The Wood Wife [Brian Froud's Faerielands 03] by Terri Windling (author) Brian Froud (illustrator)

Author:Terri Windling (author), Brian Froud (illustrator)
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-09-03T00:00:00+00:00

That night she slipped through the shadows of the bedroom, making no noise with her bare human feet. Her heart was beating rapidly. She wished once again that the Spine Witch was here. But this was her task alone tonight, to retrieve that single copper band that had left the mountain for so many years and now had come back again. She could see it on the night table, glowing in the darkness like a star.

She crept up to the head of the bed. She cast a nervous glance at the sleeping woman, and slowly slid her hand to the table. She reached for the band, her fingers closing on it. Then her wrist was pinned. A light went on.

“I’ve got you,” the woman said, looking at her. Her eyes widened when she saw what she had caught.

The little one cringed against the side of the bed, covering her face with long jackrabbit ears.

“Oh good heavens. You’re trembling. And you’re such a little bit of a thing, now aren’t you?” The woman’s voice grew softer. “Come on now, I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to know who you are. What you are. And what are you doing with all my things?”

She lifted one ear and peeked up with one eye. She whispered the woman’s name—“Black Maggie.”

“That’s right,” the woman said to her. “But who are you, little darlin’?”

“I have no name.” Her human voice was both whispery and gravelly. She’d never tried it out before. She said hopefully, “You can call me what you like.” She felt a flutter of excitement in her chest. Was she about to get a name at last?

The woman smiled. “All right then. But what shall I call you? How about . . . Thumper?” She laughed, a husky sound. “You’ve probably never heard of Bambi, have you?”

“Thumper.” She lifted her other ear, and grinned, exposing little teeth.

“Thumper, if I let you go, are you going to disappear on me?”

Her smile left and she gravely shook her head.

“All right, I’m going to trust you then. But I want you to let go of the bracelet first. That’s Anna’s bracelet and I’m not going to give it to you, understand?”

Thumper shook her head again, and she let go of the copper band. Crow would not be happy. But what could she do? The woman had caught her fairly. There were rules about these things, of course. Even Crow was bound by that, although it was true he wasn’t bound by much. Not like the rest of them. Not like her, with the animal self always tugging at her, overwhelming her other senses. Not like the Spine Witch, bound to the cactus in which her magic was housed; or the Nightmage whose soul had been plucked from the wood like a bean popped from a mesquite pod and put only Earth knew where.

Black Maggie let go of her wrist. Thumper stood, legs splayed, her hands on her belly, waiting to see what would happen next.

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