The Salt Krasnals Read online

  “The White Eagle explained how to use it. She has seen many battles from the air. This one must have been abandoned by a Tatar,” replied Hrapek.

  Suddenly Gappek and Bulbek remembered the lost globe and began frantically scurrying around turning over pots and caskets.

  “What’s the matter?” asked Hrapek.

  “We have terrible news. I’m afraid we—”

  “You’re not looking for this by any chance are you?”

  They almost burst with joy when the old krasnal pulled the salt globe from his pocket.

  “Hrapek! Where did you find it? We thought we’d never see that again!” they exclaimed.

  “Oh, it was all the eagle’s doing really. She told me how it had slipped from your bag and we found it lying under a branch. Bit of luck really. From what Skarbnik said, this globe is rather important…”

  Hrapek faltered, deciding not to say anything about the strange visions he’d had in the salt mine and on the eagle’s back.

  Without wasting another moment the three krasnals followed the path up out of the cave. As the dawn sun lit up the world, they glanced back briefly, satisfying themselves that there was no sign of the ogre. His home was disappearing into the folds of the valley below.

  Once again the thought that they must see the salt queen as soon as possible spurred them onwards. They padded on through open fields and pretty woodlands, following the contours of the gentle hills that lay towards the south of Krakow. A happy bunch swinging their arms and singing, content in the thought that every step was taking them closer and closer to their dear sister.

  The first signs that they were nearing the city came when Gappek noticed the ground was getting wetter. It was an indication that they were close to the river Vistula which snakes its way towards Krakow. While Gappek and Hrapek worried that they would all be sucked into the marshy reeds which poked above the soft earth, Bulbek whose eyes were always on the lookout for loftier things, spotted the spires and towers of Krakow once more.

  “Come on! We’re nearly there!” he cried.

  The Salt Queen’s Castle

  The three krasnals scrambled up a silver birch tree growing by the river Vistula and gazed in awe at the city of Krakow. To eyes accustomed to underground salt tunnels, the triangular spires, domes and lofty towers of the medieval city were breathtaking! For a while they sat entranced, unable to move, frightened and overwhelmed by such an unusual place.

  “There is no way back. Who knows what we’ll encounter now…” mused Hrapek.

  But it wasn’t long before they were excited again, like little children, pointing at the river below where they spotted barges carrying heavy bags of salt, floating towards the city walls.

  “That’s come all the way from Bochnia!” exclaimed Bulbek, who had heard of another mine away to the east, which was linked to Krakow by the Vistula.

  “So much salt… what on earth do they do with it?” Gappek, as usual was interested in the practical side of things.

  “I bet they used it to build the salt queen’s castle,” suggested Bulbek.

  “They ship the salt abroad and sell it for money more like!” said Hrapek.

  “What a waste! Everybody knows that salt is good for curing toothache and bathing tired feet!” remarked Gappek, moving his bottom and making the branch of the birch tree creak suspiciously under their weight.

  The three brothers suddenly realised they had been sitting for far too long. It was about time they started to think how to get into the city and find the salt queen.

  “Look the clouds are darkening. A storm is on its way! I suggest we get under cover before it’s too late,” Bulbek urged.

  They sprang into action at the thought of a drenching, making their way towards the city gate. A gruff looking chap poked his nose out of a cramped doorway when he saw them approaching.

  “You seem rather small. Are your parents allowing you to travel on your own?” he asked, eyeing them up and down suspiciously. His sight wasn’t particularly sharp so he didn’t even notice the grey hair and wrinkles on Hrapek’s face.

  “Oh, yes, of course… We’ve come to see the salt queen on important business,” replied Bulbek, doffing his blue cone-shaped hat and speaking for them all.

  “And what business would that be?”

  The guard chuckled at first, then continued in a more serious tone,

  “We are wary of strangers here. For all I know you might be Tatar spies. Not so long ago the city was attacked by these warriors. They breached the wall, burnt our churches, tore down our houses and killed many of our women and children. No one is allowed to see the salt queen unless they can prove who they are and what business they must carry out within these walls.”

  “We are not spies. We need to speak to the salt queen about Baba Jaga, the horrible witch of the White Forest,” explained Bulbek.

  “And what makes you think that the salt queen has time to worry about Baba Jaga, the witch of the White Forest. She has had to deal with a more dangerous foe than a witch. The great city of Krakow is her concern, not some forest on its borders. Go away and do not waste her time!” barked the guard angrily.

  “Oh please let us in! You are a man of goodwill, I can tell from your face that you are the sort of person who would stop and help a poor stranger in need… We must see the queen. It is a matter of great importance,” pleaded Gappek with tears in his eyes.

  “To you may be,” replied the guard in a slightly softer manner. “But I doubt the queen will see it that way…”

  “The Great White Eagle and the ghost of the Wieliczka Salt Mine sent us here with a gift for the queen…” began Hrapek.

  The guard’s face suddenly changed at the mention of these two names.

  “The queen holds Skarbnik and the White Eagle in great esteem. Why didn’t you mention their involvement in this before?” he replied, shaking his head, opening the gate and ushering the three little strangers inside the walls.

  The krasnals were not too sure what to make of the human world. It was bad enough being bossed about by a stroppy guard, but on arriving in the city, the three intrepid fellows found themselves in the company of many more of these giants, who always seemed to be busy mending, repairing or building something. Tall ladders, long ropes and pulleys stood up against the sides of buildings, which looked like they had been badly burnt and scorched. Some walls were cracked and windows completely shattered. On every street they saw people hard at work putting the city back together.

  “This isn’t how I imagined the place,” observed Gappek, worrying again and stepping out of the way of an angry workman.

  “It doesn’t come as much of a surprise to me. Just think of the salt mine. These creatures are always busy scraping something out of one part of the earth and using it to alter another. Most of them seem mad – riding around bashing the living daylights out of each other! Have you ever met a krasnal who ruins his home and then has to rebuild it? Pure nonsense!” implored Bulbek, who couldn’t stop himself from making rather loud comments.

  Hrapek pulled his brother by the sleeve.

  “Quieten down! We ought to think ourselves lucky that they are all so busy. The last thing we need is one of these giants taking an interest in us. They’re fond of pets you know Bulbek!”

  They all knew he was right and hastened to remove their hats, which made them look less conspicuous – more like funny children with long beards! They crossed into the famous market square and asked the fat pigeons the way to the salt queen’s castle. Here the view was even more unusual. They saw people with brooms sweeping up thousands of poppy seeds into piles!

  Bulbek turned again to one of the pigeons.

  “Does anything make sense in this city?”

  “It’s all thanks to Baba Jaga from the White Forest! She’s always up to no good and this time she’s caused these strange poppy seed storms!” came the reply.

  “But at least there is something to snack on.”

  The dark cloud which they had
seen approaching was now directly above the market square and in no time the three krasnals found themselves sheltering under the roof of the Cloth Hall, as large white flakes of snow swirled around the city.

  “And just think – it’s summer!” exclaimed Gappek incredulously.

  “The witch again,” muttered another pigeon roosting under one of the eaves.

  “This all blows across from the forest.”

  “Why doesn’t the queen do anything?” asked Hrapek.

  “Too busy clearing up after the Tatar invasion. Much more serious business apparently, than worrying about a witch,” said the pigeon sadly.

  Undeterred the three krasnals headed out into the snow and continued their walk up the hill to the castle where the salt queen lived. They soon found themselves standing before a giant building, made from orange stone, with mushroom-like spires and towers, and a pitched roof that looked down onto a courtyard garden.

  “So it is not made of salt…”

  Gappek was slightly disappointed.

  “Well, what did you expect? A queen made of salt as well!” laughed Hrapek.

  Their misgivings over, the three krasnals marched up to the castle gate and this time did not hesitate to inform the guard of their reasons for seeking a meeting with the queen; taking good care to mention both Skarbnik and the Great White Eagle. They were ushered inside and escorted along a series of narrow passageways to a sumptuous room, where huge paintings of old kings hung from the walls and crystal chandeliers dangled from the lofty ceiling.

  “Wait here. The queen will call you forward shortly,” said the guard sternly.

  They sat in a line obediently. Their short legs dangling below the seats of three ornately carved wooden chairs. Suddenly each of them felt as frightened as a rabbit caught in a fox’s den. Gappek bit his lip and pulled at his beard. Hrapek felt the whole castle would hear his knees knocking together and his bones rattling as he shivered. Bulbek fidgeted with the buttons on his waistcoat.

  It was such an imposing place. The height of the ceiling, the giant furniture, the eerie silence of the room, the larger than life paintings on the walls – all these things conspired to make the three little krasnals feel rather small and insubstantial. They suddenly realised that their minute home on this earth was part of something much greater than they could have ever imagined.

  Then after a moment which seemed to last for an age, a door opened and the same guard asked them to enter another room. Bulbek led, still holding his blue hat in one hand, followed by Gappek, struggling under the weight of his backpack. And finally Hrapek hobbling along at the back.

  Sitting upon a simple throne of white lace, was the queen; her long flaxen hair spilled onto her shoulders; her sky-blue eyes shone like sunlight; her gentle mouth and rosy cheeks reminded the krasnals of everything good in this world. Of peace, joy, happiness, and friendship. On her right hand she wore two rings. One a thin band of gold and the other shimmering silver with a sparkling diamond stone, so bright the little krasnals stood mesmerised by its light.

  “Welcome to my castle dear krasnals. I have been expecting you. The Great White Eagle of Poland passed through my city a few days ago, on her way north to Gniezno and informed me of your imminent arrival. But long before that my old friend Skarbnik sent a dove to me with a message that you were travelling to my city, to seek help with your quest to free your sister from the evil witch, Baba Jaga.”

  Well, the three krasnals were stunned by the great queen’s revelations and silently thanked Skarbnik and the White Eagle for paving their way. They told her a bit more about their journey to Krakow and she was particularly interested in the description they gave of the ogre who had tried to steal the salt globe from them.

  “So he is dead and you know where his cave is. That is good news. There are many paintings which have disappeared mysteriously from our churches and I am wondering if this ogre you speak of may have taken them. I must send my knights out at once to this cave,” she said.

  But before any further talk could take place, the queen insisted her little guests be given plenty of food, including a delicious poppy seed cake and cranberry wine. And she stressed they must have a soft bed for the night, before continuing on their perilous journey west to the White Forest.

  Tired but pleased at the same time, the three krasnals climbed hundreds of narrow stone steps leading to the top of the castle where a pretty room overlooking the city was prepared for them. From its windows they could see oil lamps flickering in the town as night drew on. With full bellies and light heads they sat together for a while and talked excitedly about the prospect of finding Malinka safe in the White Forest.

  Gappek, laying the backpack safely under his bed wondered if things would be quite so simple. What if they met with someone more cunning than the ogre, they had been so lucky to escape from? Bulbek thought it best not to dwell upon creatures who were there to outwit them, but recalled fondly good old Mossypot and his comfortable home in the forest just beyond the salt mine, and the hospitality of the kind squirrels they had met in the yew tree. Hrapek remained silent. Mulling over the dreams he’d had. Wondering if they were true. But deciding that his brothers might think him silly for believing in the voices in his head, he kept quiet and just climbed sulkily into bed.

  Princess Kinga’s Ring

  The crowing of the cockerel woke Gappek, who roused his brothers, although he had a bit of a problem stirring Bulbek. He was enjoying a deep sleep in one of the queen’s exceedingly comfortable goose feather beds.

  “Get up at once! We’re having breakfast with the queen!”

  Her majesty was adorned in a white lace dress and wore a necklace of salt crystals shaped into tiny beads. The krasnals sat before her like three smartly dressed manikins but ate with the appetites of giants; their short legs dangling from wooden stools as the queen told them stories about her past.

  “When I was a young girl I married a Polish Prince and together we discovered the salt mine at Wieliczka—”

  At these words Hrapek couldn’t help himself and interrupted saying,

  “I wish you’d never discovered it, then at least we would have lived in peace and our sister wouldn’t have run off.”

  The queen smiled gently again.

  “True enough, little Hrapek, but the world changes and that is something even I cannot alter. If I hadn’t discovered your mine, sooner or later someone would have. But there is no going back now, so let me tell you how men came there.

  “No one believed that salt could be found under the hills near Wieliczka, but I could see that this lovely little town was the perfect place. Believe it or not, I had dropped this ring – my diamond engagement ring – down a mine shaft in my country. It travelled along the beds of salt underground and made its way through the rocks into Poland. Passing through Wieliczka on the way to Krakow, I felt sure that this was the place to search. I couldn’t believe it when our men found my ring embedded in a block of salt! And they were just as surprised as me!”

  Then the queen took them into the library – a vast room where leather bound handwritten books lined the walls. With her long slender hands she showed them some of these beautiful volumes. One in particular was called, Princess Kinga’s Ring. In this book were all the details of the day her ring had been found in Wieliczka and although the krasnals could not read the strange handwriting, they remembered the time well.

  “I recall it was very noisy! Woke me up from a good old sleep!” moaned Hrapek.

  “I hung up my pick-axe and spade in the tool cupboard – well, it was far too dangerous for any of us to mine there with those giants wandering around!” complained Bulbek.

  “That’s when all our troubles began. Malinka started having these ideas of leaving the salt house,” recalled Gappek, holding the little salt globe out to the queen.

  She put down her book and brushed her long hair away from her eyes. Then taking the globe from the krasnals she showed them how it shimmered beautifully in the light of a
window. They stared in amazement again as the radiance made it transparent and once more they could see thousands of little grains inside!

  “What are they?” whispered Bulbek, nearly touching the surface of the globe with his nose.

  “They are seeds… from an ancient forest… Skarbnik told me…” said Hrapek.

  “You are right,” confirmed the queen.

  “But they’re just sitting inside there. What use can we have of them?” asked Bulbek.

  Then she cupped the salt globe in her hands and they watched in wonder as it glowed like a little sun and the seeds inside began to shift and change until the krasnals felt sure they were looking at a tiny forest of trees and flowers.

  The queen asked Gappek to hold out his hands. He was a bit afraid at first, thinking it would be hot, but when it touched his skin he was surprised to find that it was cool rock salt once more.

  “Trust me, where evil has taken root, this little globe will bring goodness to that place,” came the answer.

  “May I ask, my lady, why you have not dealt with Baba Jaga, the witch of the White Forest yourself?” piped up Gappek.

  “Better not to ask. Let’s just say I have had to deal with far more pressing and dangerous enemies who burst through the gates of my city and tore down my churches, killed my people, and burnt my houses. No doubt you have seen the terrible commotion they caused. We are only just putting things back together.

  “Now you need to listen very carefully,” urged the queen, the crystal petals in her hair shimmering as she spoke.

  “Your task is not an easy one and the path through the forest will be hazardous. I cannot tell what dangers you will encounter on your way to the witch’s cottage, but try and stay together. To defeat the witch you must find her crystal ball and replace it with the salt globe. Once she handles it, the salt will get very hot. Be careful not to touch the globe until it has cooled.”

  Gappek was almost crying and Hrapek and Bulbek were shaking like leaves.