The Music Box Chapter 7

Chapter Seven.

Annie.

Annie found herself standing in a small room. She looked around curiously. It was clearly a workroom. In front of the only window stood a workbench, and slumped over it was a small, hunched figure with his head resting on the tabletop.

Annie took a step toward him and stumbled. She had forgotten about her short leg.

“But… I was dancing,” she whispered.

She looked down. She was wearing a ballet dancer’s dress.

Then everything came back, the witch, the spell, the tiny stage inside the music box.

A dancer you will stay until the music is started and stopped again, by a man in constant pain.

Annie limped across the room. She touched the man’s shoulder. Even through his thin shirt she could feel the heat of his fever.

The witch had turned her into a dancer, but she had done nothing about Annie’s short leg.

The door opened. A man stepped into the workroom.

Without thinking, Annie said, “This poor man is very ill. He must be put to bed at once.”

Miya’s mother paused here.

“There isn’t much more to tell,” she said gently. “Annie nursed Jack until he was well again. She made the pain medicine she’d learned in Mentiri’s cottage. They fell in love, and they were married not long after.”

She sighed. “I only wish she’d written down the recipe for that pain medicine. It would have been very useful.”

“Did she live happily ever after?” Miya asked.

“No one lives forever, my love,” her mother said. “But yes, they were happy.”

She leaned over and kissed Miya’s forehead. “Now go to sleep, and dream of the day when you can tell this story to your daughter.”

“What happened to Magalan and the Wraiths? They won’t come here, will they?” Miya asked, suddenly worried.

“That’s another story, one from long before I was born,” her mother said. “But no. The Wraiths haven’t been seen for a very long time, and it turns out they weren’t as horrible as people thought. Prince Rogan and Princess Aidel were rescued from them and came home safely. You’ll learn all about that when you go to school next year.”

Miya brightened. She was looking forward to starting school.

Her mother stood by the door. “And the witch, Magalan, the one who pretended to be Calizone, she’s dead. Calizone was furious about that. So there’s nothing at all to have nightmares about.”

“Mum,” Miya called softly. “What was Granana’s name?”

Her mother turned back. “Why, Annie, of course. Annie Crankin. And that’s why the music box must be left exactly as it is. She’s the only one who ever danced on that little stage.”

Miya thought for a moment. “I don’t remember Granana limping.”

“She still had one leg shorter than the other,” her mother said. “But the shoemaker made her a special shoe, and it helped her walk almost normally. She still used a walking stick, though.”

Miya yawned.

“Someone is ready for sleep,” her mother said softly.