The Golem's Eye

terribly mad at me."
    "Quite. Where was I...? Terribly mad... Two little lambs, a girl and a djinni..." It appeared to have quite lost its train of thought.
    Kitty jerked a thumb at the magician Mandrake. "What about him?"
    Mandrake gave a start. "I've never seen this excellent afrit in all my life! He can have no grudge against me."
    The flames in the skull's eye sockets flared. "Except that you carry my Staff. That is no small matter. And what is more... you plan to use it! Yes! No denials— you are a magician!"
    Its outrage was worth building on. Kitty cleared her throat. "He made me steal it," she said. "It's all his fault. Everything. He made Bartimaeus attack you, too."
    "Is that so?" The skeleton considered John Mandrake. "How very interesting." It bent toward Bartimaeus again. "She's not correct, is she? Is that fop with the Staff really your master?"
    The young Egyptian boy looked genuinely embarrassed. "I'm afraid so."
    "Tsk. Dear me. Well, don't worry. I'll kill him—after I kill you."
    Even as it spoke, the skeleton raised a finger. Green flame erupted where the demon had stood, but the boy was already gone, somersaulting across the cobblestone to land neatly on a dustbin beside the nearest house. As if propelled by a single thought, Kitty, Jakob, and John Mandrake turned and ran, making for the arch that led out of the mews courtyard to the road beyond. Kitty was the swiftest, and it was she who first noticed the sudden darkening of the atmosphere, a rapid leaching away of the dawn light about them, as if some power was thrusting it bodily away from the ground. She slowed and stopped. Thin tendrils of blackness were waving and probing through the archway ahead, and behind them came a dark cloud. The view beyond was utterly blocked out, the courtyard cut off from the world outside.
     
    What now? Kitty exchanged a helpless glance with Jakob and looked back over her shoulder. The Egyptian boy had sprouted wings and was swooping to and fro across the courtyard, just out of reach of the bounding skeleton.
    "Keep away from that cloud." It was John Mandrake's voice, quiet and faltering. He was near them, eyes wide, slowly retreating. "I think it's dangerous."
    Kitty sneered at him. "Like you care." Even so, she too backed away.
    The cloud extended toward them. A terrible silence hung about it, and an overpowering smell of wet earth.
    Jakob touched her arm. "Can you hear...?"
    "Yes." Heavy footfalls in the depths of the shadows, something coming closer.
    "We've got to get out of this," she said. "Make for the cellar."
    They turned and ran toward the steps that led to Mr. Pennyfeather's cellar store. From across the courtyard, the skeleton, which had been vainly firing bolts of magic at the energetic demon, perceived them and clapped its hands. A tremor— the cobblestones rattled. The lintel above the basement door split in two, and a ton of brickwork descended with a rush upon the stairs. The dust subsided; the door was gone.
    With a hop and a skip, the skeleton was upon them. "That darned demon is a bit too spry," it said. "I've changed my mind. You two are first."
    "Why me?" Jakob gasped. "I've done nothing."
    "I know, dear child." The eye sockets glittered. "But you're full of life. And after my time underwater, I frankly need the energy." It reached out a hand—as it did so, it noticed, for the first time, the dark cloud stealing across the courtyard, sucking the light from the air. The skeleton gazed into the blackness, jaw lolling uncertainly.
    "Well, well," it said softly. "What's this?"
    Kitty and Jakob scuffled back against the wall. The skeleton paid no heed. It swiveled its pelvis and straightened to face the cloud, calling out something in a strange tongue. Beside her, Kitty felt Jakob give a start. "That was Czech," he whispered. "Something like: 'I defy you!' "
    The skull rotated 180 degrees and stared at them. "Excuse me a minute, children. I have unfinished business to take care of. I will attend to you in half a jiff. Wait there."
    Bones clicking, it moved away, circling out into the center of the courtyard, its eye sockets fixed upon the swelling cloud. Kitty tried to gather her wits. She looked about her. The road was engulfed by shadows, the sun a veiled disc faintly shimmering in the sky. The exit from the mews was blocked by the menacing darkness; on all other sides, blank walls and barred windows stared down. Kitty cursed. If she had a single sphere, she could blast their way out; as