Free A Hidden Magic by Vivian Vande Velde Page B

all-powerful. She might be able to see into the cottage because of the magic mirror, and she might know what goes on inside this valley, but she isn't all-powerful." Jennifer repeated this last part several times, as if it were a charm, and removed her hand from the magic bottle. Then she looked away from Malveenya.
    "Do you love Prince Alexander?" Malveenya purred.
    Love
wasn't the right word—Jennifer
cared
about what happened to the prince, but she wasn't in
love
with him. But it was too much to explain, so she nodded, without looking up. She felt Norman shift position next to her.
    "And do you care for this old man, this Norman?"
    Malveenya had gotten it backward—Jennifer suddenly realized she
loved
Norman—but again she just nodded. She could sense the sorcerer staring at her but didn't look up until Malveenya asked, "Will you do something for me?"
    The enchantress circled the two of them. "I have great power," she said. "But 1 want more. Years ago, the magic wall was built to limit me. If I stay on this side of the wall, I can do anything I want; if I cross to the other side, I have no powers."
    This didn't seem like a problem. "So stay here," Jennifer suggested.
    "No!" Malveenya cried. "What use is limitless power in this place? I want to live in the outside world!"
    "But if you can't pass through the gate without losing your power—"
    "Ah! But there's where you come in."
    That's what Jennifer had been afraid of.
    Malveenya continued. "Magic cannot destroy the wall. But ordinary people—working with picks and shovels and hammers—can. I want you to return to your home and convince the people that the wall is a nuisance. Tell them that the forest is a beautiful park that everyone should enjoy. Tell them there are gigantic trees on which money grows. Tell them anything, but get them to tear down that wall so I can leave!"
    "No!" Jennifer gasped. She couldn't begin to guess what Malveenya planned to do if she were free to roam, but judging from the state of things in the Valley of Darkness and Despair, it didn't seem a very good idea. "I couldn't."
    Malveenya smiled cheerfully. "Do you love Prince Alexander?" she asked again. "Do you love Norman? What if something terrible hap
pened to them? Have a good night's sleep while you think about it."
    She glided to the cage from which the buzzard, Kreech, glared at her suspiciously with half-lowered eyelids. He took a quick step back and resumed his terrible cries as the enchantress opened the door. But when she pulled back her billowing sleeve and stuck her arm in the cage, he obediently and gently stepped onto her arm and let himself be pulled out.
    Her eyes never wavering from Jennifer and Norman, Malveenya set the buzzard on the floor, then took a step back.
    Immediately the large bird began to grow larger. He beat his short, broad wings helplessly as his body became taller and wider and his feathers turned to flapping black cloth. The shape of his face changed slightly and in no time at all they stood facing a man. Admittedly, he still had the look of a bird of prey—the constantly moving eyes were fierce and piercing, the nose was sharp and beaklike, and us the hands looked like talons. But he was still a man.
    This was no illusion, Jennifer and Norman realized, no trick caused by a magic ring. Kreech had really been changed into a fearsome human.
    Obviously this sort of thing had happened to Kreech before, and obviously he didn't like it at all. He stood for several seconds twitching his wingless shoulders and shifting his weight from one foot to the other; then he threw back his head and gave a wild screech. This was part declaration of freedom, part defiance, but mostly it was for show because he knew that—although out of the cage—he wasn't really free and that Malveenya—if she decided to—could easily shake all the defiance out of him.
    "Kreech, would you be good enough to show our guests to their quarters?" Malveenya said sweetly. "Private