‘How so?’
‘It’s a long story,’ I replied. ‘But if you want to hear it …?’
‘Please,’ she said softly, and that was all the encouragement I needed.
‘It was seven years ago that I first came across it,’ I began. ‘I was twelve and on my first hunting expedition with four or five other village lads under the guidance of old Tomas and his son Jacek, the best hunters and woodsmen in our district. From them we were to learn not only the ways of the hunter but also how to survive in the wild – to find shelter, food and water. Few boys went because Tomas and Jacek’s services didn’t come cheap and many parents felt that the army would provide that kind of training for free when the time came to be called up.’
‘But your parents didn’t think like that?’ asked the Princess.
I smiled at the memory. ‘Oh, Father did – he grumbled mightily about the cost, but Mother put her foot down. She said that the army trained soldiers, not hunters, and that the two were not the same at all – one obeyed orders, the other his instinct, and she knew whom she’d like to have around in a tight situation!’
‘Then I have the great good fortune of having been visited by a hunter, not a soldier,’ said the Princess, and her simple words made my heart skip a beat. ‘Go on, please.’
‘Er, where was I? Mother told Father roundly that I was going and that was that. Her grandfather had been a noted hunter in his time, you see, and she was very proud of him. Anyway, there I was, setting off with Tomas and Jacek and the other boys in Tomas’s boat, for it would take less time by water to reach the spot where we were to start our expedition. We were to be gone a week, all up.’
‘But it didn’t happen like that,’ the Princess put in. Her interest in my story warmed me.
‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘What actually happened was that I was gone nearly ten days. On the second day I somehow got separated from the others and soon realised I was lost. I walked and walked, trying to remember all the things I’d been taught. As night fell that first day, I was getting seriously worried, because not only was I lost, but I’d twisted my ankle falling over some vines.’
I paused and looked at the Princess. In the starlight, her eyes were shining. She looked like she was hanging on my every word. Encouraged, I went on.
‘I came upon an abandoned house in a clearing, deep in the forest, near a little spring. It was clearly abandoned, for dust and cobwebs lay over everything, but the structure was still sound. I sheltered there that night, made a fire, and ate mushrooms and plums I’d gathered nearby.
‘I ended up staying two nights and a day there till my ankle had healed enough that I could walk properly again. I spent the time scouting around for useful things. I found a couple of battered old tools in the long grass near the house – an axe and a spade. I did not touch the food in my pack, for I did not know how long I might need it. Instead, I managed to shoot a rabbit and roasted it over the fire, then ate it with plum juice and herbs. I thought I’d made the grandest meal in the world.’
‘It does sound grand,’ said the Princess, and for the first time she chuckled. I felt absurdly pleased to have got that small bit of cheerfulness out of her.
‘All the while, I was trying to work out how I could get back to my comrades. After careful thought, I set off again. But to be frank, it was more by accident than design that I finally found the others. They’d been looking for me in the wrong direction. They had just about given up and were on their way back to Fish-the-Moon to break the bad news to my parents.
‘Tomas was so angry with me for having, as he put it, “wandered off” that he hardly gave me an occasion to tell the full story. And I just knew he wouldn’t believe me, about the cottage. So I just said I’d shot game and taken shelter up trees. After that, we went on with our training and I never told him or anyone else about the cottage, though I went back there every year after that.’
‘Oh.’
‘Don’t worry, I covered my tracks well. No one else knows it exists. I can guarantee you that. We’ll be safe there.’ I grinned. ‘And you’ll be glad to know, Princess, that I did listen closely to Tomas’s lessons. Over the years I’ve learned many things about the woods. I’m good with directions now. I can light a fire anywhere, even in rain. I know how to trap and how to forage. I have my pocket-knife, and I raided the pantry …’ I gestured to a small metal pan for water, two tin mugs and basic foodstuffs that wouldn’t be missed and were difficult to ruin: a small cloth bag full of buckwheat groats, strips of leathery salt meat, dried fruit and mushrooms, all of which I’d stuffed in my pockets. They’d got a bit damp when I pushed the boat out, but nothing more. ‘We won’t reach the cottage tonight,’ I added, ‘but we can camp and we’ve got food, and water from the river.’
‘You think of everything,’ said the Princess, her smile lighting up her lovely face, and I was glad the night hid the sudden flaming in my cheeks.
‘I hope the cottage won’t be too uncomfortable for you, Princess,’ I said. ‘I’ve been fixing it up slowly. It’s still pretty rough but I think it will make a fine hunting lodge one day.’ I was talking too much but I could not help it. I was trying to hide the fact that her presence affected me more than I cared to admit.
Kasper
If the banks of the Fish had been sparsely populated, the Moss was much more so. The forest came right down to its shore, with not even a camper’s fire to be seen. Sitting there facing each other – the Princess at the stern, me at the oars – we might as well have been the only two people in the whole world. It made the hairs on the back of my neck prickle. I tried not to stare at her, tried to act as if everything was normal.
‘You never told me exactly how you’d heard me,’ the Princess said suddenly, startling me.
For a moment I didn’t know what she meant. And then I understood.
‘You mean, this afternoon?’
She nodded.
‘The trouble is, I don’t know how it happened. I mean, I do. But I can’t explain it.’ I recounted my story about the rockpool, the voices and my decision to go up the Tower.
There was a small silence when I finished. ‘Let me get this straight,’ said the Princess. ‘You had no idea who I really was. You believed I was a dangerous witch who could turn people to stone and –’
‘Actually, no. I didn’t really think that. They’d told us the Tower stopped all magic.’
She smiled. ‘All right. But you still thought I was a witch. So why did you think I’d agree to help you find out who the Commander was plotting to kill?’
I looked at her. ‘Honestly? I don’t know.’
‘I do. It was rash. It was reckless,’ she said severely. My dismay must have shown on my face for she went on, with an impish smile. ‘You do know that, don’t you?’
I returned her smile. ‘Yes, Princess. I do.’
‘What is it?’ she said, with a quizzical glance. ‘You look like you’re bursting to say something.’
I hesitated. ‘Well, it’s just … I have never before had anything like that happen to me – seeing visions, hearing voices. I thought you could tell me how and why I heard you.’