Cogling (24 page)

My power is here, and so is yours.

he hag in white led Edna and Rachel down the back stairs to the library, where leather-bound books and prisms of various shapes adorned the shelves. If she hadn’t been so scared her limbs quivered, Edna would’ve loved browsing the texts.

“I wouldn’t have thought hags to be literate,” Rachel said.

Edna pinched her arm. “Shush! They have to be intelligent if they can heal people.”

“Are we going to find a spell?” Rachel asked. “These are spell books, aren’t they?”

“Spells of the family. Spells for none. Spells for all.” The hag laughed.

Edna shut the door. “Lets hurry.” She glanced around the library, seeking its other exit, and her heart thudded harder. She’d expected to see a back door, since the hag had brought them there.

“Where to now?” Edna’s mouth dried. The hag had led them to a trap. How stupid for believing a madwoman could help. Mother Sambucus would drag them back to their room and Edna would be no closer to Harrison. The evil tickled her skin as a reminder of its prescence.

“Hush,” the hag hissed. She pulled a plush chair aside and moved the rug beneath to reveal a trapdoor. When she tugged on the brass loop at one end, the wooden square creaked upwards.

Maybe they were right to trust her. They didn’t have another choice. They could follow the hag or stay trapped in the room—which might be preferable after the hag finished leading them.

Shuddering, Edna pushed her doubts aside.

“I’m not going down there.” Rachel folded her arms. Edna wanted to shake her.

“Fleeing from captivity isn’t the time to complain. I’m not staying up here.” Edna peered over the edge of the trapdoor. A ladder disappeared into dark depths, where an earthy odor arose. “At least it lacks Mother Sambucus.”

“There isn’t any light.” Rachel waved her arms. “We don’t know what’s down there.”

“Your eyes will adjust to the darkness. Whatever lies below has to be better than imprisonment in this mansion.” Edna swung her legs over the edge, and the ladder held beneath her weight. She turned to grasp the top rung and began her way down. The white ruffles on the bottom of her skirt brushed the dirt on the ladder and her gloves stuck to the rough rungs.

Wind caressed her cheek, and she stiffened. The darkness swallowed her sight. She slid to the next rung and slipped, grabbing the ladder so tight it pressed into her belly.

“What is it?” Rachel called down.

“N-nothing.” Edna counted the rungs to keep her mind off her panic. “I can do this for Harrison.”

At the bottom, her feet planted on sandy dirt. Edna closed her eyes to better adjust to the absence of light. When she looked again, the darkness didn’t seem so solid. Scaffolding supported the earthen ceiling and walls. Behind her, the ladder creaked and Rachel dropped onto the ground beside Edna. Dust rose, tickling Edna’s nose. She wiped it on her sleeve, then rubbed her beads.

“We’re below the mansion,” Edna murmured. Maybe this path would take them under the factory to sneak Harrison and Ike out.

The hag bounced off the bottom rung. “We hurry.” She jogged, her white dress a beacon to follow. Against the dark walls, she glowed.

The tunnel wove around corners, as though they were trapped in a labyrinth. They turned left, right, and right, left. Edna grasped the wall for support when the ground became uneven. Her fingers pressed against the compact earth and a worm slithered across her palm.

Edna stumbled into Rachel. “What if the hags planned this and we run forever?” she whispered. A lump formed in her throat. The air thickened with a damp stench that reminded her of animals. “Do you think a beast died down here?” Or other humans who’d tried to escape?

She needed to focus on reality.

“Is this ever going to end?” Rachel’s voice quavered. When Edna grasped her hand, she squeezed back.

“Soon,” the hag sang.

They turned a corner and a light flickered in the tunnel.

“I can see the exit!” Rachel pulled free of Edna and dashed past the hag toward the flicker.

Edna ran after her. Could it be true?

They entered a large opening with lit torches set in brick walls. Dampness solidified on the cracked, dome ceiling and dripped onto metal cages. Had Mother Sambucus intended to lock Edna and Rachel inside two of them? Shapes stirred within. Edna stepped closer and gasped. “Foxkins!”

The creatures turned dark eyes upon them, gook sticking to the hairs that crept down their snouts. They gripped the bars with their tiny red paws and mewed, tails limp.

Rachel recoiled. “Disgusting.”

The air reeked of feces and urine. The foxkins must have soiled their torn clothing. Edna’s heart ached for them.

“Magic pelts. Magic brains.” The hag floated into the enclosure. “Storage cell. Other entrances.”

Edna nibbled on her fingernail. Other entrances meant hags and ogres could appear from places she hadn’t noticed. “We can’t just abandon these animals.”

Rachel wrinkled her nose. “Let’s go before the other hags come.” She continued down the tunnel, where the dirt walls started again.

“Not until we set them free.” Edna studied the closest cage. The oval lock involved buttons and levers, but no keyhole. “We haven’t time to let the animals go,” Rachel snapped. “Your brother’s waiting, remember?”

“We can’t leave them here!” Edna pushed buttons. The lock chirped, but didn’t release. If she released a little of the evil, it might be able to explode the lock.

“You know why they’re here, don’t you?” Rachel whispered.

“You should help help instead of rambling. Just because you’re nobility doesn’t mean you have to be insensitive toward the plight of others.”

Rachel braided her hair without looking at Edna. “When you press their teeth against a cut, it will heal faster. The ligaments make strong strings for violins.”

Edna shuddered. “That’s barbaric.”

Rachel tugged her braid. “The meat is filling for long trips. The blood is great for shrinking pores. Hags sell vials of it, mixed with herbs.”

The hag hummed. “Top button thrice, lever twice.”

Edna glanced at her. “Is that the combination?”

“Locks open.” The hag spun in a circle.

Edna pushed the top button three times and wiggled the lever twice. The lock popped out. A grin spread across her lips, and she flashed her teeth at the hag. “Thank you!”

The foxkin staggered out, blinking at Edna. It twitched its three tails.

“Rachel, help me.” Edna ran to the next lock.

“This is filthy.” Rachel earned a hiss from her foxkin, but she performed the combination and opened the cage.

As Edna completed the code on the final lock, a ticking sounded above. Glancing upwards, Edna’s breath stilled in her throat. Metal spyders crawled across the rafters below the ceiling.

Spyders, ready to report to the hags.

Her stomach twisted and she tugged on a curl. “Rachel, look up. Spyders. They’re going to know we’re down here. Fast.”

“May the king save us.” Rachel bolted toward the door.

“If only King Elias considered the swamp dangerous enough to post patrolling officers.” Edna ran with Rachel, foxkins hurrying at their ankles, furry bodies bumping against their legs. The hag floated behind.

The tunnel curved upward. Edna stumbled over her hem and collapsed to her knees. A foxkin bounded onto her back and leapt off. She scrambled up and caught her dress around her calves. Blood pumped in her veins. She imagined spyders meandering across her skin, recording her every move.

Mother Sambucus would discover what they’d done and they would be trapped again, no better off than the foxkins. She ran, with Rachel at her side, the hag floating close behind. They burst outside through a small cave opening at the edge of the swamp, leading into the forest. Rachel collapsed, panting. The scrawny foxkins crowded around them in the weeds, chattering amongst themselves.

“You had to waste time with the animals,” Rachel growled.

“Where do we go?” Edna asked the hag as she bent over with heaving breaths. “I have to free Harrison and Ike.”

The hag touched her throat. In a burst of blue sparkles, a pink cameo appeared on her high, lace collar. She unpinned it and handed it to Edna with a smile.

“Will it protect us?” Edna’s hand shook as she accepted the brooch.

The hag shook her head. “One needs it.”

Edna nodded at Rachel. “Her?” Of course, Lady Rachel would get the fancy bauble.

“My son.”

“The ogre? We don’t have time to return a brooch.” Edna tried to press it back, but the hag shook her head. “You helped us, but I don’t know how to help you.”

The hag spread her hands. “Fire burns.” Facing them, she floated backwards into the tunnel. Her white dress glowed before she vanished.

Edna pinned the brooch to her collar. She would have to keep it for now. The evil surged before it stilled, as if reacting to the cameo. She had to concentrate more on keeping the energy away.

“She could’ve been more helpful,” Rachel wailed.

Edna folded her knees and sat, picking at the dirt streaked across her skirt. A foxkin crawled into her lap, so she stroked the fuzzy head to calm her tremors. “I have no idea where civilization lies. We have no food, no weapons, only each other. Maybe the foxkins can hunt, but we would need fire to cook the food.” The story about how the hags became servants to humanity replayed through her mind.

“Fire!” Edna caught the foxkin in her arms and leapt up. “I know how to save Harrison and Ike! We have to burn down the factory.” They could make fire using sticks and stones – she’d done it before to save money on matches.

The foxkins tipped their heads toward her, pointy ears drawn back.

Rachel sniffled. “The factory’s made of bricks.”

“The house we were in wasn’t, and there’s wood inside the factory. We can throw torches through the windows. We’ll make sure the fire starts away from the children. We’ll get them out while the hags deal with the flames.”

A large foxkin stepped forward. In a tiny voice it said, “We will help.”

Edna bit her knuckles to keep from grinning, tasting the dirt on her gloves. Even though she knew they could, she’d never heard a foxkin speak. Few humans earned that privilege. She crouched to be eyelevel with the critter. “Can you help me get the children out and throw the torches?”

The foxkin blinked. “Will hags die?”

Edna narrowed her eyes at the dirt.
Can I kill a hag?
Harrison appeared in her mind.

Yes.

She’d do whatever needed to be done in order to save her brother.