The 10th Kingdom

by Kathryn Wesley

  As they got closer, Prince ran in front of her, tail wagging. Fofa dog that had been reluctant to leave her moments before, he was certainly happy to be here.

  There were scrape marks in the grass where her tires had skidded, and a tuft of hair near one of the branches. Dog hair.

  “Okay, we’re here,” Virginia said. “This is where we really do have to say good-bye.’ ’

  She backed away from him. Prince turned those lovely doggy eyes on her—human eyes, actually—and stared at her plaintively. Then he barked twice. It was as if she were abandoning him to horrors not even she could imagine.

  But she had to.

  It was for the best.

  Or so she tried to believe.

  Chapter Nine

  “I think you’re still holding back,” Dr. Horovitz said, “What’s really troubling you?”

  This woman was amazing. Wolf bit his lower lip, tasted blood, thought of food, and then remembered his dilemma. He sat up on the couch, ran a hand through his hair, and peered at the books. They all had scientific titles and seemed to be of no help.

  “All right, all right.” Wolf leaned forward and grabbed Dr. Horovitz’s arm. “Doc, I’ve met this terrific girl, and I really, really, really like her. But the thing is ...”

  He couldn’t tell her. He shouldn’t tell her. The difference between his animal nature and his human nature was so ... so ... personal.

  “Say it,” Dr. Horovitz encouraged gently. “Say it.”

  Wolf grabbed the arm of the chair, trying to restrain himself, but unable to. “I’m not sure whether I... I... I want to love her or eat her.”

  “Oh,” Dr. Horovitz said.

  Wolf leapt to his feet. Dr. Horovitz didn’t move, which made her the first human ever to not cringe from him when he was in this kind of mood. He paced in front of her, hands clasped behind his back.

  “I blame my parents,” Wolf said. “They were both enormous. They couldn’t stop eating. Every day I came home from school and it was eat this, eat that, eat her ...”

  “You shouldn’t punish yourself,” Dr. Horovitz said.

  “I should, I should,” Wolf said. “I’m bad. I’ve done so many bad things. But that wasn’t me, you see. That was when I was a wolf.”

  He threw himself onto the couch. It groaned beneath his weight, which wasn’t considerable—was it?

  “Doc, I want to change. I want to be a good person. Can’t the lion cuddle up with the lamb? Can’t the leopard rub out all its spots?”

  Dr. Horovitz glanced at her watch. She pushed her glasses up on her nose and said, “I really have to see my next patient now.”

  Wolf couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He stood, and Dr. Horovitz stood, putting one hand on his back and propelling him to the door.

  He had just confessed his deepest darkest secret, and she hadn ’t even cared.

  “But I’m desperate, Doc,” Wolf said.

  “Such deep problems can’t possibly be solved in just one session.”

  “But I’m in love and I’m hungry,” Wolf said. “And I need help now. Throw me a lifeline.”

  She had somehow gotten him to the door. This woman controlled him, and he didn’t even want to eat her. She leaned over and grabbed a piece of paper off her desk.

  “Here’s a reading list I’d strongly recommend.” Her tone hadn’t changed during the entire session. She didn’t seem to feel the urgency that he did. “Now why don’t you come and see me next week?”

  “Don’t you understand?” Wolf asked. “I won’t be here next week.”

  She tilted her head reprovingly. “You’re not going to intimidate me with suicide threats.”

  Then she shoved him out the door and closed it behind him. He had never been so skillfully maneuvered in all his life. He turned, thought about banging on the door, and then decided he’d left enough of his dignity in that room. He didn’t need to discard the rest by banging like a half-grown pup against the door.

  Thrown out of the nest was thrown out of the nest. It had happened to him once before. At least she’d given him a list of instructions, which was more than his parents had done.

  He was on his own, and truth be told, he did better that way.

  Tony’s arms hurt. They felt like they were going to be pulled from their sockets. He was surrounded by police, and even the hallway smelled like beer. Up ahead, he saw Mrs. Murray Senior working on the wiring for the elevator. Where had that elderly woman gotten her skills?

  One of the cops shoved him forward. Tony stumbled, wondering how it could have gone from free beer, beautiful, willing women, and a satchel of money to this within fifteen minutes.

  “If you cooperate and give us your dealer’s name,” the cop was saying, “maybe we can put in a word for you.”

  Tony shook his head. “What dealer?” he asked. “I’m not taking drugs.”

  They had nearly reached the elevator. Mrs. Murray glanced at them, but didn’t seem to notice anything out of the ordinary. Weren’t the Murray family supposed to be his servants? Shouldn’t they try to save him? Or did he have to ask?

  And if he had to ask, then the cops would shoot her, and much as he disliked the old crone, he didn’t want to be the cause of her death.

  “I’ve almost fixed the elevator now, Master,” Mrs. Murray said.

  Bully for her. The cops continued to shove him toward the stairwell.

  “You said you don’t remember stealing the money,” the cop said, “because you were under the influence of these magic mushrooms.”

  “Beans, not mushrooms,” Tony said. “Yes, I’d eaten the bean, but... oh. God.”

  They shoved him into the stairwell. He had to concentrate to keep his balance. There was no way out of this. Everything had gone weird since those creatures had smashed his door. And that bean, that magic bean. What a curse it had been!

  He almost wished he had never eaten it, but it had taught him the power of unthought-through wishes. So he kept his lips pressed tightly together and concentrated on surviving the next few minutes.

  The strange flickering light came back on. Blabberwort glared at her brothers. They looked as though they had been melted and then sewn together. Their eyes were big and dull and sad.

  Then the light went out. The darkness was absolute. She wrapped her arms around her knees. Eternity in this place would just be too damn long.

  When the light came on, Bluebell had his large forehead scrunched up. It was as if he’d actually had a thought.

  “I think we might be in her pocket,” Bluebell said.

  The light went out. Which was good. That way he wouldn’t be able to see Blabberwort’s reaction.

  “What?” Burly asked.

  “I think she might have shrunk us and put us in a matchbox in her pocket.”

  “That is ridiculous,” Burly said. “You’re falling to pieces. Get a grip on yourself. How can we be in a matchbox, you idiot? Where are the matches?”

  ‘ ‘Exactly.’ ’ Blabberwort couldn’t have agreed more. Where had Bluebell come up with this thing? It was too dumb to call an idea.

  The light came back on.

  “I’m sorry,” Bluebell said. “That was a stupid thing to say. I’m just getting very hungry, that’s all.”

  They were all hungry. Blabberwort narrowed her eyes. That presented a completely different problem. They would have to eat sometime. Trolls had fearsome appetites. And none of them were carrying food.

  “Say what you mean.” Apparently Burly had the same thought she had. “Out with it, come on.”

  “I didn’t mean anything,” Bluebell said. “I just meant I was hungry. Don’t read things into everything I say.”

  But it was too late. The idea had come to the surface. Blabberwort stared at her brothers. Neither of them looked all that appetizing, but eventually, she knew, that would probably change.

  “I’m really hungry, too,” Blabberwort said.

  “/ want to get out of this box before we start eating each other
!” Bluebell shouted at the ceiling. “I can’t stand it any—”

  Suddenly the box shifted. All three of them grabbed the wall. Something whirred. The lights came back on—all of them, not just the annoying fizzing one, and the box started downward.

  Blabberwort leaped to her feet and so did her brothers. They stared at the walls of the box as if it would give them answers.

  “We’re moving!” Burly shouted.

  Blabberwort corrected him. “We’re going down.”

  Bluebell covered his head. ‘ ‘We are about to arrive in the underworld! Prepare yourselves!”

  The box stopped moving, and slowly the doors opened. Blabberwort recognized this place. She’d seen it before, only then it had been dark.

  “This isn’t the underworld,” Burley said. “This is where we came in.”

  “Magic indeed,” Blabberwort said. “How did she do that?”

  At the mention of her, they glanced at each other. An attack could come from anywhere at any time. They plastered themselves against the walls and eased out of the room, looking from side to side to make certain no one was around.

  No one was.

  They stepped into the main area, where black-and-white images were showing themselves in another, smaller box. So that was how she kept track of her prisoners. Blabberwort thought of showing that to the others, but changed her mind when she realized they weren’t going to be attacked.

  Burly and Bluebell seemed to realize the same thing at the same time. They let out a whoop of joy and ran out the front door.

  Blabberwort followed. They were heading back to the trees and the grass and the familiar stuff. And she couldn’t wait to get there.

  He’d never sat in the back of a police car before, especially not with his hands cuffed. As they drove out of his neighborhood, Tony looked around for some help. A lot of people were walking down the street, but they kept their eyes averted as if he were the one who had done something bad.

  All he had done was eat a magic bean that tasted like— well, he wasn’t going to go there again—but it wasn’t a felony for heaven’s sake. Couldn’t these cops understand that?

  Maybe he could make them understand.

  He leaned toward the mesh that separated him from them.

  “Listen,” Tony said to the two cops in the front seat, “can’t we do a deal? I can give you whatever you want, I promise. A house in the Hamptons, cars, boats, women. I’ve still got two wishes left.”

  “You’re not making it any better trying to bribe us,” one cop said.

  “What have I got to lose?” Tony said. He thought for a moment, swallowed hard, and sighed. Two wishes left. Well, he wouldn’t get to use any of them if he didn’t get out of here. “Okay, I wish I could escape from this police car now.”

  The cops laughed. Then the driver went very pale.

  “Paul,” the driver shouted. “The brakes have failed.”

  Oh, great. This wasn’t what Tony had meant. The car shot through a red light, scattering pedestrians. The driver fiddled with the wheel—didn’t they teach cops how to stop moving brakeless vehicles in cop school?-—and the car hit the curb, going over it, narrowly missing a knish vendor and slamming into a store.

  Glass tinkled all around them. Tony blinked twice. He wasn’t hurt. But the cops were. They were out cold. He stared at them for a moment before realizing what he had to do.

  A glorious place. Wolf had no idea who had come up with the idea of having all the books in the world in one place, but it was fabulous. Someday when he wasn’t looking for Virginia and chasing Prince Wendell, he would come back here and read everything there was on food—an entire section!—and cooking and spices and ...

  But he already had more books than he could carry. He had them balanced under his chin, and he was still trying to catch one or two as they slipped.

  The woman beside him, the “clerk,” as she’d said she was called, still looked a bit overwhelmed. Apparently she’d never had anyone want to read everything in the self-help section before, at least not all at once.

  “You’ve been very helpful indeed, miss,” Wolf said to the bookstore clerk. “Thank you very much. If my plan is successful, I will certainly invite you to the wedding.”

  She smiled at him uncertainly and slipped into one of the aisles. Wolf put his free arm around his books so that none of the other customers would grab one. Then he walked toward the main door.

  The window—which had been fine when he came in—was broken and one of the mechanical horseless carriages was stuck in it. That was the problem of attempting to steer without benefit of horse.

  People were crowded around it, and men in blue were trying to get out of it.

  “Stop that man!” one of the men yelled.

  Wolf focused. The man was pointing at a familiar figure who was sprinting toward the street. Virginia’s father, Tony!

  Better and better. Wolf clutched his books and ran toward the door. A different clerk reached for him.

  “Sir, have you paid for those?” she asked, but he ignored her. He ran through the small barricade before the door and sirens went off. But he couldn’t stop now.

  Tony was headed for the park, and Wolf ran after him, still clutching his stack of research to his chest.

  Chapter Ten

  It was hard to run with his hands cuffed behind him, but Tony was doing a fine job. He occasionally lost his balance on the trail, but he never fell. Track, all those years ago, too many to even think about, paid off now.

  Except for the extra pounds and the age and the fact that he was barely keeping ahead of those cops.

  His breath was coming in harsh gasps as he went off the regular path to use Virginia’s old shortcut. The trees were a little thicker here, and he felt a little safer. Not much, but enough.

  As he rounded a corner, he saw someone who looked suspiciously like Virginia, crouching in front of a dog.

  “Dad?” The girl called out.

  “Virginia?”

  “Dad!”

  That clinched it. It was Virginia. Tony ran to her, not wanting her to shout any more. The police would hear.

  It only took him a second to reach her, but it took a minute for him to catch his breath. When he did, he said, “You won’t believe what’s happened to me.”

  “Don’t bet on it,” Virginia said.

  She was standing by that dog, which was watching him with eerie golden eyes. Weird people, weird beans, weird dogs. Somehow it all made sense.

  “Is this the dog they want?” Tony asked. “Just give him back. Please?”

  “I don’t think he is a dog,” Virginia said. “He’s trying to talk to me, but I can’t understand what he’s saying.”

  Well, he could solve that, and probably find out why this damn dog was so important.

  “Watch this.” He moved Virginia out of the way and crouched in front of the dog. He stared into the dog’s eyes and said, “I wish to understand everything this dog is trying to say.”

  Virginia looked at him like he was nuts.

  Tony ignored her.

  “You’re in terrible danger, both of you,” the dog said. He had a surprisingly aristocratic voice.

  “It worked!”

  “What?” Virginia asked.

  “If you value your life, you have to do exactly as I say,” the dog said. “We have to find a way back.”

  “He’s talking,” Tony said, pointing to the dog. “He’s talking. Can’t you hear him?”

  Now Virginia was really looking at him like he was crazy. Like he was rip-roaring crazy, the kind they put people away for. “No,” she said slowly, like she was talking to an elderly person who refused to wear a hearing aid. “I can’t hear him.”

  There was crunching behind them.

  “Ssh,” Tony said.

  More crunching. Thick, heavy footsteps. Police? Tony wondered. Then what was that smell?

  He grabbed Virginia and pulled her into the trees. The dog was already there, looking at them wi
th those eerie eyes.

  An instant later, one of the people who had attacked him— the ones the wolf guy had called Trolls—strolled past. She— he—it was very tall and wore too much orange. Some of it even poofed into a straight ponytail on top of her—his—its head.

  “It’s over here somewhere,” the Troll was saying. The voice was, frighteningly, female. “I marked the tree.”

  The Troll that followed her was shorter, and its sex was just as indeterminate. “Look out for the witch,” it said. Or rather, he said, because the voice was deep and masculine. These were the ugliest creatures that Tony had ever seen. Even uglier than he had remembered them from the time they’d axed their way into the apartment.

  A third Troll followed them, but remained silent, its gender, therefore, a mystery.

  Tony glanced at Virginia. She didn’t seem surprised by them. Instead, she was watching them intently. Only the dog looked nervous. All three of them waited until the Trolls were gone before slipping out of their hiding place.

  “Okay,” Tony said. “What’s next?”

  “Next,” the dog said, leading them off the path, “is to get us out of here. I need to find the magic mirror. It’ll send me back to my home. I can’t do anything here, like this.”

  “A magic mirror?” Tony repeated. He didn’t know why he was having trouble with this concept. Trolls in the daylight didn’t seem to bother him this much.

  “It’s a mirror,” the dog said inside Tony’s head. “But it may not look like a mirror from this side. You have to look very carefully.”

  Tony glanced over his shoulder. He thought he saw a lot of men in blue combing the woods. Overhead, a police helicopter zoomed by and he ducked.

  “Why are so many police officers after you?” Virginia asked. “And why are you wearing handcuffs?”

  “They think I did a major bank job,” Tony said. ‘Til explain later.”

  “Stop rabbiting and help me find the mirror,” the dog said. “We’re looking for a magic mirror,” Tony said to his daughter.

  “Of course we are,” Virginia said.

  And they’d better find it pretty soon, Tony thought, or he’d be in jail. He was all out of wishes.