The Tale of Despereaux (20 page)

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to the following individuals for their
unflagging love, patience, and support during the
telling of the mouse’s tale: Karla Rydrych,
Jane St. Anthony, Cindy Rogers, Jane Resh Thomas,
Jason William Walton, Alison McGhee,
Holly McGhee, Lisa Beck, and Tracey Bailey.
Despereaux and I are also deeply indebted to
Kara LaReau — editor, visionary, friend.

This book was written with the help of a generous grant
from the McKnight Foundation.

Peter stood in the small patch of light making its sullen way through the open flap of the tent. He let the fortuneteller take his hand. She examined it closely, moving her eyes back and forth and back and forth, as if there were a whole host of very small words inscribed there, an entire book about Peter Augustus Duchene composed atop his palm.

“Huh,” she said at last. She dropped his hand and squinted up at his face. “But, of course, you are just a boy.”

“I am ten years old,” said Peter. He took the hat from his head and stood as straight and tall as he was able. “And I am training to become a soldier, brave and true. But it does not matter how old I am. You took the florit, so now you must give me my answer.”

“A soldier brave and true?” said the fortuneteller. She laughed and spat on the ground. “Very well, soldier brave and true, if you say it is so, then it is so. Ask me your question.”

Peter felt a small stab of fear. What if, after all this time, he could not bear the truth? What if he did not really want to know?

“Speak,” said the fortuneteller. “Ask.”

“My parents,” said Peter.

“That is your question?” said the fortuneteller. “They are dead.”

Peter’s hands trembled. “That is not my
question,” he said. “I know that already. You must tell me something that I do not know. You must tell me of another — you must tell me . . .”

The fortuneteller narrowed her eyes. “Ah,” she said. “Her? Your sister? That is your question? Very well. She lives.”

Peter’s heart seized upon the words.
She lives. She lives!

“No, please,” said Peter. He closed his eyes. He concentrated. “If she lives, then I must find her, so my question is, how do I make my way there, to where she is?”

He kept his eyes closed; he waited.

“The elephant,” said the fortuneteller.

“What?” he said. He opened his eyes, certain that he had misunderstood.

“You must follow the elephant,” said the fortuneteller. “She will lead you there.”

Copyright © 2009 by Kate DiCamillo

Kate DiCamillo

is the author of
Because of Winn-Dixie,
which received a Newbery Honor;
The Tiger Rising,
which was a National Book Award Finalist;
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane,
which won a
Boston Globe–Horn Book
Award; the best-selling Mercy Watson series; and
The Magician’s Elephant.
About
The Tale of Despereaux,
she says, “My best friend’s son asked me if I would write a story for him. ‘It’s about an unlikely hero,’ he said, ‘one with exceptionally large ears.’ ‘What happens to this hero?’ I asked. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘That’s why I want you to write the story, so we can find out.’ Well, Luke Bailey, here’s the tale of your exceptionally large-eared, extremely unlikely hero. Thank you for waiting so patiently.” Kate DiCamillo lives in Minneapolis.

Timothy Basil Ering

is the author and illustrator of
The Story of Frog Belly Rat Bone
and
Necks Out for Adventure!,
as well as the illustrator of
Mr. and Mrs. God in the Creation Kitchen
by Nancy Wood, and
Finn Throws a Fit!
by David Elliot. His artwork has also appeared in magazines, theater sets, private murals, and fine art galleries. He says, “My mother may have been a mouse in her past life, as I watched her save and help so many mice in our house growing up. The illustrations I’ve done of Despereaux Tilling are, in a way, my tribute to her.”