"And neither are you!"
Zildith! The Zildiths of Phargon! That must be what the black mountain all around them was - the strange place called Phargon! And the Zildiths were the net-people Sam the Server said they had to see, to save the Internet!
And get its memory back. She could remember that.
But where were these people, these Zildiths? And what did they do that
was so important for the Internet? Dot craned her neck round to try and see where the two voices were coming from, but there was no sign of them.
Whoever - and wherever - they were, they were having quite a row.
"You told those youngsters to go and seekforth! And now where are they, Cambor Zildith? Tell me that!"
"It wasn't just me!" came another voice - this one was quite high, and trembling with indignation. "Everyone agreed, when we met at the last Extrapolation Extraordinary! How dare you say it was my fault they went, Poolbear Zildith!"
"Dot! Dot!" said Wiz, his tail wagging. "I think I know where they are! I can smell them! Come on!"
And before Dot could say anything - and without listening to Mr Mouse's squeak of protest - Wiz was off running along down a forest path just to the side of where they'd been standing.
He can smell things you and I don't even notice, Wizzy can - and this time he wasn't mistaken. And the funny thing was, the sunrays they'd met when they first came into the book forest seemed to know it too - instead of playing around with them like it was a game, they ran ahead of the three friends, leading them on as they ran.
It seemed like a very long way to go, for voices that had seemed so close to them - up and down they went as the soft path climbed and fell underneath their feet, running past the book trees, ducking the shiny blue and green leaves hanging down between and behind the millions and millions of books, brushing against the bushes with their strange spiky yellow and green leaves.
Every time they did, more of the sweet smell came out of them - and a little sound too like an "Aaaah!" - the kind of noise you make when you see a really sweet puppy in the park!
Then suddenly they turned a corner, came round behind a big bushy tree with books all the way up its shiny red trunk - and there were the Zildiths!
Two very cross Zildiths!
So cross they'd turned their backs and weren't talking to each other. But what a sight they were! Dot shushed Wiz and Mr Mouse and they knelt down quietly and peered at them through the blue and green leaves of the book tree.
One was very short and very fat. He had angry blue eyes, a red face and a big red nose. Round his face in a circle was a stripey beard. No really! It was white and black like a zebra.
He wore a funny kind of cloak with a big high collar and a stiff skirt that came down to his ankles. It had pictures on it - moving pictures!
Round his neck was a huge silver chain - with a big 'Z' covered in diamonds on it. He wore a monocle - like just one bit of a pair of round glasses - over his left eye.
On his head was a little straw hat, and he had pointy ears pushing up through the brim.
The other Zildith was totally different.
He was long and thin and tall. He wore a kind of huge silky dressing gown, all red and gold with what looked like sleeping dragons on it. His face was very thin - a bit like a skull - and his hair was very black and straight and long, and parted so it fell over one eye. On his feet he wore a pair of slippers with the words 'Deputy Dawg' on them. (BIZ-arre!) On each the heels was what looked like a little rocket engine.
He had what looked like ordinary ears - but they weren't that ordinary, because as Dot and the three friends looked, he took one of them off, peered into it, blew through it and then put it back on.
"Gross!" went a voice.
Guess who?
Yeah, right!!
With a hiss, one of the dragons on the thin Zildith's coat came alive! Its eyes sparkled and looked straight at where the three friends were hiding.
Oh NO! Caught!!
But it was all right!
"Ah!" said the red-faced Zildith. "There you are!"
