by E. D. Baker
Maggie started to walk home alone, dragging her feet all the way. She knew how angry her stepmother would be when she got there. Knowing that she probably wouldn’t get supper again, Maggie nibbled a handful of the berries she had collected.
She hadn’t gone far when she heard a girl crying. Maggie hurried down the path, where she found a girl with dark brown braids clutching a long, pink ribbon. When the girl saw Maggie, she used her fists to scrub tears from her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” Maggie asked.
“My goose got away,” said the girl. “I don’t know how to find her.”
“I can help you look for her,” said Maggie. “What’s your goose’s name?”
“Eglantine,” the girl told her. “My name is Stella. My father told me to watch her today. She’s a very special goose. If you see her, you’ll know it’s Eglantine. She’s much prettier than most geese and her feathers are beautiful snowy white.”
“That’s a lovely name,” said Maggie. “If we both look, we should be able to find her.”
“We need to hurry. Father expects me back before it starts to rain again,” Stella said.
Searching the nearby shrubs, Maggie called out for the goose. “Eglantine! Eglantine!”
Stella called out, too, looking in the tree branches above.
They each took one side of the path. The girls looked and looked, but there was no sign of Eglantine.
“What does she like to eat?” asked Maggie.
“She likes corn and oats and cracked wheat,” said Stella. “And also mosquitoes and flies and tadpoles.”
“I know where we might find some tadpoles,” said Maggie. She led the girl back down the path to the lake. They walked around the lake to the shallow end. There they saw a goose with sparkling white feathers chasing tadpoles.
“Eglantine!” cried Stella.
The goose snatched a tadpole out of the water.
“Does she usually come when you call her?” asked Maggie.
“Only at feeding time,” said Stella.
“Do you have any feed for her?”
“Not with me.”
“I have an idea,” said Maggie. She stepped into the water and tried to catch some tadpoles, but they were too fast and slippery. After slipping and sliding and nearly falling down, she decided that she wasn’t going to be able to catch them with her hands. Taking off her shoe, she used it to scoop up water.
“Aha, gotcha!” Maggie smiled. She had caught two tadpoles. Moments after she’d set the tadpoles on the ground, the goose waddled out of the water and devoured them.
“Eglantine!” Stella cried, throwing her arms around the goose. She slipped the ribbon around the goose’s neck.
Suddenly, the goose sat down. When she stood up, a golden egg lay on the ground.
“Here, this is for you,” Stella said. She handed the golden egg to Maggie.
Maggie gasped. “Are you sure?” she asked. “This looks like gold!”
“Oh yes. I’m sure,” said Stella. “Eglantine lays them all the time. Thank you for helping me find her!”
Maggie examined the egg. It looked like real gold to her!
When Stepmother sees this, maybe she won’t be so mad after all! she thought.
Chapter 7
Dark clouds were rolling in when Maggie finally reached the cottage. Her heart sank when she saw Zelia and Peter waiting for her on the front doorstep.
“What were you thinking?” Zelia snapped. “Peter said you let a fish go—on purpose!”
Maggie nodded. “It’s true, I did. But it was a talking fish. It promised to grant me a wish if I let it go.”
“Fish don’t talk, Maggie. You probably just heard its last gasps of air. You always let your imagination run wild! This time you cost the entire family a nice supper!” Zelia shouted.
“I brought berries with me, though,” said Maggie.
“Berries and two little fish. That’s not enough for supper! You don’t think of anyone but yourself. And what took you so long to get back here?”
“I was right behind Peter, but then I helped a girl catch her goose. I brought you this, Stepmother.” Maggie held out the egg.
“What is that?” asked Peter, taking it from her.
“A golden egg,” said Maggie. “Be careful with it! The goose laid it. The girl gave it to me for helping her.”
“That’s ridiculous!” exclaimed Zelia. “There is no such thing as a goose that lays golden eggs.”
“Wait, Mother. Look at this,” Peter said. He handed the egg to her. “I think it might be real.”
Zelia looked exasperated. She held the egg as if she was going to throw it away . . . until she examined it more closely. She rubbed it with her finger, gently digging her fingernail into it. “It just might be,” Zelia said under her breath. She turned back to Maggie. “Where did you say you got this?”
“The girl who owned the goose gave it to me,” said Maggie.
Zelia’s eyes narrowed. “The girl has a goose that lays golden eggs and all you got was one egg? Why didn’t you bring home the goose? Do you know how much we could have used all of its eggs?”
“It wasn’t mine to bring home,” Maggie replied. “Eglantine belongs to another family.”
Zelia’s face turned red. “You lose our supper and a golden goose all in one day! I can’t believe it. I’m sick and tired of your foolishness and all your lies. You cost us more than you’re worth. I don’t want you here any longer.”
Tears began to fill Maggie’s eyes. “What are you saying?”
“You’re no longer welcome in this cottage. Go away, Maggie, and don’t ever come back!”
“I was born in this cottage! I’ve lived here my whole life,” Maggie cried. “This is my home! Father would never make me leave home like this!”
“But he’s not here, so I’m in charge. This isn’t your home anymore,” said Zelia. “It’s time for you to find a new one!”
Maggie scrubbed the tears from her eyes with her knuckles. She didn’t like Zelia and Peter anyway. Any place would be better without them!
Chapter 8
It started to rain as Maggie walked away from the cottage. Angry and bewildered, her tears felt hot on her cheeks. How could Zelia kick her out? If only Maggie could tell her father!
Maggie stumbled down the path as the rain poured and the wind blew. She wasn’t thinking about where she was going.
The wind got colder. Maggie shivered and looked around. She had reached the main road. In a few hours, it would be night. Then she wouldn’t be able to find her way.
Maggie wondered what she should do. She didn’t have any relatives around who could take her in. Bob was the only person who had been really nice to her, but his magic stable was so far away. She would be soaked to the bone before she made it that far!
Thunder rumbled as she stopped to think. She needed to find a place where she could get out of the storm. Although she knew of a few caves where she would be dry, none of them were empty. A grumpy black bear lived in one. A family of wolves lived in another. Something she’d never seen lived in the third, but she had heard it growl and she definitely didn’t want to go any closer. Maggie saw that she wasn’t far from the ruins. She hurried along the path. Her wet clothes clung to her body, making her more uncomfortable. Water streamed from her hair. When she finally spotted the ruins, she climbed over the first big rocks and crawled under the next big ones. Finding a dry spot big enough for her, she sat down, shivering.
A rock fell. Suddenly, other rocks scraped against each other.
“Owiee! I stub my big toe! It hurt,” a voice cried out.
“You have big feet!” said another voice. “You always stub toe.”
Maggie huddled in her space between the rocks. She had heard these voices before: once in a field of wild flowers, and once on the road with Bob and Leonard. The goblins were here and they sounded close by.
Maggie dug around in her pocket until she found a small, hard triangle. It was the tip o
f the silver unicorn’s horn that he had given to her when she pulled prickers from his mane. The little piece of horn was the only thing that could protect her now. Bob had told her that unicorn horns destroyed poison. There was poison in goblin blood. Any goblin that even touched a unicorn horn would go poof! and vanish. Maggie took the tiny piece out of her pocket and held it tightly in her hand.
Thunder boomed overhead. “Agh!” shrieked the goblins.
“Me hate thunder!” cried one.
“Me hate it more!” yelled another.
“Me hate it most!” shouted the third. “Quick, under rock before thunder get us.”
Maggie waited, her heart pounding as the goblins came closer. The moment they stuck their heads under her big rock, Maggie held up the piece of unicorn horn. The piece of horn began to glow. The goblins screamed.
“Unicorn!” they cried. Their faces disappeared from the opening.
The goblins were clumsy as they ran away and bumped into everything. Small rocks bounced against bigger rocks while other rocks crashed to the ground. Maggie waited until she couldn’t hear them anymore before she crawled out from under the rocks. She peeked her head out and made sure everything was clear before setting out again. When she safely reached the path, she started to run. The goblins were gone, but other creatures would be looking for shelter. There was only one place where she was sure she’d be safe even though it wouldn’t be easy to get to—the magic stable.
Maggie slipped and slid as she ran down the road. Tripping over a rock, she landed on her hands and knees in a puddle.
“Ow!” Maggie cried. She was just getting to her feet when she felt something nudge her from behind. Startled, she turned around and found the silver unicorn that had once chased away the goblins. It was the same unicorn that had given her the tip of his horn. She gasped when the unicorn knelt down, as if offering her a ride.
When the unicorn didn’t move, Maggie climbed onto his back. She dug her fingers into his mane and held on as he started to gallop down the road. Pounding rain stung her eyes, and cold wind chilled her as the unicorn carried her past the mill, beyond the castle, and all the way to Bob’s stable.
It was pitch dark when Maggie slipped off the unicorn’s back. “Thank you!” she told him, stroking his cheek. “You saved me twice now!”
The unicorn nickered, bumping her with his head. When he turned and disappeared into the storm, Maggie hurried into the stable, dripping wet from head to toe. She found an empty stall where she piled clean hay in a corner and curled up, still shivering.
The stable was warm and soon she was sound asleep.
Chapter 9
“She must have showed up during the storm last night.”
Maggie woke and rubbed her eyes. At first she didn’t know where she was. She didn’t remember until she heard Leonard’s voice as he continued speaking. “She’s in the stall next to Patrick and Marsden.”
Maggie sat up. She was pulling hay from her hair when Bob peeked in the stall. “Good morning, Maggie. You spent the night here?” he asked.
Maggie nodded. “I’m sorry. I promise I didn’t touch or hurt anything. And I tried not to use much hay.”
“I’m not worried about that!” said Bob. “Just tell me what happened. Why are you here?”
As she told Bob about everything that her stepmother had said, Maggie’s eyes filled with tears again. She didn’t want to cry in front of him, but she couldn’t seem to help it. She felt so alone and missed her father terribly.
“Your stepmother kicked you out of your home during the storm last night?” said Bob. “That weather wasn’t fit for anyone—human or beast!”
Maggie nodded again.
“I can’t believe you walked all that way in this terrible weather!” said Bob.
“I walked only part of the way,” Maggie told him. “I hid in the ruins for a while, but I left after the goblins found me. I scared them off with my own piece of unicorn horn. You won’t believe it, but the silver unicorn came along and gave me a ride here!”
“Goblins! I’m glad you had that piece of horn with you. And to think the unicorn came by just then! It sounds as if you’ve made a good friend,” Bob said.
“Do you really think so?” Maggie asked, her eyes shining through her tears. “When he first showed up, I couldn’t believe that a unicorn had come to help me.”
“Unicorns don’t help just anyone,” said Bob. “He must think you’re very special. Don’t you worry, Maggie. You’re welcome to stay here for as long as you want!”
“Thank you!” Maggie told him. She coughed. A moment later, she coughed again.
“Are you all right?” asked Bob. He knelt down to feel her forehead. “You have a fever! No wonder, being out in a storm like that. I’ll be right back. Stay here while I get something for your fever.”
Maggie lay down again. She wasn’t feeling very well. Then Maggie realized that she must have dozed off, because a few minutes later she opened her eyes and Bob was back.
“Drink this. It’s my own recipe,” he said, spooning medicine into her mouth. He handed her a cup of hot tea.
Maggie drank the tea, listening to Bob go from stall to stall as he fed the magical animals. She wanted to help, but she didn’t have the strength to get up and offer. Instead, she fell asleep again. While she slept, she dreamed of flying pigs. They smeared mud all over row after row of clean laundry hanging on clotheslines. When Zelia appeared in the dream, the pigs smeared mud all over her, too.
Maggie woke as Bob came back with a bowl of chicken soup. She was eating the soup when an older woman entered the stall. The woman took one look at Maggie and said, “This won’t do at all!”
“I’m sorry,” Maggie said as she started to get up. “I didn’t mean to trouble anyone. I’ll leave now.”
“You most certainly will not!” said the woman. “I’m Nora, Bob’s wife. He told me what happened. Sending a young girl like you out into a storm! It’s disgraceful! And now you’re sick. Listen, we have an extra bed in our cottage and you’re welcome to it. I just got everything ready for you. Come inside right now, young lady. We’ll get you better in no time!”
Chapter 10
Maggie lay back in the bed and sighed. It wasn’t at all like the bed her father had made, with its lumpy straw mattress that poked her. This one had a feather mattress and soft, warm blankets. It was so comfortable that she wasn’t sure she’d ever want to get up.
Maggie had been in the cottage for two days and slept most of the time. She’d taken a lot of Bob’s medicine and eaten a lot of Nora’s chicken soup. She was finally starting to feel better, but her dreams had been filled with flying pigs, talking fish, a silver unicorn, and a scolding stepmother.
“Nora says you can probably get up tomorrow,” said Bob. “But you should still rest today. I thought you might like something to read in the meantime.” He handed her his journal.
“Thank you!” said Maggie. “There are a couple animals I’m curious about, and I want to look them up.”
As soon as Bob left, Maggie turned to the entry about talking fish. The entry wasn’t very long.
“I wish I’d read this earlier,” said Maggie. She turned the page until she found the entry about geese.
Talking Fish
There are many sorts of talking fish. Although they may vary in size and type, they all have one thing in common: they all promise to grant wishes if you let them go. Only a few will keep their promises. Even then they do it in unexpected ways. Because so many of them are lying, it is better not to trust a talking fish. More often than not, the larger the fish, the bigger the liar.
Geese That Lay Golden Eggs
Such geese are very rare and valuable. Whoever has one should not let anyone know. Most owners of these geese end up melting down the golden eggs. This way, merchants and tax collectors do not know that the gold came from a goose. Thieves consider these geese a real prize. However, the geese lay golden eggs only for people who love them and take good care
of them. Anyone else will get ordinary eggs.
Food: the same as for any goose. Corn, cracked wheat, and barley are the most common types of feed.
Housing: Most owners keep their geese inside their homes at night. However, the geese need plenty of fresh air and sunshine as well as clean water for drinking and swimming.
“I am so glad I didn’t take that goose to Zelia,” Maggie said as she closed the journal. “It definitely would have laid ordinary eggs for her. She probably would have cooked it!”
Chapter 11
Maggie felt fine the next day. She got out of bed when she heard Nora and Bob talking. After getting dressed, she left the tiny bedroom where she’d slept and found Bob putting on his shoes. Nora was pouring three cups of hot tea.
“Good morning!” Nora said when she saw Maggie. “How do you feel?”
“Great!” said Maggie. “Thank you for everything you’ve done. I think it’s time for me to go. You’ve been really nice and I don’t want to bother you anymore.”
“You said that your father is away, but do you have any other relatives you can trust?” asked Bob. “Is there anywhere else you can stay?”
Maggie shook her head. “My grandmother died a few years ago. I don’t have any other relatives or anyplace else to go.”
“Then you’re staying here with us, at least until your father comes back!” said Nora. “I won’t hear of you leaving.”