Free Deep Amber by C.J. Busby Page A

and any writing on it would be completely impossible to decipher.

Chapter Eight
    â€œGot it!” said Cat, slapping her hand down on the book of symbols.
    â€œGot what?” said Simon, startled.
    It was the morning after Albert Jemmet’s fumigation, and it was an inset day, so Mum was at work. The two of them were huddled in Simon’s bedroom, and working hard on the box problem. The internet had proved less than useful for information on how to get into the box – apart from anything else, Simon had complained, how do you type a symbol into Google? And even when he’d tried to describe them, he’d just ended up with tons of weird stuff on crystal healing or people who acted out Viking battles in their spare time.
    But Cat had been luckier. She had spentevery spare minute studying the book of ancient symbols, and comparing them to careful copies she had made of the symbols on the wooden box. Now she was sitting on the floor of Simon’s bedroom, the big book open in front of her, and her eyes were shining.
    â€œI went through the whole book twice,” she said. “And I realised something… Each symbol on the box is actually a combination of symbols – there’s a Norse rune and two alchemical symbols. This first one has the rune for fire just below the alchemical symbol meaning dissolve – and they’re both surrounded by the alchemical symbol for water. So I think that means we have to surround the box in water that has fire dissolved in it.”
    Simon raised one eyebrow. “Dissolved fire ? As in…?”
    Cat waved her hands excitedly. “I know, it sounded ridiculous to me, too, at first. But I think what it’s saying is to immerse it in a kind of liquid fire…”
    She looked at Simon expectantly, but he shrugged, bemused.
    â€œThink of Christmas puddings,” she said, encouragingly.
    â€œ Christmas puddings? ” he said. “Um – are you sure you’re feeling all right, Cat?”
    She grinned. “I’m feeling like a genius,” she said. “Because that’s what I am. When you pour brandy all over a Christmas pudding and then set light to it, what happens?”
    â€œEr… Not sure… It burns, I guess…” Suddenly Simon’s face cleared. “Of course! The brandy is liquid, but it flames if you set it alight… So the pudding is surrounded by water that has fire dissolved in it! Wow! Do you really think that’s it?”
    â€œI think it’s worth a try,” said Cat. “Maybe the heat is what unlocks part of the mechanism inside the box. And then there are obviously two more things you have to do, which look like mixtures of symbols too. Now I know how the first one works, I should be able to get the other two quite easily.”
    Simon took the book, and leafed through a few pages, looking back and forth between the symbols and Cat’s drawing. She was right, the first symbol on the box was a combination of the Norse rune for fire and a curly shape at the top that looked like the sign for dissolving,inside the alchemy triangle that stood for water. The other symbols looked like they would be the same. He traced his finger over them thoughtfully. Despite Cat’s attempt at a sensible explanation, he didn’t think she really believed there was a simple heat-sensitive mechanism inside the box. The sword had come from the other side , Jemmet had said, and that meant the box probably had, too. Appearances, disappearances, strange energies – none of it fitted into the ordinary world of locks and bolts.
    Simon passed Cat the book of runes and leaned back on his pillow. There was something he’d been wanting to say for ages, but he was afraid Cat would think it was ridiculous. The sword that had appeared was definitely their dad’s – Mum had said so, and she should know. Besides, there was something about it that felt deeply right, like a puzzle