“Mais non. Well, magical, yes. But not because of what it was filled with. If one were to roll the cask to the left, a magical castle would appear. And then it would vanish again when one rolled it to the right.”

“That would do too. If there was chocolate to be found in this castle, anyway.”

He laughed again. “We can hope. Anyway, the princess and the Cossack traveled together to her father’s kingdom, where, as expected, the king and queen were so grateful to have their daughter back that they offered the young man anything his heart desired. As instructed, he turned down the jewels and gold paraded before him and instead requested the cask from the cellar. The king was none too pleased, but he had promised. So he delivered the cask to the Cossack, who bade them farewell and went on his way.”

“Went on his way? Without the princess?” Claire rounded the end of the shelves and disappeared into the next aisle. “What kind of story is this?”

“Be patient. He had to see what it did, didn’t he? And he couldn’t very well open up a castle inside a castle. Plus, the princess would want to visit with her family, I’d think.”

Claire’s hmph sounded unconvinced, but she said no more. For the moment.

“So off went the Cossack. He hadn’t gone far, however, when he came across an old beggar sitting in the road.”

“Ah!” She peeked over the shelf to grin at him. “It is always an old beggar. Is he a magician? The sorcerer? Another king in disguise, to see if our hero is worthy?”

“Whatever he was, he was hungry. He asked the young man if he perchance had anything to eat. So the Cossack put down the cask and rolled it to the left, and voilà! A magnificent castle appeared. So he invited the old man inside. They found the dining hall, where a grand feast was laid out, awaiting them. The old man ate an entire roast ox and drank a full barrel of wine and said he could eat more but didn’t want to be rude, so he thanked his kind host and said he had better take his leave.”

Claire chuckled as she came into view again. “This is a tormenting story, mon ami. All this food . . .”

“No more feasting, I promise.” He glanced out the door at the people passing by. None of whom, thankfully, seemed poised to join them. “The Cossack left with the man, rolled the cask to the right, and the castle vanished. Well, the old man was quite impressed. ‘I could do with a cask like that,’ he said. ‘Would you be willing to make a trade?’”

Claire paused at the end of the aisle and leaned on her broom. “What could he possibly have to trade that would be worth it to the Cossack?”