After some hours of sleep in the rear of their lorry, Aubrey emerged into an afternoon where the rain had stopped. The clouds were breaking up and going their own ways, like old school friends after a reunion, and blue sky was beginning take possession of the sky. His neck and back ached. He found his friends around a fire near what had been the machine gun emplacement on the main road into Korsur.
He dragged up a log and sat on it, stifling a groan. Von Stralick and Madame Zelinka were sharing a cup of coffee, while George and Sophie huddled, trying to ignore the dripping that came from the overhanging oak. ‘The appearance spell,’ he explained after noting the questioning looks from Caroline and Sophie. ‘It was more draining than I expected.’
‘Ravi’s Second Principle of Magic,’ Sophie murmured. ‘The spell was complex, working on a number of levels. It must have had an effect.’
Aubrey shrugged, then winced at the muscles thus abused. ‘I’ve had worse.’
George had a suspiciously fresh-looking slice of bread in his hand. Aubrey assumed the Enlightened Ones must have brought some supplies from Fisherberg. ‘Where are we off to?’
‘We have some work still to do here,’ Aubrey said. ‘Remember the second step in our plan?’
‘We’ve removed the troops, which is a good start.’ George looked about, vaguely, then turned to Sophie. ‘What was Step Two?’
‘We have to hide the village.’
‘That’s right. Fear of reprisals.’
Each of them glanced at the village. Wholesome smoke and the smell of cooking was coming from chimneys again. Children were jumping in puddles, laughing as if they were the first ever to engage in such an outlandish activity.
‘Kirchoff isn’t an idiot,’ von Stralick said. ‘Our ruse will be discovered, eventually. He will hurry back to complete his task and hope that Dr Tremaine doesn’t find out.’
‘Which is why Sophie and I were working on Step Two last night,’ Aubrey said. ‘Sophie?’
Sophie reached into her pack and took out her spellcraft notebook. ‘Misdirection. It could save the village.’
Von Stralick wrinkled his brown. ‘Misdirection?’
Sophie gripped her notebook in both hands, suddenly uncertain. ‘If they cannot find the village, they cannot destroy it, true?’
George beamed. ‘Sophie, my gem, that sounds like a splendid Step Two.’
Sophie nudged him with her elbow. ‘Whoever is coming will be using maps and compasses -’
‘And roads,’ George said, ‘following signposts.’
‘We do not have to move the village off the map,’ Sophie continued. ‘We simply have to make it easy for those looking for the village to get lost.’
‘Confusion,’ Aubrey said. ‘Bafflement.’
‘Making a thing appear to be what it is not,’ Sophie said. ‘If the road to Korsur looks like the road to somewhere else, it will be ignored. If north looks like north-east, or south-west, it will do them no good.’
‘We’ve had many variables to take into account,’ Aubrey said, but he felt excitement rising, the excitement that came from a magical challenge.
‘The Law of Familiarity,’ Sophie said. ‘It was most important.’
‘And the Law of Patterns, and the Law of Action at a Distance and an important application of the Law of Seeming.’ Aubrey’s voice trailed off when he saw Caroline’s tolerant smile. ‘Sorry. Boring magic talk?’
‘I’m sure it’s interesting to both of you,’ Caroline said. ‘I think I’m speaking for the rest of us when I say that we’d much rather see your work in action than hear it discussed.’
With that, they set about making a village vanish.