Wild Magic
To Daniel Morden, with thanks
Contents
Marianna felt fantastic. She had lost her lace cap and her dress was sticking to her back, but she didn't care. She was happy. Her head was spinning with colors. And the musicâ
oh!
She had never heard anything like it before. It was very simpleâthe same few notes played over and over again on a silver pipeâbut it made her think of sunshine and meadows, and long, lazy swims in a cool, blue river.
It made her dance. It made her lift her skirts and kick her heels. Clap her hands. Smile at strangers. Spin and twirl like a leaf in the windâand it was all because of the Piper.
The adults called him “the Ratcatcher,” but not Marianna. He was far too exotic for that. She had seen endless ratcatchersâdirty little men, with faces as mean and pinched as their prey. They stalked the streets with snappy dogs or paraded through the market square, dangling dead rats from their belts.
The Piper hadn't done that. Yes, he had rid Hamelin Town of rats, but not with traps and bait. He dared to be different. Into a sad, drab world of gray and black he had come, bunting bright in turquoise and jade. Dazzling as a dragonfly. He had played a pipe and the rats had followed, dancing till they drowned in the quick brown water of the river. They had to follow him. They couldn't resist his music. And Marianna couldn't resist it now. It was glorious. She wanted to dance. She wanted to dream. She wanted to follow the Piper.
And Marianna wasn't alone. The streets were packed with children. Every boy, every girl in Hamelin Town seemed to be there, and they were all dancing.
Except one.
A boy. Watching from the side of the road. Nine years old, a bit shabby, leaning heavily on a wooden crutch. Bent body. Thin, wasted legs. A boy not made for dancing. But his eyes were leaping, bright as buttons, not missing a thing.
“Jakob!” cried Marianna, skipping over to him. “You're not dancing!”
“I am,” he said. “In here.” He put his free hand over his heart. “Oh, Mari, have you ever heard anything like this before?”
Marianna shook her head. “No, I haven't. It's fabulous. I feel like dancing on the rooftops! I feel my eyes have been washed in raindrops! Everything is so bright and beautiful today. The sky is beautiful. The sun is beautiful.
You
are beautiful!” She kissed her brother on the forehead and he squirmed with pleasure.
“Can you see things, Mari?” said Jakob. “Because I can. When I close my eyes, I see a wonderful land. There are open fields and shimmering rivers. Orchards full of cherry trees, pink with blossoms. The sky is full of swallows and the streams are full of salmon.”
“I see a meadow,” said Marianna dreamily. “It's full of ponies. Wild ponies, with long golden manes and tails. There are flowers I haven't seen before and fabulous butterflies. It's amazingly beautiful. I can't believe the Piper is taking us there! We're so lucky.”
Jakob nodded. “He's taking us to Paradise, Mari. And do you know the best thing about it?”
Marianna shook her head.
“In Paradise, I'll be healed. I'll have a new body! Long legs like a baby deer and a straight back. I'll be taller, Mari! Much taller! And I won't need this.” He shook his crutch. “I'll be able to run like a wolf. Faster than anyone here.”
Marianna ruffled his hair. “That would be a miracle.”
“It's going to happen,” said Jakob. “As soon as we get there.”
Marianna didn't have time to reply. A passing beggar boy had seized her hand. He pulled her close and wrapped his arm around her waist. Marianna gasped. He laughed. She laughed. They danced up the street while the adults looked on.
Great crowds of angry people were lining the streets, shouting at the Piper as he led the children through the town. Butcher and baker, tanner and tailor, fisherman, cobbler, miller, and thiefâevery man in Hamelin seemed to be there, straight from work. None of them had bothered washing. Marianna had never seen such an assortment of mucky faces. The women were no tidier. And what a way to behave! They were pulling their children out of the passing parade. Shaking them. Slapping them. Screaming into bewildered faces.
Why?
thought Marianna.
They're doing nothing wrong.
They're not stealingâthey're dancing! Why can't their parents
be happy for them? Why don't they dance too?
The beggar boy swung Marianna round and round. She was starting to feel tired. Her legs would ache tomorrow! But she didn't want to stop. She wanted to follow the Piperâthrough the streets, out of the town, and on to Paradise. Who
didn't
want follow the Piper? Sunlight was leaping through the air to touch him. He was golden, glorious, irresistible.
Marianna had one more twirl with the beggar boy, then pulled away.
“I have a cramp,” she said. “I just need a minute.”
“I don't!” laughed the boy. He bowed and danced on.
Marianna stepped out of the stream of dancers and leaned back against a wall, waiting until the pain went away. Oh, here was trouble! The mayor, red faced and round, was forcing his way into the throng of children. And there was his son, Karl, dancing with the best of them. The mayor had a leather strap. He was waving it like a whip. Karl's backside would be black and blue if his father caught him. The mayor had a terrible temper.
But Karl was off, bounding down the street like a March hare. His father would never catch him. The mayor wasn't built for running. His legs were too short and his belly too big. Marianna gazed at the hot, excited faces coming toward her. She recognized one of the dancers. It was Johann, the butcher's boy.
Oh
, she thought wearily.
I hope he doesn't want to dance with me too!
Then Marianna saw someone behind Johann. A woman: wild-eyed, breathless, snorting like a donkey. She grabbed Johann around the middle.
Johann wriggled free and turned around. “Mother! Dance with me!”
He took hold of the woman and started to spin her. Marianna laughed. Johann's mother was a tiny thing and he was throwing her around like a pile of washing.
“No!” she gasped. She seized Johann by the elbows and forced him to stand still. “Johann! What are you doing?”
“Dancing,” he replied, as if he were answering the silliest question he had ever been asked.
“Listen to me!” cried his mother. “This is a spell. An enchantment. You're not thinking right. You must stop this!”
Johann kissed her on the cheek. She shook him like a rag doll.
“Forget the Piper,” she pleaded. “Remember the rats, Johann. He took them to the river, remember? He drowned them, Johann.
Drowned
them in the river. Johann, he's taking
you
to the river! You mustn't go with him.
You mustn't go with him!
Don't listen to his music, Johann. He's evil.”
Johann said nothing; he simply started to laugh. In despair, the woman turned away and appealed to Marianna.
“Please!” she said. “Marianna, tell him! You're a clever girl. He'll listen to you. Tell him the Piper's evil.”
“No,” said Marianna, “I won't. Because it's not true. The Piper's not evil. He's the best thing that has ever happened to this town. I have never,
ever
felt this good. Never, in the whole of my life. You're old. You don't understand. We want to dance. We
will
dance! You can't stop us.”
With that, Marianna took Johann by the hand and together they disappeared into the crowd of dancing children.
“No-o-o-o-o!” wailed the woman, but it was too late.
They had gone.
Jakob hobbled after the other children, wondering where Marianna was. He stopped every few minutes, raised himself up on his crutch and looked for a head of bouncing copper curls, but he never found them.
The Piper was leading the children along East Street, heading for the East Gate. Jakob looked at the desperate faces as he passed by.
Everyone
seemed to be watching the parade, not just parents. Jakob spotted the millerâflorid and floury, shouting the loudest as usual. He didn't even
have
children, so why was he protesting? It was none of his business, though that had never stopped him in the past. There was the mayor with a whole gaggle of councilorsâand monks from the abbey. That was a surprise! Usually they distanced themselves from the affairs of the town. But there they were, their round faces pale as moonshine. And there was Steneken, the beggar man who always sat outside the Market Church, and, behind him, a group of fishwives from down by the river. Yes, everyone was there!
Except the one that mattered. Jakob scanned the faces on both sides of the road but he couldn't see his father. Where was he? It was midday. Surely he wouldn't be in the tavern this early? Jakob shook his head despairingly.
Perhaps it's better if he
is
there
, he thought.
If he were here, he'd be scolding me. Though
I don't know why. I'm sure he'd be glad to see the back of
meâand Marianna.
