A Question of Magic

  Holding the candle high, Serafina bent down and opened the wax-splattered trunk lid. When the light fell on fabric, she reached in and pulled out a gown. There was another gown under the first, and below that were more gowns and a shawl so soft that she couldn’t resist setting it to the side. On closer inspection, she discovered that the gowns were all different sizes and styles. Some of the gowns would surely fit her, but others would be much too large or far too long. There were undergarments there as well as clothes to wear to bed. It was a large trunk, but Serafina was amazed by how much it held.

  After returning everything to the trunk except the shawl, she closed the lid and crossed to the other trunk. She opened it expecting to find something as innocuous as clothing, but she gasped and nearly dropped the candle when she saw what was inside. The second trunk was just as large as the first and was filled with human bones. Leg bones, arm bones, and finger bones were heaped inside, with skulls piled high on top.

  “Shut the lid!” ordered one of the skulls. “Can’t you see we’re trying to sleep?”

  Serafina gasped. A skull really was talking to her! She thought she’d imagined it before.

  “That’s a good one, Boris!” said another skull. “As if we ever sleep! What are we going to do, close our eyes?”

  “If you slept, I bet you’d snore, Krany. From the size of your nose hole, you must have had an enormous honker!”

  “I bet my brain was bigger, too, Yure! Certainly bigger than yours.”

  “Why, I oughtta—”

  Serafina took a deep breath to calm her racing heart. Given a choice, she would never have talked to skulls, but there wasn’t anyone else there. “Pardon me, but could you please answer a few questions?”

  “Who? Us? Why should we?” said the skull named Boris.

  “To help a stranger in need?” she said as if she wasn’t sure why herself.

  “Ha!” said Krany. “No one has ever helped us!”

  “What sort of questions?” Yure asked.

  “How can I get out of here?” said Serafina. “Why am I here? Where’s my great-aunt Sylanna?”

  “Oh! Oh!” squealed Krany. “Let me answer one! The answer to your first question is, you can’t get out of the cottage until the chicken gets to where it’s going. Do I win? Do I get a prize now?”

  “I want one, too!” said Yure.

  “What chicken?” asked Serafina, looking around the room.

  “Ask me a good question,” Yure cried. “Make it a hard one. I can handle it.”

  “Fine. How are you able to talk? Is this cottage really moving? If it is, how is that possible? Why are you in this trunk? How did those words appear in that book? Did the cat really show me the book on purpose? Why am I talking to a bunch of skulls? Am I going crazy?”

  “Uh,” Yure began. “The answer is … no! You’re not going crazy! There! I did it! Now you owe me a prize, too.”

  Serafina sighed. “Just tell me where I can find my great-aunt Sylanna. She can explain it all.”

  “Si-who-a?” asked Yure. “I’ve never heard of her.” The skull shifted in the trunk until he was facing down. “Anyone down there named Si something or other?” he called.

  “Anyone down there an aunt?” shouted Krany. “Because that would be a real surprise.”

  Muted voices rumbled in the trunk, then one of the skulls toward the bottom of the pile called back, “No aunts down here.”

  “No one named Sigh, either,” shouted another skull.

  Serafina rocked back on her heels. “Never mind. If you don’t want to help me, you could just say so.”

  “What’s my prize?” Krany asked.

  “Your prize is … you can go back to sleep,” Serafina said, shutting the lid of the trunk.

  “Well, that’s a lousy prize,” grumbled the muffled voice of a skull.

  “It’s better than nothing,” another skull replied.

  Serafina stepped away from the trunk. She was afraid, she was worried, but most of all, she was confused. A chicken she couldn’t see, a moving cottage, a book that wrote its own words, and a trunk full of talking skulls couldn’t be real, could they? Unless … Was it possible that this was magic? Growing up, Serafina had heard rumors that magic existed, but most of the people she knew scoffed at anyone who claimed that it was real. She had heard of Baba Yaga, of course, but her parents had told her that the witch was just part of a fairy tale and that only the weak-minded or deluded believed in her. Even the superstitious Nesha Zloto claimed that Baba Yaga couldn’t possibly exist.

  Moving closer to the window, Serafina glanced out and her hand flew to her mouth. She was in the forest now, and the tops of the trees seemed to be streaming past. But the way the floor was shifting beneath her feet, it had to be the cottage that was moving, not the forest, and she had to be up high. Serafina hated heights. Even if the door was open, she wouldn’t go near it now.

  When an owl swooped in front of the window, Serafina retreated to the middle of the room. There wasn’t a thing she could do in the dark inside a moving building. Who knew where she was or how high above the ground she might be?

  Suddenly it was all so overwhelming that Serafina couldn’t handle any more. Only this morning she had left her family to spend the day driving with Viktor. Who knew what she’d find when the cottage finally stopped moving?

  Taking the shawl she’d found in the trunk, she shuffled to the bed. Tears trickled from the corners of her eyes while she draped the shawl around herself and lay down. She pulled a golden chain from inside her bodice and wrapped her fingers around the heart Alek had given her, and pressed it to her lips. If only Alek were here with her, he would know what to do!

  Serafina had never felt so desolate, so lost, so alone before. She had always had her family or Alek to turn to, and now there was no one but a weird, oversized cat and some squabbling skulls. From the way the cottage was still moving, she doubted that she was anywhere near Mala Kapusta. For all she knew, the cottage might have carried her to another kingdom.

  She moved her feet and nudged the cat with her heel. He growled, so she moved her foot away again. “Sorry,” she said, her breath catching in her throat with a sob.

  Serafina was on the verge of sleep when a soft voice replied, “That’s quite all right.” She was sure she was dreaming already.

  Chapter 5

  The scents of candle wax and cat and the mustiness of an old house reminded Serafina where she was before she even opened her eyes, but she knew right away that something had changed. She couldn’t think of what it might be, except—Her eyes flew open when she realized that the cottage was no longer moving. She sat up and tossed back the covers, which landed on the cat. The animal grumbled but didn’t move, even after Serafina wiggled off the bed. Without a backward glance, Serafina stumbled toward the door and threw it open. Sunshine and fresh air flooded into the cottage.

  The trees that surrounded the cottage looked older and taller than the forest that enclosed the town of Mala Kapusta. The air outside smelled of damp earth and growing things, but there wasn’t even a hint of wood smoke or any of the other odors that betrayed the presence of a town or village. She was surprised to see that there was a fence around the cottage, just as there had been the night before. What she hadn’t realized then was that the fence was made of bones—leg bones, arm bones, and finger bones, with a skull topping every other post. Serafina thought that they were probably the very same bones and skulls that she’d found in the trunk. It occurred to her that Sylanna might have had her come at night so she wouldn’t see the fence. “I probably wouldn’t have come into the yard if I’d seen that,” she murmured to herself.

  Serafina had no idea where she was or how to get home, but now that she could get the door open, she wasn’t about to stay in Sylanna’s cottage a moment longer. This wasn’t an inheritance. It was a kidnapping! Viktor had said that he wanted part of whatever Si-who-a gave her. Serafina would have been delighted to give him the whole thing!

  Alth
ough Serafina didn’t want to touch the fence, she couldn’t think of any way to avoid it, unless … She had the bag she’d brought with her, but it held only a single change of clothes and a hairbrush—nothing that she could use for what she had in mind. Taking one last look at the cottage, she spotted the shawl she’d left draped across the foot of the bed. “That will do,” she muttered, and stepped back into the room to fetch it. After closing the cottage door behind her, she hurried toward the gate while wrapping the shawl around her hand.

  She had just reached for the finger-bone latch when the skull on the gatepost cried out, “Where do you think you’re going?” Its jaw made a creaking sound when it moved, like the bones of an old man getting out of bed. Serafina thought it might be Boris, the skull who had first spoken to her the night before.

  “As far away from here as I can get!” Serafina said, tugging on the gate. “Now open up!”

  “She’s trying to leave!” said the one she thought might be Yure.

  “We can see that,” the skull called Krany cried. “Someone has to stop her!”

  The skulls all began to shout at her at once. Serafina let go of the latch and took a step back; the racket stopped immediately. It started up again as soon as she put her hand back on the finger bone. Serafina shook her head. “You can’t keep me here with a little noise,” she said, and wrenched the gate with all her might until it popped open. The shouting turned to wails of anguish.

  “Yow!” shouted Boris over the noise his friends were making. “Did you see what she did? She would have broken my finger bone if I hadn’t let go!”

  Serafina hurried away from the cottage. “I’m sorry!” she shouted over her shoulder. “But you wouldn’t let me out!”

  “Don’t go!” cried Boris. “You don’t know what you’re doing!”

  “Oh yes, I do,” Serafina announced. “I’m going home!”

  The cottage had settled at the edge of an old animal trail, which was enough of a path for Serafina. At first the ground was too uneven for her to go very fast, but after a while it became smoother; she was nearly running when the path intersected a road. She had no idea where she was or which way to go. After a moment of indecision, she turned right and started running as fast as she could. Serafina wanted to get as far from the cottage as possible, but when her lungs felt as if they were burning and her legs hurt, she was forced to slow down to a steady walk. She was sure that she’d reach a village sooner or later, and when she did, she would find out where she was and what it would take to get home.

  Serafina had stopped to rest for a moment when she saw a figure approaching from the opposite direction. At first she was worried about meeting a stranger in the middle of the woods and thought about hiding until he passed, but she hesitated long enough to see that he was an old man, bent nearly double under the weight of a bundle of sticks.

  The old man looked puzzled when he drew close enough to get a good look at her. “What are you doing in these woods all by yourself, young miss?” he asked.

  Serafina was relieved that she might have found the sympathetic ear of someone who could help her. She was about to tell him everything that had happened to her, but when she opened her mouth to speak, the words she wanted to say wouldn’t come out. Instead she said in an unfamiliar voice, “I’m running away from a house that moves on its own, skulls that talk, and a future that I find frightening but cannot escape. I must go back to the house to get the answers that I need.”

  When her mouth finally closed, Serafina stood frozen in place, too stunned to move. She hadn’t even thought the words before she’d said them, and when she was talking, she’d had no control over her voice or her body. It was as if she was outside of herself, listening to someone else, and the words just happened to come from her. She had been frightened when the cottage moved, but now she felt terrified!

  Serafina scarcely noticed when the old man gave her an odd look and hurried on his way. As he disappeared down the road, she thought about what she had said. Was it true? Did she have to go back to find out what was going on? But what if she just went home? Then none of it really mattered, did it? She didn’t want to have anything to do with the house or the skulls or her great-aunt Sylanna, whoever she was.

  Serafina shook her head and started walking again, but she’d taken only a few steps when she noticed that her feet hurt and her dress felt tight across her chest. Glancing down, she saw that the fabric of her bodice was pulled taut, and she wasn’t able to take a really deep breath. She tried wiggling her toes, but her shoes had suddenly become painfully small. What was going on? Had something in the cottage made her grow overnight? But then why hadn’t she noticed it sooner? She was running before, but now she doubted she could even walk very far with her shoes on.

  Serafina had taken off one of her shoes to examine it when she heard the sound of laughter. She raised her head and saw a young man and a young woman walking beside a cart piled high with their belongings. As they drew closer, she saw that a baby was nestled among the baggage, sound asleep.

  “Hello!” the young man said when he saw her.

  The young woman gave her a warm smile. “We’re on our way to Mala Las. Do you happen to know how far it is from here?”

  Serafina had no idea where she was or how far it was to anywhere. She began to shake her head, but once again she lost control of her body. Her arm raised itself and she pointed down the road. Words came pouring out of her mouth. “Mala Las is twelve miles in that direction if you stay on this road. However, if you walk six miles you will find another road leading off to your right. Turn onto that road; walk two and a half miles and you will reach Mala Las in time to eat supper with your uncle Rybar.”

  The young man frowned. “How did you know about my wife’s uncle? We didn’t mention that we were going to see him.”

  “Did you notice her eyes, Petruso?” the young woman asked him. “They got all funny when she started to talk.”

  Serafina dropped her arm the moment she had control of her body again. When she tried to take a breath, she couldn’t draw air into her lungs and she gasped instead. Her gown was so tight that she couldn’t breathe. If she could have spoken, she would have asked the couple for help, but they hurried off so quickly that she didn’t have the chance. Her fingers fumbled as she tried to loosen the strings on her bodice; she was seeing spots in front of her eyes before she could get the strings undone. When she was finally able to breathe again, she took in great gulps of air and sat down until she could stop shaking. Her feet were throbbing when she took off her shoes. Given how tight they had been on her feet, she doubted very much that she’d be able to get them back on.

  Serafina stared at the ground without really seeing it. Twice now someone had spoken to her, and when she had been about to reply, she had lost control and told them things she didn’t know she’d known. Each time she had grown as well. Was she going to lose herself every time she talked to someone or grow every time she answered a question? What exactly had happened to her in that cottage? She hadn’t had anything to eat or drink, so maybe it was something in the air. If only she knew what had happened, she might be able to do something about it.

  Suddenly, returning home didn’t seem like such a good idea. Something had happened in that cottage, and it looked as if she wasn’t going to be able to leave it behind. She had to return to the cottage to get some answers. Although she dreaded the thought of going back there, she didn’t seem to have any choice.

  Barefoot and limping, Serafina turned around and headed back the way she had come, hoping she would find the path to the cottage before too long. Just how far had she gone, anyway?

  Chapter 6

  Serafina’s feet hurt. “Ow!” she cried, stepping on yet another stone. She wished she could put her shoes on again, but her feet had grown too big. She was examining the damage to her foot when she heard a faint trill of laughter. Turning toward the sound, she saw butterflies flitting around a patch of dandelions. Or maybe they were hummingbirds.
She squinted, certain that her eyes were playing tricks on her, because they could just as easily be dragonflies, but not really. Her mouth dropped when she realized that they had the faces and tiny bodies of humans and the gossamer wings of some ethereal creature. “What on earth?” she said, taking a step closer.

  One of the little creatures saw her watching them. It shouted at its friends, and they all turned and fled deeper into the forest.

  Serafina shook her head. Those creatures couldn’t possibly be fairies, could they? Fairies weren’t real! She’d heard stories about fairies, of course, but that’s all they were—stories. Her mother had told her so when she was little, and her sisters had laughed at her for even hinting that she might believe in them. But she could swear that she had just seen some. Either she was losing her mind or all those people who had told her that things like magic and fairies weren’t real were actually wrong. If only she could talk to Alek about it. If she told her family, they wouldn’t believe her, but Alek would be interested. He was always reading books about things other people thought were outlandish, like werewolves and sea monsters. Wait until she told him that she had seen fairies!

  After one last glance at the forest where the fairies had disappeared, Serafina started walking again, wincing with each step.

  “There she is! I told you she’d come back,” cried Krany as Serafina staggered up the path.

  “No, you didn’t!” said Yure. “You said she shot out of here faster than a pack of lice fleeing an ogre’s crunchy underpants on wash day and we’d never see her again.”

  “But then I said—”

  “Never mind! She’s here now, so I won!” Boris told them. “I said she’d be back before dark.”

  Serafina’s feet were cut and bleeding. She was tired and sore and in no mood to deal with the skulls. Gritting her teeth, she reached for the latch, but before she could touch it, the gate swung open with a loud creak. Serafina hesitated. It occurred to her that she could still go home. Her family would be overjoyed to see her and would help her in whatever way they could. But if she went home, she’d disrupt her family with her bizarre problems, and that was something she didn’t want to do.