Deep in the forest came the sound of one hand slapping. Jade peered anxiously into the fallen Sparrow's face. She babbled at him in useless reassurance. "Stay awake, Jack! What th' 'ell's wrong with yeh? I know yeh en't used t' th' cold so much, but yeh aw'ight. Yeh aw'ight." Her hand touched his face and she winced at the moisture of fever she found. She had to find help.
Gripping the shoulders of his coat, the young woman dragged him through the thick snow. "Chris', f'r such a little pirate, yeh en't 'xactly a feather t' move…" She trudged on for at least an hour, stopping and starting as her energy waxed and waned. What had seemed to be a small copse of trees had extended into an infinite mass of woodlands.
When she could go no further lest exhaustion cause her to drop, she whined at the skinny, leafless trees, "'S no good. Where'm I goin' t' find anyone t' help in this awful place? It en't fair." She turned to scowl at Jack, forcing back bitter tears. "Well when yeh die, I en't takin' th' blame. Lookit what yeh got us int'. I hate yeh!" She kicked at him.
There was a loud whumpf noise and the ground gave way beneath them. Jade slid down a chute, snow petering out into plain earth, and dropped onto the floor of a torch-lit cave. The unconscious pirate lay a few feet away. Rubbing at her bruised back, Miss Starfall got up and approached the scene ahead. There were tables lined with all kinds of apparatus: glass tubes; vials of strange liquids; spinning metal trinkets; pots that ejected puffs of smoke every few seconds. Beyond this was a barred section like a cell, in which, from this distance, Jade could see several white birds seated in large trays. An old man was busying himself wandering between the cluttered tables, dropping herbs into varying tubes.
Just as she was about to announce her presence, the grey-haired man croaked out, "I don't have time for visitors. It's not Christmas yet, and I told Benjamin I wouldn't come out before then…" He turned and squinted at Jade. "Oh, it's you, Jane. What is it you want? Hurry up, girl, lots to do. And why are you wearing those dreadful clothes?"
Jade chose not to correct him. The name was close enough. "I…m' friend's sick, sirrah. C'n yeh help 'im?"
The old man did not seem to think her accent anything unusual and came to examine Jack. "Hmm…yes, yes that'll about do it." He tugged at his silver beard.
"Eh? Pardon, sirrah?"
He sniffed. "He is almost certainly going to die."
Jade swallowed at the lump in her throat. "Please…c'n yeh help?"
The old man muttered and poked Jack with a bony finger. "His manner of dress is also most peculiar."
"He's jes' a sailor type," she burbled.
He chuckled. "And I'm a harmless old man."
Jade bit her lip. "Please? I'll give yeh…this pendant…" She untied the cord about her throat and offered her blue lapis stone.
"Hmm…" The old man took it and looked it over. "Valuable to you, but you don't remember why," he mumbled. He wandered back into the main body of the cave and then beckoned for her to follow.
"C'n yeh make him well ag'in?"
"I can't, but they can," he replied, pointing to the cell of geese. "All you need is one egg from them."
"D'yeh have one?"
"No. They have not laid one in years. You see, they are very finicky creatures. They like their music. My voice is not what it once was and I can't very well get a band of minstrels down here blundering about and breaking my wares. If you want an egg from them, you will have to sing." He smiled at the look of distaste she gave. "Oh and they keep up very well with the seasons. There is a plaque in there giving clues as to the songs they like this time of year. Better get to it, dear. Wait too long and all you will require is a spade."
Jade choked back a yelp and opened the door to the goose enclosure. There were six of them. They tilted their heads and watched her curiously. One hissed. She swallowed and stepped a bit closer. "'llo geese…" Tentatively, she approached the old plaque that rested, propped, beneath the middle two birds on their elevated trays. It read:
Spied a triad of vessels water-crossing on,
Prickled and climbing plants presently equally matured
And pig's top twixt fingers conveyed by me.
Jade pulled a face. "Stupid riddles." She looked back to the old man. "Wharr'if I don' know the songs?"
"You will know them. The plaque knows, so you know."
"Pff, tha's comfortin'…" she said under her breath. Minutes ticked by and she puzzled over the words, the riddle made harder to solve by the pressure she was under. She reached a conclusion and inhaled slowly. "I thin' I gorrit." Her eyes swept across the waiting geese. Yeh better like m' singin' yeh rott'n featherbags. "I saw three ships come sailin' by, on Chris'mas Day, on Chris'mas Day…th' 'olly an' the ivy now are bof' made grown, of all th' trees tha're in th' wood, th' 'olly bears th' crown…the boar's 'ead in 'and bring I, bedeck'd wiv bays an' rosem'ry…" She added lines from a couple of extra carols she could recall for good measure and rounded off. Jade watched the geese. They remained completely still.
"Well?" she cried. "Don' I get anyfin'?"
The goose on the far right slowly stood up in its tray and edged backward, revealing a large egg. The young woman smiled with relief and grabbed the egg from the nest before bolting out to the old man. "Now wha'? How d'we give it to 'im?"
He took it carefully from her jittering hands and broke it open into a tankard. A few herbs were added to the liquid and then he stirred it to a yellow gunk. "There." He handed it to her. Jade wrinkled her nose and dashed back to where Jack lay.
"Yeh aw'ight, Cap'n. If water's goin' t' be th' death of yeh, it sure as 'ell en't goin' t' be a piddlin' little lake." She lifted his head and tipped the mixture between his lips. It worked with surprising alacrity. The pallid hue to the pirate's face faded and he opened his eyes.
"'allo Jade." He raised an eyebrow at her look of amazement. "Some'ing troubling you?"
"Er…"
Sparrow got to his feet with a spring in his step. He caught sight of the old man, glanced about the cave, looked to the floor and then back to the old man again. He gave a broad smile. "Ta very much for allowing us the priv'lege your shelter, mate. Much appreciated." Jack put his palms together and bowed in thanks. Then, without tarrying a moment longer, he marched off through the cave in search of the exit. "Cam' on, Jade, I've a mind to go pilferin' an' no time like it."
The young woman gritted her teeth in exasperation. She turned to offer her gratitude but was stunned to find that the old man, the disarrayed tables and the six geese were nowhere to be seen. She became aware of something in her hand and brought it into sight. Jade whispered thanks to the empty cave and fastened her pendant once again.
