What if, when Fox had gone to look over Fool’s Leap earlier, Fibber and the swiftwing had been plotting something together? If Total Shambles’ leg did make a full recovery, he could just whisk Fibber into the sky and leave Fox in the Bonelands to be finished off by Morg. She couldn’t take the risk of having the swiftwing around, and her fear and suspicion now swallowed any thoughts of patching things up with her brother. Besides, Total Shambles wasn’t even of use as protection against dark magic; he still couldn’t fly. It was time for her to take action and outwit her brother before he did the same to her.
Fox leaned in close to the swiftwing’s ear and whispered: ‘I know Fibber might seem all decent and good, but he’s the best liar in the Faraway. He’s won medals and trophies for his trickery.’ She winced at the embellishment. ‘So it’s my bet that all those nice things he was saying earlier about staying to heal your leg weren’t true. He might have given you the pucklesmidge syrup, but it’s only because he plans to use you to get closer to the Forever Fern. He’ll ditch you, the first chance he gets, as soon as he thinks you’re no use any more.’
Total Shambles cocked his head at Fox and his eyes grew sad.
‘If I were you,’ Fox whispered, ‘I’d head back across the bridge over Fool’s Leap to where you belong, and where it’s safer, before Fibber lands you in all sorts of trouble over here.’
The swiftwing looked from Fox to the sleeping Fibber, then back again at Fox, as if hesitating for a moment, then he picked himself up, his head hung low. He seemed to want to stay. Perhaps he genuinely thought he might be able to protect the twins, despite the risks in it for him and the fact that he was now lame. Fox felt a stab of doubt that she was doing the right thing. But then she imagined what it would feel like to be double-crossed by Fibber and the swiftwing and left alone in the Bonelands.
‘Go!’ she hissed. ‘Head home.’
Total Shambles limped quietly out of the tunnel and Fox watched as he padded away into the dark.
And so it was that Fox and Fibber lost an ally that night. An ally they were much in need of. Because in the Bonelands Morg’s Midnights were not just monkeys. She had other creatures bound to do her bidding here, too. Like the pit of hog-nosed vipers not so far from the bramble tunnel the twins hid in. They had sensed the arrival of the Faraway children and they were stirring now, their fangs drenched in poison.
Fox woke at sunrise. At least she assumed it was sunrise. It was lighter than it had been the night before, but dawn in the Bonelands looked very different to how it had been on the other side of Fool’s Leap. Back there, shards of golden light had beamed down through the gaps in the canopy, but here, what light managed to reach the forest floor was a watery grey. Rain pattered beyond the entrance of the bramble tunnel and Fox’s thoughts turned to Total Shambles. Had he limped over the bridge and begun his journey back to Timbernook? Or had Morg’s Midnights found him? Guilt wavered inside her.
Fibber sat up and rubbed his eyes. ‘Where’s Total Shambles?’
Fox shrugged and tried to look innocent. ‘Must’ve wandered off.’
Fibber scrabbled to the tunnel entrance and peered out. ‘Total Shambles?’ he whispered. ‘Are you there?’
The rain pattered on in the silence.
Fibber waited and waited until it became clear the swiftwing had gone. Then he rounded on his sister. ‘You said something to him, didn’t you? Something that made him leave!’
There was an awkward squawk. ‘Heckle is finding the tension inside the bramble tunnel a bit uncomfortable.’
Fox gripped the map, which had begun tugging her towards the entrance of the tunnel, and pretended not to hear her brother or the parrot.
Fibber grabbed his sister’s shoulders and shook them. ‘What have you done, Fox? Total Shambles was our friend! He saved us outside the Constant Whinge! He would’ve helped protect us in the Bonelands!’
Fox shook Fibber off. ‘Helped you, perhaps! But I’m not stupid, Fibber. Both of you would have left me as soon as you found the Forever Fern. You were in it together! So I’m sorry if I spoiled your plans!’
Fibber threw his hands in the air. ‘What’s it going to take for you to believe me, Fox? I was telling the truth last night, but you’re so stubborn and closed up you don’t want to hear it! I’ve been trying to work with you on this quest, hoping we might get along a little better and save Jungledrop at the same time, but all you seem to want to do is ruin things! It’ll be your fault if Jungledrop and the Faraway are destroyed! Weren’t you listening to Goldpaw when she was talking about the rain scrolls, and all the Unmapped magic bubbling away over here without any of us back home even knowing? This isn’t some stupid race to rescue a family fortune. You’ve got to see the bigger picture: finding the Forever Fern is about saving the world and everyone in it!’
He yanked the flickertug map from his sister’s hands. ‘I can’t let you get in the way any more. From now on, I’m in charge!’
Fox’s face flushed with rage. How dare Fibber speak to her like that! She knew she was right not to trust his sudden change of heart. This proved that her brother wasn’t so different from before because here he was – once again – thinking he knew better than her.
‘You most certainly are not going to be in charge!’ Fox cried. ‘Goldpaw gave me
