Wild Magic (24 page)

But when she looked at the others, she realized why Finn was asking. Her father looked distinctly uncomfortable, while Jakob was pale and anxious.

“What's the matter?” she said.

“I don't think we can return to Hamelin,” said Moller evenly. He didn't want to upset Marianna. Not here, not now.

Marianna stared at him, slack jawed. “Why ever not?”

“Just think for a moment, Mari. If we go back to town now, how will we explain things? Everyone knows you went with the Piper. If they see you, there'll be a stampede. The whole town will run to Hamelin Hill, expecting to find their children. And they won't, will they? We'll raise their hopes, only to crush them again. That would be cruel, Mari. We can't do it.”

“We can make up a story,” said Marianna. “We can say I didn't go with the Piper. You found me wandering on the hillside—alone.”

“So why didn't Jakob find you? He went up there every day for a week—people know that. Why didn't he see you? And how do we explain Jakob? Say he was healed by sitting on a hillside? I don't think so.”

“There must be something we can do,” said Marianna wearily.

“If there is, I can't see it,” said Moller. “I've been worrying about this for hours, Mari, turning it over and over in my mind. We can't tell them the truth, so we'll have to lie. Spin some elaborate tale and hope to God they believe it. Because they might not. You know what some of them are like. The miller, for one. Can you imagine him, Mari? He'll take one look at our Jakob and within a week he'll be muttering, ‘Witchcraft.' Stirring up trouble, like he always does. I don't want that for the lad. He's had it hard enough these past few years.”

Marianna looked at Jakob. Her father was right. Jakob couldn't take any more abuse from the town. But there had to be some solution.

“I have it!” she cried. “They won't care about Jakob if the children return! Finn, you can play your pipe and bring them all here, then change them back into humans and we'll take them home.”

Finn shook his head. “I'm sorry. That cannot be done.”

“Why?”

“My magic isn't strong enough,” said Finn.

“Then let Jakob try.”

Finn shook his head again. “With respect, Marianna, you do not understand the complexity of the task. Elvendale is vast. There's no telling how far some of the children have traveled. How long do we wait for them? How long would it take a snail to reach us? How would a salmon swim up a dry mountain path? And some of them . . .”

“. . . might be dead,” finished Marianna. “And whose fault is that?”

“Please, Mari, calm down,” said Moller. “Listen. Do you hear what I'm saying? We can't go back. We can't lie for the rest of our lives.”

Marianna turned to her brother. “What do you say, Jakob? You're keeping very quiet.”

Jakob took a deep breath and sighed it away. “I think Papa's right,” he said. “I don't want to face them, Mari. You don't know what it was like— you weren't there. But after you'd gone . . . being the only child left . . . it was awful. And it'll be the same again. Everywhere we go, there will be people staring at us, muttering and cursing, wishing we were someone else.”

Marianna hung her head. She knew she was defeated.

Finn approached one of the arches. “This tunnel leads to a different part of Hamelin Hill,” he said. “There is a small town nearby. It is a welcoming place—far enough away from Hamelin for you to live unrecognized, but close enough to feel familiar. I think you would do well there. Do you have a trade, Moller?”

Moller nodded. “I'm a shoemaker. But everything I own is in Hamelin. I don't have the money to set up again.”

Finn smiled. “Fill your pockets with stones. And you, Jakob.” He pointed to the tunnel floor.

Moller and Jakob obeyed. Finn put his pipe to his lips and started to play—just for a few seconds, but it was enough. Moller reached into his pocket and pulled out a golden coin.

“Well, look at that!” he said wonderingly. “Solid gold! You know what this is, Jakob, don't you? This, son, is a bright future.”

“Buy yourself a shop,” said Finn. “You will do well, I promise. Though not, I think, in those clothes.”

Moller couldn't argue with that. His clothes were muddied and torn from his travels, and Jakob and Marianna looked no better. Finn played his pipe and instantly the family was clean and newly clothed.

“So,” he said, “have you decided?”

Moller looked at his children. They both seemed downcast, despite Finn's gifts, but they nodded.

“Yes, we've decided,” said Moller. “Lead on.”

CHAPTER
FIFTY-SEVEN

They traveled on, down a damp, low-roofed tunnel. Finn was at the front with his illuminated pipe. He was deep in thought, planning his future. Now that the curse was gone, he could return home to his family. There was nothing to stop him. Jakob had healed the stab wound as soon as they were clear of the forest, so he felt perfectly well again. He could journey south once the Mollers were safely through the hill. Should he?
Yes!
He started to tingle with excitement, just thinking about it.

Behind Finn walked Moller, then Marianna, and finally Jakob, who had insisted on being last. The reason he had given was that his staff was glowing and the light would be most useful there. But Marianna sensed there was something more.

“Jakob? What's wrong?”

There was no reply.

“I know you don't want to tell me, but I'd like to know. I might be able to help.”

Marianna glanced at her brother. There was a strange, haunted look in his eyes. Could he feel the curse, waking inside him?

“I'm fine, Mari,” he said. “I feel really good. I just wonder . . . how long it will last.”

Marianna felt her heart slide into her belly. It
was
the curse.

“You'll get over it,” she said, trying to sound confident. “A few hours a month—that's all.”

“No,” said Jakob, “that's not what I meant. I'm thinking about my legs. What's going to happen to them when I leave the hill? I couldn't bear to be twisted again. Not now.”

Marianna didn't know what to say. The thought had never even occurred to her. She had been so busy thinking about other problems they might face once they were home.

“It will be fine,” said Marianna. “The magic will hold.”

As soon as she heard the words, she wished she had kept her mouth shut. What a stupid thing to say! She couldn't promise that. She was raising Jakob's hopes. Skipping around the issue because it was too dreadful to think about. But before she could make things right, they reached the end of the tunnel.

Finn started to play his pipe and somewhere, deep in their hearts, Marianna and Jakob remembered the melody. It was the soft, sinuous one he had played to open the door from the other side.

Then the familiar blue light appeared, cutting a door in the rock. Finn played on until the door silently swung open.

They could see the sky. A midnight blue sky, freckled with stars. Marianna moved closer. She could see a valley and a small, unfamiliar town. Everyone was sleeping but lamps were burning bright, and Marianna suddenly felt such a longing to join those people. To walk through their streets and smell their cooking. Hear their snores and their babies crying.

“It's gorgeous,” she said, turning to Jakob—but he was backing away down the tunnel.

“I can't go,” he said.

“What's this?” said Moller.

“I can't go, Papa,” said Jakob. Tears were brimming in his eyes. “Please don't make me.”

“Make you? Those days are gone, Jakob. I'll never make you do anything again, not if you don't want to. But what is this?”

Jakob was panting, frantic as a rabbit with a dog at its heels. “I don't want—I can't—not if—”

“
Sshhhh. Hush now.
” Finn's voice, soft as velvet. Jakob felt the Piper's hands on his shoulders: holding him, calming him, soothing him. The fear and worry slipped away.

Finn started to whisper in his ear. “Have no fear, Jakob. You will lose nothing. The magic will hold. But as for the curse . . . I cannot be so sure, so listen carefully now. If the Beast comes to you, do not let it be in your world. There are hunters there; you would not be safe. As the next full moon approaches, if you have
any
suspicion—if you feel
anything
different about yourself, deep inside—come back here, to this place. Strike the ground with your staff and the door will open. Come through the hill, find somewhere safe to leave your belongings. And when you feel the change coming upon you, undress and leave your clothes too.

“My hawk will fly that night. If you need me, call. I will come to you. Now go. And may good fortune go with you.”

With that, Finn stepped back into the shadows. And Jakob approached the light . . . stepped through the doorway . . . and disappeared into the night beyond.

CHAPTER
FIFTY-EIGHT

“You'll never guess what just happened to me!” said Jakob, struggling in through the shop door with his arms full of bread and vegetables.

Marianna stopped sweeping and leaned on her broom. “You fought a dragon. You were in the market square, buying hot sausages, when the dragon— who was sleeping on the church roof—smelled them. And suddenly—
shoof !
—he flew down on his leathery wings, terrifying the whole town! But you fought him off with a loaf of bread.”

“No,” said Jakob. “Stranger than that. I thought I saw Johann, the butcher's boy.”

Marianna's broom clattered to the floor.

“No!” she gasped, turning pale. “Sit down. Tell me.”

“I'll put these away first,” said Jakob. He slipped by her and disappeared into the family rooms behind the shop.

Marianna sat on a stool and waited for him to return. Outside, she could hear her father and a tradesman laughing out loud. The tradesman had just arrived with a smart new sign:

SIMEN MOLLER & FAMILY
~ Quality Shoemakers ~

Now he was hanging it outside the shop.

Marianna watched her father through the window. He was a changed man these days, quick to smile and determined to make a comfortable life for them all. He had found the shop on their very first day in town. It was in a perfect location—on the corner of two busy streets, next to the church—so it was strange that it was empty. It almost seemed to be waiting for them to arrive.

From the moment they had seen it, Marianna and Jakob had loved it. It had a high gable and heavy black timbers, wonderfully carved and painted with flowers. From the top rooms they could see Hamelin Hill and all the higgledy-piggledy rooftops of the town. They could each have a sunny bedroom. Moller was also delighted with the property. The shop was bright and airy, and behind it was a workshop full of shoemaker's tools.
Very
strange! All he needed was leather and cloth.

And so Moller had bought the shop with Finn's gold and the family had moved in. Three weeks had passed in a haze of hard work and happiness. The house was clean and furnished. The shelves in the shop were lined with shoes and boots. The evenings were full of stories again, sandwiched between a hearty supper and an early bed for all of them. Life was good.

There was just one dark shadow in their sunny new home. It was something no one mentioned, though they all waited for it, counting off the days, one by one.

The next full moon.

And now, here was Jakob, saying he had seen Johann, the butcher's boy. What could that mean? Was it a sign?

Jakob reappeared from the kitchen, wiping his hands on a cloth.

“So?” said Marianna. “Tell me.”

“I was coming from the bakehouse,” said Jakob. “I saw a lad ahead of me—quite tall, with a side of bacon slung over his shoulder—and he turned and—
oh!
For a minute, I really thought it was Johann—especially with him carrying bacon.”