“Thank you,” she sniffed.
“You’re welcome,” he said once again blushing.
Charm
“What we all need is some tea,” said Softy, trying to fill the uncomfortable silence.
“There’s some in the metal tin next to the pot,” said Dawn.
“Thank you Dawn, but we have used up enough of your hospitality and we have nothing to pay you with,” exclaimed Softy.
“Now ye insulting me. I have not asked for payment, nor shall I.”
“I am sorry, I meant no offence,” said Softy, looking upset.
“That’s alrighty then,” said Dawn seeming somewhat mollified.
“Nevertheless, we do have supplies. I would feel better if you would let us share some of it with you.”
“That’s right kind of ye,” accepted Dawn gracefully.
Softy went to the pack that White had carried. He started rummaging in it, then stopped and with a puzzled look walked over to Jenny who was still sitting in the chair staring into thin air. He waved something in her face. After a while she finally noticed him, holding a small package of brown paper badly wrapped with string. In large clumsy writing that slanted diagonally across it, in dull red ink that looked like dried blood, was written, to Jenny.
“For me?” she asked stupidly.
“It’s in Bat’s writing,” said Softy.
Not knowing what else to do Jenny ripped it open and something fell out onto her lap.
She picked it up. “For me?” she asked in surprise. White was going to give me a gift, but why and why this?”
It was the crude blade White had cut her hand with. She had only got a glimpse of it before. She had thought it was blackened bone or ivory, and turning it in her hand it still felt like that, but now looking at it more closely it looked like something else, like glass filled with black smoke that seemed to shift inside like it was stirred by a breeze, or a shadow trapped inside glass. As she turned it she cut herself, it was wickedly sharp. The blood looked very bright on the blade but then it was gone as if the blade had drunk it. Jenny stuck her stinging fingertip in her mouth. Without a word the dwarf brought her a bandage and stuck it on the wound. It stuck to her finger like adhesive and the pain went away.
“Thank you.”
“Think nothing of it, lassie.”
Jenny put the knife back into the plain battered sheath.
“I do not know, but I do know he never did anything without a reason. Perhaps this will explain,” said Softy handing Jenny something that had also fallen out of the package.
It was a thick envelope, for Jenny, it said in the same scrawl. It was sealed with a wax seal that bore the insignia of a black talon.
“That’s the crest of Grendel,” spluttered Softy.
“What?”
“It does not matter. Go on, open it.”
Jenny ripped it open. Inside was a large bundle of paper. Tight, precise handwriting marched across the pages. “It looks very different from the writing on the package.”
“It’s not White’s writing. He cannot write well, so he probably hired a scribe to write for him. What does it say?”
Jenny read it, and then passed it to Softy, not able to read it aloud.
Jenny, Softy, if you’re reading this then I am sorry, but things have got out of my control. I am so, so sorry, but I have been stopped from helping you. I knew this would happen, it was whispered to me on the winds, so I have done all I can to help you. The hounds of the wild hunt will never stop until they have caught their prey. I had to give them what they wanted or they might have taken one of you or other innocents by mistake. I could not allow that. Please understand and do not grieve. If I have passed then I have had a good and long, long, long life. At that line, despite herself the tears started to fall again. She swiped at her eyes with her sleeve. Softy knows the way to the Winter Court. Trust in him. Please remember what I have tried to teach you. Do not judge a person by what they look like. He has far more to him than people see, even more than he sees himself.
I know at this point, dear Jenny, you will be freaking out, panicking that you needed me to get your brother back. Do not feel bad about that thought. At this Jenny did feel bad and lowered her eyes, not able to look the others in the eye. Do not worry, I have taken steps. Inside this package you will find a knife. You should recognise it. Keep it with you at all costs. When you get to the Court and are standing in front of the king and queen break the blade. This might seem strange, but please trust me. It will help get Peter back. I cannot stress this enough. This is the best, the only way to get Peter back.
Softy, my sweet gentle friend. Thank you for all you have done so far. I am very sorry but I must ask more of you. Please guide Jenny to the Winter Court as I would have done. I know that this must scare the pants off that cute butt of yours, but all you have to do is get her there. You do not even have to go in.
I hear that you will be helped by kind people. Please thank them for me and tell them that if they ever need anything or they need help with the Courts they may use my name and they will be helped.
Softy finished reading.
“Well that’s nice, but not needed,” growled Dawn. “Whether the ambassador is dead or not we have to get ye to the Winter Court on time. Ye can sleep here tonight and we can start out tomorrow.”
“We?” asked Jenny.
“Ye do not think we are going to just let ye go off into the wilds of the other world alone, do ye?” demanded Dawn. “Softy does know the way but he canny protect ye from the kind of things ye may come across. No offence meant, Greeny,” Dawn said aside to Softy.
“The more the merrier,” grunted Softy, looking relieved at the thought.
“That’s kind of you, but we do not want to get anyone into any more trouble,” exclaimed Jenny, guilt ridden at thoughts of W being eaten alive.
“Like many of our kind I owe the ambassador my life. If it was his wish to help you than I’m honour bound to help you,” came a whisper from the giant outside the window.
“If Gentle is going so am I,” said Dawn. “You either let us come with you or we will just have to follow you and get in ye way.”
“Okay, okay, you can come with us.”
“Well, now we have got that settled we had better get some shut eye. We will need all the rest we canny get in the next few days.”
Dawn led Jenny and Softy to what must be a guest room, evidenced by the stuffy smell and the lack of sheets on the two low beds. Dawn opened the two small windows to air the room. The smells and sounds of the forest came in. The scent of jasmine and the calls from crickets and frogs were soothing.
“Rest ye bones while I get the spare linen.”
Jenny and Softy dropped onto two wooden chairs carved with designs of flowers and animals. On closer inspection they looked more like they had been grown rather than shaped. The large leather cushions were very comfortable. Dawn returned with white sheets, pillows, and thick black woollen coverlets.
“I sat on a rocking chair at White’s that was very like these. Did you make them all?”
“No, they were shaped by a close friend to me and the ambassador. You might meet her on our way.”
She made up one of the beds and they both made to get up and help her but she gestured for them to stay where they were.
Jenny let out a cry.
“What’s wrong?” asked Dawn and Softy with concern.
“Mum, I nearly forgot her. I cannot believe I only thought about her now. You say I have been unconscious for three days, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Mum will be out of her mind.”
“No, she will not,” said Softy in a tone of certainty Jenny had not heard in his voice before.
“Why won’t she?”
“Because time is different here in the other world from your world. When we get you back to your mum it will seem like only a few hours have passed.”
“You’re sure?” asked Jenny doubtfully.
�
��As sure as I am of anything,” he soothed.
“Sleep well, no one will hurt you here,” Dawn said earnestly from the doorway.
“Thank you,” Jenny said trying to show how much she meant it and not knowing what else to say.
“Ye welcome, sweetie.”
“I will be outside,” said Softy. It will be dawn soon. We will have to wait until nightfall. I’m sorry.”
“There’s no need to be, S. You cannot help it. Please tell me something.”
“If I can.”
“Do you think we have any hope of getting Peter back?” Jenny asked with a lump in her throat.
“Yes, I do.”
“You do, why?”
“Because Bat knew what was going to happen and planned against it. I have known him for a very long time. If he says he has given us the tools to get your brother out then he has done just that. Now go to sleep and stop worrying, sweet one,” he said trying to soothe and reassure her.
As usual it did not really work.
The Other World
Despite the fact that the bed was very comfortable Jenny did not sleep well although she was very tired, even after her long sleep on arrival. Perhaps it was the fact that she was not used to going to bed in just her underwear or sleeping during the day, although it was probably the strange dreams. She could not remember them properly but she had vague, misty memories of White, the creature that had supposedly taken Peter, and living versions of the two statues in the shrine.
“I was not sure, but I thought you cried out in your sleep several times,” explained Softy when she told him. She would not have normally shared her dreams but she could not help herself when she saw the look of concern in his big green eyes when he asked how she slept. It was too much for her to lie or say nothing. What was happening to her?
“What do you mean, you heard me? I know you were waiting outside my door and thank you for that, but how could you hear me? I thought you were wood?”
“I can hear everything that goes on around me. They were probably just dreams,” he said trying to reassure her. “Come, we have much to do before sunrise,” he added, and on cue Jenny’s stomach gave off a huge rumble.
They looked at one another and burst into laughter.
“Quite right, come, Dawn will no doubt have breakfast ready by now.”
They followed their noses; the mouth watering smell of food baking.
“Good, you’re awake. If you had not come soon I would have come and got ye both. Sit down and fill ye boots. We might not get much chance to eat so well again for some time.” She laid on the table plates piled high with eggs, oatcakes and sausages.
They all tucked in, even Gentle, who took the plates Dawn to him through the window. He lived up to his name by handling the plates with unbelievable gentleness.
“I’ll see to the dishes, Softy. Show our young friend here where she can clean up.”
Softy led her through a small door in the back of the large cabin into a room covered with cream tiles, except the back wall which was bare living stone. Pouring out of it was a glistening curtain of silvery waterfall.
“It’s the reason Dawn burrowed her home here,” explained Softy.
He pointed to a large heap of fluffy blue towels on a long wooden bench and handed her a large glass bottle. Jenny unscrewed it. Inside was a thick cream that smelled of roses.
“It will serve as both soap and shampoo,” Softy explained. “Get started and I’ll bring you some clean clothes. Do not worry, I’ll knock and wait for your yes or no before I come in,” he said, his skin going a darker shade of green and brown. He was blushing.
Jenny turned away and walked over to a bamboo screen decorated with blue and silver fish. She waited until he had left the room before she started to undress. She stepped under the natural shower, expecting it to be ice cold, but instead it was scalding hot, just the way she loved it. Reluctantly she tried the soap-shampoo stuff. To her surprise it felt soothing. She rubbed it slowly into her hair and skin. At first it was cold but it soon warmed up between her hands.
There came a knock. Jenny quickly stepped out of the shower and grabbed one of the big fluffy towels that smelt of cedar and dashed behind the screen.
“Okay, you can come in now,” she called.
Softy came in, eyes lowered. He was carrying a bundle of clothes which he placed on the bench, and quickly left.
Jenny lifted the bundle to see what he had brought her, a silk loincloth and bra and a long tunic, belt and sandals, all in shades of brown and green. They were not her kind of thing but they were all she could find to wear. Softy must have taken her other clothes. She had to admit they did fit surprisingly well and were very comfortable. The tunic stopped half way down her thighs with slits up the sides giving her even more movement. She noted that the dagger White had left her was hanging in its sheath on the belt.
She walked out of the bathroom and back into the main room. Dawn and Softy were sitting there dressed in similar clothing. On the table in front of them were large rucksacks bulging with what Jenny hoped were supplies that would get them to where they needed to go.
“Ye ready? Good then, let’s go. We need to be far from here before the sun comes up.”
“Is it far?”
“Yes, but I can carry you and can cover more ground in a few hours than what it would take you little folk to do all day,” came Gentle’s voice from the window.
“Carry all of us, can you do that?”
“Come, we will show ye,” said Dawn, handing her one of the rucksacks for Jenny to put on and opening the grey front door. Jenny expected the pack to be heavy but it weighed nothing on her back. As Jenny passed the door she realised that it was not wood as it had been artfully carved to look like, but solid stone.
Jenny stepped out onto soft rich earth. Leaf litter and moss squelched under her sandals. In front of her loomed the huge trees. She turned to see what Dawn’s home looked like. All that could be seen was a small mountain and all she could see of the house was the door they had just stepped out of.
Dawn turned to the door and pushed it shut. Once it was closed Jenny could not tell what was mountain and what was door.
“How do you get back in if you cannot see the door?”
“Ye canny see it, I can. Any one of my people or any child of earth could detect it. I could hide it from them if I wanted but I do not. Me home is a haven, not a safe house.” She turned away.
Gentle padded barefooted around the other side of the mountain and Jenny stepped back from him in surprise. She had not realised how big he was, at least fourteen feet tall, his body packed with muscles that rippled under a grey stone like skin shining with long strips of gleaming crystal. He wore a sun faded, homespun loincloth and a harness of criss-crossing leather straps, covered in pouches. Between the loincloth and harness was the only bit of him that did not bulge with muscles, a huge gut. This, rather than making him look unhealthy, gave him a glow and a roundness that softened his hard look.
He knelt and with surprising gentleness for such a big creature he scooped Dawn up and placed her in one of the pouches, then reached out and placed the back of his hands on the ground, fingers crooked to form deep bowls. Jenny stepped uncertainly into his palm. Before she could doubt the wisdom of this she was swooping through the air, then she was softly nestled into one of the pouches. It was like being snuggled in a very strong and supporting sleeping bag. To her right was Dawn, then with another quiet movement Softy was to her left. Gentle stood back up and started pounding out the long miles.
With the comfort of the pouch and the relaxing rhythm of Gentle’s running it was hard to stay awake but Jenny forced herself. There was far too much to see to go to sleep. Despite it being late at night there was still lots of light to see by. The three moons shone beams of light through branches and into the rare clearings. There were also many strange luminous mosses.
They passed under trees that scraped the sky. Gentle, for the most part moved in straight li
nes but at times he had to jump over downed trees or around webs that spanned many trees. Jenny would not have been able to see it in the daylight, but in this light the drops of sparkling gem dew gave them away.
“That one was the size of our flats. Please do not tell me there are huge spiders here?” Jenny called to her companions.
“No, but there are spider people,” answered Gentle in a whisper.
Jenny saw all kinds of night birds and bats. They flitted from tree to tree or made disturbing night calls.
“Some of the birds seem to fly as if they are swimming like fish. They are not fish, are they?”
“Yes, they are. Why?”
“Most fish do not swim through the air where Jenny comes from.”
“They do not? How strange.”
Gentle had been right, his huge strides carried them miles farther in half the time it would have taken them on foot, but even given his long, long strides and his giant stamina he still needed to rest. The sky, visible through the occasional gaps in the tree canopy, slowly became brighter and the jungle still went on as far as the eye could see. Gentle came to a stop in a large clearing.
“I’m sorry, but I cannot go any farther tonight.”
“That’s all right, Gentle, ye have done us proud. Set us down in the centre of the circle and ye can rest.”
He gently placed each of them upon the ground, only it proved not to be the ground but a huge stone slab in the centre of a massive stone circle. It reminded Jenny of Stonehenge but was far bigger.
“Stay here. I will get firewood before it gets too light,” offered Softy.
“It is forbidden to light fires here. There is no need, the stones will provide.” Dawn started singing and as she sang music pulsed from the stones in rhythm with Dawn’s singing and a light slowly brightened. Heat came from the middle of the stone, as hot as a fire.
Softy the Troll Page 8