Fablehaven: The Complete Series (70 page)

She needed to find a way to free her grandparents. There were tools in the cottage, plenty of items she could use as weapons, but if Vanessa was still controlling Tanu, Kendra had a hard time picturing herself succeeding. Mendigo could help, but Kendra would be surprised if the puppet was able to enter the yard, since he could not enter the cabin. She was pretty sure Grandpa had to grant special permission to any nonmortal visitors. The fairies were permitted in the garden only by his consent.

Mendigo started tapping on the window. She had told him to warn her if anyone approached. What could she do? “Mendigo, protect Warren and me from harm, but stay out of sight until my command.”

Mendigo crouched behind a bush near the porch as Kendra made her way to the window. She peeked out, moving her head slowly, and could not believe what she saw. Seth was emerging from the trees, walking up the path to the cottage.

Initially she was shocked. When she recovered, Kendra ran to the door and flung it open, tears of happiness and relief springing to her eyes. “Seth!” she cried.

“Kendra?” he said, stopping in his tracks.

“You’re not dead!”

“Sure I am. I’m a ghost. I’ve been sent back with a warning.”

Kendra could not stop smiling. “I thought I’d never hear you say something idiotic again!”

“Who else is with you?”

“Just Mendigo and Warren. Hurry, come inside.”

“Ha-ha,” Seth said, continuing toward the cottage at a leisurely pace.

“I’m serious,” Kendra said. “Come inside. Bad things have happened.”

“And I’m serious too,” he said. “Muriel called me back from beyond the grave to deliver a singing telegram.”

Kendra put her hands on her hips. “Mendigo, show yourself.”

The limberjack jumped out from behind the bush. “Holy cow!” Seth exclaimed, recoiling. “What’s he doing here? And why is he taking orders from you?”

“Get inside and I’ll tell you!” Kendra said. “I’ve never been gladder to see anybody. We have a big problem on our hands.”

Chapter 15

Satirical Assistance

Seth sat across the table from Kendra, looking totally shell-shocked. After he had told Kendra about the cocoon and passing through Olloch, she had explained how Vanessa had been revealed while he was absent. “So Vanessa was controlling Coulter,” he said. “That was why he suddenly seemed so disoriented. He woke up with the revenant right on top of us, and still managed to save me.”

“If we fall asleep, she may be able to control us,” Kendra said.

“How?” He picked up another cookie from the plate Kendra had left at the center of the table. She had discovered the cookies in a cupboard.

“Since she’s a narcoblix, I think the drumants were a diversion so she could bite us in the night without anybody worrying about the marks. You were bitten by drumants. So was I. So was Coulter. So was Tanu. But who knows if all those bites were actually drumants?”

“I bet you’re right,” Seth said, munching on the cookie. “You know, I fell asleep inside the cocoon a couple of times. Once for quite a while. She might know I’m still alive.”

“To be safe, we better not fall asleep until we solve this problem,” Kendra said.

“You look tired,” Seth said. “Your eyes are getting bloodshot.”

“Vanessa gave me a sleeping drug yesterday, and I slept most of the day. But then I was up all night, and didn’t want to risk napping today.” Kendra yawned. “I’m trying not to think about it.”

“Well, I had a good sleep after Olloch . . . got rid of me, so I should be able to go all night,” Seth said. “I agree we need to free Grandpa and Grandma, but we also need to find the key and keep it away from Vanessa. We have to protect the artifact.”

“For all we know, she may already have the key,” Kendra said. “She might even have the artifact!”

“I doubt it. It will be hard to get past that revenant. I mean, the thing just froze me with pure terror—there was nothing I could do. But maybe Vanessa knows a trick.”

“It can’t be too easy for her,” Kendra said. “I think she sent you and Coulter to the grove as an experiment. I’m not sure she knows what she’s doing.”

“Well, if she sent Coulter, she might send others,” Seth said. “She and that Christopher Vogel guy are here to get the artifact. They’re going to find a way if we don’t stop them. And they might hurt everybody they captured in the process.”

“You think we should go spy on them?”

“Right away. While we still have light. We don’t have time to waste.”

Kendra nodded. “Okay, you’re right.” She stood and put a hand on Warren’s shoulder. “We’re going to the house, Warren. We’ll be back.” He smiled up at her blankly.

“I know some of these potions,” Seth said, indicating the potions on the table.

“Do you know which emotions are which?” Kendra asked.

“I’m pretty sure,” he said. “And I know these ones turn you small. Like under a foot high. And this one is an antidote for most poisons. And this one makes you resistant to fire. Or was that this one?”

“Do you know which one was fear?” Kendra asked. “That might come in handy.”

“This one is fear,” Seth said, picking up one of the bottles. “But we should bring all of them.” He began placing the potions in the pouch. “Oh, and this jar has something important.” Seth unscrewed the lid of a small jar. He dipped his finger in and withdrew it with a pale yellowish paste on it. He sucked the paste off his fingertip.

“What was that?” Kendra asked.

“Walrus butter,” Seth said. “From a walrus on a preserve up in Greenland. Works like the milk. It’s what Tanu uses out in the field.”

“Hopefully they haven’t found the key yet,” Kendra said. “Grandpa hid it in a new place. Of course, we might not be able to find it either.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Seth said. “We can’t really plan until we check out what’s going on. I should be able to use the glove to get a good look.”

Kendra walked to the door, opened it, and spoke to the giant puppet. “Mendigo, obey all the instructions Seth gives you as if I were giving them.” She turned back to Seth. “You ready?”

“Just a second,” Seth said, carefully placing the final potions into the pouch. He kept the fear potion in his hand. “I lost my emergency kit, but gained a bag of magical potions and an invisibility glove. Pretty good trade.”

They went outside. “Mendigo,” Kendra said, “carry Seth and me to the yard as fast and as comfortably as you can, trying not to let us be heard or seen.”

The wooden puppet slung Seth over one shoulder and Kendra over the other. Showing no sign of strain, Mendigo trotted briskly down the path away from the cottage.

* * *

Crouched, choosing their steps carefully, Kendra and Seth approached the yard. Mendigo waited several paces behind them, with orders to retrieve them and retreat to the cottage if they called. Kendra had tried to send him into the yard, but he had been unable to set foot on the grass. The same barrier that had kept Olloch out of the yard was in full effect for the limberjack as well.

Seth squatted behind a leafy shrub near the edge of the woods. Kendra settled in beside him. “Look on the porch,” he whispered.

Kendra raised her head to peek over the shrub, but Seth pulled her down. “Look through the bush,” he hissed. She leaned back and forth until she found a gap that let her see the porch.

“Imps,” she whispered.

“Two of them,” Seth said. “The big kind. How could they get in the yard?”

“That big one looks like the imp from the dungeon,” Kendra said. “I bet they were both prisoners. They didn’t enter the yard from the woods; they came up out of the basement.”

“We’ve seen what they can do,” Seth said, backing away from the shrub. “Imps are tough. We can’t risk them spotting us.”

Kendra retreated with Seth back to where Mendigo stood waiting. The shadows were long as the sun dipped toward the horizon. “How do we get past them?” Kendra said.

“I don’t know,” Seth said. “They’re fast and strong.” He put on the glove and vanished. “I’ll go in for a closer look.”

“No, Seth. They’re on the lookout. They’ll spot you. You can’t hold still and run away at the same time.”

“So we give up?”

“No. Take the glove off.” She didn’t like talking to his disembodied voice.

Seth reappeared. “I’m not sure we have many options. It’s front door, back door, or a window.”

“There’s another way in,” Kendra said. “And we might be able to use it.”

“What way?”

“The brownie doors. They lead in through the dungeon.”

Seth frowned pensively. “But how would we . . . wait a minute—the potions.”

“We shrink ourselves.”

“Kendra, that is the best idea you’ve ever had,” Seth said.

“But there’s a problem,” she said, folding her arms. “We don’t know where the brownies enter. We know they pass through the dungeon and into the kitchen, but we don’t know where to start.”

“My turn,” Seth said. “Let’s go ask the satyrs.”

“You think they’ll help us?”

Seth shrugged. “I have something they want.”

“Do you know how to find them?”

“We can try the tennis court. If that fails, there’s a place where I leave them messages.”

“I wonder if the fairies would tell me,” Kendra said.

“If you can get any to speak to you,” Seth said. “Come on, if we hurry we can get there before sundown. It isn’t far.”

“They really built a tennis court?”

“A nice one. You’ll see.”

Seth ordered Mendigo to pick them up, and then guided the limberjack around the perimeter of the yard to the path that would lead them to the tennis court. Mendigo jogged down the path, hooks jingling. As they neared the court, they could hear arguing.

“I’m telling you, it’s too dark, we have to call the game,” one voice said.

“And you say that makes it a draw?” the other voice replied incredulously.

“That’s the only fair conclusion.”

“I’m up 6–2, 6–3, 5–1! And it’s my serve!”

“Doren, you have to win three full sets to take the match. Count your blessings—I was getting ready to make my move.”

“The sun isn’t even down!”

“It’s below the trees. I can’t see the ball in these shadows. You played some solid games. I’ll grant that you had a fair chance of winning had we continued. Sadly, nature has intervened.”

Mendigo left the path at Seth’s prompting and started through the undergrowth toward the hidden court.

“Can’t we start again tomorrow at the same score?” the second voice tried.

“Unfortunately, tennis is a game of inertia. Restarting cold wouldn’t be fair to either of us. Tell you what. We’ll begin earlier tomorrow, so we can get a full match in.”

“And I suppose if you’re behind and can find a cloud somewhere in the sky, you’ll say there’s a chance of showers and call the game. I’m serving. You’re welcome to return it, or you’re welcome to stand there.”

Mendigo pushed through the bushes at the edge of the tennis court. Doren stood waiting to serve. The racket he had broken while swatting Olloch had been beautifully mended and restrung. Newel stood at the net.