The Salt Krasnals Read online

  “We’ll be as careful as we can,” they promised.

  But when they were on their own, gathering their things ready to set out from the city, Hrapek began to have visions of getting lost in that terrifying forest.

  “Do we really have to go alone? Can’t we ask the queen to send some of her knights with us? Surely they could defeat the witch more easily than this salt globe!”

  “Really Hrapek, sometimes I wonder about you! Haven’t you been listening to anything? It’s the salt globe and the seeds it contains that can defeat the witch. No amount of force will work. Baba Jaga would have those knights tied up in knots as soon as they set foot in her forest. Turn them into pigs or something even worse. They’d never fight again,” replied Bulbek, slightly irritated by his older brother.

  “Now come on! We must make haste and rescue our sister while we can!”

  But Hrapek still felt a burning desire to go again to the salt queen and ask for additional help. He left the room saying that he needed a ‘short walk’ to clear his mind, and Hrapek being Hrapek, they let him go. After all he’d caused enough trouble when they’d first told him about the journey.

  The salt queen was in her herb garden, gathering mint leaves for a salad she wished the chef to prepare.

  “Hrapek! I thought you’d be long gone by now.”

  “I… I… ” he stammered at first.

  “I wanted to see you my lady, before we leave. I am worried that we’ll all get lost in the forest…”

  “Come with me.”

  The old krasnal followed the queen inside the castle library where from a little cupboard she pulled out a thin pipe that looked rather like a flute.

  “This is made from Wieliczka salt. Should you become lost in that dark forest, blow this flute and follow the sound of the snow bells. But use it wisely, and remember that a witch has ears too.”

  When he returned the others were ready and waiting for him.

  “What’s wrong with you Hrapek? We’ve been looking for you everywhere! Now come on!” they urged, impatient to be off.

  Flowers, Frogs and Frost Bats

  Brooding clouds menacingly covered the overcast sky, floating high above the three krasnals as they plodded on shivering and lamenting their lack of thick winter coats.

  “We’re not dressed for weather like this,” grumbled Hrapek, buttoning his little waistcoat up and blowing his numb hands to keep off the icy wind. The sky looked full of thousands of swirling snowflakes. The poor krasnals began to climb. Glancing round they saw the city of Krakow with the queen’s castle perched upon its hill, a cluster of little orange buildings with sloping roofs. The silence spoke for itself. How much they wished they were back in the warmth, under the protection of the kind queen. The foreboding shadows of the White Forest were now visible upon the horizon.

  Gappek gripped the salt globe in his pocket. He had to make sure it was as safe as a pearl in a clam. There would be no second chances. Every step forward became heavier and heavier. Soon they had a strange feeling that the gnarled old trees seemed to be coming to meet them. The long, twisted branches looked like limbs and were sweeping up anything which strayed within the forest’s borders. The cold, white, frosty arms of the larch trees hung over them; a net beneath which they found a path lightly dusted with snow. They marched in silence, their little footsteps stretching out in a trail behind them.

  Bulbek, eager to get on, had moved slightly ahead of his two brothers. This cold hard landscape did not agree with his sunny nature and at each step he felt gloomier and downhearted.

  Suddenly his eye spotted something glowing in the distance. He quickened his pace and found a warm light coming from the petals of a cluster of red poppy-like flowers growing just off the path. Among all this blinding white snow, they looked so inviting Bulbek longed to pick one and hold it close to his face. Before his brothers had caught up, the fat krasnal plunged off the path and was already leaning over the flowers.

  “What’s he doing?” whispered Gappek, urgently.

  “How silly! The queen told us not to stray from the paths… Bulbek! Bulbek!” hissed Hrapek, but it was too late. Their brother had already picked one of the petals, releasing a fine powder into the air. Within seconds he was slumped by the trunk of a larch tree, fast asleep.

  Even Hrapek who loved forty winks was horrified when he saw Bulbek snoring away.

  “What are we going to do, Gappek?”

  Hrapek began edging towards his hapless brother.

  “Wait… this isn’t normal sleep. It must be some trick of the witch… We’ll have to go now and fetch him later…” whispered Gappek gloomily.

  With heavy hearts they crept along the path through the tall cone-shaped larch trees, ducking now and then to avoid the falling snow.

  The breeze was chilly and bit into their cheeks. The two krasnals were very grateful for their beards. Gappek spotted something on the ground and knelt down to take a closer look. The object reminded him of a button.

  “What do you think it is?” Hrapek asked.

  “I’m not sure, but it looks a bit like a ladybird, frozen in the snow.”

  “Hardly anything lives here. I really don’t like this place…”

  Hrapek froze – a little creature with a long tongue had just hopped out from behind the trees.

  “Run!”

  They both picked themselves up and flew as fast as their little legs would carry them. Behind, an army of big, fat, purple frogs, hopped furiously across the ground, their long poisonous tongues flicking out menacingly.

  “I thought you said nothing is alive in here!” panted Gappek as they plunged deeper and deeper into the heart of the forest. They passed motionless squirrels clutching nuts at the bottom of trees, birds frozen in their nests, hares with ears and hind legs stiff as posts.

  “We’re losing them… quick down this path…” hissed Hrapek, as the sound of the hopping frogs grew fainter.

  The trees began to close in on them now, and the forest was much gloomier here.

  “I wonder why it is so dark… it is surely still the middle of the day…” whispered Gappek.

  They had slowed to a snail’s pace after their run, but the blackness was descending upon them like a wingless bird. Hanging from the trees were the white shapes of creatures sleeping with their wings folded.

  “It’s getting colder… give me your hand Gappek… so we don’t get lost…”

  Gappek clung to his brother. “Look up in the trees – we’d better escape from here quickly.”

  “What are they?” asked Hrapek, peering upwards at the hanging shapes.

  “Frost bats – I have heard of them. They fly around when the forest is dark. It is their job to numb the living. Come on, hurry, or we will be their next prey,” urged Gappek

  “It’s going to be pitch black soon. What are we going to do?”

  The thought that the bats would wake meant the two krasnals might never find their way out. Without thinking Hrapek pulled out the salt flute which the queen had given him and began to play. Almost instantly the forest grew lighter and the path was lit with tiny snow bells that tinkled as the music flowed from the pipe.

  “Where did you get that?”

  The bats folded their wings and slept on. Hrapek urged his brother forward, there was no time to speak. The two krasnals could see a clearing ahead of them and within it the orange and yellow glow of the gingerbread cottage.

  Baba Jaga’s Last Spell

  The wicked witch woke in a terrible rage. She pulled on her black and red striped stockings, her knobbly legs poking out through two ragged holes. She had gone to bed late, drunk a heavy brew of hogweed tea and overslept. Overslept, on the morning she intended to finish planting another poisonous flower in her garden. The one with the large purple lobes and thin yellow eyes which gave off a foul smell of rotting cabbage when touched by an intruder.

  Then she let out a horrible screech. Her bone keys were missing and that little red-haired krasnal was nowhere
to be seen! She scratched one of her big pointed ears with the little black hairs sticking out of it and then stopped as still as a post. She could hear like a bat and a sound fluttering on the gentle breeze had just passed near her cottage. She disliked music with every bit of her wizened and evil heart.

  Out through the rickety front door she went, stooping and hobbling on her thin, crooked legs. She called to a broom,

  “Follow me! I think I heard something in the forest!”

  The broom was tired and resented being woken from its sleep, but it knew how angry Baba Jaga could get with her scorching fire and followed obediently, dragging its bristles along the ground.

  “How dare anyone bring music into the White Forest… Broom! Take a look around. Find him for me!” she wailed.

  As soon as Hrapek saw Baba Jaga leave the cottage through the front door, he crept quietly out from behind the larch tree and into the herb garden, hiding behind some cabbage plants whose leaves were as red as blood. He sat quite still listening for sounds of the witch returning, looking around for any signs of his dear sister. Perhaps they were too late. She might have already tried to flee and been turned to stone.

  Hrapek was so busy searching, he never heard the witch approaching. He didn’t stand a chance. Baba Jaga, informed by her broom that another of those little creatures had just entered the herb garden, loomed down upon him before the krasnal had time to do anything. With one flash of her wand she turned Hrapek into a red squirrel.

  Gappek had waited for the angry witch to leave the cottage and managed to sneak inside before the sleepy black geese woke. A little window was open in a room at the back and he could hear a commotion in the garden. He hoped that Hrapek was all right.

  One glance at the inside of this horrible cobweb infested place, with its smelly cauldrons and collection of bone ornaments sent a shiver down his spine. He peeped quickly around but couldn’t see Malinka anywhere. In the middle of a round wooden table he saw the object he was looking for covered with a dark red cloth. As quick as a spider he snatched it up and replaced it with the salt globe, throwing the fabric over the top. He watched in amazement as the globe expanded, then he scrambled into an open cupboard and concealed himself between a set of dusty brooms, hiding the crystal ball in a dark corner.

  Baba Jaga had heard the ball call out to her as soon as it was disturbed by the krasnal. She was inside her cottage in a flash.

  “Nasty creature… where are you?”

  She went straight to the wooden table to check her crystal ball hadn’t been harmed, whipped off the red cloth with one swift movement and picked the globe up in her cupped hands.

  Gappek watched in astonishment as the salt globe began to spin and glow. The room grew dark and he felt like he was staring at the night sky. The globe whirled faster and faster as the wicked witch spat out her curses. Now it was burning red hot and rotating like a planet or a distant star – a liquid orb sucking out the witch’s evil power. Gappek huddled under the brooms, put a little hand over his eyes and peeped between his fingers. The salt was a luminescent rainbow of colours: blue, yellow, orange, red. Hotter and hotter until little sparks were flying around, as the witch was devoured by the swirling mass. The whole room was shaking and the forest began to sway. Gappek was thrown towards the back of the cupboard and the brooms appeared to be leaning over him like trees. He saw the salt globe revolving in the air; it was cooling and slowing down. The floor of the cottage felt strange and soft like earth.

  When the krasnal opened his eyes he was sitting in a garden between a cluster of trees. The salt globe which had shrunk back to its original size, was in his hands. It was solid again and had the appearance of glass. Gappek felt compelled to put it in his pocket. The cottage had gone and the snow was melting in the branches of the larch trees.

  A squirrel scampered over the krasnal’s feet carrying something white in its mouth. Gappek heard the sound of a pipe playing and stared in wonder as the creature began to spin between the bushes. Round and round it twirled, rotating among the flowers, until Gappek could just make out the squirrel’s orange-red hair turning grey. In a few moments the dancing stopped. There stood Hrapek looking the same as ever!

  The two krasnals, so glad to be reunited, threw their arms around each other.

  “Hrapek the Squirrel. It doesn’t bear thinking about,” said Gappek.

  Hrapek shivered, wondering if fate had dealt a worse card to Malinka.

  Krakow the Singing City!

  Malinka and the ghost were already deep in the forest with a troop of animals when the earth began to shake, sending showers of snow spiralling to the ground. They watched in amazement as hundreds of creatures and plants came out of their icy shells. Perfume and song filled the air once more.

  “Something has happened to bring them all to life again,” said the red-haired krasnal.

  One bird in particular caught the ghost’s attention. A white eaglet with red tipped wings and a proud beak. They had been captured on the same day.

  “Daughter of the White Eagle!” he called. “How is it that this forest is free again?”

  “Haven’t you heard? Wicked Baba Jaga has been defeated. Three krasnals stole into her kingdom and destroyed the old crone with a ball of salt.”

  Malinka’s little heart was racing.

  “Three krasnals! Where are they?”

  “One of them isn’t far away.”

  Malinka suddenly heard some rustling above them and noticed a leg sticking out of a larch tree. A short fat leg, covered with a black boot.

  “Hey you up there! Do you need help?” she called excitedly.

  A round beaming face peered through the leaves and a few minutes later out popped Bulbek! Goodness how delighted Malinka was and how high she jumped with joy!

  “Bulbek!” she called up jubilantly.

  The short fat krasnal looked a bit bleary eyed as if he had been asleep for some time.

  “Is that really you Malinka? What am I doing up here?… I must have fallen asleep… but how did I end up in these branches?”

  “When I woke, I picked you up and put you in the tree for safety. It isn’t good to sleep on the ground,” said the eagle.

  Then Bulbek noticed something peculiar.

  “Goodness me! Take a look at this!”

  Eagerly, Malinka climbed the tree and joined her brother. In the distance ambling along the path were two weary looking travellers.

  “Hey up here! Make it snappy you two!”

  Now Gappek was running as fast as a hare, with Hrapek puffing and panting behind.

  “Are we glad to see you!” they exclaimed, wheezing as they peered up into the tree.

  They had tears in their eyes when they saw their little sister up close again for the first time in ages. Few words could express their joy at seeing each other after so long.

  “Well, we must return to the salt queen’s city as soon as possible,” said Gappek, who felt there would be plenty of time to catch up once they were safely back home.

  “And are these strangers coming with us?” asked Hrapek, who guessed one of them was Stach, the miner who Skarbnik had spoken of.

  “I would be delighted to accompany you all to Wieliczka. These are indeed happy times for everyone and we ought to be very grateful,” said the ghost who was secretly impatient to see his love again.

  “I’m afraid I must leave you,” said the eagle. “My mother awaits me in Gniezno!”

  They watched as she made her way over the trees, free at last to return to her home.

  On their way through the forest many grateful creatures came up to them. Animals like stoats, voles, rabbits, badgers, moles and squirrels, who had been trapped in ice and stone when the witch had arrived many years ago. Some were even on their way back to the yew tree and insisted on walking with them. Flowers and plants bowed and trees shook the krasnals’ hands, glad that they no longer had to work for the witch.

  By the time they arrived in Krakow, news had already spread of their de
feat of the wicked witch.

  “It is a delight to see you safely back in my city again so soon!” exclaimed the salt queen, and kneeling down she held out her hand to the krasnal with the curly red hair.

  “And you must be Malinka. Free from the witch at last and accompanied by friends old and new!”

  Malinka could hear loud music playing.

  “Your city sounds noisier than the salt mine!”

  “Come with me… there is much to celebrate at the moment,” said the queen.

  They followed her to the great market square where trumpets poked out of windows as buglers played rousing songs. The ground shook to the roll of drumbeats and children danced in the streets, for a great annual festival was already under way in the middle of Krakow.

  The four krasnals, the ghost and a host of little forest animals, sat with the queen and watched from a balcony on St Mary’s Church. A funny man dressed in red and gold oriental robes, wearing a turban upon his head, danced around the market square on a wooden hobby horse.

  “Today we are celebrating our victory over the Tatars,” she told them.

  “But who is that strange character dancing on the horse?” asked Malinka, always very curious to know what was going on.

  “My dear, that is Lajkonik – a brave soldier who helped defeat a Tatar army before it attacked our city. He stole his enemy’s clothes and rode into Krakow on a Mongolian horse. Well, you can just imagine the cheers that went up when the good people of Krakow discovered that this was one of their own men.”

  The queen treated her guests like royalty. They were given rooms in the castle again and at meal times they sat at her table.

  The animals from the yew tree had already gone when the day came for the krasnals and the ghost to depart for Wieliczka. Before they left, Hrapek returned the salt pipe and Gappek gave the queen the little salt globe which she put in a glass cabinet in the castle, for its purpose was now complete.