“That’s why we Roma live in wagons,” Neel said. “They’re pretty useful for getting well away from a situation that’s gone all kinds of bad.”

They came to the last statue, which was of Emperor Karl, who looked particularly handsome.

“What’d he do?” Neel asked.

“I think he’s most famous for how he became emperor. When his father the emperor was alive, Karl had one brother, the prince of Hungary. Karl was the prince of Austria. The prince of Hungary and his father loved fried frog legs. One night they ate sixty fried frog legs and drank half a barrel of beer. They were dead the next day. The cook was accused of poisoning them and was executed. Then Karl became the emperor. I guess we’re not supposed to think of that story when we look at his statue. But I can’t remember anything else about him.”

They had reached the other side of the Vltava and began walking up the hill. Neel said that this area of Prague was called Mala Strana. The air was fresher here. The shops had signs that were in writing only, with no pictures. The shopkeepers apparently thought that all their customers could read. Or the shopkeepers did not want any customers who couldn’t read.

A young boy was sweeping up the street trash. The houses had red ceramic-tiled roofs, not ones made of thatch. The walls were painted in many soft colors: pale green, buttery yellow, pink, and sky blue. Stone angels decorated the corners of houses, which had glass in every window.

Petra was awed, but when she commented on how beautiful everything was, Neel just said, “I wouldn’t mind getting inside one of those houses. Bet there’s a lot of shiny stuff to steal.”

I do not feel very well, Astrophil suddenly murmured.

What’s the matter? Are you hungry? Do you want some oil? Petra asked, focusing on the buzz in her mind that she recognized as Astrophil’s presence. Anxiously, she realized that the buzz was fainter than it had been earlier. What was wrong? She had given him his usual dose of brassica oil that morning.

No, I am not hungry. I feel… I do not know. Dizzy, perhaps? I am finding it hard to hang on to your ear.

Petra wasn’t sure what to do. This had never happened before. She wanted to pluck the spider down and carry him in her hand, but Neel was very perceptive. She didn’t want to take the chance that he would see Astrophil.

Just try to hold on a little longer, Petra told the spider. To Neel she said, “Can we go faster?”

“What’s the rush?” He looked at her quizzically. Then he noticed how anxiously she was biting her lip. “Yeah, I guess we could hurry along some.” Their pace quickened.

Astrophil was quiet.

When they reached the castle grounds, Neel pointed out Golden Alley, a row of tiny houses. Neel said that this was where the prince’s foot soldiers lived. Normally, Petra would have giggled at the fact that people were living in homes that looked like painted henhouses. But she barely heard what Neel said.

When they reached an impressive building with three large doors and soaring windows, Petra asked, “Is this the castle?”

Neel laughed. “It’s the stables. One of our Ursari cousins works here. My sis and I usually meet here, so if one of us shows up earlier than the other, we can chat with Tabor.” They stepped inside one of the smaller doors. Petra heard the low snorts of well-fed horses. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a young woman in a gray-blue dress talking with a broad-shouldered man. Neel waved and rushed over, calling, “Sar san, Pena?” Petra trailed behind slowly, not wanting to jostle Astrophil. The dark-skinned man clapped Neel on the shoulder and then walked away, shovel in hand.

As Petra approached, Neel’s sister seemed to be a dream that she could see with increasing clarity. Her black hair was braided and pinned up in a crown, showing the smooth lines of a slender neck. Her skin was light—not as pale as Petra’s, but a deliciously creamy color. Her eyes tilted up slightly at the corners, and were the shiny color of black lacquer.

Neel spoke rapidly in Romany, gesturing toward Petra. She could hear him repeat one word over and over again: Pena. He seemed to be calling his sister this, so Petra assumed that this was her name. When Neel paused and said in Czech, “This is Petra,” she held out her hand. Feeling proud of herself for understanding part of their conversation, even if it was just a little bit, Petra said, “Hello, Pena.”

Brother and sister broke into peals of laughter. The young woman managed to regain control first and shook Petra’s hand. “Hello, Pena,” she echoed Petra’s words.

“Pena means ‘sister,’ “ Neel said, still snickering.

“Don’t worry, Petra,” said the woman in a musical voice that gave no hint of an accent. “It’s a nice way to be greeted. If everyone thought of me as a sister my life would be a very happy one indeed. My name is Sadira, but you can call me Sadie. After all, we are now like family. Neel says that he stole your purse, but that you didn’t turn him over to the law. I’m not sure which I find harder to believe: that you caught him or that he’s not now rotting in a jail cell.” She frowned at her brother. “You shouldn’t take such risks, Neel.”

“I didn’t!” he protested. “She was easy prey! She was flashing where she kept her purse to all and sundry, and wasn’t paying attention to anything but a beggar girl! If I hadn’t pinched her purse, someone else would’ve.”

“Obviously she’s not such easy prey, if she managed to catch you.”

“But how could I know that?” He spread his hands. “She looked fresh from the hills, like it was her first day in Prague.”

“Well, it is,” Petra admitted. “I’m hoping to find work here.”

“Yes, Neel said you wanted to meet me. He said you seemed interested that I work at the castle. Is there something I can do? I would like to repay you for keeping my little brother’s neck out of the hangman’s noose.” Sadie pinched Neel’s cheek hard and he made a face.

“Could you help me get a job at the castle?”

At that moment, Petra felt Astrophil flutter on her ear. Petra, I—he began. Then he fell, tumbling over her shoulder like a shooting star. Petra snagged him out of the air and stared with a panicky feeling at the spider on her palm.

Sadie and Neel peered in amazement at the spider. “What is it?” Sadie breathed.

“What’s it doing?” asked Neel. The spider’s legs were twitching.

“I think …” Relief flowed over Petra like cool water as she suddenly realized what Astrophil’s problem was. “I think he’s sleeping.”

12

The Clearing in the Forest

CLEARLY, some sort of explanation had to be given. Astrophil was oblivious to the problem he had just caused. His legs continued to wave in the air as he dreamed spidery dreams. Neel reached out to touch one of Astrophil’s legs with his ghost fingers. “What do you mean, he’s sleeping? Looks more like dancing to me.”

Sadie looked up at Petra. “Well? Will you tell us what it—he—is? Or would you prefer to keep your secrets?”

Somehow, the fact that Sadie was offering Petra the chance to put Astrophil in her pocket and not say another word made Petra want to tell them everything. But a stable boy was already looking in their direction with far too much curiosity. “Not here,” Petra said. “Can we go someplace more private?”

Neel spoke to Sadie in Romany. She nodded. “Join us for the midday meal, Petra, if you like. This is my day off. Neel came to walk home with me. These days, we live on the other side of this large hill, down in the forest. There we can talk openly about your silver spider and finding work for you. Come meet our family. If, of course”—for the first time she looked awkward —“you want to.”

Petra tucked Astrophil in her pocket. “Let’s go.”

• • •

THE FOREST ON the other side of the hill was thick, and had provided many generations of Bohemian princes with good hunting. Petra saw several deer as they walked among the trees. Acorns crunched beneath their feet. It didn’t seem to Petra that they were following a trail, but Neel and Sadie strode ahead confidently.

Soon, the smell of burning wood and roasting meat teased Petra. They heard the bell-like sound of a hammer on an anvil. When they reached a clearing in the forest, Petra saw ten large wagons ringed around a campfire. A dog with fanged teeth ran up to them, barking. He licked Neel’s and Sadie’s hands. Petra stood stock-still while he sniffed hers.

Several children wearing brightly dyed clothes were clustered in a group near the campfire, building a house out of stones, sticks, and tree bark. A woman in a full-skirted orange dress was roasting a haunch of venison on a spit over the fire. She looked at them with surprise, and seemed to ask Neel and Sadie a question.

The musical ringing stopped, and a muscular man with a short beard and a gold hoop in one ear appeared from behind a wagon. He held the hammer in his lowered left hand. His intense stare swept over Petra. Then, ignoring her and Neel, he turned to Sadie. He was smiling, but something he said made her face pinch with anger. She replied shortly and stalked to the largest wagon. She opened the door and stepped inside, slamming it shut behind her.

The man looked at Petra with open hostility. Neel said something to him in a voice that was amused but not nice. The man shrugged as if to say, “It’s your problem, then,” and sauntered away. They soon heard again the ringing of metal on metal, but this time the beats were quicker and louder.

“What was that all about?” Petra asked Neel.

“Emil ain’t happy you’re here.”

“I could’ve figured that out on my own. What did he say to Sadie to make her upset?”

“He called her a rawnie”

“What’s that mean?”

“It means a lady, very high-class.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“Yeah, but you use it to mean an outsider. Sadie’s father was a gadje, you see. Normally there’d be problems with her being fully accepted by any tribe except the Kalderash, because they’re all mixed up anyway from the start. But our ma’s the leader, so everyone’s got to treat Sadie like she’s one and the same as a full-blooded Roma.”

“Your mother’s the leader of the Lovari?”

“Are you kidding? Look around: there’s thirty-nine of us here. Well, not now. Most of us are working in the city. Some are hunting or gathering mushrooms and nuts and berries. Thirty-nine isn’t the whole Lovari tribe. My ma’s just the leader of our group.”

“Why is Emil here, then, and not off hunting or working?”

“You might’ve noticed that Roma aren’t exactly the most popular people around. Some people don’t like our color, some people don’t like our ways, and some people … well, we’ve got to have enough warrior types around at all times. Emil isn’t the friendliest sort you’ll come across, but he’s got brains and is good with a sword and dagger. He’s always had a problem with Sadie, though, and that’s a hard thing to figure. You’ve seen her: she’s as sweet as an apple. I can’t figure why he doesn’t like her.”

“What if,” Petra suggested, listening to the hammer and anvil, “he likes her too much?”

Neel stared at her as if she had just hopped on a fast horse bound for the madhouse. He started to speak, stopped, and finally just muttered something in Romany. He looked at the wagon Sadie had disappeared into and said, “Sadie’s been talking to our ma a long time.”

“Maybe I should’ve stayed in the city.”

“Don’t feel sorry about being here. We wanted you to come. Emil likes to stir up trouble. And my ma and sis got other stuff to talk about than you.” He scuffed his foot in the dirt. “We’re in something of a fix here.”

“What’s the matter?”

“Our horses caught some plaguey thing. Most of them died. And we can’t move the wagons without horses.”

“So you’re stuck here?”

“Like flies in honey. Except it might actually be nice to get stuck in honey. Instead, we’re in Prague.”

“What’s so bad about that?” Although Petra thought parts of Prague were stinking and dirty, she was enjoying her first day in the city. After all, one could find delicious pastries, overhear fascinating gossip, and meet interesting people.

“One, there don’t seem to be any Ursari in the area, so we can’t sway them into loaning us some horses. And we can’t afford to buy more from the gadje. Two”—he was ticking off the reasons on his fingers —“we should be heading south by now to escape the worst of the winter. This part of Bohemia heaps up snow right quick, and then the roads get blocked as good as a sick kid’s nose. Three, we happen to be sitting in the prince’s hunting grounds. Which isn’t exactly law-abiding of us. This means that just about any money we make goes to bribing the prince’s gamekeeper not to tell all and sundry that we’re here. We pay him to tell the prince that if he wants to shoot deer, they’re real thick in a part of the forest miles from here. So we not only don’t have any horses, but it also looks like we won’t be buying any anytime soon. Unless some miracle happens, like Ursari trooping through Prague when we know they’re already heading south toward Spain, we’re well and truly trapped.”

Sadie opened the door to her family wagon. “Neel? Petra? Ma wants to talk to you.”

Neel and Petra walked up the three hanging steps to the wagon door. When they were inside, Neel took off his shoes and set them on a straw mat. Petra did the same. The wagon was about the size of a large room. Two round, glassless windows let in light, which flickered over a raised platform covered with bright cloths and silk cushions. Beneath an iron lantern was a woman with a stern face, sitting cross-legged.