A Fairy's Guide to Disaster (14 page)

“We all failed, Kukri,” said Soren. “I should’ve put guards on you the moment I discovered you were here.”

“You couldn’t know,” said the commander. “I’m looking at this boy and I can’t figure out why the spriggans wanted him. It ain’t obvious. That’s for sure.”

“Matilda.” Iris yanked on my arm.

I ignored Iris and pulled my arm away. “Easy’s just a wood fairy, like the rest of us.”

“Matilda, listen to me,” said Iris.

“Stop it, Iris.” I hugged Easy tight to my chest and looked down at him. “Are you a kindler?”

Easy shook his head no. Both the commander and Soren looked at him thoughtfully.

“Matilda, Matilda!” yelled Iris.

“For God’s sake, Iris. Stop it!”

“Gerald’s screaming!”

“What?”

“Gerald’s screaming. Something’s happening to the mantel.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I shoved Easy into Soren’s arms.

“Hey!” yelled the commander.

I flew upward and then in a circle. My heart thumped hard in my chest and then I recognized a cupboard with tin panels at the corner and remembered the way back to the mantel. I zipped by the cupboard, gaining speed with the mall’s hot air rushing past my face. My skull felt empty, with only the one thought of getting back to Gerald rattling around in there.

Someone tugged my foot. Iris was huffing and puffing behind me. She shook her head and gasped something.

“What?” I asked.

Iris broke away and stopped. I pivoted in the air and flew back to her.

“Not that way.” Iris clutched her chest and sunk down almost to the floor.

I floated down beside Iris. “Which way?”

Iris pointed to the left. “Humans are taking the mantel away, but you’ll never find Gerald without my ears.”

“All right, but you’ve got to hurry.”

We flew together around corners and through areas I hadn’t seen before. We dodged around shopping humans and under dusty tables. When Iris slowed, I took her hand and pulled her. She spread her wings and glided along, catching her breath and resting. We came around a large bank of filing cabinets with me pulling and Iris resting. On the other side was the mantel. It sat, leaning back, on a wheeled metal contraption painted bright yellow. A man pulled the mantel toward an opening in the wall. Another man gave him directions and warned him to hurry up.

I let go of Iris’s hand and zipped to the mantel. Gerald was at my bedroom window, a pretty fleur-de-lis. His little face peered out the opening. He pushed, but he couldn’t get it fully open because of the weight.

“Matilda, Matilda!”

I landed on the mantel, balancing on a wooden flower petal next to my window. I stuck my fingers under the window and it popped open with much less effort than I expected. Gerald held his arms up to me and I pulled him through. The window slammed shut. The edge missed his feet by the tiniest margin. Gerald stared at the window and shivered in my arms for a second, his tears soaking me to the skin.

“I’ve got you,” I said.

“I thought you weren’t coming back.”

“I told you I would,” I said. “Come on. Iris is waiting.”

The workman continued pulling the mantel toward the door. A cool wind blew in through the opening and chilled me as we flew off the mantel. Iris hovered by the filing cabinets. Her lower lip trembled as she watched the mantel.

“Where are they taking it?” she asked when we flew up to her.

“I don’t know.” I felt so sad watching our mantel being wheeled away. I wanted so badly to go with it, to stay within its solid walls. I didn’t know if it was because it was my tree, as Soren would’ve said, or because it was home. I only knew I wanted to stay with it forever.

“We have to go with it. It’s our home,” said Iris. “How will Mom and Dad find us if we’re not with the mantel?”

“If they follow the mantel, they’ll come here and find us.” I felt sure this was true, but it didn’t make me want to stay and find out.

“I’d rather be out here than in there,” said Gerald. “Nasty.”

Iris wheeled around on him. Her hands were on her hips and her lip wasn’t trembling anymore. She grimaced at him until he retreated behind me. “What do you mean our home is nasty? It’s not nasty.”

“Not the mantel,” said Gerald, peeking out from behind my flapping wings. “That baby’s completely gross. He’s nasty.”

Iris’s eyes met mine. “Oh no!”

“What?” asked Gerald.

“The spriggan baby’s still in there,” I said.

“So what? Leave him. He stinks,” said Gerald.

“We can’t leave him,” I said. “He’s a baby. He’ll die.”

The workman pulled the mantel up a large hump in the opening. He groaned and yelled for help. Another workman came over and pulled with him. I landed on the mantel, looking frantically for an opening. All the windows and doors lay firmly closed. I pulled the hidden latch on the front door, but it didn’t budge.

The mantel went up over the hump, driving me off the wood. The mantel began moving faster once it was outside the mall. The workmen joshed each other about being weak while practically breaking into a run. I landed back on the mantel, wobbling back and forth. I slid down the extreme angle and bumped into the threshold. The mantel jumped again and I cracked my head on the door. Strong arms wrapped around me and lifted me off the mantel. I didn’t spread my wings. I let myself be carried, thinking somehow it must be Soren.

When I opened my eyes, I found Gerald supporting me on one side and Iris on the other. They strained to hold me up, their faces red and pinched.

“You got me,” I said.

Gerald and Iris only nodded and floated down until we all landed on the cold grey concrete. The three of us staggered and sat down. The mantel continued to race away toward a white van with the words, “Things Past Antique Mall Jarvis Hornbuckle, Proprietor” painted on the side.

“It’s not your fault,” said Iris.

Gerald nodded. “Nobody could’ve done it. Not even my dad.”

Nobody? I didn’t think so. There had to be something. Maybe I wasn’t strong enough, but there had to be another way.

Iris hugged me. “Gerald’s right. Nobody could.”

I pushed Iris away and stood up. I wasn’t nobody. I was definitely a somebody. Somebody with fire.

CHAPTER 13

THE workman bellowed and danced around in a circle. I grinned and formed another fireball, blue and crackling with heat. The workman stamped his foot, waving his arms and spitting curse words like watermelon seeds. The other one stared at him with a gaping mouth.

“Dude, what’s your problem?” he asked, edging away while pushing the metal cart with the mantel on it.

“I’m going to kill you, man,” said the hopping workman.

“What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong? I’ll show you what’s wrong.” The workman stopped dancing and thrust his left foot at his co-worker. “You set fire to my boot. You’re going to pay for that.”

The workman leaned over and eyed his partner’s boot. A blackened area decorated the side. It smelled of burning leather and plastic. I watched them, ready with another blue fire ball poised in my hand. The human’s shoe caught fire better than I expected. But three fire balls weren’t enough. The men had stopped dragging the mantel toward the van, but the mantel was still tilted back. We couldn’t get in unless it was upright.

The men argued. They yelled so loud they rained spit on each other and that only made them madder. The one with the scorched boot grabbed the one holding the mantel’s cart. He held him by the neck and squeezed. The man’s face turned purple. He flailed his free arm and the mantel rocked on the cart. It shifted a few inches to the right and teetered as the men’s tussle became more intense.

Gerald flew up beside me. “Great plan, genius. They won’t take the mantel away. They’ll just break it into a million zillion pieces.”

“Shut up, Gerald,” I said.

“Don’t tell me to shut up. I’m not the one who keeps screwing up.”

“Well, I’m the one who keeps saving everybody, including you.” My fireball grew larger.

“Don’t throw that,” said Gerald. “They’ll break it.”

“Throw it, Matilda,” said Iris from behind Gerald.

Gerald turned on her. “You don’t know. She’s going to wreck everything.”

“Throw it. You have to stop them. The more fire, the better,” said Iris.

“If they drop the mantel, they’ll kill the baby.” Gerald crossed his arms and smiled triumphantly.

“If they take the mantel, he’s dead for sure. Stop them.” Iris stuck her tongue out at him.

The fire ball tickled my hand, begging me to throw it. And I wanted to. I wanted to set the workmen’s pants on fire and watch them bark like madmen. What did they mean by taking our home? I’d teach them a lesson they wouldn’t soon forget.

“You’ll kill that baby,” said Gerald again.

“We don’t have Easy,” said Iris with triumph in her eyes.

“What?” I said, almost dropping my fireball.

“We left Easy with Soren. You have to stop them long enough for us to get him and get in the mantel.”

“We’ll just get that spriggan baby out,” said Gerald.

The men stopped fighting and examined the boot. “Man, just tell me how you did it.”

“I’m telling you. I didn’t do it,” said the one without the burnt boot.

“Whatever. Let’s get her done.” He took a last look at his ruined boot, straightened the mantel on the cart and gave it a shove.

I threw the fireball. It arced through the air so bright even the humans could’ve seen it coming. It landed next to the previously burnt spot on the boot of the man pulling the mantel. The spot ignited and a wisp of smoke snaked up from the side.

“Do you smell that?”

“What?”

“Something’s burning.”

“Well, it’s not me. Oh, dude, it’s your freaking boot.”

The man stared down at the bright yellow flame nipping at the edge of his jeans. The other one ran around in a circle, screaming for water. The first man thrust the cart handle away. The mantel lurched forward, threatening to tip over and crash on the cement. I caught my breath and charged forward. I hit the mantel’s face full tilt. I pushed, bracing my cheek and chest against the wood. The mantel groaned and protested as it teetered on the edge of destruction. Then Gerald and Iris were on either side of me. We pushed, all three of us together, without argument, without complaint.

“Harder,” I gasped and we pushed even harder with strength we didn’t know we had. Then the mantel creaked and fell forward. I reached out to Iris and Gerald to pull them from under, when a human’s hand swooped in above us and pushed the mantel back into position on the cart.

“Look what you almost did, idiot,” the human said. “Do you know how much this thing is worth?”

“My pants were on fire and look at my hands.”

Iris, Gerald, and I lay against the mantel’s face, shaking and gasping for breath. I patted Iris’s quivering shoulder with a shaky hand.

“What about me?” asked Gerald.

“Can’t reach you,” I said.

Iris craned her neck to see the men. “Wow, you did a number on him, Matilda.”

The man’s hand was a riot of blisters. As we watched, the blisters grew and throbbed dark red.

“Dude, you need the first aid kit or something. Why’d you put it out with your hands?”

The man blew on his palms. “I don’t know. I guess I panicked. Do you think I need to go to the emergency room?”

“Let’s find the first aid kit first.”

The man holding the metal cart pushed it upright. We spread our wings and glided down to the concrete. The men walked inside, leaving the mantel outside.

“That was close,” said Gerald.

“We better go get Easy before they get back,” said Iris.

“I’ll get Easy and you get the spriggan.” I rubbed my bruised knees and prepared to fly off.

“No way,” said Gerald. “You’re not leaving me again.”

I pulled Gerald tight to my chest, resting my cheek on his brown hair. “Aren’t you going to say something about my fire?”

“Well…”

I pulled back. “You knew and you didn’t tell?”

“My dad said it wasn’t our secret to tell. If you hadn’t burnt down Whipplethorn by the time we got there, you weren’t going to.”

I hugged him and kissed the top of his head. “I can’t believe you knew all along.”

Gerald struggled out of my arms. “You’re still not leaving me here.”

“I always come back.”

“I don’t care. I’m going with you. Things happen when you’re gone.”

Iris tapped him on the side of the head. “I suppose you think it’s okay to leave me, though?”

“You can come,” Gerald replied.

“That’s big of you.”

“Don’t start, you two. Gerald can come with me because he got left last time. Okay, Iris?”

Iris nodded and poked Gerald in the shoulder.

“Stop it,” he said.

“Iris, go try the door,” I said.

Iris flew to our front door, and worked at the lock. The door swung open with no trouble. I waved good-bye, flew into the air, and through the opening back into the antique mall. Gerald followed me, never more than a wing length away. I smiled to see him so and wondered if he realized the impression he was giving. It was almost as if he liked me.

We flew down aisles, around fat old men arguing about World War II, and narrowly avoided a mother chasing a screaming toddler. When I looked over to check on Gerald, I found him smiling. Not a smile of triumph or sarcasm, but a smile of genuine joy. He caught me looking at him and the smile fell off his face, replaced by his usual resentful expression. I blew him a kiss. I don’t know why I did it. I hadn’t blown a kiss since I was five and heading out for the first day of kindergarten. It felt right though. Gerald gave me a puzzled look, but the smile crept back onto his face.

Then he waved frantically at me and we hovered.

“I heard Easy,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“I heard him. I thought he was ahead, but I think we passed him instead.”

I thought about it and nodded. I decided to believe him. He deserved it. “Lead on.”

Gerald led us back down the aisle past the mother and her still screaming son, past the old men who were now wiping tears from their eyes and looking at ball caps covered with commemorative pins. Then Gerald flew under a table. Green metal cartridge boxes sat in dusty rows next to foot lockers and a box filled with uniform hats.