The Glass of Lead and Gold by Cornelia Funke

Author:Cornelia Funke [Cornelia Funke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781782691990
Publisher: Pushkin Press
Published: 2018-12-08T16:00:00+00:00

The woman stepped through the gap and came walking towards them, with slow and heavy steps which made Tabetha think of her as a tree that had grown legs. The deep snow made even those heavy steps as silent as a cat’s, but Thumblings are known for their sharp ears and the one in Bartholomew Jakes’s pocket alerted his master with a shrill squeal. The treasure hunter turned around, reaching for his pistol.

The woman stopped, just a few steps away from him.

Her skin gave her away. She was a Troll. One didn’t meet them often in the streets, as they liked to keep to themselves, but Tabetha had once seen one at the harbour, carrying huge wooden crates onto a ship as if he carried sacks of feathers. His skin had resembled the wood of the ship’s hull. The Troll woman’s skin was darker and rough like oak bark, while her shoulder-length hair was as pale green as the leaves of a beech in spring.

Everyone knew a Troll could break a man’s neck with one finger, even rip off his head without much effort. Tabetha wasn’t sure whether that was also true for their women, but Bartholomew Jakes clearly believed it. The treasure hunter tried to hide his fear—as it was caused by a woman, it was even more embarrassing—but he took a couple of steps back, while pointing his pistol at the Troll. The Thumbling disappeared into the depths of his master’s pocket.

“Leaf the boy ulone,” the Troll woman said. She said it very calmly, her voice sounding to Tabetha as if it were echoing up out of a well, but she had closed the fingers of her right hand into a fist; a fist as big as Bartholomew Jakes’s head.

“I am just doing business with him,” he said, still pointing his pistol at the Troll. “He stole that box from me. He can go, once I have it back.”

“Don’t lie to me, littel man,” the Troll woman said. “And put zat pistol away. It makes me vant to punch you, just a littel bit, and it’s Christmas.”

Tabetha hesitated when the huge woman waved her to her side, but for now even a Troll seemed the safer option. Bartholomew Jakes followed her with his eyes, but he didn’t grab her when she walked past him, her box firmly under her arm. From close by, the Troll woman looked even more imposing, but it felt strangely comforting to stand by her side. Like standing under a big tree.

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