by Maya Grace
So it was Jack’s turn now.
He wound back his arm, took aim, and released his splash potion—smacking the pigman in the chest. The bottle smashed, and a blanket of cherry-red bubbles rose from the frosty ground.
The pigman grunted and dropped, but the bubbles remained. “Lingering potion,” Jack had called it.
This is our chance, thought Ella.
She grabbed Jack’s hand and raced through the bubbles. The lingering potion of healing would strengthen them, but it would harm any pigmen who tried to follow—at least for a little while.
When she hit the edge of the stream, Ella searched for her wolf. He was downstream now, his ice raft shrinking by the second. There was no time to wonder if her Frost Walker boots would work. They had to work.
“C’mon, Jack,” said Ella. “Time to walk on water.”
She grabbed his hand again to keep him close. Then she took her first step.
The rushing river froze beneath her, step by crackly step. But just as quickly as it froze, it un-froze. As Ella glanced backward, she saw Jack’s back foot break through the ice. He leaped forward.
“Keep up!” she called to him.
Behind Jack, the army of pigmen raged. They were determined to follow, even if it meant diving to their deaths. One after another, the pigmen charged into the river, only to be swallowed up by the rapid current.
As Ella took another step, a pigman swept past her. He grabbed her foot, tugging her down into the rushing water. Ella struggled and kicked until he finally let go.
Don’t look down! she told herself. Keep moving!
Her wolf was only a few feet away now. Ella took another step, then another, and finally landed on the icy raft beside him.
“Get on!” she called to Jack, tugging at his arm. But he eyed the wolf warily.
“He won’t hurt you!” Ella called over the rushing water. “Get on!”
As the enchanted ice beneath Jack’s feet melted, he dropped, plunging into the rushing water.
“Jack!” She dropped to her knees and grabbed both of his hands. But he was so wet and heavy. His hands started to slip from her grasp.
Then she felt her wolf beside her. He crouched low and gripped Jack’s cape with his powerful jaws. Together, they pulled Jack onto the ice, inch by slippery inch.
Just as the ice broke free from its rocky nest.
Side by side on that narrow strip of ice, they sailed down the river toward the falls.
CHAPTER 15
The ice raft wound around one river bend, and then another, surging faster and faster toward the falls.
“What do we do?” asked Jack.
Ella’s wolf whined, panting and pacing along the narrow strip of ice. She placed her hand on the scruff of his neck to calm him.
Then she looked backward, hoping to see Rowan on the riverbank. But she could barely even see the igloo anymore. We’re on our own now, she realized. We have to fight.
“Look for a tree branch to grab,” she said to Jack. “Anything sticking out from the riverbank. Get low and be ready!”
But the banks of the river were clear of bush and debris. The spruce trees were too far away—much too far.
As the sound of the falls roared in Ella’s ears, her wolf barked nervously beside her. He lifted his snout and howled.
“I hear you!” she cried. “I just don’t know what to do!” She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on tight.
Then an arrow whizzed across the river a few yards ahead. Ella groaned with despair.
If the falls wouldn’t destroy them, the skeletons would. She reached for her bow, and then remembered that she didn’t have one. Rowan had it now. Uh-oh.
“Jack, get down!” she cried, preparing to face the bony mobs that she knew were coming.
But that was no skeleton holding a bow on the riverbank. It was Rowan. And the arrow she’d shot across the water had something streaming behind it. A rope!
As the arrow struck the trunk of a spruce, the rope grew taut. Rowan held the other end. “Grab it!” she called.
Ella had only seconds to reach for the rope. It slid through one hand, burning her skin. But she caught it with her other hand—and held on.
The ice slipped beneath Ella’s feet, but finally stopped moving. “Help me hold on!” she cried to Jack.
He reached for the rope. They hung there suspended for just a moment, before Rowan began tugging them and their ice raft toward the riverbank.
As Ella’s wolf leaped to the safety of the riverbank, her heart swelled. I did it, she realized. I protected him. I saved him!
Rowan tugged on her end of the rope, and Ella and Jack tugged on the other. The gap between the ice and the riverbank narrowed, and finally Jack could jump across too.
Then Ella made her final leap and fell to the ground.
She lay still for a moment, grateful for the solid earth. Then something wet and furry nuzzled her neck. Her wolf was prodding her, pushing her up—making sure she was okay.
Ella sat up, and for the first time, gazed into her wolf’s eyes. She saw a wildness there, but also something familiar. She reached out her hand. “Are we friends now?” she whispered.
He licked her hand, but then stepped backward, whining. She felt his ache, his loneliness.
“You’re missing your pack,” she said. “I know. But we’re your pack now, buddy. We’re your pack now.”
She reached into her pocket for the treasure she had been saving. As she offered the skeleton bone to her wolf, he took it—tentatively at first. Then he dropped his rump, settled onto the ground, and gave himself over to his treat.
“He’s yours now,” whispered Rowan. “It’s official.”
“I hope so,” said Ella, reaching out to stroke her wolf’s back.
But worry pricked at her heart. Would her wolf leave her the way Rowan’s horse had? When it was time to go home to Gran’s mansion, would he follow?
* * *
The walk back to the igloo felt like an eternity. Jack’s clothes had frozen, which meant he could take only tiny steps. And his cheeks were crimson with cold. Every so often, Ella’s wolf licked Jack’s face, which made him laugh and kept him going.
As they neared the igloo, Ella saw immediately that something was different. Smoke curled out the chimney of the igloo. Someone had stoked the fire!
“Did you do that?” she asked Rowan, pointing toward the smoke.
Rowan narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “Let’s keep our distance,” she whispered. “Follow me.”
They tiptoed around the igloo toward the entrance. But when they heard the whinny of a horse, Rowan began to run.
The chestnut mare stood just beside the entrance to the igloo, and she had a friend—a dappled gray horse munching on something in a bucket.
“You came back!” said Rowan, patting the mare on the neck.
She whinnied a response and nuzzled Rowan with her soft nose.
Then Ella heard someone calling from inside the igloo. And music, a melody that went straight to Ella’s heart. Gran was inside!
She had come all this way to find them.
She had come to take them safely home.
* * *
As Ella sank into the chair by the fire, her wolf lay down at her feet. She knew now that he would definitely follow her home—he’d been glued to her side all afternoon. As he rested his chin on her foot, he let out a contented sigh.
“I know how you feel, buddy,” she whispered. “We’re safe now.”
When Ella looked up, she caught Gran watching her with wonder.
“You’re so much like your mother,” Gran said suddenly—words that Ella had never heard before.
She took them in, feeling her heart swell. And as Gran took a seat and settled back, Ella waited for the story that she knew was coming.
“You’re all very much like your parents,” Gran said. She turned first to Rowan. “You’re a warrior, like your father. And Jack, your mother was a scientist—always s
earching for ingredients she could blend and brew into powerful potions.”
Jack sat up straight and smiled wide.
Then Gran reached for Ella’s hand. “And you, my dear, are a wolf whisperer, like your mother.”
Ella swallowed the lump in her throat. “My mother spoke to wolves?”
Gran nodded. “She did.”
“Rowan speaks to horses!” said Jack suddenly.
Gran nodded again. “Yes, I know,” she said. “Good thing, too, or I never would have found you. Your horse led me here.”
Rowan’s face fell. “She’s not my horse,” she said. “Not really.”
“I know,” Gran said gently. “But you’ll find your horse one day.”
Jack scooted forward in his chair. “Will I, too?” he asked. “Will animals talk to me?”
Gran cocked her head. “Maybe,” she said. “But you have many other talents, Jack—don’t you worry.”
She sighed and clasped her hands in her lap. “You’ve all been given great gifts, just like your parents. And it was because of those gifts that they led the fight against the mobs during the Uprising. Your parents led great armies of animals that helped us fight against the mobs. They helped us win.”
Rowan’s jaw dropped. “Why didn’t you tell us?” she asked. “You taught us all about enchantments and potions, but you didn’t teach us the important things—like about our parents!”
Anger flared in Ella’s chest. “Enchantments and potions are important things,” she countered. “Don’t you know that by now, Rowan?”
Her cousin sank down, looking deflated. “You’re right,” she finally said. “Your enchantments saved us today.”
“And my potion!” said Jack.
Rowan nodded. “And your potion.”
“And your skills with the bow and arrow,” said Ella. “We fought off the pigmen together, right?”
Rowan nodded again, and gave Ella a grateful smile.
“You three make me so proud,” said Gran, her voice catching. “And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about your parents sooner. I was trying to protect you. I thought . . .” She trailed off as she picked at the frayed seam of her robes.
Then she lifted her eyes and gazed at them steadily. “I didn’t think you were ready to learn the truth, but I was wrong. You are ready. And it’s time. The pigmen you fought today are a sign, a sign that hostile mobs are growing in power. The balance is shifting, and we may need to fight—again.”
A shiver of fear ran down Ella’s spine, along with excitement.
“But today?” said Gran. “Today, we eat, rest, and rebuild our strength for the journey home.”
“Home,” said Rowan, savoring the word. “I’m ready.”
Ella laughed out loud. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.” Just like I never thought I’d hear Gran say that I’m so much like my mother, she thought with a rush of pride.
As Gran doled out warm slabs of her homemade bread, Jack gobbled them up greedily. He paused, with his mouth full, to ask the kind of question only Jack could ask. “Gran, are you a witch?”
Gran nearly choked on her own bread.
Of course Gran isn’t a witch, Ella almost said. But she needed to hear it from Gran herself.
“Goodness, Jack. Such questions,” said Gran, wiping her mouth with a cloth. “No, I’m not a witch.”
He sat back, looking relieved. “Okay, but the villagers said you were.”
Ella watched Gran’s face change, as if a dark cloud had rolled in.
“Ahh . . .” said Gran slowly. “The villagers. Well, Jack, things aren’t always what they seem. After the Uprising, some of the villagers viewed your parents as great leaders. But others saw their gifts as strange and threatening—as witchcraft. They turned against your parents, and against me.”
Her voice sounded so heavy, so sad. Ella hurried over and wrapped her arms around Gran’s neck, breathing in her familiar scent. “I’m sorry, Gran,” she whispered.
Gran patted her arm. “It’s alright, dear. We’re alright now, aren’t we?” She pulled back to give Ella a reassuring smile.
Ella nodded. But the wheels turned in her mind. “Wait . . .” she said slowly. “Why did the villagers turn against you? Gran, can you talk to animals, too?”
Gran raised a single eyebrow, the way Rowan sometimes did. Then she laughed. “There’s so much I have to teach you,” she said to Ella. “In time.”
So she does talk to animals! Ella realized with delight. But she knew better than to push Gran for more. And as she caught Rowan’s eye, Ella knew something else.
Their adventures in the Overworld, beyond the walls of Gran’s mansion, had only just begun.
