Changeling by Delia Sherman

Author:Delia Sherman
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2010-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

THERE’S ALWAYS A CATCH TO A MAGIC TALISMAN.

Neef’s Rules for Changelings

“Let them go,” the Queen had said. Very funny. Gasping and coughing, I broke the surface and tried to get Changeling’s head above water. She was limp and heavy, not even fighting me. The pier looked a long way away. Luckily, a couple of burly selkies who were hanging out on the pier saw us thrashing around. They dove in, hauled us out, and thumped on Changeling until she coughed up all the Harbor water she’d swallowed. Then they yelled at us for swimming without proper supervision. I promised we wouldn’t do it again. They let us off with a warning and left us shivering in a widening pool of cold salt water.

I looked around. In front of Castle Clinton, I saw a crowd of misty men and women surrounded by boxes and suitcases. Some of the women carried babies tied to their backs in shawls. They were all waiting for something, and I could tell they’d been waiting for a long, long time. They didn’t even notice us.

The sky paled and so did the ghosts, until they faded out completely.

Changeling was shivering and clutching her soggy flower-garden jacket around her as if she thought it would make her warmer. “I am very cold,” she said through chattering teeth.

I sighed. “You’ll feel better if you eat something. Are you tired of bread and cheese yet? I could ask Satchel for a chicken leg or something.”

“B-bread and cheese will be fine.”

I looked for someplace away from the water where we could eat and dry out in peace and finally found a kind of den between the back wall of Castle Clinton and a couple of Dumpsters. The space was already occupied by a dirty mortal in a ragged coat and boots tied on with cloth. But he was asleep, so he didn’t count.

Changeling eyed him nervously. “That is a street person,” she said. “He probably drinks too much or takes drugs. It is not safe to be around him.”

“He’s asleep,” I said. “And when he wakes up, he’ll go right back Outside, so he won’t bother us.”

“I do not understand,” Changeling said. “He is already outside.”

I wondered if the Pooka or Astris ever got tired of explaining obvious stuff to me. “I meant New York Outside, where you live. Usually, mortals don’t come to our New York unless they’re asleep. Here’s your cheese.”

I could tell she wasn’t convinced—she kept glancing at him. But she shut up and ate. I took a bite myself, then fished the Magical Mirror out of my shirt where I’d stuffed it while the selkies were thumping on Changeling.

The Mirror certainly wasn’t very magical to look at: two palm-sized circles of silvered glass set back-to-back in a plain metal frame. The first side showed me nothing but a big pinkish blur. I moved the Mirror closer, and my eye swam into focus. It practically filled the Mirror, greenish flecks in a brown iris, pink veins doodled through the surrounding white, eyelashes coarse as a cat’s whiskers.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.