Skeleton Key

by Piers Anthony

  Or rather, it led directly to a tangle tree. “Stay in my tracks,” Hilda said.

  “But that’s a tangle tree!” Squid protested. “They eat anything they catch! We can’t—”

  “We know. You have to trust us, or it won’t work.”

  Squid shut up and followed her. Hilda was after all in her bailiwick; she had to know what she was doing, maybe. Larry was next, and Ion was last, riding his little carpet. “Are we doing the right thing?” Squid whispered to Larry as they drew close to each other.

  “They are a prince and princess, Magician and Sorceress,” he whispered back. “They have made this journey before.”

  That wasn’t a direct answer, but it was good background information. The twins might be only nine years old, but they were indeed royal, with phenomenal magic.

  “Any other thoughts?” she asked him somewhat facetiously, which was a good trick because she was hardly familiar with the word.

  “Their mother let them do it.”

  That had more punch. Squid had never heard of a mother who willingly let her children go into danger. Princess Ida did seem to know what was going on. That did not guarantee that it was safe, but it was an indication. “True,” she agreed faintly.

  “And we need to complete our mission,” he concluded. “This is perhaps the most feasible way.”

  So it was. She would just have to hope that it was not disastrous.

  They came almost within range of the tree’s tentacles, which quivered with anticipation of succulent children. One more step . . .

  Hilda halted. Squid was glad to stop behind her.

  Ion floated up and stopped almost within touching distance of the nearest tentacle. He brought out a little spritz bottle filled with brown fluid. He spritzed.

  The tentacle recoiled violently, and so did the others near it. The tree was desperately avoiding them. That was odd, as tangle trees were notorious for consuming any living thing they caught.

  Hilda resumed walking, and the others followed. They went right under the tangle tree, passing next to the hideous trunk with its gnarly gaping mouth and saliva sap, but it never touched them. They emerged beyond it and followed the trail.

  “What was in that spritz?” Squid asked. She didn’t have real knees, technically, but they felt like cooked noodles.

  “Essence of stink horn fragrance,” Hilda replied. “Just enough of it to make the point. No one is going to follow us on this route.”

  “Stink horn!” Squid echoed, amazed. “That would do it. But how did Ion get it?”

  “His talent is immunity to all elixirs,” Hilda explained. “Stink horn aroma is a kind of elixir. He collects assorted ones, as they remain potent on other folk even if they can’t hurt him. They can be useful.”

  So it seemed. The boy’s immunity allowed him to handle the elixirs, and to bottle them, saving them for later use. It made sense.

  “We were a bit skeptical. We apologize for underestimating you,” Larry said diplomatically as they walked through a more open section of the forest.

  “That’s all right,” Hilda said. “Everyone does.”

  Squid found herself relating. “You’re children among adults? They don’t take you seriously?”

  “Oh, the maids and servitors at Castle Adamant are always polite. But we know what they’re thinking.”

  “That we’re spoiled brats,” Ion said.

  “And maybe we are,” Hilda said. “But we don’t mean to be. We just don’t know any better.”

  “So we’re happier out by ourselves in the wilderness,” Ion said. “The trees and animals don’t judge us.”

  “We’re common folk,” Squid said. “We were concerned that royal folk wouldn’t want to associate with us.”

  Hilda laughed. “You’ve got the big adventure. That makes you special.”

  “We like adventure,” Ion said. “We don’t care who is royal or how much magic they have. We just want fun company, preferably in our own age range.”

  “I’m an animal,” Squid said, turning one hand into an octopus extremity. “I’m not judging you.”

  “And I’m a girl,” Larry said. “I’m not judging you either.”

  “But we’re both children,” Squid said. “We hate the Adult Conspiracy.”

  “Yes!” Ion and Hilda said together.

  After that, whatever tension there had been between them dissolved and sank into the ground.

  Hilda slowed. “Here we have a choice. The route divides. The faster one is on the left, but it passes through a meet he/her shower.”

  “A meteor shower?” Squid asked. “We don’t want to risk that.”

  “Not exactly. Sometimes they are falling hes and shes.”

  “People?”

  “We think they step out of their showers and slip, and this is where they land. Bare, wet people. They often aren’t pleased to encounter clothed folk.”

  “I should think not,” Larry said.

  “And it’s worse if one lands on you,” Hilda said. “You could get a soapy bare foot in your face. You have to keep your eye on the sky, and be ready to dodge.”

  “And they definitely don’t like it when children see them bare,” Ion said. “For some reason.”

  “Let’s not take that route,” Squid said. “We’re not that kind of sightseer.”

  “The slower route passes through the portal. Some folk don’t like that.”

  “Does it hurt them?”

  “Not really. We go through it all the time, and it’s never harmed us. But some people refuse because of the awkwardness.”

  Squid realized that there was something the girl wasn’t telling them. “What awkwardness?”

  “Well, clothing doesn’t fit right. You have to get new clothes.”

  “You mean it changes the shape of the clothes?”

  “No. Of the body.”

  “Oh, you mean it makes you look like a troll?”

  “Not exactly. You look fine. Pretty, even.”

  “Is it harmful?” Larry asked.

  “Not really,” Hilda said. “Just inconvenient.”

  “Until you pass back through it,” Ion said. “Then it reverts you to the way you were before. Then your new clothing doesn’t fit. So sometimes we just go bare and save the trouble.”

  Going bare wasn’t as big a deal for small children as it was for big ones or adults. “Well, we can put up with some inconvenience,” Squid said. “That’s better than getting bashed by a meteor or a falling body.”

  “That’s how we see it,” Hilda said. She seemed oddly amused.

  What were these kids up to? Better just to call their bluff, whatever it was. “Let’s go through the portal,” Squid said briskly.

  “Coming up,” Hilda said, smiling. “This way.”

  It was a fair distance, and they paused for lunch along the way. There among the sandwiches were several small sealed cans; each child had one.

  “What’s this?” Larry asked.

  “Music,” Hilda explained. “In case we need to dance.”

  Larry shrugged, not electing to challenge that.

  Soon they reached the portal. It was a massive gateway, square on the outside, rounded on the inside. The walls were inscribed with magical symbols. It was open; they could see the view through it, just like the scenery on this side. The surrounding trees and brush pressed up so close that it was not possible to avoid it without a considerable hassle. Only the central way was clear.

  “I’m slightly suspicious,” Larry murmured. “It’s as though travelers are being channeled.”

  “We think whoever made it wanted folk to use it,” Hilda said.

  “Why, when it doesn’t do anything permanent?”

  “Who knows what’s in the minds of Demons, if they even have minds?”

  Demons?
“Who made this?” Squid asked. “Do you know?”

  “We think some minor Demon who was bored, eons ago,” Hilda said. “There’s more than one of the portals, and they have different shapes. As if he was practicing his magic, trying different designs, and then lost interest and went home without abolishing it. It’s been here as long as anyone knows.”

  “Well, let’s go on through,” Squid said. She stepped through the portal.

  Suddenly, sure enough, her skin felt funny. She didn’t actually wear clothing, just the semblance of it, but it was as if that semblance was trying to change. That was curious.

  Then she figured out what it was. She wore the form of a human girl child. Now she had the form of a boy child.

  She shifted to her natural cuttlefish form. Then it was apparent: it was male.

  She had changed genders.

  Now Larry walked through the portal. And changed. His trousers bound to his legs so tightly that their stitching started ripping out, and his shirt hung oddly on his frame. In addition, his hair seemed to have grown from short to long.

  “What is this?” he asked, looking at himself.

  “Take off your clothing,” Squid said. “It’s not fitting well anyway.”

  “I might as well. I see a clothing tree nearby anyway.” He stripped away his damaged clothing and stood in his underpants, which also had become ill fitting.

  “Take them off too,” Squid said.

  He shrugged and did, as they had already seen each other bare. No child understood why adults were so concerned with bareness, as it was a natural state, and there were no adults here.

  “Now look at yourself,” Squid said. “You don’t need a pool to magically reflect your image. Just look down at your middle.”

  “And see the anatomy I hate.” He looked down, and froze.

  “Your body is female,” Squid said. “Just as mine is male.”

  Indeed, Larry’s bumpy male anatomy had been replaced by smooth female curves. He was a girl.

  “Oh, my,” she breathed.

  Now Ion and Hilda passed through, he on his carpet, she by foot. They had already removed their clothing.

  Ion was a girl. Hilda was a boy.

  “Fun, isn’t it?” Hilda said. “Now I’ve got the wee-wee and he’s got nothing.”

  So this was the secret they had concealed. The portal changed the gender of whoever passed through it. No wonder adults avoided it!

  Squid looked at Larry. Could he handle this?

  Larry took a deep breath, and his chest seemed to soften as it expanded. “Wow! My body is female!”

  “Yes,” Squid said. Would he stay calm, or would he lose his mind?

  “Let me change my age.”

  “That won’t change your gender,” Squid said.

  But he was already changing, rapidly becoming older. His hips spread wider, his waist shrank, and his chest—

  “Wow!” Hilda said.

  For now Larry had two beautiful female breasts that quivered delicately when he breathed. He had become an adult woman.

  “Where’s a pool?” he demanded. “I’ve got to see myself reflected.”

  “There’s one just down the trail,” Ion said. “I’ll show you.”

  The smaller girl form led the way, riding the carpet. The larger girl form followed, afoot. Squid shifted back to human form, complete with male anatomy that the Adult Conspiracy managed to mask with incidental wisps of fog, and fell in beside Hilda. They all went to the pool.

  There it was, pristine reflective water. Larry stood by the edge, his feet in the liquid, looking down. “I’m beautiful!”

  “You are,” Squid agreed. Even though she was not properly human, she now saw things with male eyes, and the girl in the water was lovely.

  “Glorious! Now I am truly Laurelai!”

  Then it came to Squid: this really was a girl. She had been locked in a boy’s body, but it had changed to female. Of course she was happy! This was the answer she had longed for.

  Laurelai waded deeper into the pool, then splashed all the way into the water. She swam out into the center. “Glorious!” she repeated.

  “That’s right: I forgot,” Hilda said. “She’s really a girl.”

  “And a beauty,” Ion said.

  Laurelai swam back to the shore and waded out, blissfully dripping. “Oh, I’m so happy! I must kiss someone.”

  “Uh—” Squid said.

  She grabbed him, hugged him close, and kissed him firmly on the mouth. Such was the power of her beauty that he felt a flare of feeling verging on love.

  “The Good Magician said I’d get my wish on this mission,” Laurelai said breathlessly. “Oh, how right he was!”

  “But I’m male,” Squid said. “I don’t want to be male. I’m female inside.”

  “Too bad for you,” Hilda said. “Now you’re male, same as me.”

  “But we can go through the portal,” Squid said. “And change back.”

  “I never want to change back,” Laurelai said. “This is what I have wanted to be all my life. I want to grow into an adult woman and be that way forever.”

  Squid realized that he couldn’t go back alone: he needed to complete the mission. So he was stuck with the male form, at least until they had finished.

  “Let’s get dressed,” Hilda said. “We still have a way to go.”

  There was a fair grove of clothing trees: evidently this was a popular place for them. They harvested shoes from a shoe tree, pants from a pant tree, plus underwear from the underbrush, and shirts from shirt trees. When Laurelai donned panties both Squid and Hilda felt their impact despite being too young for the full effect. Then Laurelai reverted to her natural age, and the effect faded.

  “I could knit you a better pair,” Hilda said.

  “Don’t you dare!” Squid said. “She’s already too dangerous as she is. If she uses magic ones and advances her age we could all freak out.”

  Hilda nodded. “You could.”

  Now they were dressed and ready to resume travel. “What’s next?” Squid asked.

  “There’s a village nearby we can stay in,” Hilda said. “They know us. I mean, Ion and me. But we’ll have to earn our keep. I can knit something, Ion can make sure their water is clean, but each person has to participate.”

  “We can dance,” Squid said.

  “That should be okay. They like dancing, and are always looking for new dances.”

  They walked on. “Something occurs to me,” Laurelai said. “We practiced those dances in different genders. I think I can manage the female role, as I have always thought of myself that way, but what about you in the male role?”

  “That may be a problem,” Squid agreed. “I have always been female, regardless of my form. I’m not really comfortable as a male.”

  She laughed. “I know exactly how that is! But maybe I can help you. We’ll just have to practice to get it right.”

  “I’m not sure any amount of practicing will make me like being male.”

  She squeezed his hand. “Exactly. But you can fake it for now.”

  “You get used to it,” Hilda said. “We’ve been back and forth many times and have learned how to play the roles. Our talents aren’t affected, and because we’ve both been through it, we understand and help each other.”

  “We will help each other,” Laurelai agreed.

  Soon they came to the village of Portal. “The villagers don’t actually use the portal much,” Hilda said. “But they cater to travelers who pass through it, some of whom are sadly confused. Many of them turn around and march right back through it, but some don’t.”

  “In fact some folk pass through it deliberately,” Ion said. “Some adult couples treat it like a fun vacation, spicing up their marriages with their reversed roles. They take rooms at the village Inn & Outt.
Not that we children understand about any of that mushy stuff.”

  “And the Conspiracy stops us from peeking,” Hilda said, annoyed. “So we can’t see what he shows her when he’s a she, or what she does to him when she’s a he. Or how they make the ellipsis that alerts the storks. But we hear the giggling and know they’re having a lot of fun.”

  “But they are nice rooms,” Ion said. “We always like staying here, despite the frustration.”

  There was a bell on a stand beside the path at the edge of the village. Hilda picked it up and rang it.

  Immediately an adult male villager emerged from the Outt. “Ah, Hilda and Ion,” he said. “So good to see you again. We have a spring that took a fall, and our girls are looking for new dresses.”

  Squid worked it out in her mind: a water spring got polluted, so Ion could use a potion to clear it back to purity. And naturally girls wanted magic dresses sewn for them. It was not surprising that the twins were popular here.

  “We’ll take care of it, as usual, Mr. Inn & Outt,” Hilda said. “This time we’re traveling with friends, Squid and Laurelai.”

  The man looked at them. “Welcome to our village and to my hostel, Squid and Laurelai. How do you propose to earn your keep?”

  He was clearly a businessman, covering the essentials first. “We can dance,” Laurelai said with a smile that brightened the landscape. Her joy at being a physical girl couldn’t help expressing itself.

  He frowned, evidently immune to such blandishments. “We have plenty of children’s dances already.”

  Squid and Laurelai exchanged a bemused glance. “We are young, but maybe we can do a dance that grownups will like,” Laurelai said.

  “Very good. You can present it in the village square tonight.”

  Squid knew that they had better produce, or their welcome would evaporate.

  They were ushered into a wonderful suite with beds for four and a table with fresh harvested redberry and blueberry pies and milkweed pods.

  “Now we have some work to do,” Hilda said. “But you two can stay here and get your dance ready.” The twins exited, going out to earn their keep.