Reckless (Free Preview) by Cornelia Funke Read Free Book Online

finger as one of the blades hacked into the bark right next to
him.   The Tailor howled like a wolf, yet
he slashed at him with even greater rage — and there was no blood running from
his wounds.
    You will end up as a pair of pants!   Jacob's breathing grew labored.   His heart was racing.   He stumbled over a root, and before he could
catch himself, the Tailor stabbed one of his needles deep into Jacob's
shoulder.   The pain buckled his knees,
and he had no breath left to call Fox back as she jumped at the Tailor and sunk
her teeth deep into his leg.   She had so
often saved Jacob's skin, but never quite so literally.   The Tailor tried to shake her off.   He had forgotten about Jacob, and as he
angrily struck out to hack his blades into her furry body, Jacob slashed off
his left arm with Chanute's knife.
    The Tailor's
scream echoes through the dark forest.   He stared at the useless stump of his arm and at the bladed hand lying
on the moss in front of him.   Then he
spun around, wheezing, to face Jacob.   The remaining hand came down on Jacob with deadly force.   Three steel needles, murderous daggers.   Jacob thought he could already feel their
metal inside him, but before they could pierce his flesh, he rammed his knife
deep in the Tailor's chest.
    The Tailor
grunted, pressing his fingers to his terrible shirt.   The his knees
buckled.
    Jacob
staggered to the nearest tree, fighting for breath while the Tailor thrashed in
pain on the wet moss.   One
final gasp and then silence.   Jacob did not drop his knife, even though the glazed eyes stared emptily
skyward out of the grimy face.   He wasn't
convinced there was such a thing as death for the Tailor.
    Fox shivered
as if the hounds had been after her.   Jacob let himself drop to his knees next to her and stared at the now
lifeless body of the Tailor.   Jacob had
no idea how long he remained crouched there.   His skin was burning as if he'd been rolling around in broken
glass.   His shoulder was numb with pain,
and in front of his eyes the blades were still performing their murderous
dance.
    "Jacob!"   Fox's voice seemed to come to him from
afar.   "Get up.   It's safer at the house!"
    He got to his
feet.
    The Tailor
still wasn't moving.

     
    *           *           *           *           *

     
    The journey
back to the gingerbread house seemed very long, and when it finally appeared
between the trees, Jacob saw Clara waiting behind the fence.
    "Oh,
God!" was all she murmured when she saw the blood on his shirt.   She fetched water from the well and washed
the cuts.   Jacob flinched as her fingers
probed his shoulder.
    "This one
is deep," she said as Fox anxiously crouched by her side.   "I wish it would bleed more
freely."
    "There's
iodine and some bandages in my saddlebag."   Jacob was grateful that she was used to the sight of bloody wounds.   "What about Will?   Is he asleep?"
    "Yes."   And the stone was still there.   She didn't have to say it.
    Jacob could
see from the expression on her face that she wanted to know what had happened
in the forest, but that was the last thing he wanted to remember.
    Clara fetched
the iodine from his saddlebag and dripped the tincture on his wound, but she
still looked worried.
    "Fox,
what plants do you usually roll in when you're
wounded?" she asked.
    The vixen
showed her some herbs in the Witch's garden.   They gave off a bittersweet aroma as Clara plucked them apart and
pressed them against Jacob's pierced skin.
    "Like a
born witch," he said.   "I
thought Will said he met you in a hospital."
    She smiled.   It made her look very young.
    "In our
world, the Witches work in hospitals.   Remember?"
    Clara noticed
the scars on Jacob's back as she pulled the shirt over his bandaged shoulder.   "How did those happen?   Must have been terrible
injuries."
    Fox shot him a
knowing look, but Jacob just buttoned his shirt with a shrug.
    "I
survived."
    Clara looked
at him