Enchanted Forests Read Online Free PDF Page B

"Money-money-money."

    Conrad sat with Dame Margot, divvying up the week's haul.
    "Let's see, that's twenty-seven wishes, nine for you, eighteen for
    me, plus you've got the tinderbox, the golden goose, and this,
    whatever it's worth." He flipped the small bone he'd found in the
    crook of an ash tree onto the table. It didn't look like anything
    important, but it had been shut in a silver chest, so it must be
    worth something.

    Dame Margot picked up the bone and laughed, her voice
    sounding much nicer since she'd wished herself young and was
    again the maiden with flowers in her hair that he'd guessed she'd
    originally been. "Oh, this," said the witch maiden. "It's a wiz-
    ard's finger bone. Some of the silly old buggers hide their lives
    in them, then give them to something else to guard. Usually
    dragons or wood nymphs. If we snap it, the wizard will die."

    Conrad shrugged his massive shoulders, finally getting used to
    the heft of them. "So what do we do with it?"

    Margot looked at it. "Oh, we could probably sell it back to the

    32                  Kevin Andrew Murpny

    wizard it belongs to, but that's more trouble than it's worth. I
    know what we do with it." She whistled. "Here, Teacup! Here,
    boy! We have a treat for you'"

    The dog with eyes as big as teacups bounded forward and sat
    down, waggling his tail. "Woof!"

    Margot laughed and flipped him the bone, which he caught
    and crunched happily. Somewhere, Conrad supposed, a wizard
    was having a heart attack.

    The golden goose honked and Margot gave it a biscuit broken
    up in a bowl of water. It dabbled happily, though it looked rather
    strange with the tea cozy firmly attached to its tail. "Golden
    goose feathers are sticky things," Margot had said. "Once you
    get stuck by their enchantment, the only thing that can loose
    them is a laughing princess, and we haven't the time to get one
    of those just now."

    Conrad went back to counting the coins from the three chests
    the dogs had brought. The coppers weren't very valuable, but the
    gold and silver were worth a king's ransom.

    A knock came at the door. Margot rolled her eyes. "If it's any
    lost children, tell them to go away. I've moved. Children are
    nothing but trouble."

    Conrad nodded, going to the door of the now spacious and
    pretty cottage. A terrible waste of a wish, in his opinion, but then
    Margot was free to do with her wishes what she wanted-

    He opened the door, and while the height was right for a pesky
    child, the long white beard and the golden crown were certainly
    not. It was a dwarf, and unless Conrad missed his guess, it was
    then- King. On his left shoulder sat a squirrel, and on his right,
    a mockingbird.

    "Who is it?" Margot asked from the table.

    Conrad paused. "Urn, I think it's the King of the Dwarves."

    "The Rubezahl?" Margot asked. "Oh, by all means, invite him
    in. He can help us count the gold."

    The Dwarf King's eyes twinkled at the word and he walked in
    past Conrad. "Hmph, I was wondering when you were going to
    get around to that." He surveyed the cottage as Conrad shut the
    door, then looked directly at the chests of gold and the goose.
    "My, what a nice haul. I was given to understand that you were
    dealing with wood nymph wishes. I didn't realize that they could
    do gold now."

    Margot smiled. "We had a bit of other good fortune."

    The three dogs growled at the Dwarf King, and Margot looked

    "I'LL GIVE YOU THREE WISHES...       33

    at them fiercely. "Millstone! Tower! Teacup! Hush! This is the
    Rubezahl...."

    The Rubezahl took in the three dogs and then looked to the ta-
    ble. "You found the tinderbox? My, this has been a fortunate
    week for you. However," he said, sitting down on one of the old
    stools, "my associates," he gestured to the squirrel and the mock-
    ingbird, "have informed me of the scam you're running. Very
    good- Very clever. I must commend you both."

    Conrad considered wishing the dwarf, squirrel, and mocking-
    bird dead right