Jinx's Fire Read Free

“One didn’t have time to count, in fact, while one’s cupboards were being emptied onto the floor and one’s furniture broken up for firewood. They carried off most of my hens, and I fear the worst. Speaking of cupboards, is there any chance of a bite?”
    Instantly three people set about finding food for the witch. That was one good thing about having a houseful of people. They mostly helped each other. Well, a lot of the time, anyway. When they weren’t quarreling.
    â€œDid you actually talk to Reven?” said Jinx. “What’s he doing?”
    â€œYou think he’d tell one that?” said the witch. “He’s a king, isn’t he, Whitlock? Or thinks he is. Kings are regrettably lacking in any tendency to gossip. But one surmises he’s hiding from King Bluetooth of Keyland, the gentleman he’s trying to depose.”
    â€œHiding a whole army in the Urwald?” said Jinx.
    â€œThe Urwald is big enough to hide any number of armies,” said the witch.
    â€œWhy didn’t you do magic?” said Cottawilda, Jinx’s ex–wicked stepmother.
    â€œBecause,” said Witch Seymour, “magic has limits. There were at least eighty ruffians, and they dropped in unexpectedly.”
    â€œI thought you said there were thousands,” someone muttered.
    â€œWhat good is it to be a magician, then?” said Cottawilda.
    â€œLet’s stick to the point,” said Sophie. “Where are these ruffians now?”
    Witch Seymour shrugged. “One didn’t ask for their addresses. One was too busy running for one’s life.”
    â€œHaven’t the trees told you where this king is?” a woman asked Jinx.
    â€œYes, go ask the trees,” Cottawilda ordered.
    â€œThey’ve told me,” said Jinx, mustering patience. “He’s in the east somewhere. He’s not cutting down trees. If he were, they’d know exactly where he was.”
    â€œI expect,” said a woman, “he’ll try to get himself a clearing, won’t he? No one likes to be in among the trees where monsters might get you.”
    â€œOh, that reminds me,” said Witch Seymour. “The folk in Blacksmiths’ Clearing are making a stand. They want to know if you’re with them. They heard some rumor about a nation. They want to know if they’re in it.”
    â€œOf course they’re in it,” said Hilda.
    â€œWe all are,” said Nick. “Anyone who’s Urwish. And Sophie of course.”
    Hilda and Nick had been among the first people to really understand what Jinx meant about the Urwald being a country.
    â€œMaking a stand?” said Sophie. “You mean fighting?”
    â€œOf course I mean fighting.” Witch Seymour put his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “There’ve been battles.”
    â€œI was afraid it would come to that,” said Sophie. “But we haven’t seen any fighting in the Window.”
    â€œNonetheless,” said the witch.
    â€œThen we need to fight back,” said Jinx.
    Witch Seymour looked around the kitchen. “Did one mention how many soldiers there are? And they have swords.”
    â€œWe have axes,” said Jinx.
    â€œEnough axes?” said the witch. “And where do axes come from, pray tell?”
    â€œAnd that’s why Reven is attacking the blacksmiths,” said Sophie. “We need to protect them. I should go talk to them.”
    â€œ I should go,” said Jinx. “And I’m going to talk to Reven, too.”
    â€œWhy does it always have to be you?” demanded Inga. “You could get hurt, you know, going so far away among strange people.”
    Jinx clenched his teeth in annoyance. Inga, who came from Jinx’s home clearing and had once held his face down in pig muck when he was little, was thinking pink fluffy thoughts at him. He supposed he should be grateful, because at least it