Garth Nix

"Double, treble, quadruple bubble, watch the stock market get into trouble..."

"All of us recruits are equal in the eyes of the Army: low as you can go."

"You are a weak reed, Recruit Green!" Helve shouted. "Weak reeds make for badly woven baskets! This platoon will not be a badly woven basket!"

"I don't want to make a mistake," said the Will softly. "Better not to make a decision than to make a mistake."

"The whole House is going to fall down if you don't make a decision!" Arthur argued.

"What do we do if we don't go through a hole?" asked Suzy.

"I think we get smashed to bits," said Arthur. "But like Longtayle said, it's mostly holes. And the current must aim for the holes, or get directed through them. We'll be all right."

"What happens if we don't get smashed completely to bits, but just a bit smashed to bits?" asked Suzy after a while. "I mean, so we're still alive but drowning?"

"Suzy, please don't ask me these questions right now," said Arthur, with as much restraint as he could manage.

"Lieutenant Crosshaw says you are a special case!" bellowed Helve. "I do not like special cases! Special cases do not make good soldiers! Special cases do not help other recruits become good soldiers! Therefore, you will not be a special case! You understand me!"

"I think so-"

"Shut up! That was not a question!"

"Flotsam floats when all is sunk.

Jetsam thrown isn't just junk.

Coughs and colds and bright red sores

Waiting for us, so bend yer oars!"

"What happened?" Arthur asked. He caught a glimpse of something below, but couldn't quite make out what it was. "The Nithling-"

"Missed me," called out Suzy. "Close-run thing. Bit off my right clog. I was kicking it in the teeth, so I s'pose that's fair."

"Come on! You too, Will."

"If you must call me anything, you may address me as Most Excellent Testamentary Clause," said the sun bear.

"Claws?" said Suzy, as she tilted the chair to speed the bear on its way. "Orright, Claws, hop to it."

"No, no, no," protested the sun bear. "Most Excellent-"

"Claws it is," said Suzy loudly. "After you, Claws."

"I said... oh... just don't speak to me," huffed the Will as it waddled after Arthur.

"Noon sits at the Master's right hand, Dawn at his left. Dusk stands behind, in the shadows. Yet sometimes it is easier to see the light when you stand partly in the darkness."

"Choosers will be beggars if the begging’s not their choosing," said the Dog.

She got up, grew her legs longer to get her body out of the water and shook herself dry. Then she wandered off, following a zigzag path along the border between Life and Death, her tail wagging so hard, the tip of it beat the river into a froth behind her.