Page 69 of A Princess, Stolen
Still dazed, I crouched and opened the bottom of three drawers with shaking hands. I found underwear and socks, but so few that I could count them on two hands.
Did he say earlier that was all he owned? At home, I had a closet with over thirty compartments for my underwear alone. If I hadn’t been so exhausted and scared, I would have been ashamed especially when I discovered the meager amount of sweaters in the next drawer. There were four in total, all black.
Because of my frozen limbs, I awkwardly slipped on a pair of boxers, socks, and a hoodie, and then pulled on one of the few pants he owned. They were thickly padded, definitely thermal pants, which were needed for the winters in Coldville. I quickly rolled up the hems, sat on the bed, and slid back against the wall. Then, I bent my legs and threw the blanket over me.
It was only now that I had changed and was calming down that I realized how bad I felt. My head throbbed, my palmsburned, my throat hurt when I swallowed, and I could barely control the shaking of my limbs. Sparta had actually tried to kill me. The shock was so deep in my bones that they felt as if my marrow had frozen. The worst thing, however, was that my situation had not changed. I was still stuck here while Isaac was surely on his way.
When Pan entered the room a short time later with a cup of peppermint tea, I was still leaning against the wall as if in a daze.
“Please, prinsessa,” he said quietly. “I put on dresser. You get when you want.”
“Thank you.” I forced a smile onto my face.
Pan stood in front of the bed for a moment, a gigantic foreign body in the tiny room. He looked at me searchingly as if he wanted to say something and was struggling with himself.
“What is it?” I looked up at him uncertainly.
“You scare boss to death.” He sounded reproachful. “You no more make plans with people who hate you.”
I was too exhausted to ask him who else I should make plans with, so I merely said, “It’ll never happen again.”How could I, I thought bitterly. They would never leave me unattended again.
Pan took a step closer. “Boss fought for you in net like lion. He tangled in net because he not know it stretched there. He thought you fell from cutter, he rip net apart with bare hands. He inhuman strength, bleed everywhere.” He crossed his arms over his chest. “I never saw boss like that. He can’t stand losing someone again who mean world to him. You understand?”
“Yes.” I looked at him standing so angrily over me and felt a burning in my eyes. “I’m scared, Pan,” I whispered.
His gaze softened. “I watch outside door, prinsessa. I no let anyone in except boss.”
With that, he left, but some of his words still lingered in that tiny room.He can’t stand losing someone again who mean world to him.
In all the fear, a brief smile crept onto my face that I couldn’t suppress, and for a tiny moment, the cold lost its edge.
I was dreaming. And in the dream, it was dark, cold, and quiet. I sank to the bottom of the sea as a white ghost down to Mom, down to more memories that flashed through the darkness. And like before, the time of these memories dissolved as if there was a piece of immortality in them as if they were eternal and now.
“Will,” I hear Mom call through the impenetrable blackness of the sea before I see her. “Will, darling, there you are!” She gives me one of her rare smiles that I love with all my heart. “I forgot Mr. Sparkles. Quick, get him out of your room so Grandma can pack him.”
A ray of sunlight falls into the water like a finger of light, and the black turns a rich, intense blue. And the further I sink, the deeper it becomes as if it were also infinite, as if it would never cease.
I nod in Mom’s direction even though I don’t want Mr. Sparkles crammed into a tiny, dark suitcase. “I’ll be rightback,” I say and rush up the stairs to my room. My bunny has to come with me, that’s quite clear. Suitcase or not. But I can’t find Mr. Sparkles. I look under the lilac velvet cushions, under a pile of Barbie dolls, and I even look in my walk-in closet. Suddenly, I remember that the last time I had Mr. Sparkles was with Banana and Balou. I dash down the stairs and run into the garden to the camera-monitored back entrance with doorman Peter. The bird aviary with the budgies and canaries is next to the big golden door and the snow-white parakeets Bananaand Balou are having a screeching competition on their birch branch.
Once we’re gone, I won’t see them again. My heart feels as heavy as a lump of lead. Mom explained to me that we can’t take them with us because it would be cruel to transport them in a small, narrow box. She also explained to me that we can’t tell Dad what we’re planning to do even if I don’t understand it. With a lump in my throat, I watch Banana and Balou feeding each other and playing together. Mom says that birds shouldn’t be locked up no matter how big and beautiful the birdhouse is. She says that birds belong in the sky like the moon, wind, and stars.
But Banana and Balou seem happy. And they have everything they need. I hesitate. Maybe I should open the cage, and then I could watch if they would fly away if they could. I look around to see if our gardener is nearby and then I spot my stuffed bunny on a marble column.
“Mr. Sparkles,” I say reproachfully. “You’re sitting there and you didn’t say a word!” I tuck him under my arm when I hear a noise.
From one second to the next, I can’t breathe anymore as if I’m only now realizing that I’m underwater.
Help! I want to scream, but I can’t make a sound. I dig my fingers into Mr. Sparkles and dig my thumb into his stomach, into the tiny hole that Mom has to sew up repeatedly.
Blue beads roll onto my feet like rabbit droppings. At that moment, it’s as if I’m drowning a second time.
Bathed in sweat, I abruptly sat up and gasped for breath. For a few heartbeats, I saw the masked face in front of me again and felt the hand that had been pressed so firmly over my mouth thatI hadn’t even been able to gasp. At the same time, the blue pearls in my head were dancing a polka.
What were Mom’s vitamin pills doing in my rabbit’s belly? What noise had frightened me so much in my dream that I had woken up from it? Or was I not asleep at all?
Completely knocked out, I wiped my forehead and fell back onto the pillows. I was still chilly even though I was drenched in sweat. When I swallowed, my throat burned like fire. It was all too much. And the confused images in my head were driving me completely crazy. Again, I saw the blue pearls rolling out of Mr. Sparkles’ belly. Mom’s vitamin pills from our family doctor.
Mom!
