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got one youngster missing.”
    “That’s why I’m here,” said Hope, pattering busily along beside them. “I want to look for the princess, because now we’ve got Mopple, that’s my baby sister, Brother Juniper, now we’ve got her I thought wouldn’t it be awful if she went missing and we didn’t know where to look for her and if she was all right or anything, and it’s the same with the princess. But I don’t think the princess has been down here. It doesn’t smell of baby.”
    “He’s probably right,” said Docken. “He has a very good sense of smell, haven’t you, Hope? But we’ll go on to the Chamber of Candles, as that’s our orders.”
    Stopping now and again while the squirrels listened and Hope sniffed, they reached the Chamber of Candles. The sight of that door still made Urchin bristle—but as Docken pushed it open, the glow of soft yellow light met him, soothed him, and welcomed him into the warmth.
    Candles flickered on the floor, on shelves, and in crevices in the walls—long candles and short ones, creamy wax candles with curls of wax rippling down their sides. They cast circles of light on the damp rock, making it glisten. The draft from the door set the flames swaying, and the patterns on the walls looked like laughter.
    “No sign of anyone,” said Urchin. “But we have to search.”
    He took a deep breath, filling himself with the atmosphere of the chamber. Soaked in prayer and self-giving, it fed him with its deep peace.
    “It feels so different,” said Urchin. “I couldn’t have believed it possible.”
    “It feels good,” said Juniper. “But it isn’t finished yet.”
    “Not finished?” said Urchin.
    “Yes, but I’m not sure what I mean by that,” said Juniper. “It just feels as if something still needs to be done.”
    “Finished or not, we’ll have a good hunt around and report back to the king,” said Docken. “There’s a good chance the princess will be back safe and sound by the time we get there.”
    Urchin hoped so. As he left the chamber, he took one last look behind him. Juniper was still there, shaking his ears as if he’d got them wet.
    A knife. Claws. Blue.
    Juniper had almost forgotten that, but somehow, vividly, it had come back to him as he lingered in the Chamber of Candles. Urchin was waiting. Juniper shook his ears and limped hurriedly to the door, finding there were words in his head which nobody had put there—something about a paw and hills. He didn’t understand it at all. But it was something to do with Catkin, and to do with this place, and the feeling that it was still unfinished.

 

    CHAPTER FOUR
    OTH AND THE OTHER MAIDS left the nursery curtains open so that lamplight would welcome Queen Cedar when she came home. Brother Fir returned first, and stood, thoughtful and quiet, warming his paws at the nursery fire, but night had grown dark before the queen appeared in the doorway with her paws and face scratched, blood and leaves clinging to her fur, and her eyes wide with hope and fear. “Is she…?” she began—but the empty cradle with its rumpled blankets lay before her, and the anxious maids saw the hope vanish from her face. Helplessly, they hurt for her. “Where’s Crispin?” she demanded.
    Brother Fir rose slowly, holding out his paws to lead her to the hearth where the log fire flickered. “He is still out searching, dear Queen,” he said. “Please warm yourself. Are you injured?”
    “There’s water heating and I’ll get the bath filled for you, Your Majesty,” whispered Moth, and led the curtsying maids from the chamber. The queen didn’t appear to notice.
    “I went all the way to the Tangletwigs,” she said. “I went as far as I could, but the undergrowth is so dense, we’ll need guards to hack their way into it, and I don’t see how Linty could have got through there with the baby. Could she, do you think? It’s all very well saying she mustn’t be alarmed, but we have to find Catkin,