The North Wind’s Daughter

Sarah Beth Durst

For my husband, Adam,

with love.

I would go east of the sun and west of the moon for you.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to thank the polar bears, arctic foxes, and caribou for their patience and kind words of

encouragement during the writing of this book. I’d also like to thank my spectacular agent, Andrea

Somberg, and my fabulous editor, Karen Wojtyla, as well as Sarah Payne, Emily Fabre, and all the

other amazing people at Simon & Schuster. Special thanks as well to Tamora Pierce, Bruce Coville,

and Thomas (Sully) Sullivan for all their advice and kindness.

Also, thanks to my friends for believing in me, especially Amy Johnson and Rick Keuler for all

their encouraging e-mails, and thank you to everyone who answered my obscure research questions.

Thank you as well to John Mastrobattista, Rob Harris, and my Target/Blackbaud team (past and

present) for all their support.

And finally, many thanks and much love to my family. I am so lucky to have all of you in my life

—the family I was born into, the family I married into, my wonderful children, and my dream-come-

true husband. I love you all beyond the ends of the earth.

PROLOGUE

The North Wind’s Daughter

Once upon a time, the North Wind said to the Polar Bear King, ‘Steal me a daughter, and when

she grows, she will be your bride.’”

Four-year-old Cassie clutched her quilt and stared at her grandmother. Tall and straight, Gram

looked like a general. She perched stiffly on the edge of Cassie’s bed. She had a mahogany cane in

her left hand. Tonight, Dad was away from the station, which meant Cassie would hear the story.

Gram never told it when Dad was home. It was the only story she ever told.

“And so, the Polar Bear King kidnapped a human child and brought her to the North Wind, and

she was raised with the North Wind as her father and the West, South, and East Winds as her uncles.

She grew into a beautiful, but lonely, young woman. One day, while the Winds were gone (as they

often were), she met a human man. She befriended him, and it wasn’t long before they fell in love.

“When the Polar Bear King came to claim his bride, she refused him. Her heart, she said,

belonged to another. ‘I would not have an unwilling wife,’ he told her. ‘But your father has made a

promise to me.’

“Knowing the power of a magic promise, the North Wind’s daughter sought to counter it with her

own bargain. ‘Then I will make a promise to you,’ the North Wind’s daughter replied. ‘Bring me to

my love and hide us from my father, and when I have a daughter, she will be your bride.’ And so, the

Bear carried the North Wind’s daughter to her human husband and hid them in the ice and snow.

“Angry, the North Wind tore across the land, sea, and sky. But he could not find them. For a long

while, the North Wind’s daughter and her husband were happy.

“In time, the woman had a child. Passing by, the West Wind heard the birth and hurried to tell the

North Wind where his daughter could be found. With the strength of a thousand blizzards, the North

Wind swooped down onto the house that held his daughter, her husband, and their newborn baby. He

would have torn the house to shreds, but the woman ran outside. ‘Take me,’ she cried, ‘but leave my

loved ones alone!’

“The North Wind blew her as far as he could—as far as the castle beyond the ends of the world.

There, she fell to the ground and was captured by trolls.” Cassie heard the bed creak as Gram stood.

Her rich voice was softer now. “It is said that when the wind howls from the north, it is for his lost

daughter.”

Cassie blinked her eyes open. “And Mommy is still there?”

Gram was a shadow in the doorway. “Yes.”

PART 1

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 982