The Vanishing Sculptor (45 page)

Again the haze grew thick, and this time the air chilled as well. When the mist cleared, a little girl sat in a hayloft admiring a batch of new kittens. She scrambled down the ladder when called and appeared before her father. The child was older by the time she reached her father, but hay still clung to her hair and dress.

Beccaroon shivered as the father pointed to a doll and demanded it be put away. The child hugged it quickly and shut it in a carved wooden box.

“This little girl,” said Paladin, “was trained to keep her treasures out of sight.”

Queen Venmarie gasped.

“Yes,” said Paladin, “she grew to become our queen.”

The mist in the room cleared.

“Treasures. Displayed and gloated over. Shared but unappreciated. Hidden because someone else has deemed them unfit.”

“Impressive,” said the king, “but what is the value of this display?”

Paladins eyes gleamed with happiness as he looked from the queen to Lady Peg. The queen no longer kept her eyes focused on something distant. Her eyes were on her child.

“I’ve got it.” Lady Peg held up one finger. “I’m the doll. But when mother grew up, I was me, and she couldn’t get me in the dress. When I was a doll, I had to go into the box. When I was real, I was supposed to go in the dress.” She turned to smile at Paladin. “Is that right, Paladin? Am I the doll?”

Paladin stood and went to Lady Peg, pulling her to her feet and hugging her. “Yes, beautiful princess, you are an adorable doll.” He kissed the top of her head and led her over to the queen.

“Your Highness, I would like to present your daughter, Lady Peg, a treasure. What would you like to do with her?”

Speechless, the queen stood. Beccaroon wondered if she would raise a strident voice or run from the room. He had to do something to sway her. But what? He plucked a feather from his breast and strutted to her side. He offered the plume. For a moment, the queen stared, then with shaking fingers, she took the gift from his beak.

Twirling Beccaroon’s soft plumage, she said, “I remember that red feather.” Tears ran down her cheeks. She stepped forward and embraced Lady Peg. Her voice scolded halfheartedly. “You crawled on the floor, tripping men with swords.”

“You bashed Mushand’s men with a candlestick.”

The queen leaned back and wiped tears from her daughter’s cheeks with a handkerchief she’d kept ready for years in case her royal self ever needed one. She kissed Peg’s cheek. “We’re feathers.”

Beccaroon heard a movement behind him. Fenworth stood beside Librettowit’s chair. “I nap, and when I awake, I find everyone crying.”

Librettowit sniffed. “I’m not crying.”

“The feather story was pretty good.”

“How long have you been awake?”

“Long enough. The ‘we’re feathers’ line was good as well.”

“If you say anything about birds flocking together…” Librettowit’s tone threatened something. Beccaroon wasn’t quite sure what.

“Haven’t an inkling what you’re referring to.” Fenworth grinned.

Beccaroon sidled over to stand between the two Amarans.

“Is this the work a paladin does?” he asked.

“No,” said Wizard Fenworth, shaking his woolly head and smiling grandly. “This is Wulder’s work.”

Appendix

People

Araspillian

Brother of Bealomondore

Bamataub

Unscrupulous businessman in Fayetopolis

Graddapotmorphit Bealomondore

Tumanhofer artist

Sir Beccaroon

Grand parrot, magistrate over his district, guardian to Tipper

Caesannede

Prince Jayrus’s white and gold dragon

Master Dodderbanoster

Art dealer

Wizard Fenworth

Wizard from Amara

Gladyme

Byrdschopen housekeeper

Gus

Dragon Tipper and her father ride on

Hanner

Go-between for art dealer and Tipper Purple minor dragon

Hue

Owner of Hunthaven

Garamond Hunt

Gienella Hunt

Gienella Hunt

Lady of Ragar Court, wife of Garamond Hunt

Prince Jayrus

Dragon Keeper, prince of Mercigon Mountain Range

Kelsi

Purple riding dragon

Ketmar

Black riding dragon

Librettowit

Tumanhofer librarian from Amara

Lipphil

Butler at Byrdschopen

Merry

Blue riding dragon

Orphelian

Wife of Bamataub

Lord Pinterbastian

Wealthy neighbor to Byrdschopen

Rolan

Neighbor to Byrdschopen, gentleman farmer

Allard Runan

Country gentleman

Leatte Runan

Wife of Allard Runan

Sage

Oldest living dragon

Brim Schope

Original owner of Byrdschopen

Eldymine Byrd Schope

Wife of Brim Schope

Lady Peg Schope

Mother of Tipper, wife of Verrin Schope

Verrin Schope

Artist, sculptor, scientist, explorer, wizard

Prince Surrus

Mentor to Prince Jayrus

Tipper

Young emerlindian woman

Trisoda

Barn dragon at Byrdschopen

Queen Venmarie

Mother of Lady Peg

King Yellat

Ruler of Chiril, Lady Peg’s father

Zilla

Wife of Rolan

Glossary

Amara
Country surrounded by ocean on three sides. Located in the northern and eastern hemisphere.

banana bug
A long yellow centipede.

bisonbecks
Most intelligent of the seven low races.

bittermorn tree
A tree with fernlike leaves which close at the first rays of dawn and slowly reopen during the day.

blinker owl
Small grayish owl. The bird ventures forth during the day and blinks rapidly.

boskenberries
An edible berrylike fruit from any tree of the genus
Bosken.

broot vine
A tropical plant with a sturdy ropelike stem.

bubble beetles
An insect that gathers around running or falling water.

casting bush
A flowering bush with a bloom that looks like a tiny lure on the end of a leafless stem, much like a fishing rod.

centimonder
An insect with a segmented body and a pair of legs on each segment. The centimonder has large mandibles and a stinging bite.

Cranicus albatteran
The
Cranicus albatteran
has a slightly longer thorax than the
Cranicus batteran. Cranicus albatteran
is the Chirilian name for
Fineet fineaurlais.

dollopsy
A neurological disease that causes loss of feeling in the extremities and, thus, clumsiness.

emerlindians
One of the seven high races, emerlindians are born pale with white hair and pale gray eyes. As they age, they darken. One group of emerlindians are slight in stature, the tallest being five feet. Another distinct group are between six and six and a half feet tall.

fibbirds
A tiny, brightly colored bird with a long slender bill for sipping nectar and narrow, rapidly beating wings for hovering over flowers.

Fineet fineaurlais
An insect that burrows into wood.

flatrat
A rodent that appears to have flattened itself to go under a door but is always in that state.

frissent juice
Juice made from the red tart berry of plants belonging to the heath family and found wild in boggy areas. The juice fizzles slightly when freshly squeezed.

grassbender
A thin, plant-eating, jumping insect.

grassblooms
A plant with long slender leaves growing from a bulb and producing fragile bell-shaped blooms.

grawligs
One of seven low races, mountain ogres.

harpenstead
An instrument usually held in the lap and strummed. Buttons control dampers that form the chords.

hot amaloot
A drink similar to hot chocolate.

Izden glass
An ornately swirled glass, first produced in the city of Izden.

kimens
The smallest of the seven high races. Kimens are elusive, tiny, and fast. Under two feet tall.

lickick
A lollipop.

mannacap shell
A porous shell from a mannacap crab. Momile and mannacap shells should not be confused, especially in the kitchen. Ground momile shells are sweet, and ground mannacap shells can be addictive.

mariones
One of the seven high races. Mariones are excellent farmers and warriors. They are short and broad, usually muscle-bound rather than corpulent.

mikers
A unit of money.

molecular malocclusion distress syndrome
A condition unheard of until a near fatal accident in transportation disrupted a core element of stability in the universe.

momile shells
Porous shells from momile crabs.

mud-meade moth
Powdered, the moth is used for strengthening weak patients.

mumfers
Flowers with small, densely clustered petals.

ninny-nap-conder
A type of con artist who uses the appearance of naiveté to dupe his victims.

o’rants
One of the high races. Five to six feet tall.

parnot
Green fruit like a pear.

pippenhen
A small bird belonging to a variety of tree-nesting thrushes.

pordimum
A flower that has more petals than scents.

quiverbug
A small bug that vibrates violently when atmospheric conditions are right for a storm.

sacktrass tree
A deciduous tree with lobed leaves and fragrant fruit and bark. The fruit is bitter, but the bark is used as a pleasant addition to tea.

sputzall vine
A hardy vine with compound leaves and large purple flowers. The roots contain a nourishing medicinal starch.

swishglimmers
An ornamental fish, with jewel-like scales of brilliant colors, related to carp and minnows.

tumanhofers
One of the seven high races. Short, squat, powerful fighters, though for the most part, they prefer to use their great intellect.

watch of dragons
A unit of dragons (like a gaggle of geese).

T
HE
V
ANISHING
S
CULPTOR
P
UBLISHED BY
W
ATER
B
ROOK
P
RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible
^®
. © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission. (
www.lockman.org
).

The characters and events in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to actual persons or events is coincidental.

eISBN: 978-0-307-45787-5

Copyright © 2009 by Donita K. Paul

Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920,
www.alivecommunications.com
.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

W
ATER
B
ROOK
and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Paul, Donita K.
    The vanishing sculptor: a novel / Donita K. Paul. — 1st ed.
       p. cm.
I. Title.

PS3616.A94V36 2009 813′.6—dc22

                                                                                                    2009001958

v3.0

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Map

A View from a Tree

Needed: One Painting

The Proper Light