Ella Enchanted - By Gail Carson Levine Page 0,13

in Kyrrian, not bothering to make his voice persuasive, "Come to me and bring the child."

I stood my ground. Now I had to break the curse. My life and another's depended on it.

My knees began to tremble from the need to walk. I held back, and my muscles cramped, shooting pain through my calves. I squeezed the little gnome in my effort to resist, and he yelped and twisted in my arms.

The ogre continued to laugh. Then he spoke again. "Obey me this instant.

Come. Now."

Against my will I took a step. I stopped, and the trembling started again.

Another step. And another. I saw nothing, except that leering face, looming closer and closer.

7

WHERE ARE you going?" Char cried.

He could see where I was going. "I must," I said.

"Stop! I command you to stop."

I stopped and stood shaking, while soldiers crowded around the hut. Their swords pointed at the ogre, who glared at me, then turned his back and retreated into the dim interior.

"Why did you listen to him?" Char asked.

I was still having trouble with the child. He was pulling his little beard and wriggling to escape.

",pwich azzoogh fraecH" he cried.

I used his distress to avoid answering the question. "He's frightened."

But Char wasn't distracted. "Why did you listen to him, Ella?"

I had to answer, somehow. "His eyes," I lied. "Something about them. I had to do what he wanted."

"Have they found a new way to bewitch us?" Char sounded alarmed. "I must tell my father."

The gnome child wailed, thrashing at the air.

I wondered if the parrot's words might soothe him. I spoke them, hoping they weren't an insult. ".fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY"

The child's face cleared, and he smiled, showing pearly baby teeth. ",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" he repeated. There was a dimple in the folds of wrinkles and baby fat.

I put him down, and he took my hand and Char's.

"His parents must be worried," I said. I didn't know how to ask him where they were, and he was probably too young to answer.

They weren't by the ferocious beasts or by the grazing animals. At last, we spied an ancient female gnome sitting on the ground near the pond. Her head was between her knees, an image of defeat Other gnomes searched the reeds and hedges or questioned passersby.

"!fraechramM" the little gnome called, pulling at Char and me.

The old gnome looked up, her face wet with tears. "!zhulpH" She grabbed him in a tight hug and covered his face and beard with kisses. Then she peered at us and recognized Char.

"Highness, thank you for the return of my grandson."

Char coughed, an embarrassed sound. "We're glad to bring him back, madam,"

he said. "He was almost an ogre's lunch."

"Char -- Prince Charmont -- saved him," I said. And saved me too.

"You have the gratitude of the gnomes." The gnome bowed her head. "I am zhatapH."

Hardly taller than I, she was much wider -- not stout, but wide, which is the direction gnomes grow after they reach adulthood. She was the most dignified personage I had ever seen, and the oldest (except for Mandy probably). Her wrinkles had wrinkles, small folds in deeper folds of leathery skin. Her eyes were deep set and their copper color was clouded.

I curtsied, and wobbled. "I'm Ella," I said.

More gnomes came, and we were surrounded.

"How did you persuade him to come with you?" zhatapH asked. "He would not go with most humans."

"Ella spoke to him," Char said, sounding proud of me.

"What did you say?"

I hesitated. It was one thing to imitate parrots for Simon or to speak to a baby.

It was another to sound like a fool in front of this stately lady. ",fwthchor evtoogh brzzay eerth ymmadboech evtoogh brzzaY" I said finally.

"No wonder he came with you," zhatapH said.

"!fraecH" zhulpH cried joyously. He squirmed in her arms.

A younger gnome woman took the child. "Where did you learn to speak Gnomic?" she asked. "I am zhulpH's mother."

I explained about the parrots. "What did I say to zhulpH?"

"It is an expression. We say it as a greeting," zhatapH said. "In Kyrrian it is

'Digging is good for the wealth and good for the health.' " She held her hand out to me. "zhulpH is not the only one you will save. I see it."

What else could she see? Mandy had said a few gnomes could tell the future.

"Can you see what's ahead for me?"

"Gnomes do not see detail. What you will wear tomorrow, what you will say, are mysteries. I see outlines only."

"What are