Cornelia Funke - Inkheart

Only twice did they meet another vehicle coming toward them. Now and then the lights of a village emerged from the darkness. But the roads along which Dustfinger guided Elinor led away from the lights and deeper and deeper into the night. Several times the beam of the headlights fell on ruined houses, but Elinor didn't know stories about any of them. No princes had lived in those wretched hovels, no red-robed bishops, only farmers and laborers whose stories no one had written down, and now they were lost, buried under wild thyme and fast-growing spurge.

"Are we still going the right way?" asked Elinor in a muted voice, as if the world around her were too quiet for anyone to speak out loud. "Where on earth do we find a village in this godforsaken wilderness? We've probably taken at least two wrong turns already. "

But Dustfinger only shook his head. "We're going the right way, " he replied. "Once we're over that hill you'll be able to see the houses. "

"I certainly hope so!" muttered Elinor. "I can hardly make out the road. Heavens above, I had no idea anywhere in the world was still so dark. Couldn't you have told me what a long way it was? Then I'd have filled up the tank again, I don't even know if we have enough gas to make it back to the coast, "

"So whose car is this?" Dustfinger snapped back, "Mine? I told you I don't know the first thing about cars. Now, keep your eyes on the road. We'll be coming to the bridge any moment. "

"Bridge?" Elinor drove around the next bend and suddenly stamped on the brake. Right across the road, lit by two flood lights, was a metal barrier. It looked rusty, as if it had stood there for years.

"There!" said Elinor, clapping her hands on the steering wheel. "We have gone the wrong way. I told you so. "

"No, we haven't. " Dustfinger took Gwin off his shoulder and got out of the car. He looked around, listening intently as he approached the barrier, then dragged it over to the side of the road.

Elinor's look of disbelief almost made Meggie laugh out loud. "Has the man gone right out of his mind?" she whispered. "He doesn't think I'm going to drive down a closed road in this darkness, does he?"

All the same, she started the engine when Dustfinger impatiently waved her on. As soon as she was past him he pulled the barrier back across the road.

"No need to look at me like that!" he said, climbing back into the car. "The barrier's always there. Capricorn had it put up to keep unwanted visitors away. Not that people often venture up here. Capricorn spreads stories around the village that keep most of them at a distance, but -"

"What sort of stories?" Meggie interrupted him, although she didn't think she really wanted to know.

"Bloodcurdling stories," said Dustfinger. "Like most folk, the locals around here are superstitious. The most common tale is that the devil himself lives on the far side of that hill."

Meggie was angry with herself for being scared, but now she just couldn't take her eyes off the dark hilltop. "Mo says human beings invented the devil, " she said.

"Well, maybe. " Dustfinger's mysterious smile was hovering around his mouth again. "But you wanted to know about the stories. They say no bullet can kill the men who live in that village, they can walk through walls, that they kidnap three boys every month when the moon is new, and Capricorn teaches them to commit theft, arson, and murder."

"Good heavens, who thought all that up? The folk of these parts or this man Capricorn himself?" Elinor was leaning right over the steering wheel. The road was full of potholes, and she had to drive very slowly so as not to get stuck.

"Both. " Dustfinger leaned back and let Gwin nibble his fingers. "Capricorn rewards people who think up new stories. The one man who never joins in that game is Basta. He's so superstitious himself he even goes out of his way to avoid black cats. "

Basta. Meggie remembered the name, but before she could ask any more questions Dustfinger was speaking again. He seemed to enjoy telling these tales. "Oh yes, I almost forgot! Of course everyone living in the village of the damned has the evil eye, even the women. "

"The evil eye?" Meggie looked at him.

"That's right. One glance and you fall mortally ill. Three days after that, at the latest, and you're dead as a doornail. "

"Who'd believe a thing like that?" murmured Meggie, turning to look ahead of her again.

"Idiots would. " Elinor stamped on the brake again. The car skidded over gravel on the road. The bridge Dustfinger had mentioned lay ahead, its gray stone pale in the headlights.

"Go on, go on!" said Dustfinger impatiently. "It'll hold, though you might not think so. "

"It looks as if the ancient Romans built it, " muttered Elinor. "But for donkeys, not cars. "

All the same, Elinor drove on. Meggie squeezed her eyes shut tight, and didn't open them until she could hear the gravel under the car tires once more.

"Capricorn likes this bridge a lot, " said Dustfinger quietly. "A single well-armed man is enough to make it impassable. But luckily he doesn't post a guard here every night. "

"Dustfinger. " Meggie turned hesitantly to look at him as Elinor's car labored up the last hill. "What are we going to say when they ask us how we found the village? I mean, it's not going to be a good idea for Capricorn to know that you showed us the way, is it?"

"No, you're right, " muttered Dustfinger, avoiding Meggie's eyes. "Although, we are bringing him the book. " He picked up Gwin who was clambering around the backseat, held him so that he couldn't snap, and then lured him into the backpack with a piece of bread. The marten had been restless ever since darkness fell. He wanted to go hunting.

They had reached the top of the hill. The world around them had disappeared from view, swallowed up by the night, but not far away a few pale rectangles glowed in the dark. Lighted windows.

"There it is, " said Dustfinger. "Capricorn's village. Or the devil's village, if you prefer. " He laughed softly.

Elinor turned to him crossly. "For heaven's sake, will you stop that!" she snapped at him. "You really seem to like these stories. Who knows, perhaps they're all your own invention, and this Capricorn is just a rather eccentric book collector!"

Dustfinger made no reply, but only looked out of the window with the strange smile that Meggie sometimes wanted to wipe off his face. Yet again, it seemed to be saying: How stupid you two are!

Elinor had switched off the engine. The silence surrounding them was so absolute that Meggie hardly dared to breathe. She looked down at the lighted windows. Usually, she thought brightly lit windows were an inviting sight in the dark, but these seemed far more menacing than the darkness all around.

"Does this village have any normal inhabitants?" asked Elinor. "Harmless old grannies, children, people who don't have anything to do with Capricorn?"

"No. Nobody lives here but Capricorn and his men, " whispered Dustfinger, "and the women who cook and clean and so on for them. "

"And so on'… oh, wonderful!" Elinor snorted with distaste. "I like the sound of this Capricorn less and less! OK, let's get this over and done with. I want to go home to my books, real electric light, and a nice cup of coffee. "

"Really? I thought you were longing for a little adventure. "

If Gwin could speak, thought Meggie, he'd do it in Dustfinger's voice.

"I prefer adventures in the sunlight, " replied Elinor curtly. "Heavens, how I hate this darkness! Still, if we sit around here until dawn my books will be mildewed before Mortimer can do anything about them. Meggie, go around to the back of the car and get that bag. You know the one. "

Meggie nodded and was just about to open the passenger door when a glaring light blinded her. Someone whose face she couldn't make out was standing beside the driver's door, shining a flashlight into the car. He tapped it commandingly against the pane.