Cornelia Funke - Inkheart

He stood thoughtfully beside the bed, looking at the sleeping girl. Betraying her father to Capricorn had not been particularly difficult, but with her it would be different. Her face reminded Dustfinger of another one, although no grief had yet left dark shadows on Meggie's childish features. Strange, every time the girl looked at him he felt a wish to show her that he didn't deserve the distrust he always saw in her eyes, even when she was smiling at him. She looked at her father in a very different way – as if he could protect her from all the dark and evil in the world. What a stupid, stupid idea! No one would be able to protect her from that.

Dustfinger stroked the scars on his face and frowned. Enough of such useless thoughts. He would bring Capricorn what he wanted: the girl and the book. But not tonight.

Gwin moved on his shoulder, trying to wriggle out of his collar, which he liked as little as he liked the dog's leash Dustfinger always carried with him. He wanted to go hunting, but Dustfinger wasn't letting him out. Last night the marten had run away from him while he was talking to Basta. The furry little devil was still afraid of Basta. Dustfinger couldn't blame him.

Meggie was sleeping soundly, her face buried in a gray sweater, probably her father's. She murmured something in her sleep but Dustfinger couldn't make out what. Once again his guilty conscience stirred, but he pushed the tiresome feeling away. He couldn't do with that kind of thing, not now and not later. The girl was nothing to do with him, and he was quits with her father now. Yes, quits. He had no reason to feel like a miserable double-dealing villain.

He looked around the dark room in search of something. Where would Meggie put the book? There was a red box beside her bed. Dustfinger lifted the lid. Gwin's chain clinked softly as he leaned forward.

The box was full of books – wonderful books. Dustfinger took out the flashlight from under his coat and shone it on them. "Look at that!" he murmured. "What beauties! Like a party of ladies dressed in their best to go to a prince's ball. " Silvertongue had probably rebound them after Meggie's little fingers had worn out the old bindings. Yes, of course, there was his sign, the unicorn's head. Each book bore it, and each was bound in a different color. All the hues of the rainbow were gathered together in that box.

The book Dustfinger was looking for was right at the bottom. With its silvery green binding it looked plain, a poor thing among all the other grand and lordly volumes.

It didn't surprise Dustfinger that Silvertongue had given this book such a plain dress to wear. Very likely Meggie's father hated it as much as he loved it. Dustfinger carefully extracted it from the other books. It was almost nine years since he last had it in his hands. At the time it had still had a cardboard binding and a torn paper dust jacket.

Dustfinger raised his head. Meggie sighed and moved until her sleeping face was turned his way. How unhappy she looked. She must be having a nightmare. Her lips quivered, and her hands clutched the sweater as if she were looking for something – or someone – to give her security. But you are usually alone in nightmares, dreadfully alone. Dustfinger remembered many of his own bad dreams and, for a moment, he was tempted to put out his hand and wake Meggie. What a softhearted fool he was!

He turned his back to the bed. Out of sight, out of mind. Then he opened the book hastily before he could think better of it. His breathing was heavy – as if he had filled his mouth with liquid in preparation for breathing fire. He leafed through the first few pages and began to read, slowly turning page after page after page. But with every page his fingers hesitated a little longer, until suddenly he closed the book. Moonlight was seeping through the cracks in the shutters. He had no idea how long he had been standing there, his eyes lost in the labyrinth of letters. He had always been a very slow reader…

"Coward!" he whispered. "Oh, what a coward you are, Dustfinger!" He bit his lips until they hurt. "Come on!" he told himself. "This may be your last chance, you fool! Once Capricorn has the book he'll never let you look at it again. " Once more, he opened the book, leafed rapidly through to about the middle – and closed it again, with a sound loud enough to make Meggie give a little start in her sleep and bury her head under the covers. Dustfinger waited motionless beside the bed until she was breathing regularly again, then leaned over her treasure chest with a deep sigh and put the book back under the others.

Soundlessly, he closed the lid.

"Did you see that, Gwin?" he whispered to the marten. "I just dare not look. Wouldn't you rather find a braver master? Think it over. " Gwin chattered softly in his ear, but if that was an answer Dustfinger didn't understand it.

For a moment he went on listening to Meggie's quiet breathing, then stole back to the door. "Well, what does it matter?" he muttered when he was out in the corridor. "Who wants to know the end of a story in advance?"

He climbed up to the attic bedroom Elinor had given him and lay down on the narrow bed with the crates of books towering around it. But he could not sleep until morning came.

After breakfast the next morning Elinor spread a crumpled road map out on the kitchen table.

"Right, three hundred kilometers south of here, " she said with a wary glance at Dustfinger. "So show us exactly where we have to look for Meggie's father. "

Meggie looked at Dustfinger, her heart thudding. There were dark shadows around his eyes, as if he had slept very badly. Hesitantly, he came over to the table, rubbing his stubbly chin. He bent over the map, scrutinized it for what seemed an eternity, and finally pointed with his finger.

"There, " he said. "Capricorn's village is right there. "

Elinor looked over his shoulder. "Liguria, " she said. "Aha. And what is the name of this village, if I may ask? Capricornia?" She was examining Dustfinger's face as if tracing his scars with her eyes.

"It doesn't have a name. " Dustfinger responded to her gaze with unconcealed dislike. "I expect it had one once, but the name was already forgotten before Capricorn settled there. You won't find it on this map, or any other either. To the rest of the world the village is just a collection of tumbledown houses along what can hardly be called a road. "

"Hmm. " Elinor bent closer to the map. "I've never been in that region. I was in Genoa once. I bought a very fine edition of Alice in Wonderland there, in good condition and for half what it was worth. " She looked inquiringly at Meggie. "Do you like Alice in Wonderland?"

"Not particularly, " said Meggie, staring at the map. Elinor shook her head at such childish folly and turned back to Dustfinger.

"What does this Capricorn do when he's not stealing books and abducting people's fathers?" she asked. "If I understand Meggie correctly, you know him pretty well. "

Dustfinger avoided her eyes and ran his finger along a blue river winding its way through the green and pale brown of the map. "We come from the same place, " he said. "But apart from that we don't have much in common. "

Elinor looked at him so penetratingly that Meggie wouldn't have been surprised to see a hole suddenly appear in his fore head. "There's one thing that strikes me as strange, " Elinor said. "Meggie's father wanted to keep Inkheart safe from this Capricorn. So why bring the book here to me? He was practically running into Capricorn's arms!"