Read Enchanted for Free Online

her so quickly?” Again, it was more of a hope than a question.
    The wide grin he gave her was unsettling. “I am a shrewd and lucky tradesman! I happened upon a man in the Wood who was on his way to market for just such a cow. Too bad you weren’t there, Sunday, you might have learned a thing or two from your older brother.”
    The excitement that only minutes before had soared in Sunday’s throat now soured in her stomach.
No. Please, gods, no.
    “I sold it to him for these.” Trix slowly opened his palm, teasing Sunday with a glimpse of the contents.
    “Beans.” She was going to throw up.
    “Magic
beans,” Trix said proudly. “That sly fox was going to give me only one measly bean. Clever me, I got him up to
five!
After all, what if one doesn’t sprout? Smart thinking, eh?” Trix folded the orange-gold, sweat-stuck beans back into his pocket and patted them. “I will plant them under my tree house and then ... Sunday? Are you all right?”
    Sunday had stopped breathing. She was a dead woman. A stupid, stupid dead woman. What had she been thinking? Trix had been her responsibility, and she had let him go off alone and trade their best cow for ... for...
    “Sunday?” Trix was suddenly worried.
    “Mama will kill me,” she whispered. “We needed that money, Trixie. How will we eat?”
    “You’ll see.” His voice was all childish wonder and infinite hope. “My magic beans will grow big, big as you’ve ever seen, and we will have food forever.”
    His innocence was as beautiful as it was frustrating. “Beans take time to grow,” Sunday explained. “What will we eat tomorrow? And the next day?”
    The severity of the situation seemed to sink in. “I’m sorry, Sunday,” he said quietly. He put his thin arms around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly. “I don’t want you to die.”
    “If I may be so bold.”
    In her misery, Sunday had completely forgotten about Grumble. The frog sat patiently beside a perfectly round, slime-covered rock. Trix left his sister to sit beside Grumble. “Whatcha got there?” He picked up the spherical stone.
    “Something to save your sister’s life,” he said. “That life’s become uncommonly important to me over the last few days.”
    Sunday shook her head. It was a sweet gesture. To Grumble, the ball must have looked like a precious gem or a fairy trinket or—
    “Gold!” cried Trix.
    “What?” Sunday snatched the ball out of her brother’s hand; she was unprepared for its weight and almost dropped it. She scraped at the scum with her fingernail to reveal the smooth, hard surface beneath. “It is!” She laughed, jumped up and down, and hugged the bauble to her. And then she remembered that she wasn’t a hoarding kobold. Sunday held the ball out to Grumble. “We can’t take this.”
    “Sunday, I’m a frog. What use have I for such a pretty?”
    “But its worth alone...”
    “That and a hundred more like it wouldn’t get me what I want most in the world,” he reminded her. “But if it buys even a second of your family’s happiness, then to me it is worth more than any moneylender could possibly exchange for it.”
    Her conscience still wouldn’t let her take the bauble. Sunday’s eyes moved from her brother to her friend, her mind weighing her needs against her morals. They both weighed about two pounds of solid gold.
    “Please,” said Grumble. “Consider it a gift.”
    A gift. He had not refused her gift, so she should not refuse his ... though she had given him a bucket, and he had given her a family’s happiness. Sunday wondered if Grumble had any idea how much power he had over her. She closed her eyes, nodded, and slipped the bauble into her pocket. She needed to leave before she changed her mind. But first, she crouched, scooped Grumble up in her hands, and kissed him heartily. “Thank you, my dear friend, more than you will ever know.” He politely said nothing to her exuberance. “Trix and I must be going now, but church or