Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow - Jessica Day George [63]
The lass sent Rollo to catch his own meal, and took up the spindle offered her.
Chapter 24
None of us have ever ventured farther than this little clearing,” the first moster told the lass the next morning.
They all three stood before their hut, the Eldest leaning on a tall walking stick carved with flowers. In the gray dawn light they looked even older and less human, but the lass knew them to be kind and good.
“But our horses were gifts from our neighbor, and know well the way to his house,” the second moster said. She walked to the edge of the clearing and whistled a long, sharp note.
“His house?” The lass was surprised. “I thought I would go on and on through a long trail of women who got lost searching for the troll palace.”
The Eldest shook her head. “Many have passed through, over the years, but where they ended up we’ve no notion. We help those who are polite, and bar our door to those who are not.”
“Oh.” The lass felt very grateful that her parents had taught her good manners. The two hot meals she had eaten at their hearth and the warm soft bed had done wonders for her.
“Here is your pack,” the first moster said, holding it out. “We’ve stuffed it full of apples and bread, and a little cheese.”
“Oh, thank you!” The lass felt guilty: they were so old, and she had Rollo to hunt for her. “Are you sure you can spare it?”
“Of course, child,” the Eldest said. “And more besides.” She pointed imperiously at the pack. “Show her,” she ordered the first moster.
“A jar of my apple jelly,” the first moster said, flipping open the knapsack and showing the lass where it nestled inside. The jar was shaped like an apple, and the jelly inside made it shine like pure gold. “The jar is carved from crystal,” the crone said with pride. Then she held up a set of carding combs, and these really did appear to be made of gold, finely worked and set with small jewels. “Carding combs, and a ball of new wool, from that one.” She nodded at the second moster, still standing a few feet away and just now emitting a second whistle.
“And this from me,” the Eldest said. She felt inside the pack and pulled out a spindle of gold, as elegant as the carding combs. “A blind woman has no need for such trinkets. But if you wish to enchant the troll princess . . .”
The lass thought of the ice palace, with its rooms full of anvils and knitting needles, and smiled. “Wonderful,” she said. “Tova was polite, wasn’t she? Did you help her?” She wanted very much to know about Hans Peter’s beloved. Not just if she had survived, but what sort of person she was.
“Tova was a good girl,” the first moster said brightly, repacking the lass’s bundle. “We gave her useful gifts as well.”
The Eldest smiled at the lass, her ancient face transformed by the expression. “We send you as well armed as we sent the last lost maiden, if you can find a way to use these weapons,” she said.
Doubt fluttered in the lass’s breast, however. “Do you really think that I will get to the palace?” she asked.
The old woman paused. Her gnarled, ancient fingers reached out and touched the lass’s cheek. As softly as snowflakes, she stroked the girl’s face. “Yes,” she said, her hands still resting lightly on the lass’s cheeks. “You will find the palace east of the sun and west of the moon.” She shook her head, the motion rippling down her long braids. “Poor thing.”
“But will I be able to free my prince?”
“That I cannot say.”
The lass sighed deeply.
“Come now,” the Eldest said, taking her stiff old hands from the girl’s face. “You are too young for such despairing sighs. We will loan you our horses, and they shall carry you to the home of the east wind.”
“The east wind?” The lass gaped at the Eldest moster.
“Indeed,” she said. “Who else would live so far from human habitation?”
A third whistle from the moster at the edge of the clearing, and three horses came trotting out of the forest. One was black as ebony, the second gray as a stormcloud, and the third white as snow with a bloodred