[Half/Time 01] Half Upon a Time (5 page)

“I’ve heard it,” Jack said, eyeing the horse, then the bridle. At this point, he wasn’t sure which was worse. Magic was all well
and good when it worked, but it had a tendency to go wrong just when you needed it the most. Say, for example, when you were trapped on the back of a devil horse.

On the ground, Robert moaned again, and Jack realized they didn’t exactly have a choice. He sighed, took the bridle, and planted his feet, facing Samson. He took a deep breath and held the bridle out between his hands, then thrust it at the horse’s mouth.

Samson immediately opened his jaws to bite one of Jack’s hands, but Jack quickly jerked them to the side, so Samson bit down on the flower bridle instead. Immediately the beast froze completely, although his cold, dead eyes still glared at Jack.

“Huh,” Jack said, honestly impressed that the bridle actually worked. “I’ve seen that story a million times in the Story Book, but I still thought you were making it up.”

“Show’s what you know,” his grandfather told him, helping May up onto the unmoving horse. After she was up, the old man handed Jack the bag. “Take this too.”

“What is that, anyway?” May asked.

“Ah!” Jack’s grandfather said, lighting up. “It’s a magic sack, Princess! No matter what you put in it, it’ll never weigh you down or fill up. It’s also where I keep my most treasured magical items, may they come in handy on your trip.” He threw Jack a look.
“That includes one of your father’s beans, by the way. Try not to eat that. Come the morning, you’d have more than indigestion.”

“Thanks,” Jack said he leapt onto the horse behind May. “Are you going to be okay here alone?”

“I’ll be fine. Get out of here!” his grandfather said, eyeing the growing crowd of boys standing on the path back to town. “And try not to mess this up, huh?”

“Thanks for the optimism,” Jack said, then shook the reins. Samson immediately began to walk, then trot. All the boys in town knew enough to stay out of the horse’s way, but several of the boys threw Jack dirty looks as the horse approached.

And then, just as Jack and May passed by the largest group of boys, an angry voice yelled out from behind them. “Hey, what’s going on here?!” Robert yelled. “You tricked me, Jack! Get him, guys!”

A loud
conk
shut Robert up, as Jack’s grandfather smacked him with the food tray, but it was already too late. Jack kicked Samson into a gallop, and off they went down the path, a screaming mob of boys right behind them.

The village of Giant’s Hand barely qualified as a village. The story went that some hero had killed a giant nearby, and as the monster fell to the ground, one of its hands crushed a few acres of trees, clearing room for the town. The tree line did follow a handlike pattern, if you squinted … and ignored the fact that there were only three fingers. Still, people loved their stories.

Every building in Giant’s Hand looked alike, each with a slate roof and wooden walls. The inn was the busiest building in the village, mostly due to the pub on its first floor. Besides the schoolhouse and open-air market, there just wasn’t much else to do in the village—another none-too-subtle reminder for children to leave to find adventure when they were old enough.

As Jack and May galloped through the town just ahead of the enraged mob of teenage boys, Jack wondered if he’d ever see any of it again. Glancing back at his old schoolmates, he hoped not.

Although Samson was galloping, more than a few of the boys had kept up because the path’s twisting slowed the horse’s pace, and now rocks whizzed past Jack’s and May’s heads every few seconds. Fortunately, most of the boys couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn—the closest rock sailed more than a foot over Jack’s head, almost taking out a large blackbird in one of the nearby trees.

Still, it was only a matter of time before one of them got lucky. Turning back around to push Samson to go faster, Jack almost bumped his head into May’s, she was so close. Out of nowhere, Jack realized that her hair smelled like vanilla.

“Do you know where we’re going?!” May yelled at him, turning her head slightly in his direction.

Jack quickly leaned away, in no way sniffing her hair still. “The Black Forest,” he shouted back. “Your grandmother said we’d find help there, so that’s where we go. It’s only a couple of days’ ride from here.”

“A couple of
days
?!” May said, her voice rising as she ducked beneath a rock.

A little ways back, a horse neighed loudly. Jack kicked Samson
lightly to speed up, and the horse obliged, fairly bursting out of the village and up the path leading out of town as the last bit of sunlight faded away completely. The last of the boys gave up, but the horse behind them neighed a second time, much closer now.

“That can’t be good,” Jack said, glancing back … and there was the horse, one of George’s farm animals. Only, it wasn’t one of the village boys riding it.

Instead, a giant man dressed entirely in green barreled down on them, swinging an enormous axe over his head.

“It’s him!” May screamed, trying to kick Samson to go faster, but only managing to hit Jack instead.

“Stop kicking me!” Jack yelled. Tree branches ripped at their clothes as Samson galloped down the completely dark path out of town, as not even the light of the moon could penetrate the trees. Normally, no other horse in the village could outrun Samson, but the Huntsman’s horse wasn’t carrying two riders. That, combined with the fact that the Huntsman seemed to know how to ride, a skill Jack hadn’t exactly mastered yet, meant that he was gaining on them.

“Run all you want!” the Huntsman shouted from behind them. “I’ll track you down no matter how far you go, no matter where you hide!”

“I’ve hidden from bigger guys than
you
before!” Jack yelled back.

“Way to stand up to him,” May said over her shoulder.

Jack glanced back, ducking his head to avoid branches as he did. Another minute and they would be within reach of the Huntsman’s ugly looking axe. That was it. They weren’t going to outrun him. They needed a new plan.

“Hold on,” Jack said in May’s ear. “Hold on
tight.
”

“What?” she said. “Wait, why?!”

Instead of answering, Jack jerked back on the magic bridle, commanding Samson to stop. Magically controlled as he was, Samson planted all four feet in the dirt and leaned back, instantly skidding to a stop.

The force of the halt threw Jack into May and May into Samson’s neck. Jack managed to lock his legs around the horse and grab May just before she flew off the horse, while the fairy just dug in, almost yanking out a patch of May’s hair as she tumbled forward too.

The Huntsman, meanwhile, galloped right past them, screaming at his own horse to stop. Though his horse did slow down, it wasn’t dumb enough to try what Samson had been magically compelled to do. All in all, Jack figured they
had about five seconds to figure out what to do before the Huntsman could make it back to them.

“We need to get off the horse,” he told May, jumping off himself.

The princess quickly dismounted as well, then started to run for the trees, but Jack grabbed her hand and yanked her back behind Samson. “What are you
doing
!” she said, pulling her hand from his. “He’s going to kill us!”

“Not you, girlie,” the Huntsman said, stepping off his exhausted horse. “Your boyfriend, on the other hand, is fair game.” With that, the Huntsman swung his axe around and aimed it right at Jack’s face.

“Oh, I’m not her boyfriend,” Jack said, taking a quick step to the left. Unfortunately, the axe followed him. “I just met her, in fact. If you want to take her, she’s yours.”

“What?!” May said, turning to stare at Jack. “You’re letting him take me?!”

“Brave lad, aren’t you,” the Huntsman said, shaking his head with a smile.

May growled. “You know what, Green Man?” she said to the Huntsman. “If you want to take
him
, then
he’s
yours! I don’t even care!”

“With that attitude,” Jack said, throwing a dark look at the princess, “maybe I
will
let him take you!”

“Oh,
really
!” May said, her eyes flashing with anger. “You don’t seem to be doing a whole lot to stop it!”

“You have no
idea
what I’m doing!” Jack said, turning to face the fuming princess. “Maybe you could try
trusting
me?”

“Trust you?!” May yelled. “You just told him to take me!”

“I was tricking him!” Jack shouted back. “I’m outwitting him!”

The Huntsman burst into laughter at that, dropping his axe’s tip slightly as he did.

Instantly, Jack yanked the magic bridle out of Samson’s mouth.

The cold, dead eyes came to life, their pure, unadulterated hatred focused straight ahead. Jack quickly grabbed May and pulled her behind Samson, out of the horse’s sight.

“What’s this, then?” the Huntsman said, quickly aiming his axe at Jack again.

Jack looked from Samson to the exhausted farm horse and back. George owned the only two horses in town, which meant the Huntsman had just ridden Samson’s mate into the ground. And Samson didn’t look too happy about that.

The monstrous horse let loose an unnatural growl and slowly advanced on the Huntsman, his eyes burning red with hatred. The Huntsman froze, then quickly turned the axe toward the horse, the enormous man’s expression turning from curious to worried all in the span of a few seconds.

“I think he wants to eat your face off,” Jack suggested helpfully.

“It’s just a horse,” the Huntsman said dismissively, though his eyes never left the animal.

“A demon horse,” Jack replied, smiling now. “And you just rode his mate almost to death.”

At that, Samson reared up, neighing horribly, his evil hooves clawing at the air in front of the Huntsman. Desperately, the Huntsman brought his axe up, but Samson drove his hooves down right into the Huntsman’s chest, crashing the enormous man backward into a tree. The force of the impact actually cracked the tree trunk, but didn’t seem to do more than knock the breath out of the man.

Samson wasn’t finished, though. Before the Huntsman could move, the horse blocked him in, rearing up on his hind legs again. The Huntsman slipped between the trees for protection, but Samson reared again, then drove his hooves into
the tree trunks on either side of the man, sending wood chips flying.

The Huntsman threw one last furious glace at Jack, then disappeared into the forest. Samson, robbed of his prey, squealed in fury and followed the Huntsman into the trees with a neigh that sounded almost hungry.

Jack took a deep breath, then looked at May. The princess’s eyes were as huge as dinner plates, while the fairy in her hair looked just as shocked, if not more.

“You okay?” Jack asked her.

“I’m going to see that thing in my nightmares,” she whispered. “Well, maybe both those things. They deserve each other.”

“Samson may be evil,” Jack said, “but he’s still just a horse. The Huntsman will outsmart him … or kill him. Either way it’s not going to take too long. We’ve got to get out of here.”

Jack grabbed the magic bridle and stuck it into his bag, while May glanced over at the horse the Huntsman had stolen. “Should we ride her?” the princess asked.

Jack shook his head. “She’s so tired, I doubt she could carry us both. But even if she could, do you really want Samson coming after
us
next?”

“Good point,” May said.

Jack grabbed her hand and led the way into the forest, on the opposite side from where the Huntsman and Samson had gone. As dark as it was, they both stumbled with almost every step, but fear kept them moving.

They ran for what felt like hours, trying to put enough distance between themselves and the Huntsman so they could hide. From the stories, Jack knew the man would eventually track them down, but finding their trail in the dark would take a while, and hopefully they’d find some kind of safety first.

The problem was, the farther they ran, the more lost Jack got. They’d taken a few unfamiliar twists and turns when riding Samson, and now Jack had no idea where they were. There weren’t any landmarks that Jack could see, either—just forest in every direction. For all he knew, they were heading back toward Giant’s Hand.

Or worse, toward the Huntsman.

“We have to stop,” Jack said, his breath coming out in gasps.

May didn’t bother replying, she was so out of breath. Instead, she just nodded, then fell limply to the forest floor and leaned against a nearby tree.

Jack settled himself next to her, and for a few minutes, they sat in silence, catching their breath.

“We’re going to kill ourselves, running through the woods like this,” Jack said finally. “What do you think about waiting until the sun comes up to keep going?”

May nodded, still not saying anything. The fairy in her hair, despite having done nothing more than hang on all night, looked just as exhausted.

“Are you all right?” Jack asked the princess.

She paused, then turned to look at him. Even in the dark, Jack could tell her eyes were red from crying. “Am I all right?” she asked, her voice quiet. “This hasn’t exactly been the greatest day of my life, has it?” A tear rolled down her cheek, and Jack immediately felt guilty for no particular reason.

“Oh, hey,” he said, awkwardly patting her shoulder. “Don’t do that.”

She sniffed loudly. “Oh,
okay
, then,” she said, a bit of a smile showing. “I won’t. Thanks.”

“Sorry,” he said. “I know this hasn’t been easy on you.”

She looked at him and sighed. “No, it hasn’t. But since we’re not going anywhere for a while, why don’t you tell me how you know my grandmother?”

“Oh, right,” Jack said. “I mean,
everyone
knows her. I just wish you’d mentioned that your grandmother was Snow White. That would have explained a lot.”

May blinked. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I said, I wish you’d mentioned that your grandmother was Snow White,” Jack repeated. “Would have been easier than figuring it out on my own.”

“Snow
White
?” May said, her eyes narrowing as she glared at him. “Just because I’m in some kind of fantasy world doesn’t make me stupid.”