A Fairy's Guide to Disaster (13 page)

“Look out!” yelled Iris.

More spriggans carrying short wicked swords came from under the other cash registers. Their mouths formed caverns and I knew they must be screaming. The spriggans made straight for us, their beady eyes fixed. I flew straight up with Iris clinging to my waist. Two armies of spriggans merged beneath our feet. The spriggans shook their fists at us. I beat my wings as hard as I could, but we began to sink.

“Iris, Iris! Let go!” I yelled.

Iris didn’t let go. Her grip tightened. Her eyes darted around, not focusing.

“Iris!” I smacked her, but she didn’t respond. We were sinking fast. Below, the spriggans waited, their moist brown hands stretched upward. Still, Iris wouldn’t let go and down we went.

Hands grabbed at me, pinching and pulling. All I could see was brownish-green skin and moldy teeth. Iris clung to me. Her nails tore my clothes as the spriggans wrenched her away. She screamed at me for help, but I couldn’t break free. I had to watch as the spriggans dragged my sister off, slapping her and pulling her hair.

The spriggans passed me from hand to hand. I twisted and arched my back, surprising the spriggans by managing to get on my feet. One spriggan grabbed me by the shoulders. “Going somewhere? I think not.”

His breath would’ve dropped a rhinoceros beetle, but I clutched his dry coat in my damp hands drawing him close. He jerked back and gave me a stinging slap. The room spun. I caught glimpses of the phalanx near me as I fell. They used their shells as weapons as well as shields. They slashed at the spriggans with the edges.

I got to my feet and my palms began to prickle. Blue flames formed in each one. A spriggan grabbed me and I pressed my palms against his chest, burning holes through his coat. He shrieked and let go. In the distance, I spotted Iris being carried toward the exit. I threw two fireballs in a great arch and hit the spriggans carrying her. I held out my hand and my fire spread into a round shield, protecting me. I ran through the battle to Iris. Two more spriggans were dragging her by the legs. I hit them with fireballs and pulled Iris to her feet. Then I spun in a circle and formed a ring of fire around us. The spriggans backed away, the fire glittering in their eyes.

“Stay here,” I told Iris.

I jumped through the ring and ran toward the third cash register. The spriggans and phalanx fairies battled on, but it was clear who was winning. The phalanx overwhelmed the spriggans even though the spriggans outnumbered them two to one. Working among the wounded were little fairies with silver wings half the size of mine. Their long, fine hair, the color of wheat, flowed around their heads like they were underwater. They bent over the wounded, soothing them with drinks from a long-handled water dipper. I saw one bandage the head of a phalanx fairy. When she rose to go to another of the wounded, a spriggan rammed into her. Instead of being thrown to the floor, she melted into a pool of water and then reformed. I ran past her and flew up onto the shelf. The battle was less intense there and I spotted the spriggan leader in his paper suit. I blasted my way through his guard and grabbed him by the throat.

“Where’s my baby?” I screamed in his face.

His eyes were wide with fright. “I don’t know.”

“You know.” My palms prickled and his eyes went wild.

“Stop!”

“Tell me and I’ll end the battle. Don’t and I’ll end you.”

“He’s in the apothecary cabinet by the front door,” he gasped.

I shoved him back and formed a fire ring around him. I ran back to the shelf edge and looked out over the battle. For a second, I considered letting it go on, but Iris’s words echoed in my head. Wood fairies don’t kill. If I let it go on, I’d be confirming what people thought of kindlers. I could control myself. I could do the right thing.

I shot flames out of my palms. They exploded over the melee in a beautiful burst. Both sides froze and looked up.

“Stop,” I screamed. “It’s over.”

After a pause, the phalanx retreated and formed ranks near the exit. One phalanx climbed up the shelf before me.

“Why’d you stop us?” asked the commander.

“We got what we came for. I have Easy’s location,” I said.

“Well, I can’t say that I’m not disappointed, but Soren will be pleased. He’s not the fan of bloodshed that I am.”

“I have a gift,” I said with a smile.

The commander cocked his head at me and I pointed at the spriggan leader running around like a nut within my fire ring.

“Ain’t this just like Christmas.” The commander rubbed his hands together and grinned, showing every one of his numerous teeth.

CHAPTER 12

I landed beside the charred circle of Iris’s fire ring. She stood next to Soren, staring at the ring.

“Are you okay?” I asked her.

She peeked at me from under long lashes and nodded. Soren’s eyes roved over the battlefield and its combatants. Spriggans were melting away into the darkness under the registers. They left their wounded behind to be cared for by the silver-winged fairies. The phalanx wounded formed up in ranks and disappeared under their shells.

Soren put his arm around my shoulders. “You did well to end it when you did.”

“You wanted me to use my fire,” I said.

“I did. Gifts should be used, not hidden away.”

“My family might not agree,” I said, reaching for Iris.

She shrunk away, avoiding my eyes. “You should’ve told me.”

“That’s what you’re mad about. My fire saved you. I got Easy’s location.”

“You should’ve told me. I’m your sister. You know everything about me.”

Soren pushed us toward each other. “It seems you have underestimated your sister, Matilda.”

I hugged Iris hard. “You’re really not afraid of me?”

“People say kindlers are bad because they can’t control themselves. They have accidents that burn down houses and set people on fire.” She looked at the charred ring. “You won’t have any accidents. If you burn anything up, it’ll be on purpose.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I should’ve.”

Iris hugged me and I wobbled from relief.

Soren laughed. “You have Easy’s location?”

“The apothecary cabinet by the front door.”

“Let’s retrieve him before the buyers show up.” Soren left orders for the commander to join us when the spriggan leader was secured.

We left the cashier area and walked around the side past more of the commander’s troops, resting under their shells. A loud clunk startled us and light flooded the antique mall. I clapped my hands over my eyes and stumbled. Soren caught me before I fell and held me for a second. I peeked out between my fingers, squinting and blinking. Glaring white light bathed the antique furniture to the right of us and made it look stark and cold. Every detail of the grungy linoleum floor showed in the harsh light and my lip curled up at the sight. I’d gotten comfortable with the dark. The dimness was closer to the light of Whipplethorn Manor than the glaring whiteness.

“Open for business,” said Soren. “I should’ve warned you. That light can be shocking until you get used to it.”

We walked alongside the counter until Iris grabbed my arm. “Humans are coming.”

Soren nodded and told us to get close to the counter. Then a human came around the corner. Her enormous shoes stomped past us. The wind she created blew our hair back.
 

“Christ, Larry. Did you see the mess in here?” The woman’s voice boomed. She was so loud, even I heard her clearly.

“What mess?” said a man.

“There’s a burn on the floor and paper’s strewn all over. Yuck. It smells like something died in here.”

“What about the cash registers?” asked the man.

“They seem okay and the alarm wasn’t tripped,” said the woman. “I guess it was that worthless Joe. I swear, he can’t do anything right.”

“True enough.”

The humans kept talking about Joe and his worthlessness while Soren, Iris, and I walked to the front of the mall. We passed the edge of the counter and saw huge glass doors with morning sunlight streaming in. Flecks of multi-colored dust hung in the air, and heat from the sun on my face made my skin prickle like my palms when I made fire.

Next to the doors was a small area stuffed with antiques of questionable age. Festoons of plastic flowers hung from the ceiling around vintage windows suspended by wires. Soren continued into the area and stopped in front of a tall cabinet covered in little drawers with white porcelain knobs.

“There you are,” he said. “The apothecary cabinet.”

“Where is he?” I asked. The cabinet had at least a hundred drawers. How in the world were we supposed to know which one Easy was in?

Soren cocked an eyebrow at Iris. “You tell me.”

Iris bit her lip and listened. Then she pointed and said, “That one.”

I rolled my eyes. “That one” could’ve been any one of twenty. “Be more specific.”

“Fifth row up, middle drawer. How’s that?” Iris grinned, looking slightly superior.

“Are you sure he’s in that one?”

“I’m sure,” said Iris. “I can hear him breathing.”

“Really?” I flew up and pressed my ear to the wood. I couldn’t hear anything. Even if Easy had been screaming, I probably wouldn’t have heard it through the wood. I was lucky to have Iris. Without her, Easy would be stuck in there, while I tried every single drawer.

Iris flew up next to me and knocked on the drawer. “Easy. It’s us come to get you.” She nodded at me. “He’s okay, I think. He’s just making those little chirps, not crying or anything.”

We tugged on the porcelain knob. The drawer shifted but didn’t open. We tried again, beating the air furiously with our wings. I stopped and wiped the sweat from my brow, wondering if there was a way to burn our way through.

Iris and I jetted sideways when a voice next to us said, “Here, let me.”

I panted with my hands on my chest. “Don’t do that.”

“You scared me to death,” said Iris.

The commander stood on the drawer below Easy’s the same as if he were standing on the floor. He didn’t have his shell on, but his smoking stick was clamped between his teeth.

“How’d you do that?” I asked. “Can you fly?”

“Not hardly. I am Spiderman.” He showed us the palm of one hand.

I blinked. “What?”

“You should get out more often. I can’t fly, but I can stick to things. I can stand on the ceiling if I want to.”

“Why would you want to?” asked Iris.

“I don’t. It’s just an example. Come on. Let’s get this kid out. I’ve got people to see and orders to give. I expect those spriggans to retaliate tonight at the latest.”

The commander walked up to the drawer above Easy’s and grasped the knob on Easy’s drawer. Iris and I got hand-holds on bottom edges and together we pulled. The drawer scooted out a bit, but not enough to get Easy out. A little brown hand waved at us from the opening. I grasped it and kissed a finger. Tears flooded my eyes and I turned away.

“Time enough for that later,” said the commander. “Let’s get her done.”

I got back into position and pulled with everything I had. I could hardly see through the tears, but that made me pull harder. The drawer inched open. We stopped pulling and peeked over the edge. Easy sat in the drawer, naked, with a pile of clothes next to him.

Iris and I lifted Easy out of the drawer and cradled him between us. Our cheeks rested on his dark curls and warm tears rolled from our eyes onto his plump cheeks. Our wings beat in time, floating on the warm air of the antique mall.

“You did it,” said Iris.

“We did it. With a whole lot of help.” I smiled at the commander and then down at Soren. “Let’s get back to the mantel before another disaster strikes.”

“Disaster’s your middle name, ain’t it?” asked the commander as he walked down the side of the cabinet. “You’d think you’d learn to prepare. You want his clothes?”

Iris wrinkled her nose. “They stink. We can get more from his house.”

I nodded. I didn’t know how we’d get the clothes anyway, since the commander was already headed to the floor. One of us might’ve been able to carry Easy alone, but I wasn’t ready to try it. “Let’s go down and thank them again.”

We flew down and landed next to the commander’s shell. He arrived a second later and popped it back on. Easy patted his mouth and chirped. The commander stood on his toes to get a better look at Easy and then looked pointedly at Soren, who gazed at Easy with a concerned expression.

“He’s a good looking boy, no doubt, but there has to be more to it,” said the commander.

“What do you mean?” I asked, shifting all of Easy’s weight to my hip.

“The spriggans took a chance kidnapping him. They don’t usually operate that way in the mall. They know Soren won’t tolerate it.” The commander tapped the unlit end of his stick against his chin. “I wonder what made him worth it.”

“The spriggan baby said he was special,” said Iris, stretching her arms.

“The spriggan baby?” Soren jerked his gaze from Easy to us. “Of course, they would’ve left you one of those treasures. I should’ve thought of it before. Do you want it?”

“No,” Iris and I said, shaking our heads.

The commander laughed. “With Soren’s permission, I’ll take him off your hands and get him back where he belongs.”

I agreed, but I felt a little queasy about it. The spriggan baby made it clear he didn’t want to go back and I said I wouldn’t trade him. But giving him to the commander to be taken back wasn’t trading him, was it? He should be with other spriggans. I certainly wanted him to be with other spriggans.

“Can’t stand around here all day dawdling. That’s how you get in these fixes.” The commander looked ready to race off.

“Wait a minute,” I said. “What did you mean by that? It’s not our fault the spriggans wanted Easy. We didn’t know they’d take him.”

I feared the commander would say it was my fault. That if I’d been a better babysitter or if I could hear better, Easy wouldn’t have gotten stolen. Instead, he gave me a weary glance and shook his head.

“What?” I asked, not sure if I wanted an honest answer.

Soren took my hand. “It’s not you Kukri’s referring to. It’s us.”

The commander ran a hand over his face. “We should’ve protected you better. It’s my duty, in particular.”