The Changelings Series, Book 1 (6 page)

“Ah, home at last,” said Lug. “Welcome to Yawning Top.”

Izzy still held tight to the top of his head. She smelled a faint whiff of something rancid and wondered where in the world they'd brought her. She reached one hand up and pulled the blindfold down to her chin. They stood in front of the most enormous tree she'd ever seen. She didn't think twenty people holding hands could get their arms around it. The deeply furrowed trunk looked like ten trees fused together, stretching up toward branches that soared above the canopy, out of sight. Thousands of bright-red mushrooms covered the bark, sticking straight out like little shelves.

The creek they'd been following curled around the base of the tree trunk. Izzy heard a rustle in the reeds at the water's edge. A sleek, black stoat parted the grass, two speckled birds clamped in its teeth. When it saw them, it dropped the birds and looked up at Lug.

“Either you've grown a girl-shaped tumor,” said the stoat, nodding up at Izzy, “or you've brought someone home with you. I really hope it's the first one.”

Lug wrung his hands guiltily. “Selden, I can explain…”

“You know her blindfold's off, right?”

A flash of white zipped in front of Izzy's face, and a butterfly landed on the ground at Lug's feet. The butterfly grew larger as it beat its wings once, twice, and then the wings became not wings at all but the arms of a skinny girl.

“Drat!” said Dree, stamping her bare foot. “I knew I should have cinched that thing down tighter.”

Lug reached up and took hold of Izzy under her arms. He set her gently on the ground beside him, while Dree glared hatefully at her.

The stoat stood up on his hind legs. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. You're Changing in front of a stranger? Will someone tell me what's going on?”

“She's already seen it,” said Dree, rolling her eyes. “She saw Lug Change back in Hollowdell.”

The stoat narrowed his eyes and pointed one finger at Lug. “
Hollowdell?
How many times have I said—”

“Yes, and I'm very sorry. But look—” Lug bent down and picked up his basket. “Look at this load of gumroots we've got for supper. Or, at least, we did have loads till we started eating them…”

The stoat craned his neck and searched the woods. “Hurry and get in the house before anything else sees you,” he said, snatching up the two dead birds.

Lug hung his head, wearing the same guilty look as Dublin when he got caught digging holes in the flower beds. He held his hand out to Izzy, and they followed after the stoat.

Izzy looked around for the house he mentioned, thinking it stood behind the huge tree. But as they approached the trunk, she realized the tree
was
the house. A wide crack in the trunk ran six feet up from the ground. The stoat passed in easily, but Lug had to suck in his breath to squeeze himself inside. Dree and Izzy slipped in right behind them.

It took a moment for Izzy's eyes to adjust to the dim light. The crack opened into a large, circular room about as big as her living room back home. A fire flickered in a stone hearth in the center. The smoke wafted up through a hole in the tree trunk high above their heads. Around the edges of the room lay three pallets of dirty blankets and straw. A makeshift mobile of snail shells and acorns hung over one of the pallets, the only decoration in the house.

The stoat trotted into the center of the room and dropped his birds in the dirt beside the fire. He shook his head from side to side. With each shake, he grew taller, his arms and legs grew longer, and his face became flatter, until he was no longer a stoat, but a boy.

Another Changeling, just like Lug, just like Dree. The way the two of them had talked about their leader, Izzy had expected Selden to be an adult. But the thin boy standing in front of her couldn't be older than thirteen. He had deep-brown skin and unruly black hair that might have been curly if it weren't so filthy. Dark-brown eyes twinkled out from his dirty face.

Selden folded his arms and frowned at Lug. “You went to Hollowdell even after I told you I'd seen Unglers prowling the place?”

“I promise that I'll never—”

“And you Changed out in the open?”

Lug's eyes welled with tears. “Oh, Selden, I'm sorry! I know it was foolish of me!”

Selden sighed and shook his head. “The most annoying thing is that it's impossible to stay mad at you.”

Lug rushed forward and wrapped his arms around his friend. “You know how much I hate to disappoint you!”

Selden extracted himself from the embrace. “All right, all right! Just don't do it again.” He sat on a stump next to the fire, then swung his eyes to Izzy. “Now, we've got to deal with this one. Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“My name is Izzy.” She walked over to him and held out her hand.

Selden crossed his arms and glared at her.

Lug took a step forward. “Izzy's traveling through on her way to the city. Going to the festival to meet her—”

Selden held out his palm. “I want
her
to say it.”

Izzy gulped. “Well, it's just like Lug said…I'm going to Avhalon to meet my sister. I'm a little lost and I need…some help getting there.”

Selden stared at her, unblinking. “And you're from where, exactly?”

“I am from…” Izzy's mind raced to think of a town with a fairy-sounding name. She decided it was better to be vague. “From a little village on the other side of the forest.”

“Ah. The Eastern side?”

Izzy nodded slowly.

“Oh really?” asked Selden, raising his eyebrows. “You must be tired from walking then, since the Edgewood's so vast in that direction that no one knows where it ends.”

Dree snickered, and Izzy felt her palms start to sweat.

Selden stood up and started to pace in a circle around her. “Or maybe you flew all this way, since it looks like you've hardly walked a mile in those shoes. Speaking of shoes.” He bent down and swiped one finger across her high-tops. “I guess you stole those from somewhere? Cobblers around here don't make hideous things like that.”

Izzy looked down at her feet, realizing she probably wore the least fairy-looking shoes imaginable. She held her chin up and tried her best to look composed. “I found them,” she said casually. “My old shoes were all worn out from walking, and I found these lying beside the path in the woods.”

“Did you?” asked Selden. He pulled out a pocketknife from his tattered trousers and flicked it open. He kept his eyes on her while he dug the dirt from under his nails with the blade tip. “What do you think, Dree? Should we believe her?”

“I don't trust her farther than I can spit,” said Dree, and she spat a wad of mucus onto the dirt at her feet.

“Me neither,” said Selden. He sprang at Izzy. Before she could react, he had her bent backward in a headlock.

“Let me go!” she shrieked. She grabbed his arm and tried to pull it away from her neck, her eyes on the pocketknife still in his other hand.

Selden squeezed his grip tighter. “Tell us the truth—what are you doing here?”

“Remember your manners,” said Lug calmly.

Selden dropped the knife and grabbed a fistful of Izzy's hair. He pulled back, uncovering her ears.

“Ow!” she yelped.

Lug and Dree both gasped and took a step back.

“A—a human!” cried Lug.

“Yes! I'm a—human, all right?” said Izzy, struggling to choke out the words. “Now—let go—of me!”

Selden released Izzy and pushed her away from him. “I knew you didn't find those shoes,” he said smugly.

Lug looked wounded. “Izzy, is it really true? After all we've been through, and you didn't even tell me?”

“Yes, it's true,” Izzy said, rubbing her chafed neck. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't know what you'd think.”

“I
told
you she was a spy!” said Dree.

“Oh, will you give it a rest?” Izzy shouted. “I'm not a spy! Who in the world would I be spying on you for?”

Dree looked a little surprised to be yelled at. “Well, you could be a spy from Avhalon,” she said.

Izzy threw her arms out at her side. “I don't know anything about Avhalon! But I wish I did, because maybe then I'd be able to find my sister!”

“So you are looking for your sister?” asked Lug. “Izzy, which parts of your story are true?”

“That part is true,” said Izzy. “Someone called the Piper took her from the woods behind my house this morning.”

As soon as she said this, Selden's smirk vanished. “Good Peter took your sister? How do you know that?”

“It's kind of a long story.”

“Does it look like we have places to go?”

Izzy took a deep breath and began with Hen's disappearance. It was hard to believe it had all happened that same day. The others interrupted her with questions: How old was her sister? Did she see any other children in the woods? What exactly did the music sound like? Izzy told them everything about Netherbee Hall and Marian's true identity. When she said the word
Changeling
, Izzy noticed that Dree and Selden shifted uncomfortably. Finally, she got to the part about the cobwebs taking Marian down.

Lug lowered his head and put one hand on his chest. “One of our own Bretabairn. Poor lady.”

“I could have told you to stay away from Netherbee,” said Dree, lifting her nose in the air. “That place has been deserted for years. It's crawling with all sorts of wicked things.”

“Well, Marian didn't know that,” said Izzy. “And now it's up to me to find Hen.”

Selden scratched his neck. “This is all very odd.”

“Odd?” asked Izzy. “This is the worst thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life.” She suddenly felt unbelievably tired. “I just want to find my sister and bring her back home.”

Lug set his hand on her shoulder. “You poor little thing,” he said softly. “We'll help you, Izzy. Won't we?” He looked over at his companions.

Selden snorted, and Dree spat onto the floor again.

Izzy grit her teeth. She'd been ganged up on by other kids before. Of course, those kids had been human, but otherwise, it didn't feel much different. She wished she could tell Selden and Dree to go stuff their heads in the stream. But if the rest of the Edgewood was as dangerous as Netherbee Hall or Hollowdell, she'd have to bite her tongue. As much as she hated it, she needed their help.

“Ahem,” Lug said with a cough. “Selden, I haven't quite told you everything about what happened in Hollowdell. While I was trapped, we heard the Unglers. They came very close. If Izzy hadn't come along, you might never have seen me again.”

“What?” cried Dree, looking horrified. “You didn't tell me they nearly caught you!”

“How did they find you?” asked Selden. “Weren't you wearing your Scarlet Stairstep?”

Lug smiled sheepishly and pointed to one of the pallets. A strand of bright-red beads lay across the dirty blanket.

Dree shook her head. “Oh, Lug, you could have been killed!”

“I'm about to kill him right now,” growled Selden.

“Now, now,” said Lug, his hands out in front of him. “There's no need to get upset all over again. I'm only telling you this so you'll appreciate what Izzy did for me. She's a good one, through and through.”

Selden stood scratching the back of his neck. He raised one eyebrow at Izzy. “Is it true? Did you really save him?”

She nodded.

“Without a thought for her own safety,” said Lug, slapping her on the back and smiling broadly. “It was a real kindness. One that deserves to be repaid.”

Dree walked to Selden's side. “We are not helping this girl! Think about it. If her story is true, it means the Piper is
stealing
human children. You really want to get wrapped up in that? If we have to repay her, then let's just take her back where we found her and be done!”

“But, Dree, that wouldn't be kind at all,” said Lug. “She doesn't know where she's going, and the Road's too dangerous until you get out of the Edgewood.” His face suddenly brightened. “I know! Why don't we take her to the Giant's Boneyard? It's right on the border of the 'Wood. She could take up the Road from there and be on her own way.”

Izzy didn't like the sound of being left in a boneyard, but it couldn't be worse than where she'd come from. She crossed her toes and hoped the others would agree to it.

Selden ran his fingers through his matted hair and sighed. “If we take her to the Boneyard, then at least we can leave her there with a clean conscience. And Lug's right—it's bad luck not to repay a favor.”

Dree folded her arms. “I don't believe in luck and I haven't got a conscience. I'm not doing it.”

“What are we supposed to do with her then?” asked Selden. “She's seen where we live. If we let her go and she gets caught by the Unglers, they'll make her spill her guts before they cut them out.”

Izzy shuddered and wrapped her arms over her stomach.

“Please, Dree?” said Lug. “There'll be all sorts of fairies on their way to the festival. We could buy some things we need.” He batted his eyelashes at her. “Maybe a new dress for you?”

“We haven't got any money, beetle brain,” said Dree. Her fingers wandered down to the fraying hem of her dirty dress. “Fine. To the Boneyard, and not one step farther. But if this all ends badly, don't say I didn't warn you.”

Izzy threw her arms around Lug's belly. “Oh thank you, thank you! You'll see. I won't cause you any trouble.”

Selden walked past her, knocking her aside with his shoulder. He bent down and picked up the dead birds off the floor. “Dree, you build up the fire. I'll take these hedgeons outside to pluck.” As he walked out the door, he threw Izzy a dirty look. “Looks like we've got another mouth to feed.”