“Oh, yes,” Burly said. “Prince Wendell.”
“I sent you to get him.”
“A noble mission for any Troll,” Blabberwort said.
“So where is he?”
“A question we have been torturing ourselves with, Your Majesty,” Bluebell said.
“But we are here,” Blabberwort said.
“And we are ever vigilant,” Bluebell said.
“You idiots!” She walked in front of them and slashed their faces with her fingernail. The pain from that would keep Wendell in their memory for a long, long time. They screamed, but not as hard as she would have liked.
Someday she would roast those Trolls over an open pit. Someday, after they had found Wendell.
“I have just spoken with my mirror,” the Queen said. “Prince Wendell is very near. He may be in Rivertown by now.”
“Wow,” Burly said. “What a stroke of luck.”
“Go and find him,” the Queen ordered. “If you return again without the dog, I will make you eat your own hearts.”
They looked at her in disgust as they hurried out of the castle. She wiped her fingernail on a curtain, then waved her hand at one of the servants.
“Wash the Troll stink out of here,” she said and left before she heard his answer.
Wet fur was a definite inconvenience. Wendell had never realized how heavy it was. It slowed his progress. And he had to hold back the occasional sneeze. He hated the smell of wet dog, even if the wet dog was him.
He was drier than he’d been since he’d gotten out of the river. He was almost to the castle. As he scurried up the path, he saw the bars of the dungeon and, looking down on him, was his own face. Or rather his human face. Or rather, the face that the real dog was using.
The Dog Prince started to bark before catching himself and realizing that he had to speak real language.
“Yes, please,” the Dog Prince said. “Swap, please. Four legs, please.”
The Dog Prince thrust his hands through the bars. He knew instinctively what Wendell knew. If they only touched, they would revert to their real forms.
“Yes, good dog,” Wendell said, uncertain whether or not the Dog Prince could understand him. ‘ ‘If we can just touch, then we’ll turn back. Reach down.”
The Dog Prince leaned out as far as he could. Wendell jumped as high as he could, but they couldn’t quite reach each other. He kept jumping and jumping, but to no avail. He needed help. Maybe he could get someone to lift him. Maybe Anthony and Virginia had landed. Maybe they would help.
He ran down the path toward Rivertown. And who should be coming up it but Anthony!
“Anthony,” Wendell shouted. “I’ve found myself.”
Anthony hadn’t seen him yet. So he looked surprised when Wendell shouted.
“Prince!” Anthony sounded relieved. Then he got a panicked look on his face. “Look out!”
Trolls shoved their way through the bushes and grabbed him. Wendell cursed himself. He had been so excited, he hadn’t even bothered to sniff the air.
He recognized these Trolls, too. They were the three who’d been plaguing him.
“Hold him still while I kick him,” the tall male said to the female.
“Leave him alone, you cowards,” Anthony shouted. “He’s a dog. Pick on someone your own size.”
Then Anthony came to Prince’s rescue.
He wasn’t at any of the docks. He wasn’t anywhere near the water’s edge. Virginia shaded her eyes with her hands and gazed up at the ruined castle.
Wolf was right. It gave her a feeling of foreboding.
Wolf followed her gaze. He didn’t see her father either and worse, he said, he didn’t smell him.
Virginia glanced over her shoulder at the woods beyond.
They had lost the mirror. She knew it. They had already wasted too much time.
And now her father was missing.
Just as she had that thought, her father suddenly appeared on the path down from the castle. He was walking slowly, as if he had just received news that someone had died.
Virginia ran up to him. Wolf followed.
“Dad!” Virginia shouted. Her father looked up. He hurried toward her.
When he reached her, she hugged him close. “Thank God you’re all right,” she said. “Did you find Prince?”
He didn’t answer.
Her breath caught in her throat. She moved back, out of the hug, so that she could see his face. “Are you okay?”
“I’ve defeated theTrolls,” Tony said. “That’s good news.”
He didn’t sound as if that was very good news. Virginia shot Wolf a worried glance. He was looking at her father.
“Any bad news?” Wolf asked.
Her father swallowed hard. Virginia recognized the look. The bad news was really bad, and it was her dad’s fault.
“I can go back to that boatman guy and borrow a chisel,” Tony said. “He’ll come away from the others quite easily.”
He was talking nonsense, maybe on purpose.
“Dad,” Virginia said, “exactly what is the bad news?”
His eyes were dark and sad. He took her hand and pulled her with him toward a pile of bushes beside the path. Wolf hurried along after them.
Gold glinted in the sunlight. Virginia stopped, mesmerized. In front of her was a golden tableaux. Three gold Trolls, frozen in attack, were attached to one gold dog, frozen as he tried to escape them.
“Oh, Prince Wendell,” Virginia murmured.
Part Two
Well of Fortune
Chapter Twenty
All around her, incompetence. And she—she needed to be more competent than the rest. Somehow she felt as if she weren’t doing enough.
Even her mirrors were failing her.
The Queen sat at the edge of her good table, hands on the polished surface. She half thought she could see her reflection in it. Mirror, mirror. She smiled at the thought of the old rhyme. It wasn’t the moment for that yet.
Although it might be. Soon.
A presence had joined her in the room. She looked up. The Huntsman stood before her. She felt her shoulders relax. Finally, someone competent.
She knew she could count on him.
“You summoned me, my lady?”
His voice was as deep as she remembered it. His pale eyes held an intelligence almost equal to her own. He looked good. His blond hair was still thick, his shoulders still massive. He wore a coat made of pelts, just as he had the last time she saw him.
She didn’t let her relief show. “Neither Wolf nor the Trolls have captured the dog yet. Someone is testing me.”
“They are nothing compared to you.” He came up behind her and touched her neck. She closed her eyes at the tenderness of his touch. Perhaps she could share her fears with him. Just a little.
“I cannot see them in my mirrors,’ ’ the Queen said. ‘ ‘Something is clouding my sight. But they are near. They have left the river and are about to enter your forest.”
“I will find them.” His smile was as cold as the moon on a winter night. “Nothing escapes the Huntsman.”
Wolf stood in front of the giant forest. The trail winding through it was dark and foreboding. He hated this place, but knew it was what would lead them to the mirror.
His Virginia wanted the mirror, and he would take her to it, even though he knew it meant her loss to him. Perhaps he could learn to survive in her world.
The books from that place were marvelous.
He glanced at the book on the forest floor, open to the page he had marked. Then he sniffed. The subtle aroma of bacon made his mouth water.
No. He had to focus. They were getting to a dangerous place. Virginia needed him to be strong.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled. “I am free of pain, anger, and fear,” Wolf said. “In every aspect of my life, I am guided to my highest happiness and fulfillment. All problems and struggles ...”
Damn. He forgot the next part. He opened
one eye and glanced at the book again. He had to crouch to read it. Then he stood and closed his eyes again.
“... now fade away. I am serene. I ... I ...”
The bacon was getting too crisp. There was the faint smell of charred meat in the air. It broke his concentration.
“Tony!” Wolf shouted. “You’re ruining the bacon. I can smell it burning.”
No one answered. Wolf picked up his book and hurried to the camp. An unattended pan sat on the open flame. Tony wasn’t even looking at the meat, which was shriveled and dark brown. Wolf grabbed the pan and pulled it off the flame, then winced as the heat of the pan’s handle bit into his palm. He carefully set the pan down, then shook his hand to cool it off. “I feel terrible,” Tony said. “Look at him.”
Wolf couldn’t resist the look. The poor dog was still gold, frozen with a look of sheer determination on his little doggie face. Tony had made a cart for him, and had tied a lead around Prince’s neck so that they could drag him along.
“It was a simple magic-fish-spell, gold-finger mistake, Tony,’'’ Wolf said. “It was almost predictable.”
“But I’ve killed him,” Tony said.
“Things have a way of bouncing back here,” Wolf said. “I wouldn’t worry about him too much.”
“You’re not just saying that?” For the first time, Tony looked hopeful.
Wolf sighed. There was nothing worse than false hope. “Yes, I’m afraid I am just saying that. Watch this simple Prince alertness test.”
He threw a stick. “Fetch,” Wolf said to the golden dog. “Fetch.”
“It’s not funny,” Tony said.
“It might get funnier if we keep doing it,” Wolf said. Virginia picked that moment to come back to camp. She was carrying a bucket of water. Wolf was glad that she hadn’t seen him make fun of her father.
‘ ‘What are you both still sitting around for?” Virginia asked. “I told you to get packed up.”
“We were just having a sandwich,” Tony said.
“The mirror is getting farther away all the time,” Virginia said. “If we lose the trail, we’ll never get home.”
Wolf bent over the bacon, intently putting it into sandwiches so that Virginia would think he had been industrious. Besides, he was afraid she’d make them leave without eating. No wonder the woman was dangerously slim. She let food be a second priority.
“But Virginia,” Wolf said, “breakfast is bacon. Nothing sets my nostrils twitching like the smell of bacon in the morning. Little pigs, parading up and down with their curly corkscrew tails. Bacon sizzling away in an iron frying pan.”
She smiled at him in bemusement. He handed her a small sandwich, keeping the larger one for himself. Tony took one too. Apparently guilt hadn’t robbed him of his entire appetite.
Wolf bit into the bacon sandwich and drooled. It was absolutely the best thing he’d eaten all day. Maybe the best thing he would eat all day. He just loved bacon. He had to share the feeling. He licked his lips and said, “Baste it, roast it, toast it, nibble it, chew it, bite right through it. Wobble it, gobble it, wrap it round a couple of chickens and am I ravenous.” Virginia looked nauseated and Tony had actually turned green.
“Let’s finish these off on the move,” Virginia said.
Wolf wondered what he had said. He was just trying to share.
She had gotten to her feet and was finishing packing. They would leave soon, and he didn’t like this tension between them. “Virginia,” Wolf said. “Stop a minute. What do you see?” She looked around, not really taking any time to see. “A lot of trees. Let’s go.”
“No, you see nothing,” Wolf said. “Look at everything that happened last night while you slept.”
She turned to him. “Like what?”
He put his arm around her, pulling her close as he pointed. “See that clearing? About midnight a badger trotted across there.”
She frowned as if she were trying to imagine it.
“Then,” he said, “two hours later a mother fox took the path, but our presence spooked her, and she went back into the trees. About half an hour later another fox appeared, male this time, young and out courting. I reckon he got his porridge.” He pulled her even closer. She didn’t seem to mind. “See, over there, where the undergrowth is disturbed?’ ’
She nodded.
“There was a noisy little wild boar snuffling about. I can’t believe he didn’t wake you up. And right in front of you, see the passage of the mole.”
She squinted, intent.
‘ ‘Or over there, a stag and a doe watched the sun come up with me. And that’s not mentioning the all-night rabbit party, or the weasel, or the pheasants. And you saw nothing.”
She was silent for a moment. He held his breath, wondering if she understood. Then she smiled.
“I stand corrected,” she said.
“You most certainly do,” Wolf said fondly.
“Great,” Virginia said. “Now can we go?”
When they turned around, Wolf was startled to see that Tony had packed up their cart. Amazing what guilt would do. Wolf glanced at Virginia, who gave him a silent sign to say nothing.
They made their way along the path. The forest was dark and quiet, almost too quiet. As much beauty as there was here, Wolf was not comfortable in this place. The Huntsman was too strong a presence.
They’d been walking a while when Tony suddenly stopped and pointed. “Here,” Tony said. “Look. Someone’s definitely brought a cart up here. You can see the tracks of the wheels.” Virginia stiffened. Wolf could feel her interest.
“Dwarf,” Wolf said. “Definitely.”
“You can actually smell a dwarf?” Virginia asked. “No.” Wolf scooped up a handful of fragrant dirt. On top were small cut brown leaves the size of ants. “But this is a dwarf shag. Very strong rolling tobacco. No one else in the Nine Kingdoms touches it. He has taken the main forest road, and so must we.”
Wolf went deeper into the giant forest, knowing that Virginia and Tony would follow him. He could hear the squealing of the wheels on the little cart. It must have been a lot of work for Tony to drag Prince along, but Tony wasn’t complaining. That was a surprise in and of itself.
If Tony could change, perhaps Wolf could also. There was always hope.
Around a comer, Wolf stopped. He smelled something— someone—coming toward them. Virginia stopped too and looked quizzically, at him. Wolf only had to wait a moment for Virginia’s question to be answered.
An elderly woman carrying a bundle of twigs was walking toward them. When she saw them, she held out a thin, bony hand. “Ah, I am but a poor old lady. Spare me some food.” Food. If she’d asked for anything else, Wolf might have obliged. “Sorry,” he said, “but we’re down to our last six bacon sandwiches.”
The woman turned to Tony. “Good sir—”
Tony held out his hands. “I only give to registered charities.”
“Young lady,” the old woman said, turning to Virginia, “would you spare me some food, please?”
Virginia smiled. “I’ll give you what I have.”
She reached into her bag and gave the old woman her last two sandwiches.
“Virginia,” Tony said, “you are a soft touch.”
A soft touch? Wolf would have called her a saint. People did not give up food so easily. Or at least, wolves didn’t.
“Since you have been kind, I have a lesson for all of you. Take this stick.” She handed Virginia one of the twigs she had gathered.
Virginia took it and looked a bit confused.
“Break it,” the old woman said.
Virginia did.
The old woman handed her another twig. “And this one.” The snap echoed through the trees. Virginia looked even more confused. Wolf was fascinated.
“Put these three sticks together,” the old woman said, handing three more twigs to Virginia.
Virginia bundled them together neatly, as if she were going to be graded on her work. Wolf was frowning. What was the old
woman getting at?
“Now try to break them.”
Virginia bent them as she had the first two. But she couldn’t
even get the twigs to move. She looked up at the old woman. “I can’t,” Virginia said.
“That is the lesson,” the old woman said.
Wolf tilted his head slightly. He didn’t get it. Apparently neither did Tony. He frowned.
“At least give one of the sandwiches back,” Tony said.
“When the students are ready,” the old woman said, “the teacher appears.”
“Not in our school they didn’t,” Tony said.
But Virginia didn’t seem upset by this lesson. She said to the old woman, “Have you passed a dwarf driving a cart?”
“Very early this morning,” the old woman said. “He has taken the main forest road, but you must not. You must leave the path.”
Wolf drew in a sharp breath. A warning. He had felt it all morning. But he gave the old woman the argument he’d been giving himself. “The road’s the only safe thing in this whole forest.”
The old woman stared at him for a moment. Her eyes were rheumy, her face a little too calm. “Not for you,” she said. “Someone is following you. They intend to kill you.”
Then she walked away, bent double under the weight of the twigs. Wolf watched her go, the disquiet he’d felt since they got off the river growing.
“What’s this ‘intend to kill’?” Tony asked, staring after the old woman.
Wolf was afraid he knew. “There is a man who controls this forest. The Huntsman. I have heard that he serves the Queen. But he certainly won’t expect us to leave the only road and go through the forest itself.”
“Why not?” Virginia asked.
“Because only a fool would go through the disenchanted forest.” Wolf stepped off the path. His hackles rose, but he kept going. He would have to be vigilant.
“Oh, great,” Tony said. “Talk it up some more.”
Wolf resisted the urge to take Virginia’s hand. It was better if they went single file.
“From now on,” Wolf said, “I will lead. Step only where I step.”
He hoped Tony and Virginia would listen and do as he said. Any mistake here could cost them all their lives.
The 10th Kingdom Page 18
