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Overview
After three children mysteriously vanish from their village without a trace, sorcery is suspected. Eleven-year-old Jasmine is warned by her father to not stray far from home, but when she learns she is targeted to become the fourth missing child, she ignores his wishes and escapes to the dreaded Bantok Forest.
Jasmine is soon lost in the dark woods. Frightened, hungry, and alone, she sits in a clearingand is suddenly befriended by a king who is surrounded by fairies, gnomes, and dwarves. Led into a magical world, Jasmine soon learns the king has saved her from danger and that the medallion she wears around her neck has special powers. Desperate to return home, Jasmine drinks a dark liquid and awakens in her own bed once more. But tragedy awaits her there, as her elderly friend Maudella is accused of witchcraft and driven from the village and her father suddenly goes missing. After Jasmine finds Maudella, she is given the Lamp of Spells for safekeepinga gift that changes her life forever.
Confronted by giant crows, black hounds, and deception from both sides, Jasmine struggles to protect the lamp as she sets out on a quest to save her world from the powerful forces of evil.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781462000029 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | iUniverse, Incorporated |
| Publication date: | 03/21/2011 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 352 |
| File size: | 470 KB |
| Age Range: | 9 - 12 Years |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
Jasmine and the Lamp of Spells
By Leonard Tate
iUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2011 Leonard TateAll right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-0000-5
Chapter One
Another Child is Missing
Two fat rabbits dangled on the short rope at Raymond's side as he emerged from the blackness of Bantok Forest. He exhaled as a clearing in the trees opened before him and the darkness of the forest faded behind. Taking a deep breath, Raymond stepped onto the gravel road that led back to the Village of Oakley where he lived. A smile touched his lips. He listened to the sounds of birds, frogs, and crickets hiding in the tall, grassy fields on each side of the road. This was a great day, he thought to himself, watching the sun dance along the horizon. I did it! I went hunting all by myself in Bantok Forest. He felt the joy a young man feels when he has taken a big step closer to manhood. Pride made Raymond smile even more.
Today was his twelfth birthday, and normally he would have gone hunting with his father, Wilhelm. But, as fate would have it, this particular morning, the king had sent a small herd of horses to their village to be broken and shod. Wilhelm was the village blacksmith, and everyone in Oakley knew that the king's business came first. Raymond had realized that his father would not finish in time to take him hunting as promised, so he'd pleaded with his father to let him go alone. Finally, Wilhelm had given in to his son. For the first time ever, Raymond had been allowed to go hunting alone.
He held his rabbits in the air, and his chest swelled with pride of accomplishment as he glanced back at the dangerous Bantok Forest. With his bow and quiver of arrows slung over his shoulders, he could hardly wait to show his father his success. His tall, thin frame bounded quickly down the road as evening approached.
As he neared the outskirts of the village, Raymond noticed the air was strangely silent. He tried to remember when he'd last heard sounds. Now there was only silence ... a deafening silence—no birds, no crickets, no frogs ... nothing. All he could hear were his own footsteps crunching the gravel road.
The air was still and dry. He stopped, looked around, but saw no movement. Even the tall summer grass stood perfectly still. For the first time all day, Raymond felt uneasy. Aware that something was amiss, he stopped and stood perfectly still for a moment. Finally, he heard a faint noise in the distance. It was the call of a crow, but, when he looked up, the sky was empty. Then it happened.
Suddenly, he felt a slight breeze on the back of his neck, then he heard a swooshing sound behind him. But, before he could turn around, a cloth bag was suddenly pulled over his head. Everything went black, and he felt a drawstring tightening around his neck. His chest heaved up and down as he struggled to catch his breath. His heart was pounding. The rabbits fell limply from his hand as he grabbed at the drawstring.
Raymond lifted his bow, but something quickly snatched it from his hand. His heart jumped into his dry throat, and fear flooded his mind. "Stay calm, stay calm," he told himself aloud.
"Whoever you are ... this is not amusing," he shouted. "What do you want?"
There was no reply, just a rhythmic swooshing sound. Fear had now completely replaced the joy he'd felt earlier. It was clear that he was in a struggle for survival, but who was the enemy, and what did he want? Raymond screamed as sharp hooks dug deeply into his shoulders. His mind flooded with unbearable pain.
"Oooh!" he moaned, as his second attempt to scream choked in his throat. His upper body trembled and jerked as the hooks tightened their grip. Again, he tried to scream, but the sound was muffled by the bag over his head. His knees buckled as the hooks dug deeper into his shoulders. His heart pounded out of control. He fought to catch his breath, realizing that no amount of concentration could block out the pain. Sweat ran down his forehead and into his eyes, mingling with his tears. The pain surged from his shoulders, stabbing deep into the recesses of his brain.
Raymond fought to regain his senses, but his greatest effort was not enough. The pain increased sharply as he suddenly felt the ground drop from beneath his feet. He stretched his long legs to reach it, but that made the pain worse and, finally, he gave in. Tears trickled down his cheeks as his body rose higher and higher into the air. Then he was gone.
* * *
As darkness approached and Raymond did not return home, Wilhelm searched every house in the village. No longer believing that Raymond had stopped to visit friends, he really became worried when he reached the last house in the village. It was the home of his friend Jonathan, the village boot maker. Worried and confused, Wilhelm sought Jonathan's help. Theirs was an old friendship from the Battle of Nadia; and, furthermore, both were fathers.
"Raymond is missing, and I need your help! It's all my fault," said the out-of-breath Wilhelm.
"Slow down!" said Jonathan. "Tell me what happened."
Wilhelm hesitated; he hadn't noticed Jasmine sitting at the table across the room. Jasmine was Jonathan's eleven-year-old daughter. Wilhelm stared at Jasmine for the longest moment before returning his attention to Jonathan. "Today was Raymond's birthday," he told his friend, "and I promised to take him hunting, but I had too much work. He pleaded with me to let him go alone, and I did. Now ... something has happened to him ... he has not returned home. I should not have allowed him go alone. I tell you ... it's my fault," cried Wilhelm.
"No it's not. We just have to find him. Where have you looked thus far?"
"I have searched every house from one end of the village to the other, and no one has seen him."
Jonathan's attention turned to Jasmine, whose eyes had never left her father and his friend. "Get your cloak and go across the road to Maudella's. Tell her what has happened, and wait there until I return for you."
"But, father, I can help you search," pleaded Jasmine.
"No, not this time; darkness has already set. Now do as I asked, and be quick," responded Jonathan.
Jasmine faced dropped as she walked over to get her cloak and returned to hug her father.
"Hurry now ... don't tarry," said her father as he nudged her to the door.
With Jasmine gone, Jonathan turned back to Wilhelm. "We'll find him. Everything will be all right," said Jonathan as he grabbed his coat and retrieved his long knife from a large chest in the corner. He strapped it around his waist, and the two men left.
They searched the woods and the surrounding area. Using flaming torches for light, they finally came upon Raymond's bow, quiver, and the rabbits. Wilhelm scoured the area in all directions for signs of a struggle, or at least tracks leading away from the spot. To his dismay, there were no such signs. Finally, he sat down in the road and cried. Raymond was his only son.
Jonathan did his best to console his friend, but the feeling in his gut told him there was something strange about this. He didn't mention it to Wilhelm, but the lack of tracks suggested sorcery. People didn't just vanish.
The Village of Oakley was a small village nestled in a little valley, with only forty houses lining the sides of Castle Road. To the west, beyond the grassy fields, was Bantok Forest; to the south was the Tareyton River, which flowed down from the mountains, snaking its way through the Kingdom of Rodan.
On the east end of town was Windham Inn, the tallest building in Oakley. It was the only structure in Oakley with two stories. On the ground floor was a tavern with an eating area; upstairs, there were sleeping rooms for travelers passing through. Near the inn were several shops, a marketplace, the village square, and the stable, which Wilhelm owned.
Jonathan owned a boot shop near the village square. He lived with his daughter Jasmine at the very west end of the village. Theirs was the last house on Castle Road before the grassy fields and Bantok Forest; that is except for Maudella's place. She was a witchlike old lady who lived across the road from them.
Jonathan was a tall man—a few inches over six feet. He had a muscular build; long, angular arms; deep-set brown eyes; a small mustache; and a beard. His face was lean, and his dark hair reached his shoulders. Just below his right elbow was a scar that ran along the side of his arm, half the way to his wrist.
Jonathan had settled in Oakley thirteen years ago with his young wife Lauralie after the Battle of Nadia—the battle that had changed his life. He had once commanded the king's army before their disagreement. Since then he had made himself content with his new life in Oakley and his new profession of boot maker. Until Lauralie died in a fire almost six years ago, he had felt his life was complete. Her death left him to raise their young daughter alone.
Now his life was centered around raising his daughter, making boots, and caring for his horse Prancer. Having spent most of his life as a soldier, caring for a young daughter alone wasn't easy, but Jonathan loved her. So the disappearance of Raymond was more than a little unsettling.
* * *
Three months passed quietly as Oakley settled down after the disappearance of Raymond. Then it happened again. A young girl named Catherine vanished. She had been helping her father James, who had cut down an old tree in back of their house for firewood. He'd asked Catherine to get the ball of twine from the house so he could tie up the smaller branches. Catherine ran into the house to get the twine while her father waited. After several minutes, she had not returned. James wondered what was taking so long, so he yelled, "Did you find it?" but there was no answer. So he walked to the front of the house to see what was keeping her.
The door was wide open. The twine lay in the yard, but Catherine was nowhere in sight. James ran from the house looking up and down the road, but there was no sign of Catherine. He went from house to house searching until he had no choice but to accept that, like Raymond, Catherine had also vanished. She was gone.
James was crushed. Catherine had been right there working with him, and somehow she had disappeared. Someone or something had taken his daughter from under his nose, and, to make matters worst, his wife blamed him. A dark cloud hung over Oakley, and the rumors increased—it had to be sorcery or some kind of witchcraft.
The summer months passed quietly. King Vroland, in an effort to quiet the rumors of sorcery and witchcraft, reissued the decree he'd issued thirteen years earlier, after the Battle of Nadia.
Citizens of the Kingdom of Rodan: It is hereby decreed that any person or persons suspected of or convicted of practicing sorcery or witchcraft shall be put to death. by order of King Vroland
The decree had little impact on the villagers of Oakley, particularly Wilhelm and James, parents of the missing children, who wanted an explanation of what had happened to their children.
On the first of September, the villagers called a meeting at Windham Inn and requested the attendance of the village magistrate. The inn was filled with men. Only a few women had accompanied their husbands; children were not allowed to attend. Jasmine was upset that she could not be there. After all, the missing children were her friends, and she was as interested in what happen to them as anyone. Jonathan had left her with Maudella, the old lady across the road.
The crowd milled about whispering among themselves. The mood was somber as Malcolm, the village magistrate, stepped up on a small box and began to speak. He was a short, stout man with a round face and heavy eyebrows. He wore a wide-brimmed hat that rose to a point at the top. It sat back on his head, exposing his large forehead.
"Uh ... uh," he cleared his throat to get the crowd's attention. "Fellow citizens of Oakley, we have gathered this evening to discuss a serious matter. There are children ... who have gone missing from our village. Now, this is a sad situation, but let me assure you, it was not the result of sorcery or witchcraft."
The crowd grumbled. They were not satisfied with Malcolm's assurance.
"Well, how do you explain it?" shouted Wilhelm, his voice strained.
"The king has reissued his proclamation outlawing all sorcery and witchcraft under the threat of death. Anyone found practicing—or even suspected of such—knows the consequences."
"If it wasn't sorcery, then where were the tracks, or signs of a struggle? My son was a good boy. I know he wouldn't leave here without a fight," said Wilhelm.
"That's right," said Jonathan stepping forward. "I was there when we found his things. It's a mystery even to me how he could just vanish without any tracks."
"I know some of you think it was sorcery, but I'm telling you it was probably some clever beast, right out of Bantok Forest, that grabbed those children and carried them off."
"Well, what about my Catherine?" asked a tearful James. "She was right there with me when she disappeared. And there wasn't any clever beast around."
The crowd chimed in with multiple affirmations.
Malcolm looked noticeably uncomfortable as he fumbled with his trousers, which hung below his round belly. His slightly bowed legs made standing on that box even more difficult.
"I know there is a reasonable explanation for what happened here. It's up to us to find it. We must not give in to wild rumors."
"If this is all you can tell us, then we might as well have stayed home," said Wilhelm.
"That's right," agreed several voices in the crowd.
Malcolm rubbed his pudgy hand across his forehead, collecting the small beads of sweat.
"I will petition the king to send soldiers to get to the bottom of this. You have my word."
This did little to impress the villagers. Malcolm's role was largely ceremonial, and few in the village thought him very capable. He had been appointed to the post of magistrate because he was some distant relative of the king.
The crowd slowly dispersed into small groups, talking among themselves. A feeling of futility pervaded the inn. Jonathan moved through the crowd to get closer to Wilhelm in an attempt to console his friend, who remained disappointed.
* * *
While her father was at the meeting at the inn, Jasmine sat at the table staring intently at Maudella as the old lady mixed bits of ingredients in a large wooden bowl. Maudella hunched over the table unrolling tiny scraps of things Jasmine didn't recognize.
"What's that?" asked the child, her brown eyes alert with curiosity as she stretched her thin frame across the table and pointed at the brown powder piled up in the middle of an unfurled leaf.
Maudella lifted her head. Her hair was scraggly and gray; her skin was speckled with dark blotches; her face and neck were laced with wrinkles. These features, together with her stooped posture, made her seem very old, but she wasn't. Indeed, she was not much older than Jasmine's father.
She stared at Jasmine for a moment and then replied, "This one is special ... you haven't seen it before. Called ... Percatant root ... a dangerous poison ... must be very careful with it."
Jasmine drew her hand back quickly. "If it is so dangerous, why are you using it?"
"Well, just a pinch can be helpful to a potion, but any more than that can be deadly."
Maudella was believed by many in Oakley to have Witches' magic. Most children and many of their parents thought she was a Witch and kept a fair distance from her place, but not Jonathan. He had known Maudella before Jasmine was born. He also knew that she had made a great sacrifice to live in Oakley. She always wore a dress of dingy gray, and she wore a matching scarf that didn't quite cover her unkempt gray hair. For the most part, Maudella kept to herself; the exception was Jasmine, her most frequent visitor.
Jasmine, who was curious to a fault, wanted to learn everything she could, especially from a person thought to be a Witch. Jasmine liked Maudella, even though she did not always understand her. Sometimes Jasmine would gather wood for the old lady to keep the cauldron boiling. Maudella always kept a large cauldron boiling over an open fire in front of her small house with her wooden chair nearby. Jasmine would often go with Maudella to gather herbs and roots for potions in the nearby woods. And in return, Maudella would teach her the power locked in each root or plant. Maudella had an odd way of speaking special instructions to go with her potions. One of Jasmine's favorites was: "Boil the root of tangled snout. Drink the broth, so piping hot. A heavy sweat with darkness comes, a sickness gone when day is done."
She often spoke in such riddles, and Jasmine smiled whenever she heard them. When the old lady stood, her body was bent as if her back had been broken early on and never straightened out. She used a cane to steady herself when she walked, and was often seen smoking a hand-carved pipe.
Jasmine's eyes never left the wooden bowl as Maudella stirred in the last of the ingredients. Then Maudella reached into a small pouch that lay on the table and withdrew a pinch of orange powder. She sprinkled it lightly over the mixture in the bowl. A bright flash of light erupted as the orange powder reached the contents of the bowl and burst into flames.
The flames startled Jasmine, and she jumped away from the table. She watched as a spiral of white smoke rose up slowly from the bowl. The odor was pungent—like the smell of spoiled food.
"What kind of potion is this?" she asked, still not sure it was safe to return to her seat.
"It keeps the pests away from my garden. A little sprinkle around the edges and no pest will dare go near my vegetables."
Maudella walked slowly over to the shelf and retrieved a small bottle and a funnel. She poured the contents of the wooden bowl, which were now liquid, into the bottle. When the green liquid rose nearly to the top of the bottle, she plugged it with a cone-shaped wooden stopper and placed it on the table.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Jasmine and the Lamp of Spells by Leonard Tate Copyright © 2011 by Leonard Tate. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Contents
Chapter 1 Another Child is Missing....................1Chapter 2 The Smelly Stranger....................18
Chapter 3 The Fire and the Calico Cat....................28
Chapter 4 Visit to the Castle....................45
Chapter 5 The Magic Forest....................63
Chapter 6 Lord Avendor's Message....................77
Chapter 7 The Lamp and the Nightmare....................90
Chapter 8 Lost in the Woods....................104
Chapter 9 Maudella's Confession....................120
Chapter 10 Back to Willowdown....................129
Chapter 11 Abandoned....................143
Chapter 12 Attack of the Crows....................158
Chapter 13 Return to the Castle....................168
Chapter 14 Escape from the Castle....................187
Chapter 15 The Harvest Moon Deception....................197
Chapter 16 Journey to the Seer....................215
Chapter 17 The Borosia's Declaration....................238
Chapter 18 Old Enemies and Old Friends....................248
Chapter 19 The Rescue....................261
Chapter 20 The Healing....................278
Chapter 21 The Battle for Rodan....................288
Chapter 22 The Power of the Lamp....................314
Chapter 23 The Reversal, a Debt is Paid....................324