Dragon's Breath (6 page)

"Haywood, my darling, be careful!" Grassina said.

"I'm fine, my sweet," the otter assured her before turning back to the bird. Pressing down on the thrashing parrot, he said, "If you don't stop that right now, I'll rip off your beak and stuff it down your scruffy little throat."

The parrot's beak closed with a snap, and it jerked its wings to its sides. "You wouldn't dare," said the parrot.

Haywood smiled grimly at the bird. "Try me."

"What's going on out there?" demanded a memory. "Who is that?"

"I heard my daughter Grassina," said my grandmother's voice. "I'd recognize the ungrateful wretch's voice anywhere."

My aunt's Up curled as if she'd tasted something foul. "Hello, Mother. If you don't mind, I'm a little busy now."

"What difference would it make if I did mind? My feelings never mattered to you before. But don't worry. I'll shut up and let you go about your important business, Lady High and Mighty!"

Ignoring the other memories who continued to mutter among themselves, my aunt raised the lid of the trunk and reached inside. When she sat back, she held a small brown volume in her hand. "Is this the book?" she asked, holding it up for Olefat to see.

The old man nodded, sniffling into his sleeve. His whole body seemed to slump.

"Good," she said, tucking the book into her pouch. "Then you won't be needing it anymore."

"In a way I'm glad someone showed up," said Olefat, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "Those old witches' memories were driving me crazy. You never met a nastier bunch of women. When I think about all the effort I put into this without getting much real information... They could gossip all right, and they loved to brag, but getting them to describe their actual spells—"

"Gossip?" shrilled a memory. "Did you hear that, ladies? The old geezer called us gossips! Just wait till we get our hands on you, you old—"

"You don't have hands!" Olefat said, smiling through his tears.

Grassina sighed and shook her head. "How do I return the memories to their owners?"

"Break the bottles," Olefat answered, gasping when he realized what he'd said. "But please, if you have any decency in you, let me go first. Those old bats would love to tear me apart!"

"After what you've done, that might be exactly what you deserve."

With an anguished groan, the old man fell to his knees and raised clasped hands to my aunt. "Please, I beg you, let me go!"

"Get up, old man, and get out of here. But you'd better hurry because I'm about to break every bottle in the room. These are all the bottles, aren't they?"

"Every one is on that shelf!"

Grassina reached toward a bottle. "Are you still here?" she asked Olefat.

"No! No, wait!" The old man moved faster than I thought possible. "Come along, Metoo," he said, snatching the parrot from Haywood. With the bird tucked under one arm, Olefat dragged the trunk out from under the table and climbed inside. The parrot hissed at the otter while the old man cast one last glance around the room before slamming the lid shut. I heard him mutter something, then the trunk began to move, rising off the floor and gliding out the door as smoothly as grease on water, passing Eadric and me on its way to the ocean.

Eight

As soon as Olefat was gone, Eadric and I hurried into the hut. We joined Grassina at the window to watch the trunk skim the tops of the waves. "That spell should put a crimp in his style, shouldn't it?" said Eadric.

"I hope so," said Grassina. She carried a black and green bottle to the window, where direct sunlight made it look diseased. "It almost seems a shame to let these go. The old witches are much nicer without their memories." Gesturing toward the shelf, she said, "Would you two like to help me with the bottles?"

Eadric grinned. "How can we resist?"

"I'll wait outside," said Haywood, and blew Grassina a kiss. "I'd just be in the way now."

"Thank you for all your help, my darling," called Grassina as the otter scurried out the door. "You were wonderful!"

We took turns smashing the bottles against the back wall, throwing them one at a time. As each bottle broke, the memories fled the hut in greasy, multicolored swirls. When all the bottles were broken, Eadric and I followed Grassina through the door, surprised to find that the sun was setting. We passed an angry group plotting their revenge on Olefat. Three witches had already set off in pursuit of the wizard.

We were crossing the beach when Haywood trotted over to join us. "Can we talk to your mother now?" he asked my aunt.

Grassina reached down to fondle his ears. "If we can find her. She may have left already."

We spotted my grandmother inspecting her broom near one of the huts. She had changed back into the black gown and pointy-toed shoes she normally wore.

"Mother, I need to speak with you," announced Grassina.

Grandmother swung around and glared at my aunt. "What is it? I'm in a hurry."

Slipping past Grassina, Haywood sat back on his haunches and stared up at my grandmother. "Hello, Olivene. Remember me?"

"By the breath of a cross-eyed bat, if it isn't that good-for-nothing Henley. So you finally found him, did you, Grassina? It took you longer than I thought it would, but then you always were a little slow. Tell me, daughter, what is he doing here?"

"Haywood and I still love each other, and we want to get married."

"So what's stopping you?"

Grassina sighed. "I've come to ask you to reverse the spell and turn Haywood back into a man. It's the least you can do since I saved your memory from Olefat."

Grandmother glanced at Haywood, who had chosen that moment to scrub his face with a paw. "You want a man, do you? There are enough men out there to pick from."

"But I want Haywood!"

This wasn't going at all the way I thought it would. Grandmother was supposed to be thankful and reasonable. Haywood was supposed to act less like an otter and more like a man. And Grassina wasn't supposed to lose her temper.

"Grandmother," I said, hoping to set things right, "I suggested they come. I know how much you've wanted more grandchildren, and I thought if they got married—"

"Why would I want another grandchild? The one I have is the greatest disappointment of my life! You refuse to follow the family trade, you let your mother bully you and you've never given a thought to what you want to do with yourself. When I was your age, I knew exactly what I wanted to do and I did it! You think everything should be handed to you on a platter, but life doesn't work that way. If you cared about your family, you'd live up to your responsibilities and learn to be a witch!"

"That isn't fair! I actually—"

"And as for you," she said, rounding on Grassina. "I may be old, but I haven't forgotten why I turned Horace into an otter in the first place. He doesn't have the talent the way you do. He comes from a family whose witches can't make a decent potion without reading it from a book. Forget about him. He's wasting your time and talents." With a wave of her hand and some foreign-sounding words, Grandmother gestured toward Haywood, who disappeared with an audible pop.

"Haywood!" screamed Grassina, her eyes wide with horror as she stared at the empty spot where the otter had just stood. "Mother, what have you done?"

"I've done you both a favor by sending him to a very nice place where he should be perfectly happy, if he survives. He's going to start forgetting you, Grassina. By the third day, he'll have forgotten that he was ever human. An hour after the sun rises on the fourth day, the change will be permanent. Now get out of my way. That half-baked wizard Olefat has a lot to answer for, and I'm going to make sure he has a miserable time doing it." Twirling her cloak around her shoulders, Grandmother swung her leg over her broom and leaned forward. Before my grandmother could take off, however, Grassina darted in front of her and grabbed the broom handle.

"No, you don't, Mother!" Grassina said. "You're not leaving until you bring my Haywood back!" I had never seen my aunt so angry before. Her face was red and veins stood out on her forehead.

"Out of my way, you ninny!" screeched my grandmother. "It's not my fault that you're too dim-witted to know when someone's done you a good turn." She flicked her fingers at Grassina. Silver sparks shot from her fingertips, sizzling like fat on a hot pan. A spark landed on Grassina's wrist, burning her skin.

Grassina jumped back, gesturing with both hands while muttering something under her breath. A swirl of snowflakes whispered between the two women, extinguishing sparks with a hiss. When the snow cleared, my grandmother had already shot into the sky, cackling that nasty laugh of hers. "Horatio's not good enough for you, Grassina!" she screeched. "Forget about him!"

"That horrible witch!" exclaimed Grassina, scowling at my grandmother as she flew out of sight. "She can't do this to me again. I won't let her get away with it!"

I shook sparks from my skirt and resolved that I would never use my magic to hurt anyone. It hadn't occurred to me that my grandmother would try to hurt her own daughter.

"Now what am I going to do?" wailed my aunt. "Even if I bring Haywood home before four days are up, Mother will refuse to change him back."

"You don't need her to do it! Eadric tried to tell you earlier—we overheard her explain to the other memories what you need to reverse it."

A gossamer hair from mother-of-pearl.
>The breath of a dragon green.
A feather from an aged horse,
The husk of a magic bean.

Tears streamed down Grassina's face. I couldn't remember ever seeing my aunt cry before. "But I have to find Haywood!" she said. "I'm sure she sent him somewhere ghastly. I don't have time to find him
and ail
those items."

"All you have to do is find Haywood," I said. "Eadric and I can start looking for the things you need. We'll meet you back at the castle. Today is Tuesday, so four days from now would be Saturday. If we work together, I'm sure we can do this."

"I don't know if I should let you," said Grassina. "It may be too dangerous. You'd need to look in the sea for the mother-of-pearl, and as to getting the dragon's breath—"

"That part should be easy. I already know where we can find a dragon. We came across one in the enchanted forest."

"I don't think—"

"Please, Grassina. It's my fault that you talked to Grandmother. If I hadn't been so sure that she would help us, we'd all be back at the castle right now and none of this would have happened. Please let me make it up to you. I can do this, I know I can."

"I can't—"

"You've helped me my whole life, and this is the first time I'll be able to do something for you. Please give me the chance."

Grassina wiped tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. "Are you sure about this? It won't be easy."

Eadric interrupted. "Of course we'll do it. Emma is your only niece, and I keep hoping that someday ..." He put his arm around my shoulders.

"Then I suppose ..." My aunt smiled feebly and reached for our hands. We took her hands in ours and held them tightly. "Thank you, Emma, Eadric," she said. "You don't know what this means to me. I need to go after Haywood before his trail gets cold. You may use the magic carpet, of course. I'll have it take you directly home. I already know where you can find the first item. Emma, open the silver chest in my bedchamber. Take the silver comb to the saltwater bowl. Run the comb through your hair three times, then do the same for Eadric. Put the comb in your pouch—keep it safe, for you'll need it to come back—and dip your hand in the salt water. This will take you into the sea, but don't worry, you'll be fine. When you get to the castle, ask for my friend Coral. She's a sea witch and she'll help you all she can. Be sure to take her a gift. When I come home, I'll get whatever you haven't located."

"How will you find Haywood without the carpet?"

"I have my ways." Sticking two fingers in her mouth, Grassina whistled, then turned back to me. "Tell your mother what your grandmother did. You can also tell her that she doesn't need to worry. I'll be home soon. Now climb on and be careful," she said as the carpet landed at our feet.

"How do you steer it?" I asked.

My aunt seemed edgy and impatient to go. She sighed and said, "I don't have time to show you now. It already knows the way home, so you won't have to worry about steering. Just say 'home' and it will do the rest."

Eadric and I looked at each other. He swallowed hard and said, "I'm ready when you are."

I nodded and tried not to think about falling off.

Clenching my teeth, I stepped onto the carpet and sat down, taking deep breaths to calm my pounding heart. I was trying to get comfortable when my hand brushed the pouch hanging from my belt. "Maybe this could help," I said, taking out the string. "If I could turn this into some sort of strap to hold us on—"

"Emma, you clever girl! That's a marvelous idea." Grassina's eyes lit up, and I realized that she was more worried about us than she let show. She gestured, and the string grew into a heavy cord that whipped around my waist, attaching itself to the carpet behind me.

I glanced at Eadric, who was secured as well. Although it wasn't much, it made me feel better.
Stay calm,
I told myself, closing my eyes as the carpet began to rise.