Free Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin by Liesl Shurtliff Page A

rumble.
    “So,” said the witch, blocking the path to the stew, “the trouble has begun.”
    “Begun?” I asked.
    “Oh, you’re just getting started, my boy.” She laughed, a wheezing cackle. “Spinning gold? Bargaining with the miller? Great mountains, boy, where did you ever get such an idea? What would your mother say? Oh, how things come full circle!” She laughed some more.
    “It’s not funny,” I said.
    “No, it’s not,” said the witch. “It’s dreadful. So dreadful I have to laugh to not cry.”
    I was starting to feel surly. I hadn’t come here to be teased. “What do you know about my mother?”
    “Sit.” The witch pointed to a chair by a spinning wheel, and I froze.
    “I don’t want to,” I said. I would never touch a spinning wheel again. Never!
    The witch ladled a bowl of steaming stew and held it before my face. “I’m not asking you to spin.”
    “I don’t want to,” I said.
    “Then don’t. Now sit.”
    I sat on the floor, and she chuckled and handed me the stew. I sniffed it. Could you smell poison? Poison or not, it smelled delicious. I took a steaming spoonful and let it sit in my mouth until I had sucked out all the flavor before swallowing. I had never tasted such a wonderful stew, full of flavors I couldn’t name.
    “Now, then,” said the witch. “Did your gran ever tell you why your mother left Yonder?”
    I shook my head. “I never even knew she was from Yonder, not until Red told me.”
    “Hmmm. Where to begin … Well, I suppose the best place to start is the beginning. Your mother was a born spinner. Here, on The Mountain, we search for gold. In The Valley they farm, and in Yonder they raise sheep and gather wool. They dye their wools and they weave and knit and spin. Your mother was one of the best, an unusual spinner. She had … special gifts.”
    “You mean she was a witch,” I said.
    “Well, I don’t think that word means what people think it means. Magic is nothing but transformation of what is already there. The gold in this very mountain is embedded in dirt and rock. How did it become gold? The earth is full of mystery and magic, and so was your mother. So, yes, in that sense she was a witch. Spinning with magic was in her blood.”
    I looked down at my hands, wondering if I could see the spinning blood in my veins.
    “But every strength can become a weakness. Your mother foolishly abused her magic.”
    “My mother was not a fool—” I said.
    “An innocent fool,” the witch said, cutting me off, “but she didn’t understand the power of her transformations. She didn’t realize they would rob her of her life. When she came to this mountain, she was nearly at her end. I found it a miracle that she lived long enough to marry and give birth to you.”
    “But why? What was so wrong with her spinning?”
    “Well, surely you’ve guessed at the consequences of such magic,” said the witch.
    I thought for a moment. “Something to do with bargains?”
    “A fair guess. When you gave your gold to the miller, you made a bargain, no?”
    “A fool’s bargain,” said Red.
    “Hush, girl.”
    Red was silent.
    “He gave me food,” I said.
    “How much food?”
    I hesitated. “Enough for me.”
    “But an even trade?”
    I stood still. I knew it hadn’t been an even trade, but I didn’t want to believe our trades had been anything but normal. “The miller has never been fair. When has he ever made an even trade?”
    “Spinning straw to gold is a dramatic transformation,” said the witch. “It would take a lot out of a person, even their own control over their magic. You were unable to demand a fair bargain for your gold. You couldn’t even name a price.”
    A chill ran through me. But that couldn’t be true. “What about the king?” I said. “He took my gold and he didn’t give me anything.”
    “Didn’t he?”
    I thought back to when King Barf had demanded the gold from me. I hadn’t given it to him right away. I first asked him