Gertie Milk and the Keeper of Lost Things

by Simon Van Booy

  “Very, very far,” added Gertie with a nod.

  “From over the mountain?” the boy asked with excited curiosity. Then he turned to the older man. “Father, we’ve never been there, but you’ve told me many stories.”

  The father smiled at his son, then pointed his wooden staff at Robot Rabbit Boy, who was trying to copy Kolt by making a fist-paw and bowing.

  Gertie tried not to laugh.

  “Are you spirits?” the father said. “You look like foreigners but speak our language.”

  Kolt smiled. “Oh yes! We enjoy—”

  “Listen! Please!” Gertie interrupted, remembering how serious their mission was. “We’re in great danger and we need your help, now!”

  Gertie reached for the sword and pulled the glittering weapon from its sheath. It was apparently the wrong thing to do as both the father and son fell to their knees at the shock of seeing it.

  “Put that thing away!” Kolt hissed. “It must be some kind of talisman.”

  Gertie blushed. “I was hoping they might recognize it!”

  “It’s the lost sword of Mogan!” exclaimed the father.

  Kolt scratched his chin. “Is that good or bad?

  The father got up cautiously from the jungle floor and approached the sword.

  “The shape is unmistakable, and the brightness of the metal and this silver writing on the blade. It is the sword of the legendary weapon-forging couple, Mo Ye and Gan Jiang, which means you are part of the prophecy.”

  “This mountain was named after them,” the son said. “We call it mo-gan-shan.”

  “Great!” Kolt said. “A prophecy! Now we’re making progress. Can you take us to them?”

  “Please!” added Gertie. “They may be able to help us find something very, very valuable that we’ve lost.”

  The father and son looked at each other in amazement.

  Finally the older man spoke. “They were killed many years ago by our king, who has brought great evil to this place.”

  Kolt rolled his eyes. “Oh dear, so not good news after all.”

  Then Gertie had an idea. “Did they have children?”

  The son nodded. “They had a daughter, and she is still alive. We give her food sometimes, and can bring you to her home.”

  Kolt was impressed. “Good thinking, Gertie. You really are a first-rate Keeper of Lost Things!”

  “Well, I don’t feel like one,” she replied. “Wearing denim in the jungle.”

  31

  Bone Powder

  THE FOREST GOT HOTTER and stickier as they stepped over gnarled tree roots along a narrow path, past small waterfalls that dropped into deep ponds. Gertie felt certain they were going the right way—but knew enough about being a Keeper to know that anything could happen, and to be on guard at all times.

  Along the way, the father introduced himself as Li Dan. His son’s name was Li Er.

  Kolt explained to Gertie and Robot Rabbit Boy that in China, surnames come first, because the family is thought to be more important than the individual person.

  Dan said he was a rice farmer. In the evening, when he came home, arms and legs aching, his son would make up simple and beautiful poems, as they all slurped river fish soup with lotus and ginger. By luck or coincidence, Dan and his son Er were two of the few people in the area who knew the sword makers’ daughter well. She had spent most of her life in hiding from the evil king. For years, they had taken her cooked rice wrapped in leaves.

  As they followed the forest trail toward the valley, Gertie listened to Er’s stories. He explained that Chinese knowledge was not something to be accepted or rejected, but a wisdom that had to be lived.

  “It is only understood when it becomes part of the seeker’s destiny,” he told her.

  “What’s it called?” Gertie asked.

  “It has no name, it was never born and will never die.”

  The ideas rolled around Gertie’s head like a bead from an abacus. “I’ll think about it,” she said.

  Er laughed. “Oh Gertie, you must learn to do, by not doing.”

  Kolt happened to overhear the last sentence, as they descended slowly down some wet rocks. “Oh I’m great at that,” he blurted out. “I’ve spent an entire lifetime perfecting the art of not doing!”

  “I think what my son means,” Dan said gently, “is that when something is from the heart, it doesn’t feel like hard work.”

  When Er asked about Gertie’s village, she told him it was near the sea, and there were large white birds and other creatures, tall cliffs with deep, dark tunnels, and friendly insects that lit up when you held them.

  “I can’t imagine,” Er said. “If only I could see for myself.”

  Slowly, Gertie took the Slug Lamp from her pocket and gave it to her friend to hold. The creature glowed brightly in Er’s hands.

  “Moonberries,” Gertie said. “That’s where they get their brightness.”

  Soon they came upon a hut made from straw and bamboo. Inside someone was shouting.

  “You have to get out!”

  Kolt caught Gertie’s eye. “Sounds like the Losers have got here first!”

  “Why won’t you listen to me?” came the voice. “C’mon! Move! You won’t survive here. Go back to your own kind!”

  Before they could take cover behind some trees, a woman dashed outside with a grasshopper on her hand. She set the insect on the edge of a rock basin, which had been hollowed out and filled with water, to reflect the sky and passing clouds. “Rest here on the well of heaven!” she said. Then, turning sharply, she realized she had company.

  The farmer and his son smiled and bowed. “It’s us, Xiao Jian, your friends Dan and Er with visitors who have a gift.”

  Gertie unsheathed the ancient weapon, but, just as she gripped the hilt, it flew toward Xiao Jian, who caught it in both hands.

  Kolt was completely amazed. “I guess it’s hers then!”

  When Xiao Jian saw the writing on the blade, Gertie noticed her hands were shaking. Then tears escaped from the woman’s eyes, making her cheeks glisten.

  “I don’t think she has the B.D.B.U.” Kolt sighed. “I’m not even sure it’s here anymore.”

  “We can’t just give up!”

  Then Xiao Jian had something to say.

  “For my entire life I have been waiting for the day this sword is returned so I can honor my ancestors and live out my destiny.”

  “The prophecy!” Dan said. “It is the will of heaven.”

  Then she turned to her visitors. “I will tell you my long and sad story over yellow tea and sweet bean cake.”

  Gertie was touched by the woman’s show of emotion. For she had also felt the sting of loss, and knew that, on Skuldark, she would be living out a similar fate, lost from those she had loved. But there was no time for sentiment.

  Gertie bowed to Xiao Jian. “Sorry we can’t stay, but we’re looking for a huge book that’s very powerful. It was stolen, and we need to get it back.”

  The woman nodded. “There’s only one person I know who would crave such a powerful thing, and my destiny lies with him too.”

  “Oh no,” said Kolt. “It’s going to be some crazy evil person, I just know it.”

  “A ruthless king,” said the woman. “The one who killed my parents and opposes all knowledge. He is famous in our land for his destruction of ideas, and the torture of his people within the deadly Crown of Triangles.”

  “Hates knowledge? Destruction of ideas? Crown of deadly shapes?” Kolt said. “Definitely sounds like someone the Losers would be friends with.”

  “Can we go there now?” Gertie asked.

  Then Dan spoke. “There is a knowledge sacrifice planned for this very night, which I fear will involve the destruction of wisdom in your lost book.”

  “A what?” Kolt said.

&n
bsp; “An evening where the king destroys any idea he does not agree with,” Er said.

  Xiao Jian tied the sword around her waist with a length of black silk. “We must leave immediately, as it will take time to reach the village through such thick forest.”

  “Then let’s get moving!” Gertie said, with a renewed sense of hope.

  Suddenly, an enormous dark shape thundered toward them from the dense undergrowth. Everyone jumped back at the sound of sticks and branches snapping in the charge. Xiao Jian drew her sword, but it turned out to be Robot Rabbit Boy riding on the back of a full-grown water buffalo.

  “Mashed potato! Dollop! Eggcup!” he commanded, and the animal stopped just shy of trampling the farmer and his son. The water buffalo snorted and rolled its eyes lovingly at his rabbit driver.

  Er patted the creature’s head. “It is in winter that pine trees are their greenest.”

  “What?” said Kolt. “I thought pine trees were always green!”

  “My son means that friendship and loyalty count most in hard times when others shy away.”

  With Robot Rabbit Boy leading the charge, they descended in a single line behind the water buffalo who stampeded through the undergrowth.

  “I’m sorry about your parents,” Gertie said moving up alongside Xiao Jian. “I know how it feels to lose family.”

  “You have brought honor to my family, Gertie, by returning this sword.”

  “What exactly happened to them?”

  “My parents were famous sword makers,” Xiao Jian explained, “with a special way of hardening metal by cooling it in the mountain waters. No one could rival the sharp edges or decoration. The new king ordered a sword to be made in three months. But it took my parents three years because they wanted to please him, despite his growing reputation for cruelty.

  “They made two weapons, a female and a male sword. The first they gave him, the second they hid for me when I was older.

  “I was only eight years old when they went down the mountain to present the female sword to our king. It was supposed to have been an exciting day since the king had said my family would receive a great reward for such loyalty. My father wanted me to come, but my mother was worried about the king’s rumored temper and insisted I stay.

  “I waited many days for them to return, dreaming of riches and fame. Our neighbors brought me food and made sure I was safe and that my fire was out by the evening bell.

  “When they did not return for four days, I was worried and followed the forest path by myself to get news. When people found out who I was, they turned away.”

  “Why?” Gertie said, as Kolt caught up so he could hear the story too.

  “Because they were scared. The young, angry king was insulted he had not been given both swords. The thought of someone else having such a magnificent weapon filled him with jealousy. So he took the female sword and cut my parents’ heads off. Then he boiled their heads and crushed the bones into a powder, which he put around his neck in a bottle.”

  Kolt grimaced. “Please don’t tell me this is the king we’re on our way to meet? I’m fine with most things, but head-boiling is way out of my comfort zone.”

  “Now I intend to get back the bones of my parents by any means necessary.”

  Gertie looked at the weapon in Xiao Jian’s hands. “And so I guess this is the male sword?”

  The woman nodded. “The king sent soldiers to kill me and retrieve the male weapon, but nobody knew where it was hidden. My parents’ friends heard what was happening and carried me up the mountain, where they sheltered and fed me until I could look after myself. I have been in hiding ever since, every day searching the jungle for the lost sword of Mogan.”

  “So what’s the prophecy?” Kolt asked.

  “That the sword of Mo and Gan will be reunited with its rightful owner, who will bring peace to a land that has only known terror.”

  “I guess that means you,” Kolt said. “This is turning into some kind of quest! I love it!”

  When the air picked up an aroma of wood smoke, Xiao Jian said they were near. The path began to even out, and they were soon standing on a flat plain, at the base of the green mountain. Ahead of them in the distance were the walls of the town, where the evil king reigned.

  After hurrying over the grassy savanna, they approached the heavy door. Gertie stepped forward and banged on it several times. A hatch decorated with a triangle and snake opened to reveal a pair of eyes.

  “It’s almost nightfall and we have a sacrifice to get through,” said a voice. “You know the rules, go away.”

  “Er,” Gertie stammered. “We’re looking for a giant book.”

  The eyes blinked with confusion. “A giant book?”

  “Actually,” Kolt interrupted, “I forgot my hat in there earlier, mind if we come in quickly and look for it?”

  “Your hat? I don’t remember you. Where did you leave it?”

  “In a bucket!” cried Gertie impulsively.

  The eyes widened with surprise and irritation. “You forgot your hat in a bucket?”

  Then Xiao Jian marched forward and put her face to the hatch. “We have come to fulfill the will of heaven and reunite the male and female swords of Mo and Gan!”

  The eyes shot open with fear and disbelief. “But that’s a fairy story—the male sword doesn’t exist. . . .”

  Xiao Jian held up her gleaming weapon.

  “Oh,” said the eyes. “So it does exist.”

  The hatch closed, and they heard bolts shifting inside the wood.

  Robot Rabbit Boy kissed the water buffalo’s veiny cheek, then slid down off the enormous animal.

  The doorkeeper was an old man with a bent back.

  “You should have just said you were here to fulfill a prophecy! How was I supposed to know?”

  Gertie was surprised to see the town was mostly small wooden huts with dried leaves for roofs. A temple at the end of the main path was bigger and more imposing than anything around it. Dan and Er said it was the king’s palace. On the roof sat an enormous metal triangle with a wooden snake statue.

  “It’s the dreaded Crown of Triangles,” Dan said fearfully. “Anyone who enters the king’s chamber of horror is never seen again.”

  “I always disliked geometry,” Kolt admitted. “And that was without snakes.”

  The idea of facing an evil king who had murdered people made Gertie feel very afraid. She wondered if allowing herself to become a Keeper had been wise. If anything happened to her, what would become of Robot Rabbit Boy and the Slug Lamp snoozing away in her pocket? She distracted herself by looking at the different things for sale in the market stalls; rolls of cloth, pottery, rings of precious jade, bronze cooking pots, sitting mats, chopsticks, and bamboo water flasks with smaller pieces of bamboo hollowed out as cups.

  Much to Robot Rabbit Boy’s delight, there were animals everywhere: sheep, chickens, pigs, Mongolian ponies, and his beloved water buffalos.

  By now it was evening, and many of the market people were drinking hot water boiled with tree bark. But at the sight of Xiao Jian, Kolt, Gertie, Li Dan, Li Er, and Robot Rabbit Boy, the townsfolk stopped what they were doing and stared.

  “They must know!” Gertie said. “That Xiao Jian has come to reunite the swords of her parents.”

  “That’s her mission,” Kolt told Gertie. “Ours is to find the B.D.B.U. then get out of here!”

  “What about the Losers? Have you faced them before like this?”

  “Not exactly,” Kolt said.

  “Well, do we have any weapons?”

  “I might have some growing spice in my pocket, but then again, it might be shrinking spice. Did you bring anything?”

  “Just a Slug Lamp and that feather I got in London.”

  “Oh dear, well, let’s hope Xiao Jian takes care of the head-boiling king and his Lose
r friends, while we find the B.D.B.U.”

  “I know we can do this,” Gertie said, wiping sweat and dust from her forehead. “I know we can.”

  “We have to, Gertie. Because if the B.D.B.U. dies, then so too may its Keepers.”

  32

  The Final Fight

  GERTIE DID NOT FEEL LIKE A HERO. Her legs trembled, and her heart pounded with such force it was difficult to breathe. Worst of all, a large group of local people were now following them, expecting some kind of death match between Gertie’s group and the evil king.

  “They think we’re here to save them,” Dan explained. “They have lived too long with a cruel and merciless king.”

  “Us?” Kolt said. “We’re just Keepers, not assassins—can you tell them that? They’ll believe you!”

  But when the farmer explained to the crowd that Kolt, Gertie, and Robot Rabbit Boy were not deadly assassins, the people laughed and said that only deadly assassins would pretend not to be a group of deadly assassins.

  Robot Rabbit Boy tugged on Gertie’s sleeve as they neared the evil king’s palace.

  “A dollop of mashed potato?” he said, twitching his nose, as he had moments before blowing a hole in the trapdoor.

  “Um, not right now! But maybe later, like when we’re about to get our heads boiled. . . .”

  “Eggcup.”

  Suddenly a group of boyish soldiers rushed toward them with swords out. But Gertie didn’t think they looked very fierce, with metal acorn helmets that kept falling over their eyes.

  Xiao Jian spoke savagely as they approached. “I have come for the bones of my mother and father, so that I might honor them—beware those who defy what is mandated by heaven!”

  Gertie thought the soldiers were going to surround them, so she grabbed Robot Rabbit Boy’s paw, ready to sprint toward the village huts. But the guards seemed almost hypnotized by the weapon in Xiao Jian’s hands, and parted without any resistance.

  “I wonder why they’re doing this?” Kolt whispered to Gertie.

  “Because of the story?”

  “Yes, exactly,” Er interrupted. “The prophecy that one day the male and female swords would reunite to defeat the king and bring harmony back to the land.”