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 Nay. She looks off as if to something in the distance.
 It will be just like last time you slept, only this time I sus-
pect it will not be for three hundred years. Now, we must
make haste.
337
At that, she pulls a spindle from behind her back.  Make
a wish. Her voice is hypnotic.  Then touch the spindle.
I wish that Jack s love will be strong enough. . . .
 Touch it, my dear. . . .
338
Chapter 47:
Jack
j
e ve been climbing the hill for an hour, and the cot-
Wtage looks no closer than before. In fact, it looks
farther away. The wind is pushing against us at every step,
and Pleasant isn t being very pleasant about it. Neither is
Travis.
 I want ale! Pleasant whines.  We have already been to
this cottage!
 I bet they re serving dinner at the castle right now,
says Travis.  And it s not like we can just go to a drive-thru
or something if we miss it.
I glare at him, and he says,  I m just saying . . .
 Don t just say, I tell him. But it s getting dark, and
soon we won t be able to see to walk.
 Hey, Travis says.  Would you look at that?
 What? I say.
339
 I spit my gum out by an oak tree before. There it is.
He points at the tree.
 What do you mean? You spit your gum out just
now?
He shakes his head.  Like, twenty minutes ago. I spit
it out, and now it s there. It s like we ve been going in a
circle.
I look. He s right. There s a piece of green gum.
 It s probably someone else s gum.
 Are you kidding? They don t even have gum in this
place. That s my gum. We ve been here before.
 But that s impossible. We can t be going in a circle.
We ve been walking uphill. But a lot of things do look
familiar, like that funny rock over there that s shaped like a
wedge of cheese.
Travis shrugs.  Weird, right?
I look up at the cottage. It s stone, like Talia said, and at
the top of the hill. And still as far away as ever. I shiver in
another gust of wind.
 We have to keep walking, I say.
After another five minutes, it s almost completely dark.
I hear Travis s stomach growl.
 I am going back, Cuthbert says.  There s no way we
shall reach it tonight. Look. He gestures down the hill.
I look. We re near the bottom, as if we ve been
sliding backward. Has someone placed a spell on this
hill? Not impossible, not here. But if someone has, that
someone must be Malvolia. That would mean I m on the
340
right track, that Talia s here.
I look up at the top of the hill, at the cottage so far
away. A light burns in one of the windows. Is Talia there? I
remember what I saw in the chestnut tree. She is.
I make a decision. I turn to Pleasant, Cuthbert, and
Travis.  Look, guys, why don t you go back to the castle
and have dinner?
That s all Pleasant and Cuthbert have to hear. They say
their good-byes and go. Travis tries to protest.  Bud, if you
want me to stay . . .
 I don t. I have a feeling this is something I need to do
myself. All by myself.
 Well, if you re sure . . . I can tell he s dying to leave.
 I m sure, I say.
 Okay. He turns and walks away before I can change
my mind.
I keep going up the hill. The sun is down now, and the
moon is barely a sliver. The only light is the light in the
window of the cottage. I can see someone moving inside.
Is it Talia?
I pass the wedge-shaped rock again.
 Are you messing with me? I yell up toward the
cottage.
No answer but the wind in the trees. It s not that late.
My body is still on Miami time, so it s really not. But I m
hungry and tired from walking so far. I look at my watch.
I ve been walking uphill for four hours, wearing sneakers,
getting nowhere.
341
An hour more. Then another in the pitch darkness.
I can t see where I m walking, but once, I feel something
sticky on the bottom of my shoe. Travis s gum. I look up
at the cottage, still so far away. This is the hardest I ve ever
worked, the most exhausted I ve ever been. But still, I keep
walking against the wind.
If Talia s not here, then where is she? Did she run away
in Miami because she didn t want to go home? Could she
be on the street somewhere? Could she be dead?
An hour later, I pass the same wedge-shaped rock.
But something is different. By the dim light of the skinny
moon, I can make out a shape lying beside it. I walk closer
and reach out to touch it.
It s a blanket and a pillow. There s something attached
to the blanket: a piece of paper. I take out my cell phone to
use as a light.
Sleep, it says.
Although I want to resist, I can t. I fall down almost like
I m fainting and go quickly to sleep.
But I don t sleep well. I have this strange dream where
I m playing Jeopardy, and the host is this weird old woman in
black. I know from Talia s description that it s Malvolia. We re
on Final Jeopardy, and the category is  Princess Talia.
The old woman reads the question.
 What was the name of Talia s art teacher?
I look at her.  What if I don t remember?
She fixes me with a dark stare.  True love would
remember.
342
The other contestants, Pleasant and Cuthbert, are
already writing. The Jeopardy music begins to play. When
it s almost over, I suddenly remember Meryl showing me
the Wikipedia article yesterday.
I write, Carlo Maratti.
I wake with a start before I can find out if I got it right,
if I won the game.
The sun has risen, and maybe it s getting in my eyes,
because now it looks like I m a quarter of the way up the
hill.
How did I get there? Did Malvolia really appear to me
in my dream, the way she did to Talia? Did she ask me that
question, and did I move closer because I got it right?
Beside me is a loaf of bread, a wedge of cheese, an apple,
and a jug of water. Although it grosses me out to eat some-
thing that just appeared on the ground, I have no choice.
I m too hungry. I eat some of the bread and cheese, drink
the water, and save the rest for later. I don t take the blan-
ket or pillow with me. They re too heavy, and I hope not
to need them. I begin to walk. As soon as I start, the wind,
which had been silent, begins to howl again. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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