Part 24 (1/2)
Mirror, mirror, tell us true, To be the greatest, what should we do?
There was a long silence. In the bone chamber, the only sound was the dripping of blood from the body bags overhead and the Others' frantic, ragged breathing.
Finally, the mirror answered: Jack and Jill braved terrors en ma.s.se To find, and recover, this sacred Gla.s.s.
Ye three have lived a life of sin.
To prove your worth, turn yourselves in.
Go to the guards of the royal throne.
Show them your victims. Show them their bones.
If you can face justice without fear, Then soon, your own names from this Gla.s.s you'll hear.
The Gla.s.s fell silent again. The Others stared at it, frozen.
”Turn ourselves in?” the oil salesman muttered.
Jack and Jill watched the Others' faces tensely.
”Face justice?” said the silk merchant. ”But surely, they'll put us to death.”
But the old woman raised her voice.
Mirror, mirror, master of fate, If we do this, will we be great?
And the mirror answered, Face the punishment, standing tall, And ye shall indeed be the greatest of all.
”We will be!” the old woman crowed. ”We will be!” And then she barked at her two siblings, ”Come on!”
She ran from the room. For a moment, the two men continued to gaze at the Gla.s.s. Then, slowly, resolutely, they turned and followed their sister.
For nearly twenty minutes, neither Jack nor Jill said a word. They merely stood, stock-still, listening to the pounding of their hearts, praying that indeed the Others were gone.
Finally, the Gla.s.s intoned, ”Well, that must have been the greatest performance in the history of Marchen.” The frog crawled out of a hole between two rib bones at the base of the altar. He was beaming.
”It was pretty good,” Jack grinned.
”Pretty good? It was great! It was genius! I am a dramatic genius!”
Jack laughed. ”You may indeed be a dramatic genius.”
”I am indeed,” the frog agreed. But then he paused. ”Still, I can't believe they fell for it! Why did they fall for it?”
Jill replied, ”Didn't you see how they wors.h.i.+pped the Gla.s.s, even before it spoke? Didn't you recognize that from somewhere?”
Jack said, ”I know I did.”
”They are con-fused,” said Jill.
”With the Gla.s.s,” said Jack.
The children stared at the Seeing Gla.s.s.
”Maybe,” said the frog. ”Or maybe I am just a dramatic genius.”
CHAPTER TWELVE.
Face to Face Once upon a time, two children walked down a long, dusty road.
Jack fingered the Gla.s.s from time to time. He shook his head at it. Its secrets remained locked away.
Jill wondered about the Others. She wondered where they were, and if they were following the mirror's advice. She watched the road warily.
The children's stomachs were all tied up in knots, and their throats had lumps that made it hard to breathe. But not just because of the Others. Nor solely because of the Gla.s.s.
Their stomachs were in knots and their throats were thick with lumps because, at long last, they were returning to the places they had fled, the people they had run from. They were, at long last, going home.
They came to a fork in the road.
”I go this way,” said Jack.
Jill nodded. ”I go this way.”
They embraced.
”Oh,” said Jack. ”Do you want the Gla.s.s? I don't know what to do with it.”
Jill shook her head. ”You keep it. We don't need another mirror in my house.”
Jack grinned sideways. ”Sure,” he said. And then he whispered, ”Good luck.”
”Good luck,” Jill whispered back.
Then they parted.
As Jack made his way over the small country roads that led to his father's house, he saw a group of boys playing blindman's bluff in a field. Marie was the blind man. His eyes were closed, and he stumbled around after the other boys as they dipped and dodged out of his way.
”Hi,” said Jack. Some of the boys turned to him.