Baker's Magic (Middle-grade Novels)

by Zahler, Diane

  “I’ll go first,” Bartholomew announced. The others gaped at him.

  “You?” Bee and Anika said together.

  “Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for a chance to get off this cursed island? Eons, it seems. You are not leaving without me. I’d rather drown or be broken on the rocks than spend another hour in this … this old-age home for fading magicians.” Bartholomew’s expression was resolute. It was clear he meant it.

  “An old-mage home,” Bee offered. The others were silent for a moment. Then Wil snickered.

  Bartholomew gave a sudden whoop and shouted, “Farewell, Master Nicon’s Old-Mage Home for Elderly Enchanters!” Without warning he launched himself off the rock. Anika screamed and clutched at Wil, and they watched in horror as the hedge wizard plummeted, his robes flapping wildly about him so he looked like a giant green-winged bird. There was a splash, and a moment later Bartholomew’s head appeared above the waves. The Egg-Hen sped toward him.

  “My turn!” Anika said in a trembling voice. Before Wil or Bee could speak, she cried, “Adieu, Master Nicon’s Old-Mage Home for Nonagenarian Necromancers!” She took a running leap off the edge, her sponge-plant clutched in one hand, her other hand protectively over the pocket where Pepin nestled. She hit the water cleanly and popped to the surface near Bartholomew. Bartholomew swam to her and held her up, waving to Bee and Wil.

  “You go, Mistress Boltiarda,” Wil said, trying to sound unafraid. Bee shook her head.

  “You,” she told him. She needed another moment to gather her courage for the jump.

  There was no time to argue. He vaulted off the rock, bellowing, “Cheerio, Master Nicon’s Old-Mage Home for Wizened Warlocks!”

  It was Bee’s turn. The tulip ships were approaching now, pushed by the wind that whipped around her. She had to jump. She couldn’t think about how far down it was. She couldn’t. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw another of the gigantic spiders that roamed around the Island of the Mages. It scuttled over the rock toward her, and she backed away. Her foot landed on empty air, and her arms windmilled wildly as she tried to regain her balance. As she tilted off the rock, she shouted, as loudly as she could, “Goodbye, Master Nicon’s Old-Mage Home for Shriveled Sorcerers!”

  And then she fell.

  CHAPTER 15

  Bee hit the water hard, knocking the breath out of her. Her flat landing was painful, but it kept her from sinking far. Wil grabbed her and pulled her to the surface as growing waves broke over them. The approaching clouds held a storm. The Egg-Hen was close now, and Haleem and Rijkie tossed ropes to them. At the end of each rope was a knotted loop. Wil helped Bee slip a loop over her head, securing it under her arms. Bartholomew did the same with Anika.

  On board, the pirates pulled and pulled at the ropes, hauling Bee and Anika up the side of the ship. The girls tumbled over the railing and lay sprawled on the deck, as soaked and breathless as they had been when the pirates first rescued them. Wil and Bartholomew joined them moments later.

  “I see that ’edge’og is still with us!” called Captain Zay from behind the great wheel that steered the ship. “Bee-girl, why is it we are always fishing you out of the sea?” Then she barked orders to the men, and the Egg-Hen changed course quickly as the tulip ships approached.

  Bee, Anika, and Wil led Bartholomew down into the hold, where they changed into dry clothes that Rijkie found for them. Then they joined the others on deck as the ship weaved and skipped over the waves, which grew higher with every gust of wind. The sky had darkened, and the clouds began to spit out rain.

  “The first of the autumn storms, worse luck!” Haleem shouted, his words snatched by the wind.

  “No, best of luck for us!” the captain called back. “We are always sailing in all kind of weathers, while these sorry seamen only know the quiet waters. Look, the winds is pushing them away! They cannot catch the Egbertina-Henriette!”

  And it was true. The Egg-Hen tacked back and forth to move forward, while the other ships, sailing straight into the wind, were thrust back by its force. Lightning flashed and thunder cracked as the distance between the ships grew. All at once, the skies opened as if a giant had suddenly tossed a huge bucket of water from the clouds. It wasn’t so much a rainfall as a waterfall. Bee was soaked to the skin again, and Anika shivered uncontrollably, her lips turning blue.

  “Into the hold!” Haleem shouted at them as the ship keeled sharply to one side. Bee slid across the slippery deck almost to the railing before Bartholomew, anchored with a hand clutching the mast, grabbed her. They all clasped hands and made their way, crawling, back down the stairs.

  Below, it was dry, but the creaking of the ship as the waves battered it was almost as loud as the wind and rain above had been. Bee stumbled about, crashing into walls, to find blankets so they could warm themselves. Then they huddled in a corner of the sleeping room, blankets pulled over their heads, trying not to slide from one side of the hold to the other as the ship listed first to port, then to starboard. Above them, the hammocks swung wildly. They all began to feel dizzy and queasy.

  It seemed like hours—perhaps it was—before the storm began to quiet and the Egg-Hen was no longer tossed about on the waves like a child’s skipping stone. Bee poked her head out from her blanket.

  “I think it’s stopping,” she said.

  The hatch to the deck opened, and Rijkie poked his head through. “The rain’s ended,” he said. “The captain wants you on deck.”

  Clutching their blankets, the four made their way up the stairs and onto the storm-cleansed deck. Dusk was coming on, and a few stars showed among the scudding clouds overhead. There was no sign of the tulip ships.

  “Wet again!” Captain Zay chortled at the sight of them, though she was drenched herself. The plume on her tricorn hat hung heavy with water, and she had to slap it out of her eyes as it dripped down her face. Finally she removed the hat altogether.

  “A pirate is never removing her hat,” she said to Bee. “Unless she want to, of course!”

  “I am sure, madam, that a pirate does whatever she pleases at all times,” Bartholomew said. Captain Zay narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Who is this person?” she asked Bee.

  “This is Bartholomew. Master Bartholomew. He’s a hedge wizard.”

  The captain looked Bartholomew up and down. He didn’t quail under her gaze, but straightened himself beneath his damp blanket.

  “At your service, madam,” he said.

  “Oh, I am no madam, ’edge wizard. I am captain of the Egbertina-Henriette. Do not be forgetting that!” Her tone was severe.

  “I wouldn’t dream of it,” Bartholomew said. His lips twitched, but he kept his expression solemn and respectful. “This is a very fine ship, and it was excellent leadership that kept it whole in such fearsome weather.”

  “Indeed it was!” Captain Zay agreed, her good spirits restored. “And most excellent work from my mens as well. But we are far off the course now. We do not ’ave one slight idea of where we are.”

  “The stars are coming out,” Bartholomew noted. “You can steer by them when the clouds are gone.”

  “Quite so, ’edge wizard. And in the meantime, we shall be consuming some food and some coffee and also some rum. For the warmth, to be sure.”

  “To be sure!” Bartholomew agreed. They followed Captain Zay into her cabin, where she rummaged in her wooden chest and pulled out dry shirts and trousers for all. One by one, they changed behind the painted screen. Bee and Anika had to roll up the trouser legs and shirt sleeves, but to be dry again was lovely.

  Limmo the cook knocked and entered with a tray that held bowls of stew, and they settled themselves around the wooden table. The captain poured steaming coffee and added a liberal dose of rum to hers and Bartholomew’s.

  “It would be stunting your growth,” she said severely to Wil, Bee, and Anika. “For the yo
ung people, very bad.”

  Limmo withdrew, winking at Bee, and they ate with gusto and then slowed to sip their coffee.

  “No sweets,” the captain said with regret. “Unless—you are ’aving some in your pack?” She looked at Bee.

  “My pack is gone,” Bee said. “We had to leave them when we jumped off the rock. And besides, I gave all the sweets to the mages.”

  “Ah—the mages!” the captain exclaimed. “Tell, tell—are they aiding you? Are they giving you magic and all sort of assisting?”

  “They were no help at all,” Bee replied. “They were just … old. And sad.”

  “But they told us something—something wonderful!” Anika said.

  “What is this wonderful something?”

  “The head mage, Master Nicon—he said that my father is alive.”

  Captain Zay furrowed her brow and added another dollop of rum to her coffee cup. “The king your father is alive? You said he died … in what way?”

  “He drowned—or so I thought. So I was told. In a shipwreck.”

  “And there are ’ow many years since this is taking place?”

  “I was only four. It was twelve years ago.”

  Bartholomew made a little noise. It was something between a hiccup and a gasp. Bee saw that his slate-colored eyes were as round as the buttons on Captain Zay’s jacket.

  “A shipwreck twelve years ago?” he said, his voice hoarse. “Where did this happen?” Bee felt a shiver run down her spine.

  “It was just off the coast of Aradyn, in the north,” Anika told him. “The ship, the Waldethruda, broke up on the rocks. I’d thought no one survived.”

  “I lost my family in that wreck,” Bartholomew said. The others gaped at him.

  “You had a family?” Wil asked. “But hedge wizards don’t marry.”

  “Not usually,” Bartholomew agreed. “But I did. I fell in love. I married, we had a child. The baby was only six months old when she and my wife perished. I remember now that the king had been on board, but in my rage and sorrow, I’d forgotten.”

  Captain Zay’s eyes were bright with interest. “Well, well!” she said. “And this is a certain thing, that your family are perished?”

  “I too thought everyone drowned,” Bartholomew said. “I’d never heard otherwise until now.” Bee’s heart began to pound.

  Captain Zay went to the cabin door and opened it. “’Aleem!” she shouted. The first mate came running. “What mens aboard been sailing for twelve years or more? Bring them to me.”

  Haleem saluted and disappeared, and the captain turned back. “I am only captain on this ship for three years now,” she explained. “Before this time, I was pirate far, far from ’ere. So I am not knowing of your shipwrecks and such. But one of these old seadogs may be possessing knowledge more than I.”

  In a few minutes, Haleem came back with two of the pirates, Thoralf and Niek. Both were older, with craggy, sun-dried faces and gray beards. They stood, hands clasped, before Captain Zay.

  “You mens, you were sailing these seas a dozen of years ago?” the captain demanded.

  “No, Captain,” Thoralf said. “I sailed then, but not around here. I was on a cargo ship out of Kori.”

  “I was on a cargo ship back then as well,” Niek said. “’Twas an Aradysh ship.”

  “Ah!” Captain Zay said, pleased. “Then you will be knowing of the wreck of the Waldethruda?”

  Niek nodded slowly, as if reluctant to speak. “Yes, I do recall it well. A terrible, strange thing, that. People talked of nothing else for months.”

  “Strange how?” Anika asked. Her hands were tight around her coffee cup, almost tight enough to crush the delicate china.

  “Why, how it all happened. ’Twas a clear, cool day, all agreed. No weather to speak of. The captain knew his job, knew the coastline. No reason for the wreck, no reason at all. ’Twas as if the rocks just came up out of nowhere. There the ship was, and then there the rocks were. The Waldethruda broke up in no time.”

  “And the passengers?” Anika voice trembled.

  “Drowned, mostly. I’m sorry, Princess. I know the king was on board. His body was never found.”

  “I know,” Anika whispered. “But the mage said …” She trailed off. Bee reached out and took Anika’s hand, which lay cold and limp in hers.

  Niek went on. “The others, their bodies were mostly washed in to shore, the ship was that close. There was only one survivor I know of. A baby.”

  The listeners turned to Bartholomew, who had grown pale.

  “A baby?” he managed.

  “So I recall. A little girl. There were rescuers sent out from the mainland. They took her away, I don’t know where. Probably the nearest village.”

  Bee was beginning to feel very strange, as if the sea itself were rising in her. She thought her words might sound like they were bubbling up through water when she spoke, but they came out clearly. “What was the nearest village? Do you know?”

  Niek said, “I do, because it was the next village over to my own. It was Boomkin.”

  “That’s where I was taken,” Bee said, her voice low. “When my mother died. In a shipwreck. I was a baby then. I was fostered in Boomkin.”

  Now all eyes were on Bee. Anika gripped her hand hard enough to make her wince. Captain Zay was so excited that she nearly levitated.

  “What you are saying, Bee-girl? What you are saying?”

  Bee gulped. She turned to Bartholomew, whose gray eyes met her own gray eyes, wide and startled. She couldn’t bear his gaze and turned back to the captain. “I am saying … I don’t know. I think I am saying that I am that baby. The baby that survived the shipwreck.”

  Anika gasped. “Can it be true?”

  “But … ,” Captain Zay said, thinking hard. “But this ’edge wizard has said that it is his daughter who was lost in the wreck.”

  Bee nodded.

  “I am all in a state of confusement,” the captain said, shaking her head. “What means this most peculiar news?”

  Bartholomew stood abruptly. “I think it means—though I cannot imagine that it is so—I think it means that Bee is my daughter.”

  CHAPTER 16

  Bee was amazed that a silence could be so loud. She could hear the creaking of the ship, the flapping of the sails, the breaths of each person in the captain’s cabin. She stared at the pattern in the rug under her feet. A flower, a bird, a vine … a flower, a bird, a vine. The colors were bright, even in the dimming light that came through the round porthole.

  “Can you truly be my daughter?” Bartholomew finally asked Bee. It came out in a croak.

  Bee looked up. Captain Zay’s mouth had dropped open. Bee would have sworn that it was impossible to render the captain speechless—yet there she was, unable to say a word.

  “I think so,” Bee said softly. “It all seems to make sense.”

  “Do you remember your … your mother?”

  “No.” Bee blinked away tears. “My first memories are my foster parents. They told me that I’d been orphaned in a shipwreck. That was all I knew. That, and … this.” She pulled out the necklace she wore around her neck and unfastened it, handing it to Bartholomew. He took it from her and turned it around and around. His hands were shaking. He gave it to Anika, and she pried at it with her fingernails. To Bee’s shock, the gold disc clicked open. As often as Bee had looked at it, run her fingers over it, held it tightly as she tried to imagine her mother’s face, the disc had never come open. It had never occurred to her that it could. She’d never seen a locket before.

  Anika passed it back to Bartholomew. “Look,” Bartholomew said, showing the inside of the locket to Bee. “That is your mother.”

  Bee peered at the tiny frame. The paper that nestled inside was old and faded, but she could make out a woman’s smiling face.

  “It was a m
iniature,” Bartholomew said. “We had a passing painter do it. As tiny as could be, but a good likeness, I thought. I’d bought the locket at a fair. I could never forget it—the flowers engraved on it are lilies, for your mother, Lis. She put the painting in this locket and placed it round your neck, so she would always be close to your heart.”

  Gently, Bee traced the tiny face in the painting with her finger. Her mother. And …

  “Oh, Bee,” Anika cried. “You have found your father!” Her face was alight with joy, and Bee marveled that she could be so happy when her own father’s fate was unclear.

  “That explains the magic in your baking,” Wil said. “You are part hedge wizard!”

  “It’s what Master Nicon said,” Bee recalled. “That I must be part mage. Hedge wizard counts, I suppose. I thought he was just babbling.” She felt like she was babbling herself. Her head was swimming. They were supposed to find Anika’s father, not hers. She hadn’t even known her father was lost.

  “My daughter,” Bartholomew said again. Bee looked at him then. Tears dripped off his nose.

  “Oh,” she said helplessly. She held out her hands, and he clutched them. “Please don’t cry. Don’t, Father.” The word sounded strange beyond all reckoning.

  “Bee-girl, you are endless with surprise,” Captain Zay said, shaking her head. “A found father, this is not an everyday something—this is to celebrate! To be sure, more rum is called for!” She took the bottle and topped off Bartholomew’s cup, and he let go of one of Bee’s hands to take a great gulp. It went down the wrong way, and he gasped and spluttered, spraying them all.

  “I am wanting you to drink it, not bathe in it!” the captain admonished. Wil snorted with laughter, and Bee started laughing as well, and then quite suddenly burst into tears.

  Anika gathered Bee in her arms, and Bee sobbed on her shoulder without even truly knowing why. She was embarrassed by her tears. She had a father, Anika had none, and she was the one who was crying? She sniffed and gulped and managed to stop. Captain Zay handed her a rather grimy handkerchief, dingy white with a border of lace and a stain of what Bee feared might be blood. She pretended to use it to wipe her face, and swiped instead with the trailing sleeve of her oversized pirate shirt.