "Yes?"
    "Why didn't you act to halt this? I gave you strict instructions."
    "You did, you did." I scratched the back of my head.
    "I told you to kill her if she tried anything!"
    "The car! Come on!" Already the girl was moving, dragging Hyrnek along with her. They scampered across the cobblestones toward the limousine. This was better watching than the Aztec ball game. If only I'd had some popcorn.
    "Well?" He was incandescent with rage.
    "You told me to kill her if she broke the terms of your agreement."
    "Yes! By escaping—as she's doing now! So get to it! The Shriveling Fire—"
    I grinned cheerily. "But that agreement is null and void. You broke it yourself, not two minutes ago—in a particularly noxious manner, if I may say so. So she can hardly be breaking it herself, can she? Listen, if you put that Staff down, you can tear your hair out more easily."
    "Ahh! I rescind all previous orders and issue a new one, which you cannot misinterpret! Stop them from departing in that car!"
    "Oh, very well." I had to obey. I slouched down from the post and set off in reluctant and leisurely pursuit.
    All the while we'd been gabbing, Nathaniel and I had been watching our friends' frantic progress across the lane. The girl was in the lead; now she reached the limo and swung open the driver's door, presumably with the intention of forcing him to drive them away. The chauffeur, who at no point in the proceedings had evinced even the slightest interest in our scuffling, remained staring forward. Kitty was shouting at him now, frantically issuing orders. She tugged at his shoulder. He gave a sort of limp wobble and slipped sideways out of his seat, knocking into the startled girl, before collapsing face down on the cobblestones. One arm lolled discouragingly.
    For a couple of seconds, we all halted what we were doing. The girl remained transfixed, perhaps wondering at her own strength. I contemplated the