Strange things have been happening; I have been reading the signs…’ ‘As have I,’ agreed Moreg. ‘What have you seen?’ ‘Brooms that have appeared, which none of us remember making – and yet they appear to be some of our best yet.’ Chopak nodded. ‘We’ve tried replicating the process but without knowing what was done to begin with… it’s impossible.’ Willow and Moreg shared a look. ‘There’s other things too,’ continued Chopak. ‘Well, my nephew, Raymar – he’s been walking around in a daze for days; he was meant to be married – it’s so bizarre, because we’re just not sure if he actually was. All he keeps saying is he can’t remember.’ ‘The trouble is, neither can we,’ said Ybaer. Moreg nodded. ‘That makes sense – it matches what we’ve seen too.’ And she explained to them about the missing day and her fear that it had been stolen. Ybaer gasped, ‘You believe it was taken away? And all the memories with it?’ ‘I’m afraid so,’ said Moreg. ‘But we are going to try to get it back.’ As Willow listened a giant purple hat with a long green feather swam before her eyes, her grandmother’s face turned away from her, and she felt something inside her clench in icy cold fear, but just as quickly as the image appeared in her mind it was gone. She couldn’t help wondering if all the others had forgotten something, something that had happened on Tuesday – had she? Ybaer seemed to stare at Willow for a long moment as if considering her. Then she nodded. ‘We can help you with this,’ she said, snapping a small twig from a sapling that gleamed with a blue haze and handing it to Willow. ‘This is a stealth sprig, it will help you to become invisible. As it has been taken from its source it will only work the once. Use it wisely when the time comes. You will know when that is.’ Willow blinked, ‘You want me to have it?’ she asked. ‘Not…Moreg?’ The Mementon nodded. ‘Only a child can use it.’ Willow looked at Moreg, who seemed unsurprised; in fact, she looked rather pleased – as if it were only natural that she’d been given a strange magical twig to help her become invisible. Willow stuttered her thanks and put the twig inside a small pocket inside her carpetbag, sharing a puzzle look with Oswin as she did. Ybaer smiled. ‘Come, follow me – we’ll get you matched to a broom.’ Willow blinked and a furl of sudden excitement sprang inside her. They followed Ybaer and Chopak to a small wooden workshop where several of the new brooms were suspended above the floor of the workshop. He rubbed his beard while he eyed Moreg, a shrewd look on his face. Finally, he nodded. ‘Perhaps something modern… something that doesn’t play around? It doesn’t happen often, but, like I said, every now and then you get a broom that is open to a little bit of experimentation. A bit of modification.’ Eyes shining, he raced off to the back of the showroom, coming back with a monster of a broom, a wide grin spreading across his face. Willow had never seen anything like it; it had a low slung broom handle, spikes for footrests and on either side was an engine, which roared to life when Chopak pulled a cord from each. Bright orange flames shot out behind as the broom streaked off, doing a thunderous loop around them and making them all duck for safety. It came to a halt in front of Moreg.