It had all taken place in no more than a second or two.
It was unreal.
But not to Jozlyn. She was shrieking at the top of her lungs and bumping her way through the crowd after the cat. Tears streaked her face and she held the pleats of her yellow dress bunched in her hands so she wouldn’t trip.
“Stop that cat!” she howled over and over in a high-pitched wail.
Dad jumped up and went after her immediately, muttering apologies whenever he accidentally bumped into someone.
“Pardon me, milady” and “Excuse me, milord,” he said, over and over. Dad was always polite even when he was in a hurry.
An elderly lady was trying to move out of Dad’s way, but kept moving in the same direction he tried to go. First left, bonk. They bumped into each other. Then right, bonk. They bumped again.
Finally, Dad wrapped his arms around the woman’s waist, heaved her up like a sack of grain, and turned in a half circle.
He set her back on her feet with a “Deepest apologies, madam, forgive me” and a quick bow. Then he zipped off after Jozlyn.
When Dad vanished around a corner, Mom tapped me on the shoulder and told me to get up. It was time to go. She knew Jozlyn. If we didn’t find Rosie, there’d be no making my sister happy.
The parade was ruined because of Jozlyn’s doll and that weird cat, and I couldn’t help thinking mean thoughts. Of course I didn’t know it then, but that doll was going to save us all.
We looked for Rosie a long time. We searched under wagons, in corners packed with crates, and through the cramped rows of merchant’s stalls. We even went to the edge of Everleaf Woods and called “Here, kitty-kitty” for what seemed like hours.
In the end, we came home empty-handed. We hadn’t seen any sign of the cat. Rosie was gone.
Jozlyn was quiet and had a strange look on her face the whole way home. It reminded me of the look Cleogha had when she’d pointed at me and said she would return.
It was eerie to have my sister remind me of a witch.
Jozlyn went to sleep without saying a word, and I followed her to bed soon after. Trooping Fairy Day was over for another year. Instead of being so worn out that I fell asleep right away, I kept hearing the cat whisper “Help me-ow” as I tossed and turned.
Help me-ow.
Help. Me.
It took a long time for me to fall asleep, but it seemed only a minute after that when Jozlyn clamped her hand over my mouth. It was her favorite trick lately.
“I’m going after Rosie,” she told me seriously, and I came instantly awake.
8: FISHERMAN’S FOG
JOZLYN was wearing a pair of my hose along with a plain brown tunic and boots. She had a small bundle draped over her shoulder.
She looked serious. She sounded serious. But I still had to ask.
“Are you serious?”
She shot me a look but didn’t say anything.
“How did Mom and Dad agree to this?” I pressed. “We aren’t supposed to go into Everleaf Woods. Not ever.”
That was true. Kids weren’t allowed to go anywhere near Everleaf Woods except during the festival. The woods were too close to Croneswart Swamp, and dark things lived in the swamp.
“They don’t know. Duh!” With a determined look on her face, Jozlyn adjusted the bundle on her shoulder. “Now are you coming with me or not?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said, climbing out of bed to get dressed. Her look told me for certain. She was going. Someone had to keep an eye on her. “But what’s in the bundle?”
She shrugged. “Just cheese and yesterday’s bread. I thought we might get hungry. Who knows how long it’ll take to find Rosie.”
I groaned. Jozlyn had planned for a long trip.
“Be as quiet as possible,” she told me in her syrupy big-sister voice. “We can’t wake Mom and Dad.”
I crossed my eyes and gave her a stupid look. “Really? Is that why it’s called sneaking?”
Jozlyn pinched me, and I had to bite my tongue to keep from crying out. “Careful or your face will freeze like that,” she scolded, sounding like Mom.
Sisters, I thought and rolled my eyes.
I silently finished getting dressed and then we headed outside. I was starting to feel a little excited. Well, excited and nervous.
Today we were going to have an adventure like in one of Dad’s stories. I pretended that the cat was a loathsome monster that had kidnapped Princess Rosie. Jozlyn and I were heroes sent to rescue the poor princess even if we had to risk the dangers of Croneswart Swamp.
But the fun of the adventure wore off quickly. Rain had fallen during the night, and thick fog hung in the air. We could hardly see more than an arm’s length away.
To top it off, the sun wasn’t even all the way up. Its dim light was grey and weak as if it wasn’t sure whether to brighten up after the rain or to keep hiding behind the clouds.
The streets were suspiciously quiet, too. Our footsteps echoed loudly in every direction as we walked through town. They were the only sound.
It felt as if we were walking through a cemetery at night. There was no sound or movement except for Jozlyn and me clomping around where we weren’t supposed to be.
The quiet made the town feel abandoned and dead. Normally we wouldn’t be able to hear our own footsteps. They would be lost in the busy sounds of life in the town.
But today there was only the sound of our boots slapping on the ground. They clomped hollowly like knocks on an empty coffin. Only a coffin wasn’t supposed to be empty and neither was our town.
Clomp-clomp, went my boots on the cobblestone streets. Click-click, went Jozlyn’s. Then they echoed dreamily. Clomp-click…clomp-click…clomp-click…
I picked up the pace and Jozlyn followed, clinging to my sleeve. The echoes grew louder as we sped up, but at least it felt like we were getting somewhere.
At last we came to the sheriff’s office, the last building at the edge of town. The building was dark like all the rest we had passed and that didn’t seem like a good sign. Of all the people in town, the sheriff shouldn’t be sleeping late. Who would protect us if Cleogha decided to come back like she’d promised?
Jozlyn gasped and pulled hard on my sleeve. “W-what’s that?” she stammered, pointing straight ahead.
Something moved in the fog on Mosswood Bridge.
I squinted, trying to get a good look. The something was a tall, dark shape moving quickly toward us.
Suddenly I remembered Connor’s story about the troll. He’d said that he’d seen it fishing from the bridge.
I grabbed Jozlyn’s arm. We had to run.
“Troll!” I managed to gasp, and Jozlyn’s eyes popped open wide. Her face went white.
The dark shape on the bridge was a troll just like in Connor’s story.
9: POINTY END FIRST
JOZLYN whimpered, or it might have been me. I didn’t know or really care. I was more worried about the troll coming our way. I wouldn’t blame anyone for whimpering at a time like that.
Trolls were mean, ugly, and always hungry. They had moldy green skin covered in warts. Each of their two heads had a big mouth full of big teeth. Long claws tipped their hands and feet.
Worst of all, they’d eat anything, especially children. We’re crunchy snacks to them.
“This way!” I said in my best hero’s voice. I still had a hold of Jozlyn’s arm and gave it a mighty tug, but I pulled so hard that I knocked both of us down. Some hero I was.
Jozlyn heaved me off of her and scrambled to her feet. She ran toward the sheriff’s office.
I followed clumsily. For some reason, my legs and feet felt really heavy, and I couldn’t seem to catch my breath.
The troll was getting closer. I could hear its feet slapping wetly on the damp planks of the bridge. It would be in the street very soon.
Slap, slap.
We skidded to a stop behind the far wall of the building, around the corner from the street. Both of us were panting, and Jozl
yn’s long hair was a mess. A barrel stood at the edge of the building to catch rain that dripped from the roof when it stormed.
We crouched behind the barrel and held our breath, waiting and watching for the troll to shamble by. At least we hoped it would shamble by without seeing us.
“I wish I had a sword so I could vanquish the troll,” I told Jozlyn quietly. I was thinking of the heroes in Dad’s stories. They were always vanquishing trolls and ogres and other beasts with a sword.
And I liked that word. Vanquish. It meant to defeat.
“Like you’d know what to do with a sword,” Jozlyn huffed between big breaths.
“Sure I would,” I said defensively. “Pointy end goes in the troll.” Everybody knew that. Jozlyn just had to act as if she was smarter than I was.
“Oh, and you think it’s easy to stab something that doesn’t want to be stabbed?” Jozlyn rolled her eyes at me. “Stop being such a boy and keep quiet.”
I thought about that. Maybe she had a point. I know I wouldn’t stand around waiting to be stabbed. A troll probably wouldn’t either.
But I still thought vanquishing sounded like a good idea and that I could do it to some dumb troll.
The troll’s footsteps grew louder. Jozlyn and I crouched lower and flattened ourselves against the building. We couldn’t see the troll but it was out there.
Slap, slap.
It was very close now and moving fast. Its heavy feet thudded on the cobblestone in unison to the thumping of my heart.
Fog swirled on the street. The troll was about to appear, and Jozlyn and I sucked in our breath to scream.
10: SILVER-EARED FIEND
THE fog swirled like smoke and a man stepped through it. A man, not a troll! I almost sighed with relief until I saw who it
Cauldron Cooker's Night (Epic Fantasy Adventure Series, Knightscares Book 1) Page 4
