The Bravest Princess (6 page)

A few minutes later, two of the guards brought Granny Bentbone back to the carriage while the rest led the horses to the stream to drink. Annie noticed that the witch's spell had already worn off and the old woman was once again able to use her hands. She was still befuddled, however, and looked around the carriage as if she'd never seen it before. The look she gave Annie also seemed to be one she'd give a stranger, but she took the food the guards offered her without question and began to eat as if she really was starving.

It wasn't long before they were on their way again. Annie nibbled her food as she watched the scenery pass by, but Granny Bentbone gobbled hers, eating every last crumb and licking her fingers afterward. Wiping her hands on her gown, she turned and peered at Annie.

“What happened to your hair?” she asked. “It looks like a rabid squirrel made its nest in it.”

“Nothing,” snapped Annie, not wanting to have the same conversation all over again.

Granny Bentbone shrugged and turned to the
window. When Annie finished eating, she shoved her apple core between the bars of the window beside her. She thought she heard a crow caw, and jerked her hand back when a shadow blocked the sunlight. The old woman laughed, and Annie could feel her face turn red. Maybe she was afraid of the crows a little.

As the miles rolled by, Annie struggled to stay awake so she could keep an eye on the witch. Granny Bentbone dozed, waking up now and then to look around, switch positions, and fall back to sleep again. The sun was low in the sky when they finally stopped for the night at the edge of a forest. Horace opened the door to let Annie out, and Liam was waiting to help her step down.

“If we kept going, we'd be spending the night in the Dark Forest, and that's something I'd rather avoid,” said Liam. “We'll set up camp here and reach the tower by midday tomorrow.”

“We've slept under the stars before, but what are we going to do about Granny Bentbone?”

“Make sure she's well chained and lock the carriage door,” said Liam. “There aren't any homes around, so she won't be able to call any children to her.”

Annie glanced back at the carriage. “She has other kinds of magic, but she needs to use her hands to do it.”

“That's good to know,” Liam told her. “We'll tie her hands together so she can't use them.”

“Is anyone going to feed me?” Granny Bentbone
called from inside the carriage. “I haven't had a thing to eat all day, and I'm starving.”

Liam raised one eyebrow. “I thought she ate when we did.”

“She did. She was very coherent this morning but has gotten forgetful again.”

“I'm not forgetful!” cried Granny Bentbone. “My mind is sharp as a … a …”

“I see,” said Liam. “I was just going to say that I know it's early, but if we go to bed soon, we can get a good night's sleep and an early start in the morning.”

Annie glanced at the crows, which had already settled on an overhead branch. “I don't know how well I'm going to be able to sleep, but I'm willing to give it a try.”

After a simple supper of cold meat and fruit from the basket, Captain Sterling had the guards erect tents, tie and chain Granny Bentbone, and lock her in the carriage before setting up a watch rotation. The last time Annie and Liam had traveled together, they hadn't had guards, horses, or tents, so having any one of these felt like a real luxury. Annie thought about this as she lay in her tent, wondering why, even though she was so much more comfortable, she wasn't enjoying their trip. Of course, part of it was because she was riding in a carriage with Granny Bentbone, who didn't have anything nice to say. Mostly, Annie thought it was because she wasn't alone with Liam. Even when Gwendolyn and
Beldegard had been with them, Annie and Liam had often walked by themselves. Annie enjoyed the times they were alone together more than any other—although she did not like that he was keeping things from her.

Tired from the ride, Annie soon drifted off, but it wasn't long before a sound woke her. She lay there without moving, listening, but when she didn't hear anything else, she decided that she was imagining things and once more fell asleep. A short time later, something woke her again, and this time she couldn't go back to sleep. She was still awake when she heard something hit the tent. For the rest of the night, she dozed off and on, woken many times by small thuds.

The first songbirds were starting to greet the day when Annie crawled out of her tent, yawning. One glance told her what had kept her from a sound sleep. Acorns littered the ground around her tent, even though the nearest oak tree was at least two hundred feet away and there weren't any acorns around the other tents.

“Ouch!” she cried when something hit her shoulder. She looked up to see a crow flying overhead. An acorn rolled to a stop beside her.

“What's wrong?” asked Liam, sticking his head out of his tent.

“The crows have been pelting my tent with acorns. And that one just hit me with one.” Annie pointed at the crow, which cawed and landed in the tree. “I'm glad
we had the tents to sleep in. I think these crows are trying to torment me.”

The crow cocked its head to the side as if considering what she'd said.

“They're just birds, Annie,” said Liam.

Annie shook her head. “I think they're more than that. They're too smart, for one thing. They followed us all the way here and won't stop looking at me. Granny Bentbone said that they're in thrall to an evil witch, but I don't know why a witch would do this.”

“You don't mean to say that you think those are the same crows that we saw by the stream yesterday?” said Liam.

“I don't know. Crows all look the same to me, but I suppose it's possible. Granny Bentbone said she can see something in their eyes. They seem normal, as far as I can tell.”

“Evil witch, huh?” Liam said. “We have run into a few.”

Annie shuddered. “I'd rather not talk about it out here, where they can hear us.”

“You're joking, right?”

“No, I'm not,” Annie declared. “And I'm not being silly, either!”

It was midafternoon when they reached the tower where Annie had been kept prisoner. She had climbed down from the tower after braiding the long hair that the previous prisoner had left behind. Now, looking up at the windows from the ground, she wondered how she had ever managed it. The structure was as tall as a castle turret and stood by itself in the middle of a vast forest. Annie was certain that if Liam hadn't been with her, she would never have found it again.

The four guards King Halbert had sent ahead to ready the tower for Granny Bentbone reported to Captain Sterling while Annie and Liam studied the windows high above. A few minutes later, the captain approached Liam.

“The men have a basket rigged up on the other side, Your Highness,” he said. “They plan to use it to haul the witch to the top.”

“Did they restock the tower and clean up all the hair?” asked Annie.

The captain smiled. “They did indeed. It took two men most of a day to get all the hair out.”

“I'd like to see what they've done,” Liam said, turning to Annie. “Would you like to go with me? We can see how the basket works.”

“It will carry only one person at a time, Your Highness,” said the guard. “But it is perfectly safe. The men have been using it to carry up supplies.”

Annie, Liam, Captain Sterling, and Horace rounded the tower, leaving most of the guards behind with the carriage and Granny Bentbone. Although Annie knew there had been a lot of long blond hair draped over everything inside, she was surprised to see the size of the pile of hair at the building's base. Waist high and as wide as a large man was tall, the pile looked almost like spun gold. On top of the pile was the rope she'd made by braiding some of the hair, coiled in a giant loop.

“We should probably burn that,” said Liam. “We don't want anyone else using it to climb up or down.”

“I'll see to that,” said Horace, eyeing the pile of hair.

“The basket doesn't look very big,” Annie said, examining a large wicker box tied to a rope that ran up and over a pulley fastened to the wall above the window.

“It's big enough for the old witch,” said the captain.

“I'll go up first, just to make sure you'll be all right in it,” Liam told Annie.

Captain Sterling summoned two of his men to help while Liam climbed into the basket. It was too small for him to sit down, and the sides came up only as far as his hips. He had to hold on to the rope to keep his balance, and the basket started swaying the moment it left the ground.

Annie grew nervous as she watched from below, no longer certain that she wanted to go up the tower. But then Liam was at the window and the basket was on its way back down.

“I'm not so sure about this!” Annie shouted to Liam.

“It really isn't bad,” he called down. “Just climb in and close your eyes. We'll pull you up and tell you when to get out.”

Annie took a deep breath as the basket hit the ground. Horace helped her over the side, and she grabbed hold of the rope before the basket started moving. When she was a few feet off the ground, Annie closed her eyes, but the basket swayed and bumped into the wall when she wasn't expecting it, jarring her so that her teeth clacked together. She was so frightened that she couldn't have spoken if she'd wanted to, but she opened her eyes and kept them open so that she was prepared for the next bump and could brace herself.

The acrid stench of burning hair billowed in a cloud of smoke around her. Apparently Horace had started the fire. A few more tugs on the rope and she was higher than the smoke and was breathing fresh air again.

Finally, she reached the window, and Liam was waiting there to help her over the ledge. Pulling her into the room, he held her in his arms until she stopped shaking.

“I don't know any other princess who would do what you just did,” he whispered into her ear. “You're the bravest girl I know.”

“I was terrified,” she told him.

“And yet you did it, which shows just how brave you are. No one is being brave when they do things that don't frighten them.”

“Maybe,” said Annie. “But I really don't look forward to getting in that basket again. Let's do what we came to do and get out of here.” Annie turned to look around the circular room. “I'd forgotten just how much I hate this place.”

Hand in hand, they walked around the tower room while Annie told Liam what it had been like when she had been there. “Everything was covered with long blond hair, and when I say long, I mean yards and yards. Well, you saw the pile of hair down below. Just imagine it strewn all over everything. The girl who used to live here left dirty clothes and stale food everywhere, too. The bedclothes were so disgusting that I had to sleep on the floor right over here. And I tied the braid to this table before climbing out the window. I must admit, Father's men did a good job getting this place ready for Granny Bentbone. It looks as if they cleaned
everything. They put fresh bedding on the bed and even got the bird droppings off the floor under these rafters.”

“I understand they completely restocked the larder,” said Liam. “She'll live in greater comfort than she would have in the dungeon.”

“No one will hear her,” Annie said, glancing out the closest window. “And she won't be able to get down on her own.”

“What about her magic?” asked Liam. “Didn't you say she could do something other than call children to her?”

“Yes, but she told me that it isn't very reliable. I doubt that she'd be able to use it to escape.”

Liam nodded as he surveyed the room. “I think this will do very well. I know I suggested it, but I wasn't sure it would really work until now.”

“If you've seen enough, can we go? I'd like to get down from the tower and feel the solid ground beneath my feet again.”

“You go first this time,” said Liam. “I'll wait until the men bring up Granny Bentbone so I can help them take the pulley down.”

Annie bit her lip as she glanced out the window to the ground below.
I can do this,
she thought.
I climbed down on a rope made of hair last time. The basket has to be better than that.

She tried to look brave as Liam helped her climb into the basket, and he kissed her before letting her go. Gripping the rope so hard with both hands that her knuckles were white, she faced the stone wall and tried not to think about how far she was from the ground. Annie groaned softly each time the basket dropped lower.

She was nearly a third of the way down when something hit the basket from the side, making her lose her balance. Staggering, she clung to the rope and fought to stay on her feet. At first she thought that the basket had bumped something on the wall, but then Liam cried out and she looked back to see a crow swooping toward her.

“Go away!” she screamed when she saw that the crow was flying straight at the basket. It flew so close that she felt the brush of its wings on her arm as she tried to fend it off. She wasn't quick enough, however, and the crow hit the basket, making it twirl on the end of the rope. That little bit of contact had one effect, however; Annie's touch had removed whatever magic had been controlling the crow and it flew off, squawking.

“Get away from her!” Liam shouted from above as the other crow circled closer. “Hold on, Annie. We'll let you down faster.”

“I think I'm going to be sick,” she groaned as the basket continued to turn.

Horace shouted, and Annie looked down. The first crow had returned, and both birds were flying toward her now, cawing so loudly that they sounded more like some ancient beast than a pair of crows.

There was a rumble below as the carriage rounded the tower. One of the birds landed on the basket's rim and tried to peck Annie. She beat at it with one hand while holding on to the rope with the other, but the crow's weight and movement tipped the basket to a perilous angle, nearly dumping Annie out, and the bird fell off, squawking. Annie clung to the rope with both hands, trying to use her own weight to right the basket as it twirled and banged against the tower, but the second crow had flown higher than the first, pecking at the rope. The rope jerked and shuddered so badly that Annie was certain the whole thing was about to fall.