Hapenny Magick (13 page)

“That is a terrible thing to say.” Mae scooched away from the troll's touch and cowered against a tree.

Taureck flashed a black-toothed grin and swiped at the stringy red hair falling across her face. Ripping a piece of thin material from her filthy vest, Taureck tried to stuff it into Mae's mouth. Mae turned her head and clenched her teeth. The troll grabbed her face, claws pushing into skin. “Terrible? You're gonna find out just how terrible I can be.”

Reluctantly, Mae opened her mouth so the troll would release her grip. She couldn't fight back if she was scratched and infected again.

“That's a good hapenny. Always willin' to please, the lot of ye be.” Taureck stuffed the dirty rag in. Mae bit down hard on the troll's finger.

“Owzies!” Taureck pulled her finger from Mae's mouth and shook it in the air. “You be the first one I eats!” A skeletal finger pulled a rattling bone necklace from under her faded blue corset. “And your teeth will make pretty baublies on my necklace.”

Mae fought against the panic building in her mind as the troll pushed herself off Mae and ambled away with a rolling gait. Mae turned her wrists in the binding. She turned and twisted her arm. The rope burned her skin. She wished she hadn't made Trina stay at the cottage. Her sharp teeth would've made quick work of the ratty rope. Mae's mind spun as she tried to remember some kind of helpful spell. She fought against the tears building behind her eyes and the tightness in her throat. Crying wouldn't help anything.

Taureck had a smoky fire started when Nord strolled back through the trees. His yellowed fangs anchored a leering smile. “Gelbane said we can't eat that ‘un yet. She wants us to bring her the little morsel.”

One of Mae's hands slipped through the binding. She shook the rope loose from the other. She wasn't sticking around for Gelbane to see her.

“Bring it to her?” Taureck shrieked. “But I caughts it, and I'm hungry!”

“Don't matter. Gelbane said she's keeping it with the other ‘un for the feasty tonight.”

Mae shrieked against her gag. The other one? That's what Reed was trying to tell her. Gelbane had Leif! Mae sagged against the tree. She had no choice now. The easiest way to get to Leif was to let Gelbane take her. She wouldn't be able to cross the bridge without Gelbane seeing her. She forced her hand back into the binding.

Taureck screwed up her face. “'Gelbane said, Gelbane said'! Do you always do what Gelbane said?”

“You and me, we're to go to the others and tell them the way's made open.” Nord grabbed a fallen limb from the ground. “Let's truss that ‘un up so she don't try to kicksy us no more.”

It was hard to breathe with the smelly rag in her mouth, and Mae's wrists stung from the rub of the rope. The runes were gone. The trolls controlled the bridge, which meant they were free to invade the village. She was too late to repair the runes, but at least she could help her friend and maybe warn the others.

Her flute and wand slid from her pocket and bounced into the grass as the two trolls trussed her to the branch. Mae shrieked and wiggled. She needed her wand! Taureck smacked her upside the head. “Be quiet, loathsome creature! Dinner's not supposed t' talk.”

The trolls bent over with laughter as Mae swung like a suckling pig, stars filling her eyes. A smudge of daylight crept into the eastern sky. Her heart sank into her apron pocket as Taureck noticed the flute in the grass. The troll picked it up and stroked the shiny finish.

“Whatcha find, Taureck?” Nord asked.

Taureck folded the flute protectively in her hand. “Nuttin', just some shiny bits of wood.”

“Let's go, then.” Nord scowled. “Gelbane is waitin' on us, and you know she don't like to waitey.”

Mae bounced painfully as the trolls lumbered along the wooded path.

Nord halted at the bridge, eyeing it with uncertainty. “Uh, ladies first.”

Taureck shoved the pole Mae was trussed to into Nord, pushing him toward the planks of the bridge. “Oh, no. I insist you have the pleasure.”

“But—I—”

“Let's go, you lowly good-for-nothings!” Gelbane shrieked. “We don't have time for your ninny-naggin'. The magick's gone!”

Nord stepped forward with hesitance, searching for the wood of the bridge with the tip of his toe. One eye was pinched shut; the other was only half open. Mae heard him take a deep, nervous breath. Mae held her breath, too. Perhaps luck was with her. Maybe Gelbane didn't quite finish the job.

Nord planted his foot on the bridge and froze.

A breeze sped through the trees.

The leaves rattled.

“C'mon, nitwit!” Gelbane advanced over the bridge and gave Nord's head a swipe with her fist. “You be alive. ‘Tis a relief to know I did the job right.”

Nord and Taureck exchanged a glance.

“Let me see what you've got there.” Gelbane bent to peer at Mae. She ran a stubby finger across Mae's cheek as a wicked smile spread across her face. “Looks like you caught my runaway.”

“She bit me, so she's the first ‘un to go!” Taureck cackled.

“No, she's the last. I'm going to enjoy the look on her face when I eat her friends.” Gelbane plucked the gag from Mae's mouth. “What do you have to say about that?”

Mae's stomach churned with loathing. She scowled at Gelbane but did not answer. The wicked snigger Mae had heard too often in the last six years settled over the fields.

“Follow me quickly.” Gelbane turned down the path. “You need to be gone before the Wedge awakes.”

Sooner than Mae could believe, they were halfway down the path that would take them to her home. In the dim light of dawn, the flowers growing out of the earthen roof were wilted and sad. The tree branches drooped to the ground. The rooster crowed at the rising sun. The chickens clucked sleepily from the trees at the edge of the forest. Mae hoped she wasn't hearing the rooster's crow for the last time.

Gelbane slammed the front door open and gestured to the hallway. “Put her in the cage with the other one.”

Mae craned her neck to peer around the trolls and into Gelbane's workroom. Leif stared at her, his fingers clenched around the iron bars.

Leif!
Leif
was
the creature she'd glimpsed in the cage!

The trolls dropped her on the floor and Taureck hissed, baring her fangs. Leif cowered into the corner while Gelbane opened the cage door. Nord cut Mae from the branch and shoved her into the cage.

“Don't be bruisin' our dinner, nitwit!” Gelbane growled.

Mae yanked the gag from her mouth and threw her arms around her friend.

Gelbane turned the key in the heavy lock and pointed to Taureck. “Go, fetch me some breakfast. And be quick about it.”

Taureck pointed to Mae. “Why don't you make her do it?”

Gelbane bared her fangs. “I've got other plans for her.”

In a tantrum, Taureck stormed out of the workshop.

“See you soon.” Saliva dripped from Nord's fangs as he waggled his tongue in their direction and poked a claw through the bars, like a child poking at a rabbit in a cage.

“Or maybe I should say, taste you soon. My mouth is watering already.” He sniffed the air. “Mmm…sweetmeats…”

Gelbane knocked him upside the head. “Over-anxious hapennies turn sour. Now leave ‘em be and wipe that drool from your fangs.” Gelbane sneered. “If anyone's mouth should be watering, it should be mine.”

Taureck returned with three eggs clutched in her hand. “Should I put ‘em in the pot for ya, too?” Taureck sneered.

Gelbane smashed the eggs in Taureck's hands. “How sick I am of eating eggs.” Stringy yolk plopped onto the floor. “What I really want is the sweet taste of hapenny stew. Do you know how many years it's been since I last tasted the soft flesh of a hapenny?”

Taureck held up her sticky claws and tried to count them. “Um…three?”

Nord smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

“Six, you idiots!” Gelbane whirled on the two trolls, swinging her fist and thumping Nord on the head again. “Six long years it's taken me to chisel those runes away. Six long years I've pretended to be a nasty hapenny. Six. Disgustingly. Unsoiled. Years!”

Nord rubbed the lump on his head. “Why didn't you just eat ‘er?”

“And have no one to do me chores?” Gelbane shrieked. “I wasn't gonna work like a hapenny, just ‘cuz I looked like one!” Gelbane turned to Mae. “Your mother was nice and fatty. I suppose you'll taste just as sweet, even if you are just a bite.”

“You ate my
mother
?” Mae screamed. “But—”

“But what,
dear one
?” A smirk slowly spread on Gelbane's face. “What about the letters she's written you promising to come home soon? Hapennies are so easy to fool.”

“You wrote them,” Mae said, “to keep me around.” Tears burned in her eyes. Her heart sped. The clench of her fingers around the cage bars turned her knuckles white.

“That's right. My, you've become so smart. Too smart for your own good. But it doesn't matter. There's nothing you can do about it. My magick is stronger than yours.” She turned to Nord and Taureck.

Mae glared at her former guardian's backside. She wished she could pull every one of Gelbane's teeth from her vile mouth. A red-hot hatred built in the pit of her stomach.

Gelbane pulled a copper pipe from her pocket and gave it to Nord. “Use my wand if you have to. She has a little bit of magick, but she don't know how to use it yet. Otherwise, I would've been discovered long ago. Just make sure she don't escape.”

Nord turned the pipe over in his hands. “What do I do with it?”

“Just point and flick!” Gelbane screeched.

Nord pointed it at Gelbane.

“Not at me!” Gelbane shoved the wand out of her face. “I can't trust you two with nothing important. I'm gonna go tell the others the way is clear. You two nitwits will stay and keep watch over these two. Can you handle that?”

Nord and Taureck nodded.

With a leer, Gelbane pointed to Mae. “Tonight, we feast!”

Chapter Fifteen

Nord scuttled to a broken chair and forced his butt into it, cradling the wand like a baby.

Taureck tried to follow Gelbane, but halted when Gelbane scowled at her. “Could you send a signal when you arrive with the others?”

“A signal?”

Shrugging, Taureck looked down at her shuffling feet. “I don't know, a hoot or somethin'.”

“Like an owl?” Gelbane sneered.

Taureck smiled and nodded. “Yea, you can hoot like an owl when you reach the bridge.” She pursed her lips and made a strangled sound.

Gelbane slapped her upside the head. “That don't sound like an owl! It sounds like a drowning cat. I think you'll hear an army of trolls approach, don't you?”

Gelbane stomped out of the room with a last leering look at Mae. Taureck slammed the door, but it bounced in its casing and didn't catch. “Good riddance,” she muttered. She pointed a claw at Leif. “I'll satisfy my hunger with you this afternoon.” Taureck leered at Mae. “When your friend is turning on the spitty, you can imagine me cooking you as well. That should make a nice and sour meal for ol' Gelbane.” Taureck laughed and shambled down the hallway without a second glance back.

“Where ya goin'?” Nord shrieked. “We're s'possda' keep an eye on ‘em!”

Taureck's grumble sounded down the hallway. “They're caged up! Where they gonna go?”

Nord wiggled himself out of the chair and followed Taureck. There was a lot of grumbling and banging.

Mae pulled the gag from Leif's mouth.

“What are you doing here?” Leif whispered.

“Saving you!” Mae whispered back.

“You aren't doing a very good job of it, are you?” Leif said. “Now we're both dinner!”

An image of her mother formed in Mae's mind. Had her mother been trussed up before she was eaten? Had Gelbane threatened harm to Mae to make her mother go obediently? Or did she go down fighting? Her chest constricted. A well of tears built up in her eyes. They fell on the red welts that bubbled up on her skin from being trussed to the tree limb. She picked at the frayed ends of rope on Leif's wrists.