The Dark and Forbidding Land

by Wesley Allison

  “The witch woman!” he hissed.

  The witch woman cast hardly an eye in the direction of the two reptilians, stepping unhurriedly through the store to where Mr. Parnorsham stood in back. Tattasserott seemed unable to move, not even scrunching down to make himself smaller. Cissy moved slightly away from him, but kept her attention on the sorceress.

  “Zurfina,” said Mr. Parnorsham. “I don’t believe you’ve ever been in my store before.”

  “Good day proprietor,” said Zurfina, as if he hadn’t spoken. “I don’t know if you know, but I have a young girl living with me.”

  “You mean, besides Senta?”

  “Oh, you know her.”

  “Everyone knows Senta. She’s the Drache Girl. She comes in here almost…”

  “Anyway,” Zurfina interrupted. “Her ninth birthday is coming up and I want to purchase a toy or some such.”

  “I’m pretty sure she’s ten years old already.”

  “Really?” The sorceress shot Mr. Parnorsham a withering look, but he held up bravely.

  “Yes, that’s right. She’s ten, and I believe she said her birthday’s in Quaduary.”

  “Well, that is coming up, is it not?”

  “Yes, of course, but um…”

  “Yes?”

  “I think she is a bit too grown up for toys.”

  “Really? Well, I’ll just look around for a bit.”

  Zurfina turned and slowly made her way through the aisles directly toward the two lizzies, who continued to stand like great reptilian statues where they were. She stepped around Cissy and stood between them to look down at the toy counter. She picked up one of the strange four-legged creatures made of wood with yarn tails and made a noise by blowing air through her lips. It seemed as though she hardly realized the lizzies were even there, but then she looked Cissy directly in the eye. Cissy stared back at those strange human grey and white eyes, and before she could stop herself, she spoke.

  “Zurfina.”

  The witch woman looked at her again, moving her face very close as if she was making a careful examination of lizzie skin. “That's right.”

  “Nice yellow hair,” said Cissy.

  “Proprietor?” said Zurfina, not looking away. “This creature is speaking to me.”

  “Yes,” called Mr. Parnorsham. “Some of them do that.”

  The bell above the door rang again and Mrs. Dechantagne entered.

  “Are you done shopping yet Cissy? I'm almost ready to start for home.”

  She walked around the counter and joined Zurfina and the two lizzies. Unlike the sorceress, she was clearly intimidated by Tattasserott's size, though she was forced by the narrow aisle and her large bustle to step very close to him.

  “Good day Zurfina,” she said, still glancing sideways at the big male lizzie.

  Zurfina slowly turned her head, though her eyes stayed glued on the talking lizzie. At last, when her face was pointed toward the other woman, her eyes popped over to look at her.

  “I don't believe I know you, do I?”

  “Don't be silly,” said Mrs. Dechantagne indignantly. “Of course you know me. You've known me for years now. You turned me to stone once.”

  “My dear, that could be any number of people,” said Zurfina. “Well...the face is familiar... but I don’t seem to recall the name.”

  “It's Yuah. Yuah Korl... Yuah Dechantagne.”

  “Oh! Now I know you. You're the social climber who just married into a great deal of wealth.”

  Mrs. Dechantagne scrunched her nose. “You can be such a witch.” Turning on her heal, she marched toward the door.

  “Hurry up Cissy!” she called after her, before exiting the store. “I'll be waiting.”

  Zurfina watched her leave with a big smile on her face. When the door closed, she looked back at Cissy.

  “I'll be watching you,” she said quietly, then turned toward the back of the shop. “Proprietor, I don't see anything appropriate for an eight year old girl.”

  “I have some wonderful new things I could order, if you’d like to step back to look at the catalog.”

  “You crazy female!” hissed Tattasserott, when the witch woman had moved away. “What do you think you are playing at?”

  “I don't know what you mean.”

  “You stay away from me. And don't bother coming back to Tserich either. You don't belong there anymore.”

  He quickly left the store. Cissy took her bag of blocks to the counter and paid Mr. Parnorsham twenty-five copper bits for them. When she left the shop, she found Mrs. Dechantagne waiting for her.

  “It's about time. I've been waiting.”

  Cissy didn't reply.

  “That big lizzie.” said Mrs. Dechantagne. “Is he a friend of yours?”

  “No,” said Cissy.

  “Well, come along. I want to get home.”

  Chapter Seven: Powerful Magic

  “You think I'm an idiot?” demanded Senta.

  “I didn't say anything of the kind,” replied Zurfina calmly.

  “I know a fylfot when I see one!”

  “Don't be so defensive, Pet. I didn't say I didn't believe you. I merely pointed out that I have been all over this town in the past few weeks and I haven't seen hide nor hair of this wizard of yours.”

  “Well I saw him. I've been keeping tabs on him since he got here and I even talked to him.”

  “I don't doubt you,” said Zurfina, in a remarkably soothing voice, “but the level of residual magic around town is no more than I would expect from you and your everyday antics.”

  “Are you sure you didn't miss some?”

  “Now who's being insulting?” The sorceress's voice suddenly flared louder. “If I didn't detect it, it wasn't there.”

  “Hmph!” said Senta, and crossing her arms, turned to face the door.

  Zurfina sighed. “Children are so difficult. Is it any wonder that I never wanted one of my own?”

  “Maybe you should just get rid of me like everybody else does,” said Senta quietly.

  Zurfina crossed from the kitchen to the other side of the stairs and put an arm around Senta's shoulders.

  “You're far too interesting for me to get rid of now. Look, this wizard of yours is obviously far too insignificant for me to concern myself with. You'll have to take care of him.”

  “Me? I'm just a little kid.”

  “You know something?” said Zurfina, taking her arm from around Senta and grasping her by the shoulders. “Nobody believes that—least of all me. There's not a journeyman wizard this side of Xygia who can do what you can do with magic.”

  “Really?”

  “Would I lie to you?”

  “Of course you would.”

  “Well...” Zurfina shrugged. “Keep an eye on your wizard, and if he turns out to be a threat to us, neutralize him.”

  “What if you're wrong and he magics the crap out of me?” wondered Senta.

  “Then I'll know better with my next apprentice,” replied Zurfina. “Do you want a sandwich?”

  “Yes.”

  Zurfina waved her finger in the air and, as the contents of the froredor began to fly out to the table and assemble themselves into sandwiches, she started up the stairs.

  “Bring my meal up to the top floor. Leave it on the step outside the door. Don’t come in.”

  “I haven't forgotten,” said Senta, watching mayonnaise being spread across a freshly cut piece of bread.

  When the sandwiches had been completed, Senta delivered Zurfina's to the appropriate location. Then she put away the ingredients by hand and sat down at the table to enjoy hers. She was only on her second bite when there was a knock at the door. As she opened it, the cold air from outside blew across her bare shins and feet. It had stopped snowing a couple of days before, but it was still cold out and the world was still covered with a thick blanket of white. Standing outside and shivering was Hertzal Hertling.

  “Hertzal!” squealed Senta, giving him a great hug. “Where is your sis
ter? Didn't she come with you?”

  Hertzal remained as quiet as he always did, but shook his head. Two years before, when he and his two sisters had escaped their former homeland of Freedonia, soldiers had killed both their parents. Hertzal, who up until that time has seemed a perfectly normal boy, had lost his voice. And there seemed to be no reason to expect its return any time soon.

  “Come in and get warm.” Senta pulled the boy into the house and closed the door after him. “Are you hungry?”

  Hertzal shrugged.

  Taking this as an affirmative, Senta cut her sandwich in half and gave him the portion with no bite taken out of it.

  “I'll put on some tea.”

  Hertzal took a bite of the sandwich and smiled with his blue lips closed.

  Senta put the pot on the cast iron stove.

  “Nothing's wrong, is it?” she asked.

  Hertzal shook his head.

  “It's only that I don’t see you very often by yourself.”

  She crossed back to the stove and sat down.

  “What's Hero doing?”

  He shrugged.

  “Do you know where Graham is?”

  He shook his head.

  “So... kind of hard to have a conversation with you.”

  Hertzal looked down at the table, took a bite of his sandwich and nodded sadly.

  “That's okay. Really. I don’t mind.”

  The kettle on the stove started to whistle, and Senta went and got it. She transferred the water to a teapot, put loose leaves of tea into an infuser and dropped the infuser into the teapot as well. Then she brought the pot and two cups to the table.

  “You know, I bet I can be as quiet as you.”

  Hertzal shook his head.

  “Let's see. Ready, set.” She silently mouthed the word “go.”

  They finished their sandwiches and tea, looking back and forth at one another. Afterwards Hertzal helped Senta take the plates, cups, and teapot to the sink and wash them. Then Senta took him by the hand and led him to the bookcase next to Bessemer’s corner and pulled a wooden box from the bottom shelf. With a flourish, she pointed to the words burned into the top of the box that spelled out “draughts.” Hertzal smiled and they sat down to set up the board and begin the first of several games. By mid-afternoon Hertzal had won six while Senta had won four. He looked at her and cocked his head to the side.

  “I didn't let you win!” She slapped both hands to her mouth. “Kafira! You tricked me.”

  Hertzal shrugged.

  “Are you going to stay for tea?”

  Hertzal looked at the ceiling.

  “I don't think Zurfina will be down again today. When she goes up to her study, she usually stays a good long while.”

  He looked left, right, and then down near his feet.

  “No. Bessemer is out hunting or flying or some such.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “No, I'm not worried. Fina says that he's old enough to stay out of trouble.”

  He raised the other eyebrow.

  “No, I don't believe it either.”

  Hertzal jerked his head in the direction of the door.

  “I don't think your sister would like it if I came to your house for tea. Honor, I mean. I don't think she likes me.”

  He nodded.

  “Well, if you're sure.”

  Nodding again, the boy got up and began putting on his coat. Senta searched around for her own outer clothing and boots, as well as the snowshoes that Graham had given her. When they were both suitably bundled, they headed out the door into the snow.

  “So when are your moving in to your new place?”

  Hertzal stared at her.

  “You're already there? When did you move in?”

  He held up two fingers.

  “The day before yesterday? You should have called me. I could have helped you.”

  He shrugged.

  “Yeah. I guess you guys didn't really have all that much stuff to move. It's like me when I got here. I didn't have anything but my doll and the clothes that Fina gave me.”

  Hetzal nodded knowingly.

  “You know, I guess it’s not so hard to hold a conversation with you after all.”

  Unlike Senta's walk down the same path with Graham four days earlier, this time they encountered no utahraptors, nor any other notable large creatures, only a few bambiraptors that ran into the shelter of the thick azalea bushes growing between the pines as soon as they saw the two humans. The snow was not as thick on the roadway as it had been, but Hertzal glanced enviously at Senta's snowshoes.

  “Pretty cool, huh? You should get Mr. Dokkins to make you a pair.” Senta thought about it for a moment and decided that the Hertlings were unlikely to have enough money to buy a pair of snowshoes even at the no doubt discounted price that Graham's father was likely to charge them. “I bet you could even make a pair yourself.”

  The boy seemed far from convinced of his own ability to replicate them.

  A few snowflakes began to fall just as they reached the new Town Square. The buildings on the east side of town were complete now and Mr. Darwin and Mr. Vever had both moved into their new establishments. The building that was going to be Mrs. Finkler's bakery was almost done, though no workmen were currently on the job.

  “It will be nice to have a place to eat out,” mused Senta, stopping to look at the building. “People in Brech eat out all the time. There's a beanery, and restaurants, and Carlo's Cafe. Carlo's had really good food. Did you ever eat at a cafe?”

  Hertzal looked like he was trying to remember. He nodded slowly.

  “A long time ago, huh? In Freedonia?”

  He nodded again.

  “What kind of food did they have?”

  He shrugged.

  “Too long ago to remember.” Senta spoke the sentence for him.

  “The diners in the fatherland have the best food in the vorld,” said a voice from behind them. The two children turned around to see Streck standing a few feet away. “You Brechs don't know how to eat. Your food is miserable. In a Freedonian restaurant you have veal and lamb, pork, Potatoes Kasselburg, spargle, and a thousand kinds of wurst. And thankfully, they no longer allow zeets.”

  “Why don't you turn around and go back to your worst?” said Senta.

  “All in good time, little bit. I have important grown-up business to take care of here in this God-forsaken country. But I will be on my way soon enough. Perhaps you would like to go with me, ja?”

  Hertzal stepped in front of Senta protectively.

  “I knew zeets were dogs,” sneered Streck, “but I have to admit, I didn't know they could be watch dogs.”

  “You watch your mouth!” said Senta.

  “Or what? You'll shoot lightning at me? Your Zurfina is not here to stand in for you.”

  “Huh?”

  “How would you say it in Brechalon—'back you up'? Make people think it is you when all the time it is really her?”

  “Huh?”

  “Oh, I understand. With all the talk of the Drache Girl, hardly anybody talks about Zurfina anymore. Who she is. Where she came from. How did she get out of that gefängnis?”

  “What in the name of Kafira's knockers are you talking about?”

  “So, the zeets have taught you to blaspheme.” Streck looked like he was biting down on a lemon. “Stay out of my way. You're not fooling anyone.”

  Turning on his heel, the Freedonian marched across the square toward the pfennig store. Senta stepped forward next to Hertzal and put her arm around his shoulders. Then with her other hand, she pointed toward Streck's back and said “uuthanum.”

  “He's a tosser alright. Zurfina's right though—I don't see a lot of magic on him. Just a bit here and there. You saw that fylfot though, didn't you? That pin on his lapel?”

  Hertzal nodded and then scrunched up his nose oddly.

  “You're right! He doesn't think I can do magic—not real magic anyways. He thinks Fina is doing it to make me look more advan
ced than I really am.”

  Hertzal smiled and Senta smiled back at him.

  The Hertling home was one of many small houses, all of the same type, on the east side of the town. While a few others were completed as well, far more were still under construction. Men and women both worked hammering on roof tiles and hanging doors. They were obviously not hired workmen, but the future residents finishing up their own domiciles. More than a few of them stopped what they were doing to watch the Drache Girl as she passed. Hertzal led Senta through the unfinished yard and in the front door of the Hertling home. The interior of the house was very small and consisted of three rooms. The/ front room, only about eight by twelve feet, served as parlor, dining room, and kitchen. At one end was a cast iron stove, a kitchen counter with a wash basin and spigot, and an empty shelf. At the other end of the room was an old rocking chair and a bookcase filled with a half dozen volumes and two small porcelain flower vases holding carefully cultivated violets. In between were a rough-hewn table and four very simple chairs. The wood planking of the floor was exactly the same wood planking of the walls and the ceiling, but bright light shown in through the four lace curtained windows, and the room was impeccably clean.

  Hertzal's older sister Honor smiled as he entered and the smile didn't waver when Senta entered after him. She stood at the kitchen counter, powdered with flower across the front of her apron and a good portion of her face and hair, rolling out dough.

  “Hello Senta,” she said. “Come on in and sit down. I'm just getting a pie ready for dinner, but we'll have tea in just a few minutes.”

  “What kind of pie is it? Is it going to be a fruit pie? Are you using canned fruit?”

  “You ask a lot of questions,” said Honor. “It is going to be a fruit pie, but I'm not going to use canned fruit. It's going to be a persimmon pie.”

  “A per-whats-it?”

  “Persimmon. We used to have persimmon trees at our old home in Freedonia. Several dozen bushels arrived on the last ship and I purchased a peck.”

  “I thought it was too late for fresh fruit.”

  “Persimmons come late in the year.”

  At that moment one of the two doors in the back of the room opened and Hero stepped out. Seeing Senta, she squealed and bounced happily into her arms.