Once Upon a Curse

  Fortunately for me, Dyspepsia knew what she was talking about. I was soon so caught up in what she had to say that I forgot about the stickiness of her stubby toes and the way her feet smelled like rotten cucumbers. According to her, there were only two ways to end a curse. You could either persuade the person who had cast it to remove the curse, or you could do whatever the curse dictated. Unfortunately I couldn't do either since I didn't know who had cast it or exactly what it said. True, I knew a fairy had cast it; but that made it worse, according to Dyspepsia, since bargaining with fairies rarely worked. However, if I could find out which fairy was responsible for the curse, I might be able to get her to end it. Failing that, I'd have to try the solution imbedded in the curse, although fairies never made anything easy. I'd need the exact wording, and even that might not be enough.

  "First things first, however," Dyspepsia said. "If you can't find any record of what really happened, you're going to have to go back to when the curse was cast."

  "But it happened hundreds of years ago."

  "You'll travel over time instead of distance. If you're strong enough, you'll be able to control the forces involved. If you're not, well, the curse won't matter to you anymore. The spell itself is simple. Just modify a basic search spell using an object from your destination as a focus. Since you want to go to a different time, your focus object must be from that time. When you want to come back, include when you want to return to in your spell. You won't need a focusing object since you're from this time."

  I set her foot on the floor and picked up the other. "Oh, before I forget," she continued, "you'll need something to give your spell a little oomph. Everyone has a personal preference. I knew a wizard who could harness lightning to make his spells stronger."

  "How did that work?"

  "I can't say. No one ever saw him again, so it either worked or blasted him into dust."

  "I don't think I'll try lightning," I said.

  "Good idea. But whatever you choose needs to be portable so you can use it to come back."

  "Anything else I should remember?"

  "Of course. You're heading for a different location in time, but your location on the ground will remain the same. If the curse was cast long ago, most buildings and places will have changed since then. You're going to have to work your spell somewhere that has changed very little, or you might appear in the middle of a wall or at the bottom of a pond. Keep in mind that it should be out of the way. It wouldn't do to pop into the Great Hall or the queen's chamber. If you want to get the information you desire, you won't want anyone to know who you are or why you're there."

  "It sounds complicated."

  "It isn't really. I'm sure you'll do just fine. Oh, one other thing—make sure you don't change anything when you go back in time. Any change then could have a big effect later. Everyone always gives the same example: if you kill your ancestor, you'll never have been born."

  "That doesn't make sense. If I killed someone, and then I didn't exist, how could I have killed him in the first place?"

  "Don't ask me. I don't understand the details, I just use the spell and try to be careful. Now about my feet...."

  Three

  The rain had stopped by the time I was ready to go. After taking my leave of the two sisters, I turned into a bird again. Flitting beneath the dripping branches, I tried to remember everything Dyspepsia had said and wondered how I'd ever make it all happen. Perhaps talking to someone who knew our family history and was familiar with the castle might help me locate an object that I could use as a focus. My grandmother could probably help if she wanted to, although the chances of that were slim even if I did catch her on one of her friendlier days. She was the oldest living direct descendant of the first Green Witch and probably knew more about her than anyone, so I would just have to risk her bad temper. My next stop would be the Old Witches' Retirement Community.

  With the entire width of the enchanted forest ahead of me, I had plenty of flying time to think. Even so, when I finally smelled the perfume of the rose-covered cottages, I still didn't have any idea what I was going to say. By the time I spotted the gingerbread walls of Grandmother's home, I'd decided to come right out and ask her.

  My stomach grumbled as I landed on the edge of Grandmother's garden, my beak almost watering at the thought of all that delicious gingerbread. I hadn't eaten anything other than a bowl of porridge that morning and I was beginning to feel a little light-headed. Drawn by the sugary scent of the cottage, I was hopping toward it, opening my beak to recite the spell that would turn me back, when something struck me from behind. I sprawled beak-first on the rain-soaked ground, pinned down by a warm, heavy object. "I like a meal that delivers itself!" a voice murmured into my ear.

  I recognized the voice. It was Herald, my grandmother's old orange tabby and one of the most disagreeable cats I'd ever met. Yanking my beak out of the dirt, I spluttered and shouted, "It's me, Emma, you lousy cat. You'd better let me up right now!"

  Herald snarled. "Lousy cat, am I? Considering your position, princess, I don't think you should have said that."

  I gasped and tried to think of a banishing spell, anything to get the cat off me. Herald picked me up with his teeth, pinning my wings to my sides. I struggled to get free but he clamped his jaws harder. The cat had taken only a few steps when suddenly something barreled into him, knocking him to the ground. Herald growled deep in his throat, a curious sound that made me vibrate in his mouth.

  "Let her go!" said a gruff voice. Herald bit down instead, sending sharp pains through my wings. "Fine," said the voice. "If you're going to be that way—get him, Metoo!"

  The cat twitched. When he opened his mouth to yowl, I fell onto the wet grass and staggered to my feet, reciting the spell that would change me back. The moment I opened my eyes as a human again, I turned to thank my rescuer. A small brown-and-white dog had the cat by the back of the neck. It was Olefat, the wizard my grandmother had turned into a dog to punish him for tricking her.

  "Thanks," I said.

  Olefat blinked up at me, then deliberately opened his jaws and let the cat go. Still yowling, Herald ran up a tree and onto a branch, where he stopped to scratch himself with a frenzied kicking of his hind leg. Obviously Metoo, Olefat's parrot that Grandmother had turned into a flea, had reached his target. "That's one!" the little dog shouted as he turned and trotted toward the back of the cottage.

  My grandmother had told me that she'd tied the curse she had cast on Olefat to one Grassina had used to make him tell the truth. As long as one spell lasted, they both would be in force. According to Grassina's spell, "Three selfless acts you must perform, to aid a stranger who's forlorn." Apparently Olefat was trying to break the truth spell. I was giggling when I started toward my grandmother's front door.

  "Who's there?" screeched Grandmother as she shoved her cotton-candy curtains aside and popped her head out the window.

  "It's me. I've come to visit."

  "No, you haven't. You've come to pick my brain. Grassina told me about your search. Still looking for a way to end the curse, are you?"

  "I have some questions to ask you that might help. Do you mind if I come in?"

  Grandmother cackled. "Of course I mind. If I'd wanted to see you, I would have gone to the castle. I don't like visitors. They always expect me to talk to them and give them something to eat. They either stay too long or leave before they should; they snoop around and ask nosy questions. There ought to be a law against unexpected visitors. But you're here now, so I guess I'm stuck with you. Come in if you have to."

  My stomach was grumbling again when my grandmother met me at the door. She scowled and said, "See, I told you so! You'll be wanting food now!" Without waiting for an answer, she turned and stalked off to the kitchen. Jabbing a finger at the bench by the table, she ordered, "Sit down," then slammed a mug of cider in front of me. While I wiped the cider from my face, she broke off part of the windowsill and tossed it onto the table. It was magic gingerbread, which stays f
resh for years. Its gingery, sweet taste made my whole mouth tingle.

  "Now, what did you want to ask me?" Grandmother said as soon as I had a mouthful of gingerbread.

  I hurried to swallow and nearly choked. Coughing, I took a sip of cider, then cleared my throat and said, "What can you tell me about Hazel, the first Green Witch?"

  "Nothing!" Grandmother snapped. "There, I answered your question. Now go home and leave me alone."

  "Surely you know something about her. Of course I could just go ask Grassina. She always says that she's forgotten more than you ever knew." The curse had made my aunt and my grandmother so much alike that they were always trying to outdo each other, a fact I'd learned to turn to my advantage.

  "She did, did she? What a liar. Say, she hasn't gotten a lizard for a pet, has she? I found one hunting moles in my garden the other day. It took off before I could get a good spell going, but something about it made me think of your aunt. I had to come up with a new spell to replant my rosebushes. The ugly brute tore them all out of the ground."

  I sighed. My grandmother did have beautiful roses, something that was of course forbidden at our castle. "Grassina doesn't have any new pets aside from a smelly rat," I said, "but she likes turning into a big lizard so she can terrorize everyone in the castle."

  "She would, wouldn't she?" said my grandmother. "I thought it looked like Grassina. It smiled at me before it ran off."

  "You were going to tell me about Hazel, the first Green Witch," I prompted.

  "I was, was I?" Grandmother shrugged. "Might as well. Can't have you thinking that nasty daughter of mine is the only one who knows our family's history. Hazel's father was King Grunwald the third or maybe the fourth. He built the castle you live in now. They say the magic came down through her mother's side, but then it would have to, wouldn't it? The only ones in our family who have the talent are the girls."

  "What part of the castle did King Grunwald build?" I said, remembering Dyspepsia's comment about finding the right location.

  "The oldest part, of course. Use your head, girl! The whole back half was added on later by your great grandfather and so were many of the towers."

  "Would any of his possessions still be in the castle? A suit of armor, perhaps, or a piece of furniture?"

  "There might have been before your mother became queen, but she had the castle cleaned from top to bottom the year after she married your father. The nitwit even had servants scrubbing out the dungeon. I doubt there's anything in there older than two hundred years. She always has preferred new things over old."

  "I meant to ask you, are you coming to the tournament?"

  "Of course I'm coming. You know I love tournaments. What tournament are we talking about?"

  "My parents are putting one on next week. Eadric's parents are coming."

  "Eadric who? Do you mean your pudgy friend with the big ears?"

  "Eadric doesn't have big ears!"

  "Ah-ha! So, it is him. I'll be there. Or at least I think I will. Let me get my scrying bowl so I can see and make sure."

  I took another bite of gingerbread while Grandmother snatched an old, chipped bowl off the shelf. After pouring a dipperful of water into the bowl, she set it on the table. "Now don't yammer at me while I do this. I have to concentrate. Let's see," she said, leaning over the bowl so her long nose nearly touched the water. I couldn't see whatever she was looking at because her head blocked my view, but apparently she saw something. "Tournament ... next week ... will I be there? There's Eadric, big ears and all. There's your mother, looking prissy as usual. I see a couple of dotty, old witches. Wait, one of them's me. Yeah, I'll be there. And so will ... say, look at this. There'll be some magical trouble at your tournament, girl. Something's going to go very wrong."

  I nearly choked on the gingerbread again. When I could talk, I said, "Oculura mentioned something about that. What is it? Can you see?"

  Grandmother sat back and glared at me. "I told you not to talk! How am I supposed to concentrate with you blathering away? Now let me look. I think it's—"

  With a thump and a swish of his tail, Herald the cat landed on the table beside the bowl, then stuck his face in it and started lapping the water. Whatever picture Grandmother was studying disappeared in ripples.

  "Darn cat!" Grandmother grabbed Herald and tossed him out the window. "Want a drink of water?" she asked me. When I shook my head no, she carried the bowl to the window and dumped it over the ledge. The water must have hit Herald, because he howled. My grandmother cackled. "Serves you right, you old sour-puss!" she said and slammed the bowl back on the table. "Say, I have some liver I've been meaning to cook for weeks. It has a nice, blue sheen to it now, so I'm going to boil it with a few turnips before it goes bad. I'm making beetle-wing biscuits, too. Care to stay for dinner?"

  My stomach flip-flopped at the thought. "It's getting late. I should go home before it gets dark," I said, scooting off the bench. "Thanks so much for your help."

  Grandmother glared at me. "See, it's like I said. You're leaving just when I'm getting used to you being here. Well, good riddance, and don't come back soon!"

  I probably would have forgotten all about Grassina's newest moat monster if it hadn't tried to catch me again as I flew toward my tower window. Although its body was still hidden in the murky depths, its thick tentacles with their leaf-shaped tips were clearly visible, flailing in the air.

  No normal creatures lived in the moat anymore because Grassina's previous monsters had eaten them all, so it wasn't surprising that this one was always hungry. Keeping an eye out for the tentacles, I recited the spell I'd used on the other monsters.

  Find the monster in this moat

  And send him far away

  To a place where monsters dwell,

  A place where he can stay.

  I swerved out of the way when one of the tentacles whipped past me. Some spells take longer to work than others, and this one seemed to take an extra-long time. I was relieved when I heard a sucking, slurping sound and the thrashing tentacles disappeared.

  My rooms were dark when I landed on the windowsill although torches burned in the streets of my favorite tapestry, which depicted a town and its marketplace. My golden canary trilled a greeting as I fluttered into the room, twittering in excitement when I turned back into a human.

  "Lights," I said, flicking my fingers at the ceiling where witches' lights bobbed. Like most spells I used often, I no longer had to recite the complete spell out loud.

  With the lights glowing gently overhead, I hurried to my bedchamber, intent on locating a special box. Although I had no idea where I could find a focus object from the past, I already knew just what I would use to strengthen my power. Hidden in a box in the bottom of my trunk was a small bottle containing dragon's breath, the most powerful substance I'd ever encountered. While dragon's breath was a key ingredient in a potion that had changed an otter back into a man, it had been dragon's steam—a heated form of their breath—that had enhanced my own magic, making me the most powerful witch in the kingdom.

  Taking the box from the trunk, I lifted the silver lid. Pinks, blues, yellows and greens swirled in the gas that nearly filled the bottle. I slipped the little bottle into the pouch that I carried at my hip and reached for my warmest cloak. With the tournament less than a week away, I didn't dare waste time.

  I locked the door behind me, keeping an eye out for any of Grassina's magic tricks, but I didn't notice the noise in the Great Hall until I'd reached the bottom of the stairs. It was a bit late for dinner, which meant that my parents probably had guests and were dawdling at the table. Unless I wanted to be drawn into their conversation and spend the rest of the evening with them, I'd have to slip past unnoticed.

  I peeked into the Great Hall. The smell of roast pheasant would have tempted me once, but I could no longer eat meat, having been an animal myself. It was the reason I usually avoided eating with my parents now, since they didn't understand my reluctance and still tried to make me eat it. r />
  Drawing my cloak around me, I hoped that keeping to the shadows would be enough, but the moment I stepped into the hall, my mother spotted me. "Emeralda," she called, using my full name. "It's so good of you to join us. Come see who's here."

  I sighed and turned to face the raised table where my parents sat side by side, surveying the Hall. Seated on my father's other side was a middle-aged man with a pleasant face and sand-colored hair tinged with gray.

  "Haywood!" I hurried to the table, hoping to avoid sitting beside my mother. Haywood had been a wizard in-training before my grandmother had turned him into an otter, long before I was born. He'd been working on his magic ever since he had turned back into a man and was getting fairly good at it. "It's nice to see you," I told him. "Are you staying long?"

  "Just a few days," Haywood replied. "I'm building a house by the river, and I still have a lot to do. I'll be back next week, though. Your father has invited me to his tournament."

  "Wonderful!" I'd gotten to know Haywood during the months that he lived with us and had found him to be very likable. Even my mother's opinion of him had changed. He would have been welcome in our home anytime if it hadn't been for my aunt. "Have you seen Grassina?" I asked.

  "Briefly," said Haywood. "She threatened to turn me into a hamster, which I thought was rather odd."

  "She was probably hungry," I said. "You might want to fly home and avoid any lizards you see."

  "Emeralda, come sit by me," my mother ordered, leaving me no choice unless I wanted to create a scene. I took my seat beside her reluctantly. It looked as though everyone was nearly finished, but my mother had the pages bring the platters around again. Fortunately having a guest meant that she might not notice when I chose only vegetables and a hunk of bread.

  Mother's eyes narrowed when she turned to me. "Where were you today? You know the seamstresses were going to fit you for your gowns."