Free Taran Wanderer by Lloyd Alexander Page B

wings, and dropped the key--- not into the
     bard's outstretched hands but into a hollow of the tree trunk.
    “Dropped it! Dropped it!” croaked Kaw, rocking back and forth on the branch, jabbering and
     chuckling gleefully at his own jest.
    Fflewddur snorted. “That bird's ill-mannered as a starling! He's had his merriment, now I
     shall have the toil.” Muttering hard comments about the impudence of waggish crows, the
     bard flung his arms about the trunk and tried to haul himself upward. Less than halfway,
     his grip loosened and he came tumbling down to land heavily amid the roots.
    “A Fflam is agile!” Fflewddur panted, ruefully rubbing his back. “Great Belin, there's not
     a tree I can't climb--- ah, except this one.” He mopped his brow and glared at the high
     trunk.
    “Gurgi climbs, yes, yes!” cried Gurgi, springing to the oak. With shaggy arms and legs
     working all at once, in a trice the creature clambered up the tree. While Fflewddur
     shouted encouragement, Gurgi thrust a skinny hand into the hollow.
    “Here is tuneful key, oh, yes!” he called. “Clever Gurgi finds it!” He stopped short.
     Taran saw the creature's face wrinkle in surprise and perplexity. Tossing the key down to
     Fflewddur, Gurgi turned once more to the hollow. “But what is this? What else does Gurgi
     find with gropings? Kindly master,” he shouted, “here is strange something all set away in
     hidings!”
    Taran saw the excited creature tuck an object under his arm and slide down the oak tree.
    “See with lookings!” cried Gurgi as Taran and the bard pressed around him.
    Kaw's prank was forgotten in the moment and the crow, not abashed whatever, flew to
     Taran's shoulder, stretched out his neck, and crowded forward as if determined to be first
     to glimpse Gurgi's discovery.
    “Is it treasure?” Gurgi exclaimed. “Oh, treasure of great worth! And Gurgi finds it!” He
     stamped his feet wildly. “Open it, kindly master! Open and see what riches it holds!”
    What Gurgi pressed into Taran's hand was a small, squat iron coffer no wider than Taran's
     palm. Its curved lid was heavily hinged, bound with iron strips, and secured by a stout
     padlock.
    “Is it jewels with winkings and blinkings? Or gold with shimmerings and glimmerings?”
     cried Gurgi, as Taran turned the coffer over and over; Fflewddur, too, peered at it
     curiously.
    “Well, friends,” the bard remarked, “at least we'll have some reward for the trouble that
     pilfering jackdaw has given us. Though from the size of it, I fear it shan't be very much.”
    Taran, meantime, had been struggling with the lock which refused to give way. The lid
     resisted all his battering, and finally he had to set the coffer on the ground where Gurgi
     held it tightly while the bard and Taran pried at the hinges with the points of their
     swords. But the coffer was surprisingly strong, and it took all their strength and effort
     before the lid at last yielded and fell away with a loud, rasping snap. Within lay a
     packet of soft leather which Taran carefully untied.
    “What is it? What is it?” yelped Gurgi, jumping up and down on one leg. “Let Gurgi see
     shining treasure!”
    Taran laughed and shook his head. The packet held neither gold nor gems, but no more than
     a slender piece of bone as long as Taran's little finger. Gurgi groaned in disappointment.
    Fflewddur snorted. “I should say our shaggy friend has found a very small hairpin or a
     very large toothpick. I doubt we'll have much use for either one.”
    Taran had not ceased examining the strange object. The sliver of bone was dry and brittle,
     bleached white and highly polished. Whether animal or human he could not tell. “What value
     can this have?” he murmured, frowning.
    “Great value,” replied Fflewddur, “if one should ever need a toothpick. Beyond that,” he
     shrugged. “Keep it, if you like or toss it away; I can't see it would make any difference.