Behind the Curtain Read online

  “A tall tree, a sliver of light, snow, a liathroid, and a motionless black crow on the snow.” He wanted to freak out but kept his composure. Granny grabbed her keys and opened the door to the second floor.

  “We need to get her before she freezes. We don’t have much time.” She blinked, and the upstairs candles lit up. She handed him his belt, and he put it on. He put on the high leather boots. She nodded at him. He held up his knife, watched its edge flare up orange and blinding.

  He opened his eyes to see Granny in her younger form. She said a command and waved her arms around her head, then brought her palms together. When she spread her palms apart, a rope emerged. She tied it around Rowdy’s waist.

  “Now, don’t panic on me. It’s a long way to the bottom, and it’s almost dark.”

  She reached behind the curtain, feeling to make sure the window was open, and motioned Rowdy forward.

  “Keep your head. The branches will be slippery. Make no sound.” She produced a basket with a blanket in it out of the air and handed it to him. “And for goodness’ sake, don’t drop her.”

  Rowdy climbed through the window. He found himself standing on a branch in bitter, cold air and a rapidly darkening sky. His ears stung. The branches were icy, and it wasn’t long before his hands burned with cold and then went numb.

  He took no time to look around, keeping completely focused on the task of descending, branch by branch, to the snowy bottom. At some point he spotted the glow of the liathroid and felt inspired to push on.

  When his boots hit the bottom, he sank up to his knees in snow. He saw the still body of the crow and gingerly tucked it into his basket. It was already hardening. He put the liathroid in and wrapped the body in the blanket. He put his belt across the top of the basket so she couldn’t slip out.

  “C’mon, Rose, you’re almost safe.”

  He jumped up, laced his numb fingers around the bottom branch, and heaved himself up. Then he deftly made his way back to the window, feeling his own body slowing and tightening with the cold.

  Granny helped them in and hastily shut the window and curtain.

  Rowdy’s hands, face, and ears burned like fire. He hopped around, groaning.

  Rose lay still in her blanket. Granny examined her.

  “Broken wing.”

  She rubbed the crow with the blanket, gently at first and then more vigorously, generating heat. She put the candles around her and blinked at them until their flames grew large enough to throw heat.

  Rowdy watched quietly for clues that his aunt would survive. When he saw her wings and feet start twitching, relief washed over him.

  “She’s going to make it,” Granny said.

  They watched as Rose slowly livened up until she found her feet underneath her and hopped off the table. Black hair grew thick from her body and surrounded her. She grew taller. Her face flattened, and her marble eyes softened and widened. She turned into her human form right before Rowdy’s eyes.

  He stood before her, shocked, and when their eyes met, all he could see in hers was pain. He saw her arm bent at an odd angle.

  “Sit on the floor,” Granny instructed, and Rose obliged. Granny inspected Rose’s arm carefully, palpating the bones from shoulder to fingertips.

  “What happened?” she demanded.

  Rose was pale with pain but sat stoically.

  “Lost track of time. Got behind the dusk. I was rushing, and my vision was poor. I hit a branch.” She flinched as Granny squeezed.

  “You need to be more careful. Everyone back to the regular world immediately.”

  The group hastily transported. Granny carried the trembling crow to the kitchen and put her on the table.

  “Take a breath in,” said Granny, and Rose did, her beady eyes wide.

  “Let it out,” Granny said, and Rose did, then squawked and fainted as Granny reset the broken bone.

  “Go to the cupboard left of the stove.”

  Rowdy opened the cupboard. Inside was a first aid kit. He brought it to Granny, who was rubbing the green healing ointment onto the damaged wing. Together they bound the wing up tight and tucked Rose back into her basket.

  “Thank you. Now put that kit back. Never know when we’ll need it again. Reach into that cupboard and see what you find.”

  Rowdy looked and retrieved a scroll. He brought it to Granny, who unwrapped it and spread it on the table.

  It was a map of Sionnin.

  She showed him the Great Mountain with its corridors inside. It had four entrances, including a main entrance at ground level. She showed him where her horn was hidden and where Wizard Ondag’s frozen body could be found.

  She showed him the rivers that merged together at the delta, the meeting place for the whole land.

  Rowdy studied the map.

  “How am I to get there from here?”

  “Rose will show you when her wing heals. It’s nothing a bit of green ‘goop’ can’t fix.” She gave Rowdy one of her sparkly, impish looks and winked at him. He chuckled.

  He studied his sore hands. They were scratched up from the tree.

  “I’m not looking forward to climbing up and down that tree.”

  “It will be much easier when you’re a mouse.” Granny rolled the map and put it back in the cupboard.

  “How do I become a mouse?” Rowdy asked. He walked over to the table to watch Rose breathing.

  “That is what we need to find out!” Granny giggled excitedly. She picked up Rose in her basket and headed back upstairs. Rowdy followed eagerly, though still concerned about the crow. He felt better when she peeked at him over the edge of her basket that swayed back and forth on Granny’s hip.

  Upstairs, back in Sionnin, Rowdy paced the room. He paused in front of the wall of glittering gemstones, transfixed.

  He reached his hand out, lightly skimmed it across the rubies and diamonds, sapphire and jade, and closed his eyes.

  Rowdy felt the stones beneath his fingertips. He heard them singing the same magical song his bathwater did. The same song his granny had hummed along to so many years before.

  He felt along the bumps of pink pearl, white quartz, red garnet, and yellow citrine. As he traced his fingers blindly along the wall, his leather belt began to tingle. He allowed his hand to be led, and when it grazed across a small, pointy stone, it felt as if he’d touched fire. He rested on the small stone, feeling his fingertip burning.

  He opened his eyes to see a tiny purple amethyst stone glowing bright beneath his index finger. His belt tingled. His blade tingled. He pried the gem out of the plaster, and it rested in the palm of his hand. He looked up at Granny, and when he looked back at the stone, it was resting, now very large, in the palm of a tiny mouse paw.

  When he looked around him, the room had taken on a whole different dimension.

  The wooden floor was gigantic with deep cracks where the wax had grown thin. The whole room was massive with the ceiling far above him.

  Without thinking, he stuffed the gem into his cheek. He felt his nose twitch and saw his whiskers moving on the sides of his face. He touched his long waxy whiskers with his pink paws.

  He stroked the soft white fur on his pink tummy, and he explored his odd thin ears.

  Granny watched him and laughed with glee.

  He ran over to her. His back legs were large and springy. His tail helped him balance. He ran up the leg of the table with speed and ease. He hopped into the basket beside Rose, excited to show her.

  Rose blinked at him, then tried to move, the pain-relieving effects of the ointment already setting in.

  “No, no, you two!” Grandma scolded hastily. “Rose needs to stay still. She will be good as new in the morning, and then you two can bounce around all you want.”

  Rowdy slowed down and nestled into the long stiff feathers. He spat out his stone and held it up for Rose to see.

  “The only jewel retrieved from the saber-toothed tiger’s crown before Sionnin fe
ll into ice,” Granny said, studying the little mouse thoughtfully. She and Rose exchanged a look.

  “The spirit of Wizard Boc certainly has some kind of connection to you, Rowdy.” Granny frowned in deeper thought. “I wonder what it means.”

  Then she rechecked that the window was closed. She tightened the curtains around the window frame.

  “On with it, child. Time to get back to the regular world for some good, regular sleep.”

  Rowdy held his purple gem and hopped out of the basket. He dropped the gem onto the tabletop and placed his pink index finger on top of it, feeling it burning hot. Suddenly he was a human again, crouched like an animal on top of the table.

  Granny laughed. Rose cackled softly. He grinned and jumped off the table. He put the stone back into its groove in the wall of gems. Then he pulled his blade out, lit the edge of it with candlelight, and returned to the regular world. He put his belt and knife away into their box, and the liathroid Rose had retrieved into a different box. He followed Granny down the stairs, carrying Rose in her basket.

  Granny and Rowdy ate a quick supper that had grown cold. They brought hazelnuts and water to Rose and put her basket on the table next to Rowdy’s couch. Granny put a candle next to the basket and widened her eyes until the flame threw heat.

  Rose nestled in after eating, covering her eyes with her long black feathers.

  Rowdy was glad to be sleeping beside his aunt. He tucked under his blanket while Granny sat on her chair close by, knitting.

  “What animal was my dad when he was in Sionnin?”

  Granny giggled. “He was a black-and-brown baby bunny and as cute as could be.” She giggled again at the memory of it.

  Rowdy’s eyes were heavy. The clicking of the knitting needles and the warm, flickering light were lulling him to sleep. He yawned. He reached over and stroked Rose’s downy head. She blinked at him from under her wing. She closed her eyes with thin, leathery lids.

  “What was his amulet for shape-shifting?”

  “Ah,” Granny said. “His was a stone, but not like yours. His stone was not a gem; there was nothing unique about its color or composition. It was its texture that made it different. It had spent countless moons making its way from the top of the Great Mountain to Silvery Beach by the sea. By the time your dad found it, Mother Nature had smoothed it soft as silk and round as a liathroid.”

  Rowdy strained to stay awake as a thick cloak of sleep fell upon him.

  “Where is it?” he managed to ask.

  Granny sighed. “Lost somewhere in the ice around the delta where the conquest took place, I suppose.”

  I have to find that rock, he thought before falling into dreams.

  * * * *

  Rose was a bundle of happy energy when she woke up on Saturday. She hopped all over Rowdy with her big, sharp toes until he responded.

  “Rose? What time is it?” He groaned, his thick hair wild and disheveled. He stretched and yawned. He looked at her, blinked, and threw the covers over his face.

  Rose flew to the kitchen sink. She washed her feet with soap and water.

  “Ah, all mended, are we?” Granny came into view, tying her scarf around her neck.

  “Look after the boy. I am off to do some visiting!” Granny patted Rose lovingly. Rose cawed.

  “Goodbye for now!” Granny went off into a sunny April day with her braid swinging, her scarf flowing, and her basket full of homemade food tucked under her arm.

  Rose made Rowdy toast and peanut butter. She carried it over to him and dropped it on the little table. Then she sat beside him and licked her feet clean.

  Rowdy couldn’t resist her attempts at getting his attention. He sat up and grinned at her, rubbing his eyes. As always, his tummy growled with hunger. He ate the breakfast gratefully, admiring Rose’s healthy form.

  She cawed at him then and flapped over to the kitchen. She used her toes to pull a drawer open and retrieved Granny’s heavy key ring. She brought it over to Rowdy, who accepted it with surprise. Then she pulled open the cupboard beside the stove and retrieved the map of Sionnin with her long toes. She flapped over and dropped it onto Rowdy’s outstretched hand.

  “We’re going to Sionnin, Rose?”

  She cawed and flew down the hallway to the locked door, then perched awkwardly on the doorknob. Rowdy emerged and held out the keys to her. She pecked at a small silver key with her beak.

  Curious, Rowdy unlocked the door. The stairs were dark. Rose perched on his shoulder, and he felt his way slowly up the stairs, then across the floor, reaching for the table in the dark. His hands bumped a candleholder. Then he felt Rose’s leathery toes pushing a lighter into his palm. He managed to light the wicks, one by one until all of the candles were lit along the tabletop.

  He retrieved his belt and swiftly transported, then turned to see Rose in human form with a hue of purple dissipating around her. Her eyes sparkled, and her smile was warm. Her long raven hair flowed like silk over her shoulders.

  “Good job,” she said, then looked at her right arm. She stretched it and bent it. They both looked at it with awe; it was perfectly repaired.

  “Open the map,” she instructed, and Rowdy did as he was told. He unfolded the scroll and spread it on the table. There it lay glowing in the candlelight, full of mystery.

  “The birds of Sionnin are frozen, so the sky belongs to me until we get to the heartland, where the delta and the Great Mountain are. I don’t fly there. I can’t be seen, or I will be destroyed and our plans will be ruined.”

  Rose pointed out the same things Granny had.

  Rowdy was getting familiar with the map but still couldn’t fully visualize the land.

  “You’re going to change into a mouse and ride deep in my warm feathers. I know where another liathroid is. I saw it shining on my last flight, but my beak was full.”

  She pointed to an empty section of the map to show him where the liathroid was.

  “When?” Rowdy had mixed feelings. He was both afraid and curious.

  “Right now!” She moved to the curtain and reached behind it, then pushed the window open. In a burst of purple, she was a crow again.

  Rowdy went to the small amethyst, burned his finger on it, and found himself on the floor on four fuzzy feet. He pocketed the stone in his cheek and ran up the table leg. Rose tucked her feet under her, bending as low as she could for him.

  Rowdy climbed onto her back. Her feathers were slippery and stiff. He moved under the layers until he found a warm spot. His little pink fingers found feathers to hold on to. He buried his face and closed his eyes, clinging on.

  At first the ride felt bumpy. Then the cold air hit him. Then his whole stomach dropped as Rose swooped out the window.

  Rowdy felt dizzy. The frozen air whisked off Rose’s thick, protective feathers. His springy back feet and pink belly were warm in the soft, downy feathers close to the bird’s skin. He stuck his nose out into the frigid air and then dared to open his eyes.

  The snowy white world of Sionnin was glaring hard and bright. It hurt his eyes. There was nothing but flat land and dazzling snow for as far as he could see. Along his left he could see a forest of trees and, far off in the distance, very low-lying hills. There was no vegetation, no visible rivers or streams, no sign of life. The silence was eerie. The only sound was the wind whipping through Rose’s feathers. The land appeared empty and dead. Rowdy felt his heart drop. This was not the lively green Sionnin the wizards had shown him visions of. This land was frozen and barren of any life. He gripped tighter as Rose swooped high and low.

  He lost track of time. The landscape never seemed to change. It was cold and empty and white for a long period of time. He focused on getting used to the flying, on getting his stomach settled and his head out to see the view around him. He was getting bored and sleepy when at last he spotted a change in the landscape far off on the horizon. It was a great rocky mountain poking unrealistically out of the flat land. He began to se
e the outlines of river bends, frozen under the snow. He was seeing the Great Mountain from afar and the rivers that would lead to the delta. His excitement began to grow, and he sat up higher, squinting in the frozen wind to see.

  Before they got anywhere near the Great Mountain, Rose veered away. She took a different direction, staying on the outskirts of the heartland. Rowdy felt disappointed. He wanted to see more. He wanted to see what the stories were about. But Rose couldn’t be seen by the timber wolf. She was the only one left to collect the random liathroids that lay scattered in the snow.

  She swooped suddenly and low, then pecked a glowing orb out of the snow and lifted again. She turned toward home, and they began the long, cold trek back. Rowdy nestled into her feathers. He tucked his whole body into her warm down and dozed on and off all the way back to the window.

  When they popped back through the window, Granny was there. She quickly closed it behind them and tucked the curtains tight.

  Rose plopped onto the table. She laid her liathroid down, and it rolled across the wood surface into Granny’s waiting hand.

  “Excellent, Rose,” Granny said. She walked over to the liathroid vases and added another one to the lot, smiling.

  Rose warmed herself next to the candles. Then she turned into her human form. She sat on a chair and sighed. She was tired from her long flight. Rowdy followed suit, spitting his stone out and turning back into his human form. He put the gem back into its hole in the plaster wall and joined the women at the table.

  There was a comfortable silence. Rose and Rowdy warmed themselves next to the candles. Granny widened her eyes to make the flames bigger and hotter for them.

  “So?” Granny looked at Rowdy.

  Rowdy shrugged. “It’s big and cold and blank,” he said. The ladies laughed. He was thoughtful.

  “How am I going to enter the heartland without Rose? And how am I to use a blade?” He patted his hair down, thinking. His thick hair was still straight up from the morning. He realized it was already late afternoon.

  “I think I know the answer to that.” Granny looked at Rose, then went to the map. She pointed to a small sketch of a cave.

  “This is Wizard Boc’s cave, where he lived for all of his years. You have a connection to him. It’s almost as if he has chosen you. Your belt tingles, the stone from his crown chose you, and you have had visions of him.” Granny looked at Rose, and both nodded in mutual understanding. Granny looked at Rowdy deeply with her crystal eyes.