Gus gasped. He knew it—he knew there was something alive in that basket!"Did you hear that?" asked Anna.

"A brown-headed rabbit, perhaps? They seem to be up and about in vast numbers this spring," said his aunt. "Well, whatever it is the prickler shrubs will deal with it."

No sooner was this uttered, than Gus, who had turned to run, fell into the shrubs with a thud and a muffled shriek as thorns dug into his flesh. Gus put his hands down to push himself up, but got his palms full of prickles. He twisted this way and that. The more he moved the more prickles stuck to him. He shrieked again and was just about to curse at the top of his lungs, when he looked up. Anna was standing over him. "How did you get out here so fast?"

She smiled. "There's a door, of course." She grabbed Gus by his jacket and hauled him out of the shrubs. She was obviously stronger than she looked. Gus was encrusted with mud and tiny green needles.

His Aunt appeared in her garden and cackled with laughter. "Oh, he's a rather large rabbit, isn't he?"

"Let me go! Get these off of me. They're stinging."

"Of course they are. You fell into prickler shrubs. People plant them to ward off intruders. Now stand still, so Anna can take them out."

With great care, Anna began to pluck out each tiny needle from Gus's clothes and skin. The boy tried hard not to squirm. "You mean you planted them on purpose? Just to hurt someone? Just so some honest person comes walking into them unaware? That's cruel."

Maud replied: "Don't talk nonsense. If your intentions were honest, you wouldn't be crawling around the shrubbery."

Anna was finished her ministrations. "There now, don't scratch," she said to Gus, patting his hand away from his arm. She added to her mistress: "Shall I fetch the slug salve, Ma'am? He's beginning to swell."

Maud nodded and Anna left.

"Slug salve? Is that made from squirt?"

"Yes. The slugs are called Royal Purples. There's a sub-stance in their slime that deadens pain," she explained when she saw Gus's blank face. "It's sweet to the taste. Put a bit in your tea or wine and you are pleasantly lightheaded. Put a little on your skin and it numbs the area, takes out the sting. Come let's walk."

They took a turn in the garden. Despite her use of a cane, Maud walked ahead, while Gus shuffled along behind, trying not to scratch his swelling prickler welts.

"Tell me Argus, what did you overhear?" asked Maud.

"Nothing," Gus said, and then changed his mind about lying when he saw the look on his aunt's face. "I heard that you have this snake in the basket and that you take it out to milk. And Lord Cantanker said something about all the people Grand-father poisoned and that you shouldn't talk to Rudy about it. What about the poisonings, Auntie? And how do you milk a snake? And why do you have a snake in the basket? Is it a red charmer?"

Maud looked startled. "What do you know about red charmers?"

"There's a book in the palace library. It says there's a whole bunch of them up north in that forest—the Thick. It says the snake attracts its prey by dancing. It's says no creature can resist it. When a mouse or bird comes close, it strikes, paralyzing its victim within minutes."

"Very good Argus. I'm glad to hear that you occasionally read."

"Is it a red charmer in your basket, Auntie?"

Maud stopped and pondered her nephew. "Argus, promise me you will not go near the basket. The red charmer is dangerous. Promise me."

"I promise. But why do you have it? To make your poisons?"

Maud stopped walking and shouted down at him. "Bothersome boy! You are very inconvenient. Not everything in this world is as it seems. Snake venom is used to make venom antidotes. And people who are said to be witches are not always so. You will find, Argus, that reputations are easy to acquire, but difficult to shake off. Take your grandfather, for instance."

Gus stood there, blistering and miserable. "What? What about him? I don't understand."

As quickly as it came, Maud's anger vanished. Her voice softened. "I know you don't Argus. I promise I will tell you about the poisonings, but not today, and you must not ask me again."

"But why does Lord Cantanker want to keep it a secret?"

"Ah, here comes Anna with the salve."

Gus tried again. "If you tell me, will they send you to that hospital they were talking about?"

But Maud just ignored him.

***