a connected tale

In a little house in a little town in a little country lived a little family with a little boy.  He was a boy very much like all the others.  He helped his father in his shop when he was needed and the rest of the time he was allowed to do as he pleased.  Mostly, what pleased him was to run through the fields pretending he was a great warrior with a long stick for a sword.  He also dreamed about having a mighty war pony, but his parents just shook their heads and rolled their eyes when he asked about it.

One day a traveling show came to the little town.  All the children ran to see it and oohed and ahhed over the performers, especially the magician.  His hair stood out all over his head like a porcupine's spines and his eyes glittered in their sockets with fire from within him.  He whirled around the stage with his cape swirling around him, changing colors in the light.  He made things disappear and reappear in strange places.  He took them apart and put them together again.  He made a dog cluck like a chicken and a canary hiss like a snake and a lizard sing like a choir boy.  All the children were fascinated by him and clapped and screamed when his performance was over.  They went home, chattering joyfully, driving their parents to clap their hands over their ears, exasperated.  The show packed up the next morning after a quick speech of thanks by the barker, and the boy and a friend of his ran into the camp to find the magician.  He was tying boxes closed with twine and his hair wasn't quite so electric and his eyes were more glassy than glowing.  But he was still wearing his cape.  The boy ran up to him and said breathlessly, "Sir!  I would like to know how you learned your tricks."  The magician smiled a little.  Oddly, it made him look much older.  "They are not tricks m'boy, they are facts.  But I'm afraid I cannot reveal my secrets to you, or to anybody."  The boys looked at each other, trying to think of a good whine to convince him.  Then the boy said boldly, "I will be your apprentice.  I will help you move your boxes.  And you will show me how to do these facts."  The magician shook his head.  "I'm sorry, lad, but I cannot accept your offer.  You are far too young to be my apprentice."  "But isn't it better to start young?" asked the boy.  "Not with my facts," answered the magician, "Others have tricks and illusions.  Go to them.  They will take you on and you will be happier anyway."  The boy stood pouting and said stubbornly, "I don't want to do tricks if I can do facts.  I want to do real magic like you do."  The magician heaved a sigh and the boys could see that his cape was really a patchwork of different materials of different colors.  In the light of day it looked sorry and threadbare, not magical and mysterious like it had on the stage.  "I will give you a token and when you are older my master will pass by here.  He will recognize the token and take you on.  Do you accept?"  "Oh yes!" squealed the boy.  And the three trudged around the caravan.  On the other side there were two animals tied up: a skinny, little horse and a big, fat dog.  The horse was not only skinny, he was dirty and ugly, with knotty knees and bony shoulders.  He was dark bay or brown with scruffy hair and piggy little eyes.  The magician slowly untied his rope and stared at it for a while before holding the end out to the boy.  The boy was overjoyed.  Now he had his war pony and the promise to be taught magic too!  Then he could make himself a warrior and make the little horse big and strong.  But then his friend grabbed his shoulder squawking, "You're not really going to take that thing, are you?  It doesn't look like it'll even make it to your house."  The magician said softly, "I assure you he will.  But I also remind you that you would be happier learning other things than what this creature promises."  The boy looked from his friend to the magician, catching a glimpse of the dog too.  It was watching them intently and it occurred to him that it looked more like a wolf than a dog, with its bright yellow eyes and pointy ears.  The magician shifted uneasily and snapped, "Decide, boy!  I don't care if you choose to accept the animal or not, but I can't stand here all day and wait for you to make up your mind!"  At this, the boy snatched the rope from the man's hand and started to run home with the horse.  He called back over his shoulder, "I'll be waiting for the master!"  The magician was staring at the ground and the dog was watching them go, grinning with a more wolf-like face than ever.  The boy also noticed now that it wasn't tied up, there was just a rope tied to the caravan with one end dangling down next to the dog.  The boy's friend ran after, yelling, "Are you really taking that old nag?  It looks like it couldn't pull an empty cart!  Your ma's gonna box your ears for taking it home!"

In fact she didn't box the boy's ears, but she was very upset.  The boy's father was too, and his brothers and sisters chided him all evening about his useless horse.  The animal stood behind the house that night, chewing on the weeds that grew there.

The next morning the boy and his next elder brother went to the saddler to see about making a harness so the horse could help their father make deliveries and earn his keep.  They were told to come back in a couple of weeks as the saddler didn't have enough material at the moment to make a harness and didn't have any lying around either.  Their father was frustrated and their mother threw up her hands in exasperation.  "That nag will eat us out of house and home!" she cried.  "No he won't," piped up the youngest sister, "Look how skinny he is.  I bet he hardly eats at all."  The parents went on about their daily business grumbling and shaking their heads and the brother smacked the boy on the back of his head.  "Now they'll be cross with us for days, manure-brains!"

That night the boy couldn't sleep.  Supper had been tense and quiet.  Then everybody went to bed without much talk.  Everybody else fell asleep quickly, but the boy's bed was closest to the little window that looked out over the back yard and he could hear the horse walking around.  Finally he got out of bed and went outside to see what the animal was doing.  When he went out the door, the horse stopped in mid-stride and looked at him from across the yard.  The boy picked up a stick from the ground and ambled off to live his warrior fantasy, at least for a couple of nocturnal minutes.  The horse waited for him, ears pricked expectantly.  Putting the stick between his teeth, the boy heaved himself up on the horse's bony back and, as soon as he had righted himself, the horse sprang off, heading right for the fence.  The boy grabbed the horse's tough, thick-haired mane, expecting to suffer a bouncy jump.  The horse did jump - and soared up towards the full moon.  The wind rushed by faster and faster, and colder and colder, and the boy's teeth dug into the stick as they chattered.  He looked around, half-expecting to see wings had unfolded from the animal's sides, but there was nothing to explain their flight.  It seemed like there were others flying through the air with them, black shadows against a slightly less black sky.  Over the shrieking whistle of the wind the boy could just barely make out sounds like shouts and laughter.  He couldn't quite tell what the other shapes were, maybe other horses, cows, pigs, goats, maybe even other people flying by themselves.  The boy looked down at the earth and saw it rolling beneath him at a frightening pace.  He started to feel terribly dizzy and closed his eyes.

He opened them in his own bed with the sun shining through the window into his eyes.  At first he thought it had all been a strange dream, and out the window he could see the horse standing placidly in the yard, looking no worse for wear and completely flightless.  But when he went to make his bed, he found the stick, nearly bitten into pieces by a set of teeth that fit his perfectly when he held it up to his mouth with a trembling hand.