The Seven Tales of Trinket Read online

  The seal nudged a third time.

  “Very well. I shall play for you,” I said, trying to treat it as I would a person. I did not want to offend it. Slowly, shyly at first, I began again to pluck out the tune of my father’s lullaby. Like all lullabies, this one was meant to lead a babe down the mystical road to dreams. The seal’s beautiful black eyes blinked once, then again and again, staying closed longer each time.

  The seal drifted off to sleep at my feet. I hummed along with the melody and felt encouraged that my voice was clear and pleasant. I could use my newfound skill when I became a bard.

  However, I would not be able to keep the harp if I did not help Mistress Catriona rescue her child.

  As if summoned by my thoughts of her, Mistress Catriona appeared through the opening in the trees, walking briskly. When she was close enough that I could see her face, it became apparent that she was angry. Very.

  She started to speak, but I put my hand up and pointed to the sleeping seal. She had not noticed its slight form, as the sun was setting and its body was hidden in my shadow.

  Her eyes widened and she slowed her step, walking very quietly on the tips of her toes, until she was right beside the sleeping seal. She bent down.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered. The seal moved slightly in its sleep.

  I looked around again for Thomas. Where was he? Why was he not here when I needed him?

  “Keep playing,” Mistress Catriona whispered, as she rolled the little seal over on its back.

  “What’s that?” I asked. The sleeping seal had a dark line down the center of its belly.

  Mistress Catriona did not answer. She gently prodded the stripe with her fingers, as if she was looking for something. I gasped as she pulled on the skin and it came away from the seal.

  “Do not stop playing!” she whispered sharply under her breath.

  I closed my eyes, not able to look at what she was doing. What if she hurt the little thing? I could not continue the song.

  “Mistress Catriona!” I whispered fiercely. “I cannot let you—” But I was too late. She held in her hand the gray skin of the seal. Sleeping at my feet was a small boy about half my age with silver hair and pale skin.

  “Is he…?”

  “No, he only sleeps. And he is not my son,” she said coldly, answering the two questions I had been afraid to ask. “But I will not return his skin until they agree to return my child.” She walked briskly down to where we’d hidden our boat and dug a shallow hole. She dropped the boy’s sealskin inside and covered it with sand.

  The boy began to shiver in his sleep. I felt sorry for him and placed the cloak my mother had woven over him. Her decision seemed cruel to me. And yet, what lengths would a mother not go to in order to retrieve her baby? What would I not give to have my mother back?

  “Here is what we shall do,” she whispered, brushing the sand from her hands. “We shall agree to trade this boy’s sealskin for my child. If the selkies do not agree, then I shall take this child for my own. I shall burn his sealskin. Without it, he can never return to his life as a selkie.” She looked down at the sleeping boy with the silver hair and chubby cheeks, then glanced up at me, her eyes wild.

  “I think that is an awful idea,” I said, my tone no longer hushed. I did not care if the child awoke. “You grieve the loss of your own child, yet you would do that to another mother? Mistress Catriona, what happened when you traveled down the path? Did you meet with the selkies?”

  She nodded. “Aye. I found them basking on their rocks. I began to play my flute, to tame their wild hearts. But the music did not bewitch them. When I grew tired of playing, I advanced. They made way for me until I found myself before the Selkie Queen.” Mistress Catriona was speaking quickly, and I had a glimpse for the first time of the crazed woman Mister Fergus had such concern for.

  “Go on,” I said gently, as if I were the adult and she the child.

  “I begged the Selkie Queen for my son, but she claimed she could not give back a gift given to her by the Mistress of the Sea. ’Twould be bad form and seem ungrateful.” Mistress Catriona began to cry. Sobs racked her body and I could do naught but gather her in my arms and hold her.

  “Did you see him? Your babe?” I asked softly against her hair.

  She shook her head fiercely. “Nay, nay, they would not let me near enough. And there were many baby seals. They will have given him a sealskin.” She sniffled loudly, causing the silver-haired boy to turn in his sleep. “But if I had gotten close, I would have known him.”

  “How?”

  She looked up at me for the first time since her tears came. “Did I not tell you? His eyes. One is green and the other brown.”

  GRAY

  The boy slept for a long time. Mistress Catriona decided that someone should guard him but she was close to collapsing from exhaustion. I volunteered to watch over him so she could sleep before we tried again in the morning to bargain with the selkies. I wondered again about Thomas the Pig Boy. Where was he? Chasing this story was perhaps not the cleverest thing I had ever done. I was beginning to wish I’d disappeared with Thomas.

  The seal-child roused and looked up at me with gray eyes. He saw the harp lying next to me and motioned for me to play. He seemed not to notice that he no longer wore his sealskin. I pretended I didn’t understand. I wanted to see what it was like to talk to this boy. Maybe there was another solution to Mistress Catriona’s situation other than holding him ransom and trading him for her babe.

  He crawled over to my leg and nudged me with his head. “Do you wish me to play again?” I asked quietly, so as not to wake Mistress Catriona.

  “Yes, I should like that very much,” he said, then stopped in shock at the sound of his own voice. He looked down at his hands and his feet. He felt his face, his hair.

  His frightened eyes captured mine and I felt instant pity. I could not participate in the kidnapping of this boy. But I would find a way to get my lady’s child back.

  Children should be with their mothers.

  “Do not be afraid,” I said gently. “I’ll not harm you.” His small body was shaking. “Are you cold?”

  The boy nodded.

  “Well, wrap my cloak about yourself. There, now, what is your name?” I asked gently.

  “Gray,” he whispered.

  “Very well, then, Gray, I think it would be a good idea to go and find the rest of your family. Will you take me there?” I picked up my harp, waiting for him to agree.

  He rose, then looked at me pleadingly. He did not like my cloak. He wanted his skin. “Listen to me, Gray. I shall get your skin back, but I need your help. Will you help me?”

  Gray nodded.

  “Good. Now first, what were you doing out here all by yourself?”

  “The island is ours. We can go anywhere we choose.”

  He didn’t seem to mind answering my questions, so I continued.

  “There is a babe newly arrived. Have you seen him?”

  Gray nodded. “Him belongs to the queen. The Sea Mistress brought him to her. The queen’s own child died in a fisherman’s net.” Gray swallowed and I could tell we were both thinking it was a horrible way to die.

  “Gray, the babe does not belong to the queen. He belongs to my lady asleep over there.” Gray glanced at Mistress Catriona. “She misses him so much. Her heart grieves for him, for the Sea Mistress took her husband as well. My mistress suffers doubly, but we can help her. We must hurry, or my plan will fail.”

  With a slight nod, Gray agreed to lead me to the court of the selkies.

  Though he spoke not a word, I could hear Thomas behind us, following. I would know the sound of those footsteps anywhere. I wanted to turn and poke him for being gone so long, but I did not want to scare the seal-child.

  “There,” Gray said at last, pointing to a rugged formation that resembled a ruined tower. I pulled Gray behind some rocks, hiding us both. I peeked around the edge and there were the selkies, all in their seal forms.


  “Listen to me, Gray, for I might not have the chance to speak to you again. Your skin is buried under the small mound of sand on the beach near where we left my lady sleeping. Soon, I will begin to play the lullaby I played for you on my harp. I believe it is bewitching to your kind. If I am right, all of the selkies, yourself included, will fall asleep.” Gray’s puzzled eyes showed he had no memory of the magical music I had played. “When you awaken, Mistress Catriona and myself and her babe will be gone.”

  “I understands, miss.” Gray curled his small body into a ball, awaiting the sleep I had promised. I patted him on the head and thanked him, then rose and walked toward the selkies.

  “Thomas, if you can hear me, we need to find the seal with one green eye,” I whispered. I thought I heard a cough, but it could have been the wind.

  THE SECRET OF THE SEALSKIN

  The selkies did not notice me at first. I sat on a rock that poked me none too gently in the behind. However, no one had ever promised me that the search for stories would be comfortable. Then the selkies started coming toward me. I could not afford to seek a more pleasant-feeling seat.

  I began plucking the strings of the harp, as I had done for Gray when he first nudged me with his cold black nose. The advancing selkies slowed. I took a deep breath and began to sing words, not my father’s words, for I could not pull those from my memory. Instead, I called for the words that had been resting in the back of my head since I first saw the island. A selkie song.

  The same song Feather had heard, the same tune that had lulled me to sleep as a babe, was sprinkled with magic. With the harp, the melody, and the words I had created on my own, I cast a spell of drowsiness upon the selkies.

  How long I played, I do not know, for once the song ended, I began it again and again. The strange creatures drifted to sleep, some curled against others, some stretched out alone. Eventually, I silently placed the harp in the sand and made my way to the slumbering selkies. I decided to examine the smallest ones first. Most likely the young cub I was searching for would be nestled up against a larger seal.

  The moon had risen full, huge, and bright enough to guide me. I hoped the moonlight would be sufficient for me to tell whether the seals’ eyes were both the same color or not.

  Thomas emerged from the darkness then, yawning widely. He stepped silently between the slumbering seals, motioning that he would start on one side while I checked the other.

  As gently as I could, I lifted the eyelids of the sleeping cubs, searching for the one with eyes of different colors. By the time I was on the fifth seal, I had gotten pretty good at stepping between the sleeping bodies as if I were the dream faerie herself, and nary a sound did I make. My own breath was so soft and shallow, I would have doubted I was breathing at all, except that I did not fall over and faint. Finally, I peered into one brilliant green eye and one muddy brown one. I had found the babe.

  I cradled him in my arms, and he did not rouse. Instead, he cuddled against my chest. I motioned for Thomas to follow and on the tips of my toes, I made my way out of the sleeping mass of selkies. Noiselessly, I reached down and swooped up my harp as we sneaked back to where Gray lay asleep.

  I wanted to wake him up, to say goodbye and to thank him, but thought better of it. Perhaps they would blame him if he appeared to know my plan, and they would punish him, and that was something I did not want. The less he knew, the better.

  Thomas gathered Gray in his arms, understanding the need to keep the child out of trouble. For a boy who had a tendency to get both of us into trouble, he was certainly showing his responsible side.

  I met Mistress Catriona halfway between the selkies’ court and the shore. She had a wild look on her face, which immediately softened when she saw who I bore in my arms. She did not even notice as Thomas placed Gray on the sand, quickly dug up his skin and draped it over his trembling body like a blanket. I hated to just leave him there, but I had little choice.

  “Are you sure?” Mistress Catriona whispered as she took the sleeping bundle from my arms.

  “I checked the eyes. One green, one brown.”

  She turned the seal-child over in her arms and began feeling for the seam in his belly, to release him from the sealskin.

  “Nay, my lady, I would not do that just yet.”

  “Why ever not?” she demanded.

  “It may cause him to wake and cry. ’Twould be better to wait until we were far gone from this place.”

  She nodded and we ran to the boat.

  I did not tell Mistress Catriona, but I also feared the Mistress of the Sea. If she knew we had reclaimed the baby, she might upset the boat and take us down to her murky depths as punishment. If such a thing happened, I wanted the child to find a way back to his other family.

  * * *

  We rowed as silently as we could, away from the isle of the selkies. ’Twas more difficult than you can imagine, attempting to cross the sea without much of a disturbance upon the surface. Luckily for us, the Sea Mistress was otherwise occupied and caused neither whirlpool nor storm to interrupt our escape.

  Whispering, for we were still too frightened to speak in our normal voices, Mistress Catriona asked, “How did you do it, Trinket? How did you sneak my babe away from them?”

  Should I tell her about the enchanted lullaby that causes seals and seal people to fall asleep? Would she keep such knowledge safe?

  “They were sleeping,” I said simply, which was partly true. “And Thomas helped.” The fact that it was a spellbound sleep would be my secret. I was beginning to realize that part of being a bard was knowing when to tell your story and when to keep your lips closed tight.

  DECISION

  We arrived at Conelmara just as the sun was rising. Mistress Catriona removed the skin from the seal, revealing her small, pink son, still sleeping. The look of love on her face made me glad I had risked so much to help her. A mother should be with her child. A tear scalded my windburned cheek. Was my mother with me now? Was her spirit beside me holding my hand, although I could not feel it? I glanced at Thomas, his eyes full and glassy. Mayhap he missed his brute of a mother as well.

  “Get rid of this,” Mistress Catriona said absently, handing me the sealskin, not taking her eyes from her son.

  “Yes, my lady,” I replied, thinking to return it to the waves. But as I walked to where the tide washed over my feet, I could see them out there, several black heads bobbing on the horizon. The selkies. One swam forward, ahead of the rest.

  My head whipped around, but Mistress Catriona was already on her way to her cottage. So, I slowly walked toward the seal, then stopped just before reaching the water. She did not approach me, but stayed in the surf, regarding me with her deep, soulful black eyes. She loves him, too, I thought. I dipped the edge of the sealskin into the sea, preparing to release it, when the selkie started acting strangely. She prodded the sea foam with her nose over and over again, as if shooing me back up the path. When I pulled the skin out, her nudging ceased. I clutched the sealskin close to me, making a quick decision.

  “What are you doing, Trinket?” Thomas called as I ran off. I could hear his breath behind me as he raced to catch up.

  “Why should I tell you? I am not the one who completely disappeared on the selkies’ isle last night.” I had not realized how angry I was at him until now.

  “Aw, Trinket, you can’t blame me for trying to find adventure. I was bored sitting around on the beach.”

  “So, did you find it? Your adventure?”

  “No. I got lost. Would have stayed lost, too, I suppose, if I hadn’t heard your harp.”

  I humphed and went faster, but it was hard to stay mad at Thomas.

  I ran with the sealskin as fast as I could, all the way to Mister Fergus’s home. I reached the door first, but only by a hair.

  “Got the babe back, I see,” Mister Fergus grunted. ’Twas obvious he’d been watching out the window.

  “Aye, we did.”

  “Well, ’twould seem we were wrong. The ba
be is alive.”

  “Aye, he is.”

  “What are ye hiding behind yer back?”

  I pulled the sealskin out. “I was supposed to get rid of this, but then I thought, maybe someday, the child might want … a choice.” He looked at the sealskin and nodded once, then took it and hid it beneath a large stone on his hearth.

  The air in the cottage smelled of fresh bread and butter. I thought Thomas would either faint from the scent or jump over the table like a hungry bear. Luckily, Mister Fergus cut us each a chunk of the bread and slathered it with butter. We ate greedily.

  “I’ll keep the secret, till the time be right.”

  We ate more bread and butter than had ever been eaten in the history of time and slept without dreams on the floor of the cottage.

  * * *

  “’Tis time to go,” I said to Thomas the next morning, packing the beautiful harp of bone and hair in my sack. Mistress Catriona had offered me the flute as well, but I told her to save it for the babe. “Mayhap he’ll be a bard someday.”

  “Nay, he’ll be a fisherman, just like his da,” she had said. Then she hugged me and whispered, “But you, Trinket, you strum with the touch of an angel. And what an angel you were to find my son for me! May the ground be soft and the wind gentle on your journey.”

  For the first time, my dream of becoming a teller seemed within my grasp. I had a harp. And if I was closer to becoming a bard, maybe I was also closer to finding the truth I sought.

  After we bid farewell to the folks of Conelmara, Thomas asked, “Trinket, what really happened to the selkies when you played that song? Was it magic, do you suppose?”

  “Well, that is a story best told as we walk.”

  Every storyteller needs to practice.

  THE SECOND SONG

  The Selkie’s Lullaby

  These are the words that came to me when I sat on the rock on the isle of the selkies with my harp. If you feel your eyes tiring and your mind drifting away during the course of this song, ’tis possible that at least a drop of selkie blood runs through your veins.