The Shining Falcon

He waited, head to one side.

Silence.

With a little hiss of annoyance, the leshy began again, «Hey, now, Brother Leshy, hear my call!»

Silence once more. But the being felt a consciousness brush his own, a wary «I hear. What would you?»

«Why, Brother Leshy, do you not recall our game of gambling? Do you not recall the debt I owed you?» The being hugged himself in glee. ' 'My payment waits there in the meadow between our two domains.

There was a pause. The other leshy said dubiously, «That? What do I want with… that? I will not take him.»

«You must, you must! By the rules of our game, you must accept my gift! And there he is, Brother Leshy! There is my gift to you! With time and patience, you should be able to drag him into your domain. And then, my Brother Leshy, enjoy your gift as you will!»

«I'll repay you for this!» hissed the other leshy in not-quite-feigned anger. «I shall steal your squirrels from you, or your foxes!»

«Storm away, storm away!» laughed the being. «The man is yours, and yours he will remain! Farewell, Brother Leshy!»

Oh, a wonderful jest! And how glad he was to be rid of that ugly human!

And with that, trees swaying to his laughter, the leshy vanished into his forest domain once more.

Chapter XXXlll

Regrets

«Maria?» Vasilissa tapped nervously on the storeroom's bolted door. «Maria, please!»

She had firmly approved of her father punishing the girl for her scandalous behavior. But poor Maria, having to spend the night on the cold floor of a dusty storeroom— The very thought of it had kept Vasilissa awake half the night. And now it was nearly morning, and Lissa couldn't stand it any longer. Whether or not Danilo approved, she meant to see that her sister was all right.

«Maria!» Vasilissa rapped with a bit more force. «Maria, answer me. Maria!»

The girl couldn't be sleeping that soundly; something must have gone wrong. Maria must be ill, or hurt, or— had the demon come for her?

«Maria!»

Hands trembling, Vasilissa fumbled with the bolt until she finally managed to pull it aside. She flung open the storeroom door—

And screamed.

Suddenly Danilo was catching her by the shoulders. «Lissa! Lissa, what is it?»

«The demon! Oh, Father, the demon came for Maria and carried her off. She's gone!»

Danilo nearly shoved her aside in his haste to get into the storeroom. But after a moment he returned, holding a thin little metal blade to which a hook had been carefully wired.

«No," Danilo said in quiet despair. «No one carried her off. Don't you see? Maria has run away to join her sorcerer.»

Maria huddled in the wagon, hidden under the pile of sacking, heart racing. It had been almost ridiculously easy to steal out of the estate in the early morning light, when their watchmen had plainly gone off their guards. I must warn Father, Maria thought, then gave a silent, wry laugh at her foolishness. Who knew when she'd see her father again?

The wagon lurched, and Maria frantically snatched at her concealing mound of sacking. It might smell of onions, but it was shelter. The peasant driver, on his way home to wherever, had no idea he was carrying a passenger out of Stargorod, and this was hardly the time to enlighten him.

Just keep going, Maria urged him silently. Please, just keep going!

There, they'd gotten safely over the rut or hole and were on their way again. Maria, holding her breath, heard the driver exchanging bored greetings with the guards at the city gate. And then the wagon was rumbling out of Stargorod. Maria peeked through a hole in one of the sacks, saw the city walls receding slowly behind her, and shivered in a mixture of fear and excitement.

There was no turning back now. Like it or not, she was on her way.

After his first shock, Danilo, ablaze with frantic energy, called for his overseer. «Sasha, come here! Hurry!» And to the trembling Vasilissa, «Don't worry, child. She can't have gotten very far. We'll find her before— Sasha where are you, man?»

The servant came hurrying up, panting. «Ah— You're up early, master. Just as well, you see.»

«What are you talking about? Sasha, I'm in no mood for riddles!»

«No—no riddles, master. It's orders—orders from our Prince just arrived a few moments ago. He—uh—wishes to see you and the rest of the council as soon as possible.''