Chapter 17
Smiles disappeared as they realized what the horse had said, and everyone avoided looking at Cook. She couldn’t enter the valley, not with the green veins and eyes that marked her as a servant of the evil Fern Queen. What should they do? What on Montaland should they do?
Lines of concentration crossed Petten’s forehead. Luff’s face creased with anxiety. Alissa’s eyes closed as she lifted her face, and Cook slumped miserably.
Janna was scowling again. How could you! It’s mean; it’s just plain—
As she fussed, she shoved clenched fists deep into her pockets . One of her hands touched something, something that had been her secret for a long time. Janna thought hard and, as she thought, her face cleared. She had a plan and it was a good plan, well worth trying in her opinion, though it would be embarrassing.
“I know something we can try.”
The others turned to her, puzzled, and Janna rushed through her explanation, hoping everyone would believe her and not ask questions. She didn’t want to answer questions. The horse might come back any minute.
“After I crawled out of the Fern Queen’s tunnel, a high lizard guided me to her nest and gave me one of her jewel eggs, which I certainly didn’t want to break, but she made a hole in it, and after I drank the jewel juice, I wasn’t hungry anymore.”
Janna could tell her jumbled words had been confusing, but she hurried on.
“When I got my new dress, I transferred everything from my old pockets to the new ones.”
Her father opened his mouth, and Petten actually got a word out, “What—” but Janna didn’t give him a chance to say anything else.
“I’m guessing, Cook, that the Maker isn’t rejecting you. I’m guessing he wants to heal you. Let’s see what these will do.”
With that, she drew out of her pocket the fragments of eggshell that she had saved. In the dim light of the cave, the bits of yellow shell shone like tiny suns, and the questions on everyone’s lips fumbled to a stop as they stared at them.
“What do I do?” Cook asked doubtfully.
Janna could tell it was hard for Cook to believe anything would succeed in taking the ugly green marks off her body. Help her, she begged but tried to sound confident when she spoke out loud.
“We’ll crush them, and you can drink them down. How far away was that place where the stream came out of the ground?”
“Not far,” answered Petten as he sprang out of the cave.
“How will he carry water?” wondered Luff.
“He’s a scout. They’re clever. He’ll figure something out,” Janna said.
If there was one thing they had plenty of, it was rocks. She spread the eggshell on a flat rock, then took a round one and carefully ground the pieces into dust, bright yellow dust that shimmered as the sunlight touched it. Petten returned, carrying water in a rock that was deeply indented in the middle. They mixed the shell dust carefully into the water. Trembling, Cook held the makeshift cup in her green-veined hands. She said one word, but it was not directed toward any of them.
“Please,” she said, then drank.
Cook could never tell them what the eggshell water tasted like. “It was fresh, real fresh,” was the best she could do.
Beyond doubt, for everyone to see, it worked healing in her poor marked body. A brightness came over her face and arms as if the sun were shining from inside of her. It didn’t last long, but when it left, the ugly green marks of slavery to the Fern Queen were completely gone. She turned to them and smiled. Without those green welts, her face was broad and good-natured. Brown eyes beamed at them.
There were tears in most of the eyes that smiled back. Janna and Alissa ran to hug her. Petten paused awkwardly at first, then gave in to take his turn, while King Luff unhesitatingly gave her a warm hug and a kiss on one cheek. They didn’t notice at first that the horse had returned.
“Oh,” said Janna when she saw him. She nudged her father, and the group gazed joyfully at the cream-colored animal.
He nodded solemnly, then said, “Come,” and led the way into the back of the cave, where there was a door-like opening. The opening led into a tunnel, and Janna had to force one foot to follow another as she entered it. I don’t like tunnels.
The underground floor was level and smooth, and it was a good thing it was, because they couldn’t see a thing. The situation was all too familiar to Janna, but at least she wasn’t alone this time. She held on to her father, Alissa held on to her, Cook held on to Alissa, Petten held on to Cook, and they shuffled along in a slow line.
Caramel Brute was better off than the rest of them. His sense of smell steadied him so that he could stay right behind the quiet horse with perfect ease. The horse made no noise whatsoever. It was the big dog’s pantings and snufflings that directed them whenever the tunnel made a turn. They simply followed the sounds and were grateful for them.
Janna’s spirits had been buoyed up by Cook’s healing. Nevertheless, it didn’t take long for her to get tired of stumbling through total darkness. The walk through the tunnel lasted longer than she wanted it to, but then she saw a speck of light in front of them. The speck grew larger and larger.
Yes! This is the way a tunnel should end. Janna would have lectured the others about tunnels and how they should never end in bushes that blocked the light, but she was too tired. She just wanted to get to the end, and she didn’t care if she ever saw another tunnel for the rest of her life.
Finally, they stood blinking in a cave, a pleasant one with a wide opening. When the stallion quietly walked away, they hardly noticed.
Below the cave was a valley and in the valley were grassy meadows that curved around wooded areas. Streams gurgled through the meadows and woods, while a waterfall plunged down the rocks on the far side of the valley. They couldn’t see where it hit the ground because of the trees, but the distant splash of water falling on rocks filled their hearts with delight.
Cook laughed out loud. Janna could only guess how she must feel, freed from evil domination at last.
“Young man,” the older woman said, breaking their silence, “if you’ll catch some fish, I’ll cook them.”
“Hooray! Get those frying pans hot,” and Petten was off down the mountainside before he’d finished speaking.
“I suppose that the lack of frying pans, not to mention the lack of fishing lines and hooks, will be no problem to you clever people,” Luff said dryly.
“Of course not,” Janna assured him. She didn’t have the slightest idea how they would manage. However, she learned a lot in the next hour.
Cook was as knowledgeable about cooking as Petten was about woodcraft. Under her directions, they dug a shallow hole near one of the streams and ringed it with rocks. Then they built a fire inside the rocks with the help of flint and steel pieces that Cook whisked out of one of her big pockets.
When Janna exclaimed in surprise, Cook said, “No good cook would be without them!”
She mimicked not only Petten’s words but his very tone of voice so perfectly that Janna and Alissa got the giggles and rolled around on the soft grass. Before long, there were red coals inside the ring of rocks, and by the time Cook had tended to Caramel Brute’s wounds, Petten appeared with five large fish. Cook scraped the scales off, cut the fish open and cleaned them, then put the fillets on thin rocks, which she placed over the coals.
“Aren’t they ready now?” Janna asked before they really were, and everyone smiled indulgently at her as if she were a little child.
Ordinarily, this would have made her bristle, but in this valley, she only reddened slightly and asked again as soon as she could get away with it. She couldn’t help it. The roasting fish smelled delicious, making her wish she could eat grass just to be chewing on something. Fortunately, fish do not take long to cook. When they flaked easily, Cook served them on large green leaves. Everyone was hungry enough to enjoy anything at all, but those fish were tender and sweet, with a delicate flavor.
It was an unbelievably happy ending to a day that had started hard and grown steadily worse. They ate to their hearts’ content, then lay around the fire with satisfied groans, nestling into the thick grass as if it were a warm comforter, though the air wasn’t cold in that valley, even at night. The stars shone brightly above them.
“I wonder what your mother is doing,” was the last thing Luff said as he drifted off to sleep.
Janna lay awake longer, listening to him snore. When she heard someone moving, she raised herself on an elbow to see who it was. Petten was propping his head on his hands as he had done in their prison room the night before their escape, when they’d told each other silently, “We have got to get out of here.”
Now they were out. Petten smiled at her, and she smiled back. She did; she most certainly did. Well, it was a half smile. Petten’s smile faded.
“Janna, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Janna crashed back into the grass.
It took a few minutes for her to relax again, but the night sounds were very soothing. She rolled over, felt how soft the grass was on her face, and slipped into sleep. Early the next morning, they were awakened by the very musical, very loud songs of the birds that lived in that valley.
“Go away,” Petten unappreciatively told them and tried to bury his head in the grass.
It was no use. The group sat up and yawned. Then Janna drew her breath in sharply.
Across the valley in a meadow a small brown mare grazed with an even smaller foal at her side. They turned their heads toward the people every now and then, but neither seemed frightened. As Janna watched, a black mare entered the meadow followed by a tiny black foal. The babies played together as their mothers grazed. Alissa touched Janna on her shoulder and pointed to another spot in the valley. Several horses were walking out of the lush grass into the woods near the waterfall.
“Up high,” whispered Luff as he pointed toward a cream-colored horse hopping nimbly among the rocks. They watched until the horse vanished from sight.
Janna sighed with contentment. “Let’s stay here a long time.”
There was nothing she wanted more than to wander among these horses, maybe even talk to them. The others were not as mesmerized.
“We need to rest, but my father and mother must be very worried,” Alissa said.
Petten nodded as he watched the foals play. “My father, too.”
“And there’s your mother. Think how she must be feeling!” Luff added reproachfully.
Janna didn’t answer any of them. She hated already the thought of leaving and was glad everyone was tired. They would stay until they regained their strength.
Over the next few days, Petten fished, while Luff and the girls picked berries, gathered roots, and searched for herbs they could use to season their food. Cook did her best with the limited diet, but her best was very good. No one complained. When it rained, they retreated to the round cave, but as soon as the rain ended, they left the shelter, preferring to be outside. The birds woke them early each morning.
Janna kept a sharp eye on Caramel Brute, whose wounds were rapidly healing. He had accepted them now. Cook was still his best beloved friend, but he no longer growled at the other humans and even allowed Janna to pet him once or twice, though he rolled in the grass afterward as if to get rid of her scent.
What worried Janna were the dog’s hunting instincts, but her fears proved groundless. Caramel Brute didn’t hunt while they were in the valley. On the contrary, he waited expectantly by the fire and wolfed down his share of fish. He even accepted an occasional root from Cook, though he kicked dirt over the berries they offered him.
Only once did Janna catch him watching some foals at play.
Wistfulness was written all over his big ugly face; as if he wants to join them, she thought. I wonder if he’s ever played. When he saw her looking at him, Caramel Brute acted as though he had been caught doing something wrong. He huffed and sneezed guiltily, then sniffed at a nearby tuft of grass and lay down again with his back to the gamboling foals.
In marked contrast, Janna tried her best to mingle with the horses. She would spot them across the valley and hurry to where they’d been, only to find no trace of them. They were obviously very private animals. Finally one morning, she happened upon two cream-colored foals playing, a colt and a filly. They had wandered off from their mothers into a meadow dappled with sun and shadows. As soon as they saw her, they stopped their play.
“Don’t be afraid,” Janna told them gently.
She stayed where she was, forcing herself to be patient, and to her delight, the foals did not run away. They started playing again, watching her the whole time. Those little dark eyes peering out from under creamy white forelocks were so merry that she laughed out loud.
Once more the foals stopped in the middle of a gambol, only this time they trotted toward her. Janna held her breath as they came close. The filly had almost reached her when she snorted a little baby snort and jumped away with all four feet.
“You can jump like a cat,” Janna said.
“More like a mountain goat,” someone corrected her.
Janna whisked around to see the horse who had guided them through the tunnel. When the foals saw him, they whinnied with pleasure and rushed to nuzzle him, forgetting about Janna, who was bumped about by their active baby bodies. She didn’t mind. In fact, she loved every minute of it and patted the cream-colored backs and sides when they came in reach. She was rewarded by two little noses snuffling her up and down, tickling her until she laughed again.
“What is that, Madow?” asked a high-pitched voice.
“It is a human laugh.”
“I made the human laugh,” chortled the colt.
“I did too,” chimed in the filly and off they went, jumping and kicking their back feet high in the air. Their voices had been much more expressive than Madow’s, Janna observed. However, they were gone now and Madow was still there.
“Thank you for bringing us here,” she said, not knowing quite what else to say.
Madow remained silent, gazing at her, but he didn’t seem unfriendly. I believe he does have feelings. It’s just hard to speak “people.” I bet I couldn’t speak “horse” properly either.
“You will soon leave this valley,” said the stallion.
Janna’s face immediately drooped. She didn’t want to leave the valley, and she didn’t want to go back to Mount Pasture where nobody liked her.
“Oh no,” she said sadly.
Madow continued gazing at her, but his eyelids twitched slightly. Janna suspected that it was his version of eye twinkling.
“We will take you over the mountain range.”
Janna nodded glumly and Madow paused.
“You have been given a great heart, human child. Do not be sad, the Maker will show you many good things in your life. Look back in gratitude and forward in anticipation.”
The simple words shot straight into Janna’s deep places. She closed her eyes for a minute, feeling both comforted and counseled. When she opened them again, Madow was gone.