Wolf Notes and Other Musical Mishaps Read Online Free PDF Page A

food.”
    “How?” Helen asked eagerly.
    “Feed him human food, of course.”
    “If we can get food to him, can’t we just grab him and get him out?”
    “It’s not that simple. It’s easier to enter the faery world than to escape from it. I can find a window through which you can give him food, but for a doorway through which he can walk out, you’ll have to bargain with the Faery Queen.”
    “What can we bargain with?” Helen asked, prodding the ground with a bent stick.
    Lee smiled. “What do you have, Helen?”
    Helen stared into the fire. “Music,” she whispered . “I have music.”
    “No!” boomed Yann. “I won’t let you give yourself away for a child you don’t even know. There must be another way.”
    “I doubt it,” said Sylvie. “That’s probably why they stole the boy … to force the musicians to play. He’s a hostage. Your music is the ransom.”
    Helen shook her head. “Nobody needs a hostage to hear our music, we’re here because we want to play. If the students don’t know the Faery Queen is planning to hijack our concert, they’ll play at midsummer without needing to be forced or persuaded.”
    Sylvie shrugged. “She may have taken him in case someone sharper than you works it out before midsummer.”
    “Or perhaps she knows you played selkie music at our winter gathering,” Yann said. “Perhaps she’s worried you’ll recognise the ways of magical beings and be a danger to her plans.”
    “She stole the boy so she could bargain with me? ” Helen took a deep breath. She had to think about the boy, not herself. “If she’s holding James for ransom, then we have until the end of the week to find something else to bargain with, because presumably she’ll want us to play at our best, and we won’t have rehearsed together often enough to play perfectly until midsummer night.”
    “If the boy is to have any value as a hostage,” added Yann, “he must be able to return home safely, so perhaps she won’t make it too difficult to feed him human food. Do you have food in your bag, healer’s child?”
    “No.” Helen almost laughed. “It’s not a picnic basket, it’s a first aid kit.”
    “I could hunt a snack for him,” offered Sylvie.
    “I don’t think a five-year-old boy will eat raw meat,” said Yann.
    “There’s no rush to feed him.” Lee was leaning back on his hands watching them talk. “Particularly not if you’re going to work everything out so fast. You hardly need me!”
    “But we have to get human food to him before he eats faery food and he’s already been with them more than an hour. We have to get food to him right now!” Helen insisted.
    Lee shook his head. “My people cast a spell to keep children quiet as they carry them off. He won’t wake until tomorrow evening, so he won’t need food until then.”
    “Once we’ve fed him, how do we bargain for his release?” Helen twisted the branch between her fingers. “Do we need to see the Queen?”
    Lee stared at her. She wondered if he could see past her questions and her concern for the child. She hoped he couldn’t see the flicker of excitement she felt at the idea of performing for such a legendary music-loving audience.
    “You must exchange messages with her,” Lee said, “but I hope you won’t have to speak to the Queen herself. It’s not wise for humans to see the Faery Queen. You might forget what you really want.” Lee stood up. “I’ll meet you here tomorrow, three hours before sunset, and I’ll show you a way to feed the boy. Bring food, Helen Strang, but don’t bring your grumpy friends. We’ll manage better with four quiet feet, rather than a whole farmyard of hooves and paws.”
    “I’ll meet you here, but so will Yann and Sylvie,if they want. We work together.”
    “Your trust is touching. Just don’t turn your back on the wolf … she looks hungry.” Lee bowed to them all in turn. “The prospect of seeing you tomorrow is all that will brighten the bleak day