Magic to the Bone

Chapter Thirteen

Cody did not like this place. It was dark and small and smelled like mice. His back touched one wall and his feet squished up against a door that would not open.

He was all alone and scared. Kitten was gone and probably didn’t like him anymore. He had thrown her away in the field, because he didn’t know what else to do. He had told her to run fast. Run away in the green grass, in the sunshine, away from the bad lady and bad magic and the bad bees buzzing and angry inside him.

He shouldn’t have thrown her away. She was his friend. His only friend.

He wished the older, smarter part of himself would come back, but he was gone too. Maybe he was mad like Kitten.

Cody rocked and rocked and tried to be brave. If he was brave, maybe the older, smarter part of him would come back. Maybe Kitten would come back too.

His head knocked against the wall of the tiny room and hurt but Cody didn’t stop. Cody didn’t know how long he rocked. A long time, maybe.

Then he heard something. Footsteps. Someone was walking on the other side of the door that would not open. Not little footsteps like Kitten. Big footsteps. Footsteps that belonged to a man.

Cody rocked and rocked. He wanted to go away. Far away. Fast, fast, fast.

The footsteps got louder. Stopped. The door clicked.

Cody held still. He held still in the dark and didn’t scream. He was too scared to scream. Too scared to move. He didn’t want the door to open. Didn’t want anyone to find him.

But the door did open. And standing there, so big, too big, was the Snake man.

“Aren’t you something, Cody?” he said in his snake voice. “I don’t know how you survived. A death for a death is the price. Why aren’t you dead?”

Cody couldn’t talk. Cody couldn’t tell him that the older, smarter part of him had done something, something special with the magic in the coins, something special with the magic in the little bone. He couldn’t tell him that the older, smarter part of him had found a way so they wouldn’t die. And he couldn’t tell him that the lady with magic inside her had made him all better again.

“You don’t know, do you?” the Snake man asked in a sorry voice that was not sorry. “Well, maybe we’ll find out together.” He smiled, but it was only on the outside. Inside he was hating. Hating Cody.

Maybe if Cody sang a song the Snake man would go away.

“Snake man, Snake man, bake a cake man.”

But the Snake man did not go away. He reached into the little room. Cody wailed, wishing the older, smarter part of him would come back. He wasn’t brave all alone. He was too small to be brave. Too small for anyone to hear him. Too small for anyone to care.