Stolen Magic (15 page)

I
n early afternoon, His Lordship-as-a-horse swam the icy Fluce River with Widow Fridda and her daughters on his back. The donkey stood on the bank, brayed once, and plunged in, too.

On the other side, they climbed, crossed the road from Zee, and climbed again. After half an hour, a quarter mile above the Fluce, the horse knelt so his charges could dismount on a ledge in front of the caves of Svye Mountain. As they did so, the donkey arrived and began to munch snow a yard from where Goodman Otto and another man stood looking down over the river.

“How lucky you found a horse,” Goodman Otto said. “That ogre didn't help after all. I'm not surprised.”

The oldest girl began, “He—”

“Hush!” The widow handed her baby to the girl and
unloaded the pile of His Lordship's clothes from the horse's back. “Girls, close your eyes.”

The horse vibrated. After a minute, Count Jonty Um donned his homespun tunic, cloak, and boots. Goodman Otto had the grace to blush.

The twins and the three-year-old hurried to him and hugged his legs.

The older girl smiled shyly. “He saved us.”

Fee fi! His Lordship thought of becoming the monkey for happiness.

“I'm sure we're grateful, Your Countship.” Goodman Otto touched the hood of his cloak in a gesture of respect.

“Grateful!” Widow Fridda picked up her satchels. “Grateful is a pebble. We owe him a boulder, a mountain all to himself.” Her grim face softened; her lip trembled; her eyes were wet. “Arnulf's bees are nothing to him for aid.”

The bolder twin added, “There never was a nicer horse.”

“Are any bees in the nearest cave?” His Lordship tilted his head at it. The opening draped too low for him to enter without crawling.

“They went back to help others.”

The man who hadn't spoken blurted out, “My brother! Sir . . . I couldn't bring him. He's mad and fought me off. The bees won't be able to handle him. He'll die unless you can get him.”

“Where is he?”

“It's not far, not even a quarter way up the mountain.” The man gave him detailed instructions. “You'll know him. He's raving.”

His Lordship didn't hesitate. Too late now, with the mountain so close to exploding, to fly to the Oase. Meenore, he thought, it's all up to you.

“Wait!” The widow rummaged in one of her sacks. “Here.” She held a loaf of bread out to him. “Take care!”

His Lordship took the loaf and smiled his sweet smile, which caused the widow to blush. He began the descent to the river, devouring the bread as he went. On the riverbank, he stripped and waded in, holding his clothing over his head. Fee fi! The water was cold.

M
asteress Meenore found Brunka Arnulf helping an aged couple into a sledge harnessed to an underfed donkey. Zertrum rumbled steadily beneath ITs claws.

The old people cried out in terror at the sight of IT, and the frightened donkey strained against its traces, beginning its slow progress downhill, the skis of the sledge scraping, bumping, and only occasionally gliding.

Brunka Arnulf pushed through the snow to IT. When he came close, he put his hand over his nose.

ITs smoke blued, an embarrassed dragon. “You are unsurprised and not much afraid at the sight of me.”

“It's a time of marvels. A kindly ogre and now you.”

“What do you know of His Lordship's whereabouts?”

“You are called Masteress . . .?”

“Meenore. What took place during his visit?”

“I answered his questions, and he flew away. Oh, and I gave him food.”

“Have you seen him since?”

“I repeat: He flew away.”

IT scratched ITs earhole. “You evaded my question, and thus I deduce you
have
seen him since.”

But the brunka wouldn't admit to lying. ITs worry mounted that some ill had befallen His Lordship.

“Tell me what you told him.”

Brunka Arnulf ticked the items off on his fingers. “Dror may be angry at his family for sending him away. He's gone to be a bee at the Oase. The barber-surgeon Mistress Sirka left, too. I was told that he and she were to be wed, but I don't know the truth of that.”

IT wondered if Dror-bee had been feigning indifference toward her.

“No one here is angry at me or brunkas in general or bees or Zertrum itself. Master Uwald and Master Tuomo and his sons are off the mountain.”

“His sons, too? You are certain of this as unassailable fact?”

“I am.”

Master Tuomo lied about his sons? “You have told me who the thief is, which His Lordship would have done long ago if he had returned to me. If you delayed him or
caused harm to come to him and the mountain spews, the destruction will be on your head.”

Brunka Arnulf raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, on your head.” ITs smoke turned rosy. “On the thief's head first and yours second, and, should you survive, a dragon's wrath will be on your entire person, not merely your head.” IT rose in the air and flew south.

Tuomo, IT thought, you can give Elodie mansioning lessons. The smoke trailing behind IT glowed crimson. Did you have an ally? Who?

IT soared on, belching fire.

T
he noon meal had not appeared, but now, midafternoon, Ludda-bee brought a loaded tray out from the kitchen, followed by a bee ringing a bell.

No one moved toward the table.

Clatter! Ludda-bee set down her tray, wrested the bell from her companion, and rang it furiously. “I did not cook for people to fast.”

Six pairs of bees entered through both of the interior doors, coming from their searches of the many chambers of the Oase. Soon everyone was seated. Ludda-bee took the stool at the bottom of the table, facing—a long way away—the high brunka, each of them half a table length from Elodie, who sat between Albin and Master Robbie.

The rainbow colors on the entry door had not
diminished. Elodie wondered if her masteress or His Lordship were hungry and imagining a meal such as this, another feast: beets again, these pickled; pottage; bread; a wheel of cheese, of course; hard-boiled eggs rolled in oil and chopped rosemary; dried meats; and a savory bread pudding.

She ignored the lump in her throat and smiled at Albin. “What do you think of Masteress Meenore?”

“I think the heroine had an adventure in Two Castles, and
her
masteress was part of it.” He helped her to the pudding. “Home will be dull after that. I wonder if she'll be sorry when we get there.”

“Sorry? I can't wait.” She whispered in his ear, “But I won't stay.” Then, in an ordinary voice: “I even miss the geese.”

He squeezed her shoulder. They both knew she hated herding. He'd told her she wasn't meant for a quiet life.

Master Robbie shared a chunk of dried roast boar from his bowl with her. In return she passed him a heaping spoonful of beets.

She wished the table were round so she could view everyone. As it was, she couldn't see most of those on the side with her. She had a partial view of Master Uwald only because Master Robbie didn't entirely block him, and she saw that his face was still locked in anger.

Johan-bee, who had been replaced as a door guard,
and Dror-bee, with Mistress Sirka faithfully at his side, sat across from Elodie. As she watched, Mistress Sirka served Dror-bee pottage and slipped in the bolus, the herbal love pill that Master Robbie had seen. Or this one could be made of other herbs, poisonous ones. She did it cleverly, holding the palm of her hand level with the lip of the bowl. High Brunka Marya, staring into space above everyone's head, didn't see. Only Johan-bee's eyes and Elodie's were on Mistress Sirka's hand.

He said nothing.

Should she let it go, too, and see what happened, in case it might be connected with the theft of the Replica?

No! She couldn't let him be poisoned. What to do?

Dror-bee lifted his spoon.

“Dror-bee?”

The spoon hovered above his bowl. “Yes?”

What to say? “Er . . . does your father's farm grow cabbages?”

“Yes.” The spoon didn't move, but it wouldn't stay still forever.

“What's the biggest one he ever grew?” Farmers competed.

He put down the spoon and smiled and made a circle of his arms out across Mistress Sirka's face and the face of the bee next to him. “It weighed more than you.”

Master Robbie stared at Elodie. Albin grinned, certainly
knowing she was mansioning.

But what to do? Mmm.

He picked up his spoon.

She picked up an egg. Let this work! It didn't have far to travel.

He dipped his spoon into the bowl.

She squeezed the oiled egg, which flew out of her hand, across the table, and landed in his pottage, splashing broth, herbs, beans, and shreds of meat.

C
ount Jonty Um was able to go faster as himself than as a horse. His ogre brain could make quicker judgments about where to step; his long legs fairly ate up the ground, the ankle-deep snow hardly an obstacle. He had to stop only once, when the ground shook and stones popped through the snow. But the paroxysm lasted only a few seconds. The earth settled, and he was off again, his heart drumming in his ears.

In less than an hour he found the stand of evergreens, the cottage with the blue stool next to the door, and the lunatic pacing and shouting outside. Fee fi! When the man saw His Lordship, he cowered and gibbered softly.

Pity won against the count's anger at being feared. He hurried to the stand of trees and waited until the ranting began again, which he hoped meant he'd been forgotten.
Before shape-shifting, he wished he'd left his clothes with Widow Fridda. There was nothing for it, however. Telling himself over and over what he had to do, hoping the strategy would succeed, he shifted.

A minute later a monkey, smiling an enormous merry smile, stepped out from behind the trees. The man laughed to see him, a happy, ordinary laugh. The monkey held out his hand. The man took it and exchanged his shouts for coos and soft babbling. They started down the mountain, the monkey comically raising his feet out of the snow with every step.

M
asteress Meenore flew laboriously above the southern slope of Zertrum. Without sleep last night and with little sleep the night before, IT feared nodding off and falling out of the sky.

Below lay farmland such as IT hadn't seen before on Lahnt, which seemed impoverished everywhere else: neat fields fenced into squares, orchards, and a house, a large structure of stone and wood, surrounded by barns, sheds, and several wattle-and-daub cottages. A drift of pigs, dozens of them, wandered among the buildings, rooting through the snow. This must be Master Uwald's Nockess Farm.

Curious, IT circled high enough not to be heard. At this height and with the sun near the horizon, ITs shadow became near invisible.

Supervised by a plump man with a pronounced limp, laborers brought goods out of the house and loaded two sledges that were hitched to oxen. What idiocy! The people should have been saving themselves. The limping man should already have ridden an ox or a horse out of danger.

Who was he, to be giving orders when the master and his steward were away?

On the mountain above the house, a dozen shepherds were driving flocks of geese, sheep, and goats slowly through the snow. More fools.

IT heard a deep groan. The entire slope undulated, then returned to solidity, but altered. A cottage collapsed. The pigs galloped here and there, squealing. A jagged crack divided the field that the herders had been crossing. Several sheep disappeared into the crack. The beasts ran in all directions. A goatherd lay trapped, his legs hidden beneath a boulder.

Zertrum's peak glowed red as if it were the mouth of a fellow dragon.

IT stopped circling and flew south toward the Oase and Elodie and the villain Tuomo.

But the trapped man plagued IT. The other herders wouldn't be able to lift the boulder. To dig him out would take time, if they'd stay to do it, and, meanwhile, there might be more tremors.

IT thought, I am no fairy god-dragon. The idiot herder should have fled at the first sign of the volcano. Elodie needs me.

But IT would blame ITself if the man died. IT turned and beat ITs way back to the mountain.

“O
h my! I'm sorry! My hands were greasy.” Elodie stood. “Let me get you a clean bowl.”

Ludda-bee jumped up, too. “Look! A fellow oaf, Johan. Sit, girl. I'll clean up.” She hurried into the kitchen, trailed by another bee.

Elodie sat.

“The girl isn't awkward.” Mistress Sirka smiled her blazing, untamed smile at Elodie. “She contrived it. I was putting a love potion in your pottage, Dror, love.”

“What?” Dror-bee looked confused. “You did?”

“You want a sign.” She touched his cheek softly with the back of her hand. “It's a sign I love you.”

Elodie looked away, turned back again, didn't know where to fix her eyes.

Master Uwald said dryly, “We'd all have had the sign
when he shared from his bowl.”

“I'd have liked to try it,” Master Robbie said.

Smiles around the table.

Albin whispered, “Lady El, you've made a conquest.”

She blushed.

Master Uwald said, “A love potion is dangerous, son, and who knows what was really in it.”

Sounding actually genial, Master Tuomo said, “I think you don't need it, boy.”

Master Robbie blushed.

His big eyes shining, Dror-bee smiled at Mistress Sirka.

“Do you think you might love me again?” she asked.

“Again?” Master Tuomo roared. “He loved you before? You took the Replica! The two of you, to punish the family that spurned him. Where is it?”

Angry and prosperous, Elodie thought, unconvinced that Mistress Sirka was the thief.

“I would have taken it.” Mistress Sirka leaned across the table toward Master Tuomo. “Hair and teeth! If he wanted revenge, I would have taken the Replica if I could.”

“But I've had my sign.” Dror-bee turned to the high brunka. “Marya, I'm finished being a bee, now that I know a brunka can stop me from doing what pleases me: helping farmers.”

Mistress Sirka's face was suffused with happiness.

Ludda-bee returned with a clean bowl and a cloth,
which she spread over the stained patch of tablecloth.

“High Brunka,” Master Tuomo said, “what do you think of Sirka as the thief?”

“Dear Master Tuomo . . .” The high brunka sounded weary. “One or two of you took it, which includes you, Mistress Sirka, sweet. But I haven't singled you out. However, I'm willing to entertain accusations.”

To Elodie's surprise, Dror-bee—Goodman Dror now—spoke. “I have one, but he's just a boy.”

Elodie felt Master Robbie straighten next to her.

Goodman Dror continued. “I doubt he did it. You must know, Marya. You, too, Deeter and Master Uwald.”

Master Uwald snapped, “That has nothing to do with this.”

“What, er, Grand?”

“Nothing. Never mind.”

“What, High Brunka?”

Her face was regretful. “Pup, your grandfather was the original thief.”

Lambs and calves!

“He was?”

Did he really not know? Elodie wondered.

Deeter-bee said, “History rarely circles back so neatly.”

“Why didn't Grandmother tell me?”

“He's too young to steal anything.” Ursa-bee glared at Goodman Dror.

“I didn't say he did it!”

“Of course he didn't.” Master Uwald stood, then sat. “The subject is closed. Robbie, eat your pottage.”

Master Robbie whispered urgently to Elodie, “I'm not a thief.”

What if he is? she thought.

She could barely credit it, and she wondered if Goodman Dror had told about the grandfather just to make everyone forget Master Tuomo's accusation.

Still, what if Master Robbie had placed the handkerchief that weeps in the Turtle Room? He might have known about it and stolen it before the high brunka showed it to him and Master Uwald. The Oase's relics weren't a secret. Or his accomplice might have taken the handkerchief before they became partners. Master Robbie would be an excellent choice as the one to place it and start it weeping—agile, quick, light on his feet.

But why?

With the money from the Replica, he wouldn't have to live with Master Uwald.

Ludda-bee said, “Johan, you are an ugly sight, chewing with that tooth medicine bumping up and down in your cheek. You should take it out at mealtimes.”

He did nothing! Elodie thought indignantly.

Johan-bee's face reddened alarmingly. “No matter what, you make fun of me. A mountain may explode, but
you still mock me.” He reached for the wheel of cheese and threw it at Ludda-bee, who raised her arm just in time.

High Brunka Marya cried, “Johan, no one means—”

“Hold your tongue, Marya!”

Elodie gasped.

He continued, “You never helped me.”

“I want you to help yourself.”

“And now I am.” He heaved the tureen of pottage across the table.

Luckily, the pottage had cooled. Elodie's cloak was spattered. Oatmeal and beans pocked Master Robbie's face, cap, and shoulders. The tureen itself hit Master Uwald in the shoulder.

Everyone but High Brunka Marya jumped up and backed away. Even Deeter-bee moved swiftly. Johan picked up the long bench, too long for him to control, and swung it wildly. People dived under the table or ducked. Elodie grabbed Master Robbie's hand as Albin pulled her out of range.

Calmly but loudly, the high brunka said, “Stop this, Jo—”

The bench continued its wild sweep and cracked her on the head. She fell.