by Gill Vickery
She shivered. It was growing dark and the room was so cold! She hurried to the fireplace and found a box with moss and flints inside. She pushed the moss among the sticks and fire-rock in the hearth and struck the flints together, but the moss was slightly damp and the sparks wouldn’t catch.
‘I wish I was a hedge witch!’ Tia grumbled, snapping her fingers as Halla had done to ignite the sticks under her cauldrons of water.
Whoosh! Fire ate up moss and sticks, turned the black fire-rock to glowing red, and roared up the chimney, scattering handfuls of sparks like little red sprites.
Tia fell back in shock. No hedge witch could have conjured up fire like this. Tears stung her eyes. The dragonets had been right after all: she was a witch-brat.
She sat for a long time, turning over and over in her mind what to do. Eventually she decided to keep her new-found ability a secret: she wouldn’t even tell Finn, and definitely not Loki. No-one was going to compare her to her evil aunts, the High Witches of Tulay.
The fire had begun to die down. Cautiously Tia added more fire-rock and blew gently to fan the flames. To her relief they flickered and danced quite normally. She’d just have to be very careful not to let this unexpected magic ability show.
She yawned and stumbled into bed and instantly fell asleep
Katinka woke her the next morning. ‘I see you found the flints,’ she said nodding towards the embers in the hearth. She put Tia’s freshly laundered Trader clothes on the chest. On top of the clothes was a small tray with a mean breakfast. ‘Hurry up and get ready. The High Witch wants her story.’
Tia looked gloomily at the bread and cheese on the tray; it wasn’t going to take her very long to eat that!
Yordis was in her own form, sitting in bed, lolling against heaped-up pillows with a large plate of food on her lap. Tia could see the High Witch was very like her sister, Malindra, but much broader and not so beautiful. She wasn’t wearing the opal.
‘Sit on the bed, Trader girl, and tell me the story of Prince Kaspar and the Great Bear,’ Yordis said.
Tia obediently climbed onto the enormous bed and sat cross-legged. Katinka curtseyed. ‘Is there anything more, Lady Yordis?’
‘Who asked you to speak?’ Yordis threw a chicken leg at the girl, who scurried out, glaring at Tia.
It’s not my fault if Yordis likes stories, Tia thought.
‘Now, girl, begin – and make it a good tale,’ Yordis ordered.
Tia told her made-up story. She acted out the voices and made big gestures as she described Prince Kaspar’s fights. The further she got into the story the more she liked it; she added details as she went along and time flew by.
Suddenly Yordis screeched, ‘Vermin!’ She reared up and flung her plate at a little mouse scampering by the wall. Tia nearly fell off the bed with shock as the plate smashed into pieces and the mouse disappeared through a crack in the wall. Yordis, pale and trembling, sank back into her pillows.
‘Mice!’ she shuddered. ‘I hate them!’
Tia bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. Yordis, the mighty High Witch of Kulafoss who stalked her lands as a great and fearsome bear, was afraid of a tiny little mouse!
‘I’ve heard enough for now!’ Yordis said. ‘We will continue the story tomorrow. Go to your room – and stay there.’
Tia did as she was told. She sat on her bed and wrote down more ideas for her story of Prince Kaspar. After a while she heard snuffling outside her room; Yordis was a bear again and checking on Tia. She can’t have gone far to change back so quickly, Tia thought. Perhaps the opal’s in her chambers somewhere. The snuffling stopped and she heard the heavy flump, flump, flump as the bear stamped away down the corridor.
Tia opened her door carefully and peered out. There was no sign of the bear.
Chapter Seven
The Secret Passage
For the next few days Tia continued telling Prince Kaspar’s story to Yordis, who didn’t seem to mind that the tale had no ending. She was never left alone in the witch’s rooms and when she wasn’t storytelling or grooming the bear, Katinka kept a close eye on her.
At night Tia explored and mapped the castle. She got to know its tower rooms, its cellars, its hall, kitchen and workrooms. She explored the weaponry and practised swinging heavy swords and lifting spears. She decided she preferred the sling she kept in her pocket: it was lighter and easy to hide.
By the time she finished her map she could find her way around the castle without any difficulty.
In the daytime, when she wasn’t busy with Yordis, she chatted to the other servants and the guards in the big kitchen where they gathered in their spare time.
Two things puzzled Tia: firstly, how did the bear come and go from the castle? It was far too enormous to use the cage lift. Even in her human form it would’ve been difficult to fit Yordis and her bodyguard into it. Yet she somehow managed to enter and leave the castle without anyone seeing her.
The second puzzle was where Yordis kept the collar. Tia quickly learned people didn’t like talking about it. One afternoon, when she spoke to the chief guard, he looked around furtively then answered in a low voice, ‘You ask too many questions about things that don’t concern you. It’ll get back to the Lady Yordis if you’re not careful, and she won’t be happy to know you’re interested in the opal. She keeps it hidden – even I don’t know where it is.’
Though he was fierce, it was clear he meant well.
‘Thank you,’ Tia said. ‘I was just curious but I won’t mention it again.’
The guard patted her shoulder. ‘You remind me of my little girl, Laufey. She’s about your age. I don’t see her so much now she’s down the crystal mines.’
He sounded very sad.
‘Why do you let her work there?’ Tia blurted out.
‘The Lady Yordis wished it – and if I had refused she would’ve… done something very terrible. As she will to you if you continue to ask questions. Now, I see Katinka wants you.’
The maid had just finished filling a pail with corn and scraps; she pushed it at Tia. ‘I’m too busy to feed the hens – you do it.’
Tia’s heart beat a bit faster. The hens were outside in the courtyard; she might see Loki there. She took the pail and sauntered off, trying not to look too eager. ‘Stay in sight!’ Katinka warned her.
‘All right,’ Tia called back, though she didn’t see how she could escape from the high-walled courtyard unless she grew wings.
The yard was busy with servants running about or gossiping and guards practising sword-fighting. The hen coop was open and the chickens were scattered about, rooting for food. Tia scanned the towers and the walls. There was a bird perched on top of a flagpole, looking down into the courtyard. She was almost sure it was Loki.
She rattled the pail and called loudly, ‘Here chickens – food!’
At the sound of her voice the bird turned in her direction and the hens surged towards her, squabbling and gurgling, with the cockerel scolding them to behave.
The bird flew down and perched on top of the roost. ‘Hens are stupid creatures,’ he said scornfully. It was Loki.
Tia scattered the feed as far away as she could and when the hens ran after it she slipped behind the wooden coop; the fowls wouldn’t hear her and Loki talking there.
‘I’ve been hanging around this castle for a week,’ Loki complained. ‘You disappeared from the washerwoman’s, and there was no sign of you in the town, so I decided the witch had got you.’
‘You’re very clever,’ Tia said, and smiled as Loki puffed up with pride. ‘I knew you’d find me somehow.’
She reached into her jacket and pulled out a little wad wrapped with a leather strip from the ball she’d forgotten to give back to Halla. ‘I’ve done another message for Finn.’
Loki sighed and stretched out a leg. Hastily Tia knotted the packet to it. ‘I’ve written that the Water Traders will be here any day now. Yordis is herself when she trades. I’m going to try and find the opal th
en and steal it while she’s busy.’
Loki liked shiny things. ‘Where is it?’ he asked eagerly.
‘I don’t know yet – but I’ll find it,’ Tia said firmly.
‘Nadya! Nadya!’ Katinka was in the courtyard searching for Tia.
‘I’ve got to go.’ Tia squeezed out from behind the roost; from the corner of her eye she saw Loki soar away into the sky. She ran up to Katinka. ‘I thought a hen was stuck behind the coop,’ she said.
‘Lady Yordis is asking for you,’ Katinka said. ‘Hurry up.’ Fear of the High Witch made her speak sharply.
‘She won’t eat you if I’m a bit late!’ Tia said.
‘She might.’
Tia started to laugh then realised Katinka meant what she’d said. As they hurried to Yordis’s chambers Katinka told Tia that before Yordis took the opal she had been harsh but fair. ‘And she was beautiful, too. But now she’s spent so much time as the bear she’s turning into a monster – ugly, greedy and cruel.’
Tia shivered as she remembered how the bear had caught her in the forest and towered over her, its fangs dripping, its fearsome claws gripping her tightly. The very thought of being eaten was enough to make anyone obey Yordis.
Tia made a decision: she was going to search Yordis’s rooms for the opal as soon as she could. So, when the High Witch had heard enough of Prince Kaspar’s adventures Tia returned to her room and waited.
When she thought enough time had passed she went to Yordis’s chambers and knocked on the door. There was no answer. Carefully she turned the handle and peeked inside. All was still and silent; Yordis had definitely gone.
Tia explored each room including the ones she hadn’t been into before – the bathing room and the library. There was no trace of the collar. She searched again, more urgently. This time she noticed that a big tapestry, stretching from floor to ceiling in the library, swayed a little as though a slight draft was blowing from behind it. When she looked there she saw a door. It creaked as she opened it. Behind the door was a dim passageway.
Tia stepped inside and pulled the door to. Instantly all was darkness.
Chapter Eight
The Crystal Cavern
Tia’s hands touched rock on either side. She kept them against the walls as she stumbled forward a few steps. ‘This is silly,’ she said, her voice sounding very loud in the still darkness. She concentrated hard and then very, very gently clicked her fingers. To her relief one cold, little flame sparked into life and danced on the tip of her forefinger. She held it up like a candle and used it to illuminate the tunnel. It went down steeply, winding round and round, for a very long way. Gradually it levelled off and opened into a gigantic cavern.
Tia gazed in awe as crystal sparkled from the walls and roof. She carefully willed her little flame to grow brighter, and as it did, crystal lit up all over the cavern. It glittered from everywhere. There were even pieces scattered over the cavern floor like fallen stars, so lovely that she picked some up and put them in her pocket.
She gazed around, sure Yordis’s collar must be kept somewhere in the cavern. But it’s so big, she thought. It might take me for ever to find the right place!
She searched and searched till her arm ached from holding the flame up to look into shadowy crevices, behind pinnacles and along ledges.
‘Oh, this is hopeless,’ she muttered and slumped against a cluster of pinnacles. She was too tired to concentrate on her flame and it dwindled to almost nothing. But as it dimmed another light began to fill the cavern.
Tia peered round the spikes of rock and saw a glowing ball of light drift into view, followed by the bear. Yordis had come back much sooner than Tia had expected!
She drew back a little but could still see the bear as it shambled to a stop in front of a sheer drop of crystal and shook itself. It shivered and blurred and Yordis appeared in its place. She unlatched the collar, reached high up and slid aside a panel of polished crystal. No wonder Tia hadn’t noticed the hiding place: it was impossible to see in the sheet of crystal.
Yordis put the collar carefully into a space behind the panel and slid it closed. Then she sighed and began to stretch and shake her limbs as if she had to get used to her human form again.
While Yordis was stretching, Tia tiptoed back to the tunnel entrance, pressing herself against the wall and slinking silently through the shadows. Just as she slipped inside to safety Yordis followed, the glowing ball lighting her way.
Tia ran as fast as she dared, burst into Yordis’s library and closed the door quietly. She tiptoed to the central chamber door and was about to open it when someone knocked from the outside.
‘Lady Yordis,’ a voice said. It was Katinka! Tia was trapped between the High Witch and her maid!
She heard the door in the library bang shut, and Katinka knocked on the door again. She looked around wildly for a way out, and remembered the fireplace in Yordis’s bedroom. It was wide; she could climb up inside it – if it wasn’t yet lit.
She ran to it and saw with relief that it was swept and laid ready but not lit. She scrambled up the chimney. The rough bricks in the flu provided plenty of hand-holes and higher up there were some metal rungs to climb.
By the time Yordis returned to the bedroom Tia was out of sight. She heard Katinka knocking again and the bed creak as the High Witch threw herself onto it. ‘Enter!’ Yordis called.
There were the sounds of the door opening and closing and Katinka’s voice saying, ‘I’ve come to attend to the fire, Lady Yordis.’
Tia yelped in shock. She tried to stifle the sound with her hand and it came out as, ‘Eeek!’
‘There are mice in the chimney again!’ Yordis said. ‘Get that fire going, girl, and drive them away before I have to do it myself!’
Tia hastily scrabbled higher up the rungs. They passed a square hole, the entrance to a vent that she thought went in the direction of her room. She crawled inside it. There was no light so she snapped the tiny flame onto her finger again. The vent stretched away in front of her, narrow and thick with soot. She worked her way down it, levering herself along on her knees and one elbow so that she could hold out her flame with the other hand. It was hot in the tight passageway and a smell of smoke made her cough. She grimly crawled on.
A waft of air and a faint gleam of light told her she was near a flue. Surely it led to her room? She made the flame die away and crawled on as fast as she could. There was the flue! She eased herself into it and dropped into the cold hearth in her room.
Coughing and spluttering, she banged at her clothes. Soot puffed up in clouds. She scrubbed at her hair and more soot wafted out. How she was going to explain herself to Katinka?
Tia found Katinka in the kitchen. ‘What have you been doing?’ the maid exclaimed.
‘I heard something in the chimney,’ Tia said, ‘and when I poked my head up to have a look, a load of soot fell on me.’
Katinka found the grey boys’ clothes again and gave them to Tia. ‘Have a good wash, change into these and bring me your Trader things to launder.’ She sighed extravagantly.
Poor Katinka had to cope with Yordis and keep an eye on Tia. It was hard for her when Tia gave her extra work. ‘I’m sorry,’ Tia said.
‘I know you don’t mean to be a nuisance, you’re a good girl really – most of the time.’ Katinka smiled. ‘I’ve heard that the Water Traders will definitely be here tomorrow so you’d better hope I can get these washed and dried tonight.’
‘The Water Traders!’ Tia danced up and down in excitement. While Yordis is busy trading I can steal the opal! she thought. Out loud she said, ‘I wish I could see them.’
‘I’ll ask the Lady Yordis,’ Katinka said. ‘She gives us time off when the Traders are here, even the miners – so I think she’ll do the same for you.’
That night, Tia sat on her bed and lined up the crystals she’d picked up off the cavern floor. She put the biggest in her bag and selected a smaller one that she tied a long strip of leather to. It was easy to tie the
strip firmly to the crystal’s jagged surface. When she’d finished she put it in a pocket in her bag, next to her sling and a small collection of smooth, round pebbles.
Now she was ready; tomorrow she would steal the opal.
Chapter Nine
The Water Traders
The lift was kept very busy next day as people left the castle, eager to meet and barter with the Water Traders. Tia was given permission to go down into the town too.
‘Promise me you won’t try and run away,’ Katinka said.
‘No, of course not – I don’t want to get you in trouble with the Lady Yordis,’ Tia said.
‘Here.’ Katinka gave her a mark. ‘You work hard – you should have something to trade with.’
Tia thanked the maid and put the coin in her pocket. She felt guilty taking it from her because she’d soon have lots of marks of her own.
For once the town was busy: families with children filled the paved streets running along the riverside with its little stone-built quays and berths. The boats rode the river’s current and the Traders skilfully skipped from the swaying decks to the riverside and back again as they laid out their wares.
Many of them greeted Tia as she hurried by in her bright, freshly-laundered Trader clothes. She longed to stop and talk to them but first she had to see Hannes, the crystal shaper.
‘Why, it’s Nadya!’ he said with a smile. ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I’ve got a crystal to trade,’ she said and showed him the largest of the ones she’d found on the cavern floor.
‘This will make a fine sunstone,’ Hannes said holding it up to the light and turning it this way and that. ‘Where did you get it?’
‘I found it.’
‘Where?’
‘That would be telling.’
Hannes stared at her for a moment then said, ‘Traders are honest folk, so we’ll leave it at that. I’ll give you ten marks.’