The Book of Magical Mysteries

by Anna Fienberg

  ‘So that the men would fight bravely and not run away home,’ Jack told her. ‘If they didn’t fight, he was going to punish the children.’

  ‘He deserves to be fried in a fritter, that war lord!’ exploded Dad.

  ‘Yes,’ agreed Jack. ‘Well, just then the Wan twins came running back into the village square.

  ‘They had hidden while the soldiers seized the young men. Then they’d followed the war party to see where their uncles were being taken.

  ‘The twins said that the children had been put in the dungeon of the war lord’s palace. The twins searched and climbed and tapped and dug, but they could find no way in. They said the children were lost forever.

  ‘Everybody in the square listened to the Wan twins’ story, and a dreadful moaning began. The sound of sadness rose and swelled like a wave. Parents and aunties and cousins hung onto each other as if they were drowning. Then, one by one, people turned to Tashi. He had once worked for the war lord in that very palace.’

  ‘Uh oh,’ Dad shook his head. ‘I bet he was wishing that he had gone on holidays another time.’

  ‘Not Tashi,’ said Jack. ‘He slipped away to think, and when he returned he went to his grandfather’s box of firecrackers and filled his pockets. Then he set off for the palace of the war lord. By evening, he reached the field where the soldiers were camped.

  ‘He crept past the guards and found the uncles. They were miserable, sitting silent and cold, far from the cooking fires. Tashi whispered to them that they must get ready to leave at any moment, as he was on his way to the dungeon. One man clung to him, crying, “My little sister is only five years old, Tashi. She will be so frightened. You must find the children.” Tashi promised to be back by morning.

  ‘Then he went on alone. He remembered a secret passage into the palace that he’d discovered when he was living there before. You entered in a cave nearby and came out through a wardrobe in the war lord’s very own bedroom.’

  ‘Ugh,’ shuddered Mum. ‘I’d rather be anywhere in the world than there’

  ‘I know,’ shivered Dad. ‘A man like that, you can imagine how his socks smell.’

  ‘Well, anyway,’ Jack went on, ‘Tashi found the cave and pulled aside the bushes covering the entrance. He ran through the damp tunnel and held his breath as he pushed at the wardrobe door. It creaked. What if the war lord had just come upstairs to get a sharper sword?’

  ‘Or change his socks?’ put in Dad.

  ‘Tashi held his breath. He peeped around the door. The room was empty. He tiptoed out into the hall and down the stairs. At the last step he stopped. He felt the firecrackers in his pockets, and quivered. A daring plan had popped into his head. But, he wondered, was he brave enough to do it?

  ‘Instead of going further down the stairs into the dungeon, he found his way along to the kitchens. The cooks were busy preparing a grand dinner for the war lord and didn’t notice Tashi as he crawled behind the oil jars and around the rice bins.’

  ‘What was he doing?’ asked Mum.

  ‘Having a little snack, of course,’ said Dad, taking a bite of Jack’s scone.

  ‘You’ll find out if you pay attention,’ said Jack, and he moved his scone to the other hand. ‘When Tashi left the kitchen he could hear the cries of the children, and the sound of their sobbing led him down to the dungeon. Two guards were talking outside the dark, barred room where the children were held. Tashi hopped into an empty barrel close by and called out in a great loud voice, “The war lord is a beetle-brain!”’

  ‘NO!’ cried Mum and Dad together.

  ‘YES!’ crowed Jack. ‘The guards jumped as if they’d just sat on a nest of soldier ants. “One of those pesky children has managed to get out!” the fat guard hissed. “Then we’d better catch him,” said the other, “before the war lord boils us in spider sauce.”

  ‘As soon as they ran off, Tashi turned the big key they had left in the lock and opened the dungeon door.

  ‘The children recognised Tashi and crowded around, telling him all that had happened. “Shush,” whispered Tashi, “wait till we get outside. The danger isn’t over yet.”

  ‘He led them quickly up the stairs and through the long hallways until at last they came to the great wooden front door of the palace. Tashi reached up and pulled on the big brass latch. The door swung open and the children whooped with joy. They streamed out, falling over each other in their hurry. Tashi picked up the littlest one and set him on his feet. “Home we go!” he cried.

  ‘But no. Just then a huge hand reached down and plucked Tashi up by the collar. He was face to face with the furious war lord. Their noses almost touched. The war lord’s skin was rough, like sandpaper.

  “RUN!” Tashi called to the children. “Run to your uncles down by the camp!”

  ‘The war lord shook Tashi, as if he were a scrap of dirty washing. His iron knuckles bit into Tashi’s neck. He breathed fish and grease into Tashi’s face. “So, you foolish boy,” he growled. “You have come back. You won’t escape again. Look well at the daylight outside, for this is the last time you’ll see it. You’ll work in the dungeons from now on.”

  ‘Tashi thought of the mean black bars on the window of the dungeon. Only a cockroach could stay alive in there. His eyes began to water and he started to sniff.

  ‘“Scared, are you?” the war lord jeered.

  “‘No, I can smell something,” said Tashi, “can’t you?’”

  ‘Socks!’ cried Dad.

  ‘The war lord sniffed. The air did seem rather smoky. Suddenly there was a loud explosion and they heard feet pounding over the stone floor. “Fire!” shouted the war lord, and he dropped Tashi and ran off towards the noise, calling for the guards to follow him.

  ‘Tashi sped down the steps and soon found the children and their uncles. They were waiting for him over the hill, beyond the camp. From there they had a good view of the palace.

  ‘It was blazing fiercely—the windows were red with the glow of fire inside, and a great grey cloud of smoke climbed above it.

  “‘Weren’t we lucky the fire started just then!” said the littlest boy. His brother laughed and looked at Tashi. “I don’t think luck had anything to do with it,” he said.

  ‘“Well,” said Tashi modestly, “as a matter of fact I did empty the gunpowder out of my firecrackers and laid a trail up to the kitchen stove. I hoped we would manage to get out before it reached the ovens. It blew up just in time.”

  ‘“What a clever Tashi!” the children yelled, and the uncles hoisted him up onto their shoulders and they sang and danced all the way home.

  ‘Phew!’ said Dad. ‘That was a close shave. I suppose Tashi could relax after that, and enjoy the rest of his holiday. Did he have good weather?’

  ‘Yes, at first,’ said Jack, ‘until the witch, Baba Yaga, blew in on the winds of a dreadful storm.’

  ‘Baba Yaga?’ said Dad nervously. ‘Who is she?’

  ‘Oh, just a witch whose favourite meal is baked children. But Tashi will tell us all about that. What’s for dinner tonight, Mum?’

  One Saturday, Jack invited Tashi for lunch to meet his Uncle Joe.

  ‘He’s my father’s brother,’ Jack told him proudly. ‘He’s been travelling all over the world.’

  ‘That’s interesting,’ said Tashi. ‘I wonder if he’s ever been to my village.’

  ‘We’ll ask him,’ Jack said excitedly. ‘You can swap stories about snake-infested forests and wild escapes from war lords. It’ll be great!’

  Tashi and Joe did have a lot to talk about. They talked all through the soup, well into the beef with noodles, pausing only when the apple cake was served.

  ‘It’s very good to meet an uncle of yours, Jack,’ said Tashi, taking a bite of his cake. ‘Have you got anymore?’

  ‘There’s some in the kitchen,’ said Mum, hopping up.

  ‘He meant uncles, Mum,’ laughed Jack. ‘You know, if we asked all yours to lunch, Tashi, we’d have to hire the town hall!’

 
Tashi nodded. ‘It’s true. But I’ll tell you something. No matter if you have forty uncles and fifty-six aunts and nine hundred and two cousins, all of them are precious.’ He sighed. ‘Take Lotus Blossom, for example.’

  ‘Who’s that?’ asked Dad, scratching his head. ‘An uncle?’

  Tashi scooped up the last of his cake. ‘No, Lotus Blossom is my cousin. We used to play chasings near the river in summer. Wah, was she a fast runner! Nearly quicker than me! She’d go streaking off on her own then hide in the tiniest, most impossible places. I’d take ages to find her.’

  Tashi finished up his cake and pushed back his chair. ‘So when they told me Lotus Blossom had disappeared, I wasn’t too worried. At first, that is.’

  Uncle Joe leaned forwards. ‘Disappeared, eh?’ He nodded knowingly. ‘What was it? Bandits, war lords, kidnappers?’

  Dad winked at Jack. ‘Here we go!’ he whispered, bouncing on his chair.

  ‘Well, it was like this,’ began Tashi. ‘One afternoon, my mother and I had just come back from a visit to Wise-as-an-Owl, when there was a furious knocking at the door and Lotus Blossom’s grandmother, Wang Mah, stumbled in. Her face was wet with tears and strands of hair from her bun were plastered across her cheeks.

  ‘“I’ve lost her!” Wang Mah burst out. “One minute my dear little Lotus Blossom was playing in the courtyard right next to me – the next, she was gone!” She wrung her hands. “Oh, what will happen when night falls?”

  ‘My mother sat her down on a chair.

  ‘“I was just painting my screen,” Wang Mah went on. “You know, the one with the Red Whiskered Dragon? Well, I couldn’t get the green right on the scales—”

  ‘“Where did you look for her?” I interrupted.

  ‘Wang Mah threw up her hands. “Oh, everywhere! The fields, the cemetery – I’ve told the whole village, practically. Everyone’s out looking, but no one can find her. Oh, my little one, where could she be?”

  ‘Well, I knew we wouldn’t find her sitting there in the house worrying, so I told my mother that I was going to join the search party and that I would be back later.

  ‘“Oh, thank you, Tashi,” cried Wang Mah. “If anyone can find her, you will, I know.”

  ‘I wasn’t so sure, but I crossed my fingers and gave her the sign of the dragon for luck. But as I walked towards the village square, a cold fear was settling in my stomach.

  Whenever Grandma was painting one of her screens, she didn’t hear or see anything else for hours. Lotus Blossom might have been missing since dawn. So I decided to go at once to the village fortune teller.’

  Uncle Joe nodded wisely. ‘I went to one last year, when I was back in the tropics. Did I ever tell you about the time—’

  ‘Yes,’ said Dad quickly.

  ‘So, Tashi,’ said Mum, ‘did the fortune teller have any news?’

  ‘Well, it was like this. Luk Ahed had done horoscope charts for everyone in our village, so I thought he might give us a clue about Lotus Blossom. Luk Ahed is very good at telling the future, but not so brilliant at keeping things tidy. He rummaged through great piles of sacred books and maps of the stars and bamboo sticks. But he couldn’t find her horoscope anywhere.

  ‘“I’ll start on a new one right away,” he promised. Then he grunted with surprise. He had my chart in his hand.

  ‘“Just look at this,” he marvelled. “I see a great adventure awaiting you, Tashi, just as soon as you find a very special pair of red shoes with green glass peacocks embroidered on them.”

  ‘I walked out of there very thoughtfully, I can tell you. I could almost remember seeing such a pair of shoes, but where? As I turned the corner into the village I heard the familiar rat-a-tat-tat coming from the shoemaker’s shop.

  ‘“Hello, Tashi,” Not Yet called from his open door. Our cobbler was called Not Yet because no matter how long people left their shoes with him, when they returned to see if they were ready, he always said, “Not yet. Come back later.”

  ‘Well, I stopped right there on the doorstep. Of course, that’s where I’d seen those strange shoes. I ran into the shop and asked Not Yet if he still had them.

  ‘“I think so,” said Not Yet. “I know the ones you mean. They were here when I took over this shop from my father years ago.” He poked around at the back of the shelves and finally fished out a dusty pair of shoes. He wiped them clean with his sleeve.

  ‘The shoes were just as I remembered. They were red satin and glowed in the dingy room. I took some coins from my pocket and asked, “Could I take them now?”

  ‘Not Yet look at the worn soles and heels and clicked his tongue. “Not yet,” he said. “Come back later.”

  ‘So I went down to the river for a while and looked along the banks and in our usual hiding places for any sign of Lotus Blossom. After an hour, without a speck of dragon luck, I returned to the shop.

  ‘“Be careful with them, Tashi,” Not Yet said as he handed the shoes to me. “Be very careful.” And he looked at me in a worrried way.

  ‘Clutching them tightly to my chest, I ran as fast as I could to the edge of the village. The shoes glowed like small twin sunsets in my hand. When I stopped and put them on, my feet began to grow hot and tingle. I gave a little hop. At least I meant to give a little hop, but instead it was a great whopping leap, followed by another and another, even higher. I couldn’t help laughing, it felt so strange. I ran a few steps, but each step was a huge bound. In a few seconds I had crossed the fields and was down by the river again.

  ‘Well, even though I was so worried about Lotus Blossom, I have to tell you I couldn’t help being excited about the shoes.’

  ‘Who could?’ cried Dad. ‘No one would blame you for that!’

  ‘So I decided to run home – just for a minute, you know – and show my family. But those shoes had other ideas! They went on running in quite the opposite direction: over the bridge and into the forest. I tried to stop, but the shoes wouldn’t let me. I tried to kick them off, but they were stuck fast to my feet. I was getting very tired, and a little bit scared.’

  ‘Who wouldn’t be?’ said Dad.

  ‘Even I, with my vast experience, would be alarmed by the situation,’ put in Uncle Joe.

  ‘Yes, and then I saw the long shadows of the trees and the deepening dusk. Soon it would be dark, and I didn’t know where on earth the shoes were taking me.

  ‘Just then I heard a shout. The shoes bounded on and stopped suddenly near the edge of a deep pit. A tiger pit! I shivered deep inside. I’d had quite enough of tigers, remember, when I was trapped with one in that wicked Baron’s storeroom.’

  ‘Old Baron bogey,’ muttered Dad.

  ‘A voice yelped again, “Is anyone there?” And do you know, it was Lotus Blossom!

  ‘“Yes, it’s me, Tashi!” I called, and the shoes moved forwards. I leaned over the side of the pit. “Hello, Lotus Blossom. How did you come to fall down there? You weren’t hiding, were you?”

  ‘“No!” yelled Lotus Blossom, stamping her foot. “It’s no joke being down here. I got lost, and I was running, and there were branches over the pit so you couldn’t see it. Oh, Tashi, I’ve been here all day, so frightened that a tiger might come and fall in on top of me.”

  ‘I jerked back and shot a look over my shoulder. But what could I do? I had no rope or any means of getting her up.

  Then my toes tingled inside the shoes, reminding me. Yes! My splendid magic shoes could take me home in no time and I would be back with a good long rope as quick as two winks of an eye.

  ‘But at that moment Lotus Blossom began to scream. My heart thumped as I saw a large black snake slithering down into the hole, gliding towards her.

  ‘I didn’t have time to think. The shoes picked me up and jumped me down into the pit. Wah!

  ‘Maybe I’ll land on the snake and squash him, I thought. But no, the snake heard me coming and slid to one side. I landed with a crash.

  ‘“Hide behind me, Lotus Blossom,” I said, facing the serpent. Lotus
Blossom did as I told her, but doesn’t she always have to have the last word? She picked up rocks and threw them at the snake, shouting “WAH! PCHAAA!”

  ‘“Leave him, Lotus Blossom!” I whispered, but it was too late. The snake was enraged. It drove us back into the corner, lunging fiercely.

  ‘“Put your arms around my waist and hold on,” I told Lotus Blossom.

  ‘No sooner had she done so than my feet began to tingle. The magic shoes jumped me straight up the steep side of the pit and out into the clean, fresh air.

  ‘I hoisted Lotus Blossom onto my shoulders and with a few exciting bounds we were back in the village square. The bell was rung to call back the searchers, and you should have seen them racing joyfully towards us! They swept Lotus Blossom up into their arms, clapping and cheering like thunder. Wang Mah grabbed her, and scolded and wept, her long white hair tangling them both together. But when the crowd saw me doing one of my playful little leaps – well, flying right over their heads! – they gasped in amazement.

  ‘“Look at those shoes! Where did he get them? Look at him fly!” they cried.

  ‘I was just taking my bow when I spied a face in the crowd that I had hoped never to see again: my greedy Uncle Tiki Pu.’

  ‘Oh, him!’ Jack turned to Uncle Joe. ‘He’s the worst uncle ever. When he came to stay with Tashi, he threw all the toys out the window to make way for his things!’

  ‘I just brought my pyjamas and a change of underpants for the weekend,’ said Uncle Joe quickly. ‘Is that all right?’