A Piper's Song: The Pied Piper Tales

by C. K. Johnson

  The longer I contemplated, the more questions came to mind. I could only vaguely remember the piper’s rules on marriage. Would my becoming an apprentice make me belong to that piper clan? Would I have to marry someone they chose for me, someone within the piper community? This would not work for me. I could not live like them.

  By the time the first pink rays of dawn filtered through the clouds, I had a plan. Father wasn’t the only piper who had walked away. If I could only find someone like him, a piper who walked away and still knows all the rules. He could teach me. He could show me the way without binding me to a clan.

  I crept out of my room and grabbed my jacket. My finger caught on a loose string as I slipped it through the arm. I flicked it free and then stepped into my bright green tennis shoes. I stepped outside into the cool dawn. The leaves on old larch trees rustled in the breeze. Birdsong swelled above. I hoped what I was about to do would not have any effect on the birds. I only had a slight grasp on how this worked.

  I waited several minutes for a strong breeze and then stepped into it. With the breeze whipping around me, I started to sing.

  I carefully folded my hope into a sweet, light melody that drifted upward the instant the words left my mouth. In it, I wove a simple plea, “Send a Master Piper to show me the way. A free piper to help me learn my song.”

  My effort, no matter how meager, left me staggering and exhausted as the song swept into the air. I could almost see the notes of my modest song stretching, changing and diverting as it hit the wind. I had called. Would someone hear?

  The front door squeaked as I tiptoed back inside. I needed time to figure out how to explain my plan to my brothers before they woke up. A light flipped on in answer to my clumsiness.

  Oops.

  Kelly and McKennan both stood in the living room, with their arms folded.

  “What did you do?” Kelly asked, frustration seeping out with his voice despite his effort to appear calm. McKennan didn’t attempt to hide his emotions. His lips pressed tightly together, the corners of his mouth downturned in disappointment.

  “I need a Master Piper to help me. I want to get control of this before Uncle makes me apprentice to our clan. I know I changed Ben during my test, and I have no idea how to fix him. No offense, but I need a real teacher. ” I sat down on the recliner and slumped forward.

  “Kyra, not all pipers left for the same reason Father did. Some of them didn’t want to stick around long enough for their clans to find out how corrupt they really were. You put a call out on the wind, and now anyone could pick it up. We don’t know if we can even protect you from this,” McKennan said as he sat down on the couch, his head dropping into his hands.

  The words made sense, but the meaning broke my heart. They were right. I should have thought this through a little longer, or at least talked to them before I did anything. What would happen if someone horrible took the deal? I would be stuck because I had offered the bargain myself.

  I followed McKennan’s lead as my head dropped into my hands, unsure what to do next. Really, there was nothing more to do but wait. Things kept getting crazier, first Mark, then getting kicked out of the house, and now my uncle’s promise. I had no one to blame but myself. Would I ever find a way out of this?

  “We will talk more after school,” McKennan said, breaking me from my self-pity moment.

  Right, that place normal kids go. I went to my room and slipped on one of my favorite pink t-shirts. It was so worn from washing and wearing, it had become blissfully soft. With so many unknown factors before me, I might as well be comfortable.

  He went to start the truck. As I got in, he shoved a piece of thick black bread covered in butter and jam into my hand. I nodded gratefully and forced myself to eat it despite my churning stomach. The ride to school seemed shorter today. I stepped out and headed for the front doors; my open-ended offer loomed over my head. Who? When? These questions plagued my mind.

  Ben hurried over and slung his arm around my shoulder. “Kelly just called,” he said, amusement coloring his voice.

  “Oh, and what did he say?” I asked, looking at my shoes. If Kelly had called, then it was definitely something embarrassing.

  “That you did something stupid? Yep,” he replied as he gave my shoulder a little squeeze. “But that’s what I like about you. I don’t have to worry about what you are thinking, just what you are singing. Keeps a guy on his toes,” he joked. He dropped his arm from my shoulders once we were outside my class. “And by the way, he asked me to keep an eye on you. Give him the heads up if any creeps show up.”

  He winked and turned away, heading down the hall. Great. My brothers were sending ill-suited bodyguards to protect me.

  Three uneventful days passed. Unless you count the daily lectures from both McKennan and Kelly that I wasn’t to do anything without consulting with them first. Talk about a short leash. They didn’t like it when I asked if I should call before using the bathroom. But they both said, “Yes.”

  Ben escorted me around school, his arm slung casually over my shoulder the moment my brothers were out of sight. Gossip was we were dating, as a serious couple.

  When Elena sauntered over to my desk at the end of second period, I knew it wouldn’t end well. Anything involving her hardly did. She and Mark were currently on the outs. According to Jessica, who had cornered me at the water fountain, Elena planned to get even with Mark by going after Ben. What better way to hurt a guy you like than by taking up with his best friend? There was just one little problem—me.

  Even with the warning, I didn’t think she’d actually do it. Besides, what could I say? Ben and I weren’t technically dating. If it were up to my brothers, I wouldn’t date until I was at least thirty. The thought of her talking to me made me bristle protectively. I was tempted to sing her away, hopelessly bind her to the school loner or the smelly kid.

  I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and tried to smile politely as she sat down on the corner of my desk.

  “So, Kyra, you and Ben seem cozy these days. Want to let a girl in on what’s happening?” Her casual approached failed to hide her disdain.

  I swallowed, hoping it would give me a few more seconds to figure out how to put together something that resembled the truth.

  She flashed me a smile that didn’t quite meet her eyes, maybe attempting to reassure me. It only succeeded in making me scoot further back in my chair in an effort to distance myself from her as much as possible.

  “Well, there is nothing official, but Ben and I have become, friends,” I said carefully, pleased with myself that I hadn’t outright lied. Yeah, I still needed to define what exactly was going on between Ben and me, but that was our business. Not hers.

  “I’ve seen him carrying your book bag around and stuff. Even so, I bet he is still open to dating other girls.” Her reply was a well-polished attack. In our school, a guy carrying a girl’s backpack meant they were going out but she was quick to discount the fact and assume it could not mean the same thing for—me.

  If I wanted to play the game her way, I could respond in kind and bring up the fact that Mark left her for me. At least that was what the rumors all said. Some people even went so far as to say he could not get over our kiss and my subsequent rejection. I could make that play well and watch her squirm. It was tempting, but I knew it would not be fair. She must have thought she scored a point with the whole backpack question and misunderstood my reluctance as doubt rather than pity. Her fake smile shifted into one of triumph, like she had conquered me.

  Oh, release the hounds. She had walked over enough people and she would not win here.

  I inhaled in preparation, when Ben appeared in the doorway. He took one look at my red face and booked it across the room.

  “Hey Elena, how goes it? Sorry to hear about you and Mark. I was going to offer a double date but,” his sarcasm was barely veiled as he slid his arm around my waist in the most possessive gesture he had made to date and pulled me tighter. My breath hitched a
nd I looked up at him, feeling butterflies in my stomach again. It felt good to be so close. I fit perfectly in the hollow of his arm and I made sure that Elena could see that.

  “Kyra, ready to go?”

  I paused, breaking some of the illusion he created by staring at him. He grinned wider and winked.

  “Sure sweetie.” It felt weird even as it came out of my mouth. Still, I leaned into his warm hold and sighed. He gave Elena a brief nod and walked me to my next class.

  He squeezed my hand at the door before releasing it. “That girl is pure evil. I’m happy Mark broke up with her. I was surprised he hooked up with her in the first place.”

  Ben remained overly affectionate the rest of the day, even slipping his hand into mine a couple of times at lunch. It did its job because Elena no longer tried to approach either of us.

  After school, he briefly left me at my locker to grab my books and my coat. I got lost in daydreaming about nothing in particular when someone touched my shoulder. Figuring Ben had returned a little faster than expected, I gave a slight backward wave before plunking the books I wouldn’t need this weekend in my locker and shoving the rest in my backpack.

  My world history book was half in and I almost had it shoved down far enough to get the zipper over it when I jokingly quipped, “You know, if they are worried about violence in school, they shouldn’t be teaching us World History. It’s littered with war.”

  “But how are we to learn from our mistakes if we do not heed the ones from the past?” a voice said from behind me in an accent I couldn’t fully place. Not Ben. This voice came out in a melodic baritone. The sound of it so entranced me, it took me several moments to digest the actual words.

  I spun toward him and stared into eyes so dark brown, they were almost black. They belonged to a man, maybe in his thirties, with raven black hair pulled neatly back into a ponytail. He wrapped his hand around mine without waiting for my consent. My pale skin contrasted next to his olive tone. He slapped his other hand over mine and shook. “A deal’s a deal, little one.”

  I resisted.

  He let go.

  But my offer had been accepted.

  I knew it.

  And so did he.

  “By the way, I never cared for the term, Master. You may call me Malcolm, little bird. We shall be good friends, don’t you think?”

  He bowed—actually bowed like right out of an old movie—and brushed a light kiss on the back of my hand. He flashed me a wide grin that would make a lesser girl swoon, and sauntered down the hall.

  I was in so much trouble.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Master Piper

  “WHO WAS HE?” BEN ASKED SUSPICIOUSLY.

  I stared slack-jawed after Malcolm, unsure what to do. Had I bound myself to a corrupt piper? He didn’t look bad, but I didn’t have enough experience to know what a scummy one should look like. My uncle didn’t look sinister either, but I had no doubt something was seriously off with him.

  Ben nudged me, and I started back to life. “Malcolm. He’s my new Master,” I muttered. The word Master tasted sour as it rolled off my tongue. The metal locker rattled loudly as I slammed the door shut. I got a few curious glances, but most were still staring after the hot guy who had just left the building.

  “What? You’re kidding me. Your brothers are going to kill me. I was supposed to stop you from doing anything stupid,” he groaned. He ran his hands through his hair, eyes downcast and brows knit in dejection.

  “You don’t have to protect me. Besides, I don’t think you could have stopped this. I’m sure he would have found a way around you,” I whispered, trying to sound reassuring. I rested my hand on his arm. He sighed and took my hand.

  I secretly hoped that this meant something and that he wasn’t still doing it for Elena’s benefit, either. If he didn’t have to protect me anymore, and he continued to stay, did that mean he like-liked me?

  Outside, Kelly was already waiting for me in the truck. Ben dropped my hand like a hot potato when he saw him but continued walking me over. Kelly pulled the door handle and pushed the truck door open.

  “Can I see you later?” Ben asked.

  “Sure, after I practice.” My voice jumped in barely suppressed excitement that he still wanted to see me. He gave a brief wave good-bye and jogged off in the direction of his truck.

  I got in and yanked the creaky door shut. Kelly slammed his foot down on the gas pedal. With a high-pitched squeal and the faint smell of burning rubber, we drove off, black tire marks in our wake.

  “You have visitors.” His voice was sharply clipped with a mix of something between anger and distaste. The same pale purple vein that stuck out on Father’s forehead when he was upset was now prominent on Kelly’s forehead. I had never thought Kelly was anything like Father before. It tugged painfully at my heart to think that I had found a similarity between the two men, because of my actions.

  I shook my head and tried to focus on what he had said. “Visitors?” I asked, not following why I would have any when I had already signed my deal.

  “Three, to be precise, none of them worth anything between them. I don’t know what we’re going to do. McKennan’s there, trying to talk them down. Unsuccessfully, might I add,” he growled, his fingers gripping the steering wheel more tightly.

  “Um, Kelly, please don’t be mad, but I think it’s too late. I already made the deal,” I whispered. Kelly slammed on the brakes. The truck squealed and slid to a halt.

  His cheeks were a fiery red and I could tell by the way he gritted his teeth and took deep breaths that he was trying to get his temper under control before he spoke. “What exactly did you just say?” he growled.

  “I was standing at my locker and thought it was Ben. I turned around and he grabbed my hand before I could react. He sealed it before I could even pull it back. I swear, Kelly, I didn’t mean to,” I gushed out in one breath as I covered my face with my hands.

  “I’m trying to protect you,” he said, his voice rough with emotion.

  “I know. And I’m grateful. But Kelly, I can protect myself, too.”

  A charged silence settled in as he hit the gas pedal and we continued our breakneck pace toward home. In the silence I heard something I had listened to my whole life but never appreciated: the song that was Kelly. It had dropped from a bittersweet sonata to a low and steady thrum that scared me more than what awaited me at the house. I feared my actions were changing Kelly’s inward cadence.

  The moment the truck shuddered to a halt, I jumped out and ran toward our apartment. I planned on hiding out while Kelly told McKennan and the other guys waiting to take advantage of my youthful blunder that the deal had already been made.

  I stopped short when I saw a hunched McKennan sitting next to the straight-backed, almost regal-looking Malcolm in our living room. The sheen on Malcolm’s perfectly fitted black shirt contrasted strongly to our fraying, smudgy grey couch, which might have at one time been black. Yellow stuffing stuck out of one of the holes and clung to his black pants. For the first time, I was embarrassed by our humble surroundings.

  My mentor couldn’t have been more out of place in our makeshift living room than if he had been the Prince of Wales deciding to stop in for a cup of tea. I was still trying to piece together how he had gotten here so fast when Kelly strode in, banging the door shut. The walls shook.

  “Hello Kelly. It is a pleasure to meet my pupil’s family. I’ve heard she thinks highly of you,” said Malcolm as he stood up and held out his hand without a moment’s hesitation.

  Kelly wrapped Malcolm’s hand in his and joints cracked. Malcolm didn’t even bat an eye, just waited for Kelly to release his grasp. With a grim look, Kelly folded his arms and for a moment, he looked almost as imposing as McKennan. Malcolm’s flattery seemed to agitate him more.

  Malcolm gave Kelly a curt nod, gracefully sat down, and turned back to McKennan. “As I was saying, I was on my way west when I passed a couple of unsavory characters. They were discussing a
n open deal from some inexperienced young girl and I feared for her safety.” He spoke about me as if I were not present. “When I went to inquire and found you already had visitors, I became worried. With danger already at hand, I thought it best to go directly to the source. I’ll admit it incredibly uncouth. I needed to seal it before the other pipers thought better of your family’s denial and went around it,” he said, holding both hands out, palms up, as if laying everything out before us.

  “So you did something that even the lowest one would not. You went around us,” said Kelly. He stood behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders.

  “I only did so to prevent something worse. I know it’s extremely bad manners but, from the description your brother already gave me, the people here didn’t include the two men I spoke of,” he said as his cool eyes met Kelly’s and held his gaze. I was surprised to see that Kelly looked away first.

  “Now, I have managed to procure a place outside of town and will require you to come every day after school. Your brother is emphatic that you must still attend school and I wish to honor that desire. However, you must be available all day each Saturday,” he said. He looked so searchingly at me, it was as if he saw deep inside me and I could not tell whether he liked what he saw. He glanced back at McKennan.

  “Okay,” I agreed, not sure if I could say no even if I wanted to. I don’t think my desire to finish my homework would overrule his main task, which included protecting me from hurting other people or myself.

  “Good. I shall give you a few days to discuss how you would like to work this out.” To my brothers he added, “I am willing to make a deal that I will not touch her against her will if that would settle your minds, but that is all I can offer. I am not the most honorable piper you will meet, but I have enough refinement to not take advantage of a youth in that way.”