A Fiery Friendship by Lisa Fiedler & Gabriel Gale

Author:Lisa Fiedler & Gabriel Gale
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

25

LOOSE ENDS

Wasn’t that fun?” Blingle taunted, her gray hair returning to its golden richness, her haggard skin softening once more. Only her hands were different—amid the eight shiny needles were two knuckly stubs, all that remained of the fingers she’d sacrificed to sew Ben and Locasta into the trapestry. “My liege Aphidina will be so delighted by my success, don’t you think? She sent me here this morning, expressly to collect you, and now I have.”

“How did the Witch know I was coming to Maud’s?” Glinda demanded.

“Our Witch has ways and means, and her ways are mean indeed.” Blingle looked down her pert little nose and lowered her voice to a mock whisper. “Don’t tell anyone, though. It’s a secret.”

“So you’re a Witch, then?”

Blingle gave an indignant sniff. “I am a Wizardess. Wizardry is the Magical calling that relies upon ambition, achieved through illusion.”

“What have you done with Maud?” Glinda asked through gritted teeth.

“Nothing,” Blingle spat. “Her fate was sealed long ago.”

Glinda glanced at the prisoners stitched into the tapestry. “What of my friends?” she asked. “And the apothecary?”

“I assume they’ll remain there until the Witch can think of a use for them,” Blingle replied with a toss of her hair. “My stitches, and Gremil’s too, are hexed so as to be reversible when need be.”

“And who is the dark-eyed girl? The one in the cloak.”

“She is absolutely nobody. I found her skulking around the cottage shortly after I arrived this morning. I was appalled, of course. I mean, honestly! Who wears a cloak nowadays?” Blingle gave a delicate hoot of laughter. “She knocked on the door expecting Maud and found me instead. Imagine her surprise! I’d stitched her into the tapestry before she even knew what was happening. Perhaps I’ll just take a blade to her and rip her out altogether. I’m certain no one will miss her.”

Glinda looked at the girl in the trapestry. The girl looked back at her.

“Now then,” said Blingle, “all that remains is for me to send word to Aphidina that I have carried out my task with exceptional results.” Sashaying to the door, she opened it, leaned out, and called, “Bird!”

“Bird?” Glinda echoed.

“Well, of course,” Blingle trilled, utterly disgusted by Glinda’s stupidity. “How else would I get the news to the Witch?” Again she shrieked, “Bird!”

An avian creature came swooping into the cottage.

But unlike the feathery snoops who’d descended upon Glinda’s house yesterday, this bird was not a crow, nor a raven, nor a vulture.

This bird, to Glinda’s immeasurable relief, was an eagle.

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