A Piper's Song: The Pied Piper Tales

by C. K. Johnson

  With a slight nod to Kelly, he waved toward a long black limousine. I froze. I knew I should follow, but I was struggling against the desire to flee in the other direction.

  Father had built up the mystery of the piper clans to something larger than life. I felt completely unprepared to meet them. I never thought I would. After all, father had been banished since before I was born.

  Kelly gave me a little shove, breaking me from my standstill. I trudged forward, passing my poor swaying friend caught in the crossfire, and McKennan, who gave me a reassuring nod.

  I wrapped my hand around the cold metal car door handle and gritted my teeth. All I could think about were the countless school assemblies I had attended in my lifetime that warned against this activity. Getting into a car with strangers was never good.

  With a deep sigh, I pulled the handle and the door swung open effortlessly. I swallowed and stepped into the dark interior.

  CHAPTER NINE

  The Test

  I PLOPPED DOWN AND PRESSED BACK into the soft black leather seat while the two men glided in across from me. My movements felt awkward next to their graceful, concise ones. In this confined space, I could almost hear power sizzling from their veins and dissipating into the air we breathed.

  I imagined it traveling in through my nose and down my airway until it reached my lungs. The interaction from within would only taunt my own song to come out and play, and then all would end badly.

  “Relax, ma cherie, a deal is a deal. We mean you no harm, so long as you keep your end of the bargain. Maybe start with a simple song. Do you know Wexford Town?” he asked as he shot me a smile. I think he meant to comfort me, but it had the opposite effect. Chills slid down my spine and I swallowed hard.

  “Yes,” I mumbled. Father used to sing it to us as we were getting into bed.

  “Good. Sing it plainly, then,” he ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument. He folded his hands on his lap and waited.

  I took a deep breath and tried to think of Ben in front of me. Poor Ben, who would not get better until these strangers released him from their power. The faster I could prove I didn’t pose a threat, the faster I would secure his release.

  The song rushed out without hesitation. My ability tried to flare. It seemed encouraged by these men sitting so close, like it recognized their talent and wanted to prove something. I shoved it down and slammed the cage door shut. It groaned from within but remained subdued.

  “Good. Very good. Now, how about a song that brings some emotion? Something that makes you sad, that pulls at your heartstrings.” He gave a brief nod to the man beside him. The man stepped out and shut the door behind him. I saw his retreating figure for a minute or so on the other side of the tinted window and then he was gone.

  “Go on,” the man ordered when I remained silent.

  I shook my head, trying to focus again. I wanted to know why the man had left and furthermore, what he was doing. Kelly had made an open-ended deal, which was never safe to have with another piper. With so few stipulations spelled out, the pipers had a lot of leeway. If I didn’t finish this test with flying colors, there would be grave consequences.

  I filtered through my options and picked an old love song, one that brought me to tears every time I heard it. It told of a woman waiting for a lover who would never make it home. The loneliness of it called out to me. Her waiting, turning down suitor after suitor until she passed away, taught me about true love.

  The power rose up faster this time as I sang. My sadness intermingled with a fear of failure released my power. It pushed against its constraints, like an overfull balloon. At any moment I might pop and my song would burst through the car until it scattered to the wind. I shoved it down, harder. This time, I brought up the image of Kelly and Maggie over and over, recalling his words, “She wasn’t the girl I loved anymore; she was someone else.”

  My face was wet with tears as I finished. I took comfort in the fact Maggie came back to herself and she and Kelly were finally together. I could not wreck this for myself; I could not wreck this for him.

  “Very good, I am starting to believe what your father said is true.” He reached out, almost touching my face. When he saw me flinch, he stopped and dropped his hand.

  What father said is true? Does he, too, think I’m a bad piper? Did I do something wrong already and I haven’t realized it yet? My heart started to race, as if it could sprint away, while my body sat frozen to the spot.

  He rapped on the window with his knuckles. The door swung open and Ben stumbled into the unoccupied seat next to my examiner. He sat glassy-eyed and dazed before me, a half-smile plastered on his face. He showed no recognition of my presence.

  “My last small request is that you remove this calling. It is a simple one; no emotion involved, just a dazing element. Please, start when you are ready.” He gave Ben a gentle pat on the shoulder, as if he were a small child. Ben looked at him and grinned, then saw the man watching me and swung his head to gaze at me.

  “But I can’t. I didn’t put the calling on him,” I whispered. I wanted to add, Are you crazy? Why are you being so cruel? Instead, I focused on Ben.

  “You may begin at any time.” Though the words suggested a choice, his tone indicated an order.

  I tried to imagine Ben as I knew him. If this man had asked me to take it off, then it must be possible. I could not think about the comment regarding my father. As far as I knew, father had told them I had lost it. It didn’t make any sense.

  I shoved my racing thoughts and fears to the back of my mind. This wasn’t a practice song I was about to release. Ben could possibly end up worse than Mark if I screwed up. Swallowing my fear, I tried to picture Ben protecting me from Mark, and helping me to get my singing under control even when he knew what could happen. I started to hum a song without words, the tune of Ben, as I knew him, as I wanted him to be again.

  Color rose up in his ashen skin and encouraged me to continue. I sprinkled words in here and there. Strong—when he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder to protect me. Kind—when he caught my fall and his eyes met mine, he truly worried about me. Friendship—his grin every time he greets me. Courage—as the power sizzled underneath my skin, he held on all the same to make sure I was safe.

  Ben started to form into an invincible ideal, and with each word, he gradually came back to life, filling my mold of expectations. I switched from a mixture of surging thoughts and feelings to a solid idea, one small box.

  I focused the waves of my voice to flow over him, filling the box, drowning him with elements of himself. In this fashion, I sang him back to me. By the third verse, he rested his hand on my knee. He glanced at the man beside him, but I gave a small shake of my head, discouraging any unneeded and practically lethal questions.

  The air vibrated as if a thousand hummingbird wings beat in sync, charging the empty spaces with the essence of one person: Ben. I was doing so well. Yet, I could feel the song swell up and try to break free of me. I wasn’t quite sure what that meant or what would happen if it won. I needed to draw the song in, put it in its place before it took control, so I started shoving things back into the box—my poorly crafted Ben box.

  Ben watched me closely and tightly grasped my hand. His touch was an anchor to the real world, a low harmony to the music’s piercing high notes. With his hand in mine, I felt safe and warm.

  I needed to end my song, but I couldn’t just stop it abruptly. Like a wild animal, I needed to bring the tune back, let it start to subside and release the waves back to the sea. When I finished, I sagged a little. My body went limp, though I attempted to downplay my exhaustion with a weak smile at the boy who I hoped had come back to me.

  I had completely forgotten the other man in the car. My world consisted of Ben and me. He leaned over and kissed me, gently, as if I would break. Our connection still rode on the waves I had created on a molecular level.

  “I never saw myself like that. I don’t know what to say.” He sat back into
his seat. The invisible tether between pulled slightly but did not snap.

  I smiled in reply. My cheeks flamed bright red as I realized he had heard all the things I thought about him in a song I never would have sang to him—or anyone else for that matter, short of this.

  “Hey man, I’m sorry. Who are you?” Ben asked as he turned to face the stranger in the car with us. His cheeks turned a faint red under the man’s steady gaze.

  “I am Kyra’s great uncle, Magnus. I came to visit when I was alerted she was having some family problems,” he said, offering Ben his hand. I found it interesting that sometime during my song he had put his gloves back on. “Now Ben, if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to have a private conversation with my great-niece,” he said as he looked pointedly at the door.

  Ben rested his forearms on his thighs and waited. His gaze lingered on my lips and my panic rose, threatening to take over and erase all I had just proved. Had I failed after all? Had I hurt him like I had hurt Mark?

  I licked my lips. My salty tears mixed with the coppery tang of blood. Sometime during the test, I must have bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. I glanced down and saw I had scratched my palm with my nails. What other signs of stress were visible to Ben?

  After a couple of deep breaths, I lifted my head and met his eyes. He looks aware. The corners were scrunched and he had that look he got when he was worried about me, but as far as I could tell, what mattered was that I hadn’t broken him. Maybe changed him, but not broken him.

  We were on the wrong side of a lost battle, and he was still trying to protect me. I shook my head and nodded toward the door, letting him know it was okay to leave. His lips tightened as he gave one last glance at my uncle and got out of the car. At the last second, he leaned forward and whispered, “See you later,” then stepped back and shut the door.

  I still had a dorky half grin on my face as I turned my attention back to my uncle. “So, do I pass?”

  Now that the terror of failing no longer gripped me, I could take him in. His dark brown hair matched the rest of our family. It was wavy like mine, but gentler. He tied it back with a piece of leather, and it stayed in place.

  His eyes were a dark green, as if the piper tales that emanated from the black forest seeped into his veins and tinted them with their nature. There wasn’t much light in the car, and yet they seemed to absorb what little there was, rending our surroundings nearly black.

  He sat still, as if waiting for me to take him in, get my bearings. He wore a perfectly fitted vest and pants, a fine wool jacket, and leather boots. I knew it was weird, staring at him so hard, but a gut feeling told me I would see this man many more times in my life and it would be good to get the feel of him now.

  The feeling settled in and I shivered. With the details of his face etched in my mind, I could take a step back and concentrate on his power. I understood now why mine wanted so desperately to break free. It was not in spite of myself, it was to protect me from him. He resembled the power of our whole family smashed together and shoved into one man.

  “I am The Law in our clan. When your case presented itself, I had a duty to inquire. I thought it might be easier if you knew I was your relative,” Magnus said, trying to sound understanding. Instead, my urge to run started rising again.

  “What if I failed?” I whispered softly. Father never talked about that. I should let it go, but some part of me needed to know. What were the consequences of a piper gone bad?

  “At best, I would silence you. At worst, you would have been taken before a trial of five and consumed,” he replied just as quietly.

  I shivered when he said the word. My brow knitted in confusion. Consumed?

  He took some time before he spoke again. The silence in the car rubbed against my already frazzled nerves and I again had to stop my power from responding to a perceived threat.

  He removed his glove again, leaned forward, and wrapped his hand around the base of my skull. It felt like my very being was ripped in two.

  My feeble control on my power shattered, scattering to the ether. I screamed and my world sank closer to darkness. Then, just as suddenly as it began, I snapped back together.

  I sucked in a ragged breath and waited for my frayed senses to calm down. It was not every day that my mind and body are ripped to shreds and put back together again. I cringed away from him, huddling in the far corner, unable to stop shivering.

  “That is a taste of silence. We remove access to use your ability. If you have gone beyond hope, the gravest punishment we can inflict is being consumed. It takes five pipers to do it. Some equate the process to having your soul removed. It leaves you hollow and soon the body follows. At first, their eyes turn black, and as time passes, the skin grows taut and starts to slough off like old parchment. If this scares you even a little, then I have done my duty.”

  “That is inhumane. It’s not right taking away someone’s soul,” I said, still shuddering. I laced my fingers tightly together to stop myself from yanking on the door handle, jumping out, and running as far away from this man as I could. How long could I hide?

  “Then I hope you never meet a bad piper. There is very little soul to take, and what there is isn’t anything you would consider worth keeping.”

  He paused, letting the words sink in before continuing, “I wish to be honest with you so you fully understand the consequences the rest of us grow up knowing. You are terribly unskilled, but there is no malice in your heart. Although your brothers’ training has started you off well, it will not be enough. The power you wield now is just a taste of what you will soon have, and your flimsy control will not be sufficient to contain it.”

  “So what do I do? No offense, but I do not wish to join the pipers. I am happy here,” I said, unsure what direction he was taking this conversation.

  “I can leave you alone for a time, but soon, you will need to be apprenticed. I do not wish to seem unkind, but we cannot let you wander around without control. You are like a wild animal. As a cub, your claws will only scratch. However, as an adult, you will rip the ones you love to shreds. Shall we make a deal, then? When you feel yourself becoming a full piper, you will come to us,” he said, holding his hand out to shake mine.

  I lunged for the door. A deal’s a deal and I could not make a promise I couldn’t keep. I wasn’t willing to leave everything to become a Master Piper, no matter what he said. The door didn’t budge, and I started pounding my fists against it. I could vaguely see Kelly through the tinted window trying to come over and the guard stopping him.

  “Then I am sorry.” He wrenched my arms away from the door, stopping my exit. I clawed at his hands.

  He started to sing, the words washing over me, making me feel drowsy, immediately peaceful for the first time since Kelly had yelled this morning. My eyelids drooped and my muscles felt like jello, all resistance draining away. I slumped forward.

  He slipped one hand behind my neck. His voice lilted so beautifully, it broke my heart. Tears dripped down my face but were inconsequential. I didn’t want this angel’s song to ever stop. I hadn’t realized until this moment that my life was empty and now that I did, I didn’t want to go on without his feeling presence.

  The song told me I could come with him to a place where I would be surrounded by this feeling, this aching, glorious beauty, and I would know when the time came. I do not know when he stopped. I sat there crying and shaking and didn’t completely come back to awareness until hours later.

  When the numbing blur wore off, I found myself in my bed with no knowledge of how I got there. Conner snuggled up against me. Kelly and McKennan were sitting on our rickety kitchen chairs, watching me. Kelly punched McKennan in the arm. I’ll never understand some of their forms of brotherly love.

  McKennan slapped Kelly on the back and then gave me a little shove. His eyes still told of the tension I had missed during my unconscious hours. If I looked anything like Ben had earlier, I could understand how they felt.

  Was everything that
had happened just a bad dream? “They said I had to come to them when I become a full piper. I wouldn’t say yes, so he did something to me. I think I’m bound to him,” I said softly, trying not to wake Conner.

  Both Kelly and McKennan nodded, sorrow glimmered in their eyes. Part of me wanted to run to a solitary mountain pass in the middle of Tibet, but the other part of me told me there were few places a piper’s song couldn’t reach. We pipers were deadly creatures. When the piper called, you came.

  CHAPTER TEN

  The Call

  I USUALLY SLEPT LIKE THE DEAD, but that night, no matter how I tried, I could not shut out the day’s events. The scenes flashed across the backs of my eyelids every time I closed my eyes.

  I should feel some relief. After all, I had passed my great uncle’s tests. Yet my mind, like a scratched CD, kept skipping to Ben. I did my best, but I couldn’t help but think that my efforts were like the crude works of a child attempting to sculpt a masterpiece out of twigs and mud.

  Although more subtle than Mark’s transformation, Ben had changed. My symphony of all things Ben was the way I felt about him, but not all the pieces that made him whole. The thing that scared me most was that I am untrained. I couldn’t fix him if I wanted to. My uncle was right. I needed to get better at this.

  “So what are my options?” I asked the darkness. If I went to the pipers, I would be giving everything familiar up: my little family, my friends, and for a while, my will. I vaguely knew that being an apprentice meant that for three or more years, you did everything your Master wanted. I didn’t quite want to give up my freedom and I didn’t know my father’s clan well enough to make the thought sit any easier with me.

  There had to be some sort of in-between. Maybe if I picked up my lessons with my brothers, got my power under control, I could negotiate a shorter sentence. Despite my first steps into the piper life, I still wanted to graduate high school and go to college, and both of those dreams would come to a halt if I followed the usual path of apprenticeship.