Finding More Than Magic

Chapter 5

A thud in the next room woke Derin. For a moment he looked around the room, wondering where he was. Then he remembered the exhausting trek, and the farewell to Krob. Krob was leaving. He heard the footsteps go to the door, and then heard the hinges creak and scratch against the doorframe. The footsteps grew further away, and with them, Krob. Derin laid there, shards of sunlight scattered on the floor beside him. Marna was still snoring heavily, and he had a thought. If Krob’s walking stick had given him that boost of energy, then maybe Marna’s would do something too. He slipped out of bed, and crept, as quietly as he could on the creaking floorboards, to Marna’s bedside. He knelt down, and saw the crutch tucked under her bed. Reaching out to take it, he realised the room was silent. Marna was no longer snoring, but her breathing was still deep and slow. He leant forward, the crutch just out of his reach, and as he put pressure on the floorboard under his knee, it seemed to cry out. It was as if it was crying out in warning, and Marna’s body shifted. Derin leapt back up onto his bed, just in time to see Marna’s eye open just a crack. She scowled at him, and then rolled over, huffing grumpily. Derin got up again, and started organising their things. Krob said they would be in Kilgrove by sundown, but they wouldn’t make it if they left at lunch time!

After shoving everything back into the right bags, and tidying up their pile of luggage, and hauling Marna out of bed, Derin slung the bags over his shoulder, and they walked down into the now eerily quiet bar. Bard, who had greeted them the night before, was hunched over a table, cleaning up after the busy evening. He looked up as the bottom step creaked beneath Derin’s feet, and grinned.

‘Slept alright last night?’ He greeted them cheerily.

‘Yes, very well thank you!’ Derin said, over Marna’s scoff. He hadn’t slept well at all, but didn’t want to offend Bard, who, however cheery, seemed utterly worn out, and as if he hadn’t had a particularly good night sleep either. ‘How much do we owe you? I’m afraid we haven’t got much.’ He added.

Bard chuckled, and waved his hand dismissively. ‘Oh no, Krob has paid for you. He said you would need to head off as soon as you could.’

‘Ah, yes. Well then we had better push off! Thank you for your accommodation, and we’ll be sure to stop by if we come past here again!’ Derin thanked Bard, shook his hand, and then set off for another long day’s journey.

The morning was slow, as Marna stopped every few yards to collect some sort of plant. As they went on, the stops became more frequent, and she seemed amazed at the various shrubs, sprouting on the side of the road. Finally, they came to the fork in the path. Between the two paths, stretching off in different directions was a patch of soft, green grass. Here, they rested for a while. Marna emptied her bagful of herbs, and picked out certain ones, letting Derin taste some of them, and explaining the array of leaves and seeds and shrubs she had. This was what Derin most loved about Marna. She knew all there was to know about finding food in the most unlikely places, and using all sorts of plants for all sorts of things. He loved learning about the healing properties of the thistly plants growing outside his bedroom window, and how, if cooked just right, the seeds of the Faberdip tasted like oranges. Before they left, he and Marna would spend every Saturday afternoon going through his spell book, learning about all sorts of spells to make the grass grow greener, or the trees grow taller.

There were things about Marna that annoyed Derin, too. Things like her constant rudeness, while scolding him to be polite, and her stubbornness. How she refused to give away information on almost anything. How she guarded her crutch like it was her last hope at life, and never let him near it. His attention was suddenly drawn to the crutch, and he remembered Krob’s stick.

‘Marna…’ Derin hesitated, unsure of how she would react. He took a deep breath and went on, ‘you know I used Krob’s stick yesterday. You obviously know I felt its power. I’ve been longing to ask you about your crutch.’ He looked away, but carefully looked at her from the corner of his eye. She frowned down at her pile of leaves, and mumbled.