Otto Tattercoat and the Forest of Lost Things

by Matilda Woods

  “No! Don’t!” Ode cried.

  Nim grabbed Ode and pulled him towards her, trying to get him away from the orb. But it didn’t work. The orb hit Ode on the leg. He let out a scream that quickly faded as the giant was sucked inside. Nim had to let go so she wasn’t sucked in as well. As she pulled her hand away something came with it: a very small pipe.

  The orb clattered to the ground. Tiny Ode stood trapped in the glass. Blink went to snatch it, but the salesman whistled and the orb flew back to its owner. He threw it into his bag and clasped it shut.

  “Oh, don’t look so worried,” he said to Nim, Otto and Blink. “I’m not going to shrink down any of you. Most humans aren’t worth anything. Now, are you sure you won’t be buying anything? I own an awful lot.”

  “Of course we’re not going to buy anything!” Nim said. “You just shrunk our friend!”

  “In that case,” the salesman said, “I best be going.” He waved goodbye and continued along his path.

  “We can’t let him get away,” Otto said as the salesman faded from sight. “I bet he’s trapped my mother in one of his orbs. That’s why she never came back for me. She’s trapped, and we need to get her out.”

  Otto started to run after the salesman. Nim raced after him and pulled him back.

  “Don’t worry, Otto,” she said. “We don’t have to chase him. He’s going to come to us.”

  Nim raised Ode’s pipe to her mouth and began to play. Even though she had never played the instrument before, music came out and filtered through the woods.

  As Nim played, a rabbit bounced into the clearing. Then a deer bounded into the space followed by several winter birds. Eventually, the travelling salesman reappeared upon his path.

  “How did I get back here?” the salesman said when the music stopped. He stood right in front of Nim.

  He looked at the three humans and then down at the pipe.

  “Hey,” he said. “That’s a magical pipe, isn’t it? When you play that pipe it makes things come to you. Give it here.”

  Nim put the pipe behind her back. “I’m not going to give it to you, but I’d be willing to make a trade.”

  “For what?” the salesman asked.

  “For Ode and Marta.”

  “Who are they?”

  “The shrunken giant,” Nim said angrily.

  “And my mother!” Otto said. “The best coat maker in all of Dortzig. We know you have her somewhere.”

  The salesman laughed. “All right. All right. You can have them both, in exchange for that pipe.” He held out his hand.

  “I don’t trust you,” Nim said.

  “And rightly so,” the salesman agreed. “The last time I struck a deal like that I was left without a sundragon.”

  “A sundragon?” Nim said. She thought about the story Sage had told them while they were hiding under Frau Ferber’s factory. At the time, she had thought it was just that: a story. But Ode had shown her that giants were real and Islebill had proved witches were too. Maybe the sundragons did exist. And maybe if they could find one of them, the world might grow warm again. “Could we trade the pipe for one of them as well?”

  “You could if I had one,” the salesman said. He was starting to lose his patience. “They’re very rare. They’ve been hunted for centuries. I don’t even know if there are any left. Now, are you going to give me the pipe or will I have to take it?” He reached into his pocket and pulled out one of his orbs. He was about to throw it at Nim when a growl came from the trees.

  Ode’s pipe hadn’t just lured rabbits and deer to the clearing. It had also fallen upon the ears of seven wolves. They’d come close enough to overhear what was happening, and waited for just the right moment to leave the sanctuary of the trees and encircle the salesman.

  “Hello, Nim,” the lead wolf said. “Who’s this?”

  “The travelling salesman.”

  The wolf sniffed the air. “He smells like Islebill. Are you a friend of Islebill?”

  “I wouldn’t say friend,” the salesman said. “More like a customer.”

  “A customer of Islebill’s might make for a tasty meal,” said another of the wolves.

  Instead of looking scared, the travelling salesman looked excited.

  “I’ve never met a pack of talking wolves before. I could fetch a good price for you.”

  The salesman raised the orb to his shoulder. But before he could throw it, the white wolf pounced and knocked him to the ground. Several orbs fell out of his pocket and rolled across the snow, where they came to rest near Nim’s feet. The salesman desperately tried to grab one, but the wolves swatted the orbs away. The pack snarled and moved closer.

  With the salesman pinned to the ground, Blink snatched his bag and opened it.

  “What are you doing?” the salesman said as Blink searched through the contents. “Put them back,” he yelled as the boy began to pull out his orbs. He also found a few of Islebill’s potions. “You haven’t paid.”

  Blink pulled out one of the orbs and held it up towards the moonlight. Inside stood a lone tree. He put the orb back and pulled out another. Eventually, he found the orb he sought.

  “Ode!” Blink said when he saw the creature that stood inside. He looked down at the little giant who was now even littler. “How do we get him out?”

  The travelling salesman smirked. “Why would I tell you that?”

  Nim knew they couldn’t risk doing something wrong. If they broke the orb they might break the giant trapped inside. She needed to discover the truth of how to release him, and luckily she knew just the thing.

  Nim searched through the salesman’s bag. She wasn’t looking for something in an orb, but something he had just traded. She searched amongst Islebill’s potions until she found the one she sought.

  Nim opened the stopper on a jar of purple liquid. The label on the sign read: Honesty.

  “No!” the salesman said when his own eyes read the label. “I won’t drink it.”

  “Yes, you will,” Nim said.

  While the wolves stood guard, Nim poured the potion into the salesman’s mouth. When he had swallowed the purple liquid, Nim began to ask him some questions.

  “How do I get Ode out?”

  The salesman tried to keep his mouth closed. The longer he kept his mouth closed, the wider his eyes became. Soon, he could hold it in no longer. The truth had to come out.

  “Crack it open like an egg,” he said. “Three hits on the ground and then it breaks in two.”

  Blink did as the salesman said. He knelt and hit the orb on the ground three times. A crack appeared around its centre. When he pulled the two sides apart, Ode fell on to the snow.

  “Ode,” Nim said. “You’re all right.”

  “But I’m small,” Ode called sadly up into the sky. “Even smaller than before.”

  “Don’t worry. That’ll wear off in a day or two,” the salesman said, before clapping his hands over his mouth, as if to stop the truth bubbling out.

  Blink scooped Ode up and put him in his pocket.

  With the giant released, Blink, Nim and Otto began to search through the bag for something – or someone – else.

  At last Otto found the orb he sought. “Mother?”

  A little woman sat inside the glass, knitting together some cloth. Her long brown hair was tied in a plait. Her red coat was gone and her dress was all tattered. Even though he hadn’t stopped searching for his mother, deep down Otto had feared it was a pointless task: she truly was gone for ever. But now, he could see she wasn’t. His greatest dream – his biggest wish – had come true. He’d found his mother. And this time, unlike in the summer wood, it was real.

  Otto’s mother did not respond as her son called out her name. It was like she was trapped in a world of her own. She didn’t even notice as the orb was lowered to the ground, and barely stirred as it was tapped on the forest floor three times.

  When the orb cracked and Otto pulled the sides apart, his mother dropped on to the ground. She was s
maller than his shoe.

  Released from the orb that had trapped her for three months, Marta looked up at the world around her. She squealed and jumped away when she saw the three giants. Then, she recognized a face.

  “Otto? Is that you?”

  “Mother!” Otto cried. He wanted to scoop her up in a hug but was afraid he would squash her. He lowered his hand to the ground and she stepped on to his palm. She hugged one of his fingers as he lifted her into the air.

  “What’s happened?” Marta said. Otto’s face was as large as the moon. “You’ve turned into a giant.”

  “No I haven’t. You’ve been shrunken down. But don’t worry, you’ll grow back.”

  “I can’t believe it’s really you,” his mother said. She reached out with her tiny hands and touched his face. “My little Otto has grown so big. I missed you more than anything.”

  “I missed you too,” Otto said. “I never stopped looking for you.”

  “And now you’ve found me.” His mother smiled at him. “I’ll never leave you again.”

  Otto placed his mother carefully into his pocket. They were ready to leave, but there was still one problem.

  “Please, can I have my bag back?” the travelling salesman said. “I need to go.” He looked up at the setting moon and gulped. It would be dawn soon.

  “Why should we give it back?” Nim said.

  “Because I have to go. If I don’t make it to the end of the path before the sun rises, I’ll disappear and never come back. It’s the curse of being a traveller. I can live for ever, if I only appear for one night a month.”

  Nim didn’t mind the sound of the travelling salesman disappearing for ever. After all, it was clear he was not a very nice man. But she also didn’t want to be responsible for causing something like that.

  “I’ll give the bag back,” Nim said. “But on one condition.”

  “Anything,” the salesman said. But then honesty got the better of him and he clarified: “Almost anything.”

  “You have to let all of your shrunken things go. And you can’t steal anything else.”

  “But that’s what I do,” the salesman said. “I steal things and shrink them down. That’s all I’m good for.”

  “Then you can’t have your bag,” Nim replied.

  “Fine,” the salesman snarled. “I won’t have my bag. But please let me go. I don’t want to disappear into the dawn.”

  “All right,” Nim said. She turned to the wolves. “You can let him go. Besides, he won’t be able to do much without his bag of things and he doesn’t have any orbs.”

  “Thank you,” the salesman said. “Thank you very much.” He stood to leave, but Nim had one final question.

  “Wait,” she said. “You said something before about losing a sundragon.”

  “Oh, yes,” he said. For the first time, the traveling salesman actually looked sad.

  “What do you mean? What happened to it?”

  “Fifty years ago, on a full moon like this, a group of humans entered the woods in search of eight missing men. They stumbled upon me and thought I was the murderer. Before I could trap them in an orb they trapped me in a cage and started to wheel me back to the city. They stopped for a break and left a young woman to keep watch. I told her she could choose any of my orbs and keep it for free if she let me go. So that’s what she did. She unlocked the cage and let me out. She chose the orb with a baby sundragon inside: the last sundragon I ever found. I have no idea what she did with it. But I do know this. Ever since I lost that sundragon, the world has been growing colder. One day it will grow so cold everything will freeze.”

  Nim thought back to what the wolves had told her. They had said they believed a human was behind the cold. At the time, Nim had dismissed this. She didn’t think any human would be strong enough to take away the heat of the sun. But maybe a human who had a sundragon could.

  “What was the woman’s name?” Nim asked, as her heart began to beat faster.

  “Flora Ferber,” he said.

  And Nim’s heart lurched in response.

  30

  THE SECOND CELLAR

  “We need to find out what happened to that sundragon,” Nim said to Otto and Blink. Night lay heavy around them. The wolves had gone deeper into the woods to sleep, and little Ode was leading them back to the city.

  Eager to escape from the forest full of lost things, they walked quickly through the trees. They feared that if they waited too long they would encounter another dangerous creature and might never make it back home.

  “Do we really?” Otto asked. Now that he had his mother back he just wanted things to return to normal.

  “Things won’t be normal if we don’t find out what happened. You heard what the salesman said. The world will keep growing colder. Eventually every day will feel as cold as a coldstorm. We’ll all freeze.”

  “What should we do?” Blink asked.

  “I’m not sure,” Nim said. “But if Frau Ferber is behind this, we have to go to the factory.”

  “Maybe we can help the other children while we’re there,” Otto said. Now that he had his mother back, he wanted to help all the children who had helped him while he was trapped in that awful place. “But how are we going to get inside?”

  “Easy,” Nim said. “We’ll knock on the front door.”

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Otto whispered to Nim.

  The three children stood on the front step of Frau Ferber’s factory. All the windows above were black. Everyone was in bed.

  “Trust me,” Nim whispered back. “I’ve got a plan.”

  Before Otto or Blink could talk her out of it, Nim reached out and knocked sharply on the front door. When nothing happened, she knocked louder. Eventually, they heard footsteps approaching the door and saw a flicker of light through one of the windows.

  “Run!” Nim said.

  The three of them raced down the street and hid behind the corner of the building. They had just darted out of sight when the factory door opened.

  Heinz stepped down on to the street. A pool of flickering light surrounded him.

  “Hello?” He held out his lantern and looked up and down the road, so focused on seeing a person he failed to note the small rat hiding in the shadows.

  Nibbles scrambled up the boy’s trouser leg and untied the keys that hung from his belt. When the chain fell loose, Nibbles launched himself on to the ground and scurried off down the street.

  “Is anyone there?” Heinz called into the empty street.

  When no one answered he turned around and went back inside. The door closed and then reopened.

  A confused-looking Heinz stepped outside. Instead of looking up the road, he looked down at the cobbles, searching for something.

  “What the…?” Heinz mumbled. He couldn’t see anything on the ground. He raised his hand to his empty belt to check if he had been mistaken. Maybe the keys were still there? When they weren’t, he scratched his head.

  “What are you doing?” Helmut yelled from inside the factory. His brother was taking so long, he’d come to check if everything was all right.

  “I’ve lost my keys. I must have had them when I came down. How else could I have unlocked the door?”

  Helmut joined Heinz on the front step. He too held a lantern. They looked around the factory entrance but could see no sign of any keys.

  “You’re such a dunce,” Helmut said. “Mother’s not going to be happy about this.”

  “You won’t tell her, will you?” Heinz asked.

  “I won’t have to. It won’t take long for her to realize you can’t open any of the doors. Come on.” He turned from the street. “It’s too cold and dark. We’ll search again in the morning.”

  The boys went back inside. Helmut locked the door. The light of the lanterns passed by a window upstairs and then went out. The factory grew dark.

  Nim, Blink and Otto left the shadows and ran up to the front door, where Nibbles was triumphantly dragging a set of key
s.

  “That was your best steal yet,” Nim said.

  “Even I couldn’t have done a better job,” Blink agreed.

  “Hear! Hear!” Ode said as his little head peered out from beneath Blink’s coat.

  “Absolutely splendid,” Otto’s mother agreed. She was still in her son’s coat.

  Nibbles handed the keys to Nim before scurrying into her pocket.

  Nim glanced up at the factory. Certain no lights were on, she put the longest key into the lock. The front door clicked open.

  Nim, Blink and Otto stepped into the factory. Blink lit his lantern and the factory floor came into sight.

  “It’s so warm in here,” Blink said. “Almost as warm as the summer wood.”

  “What do we do now?” Otto whispered.

  “We search for the orb,” Nim said.

  They searched the factory floor first. The only glass they found were the jars used to store the boot polish. They rose to the second floor which held the sleeping quarters. The children slept in one room. On the other side of the landing were a further two rooms. One was Frau Ferber’s bedroom, the other belonged to her sons.

  “The orb won’t be in our old bedroom,” Otto said. “Frau Ferber would never keep anything precious in there. If it’s in any bedroom it will be one of them.” He nodded to the two doors at the other end of the landing. None of the children wanted to go in there, but they knew they must. Otto wasn’t the greatest at sneaking about and stealing things. But someone else was. “Do you think you can do it, Blink?”

  “Of course. I am the best thief, after all. And the quickest.”

  While Nim unlocked the door to Heinz and Helmut’s room, Blink took off his shoes. He handed the lantern to Otto. Its light would surely wake the sleeping brothers up.

  “Wish me luck,” Blink said as he slipped into the room.

  Heinz and Helmut were quiet sleepers. They didn’t snore as Blink darted on tiptoes around the room. The full moon’s light shone through the window and provided just enough illumination to see. Blink ran his hands along the dresser and searched every drawer. There were only clothes inside. He also peered under the two beds – nothing – and then checked the table between them. All it held was two lanterns, dark but still warm from their recent trip to answer the front door.