“Yes, she left it for you. I think she was planning to give it to you herself, but then…” The girl’s voice drifted off, and everyone in the room felt the pang of sadness over the loss of someone they all loved dearly. “But then, she couldn’t,” the girl continued.
“How do you know this?”
“I heard her talking about it.”
“Talking with whom?”
“I don’t know. There wasn’t anyone else here that I could see. It almost sounded like she was having a conversation with herself.”
“What did she say?” Cai asked.
“She said that it was for you and that it was special. She said it was what you needed to keep your dark magic safe, or magic it was to keep you safe from your dark magic, sorry I don’t remember that part too well, but it was something like that. When the bad man came to get her, she screamed at us to run, so I took my brother and sister and did what she said. But as we left, Gretel looked right at me, right in my eyes, and she said, ‘Come back for it.’ I didn’t know what she meant then, but when the plague came and everyone started talking about the dark sorcery, I remembered what she had said, and I knew that she had meant for us to retrieve this talisman for you.”
The little boy stared at Cai. “Are you going to use your dark magic to stop the plague?”
“I’m afraid I don’t know how to.”
“I think you can do it,” the younger sister said. “Maybe your new friend can help, the pretty one with the white hair.”
Cai tilted his head at her perplexed. “How do you know about Astra?”
“She sees things,” the older girl answered for her sister.
They all sat for a few minutes, staring both at each other and at the cold, empty fireplace. He knew they were probably hungry. But then he remembered; they didn’t have much time left.
“We have to get back,” he said as he stood up suddenly. “I need to get you back to the woman who is caring for you.”
“We would rather stay with you,” the older girl said.
“I don’t think that would be such a good idea. I’m not the safest or most responsible adult to be caring for you. I think you’re much better off with the nice woman and her son.”
“Gretel thought you were good for us,” the small girl said.
Her words pulled at Cai’s heart as though it were going to unravel. He couldn’t think about how to respond to her now; they had to go.
“Come on,” he said as he scooped the small girl up from the floor, dragging the blanket along behind her. “We need to get back before the dark sorcery returns. We can’t be out in the open when it comes.”
The other two children stood up and readied to go with him. The boy tugged at Cai’s shirt and handed him something. It was a small, raggedy stuffed bear with only one button eye and half of a stitched smile. Its fur was worn so thin that it was basically like skin now.
“This is hers,” the boy said as he pointed to the girl in Cai’s arms. “She won’t go anywhere without it.”
“Thank you,” Cai said as he smiled and took it from him. He handed it to the little girl, and she immediately grabbed the bear and tucked it between her chin and Cai’s chest, and then nuzzled the bear with her face as if both she and the stuffed animal needed reassurance. “What’s its name?” he asked her.
“Button,” she said as her faced beamed with love for the torn-up old object. “He’s very brave.”
Cai looked at her and then at the bear that was wedged against his chest. “I can see that,” he said. “And so are you.”
Cai tucked the talisman into his pocket and started out of the cavern with all three of them; four, if you count the bear.
Their walk back to the city was fast and mostly silent. Cai could tell the children were used to dealing with unusual things. When he used his dark magic to get them all across the chasm and back over to the rope bridge, not one of them questioned his ability to transport them safely. They all simply followed his instructions and didn’t open their eyes until they were told to do so.
Cai didn’t have much experience with children, but from what he could tell, these children were unique in how mature and calm they seemed to be. When they had returned back to the house, Astra was waiting outside for them, she ran up to Cai as soon as he was within sight and warned him to hurry; she could tell that the dark sorcery was nearly there. Even Cai could see the light change around them and feel the heaviness in the air. Astra picked up the small boy, and they all hastened their pace into the little house and shut the door.
There wasn’t time to make it back to the palace, even though it was so close by. They had to stay where they were now until this wave of the plague had passed.
When they got inside, Cai and Astra put both of the children down, and everyone went to sit around the small table together. It was cramped, but there was a space for all. The boy’s mother had switched from tea and oats and was now reaching into her lowest cupboard to pull a bottle of wine out for the adults. Celeste could see her hands shaking and knew that the alcohol was to settle nerves about the incoming second round of plague.
“I’m sorry we have imposed on you,” Celeste said to her. “We weren’t anticipating overstaying our welcome for this long.”
“Not at all,” the woman smiled. “To be honest, I’m glad you’re here, especially him.” She pointed at Cai. “Thank you for bringing the children back.”
“Of course,” Cai said as he took the glass of wine that she offered from her hand.
The four adults sat quietly at the table as they sipped wine and listened for the sounds of chaos to fall outside. The children sat around the table, too, except for the woman’s son, who was busy building a fort out of cushions in the other room. He asked Gretel’s younger brother if he wanted to help with the construction of his play structure, and both boys busily became immersed in their imaginative task. Gretel’s eldest sister sat next to Celeste quietly and drank her tea as she waited to hear what the adults would talk about.
“Button wants to sit with you please,” the smallest girl said as she tried to crawl up into Cai’s lap, nearly spilling the wine in his hand.
Cai held his arms wide as she climbed onto his lap and sat facing him with her bear in between them. She began to play quietly on his lap with her stuffed animal as Cai looked down awkwardly at her in awe.
“She seems to like you,” Celeste said as she smiled.
“Guess so.” He tried to hide the slow smile that grew on his lips. Cai wouldn’t have admitted it, but he felt a bit honored that Button and the girl had decided to make him their play spot, even if it did make drinking his wine a bit more challenging. He somehow managed to reach the talisman in his pocket and take it out without dropping either his wineglass or the child in his lap.
“What is that?” Celeste asked.
“It was a gift to him from our sister,” the eldest girl said from above her teacup. “It is not for you.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to take it. I was merely showing curiosity in it.”
“Don’t be rude,” the boy’s mother gently scolded the girl.