Witches Abroad (Discworld 12)

There was the sound of hooves. The coach had turned into the street.

'Get out there and stop that coach!'

Greebo grinned again, and darted out of the alley.

Nanny fanned herself with her hat.

'Whoo-eee,' she said. 'And to think I used to tickle his tummy . . . No wonder all the lady cats scream at night.'

'Gytha!'

'Well, you've gone very red, Esme.'

'I'm just out of breath,' said Granny.

'Funny, that. It's not as if you've been running.'

The coach rattled down the street.

The coachmen and footmen were not at all sure what they were. Their minds oscillated wildly. One moment they were men thinking about cheese and bacon rinds. And the next they were mice wondering why they had trousers on.

As for the horses . . . horses are a little insane anyway, and being a rat as well wasn't any help.

So none of them were in a very stable frame of mind when Greebo stepped out of the shadows and grinned at them.

He said, 'Wrowwwl.'

The horses tried to stop, which is practically impossible with a coach still piling along behind you. The coachmen froze in terror.

'Wrowwwl?'

The coach skidded around and came up broadside against a wall, knocking the coachmen off. Greebo picked one of them up by his collar and bounced him up and down while the maddened horses fought to get out of the shafts.

e you go, honey.'

Granny took it, hesitated for a moment, and then took a swig. She nudged Magrat and passed on the bottle.

'Frgtht!! Gizeer!' she said.

'What?' shouted Magrat, above the noise of a marching band.

'The man wants us to pass it on,' said Granny.

Magrat looked at the bottle neck. She tried surreptitiously to wipe it on her dress, despite the self-evident fact that germs on it would have burned off long ago. She ventured a brief nip, and then nudged Nanny Ogg.

'Kwizathugner!' she said, and dabbed at her eyes.

Nanny up-ended the bottle. After a while Magrat nudged her again.

'I think we're meant to pass it on?' she ventured.

Nanny wiped her mouth and passed the now rather lighter jug randomly to a tall figure on her left.

'Here you go, mister,' she said.

THANK YOU.

'Nice costume you got there. Them bones are painted on really good.'