The Key to Rondo

by Emily Rodda

  At that moment, the last chime struck. Instantly, the butterflies plummeted downward as if they were being sucked by a vacuum cleaner. Before the sound of the chime had faded away, they had flattened themselves against the front of the box and disappeared beneath the painted surface.

  It was almost as shocking as seeing them appear in the first place.

  Leo closed the box’s lid. He noticed that his hands were trembling slightly, and clenched his fists.

  Mimi wet her lips. ‘Imagine!’ she said after a moment. ‘Aunt Bethany had the music box for all that time, and she never knew…’

  Leo nodded. ‘Because she never turned the key more than three times,’ he said slowly. ‘I suppose her Uncle Henry knew she wouldn’t. That’s why he left the music box to her. He knew she’d keep the rules.’

  ‘Same reason she left it to you,’ said Mimi.

  Leo winced, but she didn’t notice.

  ‘I wonder how long this has been going on?’ she mused. ‘I mean, Uncle Henry didn’t sound the sort to break rules either. He was the really steady, responsible one who always did the right thing. Like you.’

  ‘Yes,’ Leo said shortly.

  She glanced at him. ‘Don’t be cross,’ she said seriously. ‘Be glad. If you hadn’t been good and responsible and everything, Aunt Bethany would never have left you the music box in the first place. Then today would never have happened!’

  That’s one way of looking at it, Leo thought. A weird sort of way. Suddenly he grinned. ‘I’m going to try it again,’ he said. ‘Maybe this time we can get all twelve of the butterflies to come out.’

  ‘Yes,’ Mimi agreed, nodding vigorously. ‘Try turning the key five times. Or maybe even six! That would make the tune play three times exactly, and three’s a magic number.’

  Leo thought about it. ‘I don’t want to break the spring,’ he said at last.

  Mimi snorted. ‘You won’t. Just don’t force the key to turn further than you think it wants to go. You’ll feel it, when it’s time to stop. Do you want me to –?’

  ‘No, it’s okay,’ Leo interrupted. He picked up the music box. He turned the key. One, two, three, four, five times. Gently, his heart in his mouth, he began a sixth turn and, feeling no resistance, completed it.

  ‘Now we’ll see,’ he said, putting the box down again and opening the lid.

  The strange, sweet music began. Leo waited breathlessly.

  ‘Now!’ Mimi said. And as she spoke, the first two butterflies began peeling from the box.

  A little irritated, Leo glanced at her.

  She blinked at him. ‘You can tell by the music,’ she said simply.

  Leo looked back at the box. The first butterflies were already fluttering around the lid, and five more flimsy blue shapes were flaking away from the painted surface.

  ‘It’s happening faster this time,’ he said, excitement driving away his irritation. ‘They are learning. And – oh!’

  A different shape had begun peeling from the surface of the box. It was small, round and brown with a thin ribbon of a tail.

  ‘It’s a mouse!’ Mimi hissed. Nervously she glanced behind her at Mutt, but the little dog slept on.

  In seconds the smallest, cutest mouse Leo had ever seen was crouched beside the music box. It was furry and plump, and its tail was very long. It had tiny pink paws and round pink ears. Around its neck it wore a fine gold chain from which dangled a white square of what looked like folded paper.

  The mouse sat up on its hind legs and blinked expectantly at Leo and Mimi. After a moment, it put its head on one side and twitched its whiskers in a puzzled sort of way.

  Mimi and Leo stood, staring. The mouse made a small, huffing sound, plucked the white square from the gold chain, and put it on the desk. It nudged the square forward with one of its paws. Then it turned around and scuttled rapidly back to the music box, flattening out just before it hit the painted surface and quickly disappearing from sight.

  ‘What was that all about?’ Leo exclaimed. He reached out to pick up the little white square, but snatched his hand back with a yell.

  Something else had begun peeling from the surface of the box – the shape of a woman in a long blue dress, growing as he watched.

  Leo stumbled back. He heard Mimi gasp, and Mutt begin to yap.

  The woman-shape, flat and flimsy as a cardboard cutout, separated from the box and drifted free, flapping slightly in the air.

  Leo and Mimi backed away as far as they could without actually falling onto the bed. Mimi snatched up the yapping Mutt and held him tightly.

  And the next instant, the flimsy shape had thickened into life, and a beautiful, richly dressed woman was standing on the rug in front of the desk, looking around the room with interest.

  Her eyes stopped at the frantically barking dog. ‘Be still,’ she said softly.

  Mutt fell abruptly silent. The sweet, slow chiming of the music box filled the room. Leo and Mimi stood frozen, staring.

  Gems and gold glimmered at the woman’s throat, in her ears and on her long fingers. The wide skirts of her dark blue gown rustled as she moved. Her hair, so fair that it was almost white, was swept up into an elaborate arrangement of coils and ringlets encircled by a jewelled crown.

  And Leo knew who she was. He’d seen her dozens of times, standing on the drawbridge of her castle on the back of the music box. This was the woman he had always thought of as the Blue Queen.

  Chapter 5

  The Key

  The queen raised her eyebrows at Mimi and Leo. Her pale green eyes were amused. ‘I fear I have startled you,’ she said in a low, musical voice. ‘Were you not expecting me?’

  Then, as if she’d suddenly remembered something, she glanced behind her at the music box, which was now surrounded by a butterfly cloud. She turned around and closed the lid.

  The music was cut off abruptly but to Leo’s astonishment the butterflies continued fluttering around as before, and the Blue Queen didn’t disappear either. She remained bent over Leo’s desk, staring down at the music box.

  ‘So it is true,’ she murmured to herself. Her slim fingers tapped the desk and her rings flashed in the sunlight.

  ‘Why is she still here?’ Leo whispered to Mimi. ‘The music’s stopped!’

  ‘It’s been stopped, but it hasn’t run down, has it?’ Mimi whispered back. ‘The lid was shut while it was still playing. Remember the fourth rule?’

  Never close the lid until the music has stopped.

  Leo swallowed and nodded. He couldn’t speak.

  ‘I think it works like this,’ Mimi said as calmly as if she was explaining a maths problem to a rather slow friend. ‘The music unlocks the gate of the music box world. Four turns are enough to make the gate swing open – wide enough to let things like the butterflies out. Five or six turns open it enough for – for anything.’

  Anything. Leo took a deep breath, trying to pull himself together.

  He turned back to look at the Blue Queen and felt a tiny chill. ‘And the gate stays open until the music runs down,’ he muttered. ‘That’s why she shut the lid.’

  ‘That’s right,’ Mimi said. ‘While the box stays shut, she can stay here for as long as she wants.’

  ‘Indeed I can, my dear,’ the woman said, swinging around with a rustle of silken skirts. She was smiling, but to Leo the smile had a false look, as if she’d pasted it onto her face just a moment before. She was holding the small white square of folded paper that the mouse had left on the desk.

  Mutt had begun struggling violently in Mimi’s arms. ‘Mutt, stop it!’ hissed Mimi, holding onto him with difficulty.

  Slowly, keeping her eyes on them, the Blue Queen began to unfold the paper. She remained with her back to the desk, which was completely hidden by her billowing skirts.

  That’s what she wants, Leo thought with a shock. She’s blocking the music box deliberately so we can’t get to it.

  And suddenly he wanted to reach the box very badly. He wanted to open the lid a
nd let the music play till it slowed and died away. He wanted the Blue Queen and the butterflies to go back where they came from. He wanted all this weirdness to stop!

  Frantically he tried to think of a way to make the woman move away from the desk. He doubted he’d be able to push her aside, even if he dared to try it. He needed a distraction.

  The woman finished unfolding the paper, and glanced down at it.

  Mutt was still wriggling, ignoring Mimi’s whispered pleas and commands to be still.

  ‘Put him down,’ Leo muttered.

  Mimi shook her head.

  ‘You’re holding him too tightly,’ hissed Leo. ‘Let him go!’

  He pulled at Mimi’s arm, taking her by surprise. Her elbow jerked upward, her grip loosened, and Mutt seized his chance. As Mimi squealed he ducked his head, slithered under her arm and half-fell, half-leaped to the ground.

  If Leo had been hoping that Mutt would create the distraction he needed, he was disappointed. Mutt just crouched where he had fallen, watching the Blue Queen intently. And the queen didn’t move. She merely looked up, and suddenly her face changed.

  Her green eyes widened and brightened. The false, pasted-on smile broadened and became real.

  She screwed up the scrap of paper and tossed it on the floor. She smiled at the little dog.

  ‘So you are Mutt,’ she said gently. ‘Come, Mutt.’

  She stretched out her hand. Mutt whined softly and crawled forward on his belly till his front paws were touching the hem of her dress.

  ‘Mutt, come here!’ Mimi called, her voice sharp with surprise.

  The woman laughed softly. ‘Let him be,’ she said, fixing Mimi with her strange, pale green eyes. ‘He merely wants to be sure we will take him with us when we return to Rondo together. And so we shall.’

  Leo’s stomach lurched.

  ‘Rondo,’ Mimi said faintly. ‘Your world is called… Rondo?’

  A tiny, puzzled crease appeared between the Blue Queen’s perfect eyebrows. She put her head to one side and studied Mimi thoughtfully. ‘Rondo is the name of my world, indeed,’ she said, after a moment. ‘I am surprised you do not know it, for it is your world, too, to wander as you wish.’

  Mimi swallowed. ‘You mean – we can go into the music box?’ she almost squeaked. ‘Now?’

  ‘Of course!’ The Blue Queen shrugged her shoulders elegantly. ‘Why should you wait? You have denied yourself for far too long already. And that is why I am here – to be your guide to Rondo’s wonders.’

  ‘Wonders,’ Mimi murmured.

  In Rondo you can be anything you want to be, my dear,’ the woman said. ‘You can be rich. You can be beautiful…’ She paused, and suddenly her eyes, fixed on Mimi, seemed to flash and her voice softened, becoming as smooth and sweet as honey. ‘You can be admired. You can have friends – as many as you wish. You can have anything your heart desires.’

  Leo realised that he had been holding his breath. He let it out with a little gasp and drew fresh air into his lungs.

  ‘We’re very happy in our own world, thanks,’ he said. He’d meant to sound firm, but the words came out in a childish, squeaky rush.

  Mimi said nothing. Small, thin and awkward, she stood with her arms folded tightly across her chest. Mutt was lying motionless at the visitor’s feet, looking up with adoring eyes.

  ‘You do not understand, I think,’ the Blue Queen said in her honey-sweet voice. ‘This is a great gift that others – members of your own family – have tried to prevent you from receiving.’

  She saw Leo frown, and her lips curved in amusement.

  ‘You did no wrong by breaking rules made in jealousy and spite,’ she said. ‘And there is nothing to fear in entering my world.’

  ‘It’s not going in I’m worried about so much,’ Leo muttered, though this was not quite true. ‘It’s getting out again.’

  The queen laughed musically. ‘You do not seem to understand how special you are,’ she said. ‘Others of your kind are in danger, certainly. If they were foolish enough to enter the box, with the help of someone from Rondo, they would quickly discover they were trapped, because return by the same means is impossible. You are different. While you carry the Key, you can come and go as you please, as so many other Langlanders have done in their time.’

  ‘Key?’ Leo repeated blankly.

  ‘You can’t take the winder out of the base of the music box,’ Mimi said at the same moment. ‘It’s fixed in place. It’s –’

  The woman’s smile grew wider and she clapped her hands. ‘Ah, you have been kept quite in ignorance, then!’ she exclaimed. ‘Ah, how amusing! How foolish!’

  She realised that Mimi and Leo were staring at her, and shook her head. ‘I am sorry,’ she said, the smile still tweaking the corners of her mouth. ‘I was taken by surprise when I found you did not know. The thing we call the Key is not a real key. It is a magic object… a talisman, which allows you to enter and leave Rondo at will.’

  She studied their bewildered faces for a moment. Then, smiling, she drew a ring from the little finger of her left hand. The ring was gold, set with small, glittering black stones.

  ‘This is the Key,’ she said, holding the ring out to Mimi. ‘This is your birthright, lost to you for far too long. Take it and come with me now, Bethany Langlander!’

  Mimi took a step forward.

  ‘No!’ Leo shouted, grabbing her and dragging her back. Mimi struggled furiously, but he held on.

  ‘You must not interfere, dear boy,’ said the Blue Queen calmly. ‘Your sister must do as she wishes.’

  ‘He’s not my brother!’ shrieked Mimi.

  ‘And she’s not Bethany Langlander!’ Leo shouted. ‘Aunt Bethany died. This is Mimi Langlander. And she can’t –’

  ‘Shut up, you idiot!’ screeched Mimi. Making a final, violent effort she twisted herself out of Leo’s grip. Trembling all over, rubbing her arms as if Leo’s fingers had bruised her, she eyed the Blue Queen fearfully.

  The woman had grown very still. After a moment she slowly lowered her hand.

  ‘That explains it,’ she murmured. ‘Of course – I was forgetting how quickly time passes in this world.’

  She closed her eyes, then opened them again and smiled at Mimi, ignoring Leo completely. ‘So poor, timid Bethany was cheated of her destiny after all,’ she said softly. ‘I am glad that you have not made her mistake, Mimi Langlander.’

  Again she held out her hand. The ring lay on her palm, its black stones glittering.

  Mimi frowned very slightly, then her lips firmed. She turned to Leo, looked straight into his eyes, then turned back to face the Blue Queen and moved forward.

  Do something, Leo told himself. Stop this!

  But he hesitated. There had been such a strange expression in Mimi’s eyes – an intent, pleading look, as if she were urging him to understand something she couldn’t say aloud.

  Maybe I don’t have the right to stop her, Leo thought dazedly. Maybe …

  And at that very moment, Mimi ducked smartly under the woman’s outstretched hand, grabbed Mutt and threw herself to one side, out of reach, with the little dog clutched in her arms.

  The queen cried out in shock and anger. With a swirl of blue silk, she twisted and sprang at Mimi, both hands outstretched, the fingers curved like claws.

  ‘Now!’ Mimi screamed. But Leo was already moving. The moment the queen stepped away from the desk, he had known what he had to do, what Mimi expected him to do.

  He snatched up the music box and the butterflies scattered in panic. He flipped the box lid open. The slow, sweet chimes signalling the end of the tune began.

  The Blue Queen spun around. Her face was no longer beautiful. It was a mask of rage, with narrowed eyes and teeth bared in a snarl.

  Holding the chiming music box close to his chest, Leo grabbed his desk chair with his free hand and pulled it after him as he stumbled backwards towards the door.

  Never pick up the box while the music is playing…

&nb
sp; The words of the third rule flashed into his mind, but he knew he’d had no choice. The Blue Queen lunged at him. He shoved the chair forward on its castors, jabbing it at her, keeping it between them.

  The music was slowing, slowing. How long did it have to go? He backed, thrusting the chair forward with his left hand, gripping the box so tightly with his right hand that the fingers were white.

  The door was behind him, but he couldn’t open it. He didn’t dare let go of the chair, or the music box either. The chimes were even slower now. The tune had nearly finished playing for the third time. He could hear it.

  The Blue Queen could hear it too. Hissing, she seized the seat of the desk chair and violently tipped it sideways. Leo lost his grip and the chair crashed onto its side, its castors spinning uselessly.

  The Blue Queen sprang, reaching for the box, but jerked back with a shriek of rage. Mimi, still clutching Mutt, had grabbed a handful of her skirt. The woman spun round and kicked at Mimi viciously, at the same time trying to pull her skirt free.

  There was the sound of tearing silk. The queen staggered as she was abruptly released. Mimi fell backwards, a ragged triangle of blue fabric in her hand. Her elbow hit the corner of the bedside table and she yelled in pain. Mutt yelped and struggled and she let him go. He scrabbled to his feet and shook himself.

  The music was ending. There was one chime and a pause, two chimes and a longer pause…

  We’ve done it, Leo thought, dizzy with relief. We’ve –

  ‘Mutt!’ shrieked the Blue Queen, bending towards the little dog. And as the third and last chime of the music sounded, Mutt whined piteously and leaped into her arms.

  ‘No!’ Mimi screamed.

  But it was too late. Already the Blue Queen had become a flat shape flapping in the breeze from the window. Suddenly she was just a flimsy, cut-out picture of a woman – a woman holding a tousled, mustard-coloured dog.

  Rigid with shock, Leo saw flashes of blue in front of his eyes. The butterflies, flat as paper, were being sucked back into the box. Then the woman-shape was rushing towards him. Its painted face was grinning horribly. Leo screwed up his eyes and turned his head away. He felt a sort of jolt. The lid of the box fell shut with a snap.