In a Glass Grimmly by Adam Gidwitz Read Free Book Online

min . . . ute.”
    And then, out of the cloud of dust, emerged a broken-down cart with faded banners and rattling glass bottles on a hundred tiny shelves.
    “Potions, elixirs, snake oil, gin!
    Tell me what ails you and give me a min . . . ute.”
    Jack turned and stared at the wreck of a cart. In the driver’s seat sat a greasy man with a long black ponytail. He wore a flowing, floral shirt, faded from the sun and the dust of the road. His face was round like a baby’s, and his eyes were pale blue.
    “Potions, elixirs, snake oil, gin!
    Tell me what ails you and give me a min . . . ute.”
    He’s not very good at rhyming,
thought Jack.
    And then, Jack saw, behind the cart, a group of boys from the village, pointing and laughing. They chanted, “Potions! elixirs! snake oil! piss!
    Trade with this nut and your money you’ll miss!”
    Jack thought,
That’s better
.
    And then Jack saw who led the band of chanting, taunting children. Marie.
    “Potions! elixirs! snake oil! piss!
    Trade with this nut and your money you’ll miss!”
    The boys laughed and laughed, and Marie threw his head back and shouted it at the top of his lungs. The man in the cart didn’t seem to notice.
    The hulking, jerking cart pulled up beside Jack and Milky, and the man leaned out. He smiled at Jack. He was missing many teeth. “You’re not selling that cow, are you?”
    Jack shook his head no.
    But the man grinned. “How much are you asking?”
    The boys stopped chanting. Jack could feel Marie’s gaze on him.
    Be your own man,
Jack thought. And then he said, “Five gold.”
    The boys began to laugh. “For that sack o’ bones?” Marie bellowed.
    The ponytailed man jumped down from his cart. He slapped Milky’s side. “She give milk anymore?”
    “No,” said Jack. And then he thought,
I probably should have said yes.
    “Hmm. No milk. Scrawny as an old broom. And a hide like this wouldn’t go for half a piece.” He grinned at little Jack. “Tell you what I’ll do. Nobody at market’ll pay a penny for this cow. She’ll cost more to feed than she’ll ever pay out; that’s why you’re selling her, I reckon.” The man looked knowingly at Jack.
    Jack shrugged.
    “Thought so,” leered the man with his oily, gap-toothed smile. “So I’ll give you a swap instead. It’s a good swap.”
    Jack held on to Milky’s neck and narrowed his eyes. Marie and the other children gathered closer, grinning at one another.
    The man announced, “I’ll swap my finest magic bean for this poor beast.”
    There was silence on the long, dusty road.
    Then someone suppressed a snicker.
    The man leaned in close to Jack and said, “I tell ya, this bean will produce a beanstalk that’ll grow straight to the sky. All you’ve got to do is plant it and tend it.”
    One of the village boys laughed out loud.
    Jack was about to tell the man no—and then Marie said, “That’s not a bad deal.”
    Jack swiveled his head at him.
    The other boys stared, too.
    “No,” said Marie. “Really. Most of what he sells is junk. But those beans . . . Those are something.”
    Jack felt suddenly confused. He looked back at the man. In his dirt-encrusted hand sat a single white bean.
    “It looks like a regular bean,” said Jack.
    Marie laughed. “It takes a real man to tend a bean like that.” He turned to the salesman. “To the sky, you said?”
    The man said, “That’s right.”
    Jack asked Marie, “You think I should buy it?”
    “I don’t know if you can handle it,” Marie replied.
    “Oh, I can.”
    “I’d be impressed. But I doubt it.”
    Jack passed Milky’s rope to the salesman. Then he held out his hand. The man closed the bean within it. He smiled with his round baby face and winked one pale eye at Jack. Then he hopped up on his cart, switched his horse, and rattled on into town, with Milky trailing behind.
    Jack watched them go. Then he turned, beaming, back to Marie.
    Marie smiled at him—and then let loose a roar of