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coughed. When she looked again the expression, like he could have willingly put a knife through Jonas’s heart on the spot, had been replaced by an affable smile and a nod of agreement. She thought she must have been mistaken, but her nerves were still jangling with shock.
    ‘It makes a fair weapon, for those Quick who can master it.’ Boneman’s voice was calm, unconcerned. ‘I found it abandoned in one of the old northern castles.’ He put down his mug while he ate.
    ‘And what about the … mud … things?’
    ‘Oh those! Anyone can do that.’ Boneman waved ahand dismissively. ‘The magic is in the Land, all you need to do is use it right. Mud to make, fire to bake, words to wake. Simple. Once you’ve baked them hard, just tap them on the head, give them a name and tell them what you want them to do. You don’t need sorcerer power for
that
.’
    Nin nodded through a mouthful of cake, then licked the crumbs from her fingers and returned to her drink, which was turning out to be pleasantly warming. She glanced up, feeling Boneman’s eyes on her. They were very bright, almost turquoise. He smiled.
    ‘So, girl, do you know where you are?’
    ‘It’s called the Drift,’ she said flatly. ‘But that’s it.’
    Boneman laughed, gulping down the last of his honey tea. ‘Here goes, then. But I don’t want any of that, “don’t believe in faeries” stuff. You obviously do or you wouldn’t be here.’
    Indignantly, Nin put on her grown-up face, though she suspected it just looked like she had swallowed a wasp. So she gave up. She was too interested to pretend.
    ‘What you have to understand,’ Boneman began, ‘is that everything you see around you is not made of atoms as you understand them. It is fashioned from raw magic. The clouds, the trees, the rivers,’ he swept an arm over the landscape, ‘even the animals that run in the woods and the birds that fly in the air.’
    Nin was quiet, watching Boneman intently. He was on his feet now and his hands wove pictures in the air as he spoke, using the staff like a prop, to point or gesture. Inthe background, the lumpy shapes of the mudmen stood still in the sun, casting odd, misshapen shadows on the grass.
    ‘The Long Land, to give it its rightful name, is the way things are in people’s hearts. The essence of dread and desire made real. Take the gateways, for example. The Quickmares, as we call them, that link the two worlds always open up in places where dread or desire is strong.’ Boneman laughed. ‘Which is the reason that they are always moving from one site to another as people’s hearts change. But not their deepest hearts, of course. The fears and longings in their deepest, most unspoken hearts are always constant.’
    ‘So what lives here? Magical people?’
    ‘The Fabulous. Faeries and worse. Giants, dragons, elves, the lot.’
    ‘Sorcerers?’
    ‘Of course. Sorcerers were the most powerful of all, the rulers of the Fabulous. No witches, mind. They are just ordinary Quick who use the Long Land’s magic for themselves.’
    ‘Like you and that staff,’ put in Jonas.
    Nin glanced at Boneman, looking for some sign of the malevolence that had shown on his face earlier. There was nothing. She must have imagined it.
    He ignored Jonas and went on. ‘Like the Land and everything in it, the Fabulous are made from raw magic, but they are much more potent than the birds and animals because they have intelligence and power,terrible power. Although you might think you know what a giant, a goblin or a faerie is, you don’t. The Fabulous are creatures born from dread and desire, not just foolish Quick legends, so they might not be quite as you expect.’ He smiled, his blue eyes vivid. His voice dropped to a husky whisper. ‘You should see the tomb-folk, girl. Fear and desire all rolled into one awesome package.’
    ‘And death,’ snapped Jonas.
    ‘That too,’ laughed Boneman.
    ‘What are they? Like … vampires or something?’
    ‘And much