' "Three for a funeral" is what I learned,' said Nanny. 'But there's lots of magpie rhymes. Look, you take her broomstick and have a look over towards the mountains, and I'll-'
'Wait,' said Agnes.
Perdita was screaming at her to pay attention. She listened.
Threes...
Three spoons. Three knives. Three cups.
The broken cup thrown away.
She stood still, afraid that if she moved or breathed something awful would happen.
The clock had stopped...
'Nanny?'
Nanny Ogg was wise enough to recognize that something was happening and didn't waste time on daft questions.
'Yes?' she said.
'Go in and tell me what time the clock stopped at, will you?'
Nanny nodded and trotted off.
The tension in Agnes's head stretched out thin and made a noise like a plucked string. She was amazed that the whine from it couldn't be heard all round the garden. If she moved, if she tried to force things, it'd snap.
Nanny returned.
'Three o'clock?' said Agnes, before she opened her mouth.
'Just after.'
'How much after?'
'Two or three minutes...'
'Two or three?'
'Three, then.'
The three magpies landed together on another tree and chased one another through the branches, chattering loudly.
'Three minutes after three,' said Agnes, and felt the tension ease and the words form. 'Threes, Nanny. She was thinking in threes. There was another candlestick out in the goat shed, and some cutlery too. But she only put out threes.'
'Some things were in ones and twos,' said Nanny, but her voice was edged with doubt.
'Then she'd only got one or two of them,' said Agnes. 'There were more spoons and things out in the scullery that she'd missed. I mean that for some reason she wasn't putting out more than three.'
'I know for a fact she's got four cups,' said Nanny.
'Three,' said Agnes. 'She must've broken one. The bits are in the slop bucket.'
Nanny Ogg stared at her. 'She's not clumsy, as a rule,' she mumbled. She looked to Agnes as though she was trying to avoid some huge and horrible thought.
A gust shook the trees. A few drops of rain spattered across the garden.
'Let's get inside,' Agnes suggested.