I’ve been trying to …” He surveyed me and then must have thought better of whatever he was going to say because he didn’t finish the sentence. “So, now that I’ve told you my story, tell me yours.” Outside in the courtyard, a young boy was mucking out the stables. A couple of peacocks wandered near the stable door, picking at the ground. It seemed unreal, like a TV show. But it wasn’t. It was right outside, and the world I knew was far away in the future. It lay in the seeds of trees that hadn’t even sprouted yet.
I wasn’t sure if I could trust Hudson, but he was part of my world, and he was also Nick’s friend. Those facts made it feel like he was on my side. So I told him the truth. “I wished for a way to change things into gold. It seemed like a nice safe way to make money.”
“But?”
“But Chrissy sent me back to the Middle Ages to be the miller’s daughter in Rumpelstiltskin.” I expected Hudson to laugh or tell me I had gotten what I deserved, but his expression stayed serious and intent. Since he didn’t comment, I went on. “Clover—that’s her leprechaun assistant—says I can go home when I’m through with the fairy tale, but I don’t want to marry King John. I mean, I’m seventeen and he’s threatening to kill me in the morning. That’s not a match I ever envisioned for myself. I think I’m due for a wish refund.” Hudson pondered this. “You don’t know much about fairies, do you?”
“I think I could pick one out of a crowd pretty easily.” He shook his head. “People from our time don’t understand fairies. Here in the Middle Ages, they’re as common as unicorns and 133/356
dragons—all right, that’s still pretty uncommon, but everyone avoids the fay folk. Fairies are mischievous troublemakers. Your godmother is probably out somewhere right now having a good laugh at your expense.”
“No, she’s not like that …” I was certain he was wrong. Although, now that I thought about it, Chrissy had admitted to turning some random kid into a squid. Maybe this trip was just one step better than waving my tentacles around in an aquarium.
Or several steps worse.
Hudson lowered his voice. “While the nuns took care of me, I told Sister Mary Theresa I was from the future. It took me a while to convince her I wasn’t crazy. If anybody here calls you addled, it’s not a compliment. But eventually she believed me. Before I came to work at the castle, she sent me to King Richard’s old wizard, Bartimaeus the Proud.” Hudson cast a glance back at the door, making sure we were still alone. “After Richard died, King John appointed his own wizard.
The new wizard broke Bartimaeus’s wand and banished him from court. Now he lives in a village ten miles east of here, using what magic he has left to make a living. Bartimaeus and I made a deal. While I work as a castle guard, I’ll try to find the thing he needs to repair his wand and when I give it to him, he’ll send me home. I can ask if he’ll help you and your family too.”
This was the first good news I had heard since I’d found myself in the land of the toothless and smelly. I turned from the window to face Hudson. “Really? You’d do that for me?”
“Nick’s my friend.”
The sentence felt like a rebuff, but I tried not to show it. “What does the wizard need to repair his wand?” Hudson’s eyes swept back to the door. He whispered, “The Gilead.”
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I didn’t know what that was. “The what?”
“It’s a plant Bartimaeus enchanted so its sap can fix broken things and heal people. King Richard was supposed to take the Gilead to France while he fought King Philip, but he thought the journey would kill the plant, so he only took a few cuttings. He figured the cuttings would keep until they were used up, but the magic only lasts for a few months once a branch has been taken from the plant. So Richard died during the siege of Chalus, and King John still has the Gilead somewhere.”
“What does it look like?” One thing I’d already noticed about the Middle Ages was that there were way more plants than people.
Hudson held his hands a basketball’s width apart. “It’s a small, spindly plant with tiny leaves. I’ve already searched the grounds and most of the castle. It’s probably in one of King John’s private rooms. I was hoping I would eventually guard those rooms …” His words faded off and he smiled. “But in three days you’ll be queen, and you’ll be able to go wherever you want. It will be easy for you to get it.” The word “queen” landed on my ears with a jarring clank. Other things would also happen when I was queen. Things I didn’t want to think about.