By now Ode was yawning at the end of every sentence.
“It’s almost time for me to go to sleep,” he explained, as his head nodded up and down. “I haven’t had this much company in over fifty years. First there was that lonely boy and then the three of you.”
“Lonely boy?” Nim said. She stepped closer to the shrinking giant. “What lonely boy?”
“Just a human one,” Ode said sleepily. His eyes were starting to droop, and he began to lie down in his shoe.
“Wait! What did he look like?
“I already told you,” Ode said. “He looked human. Like one of you in your tatty coats. He heard my pipe and came to me. When I stopped playing, he asked if I had seen his mother.”
“That’s Otto!” Nim cried. “When did you see him?”
“Not too long ago. Maybe three setting suns or four.”
“Do you know where he went?” Blink said.
“Of course.” Ode yawned a very loud yawn. “I took him there.”
“Took him where?”
By now, Ode’s eyes were closed. In a moment, he would fall asleep. Who knew how long it would take for him to wake back up?
Nim grabbed hold of Ode’s shoulders and gave them a shake. The giant opened his eyes.
“Has it been a day of sleep already?” he asked.
“There’s no time for sleep,” Nim said. She hauled Ode out of his shoe. “Now, come on. You’ve got to help us find our friend.”
28
THE SUMMER WOOD
Armed with a new lead, and with a shrunken giant to guide them, Nim and Blink walked quickly through the woods. Ode led them along the bank of the frozen river as it wove through the trees.
As they walked, Ode told Nim and Blink more about giants.
“People think we’re scary because we’re big. We don’t mean to squash things. It’s very hard to walk delicately when you weigh more than ten trees. We’re one of the nicest creatures in the woods, like deer and sparrows. Our favourite thing to do is help others.”
“Is that why you helped Otto?” Nim asked.
Ode nodded.
“As soon as I stopped playing my pipe one morning he was there and he asked me if I had seen his mother.” Ode paused for a moment to yawn. “I told him I hadn’t, but that if she’d become lost anywhere in these woods it would have been in the summer wood.”
“The summer wood?” Nim said. “What’s that?”
“You’ll see for yourself soon enough.”
Ode continued to lead them along the river. Whenever he looked like he was about to nod off, Nim broke off a piece of ice from the stream and dropped it down his back.
They walked for several hours. At first, all the woods looked the same. But then things began to change. The river started to thaw and then run. The falling snow stopped and green leaves sprouted from the trees. They rustled softly in a gentle breeze.
“It’s like the woods are coming back to life,” Nim said.
“This is how the woods used to be.” Ode smiled warmly, like the season hadn’t just changed the woods but also the giant’s heart. It also appeared to have woken him up a little bit, and his eyes were no longer drooping. “Slowly, the coldness and darkness moved in. This is the only place it hasn’t reached, but some say it’s just as bad.”
“What do you mean?” Nim asked.
“The summer wood is a dangerous place,” Ode said. “It traps you – tricks you into seeing what you most want to see. It makes you think your dreams are real so you don’t want to leave. The longer you stay here the harder it is to go back. If you stay for too long the lure of the summer wood grows even stronger than my pipe.”
Nim and Blink shivered. They didn’t like the sound of this. If Otto truly was trapped somewhere in the summer wood, they might become trapped if they tried to find him. Then all three of them would be lost. But it was the only hope they had of finding their friend, so they let Ode lead them deeper into the summer wood. The air grew warmer as they walked.
“We almost don’t need our coats,” Nim said to Blink. But they kept them on all the same.
Eventually they reached another clearing.
“This is where I left your friend,” Ode said.
Bright green grass covered the ground. Little herbs and large flowers bloomed everywhere. The flowers were brighter than all the coats Nim had ever seen. The smells seemed bright as well. She had never smelled scents so fresh and fragrant. These were the scents and sights of summer.
“It’s beautiful,” Nim said. For the first time in her life, she realized how dull and cold the world really was. Instantly, she wanted it to be this warm and bright again. She did not want to leave.
While Nim had been looking at the colourful flowers, Blink had been looking for something else.
“Otto isn’t here.”
“He might be a little further in,” Nim suggested.
“Go in, if you must,” Ode said. “But be careful. The deeper you go, the stronger the pull of the woods becomes. I’ll wait here. I know exactly what I would find in there and I won’t be able to leave: my brother and sister standing happy and tall as the trees. I’ll wait here and call you back before nightfall. Just listen out for my pipe.”
And with that, Nim and Blink crossed over into the summer wood.
Like they had passed through an invisible wall, Nim and Blink left winter behind and stepped, for the first time, into true summer. The air was instantly hot and warm. The grass grew thick and green.
“I didn’t know the sun could be this bright,” Nim said, nodding towards the sky.
The woods were so hot Nim and Blink began to take off their coats – until a sound from somewhere up ahead made them stop.
“Did you hear that?” Nim said. She stopped walking and held on to Blink’s arm.
“Hear what?” Blink listened to the sound of the woods: the rustling of leaves, the buzzing of bees and the singing of birds. He wasn’t sure which sound Nim was referring to.
“Otto,” she said.
They both paused and listened. The faint sound of talking drifted through the trees.
“I think that’s a very good colour,” Otto said. “You’ll get a good price for that. We’ll be able to move into our own house soon.”
“He must be talking to his mother,” Nim said. “He’s found her. Come on. We’ll get them both and then we can go home.”
Nim and Blink hurried through the trees. Otto’s voice grew louder. His shape appeared up ahead. He sat beside a tree. His bag lay discarded beside him.
“What do you think of this cloth, Mother?” Nim and Blink watched as Otto offered a flower to the empty air.
“Otto?” Nim said. “Who are you talking to?”
Otto laughed. He kept looking at the empty space near the tree.
“Yes, I think so too,” Otto said.
“I don’t think he can hear us,” Blink whispered. “Or see us either.” He waved his hand in front of Otto’s face. The boy didn’t respond.
“How long do you think he’s been sitting here?” Nim asked. Otto looked very pale and thin, like he hadn’t eaten in days. His hair was dirty and his clothes were too. But he was happy, happier than Nim had ever seen him.
“Otto?” Nim crouched in front of her friend and said his name again. But the boy didn’t reply. She reached out and pulled on his arm. Otto looked around and frowned.
“Nim?” Otto said. He smiled at Nim and frowned at the boy beside her. “Blink? What are you doing here?”
“We’ve come to rescue you,” Blink said.
Otto laughed. “I don’t need rescuing. I’ve found my mother.” He pointed to the empty air in front of him. “She got lost in here too. We’ve been making coats for days. Soon, we’ll be able to buy a house and live together again. And it’s so warm here we won’t even need a fire. You two could live with us as well, couldn’t they, Mother?”
“How about we go back to Hodeldorf and live together there?” Blink said. He turned to Nim for
support. But the girl was gone.
Nim knew the two people gathering herbs in the woods were her parents the moment she saw them. Even though she had only been little when they died, she still had the memory of her mother’s warm brown eyes and her father’s smile, which made his whole face light up.
“Mother? Father?” Nim called as she ran towards them.
The man and woman turned around. Their eyes fell upon Nim, and their faces broke into two smiles as bright as the summer sun.
“Nim?” the woman called. “Oh, Nim. Is that really you?”
Nim’s mother dropped the herbs she held and ran to her daughter. She scooped her into her arms and twirled her in the air.
Nim felt a rush of warmth. A moment later, a second pair of arms hugged her even tighter.
“Oh, Nim.” Her father smelled of pine and smoke. “We’ve been waiting for you for so long. We knew if we just stayed put you would come and find us.”
They let go of Nim and crouched in front of her.
“My, haven’t you grown into a fine young lady,” Nim’s mother said.
“You’re almost as tall as me,” her father joked.
Nim laughed but then her face fell.
“Why did you leave me?” she said.
“I’m sorry we got sick,” her father replied. “But we’re all better now. Nim, we’re so sorry we didn’t get you from the factory. We tried every door and window for years, but they were locked.”
“But we knew you’d be smart enough to escape,” her mother said. “We’ve been getting ready for you to come home. Come and see what we’ve built.”
Nim’s parents took her by the hands and led her through the trees. A cottage appeared up ahead. It had a bright green door and two cheerful round windows which shone like eyes in the weakening light. A fire burnt brightly inside.
“Come now, Nim.” Her mother pulled on her hand. “Come inside and I’ll show you your room.”
Nim’s room was just how she had always dreamt. It was bright and cosy with a proper bed and a fireplace just to herself. A shelf of books rested along one wall. Nim had a feeling she would be very happy here.
“Mmm,” Nim’s mother said. “Can you smell that, Nim? I think your father’s making sausages.”
Nim turned from the fire and looked towards the other room. She sniffed the air and her stomach rumbled. She was very hungry. As she went to walk into the kitchen she heard something.
“Can you hear that, Mother?”
“Hear what, dear?”
“The music,” Nim said. A bright, cheerful tune filtered through the window.
Nim peered outside. Dusk had fallen over the woods. Birds flew home for the night, and the trees grew still. She thought she saw a man standing between the trees: a man with a pipe and a very oddly shaped face. But when she blinked he was gone.
“I can’t hear anything.” Nim’s mother closed the curtains. “You must be imagining it.”
At the word “imagine” the music grew louder.
Nim didn’t want to listen to the music, but it called to her all the same. She looked at her mother and the bright, warm bedroom they stood in as it all began to fade. The smell of sausages disappeared and the crackling fire went out. The walls of the cottage melted into nothing. Last to go were Nim’s mother and father, like her mind was desperate to latch on to them the most. Within seconds, Nim and Nibbles were alone in the woods.
“Come on, Nim!” a familiar voice called.
Nim turned and looked through the trees. Otto and Blink ran towards her.
“Hurry up,” Blink yelled. “It’s getting dark.”
Reluctantly, Nim joined her friends. The sound of Ode’s pipe grew louder as they ran through the trees. The shrunken giant appeared up ahead. The winter woods loomed behind him.
They left the warmth of the summer wood and stepped into a wintry dusk. Snow drifted down all around them. They were back in the real world. They had found their lost friend, but they had yet to find his mother. After her encounter in the woods, Nim remembered just how painful it was to lose one of those.
29
THE TRAVELLING SALESMAN
Even though Nim wanted to escape from the woods as quickly as possible, she knew they couldn’t leave without helping Otto find his real mother. Thanks to Islebill, she knew just the person who might be able to help.
“Do you know someone called the travelling salesman?” Nim asked Ode when they’d left the summer wood behind. If Islebill got Otto’s mother’s coat from him, surely he must know something about her disappearance.
“Oh, the travelling salesman isn’t a person,” Ode said. “He’s a nasty old creature who walks the woods, snatching whatever he wants and selling it for a profit. If it’s too big to fit inside his bag he shrinks it down. If he could throw one of his orbs far enough, I bet he’d shrink down the sun itself.”
“His orbs?” Nim said.
“That’s what he uses to trap things,” Ode explained. “He throws one of his magical orbs and whatever it hits shrinks down inside it.”
“How do we find him?” Otto asked.
“He only appears at night when the moon is full. He follows a well-worn track which shines silver under the stars.”
“When’s the next full moon?” Blink said.
“In two days.”
“What are we going to do till then?” Nim asked.
“Why, you can stay with me.”
Despite the lingering smell of dirty feet, it was quite comfortable inside Ode’s old shoe. It was also spacious: the size of a house back in Hodeldorf. While they waited for the travelling salesman, they spoke about their time in the woods. Nim and Blink quickly learnt Otto’s experience had been very different from their own.
“Did you meet any witches?” Nim asked.
“No,” Otto said.
“What about wolves?” Blink said. “Did you bump into any of them?”
Otto shook his head.
“Did you sit on any tree-stumps?” Nim asked worriedly.
Otto frowned. “What would have happened if I had?”
It turned out, Otto hadn’t seen anything they had.
“I did get startled by a deer once. Well, a baby deer. I don’t think it was magical. It just skipped away. It was wandering near the stream. Then I found Ode and went to the summer wood. It was wonderful there. I thought I’d done it. I thought I’d finally found my mother. I didn’t know a person could feel that happy. Every sad thought and worry was gone. But then I realized none of it was real.”
“I’m sorry you didn’t really find your mother,” Nim said, sharing in Otto’s sadness. “I thought I’d found my parents too. At least you still have a chance to find your real mother. Mine is gone for ever.” A cloud of sadness fell over Nim’s face. “What about you, Blink?” Nim said. She’d never asked the other boy about his own parents, and he’d never offered up the information before.
“My mother never wanted me, so she gave me to her sister. But after a few years, she didn’t want me either. The tattercoats were the only ones who would take me in. Then, when I got kicked out, I didn’t have anyone.”
“Well, you’ve got us now,” Ode said. “And you’re very welcome to visit my shoe anytime.”
It was almost a shame when the full moon rose and it came time to leave.
“That’s the track over there,” Ode said.
A thin silver trail had appeared between the trees. It shone as if a piece of the moon itself had fallen to earth.
“What do we do now?” Nim asked.
“We wait.”
And wait the four of them did. The moon rose through the trees. The path stretching past them grew brighter. Wolves howled and owls flew. Finally, the moon passed directly overhead, and a whistling came through the trees.
A man appeared on the path. He carried a little leather bag that bulged at the seams and jiggled as he walked.
As the travelling salesman grew closer his whistling turned into words.
&
nbsp; I am the travelling salesman:
The only one in these woods.
And in my little bag
You’ll find all sorts of things.
Like this and that,
And odds and ends,
And beginnings and middles,
And everything in between.
The salesman passed through the last row of trees and into their clearing. Nim, Blink and Otto moved closer to each other. While the man in front of them looked harmless, they had a feeling he wasn’t harmless at all.
When the salesman saw the giant shoe, his eyes lit up. They lit up even more when he saw the man and three children standing before it.
“Customers!” The man clapped his hands. He had long black hair, worn shoes and a brand new coat. “What can I get for you all?”
“Do you sell potions?” Nim asked.
“Oh yes,” the salesman replied. “Wolf potions. Owl potions. Bee potions.” He stepped closer to his new customers and sniffed the air. He nodded to Nim, Blink and Otto. “You lot are human, yes? But not you.” He turned to Ode and watched him closely.
“What about coats?” Otto said. “Do you sell those?”
“It just so happens I do. And I can tell you’re in need of new ones.” He eyed their tatty coats with distaste. “You must order them one moon in advance, and you can choose the colour.”
“Do you make them yourself?” Otto asked.
“Of course not. I don’t have time to make coats. But I own someone who does. Would you like to buy some?”
“We can’t,” Nim said. “We don’t have any money.”
The man’s face fell. “What’s the point of all of you if you aren’t going to buy anything?” The excitement in his eyes faded, but then returned when he glanced at Ode. “I know what you are,” he said. “I haven’t seen one of your kind for decades. You’re a giant. I’d fetch a fine price for you, even an already shrunken one.”
“Well, you’re not getting me,” Ode said.
“Is that so?” The salesman laughed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little glass orb. It was the size of an apple and fit easily into his hand.
Otto Tattercoat and the Forest of Lost Things Page 13
