Breadcrumbs Read online

  “Hazel, what happened?” asked Mrs. Freeman, eyes full of alarm. “That looks fresh. Did someone do that to you?”

  “Oh,” said Hazel. “I tripped.” What was she going to tell her mom? She had to think of something. She had to get used to the question.

  “I see,” said Tyler’s mom, looking dubious. “And what are you doing out without your coats? Jack, I thought you were with your elderly aunt Bernice?”

  “What?” Jack said. Hazel elbowed him.

  “He came back,” said Hazel.

  “Okay . . .”

  Tyler’s mom drove them the few blocks to their houses. When Hazel and Jack spilled out, Tyler was silent. His mother noticed. “Aren’t you going to say good-bye to your friends?” Hazel heard her say as the two got out onto the sidewalk.

  Tyler rolled down the window and called good-bye. He started to roll the window up and then stopped.

  “Hey, Hazel?”

  “What?”

  “You can hang out with us at recess on Monday if you want.”

  And then he rolled up the window and they drove away, leaving Hazel and Jack standing in front of their houses.

  “Um, everyone thinks you’re with your aunt Bernice,” Hazel said.

  Jack looked at her, brown eyes wide. “I don’t have an aunt Bernice,” he said.

  A light went on in Jack’s house behind them. Hazel looked up toward it, and then back at Jack. Jack rubbed his hand against his chest.

  His mom appeared on the stoop and Jack straightened. He looked at Hazel. “I should go.”

  She nodded.

  “Hazel?”

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks for coming to get me.”

  “Of course.” She was his best friend.

  Jack hesitated still, and Hazel wanted to say something comforting, give him some bright plastic flowers of words, but Jack would see them for what they were. Jack knew how to see things.

  Then he put his hand up and squeezed her arm, and then turned toward his house. Hazel stood and watched him disappear inside.

  Hazel went to her own front door and walked in, breathing in the smells of home. She called for her mother, but there was no answer. Of course not, her mom had her class. Hazel’s heart sank a little. She would have liked to see her mom.

  She thought about going to the kitchen and getting some food, but she couldn’t bear the thought of the extra movements, so she went to her room to lie down on her bed.

  Her stuffed animals were still there, sitting against her pillow, and Hazel lay down next to them and put her hand on the bear, then grabbed it and pulled it into her chest. She tucked in a ball on her bed. Her eyes fell on the spot where the Joe Mauer baseball used to be. Maybe she would get Jack another signed ball. It might not be easy, but it had to be easier than this.

  Then she noticed the wrapped present on her bed stand. She rolled over to grab it. The gift wrap was familiar—shiny purple paper that her mother had been using for six months. Hazel unwrapped the paper to reveal an old shoe box. She opened up the box and unfolded the tissue paper inside to find a pair of pink ballet shoes.

  She blinked and picked up one of the shoes. There was a note in the tissue paper:

  Hazel—

  A present and a promise.

  Love,

  Mom

  The writing blurred in front of Hazel’s eyes. She touched the note with her fingers. She wanted to get up and leave her mom a note, but she could not leave the bed. So Hazel took both slippers and folded them in her arms with the teddy bear and curled back up on the bed. She could see the distant glow from Jack’s house coming in the window, and she wondered what he was doing, and if he was okay, and if he’d eaten, and what he’d told his parents. She wondered what things would be like between them now, and what she was going to have to do for them to be normal again. It would be harder to watch over him if they weren’t normal, but she would find a way. She wondered if she’d actually want to hang out with Tyler and Bobby at recess. Maybe a little capture the flag would do them all good. Hazel was good at capture the flag. No one took her seriously because she was small and feathered, a strange little dino-bird, but she had a sickle claw and she was not afraid to use it.

  Once upon a time, there was a boy named Jack who got lost in the woods. His best friend went after him. Along the way, she had many adventures. She met woodsmen, witches, and wolves. She found her friend in the thrall of a queen who lived in a palace of ice and had a heart to match. She rescued him with the help of a magical object. And they returned home, together, and they lived on, somehow, ever after.

  It went something like that, anyway.

  She drifted off to sleep thinking that tomorrow, she would call Adelaide and make plans to go over there. This time she would bring her own ballet shoes. She wanted to tell Adelaide and Uncle Martin all about the Snow Queen. They probably wouldn’t believe her, not really. She wouldn’t believe it herself.

  But at least it was a good story.

  About the Author

  ANNE URSU is the author of the three middle-grade novels that comprise the Cronus Chronicles trilogy: THE SHADOW THIEVES, THE SIREN SONG, and THE IMMORTAL FIRE. She is also a professor of writing for children at Hamline University and a lifelong Minnesota Twins fan. Anne lives in Minneapolis with her son and three cats. You can visit her online at www.anneursu.com.

  Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.

  Also by Anne Ursu

  THE CRONUS CHRONICLES:

  Book One: The Shadow Thieves

  Book Two: The Siren Song

  Book Three: The Immortal Fire

  Credits

  Jacket art © 2011 by Erin McGuire

  Jacket design by Sarah Hoy

  Copyright

  Walden Pond Press is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.

  Walden Pond Press and the skipping stone logo are trademarks and registered trademarks of Walden Media, LLC.

  Breadcrumbs

  Text copyright © 2011 by Anne Ursu

  Illustrations copyright © 2011 by Erin McGuire

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Ursu, Anne.

  Breadcrumbs / Anne Ursu ; drawings by Erin McGuire. — 1st ed.

  p. cm.

  Audience: Ages 8–12.

  ISBN 978-0-06-201505-1 (trade bdg.)

  1. Magic mirrors—Juvenile fiction. 2. Friendship—Juvenile fiction.

  3. Rescues—Juvenile fiction. 4. Children—Juvenile fiction. [1. Magic—Fiction. 2. Mirrors—Fiction. 3. Best friends—Fiction. 4. Friendship—Fiction. 5. Rescues—Fiction. 6. Schools—Fiction.]

  I. McGuire, Erin, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.U692Br 2011

  813.6—dc22

  [[Fic]]

  2010045666

  11 12 13 14 15 LP/rrdb 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  First Edition

  EPub Edition © SEPTEMBER 2011 ISBN: 9780062049247

  About the Publisher

  Australia

  HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.

  25 Ryde Road (P.O. Box 321)

  Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia

  www.harpercollins.com.au/ebooks

  Canada

  HarperCollins Canada

  2 Bloor Street East -20th Floor

  Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada

  http://www.harpercollins.ca

  New Zealand

  HarperCollins Publishers (New Ze
aland) Limited

  P.O. Box 1

  Auckland, New Zealand

  http://www.harpercollins.co.nz

  United Kingdom

  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.

  77-85 Fulham Palace Road

  London, W6 8JB, UK

  http://www.harpercollins.co.uk

  United States

  HarperCollins Publishers Inc.

  10 East 53rd Street

  New York, NY 10022

  http://www.harpercollins.com