Free Book of Stolen Tales by D. J. McIntosh Page B

parsnip for the paper. Autumn is the perfect time because that’s when plant cellulose is at its peak. When properly treated, cow parsnip produces a beautiful translucent paper stock.
    â€œYou’ll know the story—’The Pied Piper of Hamelin,’ one of Charles’s favorites. The reader will be able to see flora of the meadow like the one the piper led the children through embedded in the pages themselves. I intend to finish it”—his voice trailed off again—”as a tribute to him. It may well be the last book our firm publishes.”
    â€œThe Pied Piper” was one of the more macabre fairy tales. The cheery piper in his colorful clothes leading children to their death seemed an odd and disturbing choice. “Did Renwick think that story too was based on a real event?”
    â€œIndeed he did. And he may have been right about it. Scholars have devoted years attempting to trace the story back to an actual occurrence. Some think it was an analogy for a case of plague that swept through a German village; others believe it to be an early recounting of a particularly lurid case of pedophilia.
    â€œI think that’s why he pursued The Tale of Tales so obsessively. He wanted the early versions of the stories so he could find the germ of truth in them.” Norris cleared his throat. “He’d talked himself into believing that one of those stories had origins in the Middle East and linked directly to his childhood illness. He referred to it as a plague tale and had himself convinced the author hid some guide or code in the book that pointed to the source of a deathly contagion. Pure folly, in my opinion.”

Eight

    N orris shook his head, his white forelock bouncing as he did so. “Charles was always a fanciful man, but that theory of his went beyond all bounds of rationality.”
    I had to agree with him. The notion of a virulent disease having anything to do with a fictional tale sounded preposterous. Still, it helped explain Renwick’s warning about the book. “Which story was he referring to?”
    â€œWhy, I’d almost think you took this nonsense seriously too. I don’t know which title, Charles wouldn’t tell me, but it was one of the four famous ones I’m sure. ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ ‘Snow White,’ ‘The Pied Piper,’ or ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”
    â€œYou said earlier Renwick thought the author included a secret reference to a real location in the book? A map or a series of directions?”
    â€œYes, something like that; I can’t tell you more. I simply don’t know because Charles kept it to himself. It wasn’t his custom to hide things from me, but something about that book changed him. And it frightened me. ‘Better you stay entirely out of it,’ he said.”
    This tallied with the admonition I’d received in the solicitor’s letter. “Newhouse said the book had a repellent history. Do you know what he meant?”
    I caught a fleeting look of disapproval on Norris’s face when I said this. “I have no idea. But from the time Charles first mentioned that blasted book, his personality changed. One day I came into the shop and he seemed higher than a kite because he’d just learned it was to be offered at auction. And then almost overnight, he sank into a deep depression. It wasn’t at all like him to display such mood swings. I was very worried and said as much but his behavior continued. He’d come into the shop with red-rimmed eyes and I knew he hadn’t slept a wink. Normally he was quite soft-spoken but he’d snap at me for the merest trifles. He began to study the most gruesome subjects—Greek chimeras and medieval exorcists. Those books are still here.” He picked a few off the shelf and handed them to me.
    All of them looked to date back a century or more ago, reprinted in modern formats. Leafing through them, I