Nancy Farmer - Full-Blooded Fantasy: 8 Spellbinding Tales in Which Anything Is Possible

J ack sat in a hollow near the Roman road. He was surrounded by bracken like a rabbit hiding from a fox. No one would be able to see him, but Jack intended to be even more invisible. He breathed in the green odors of earth and fern. He felt with his mind the damp roots of trees. Come forth, he called. Come forth to me. Cloak the air with your gray presences. Bring sea and sky together.

He felt, rather than saw, the curling mist. Sunlight muted to pearl white, to dove feather and dusk. Dampness flowed into his lungs. Water gathered on ferns. Round drops paused on the tips of leaves and fell, sending pale threads over moss. The air sighed and rustled with it.

He had never been so deep in the life force. He swam through it like a minnow, like a woodland creature with no more thought than to be. It was enough. It was more than enough. The glory and wonder of it swept him on.

JackJack

The voice reached him from a great distance. He turned from it, unwilling to become human again.

Jackoh, please! Im so cold and scared!

He came to his senses. For a moment he was filled with unreasoning anger. How dare anyone disturb him!

He heard gulping, hiccuping cries that cut him to the heart. It was Lucy! She was nearby but hidden by a fog so thick and heavy, it frightened even Jack. Hed really outdone himself this time. Lucy, Im here, he called.

Wheres here? Its so dark and awful. I know theres monsters. She began to sob.

Dont move, Lucy. Just keep talking so I can find you.

When I went outside, it was sunny. You were supposed to be in the garden. Father said you were in the garden, but you werent. Some of Lucys fear was replaced by indignation.

Jack tripped over a rock and scratched himself on a branch.

I saw you from far away, said Lucy. You were walking fast. I wanted to call, but I didnt want Mother to know I was outside. Shes been so mean to me today. She wouldnt let me play outside or anything.

Jack thought Mother was out of her mind with worry. She knew the danger they were in. So did Father, but he chose to ignore it.

I walked to the Roman road, but you were gone. You went off and left me. Bad Jack! Then the fog came in really fast. It got dark and I got scared. Have you been doing magic? Father says wizards do magic and then they go to Hell. Are you going to Hell?

I couldnt even find it in this fog, muttered Jack. He felt the edge of the road with his feet. A moment later he saw Lucy crouched on the stones. He touched her arm, and she screamed. Its me, he said, fending off her blows.

Why did you sneak up on me like that? she wailed.

I wasnt sneakingoh, never mind. Listen, Ive got a very important job to do, and I need you to be quiet.

Im always quiet. I can keep my mouth shut for hours. Father says Im like a dear little mouse. He said I was changed into a mouse by a bad fairy when I lived in the palace, but a good fairy changed me back.

How about being quiet now? Jack said. It seemed to him the air was beginning to move. Perhaps a sea wind had sprung up.

Its a good story. I can tell it really well. Father says I know as many words as a ten-year-old.

Shh! Jack pulled her down into the bracken.

Im getting wet, cried Lucy.

Be quiet. Someones coming along the road, Jack whispered. Maybe a monster, he added. Lucy clung to him and made no more complaints about wetness. In the distance they heard voices. They were too far to distinguish words, but something about the sound made Jacks hair prickle on the back of his neck. Then, shockingly, someone blew a hunting horn nearby.

Lucy tried to dive under Jacks shirt. He held her close, feeling her tremble and himself tremble. Far away another horn answered.

Hvaer etta? someone said so close that Jack almost yelled. He heard more voicesfour or five. The fog was definitely thinning. He could see shapes on the road, shaggy beings who walked with a heavy tread. He heard the clank of swords.

Come forth. Come forth to me. Cloak the air with your gray presences, he called to the life force, but his concentration was broken. Terror threatened to over-whelm him. These were the wolf-headed men. They were real. They were on the way to the village.

Are those knights? whispered Lucy.

No. Be quiet. Even without fog, Jack thought they would be well hidden in the bracken. They could escape. But what of Father and Mother? Or the Bard?

I think theyre knights, Lucy said.

Theyre monsters. Be quiet.

Hva said one of the men on the road. He strode to the edge and peered out over the bracken.