Larkspur (35 page)

Paddie kicked him over and over again in the
knee. Katy pinched his side. But the man didn’t let go. He carried
the small children into a chamber.

“
You’ll meet your death
here, little fairyling,” the man said. “I will send you and your
friend to the abyss.”

He hung the children by the backs of their
collars on a rack bolted to the wall. There was a noise above them
and he looked up.

“
Good timing,” he
said.

He started his awful song and left the room.
Edie arrived a few minutes later and helped them down from their
perch. They huddled together while the man moved away from them
through the underground chamber.

“
Who is that guy?” Paddie
asked.

“
Kirk Maughold,” Edie
said. “Fairy king who betrayed us and our queen.”

“
Is he the king of Marle?”
Katy asked.

“
Grandson of
Manannán’s . . .uh . . . the king of
Marle,” Edie said.

“
The grandson who got
lost?” Paddie asked.

“
The grandson who was born
after the prince killed himself,” Edie said. “The one Queen Fand
saved.”

“
What does he want with
us?” Katy asked.

“
Nothing nice,” Edie said.
“Let’s see if we can find a way out of here. We’re not far from my
home. If we get out, we can go there and hide until the danger is
over.”

“
When will that be?” Katy
asked. “When do I get to go home?”

“
Soon?” Paddie
asked.

Edie gave the children a kind smile but
didn’t answer.

“
This way,” she said
brightly.

Katy and Paddie ran after Edie into the
catacombs.

~~~~~~~~

Jacob and Valerie joined Sam and Delphie on
the edge of the clearing. Gilfand transformed into his mostly human
form. Brigid and James stood next to them. They lined up in a row
on the edge. No one dared to move forward.

“
Notice anything?” Jacob
asked in a low tone.

“
Nothing moves here,”
Gilfand said.

“
No birds, no animals,
silence,” Valerie said.

“
It’s not even raining
here,” Jacob said. “Not a drop.”

“
Or wind.” Valerie pointed
to the still grass ahead and the rustling trees
overhead.

“
There’s a darkness here.
Very old,” Delphie said.

“
Magic,” Gilfand said.
“Fairy magic.”

“
Oh, hell,” Jacob said.
“Here goes . . .”

A phone rang and Jacob stopped moving. Sam
chuckled. A 1950s wall phone was hanging on a tree on his side of
the clearing.

“
What is that?” Delphie
asked.

“
It’s Seth,” Jacob said.
He went and picked up the phone. “Hello?”

“
Oh good,” Seth said. “I’m
glad I caught you.”

The sound of the wind and ocean came through
in the background.

“
How’s the beach?” Jacob
asked.

“
Nice,” Seth said.
“Listen, I don’t mean to alarm you, and maybe it’s nothing,
but . . .”

“
What’s going on?” Jacob
asked.

“
Katy is missing,” Seth
said.

“
Did you check the
cupboard in the birthing room?” Jacob asked.

“
She’s not there,” Seth
said. “She was there, but she’s not now.”

“
She’s probably at
Paddie’s house,” Jacob said.

“
Julie called to ask if
they knew where Paddie is,” Seth said. “I’m sure you know that a
missing Hargreaves is a national emergency.”

“
And Katy?” Jacob’s voice
caught. “A missing Katy is . . .?”

“
Jill thinks she was taken
because of this fairy stuff,” Seth said. “She’s in full labor,
hysterical . . . Bumpy and Camille are with
her.”

“
Their plan worked?” Jacob
let out a sigh of relief.

“
Yes,” Seth said. “Bumpy
said that it seemed like someone stole Katy from her hiding
place.”

“
Stole my daughter?” Jacob
asked.

He didn’t bother to ask why someone would
steal his daughter. He had the reasons in the form of the bones
sticking out of his pockets.

“
They think she has a
fairy with her,” Seth said. “One of the little ones.
Blue.”

“
That’s got to be good,”
Jacob said.

“
I know you’re busy,” Seth
said. “But I wanted you to know.
And . . .”

“
What?”

“
In the book?” There was a
rustling of pages in the background. “Just a second.”

Jacob turned around. Unwilling to meet his
family’s eyes, he looked into the clearing. For the first time, he
noticed something. He set the phone down and climbed the tree. A
large, white quartz Celtic cross lay on its side in the direct
center of the clearing. He heard Seth’s voice and climbed down the
tree.

“
Sorry, I was looking at
something.”

“
It’s okay,” Seth said.
“It took me a minute to find it. On those pages between the
hardback binding and the actual story, in the back, you
know?”

“
Sure.”

“
There’s an image of a
little girl—who looks like the queen of Marle, I might add—trapped
under a . . .”

“
White quartz Celtic
cross.”

“
How’d you know?” Seth
asked.

“
I’m looking at it,” Jacob
said. “I have to go.”

Jacob hung up the phone and walked back to
where his family waited.

“
They’ve taken Katy,”
Jacob said. “Paddie too, most likely because he was with
her.”

“
That’s impossible,”
Gilfand said. “She had our best, most resourceful fairy with
her.”

“
She’s gone,” Jacob said.
“And according to the book, she’s under the cross right
there.”

He pointed into the clearing. The news hit
the group like a ton of bricks. Delphie began to cry against Sam’s
shoulder. Valerie scowled in a rare, wrinkle-causing way. James put
his hand on Jacob’s shoulder for support. Brigid and Gilfand
disappeared for a moment, and Gilfand reappeared.

“
She is with a young boy
and Edie, the fairy, in the catacombs,” Gilfand said. “Edie sent me
an image of her and the boy. We cannot go there because of the
white quartz, so Brigid went to inform Queen Fand. Katy and her
friend are safe for now because he doesn’t know they slipped away
from him.”

“
He?” James
asked.

“
You were correct,”
Gilfand said to James. “She was taken by Kirk Maughold, my queen’s
grandchild.”

“
There is only one thing
to do,” Jacob said. “You go and annoy whoever took Katy. Gilfand
and I will grab the last set of bones, free Queen Fand, find her
love, and return with the army.”

Jacob gave a nod.

“
He will want to trade
Katy for Queen Fand’s remains,” Delphie said. “Replace what we’ve
undone.”

“
This is a family fight,”
Jacob said. “We need to get them together to fight it out amongst
themselves. The rest of us have suffered enough for their family
dysfunction.”

“
But Jake.” Valerie
touched his arm and he turned to look at her. “This is Katy we’re
talking about. Not some abstract.”

Jacob winced with pain and anxiety.

“
If I don’t get rid of
these bones, he will take them,” Jacob said. “We will have wasted
this chance. Jill will die. You will never have a son, nor will
Jackie. And Katy won’t . . . I have to. I have
to . . .”

“
He’s right,” Sam said.
Sam hugged Jacob. “I’m with you, son.”

“
Save her,” Jacob
whispered.

“
I will,” Sam
said.

Sam pushed Jacob back and looked at
Gilfand.

“
Go.”

From the edge of the clearing, Jacob clapped
his hands and demanded the remaining bones come to him. The ground
rumbled, and the bones shifted under the ground. A foot in front of
him, the bones pierced the earth and flew into his hand. Gilfand
gave a nod and they disappeared.

“
Come on,” Delphie said.
“Let’s go save Katy and Paddie.”

Chapter Two Hundred and
Sixty-nine

Act first

“
Are we ready?” Sam
asked.

Delphie looked from Sam to Valerie, and then
at James. She turned her gaze to the silent meadow in front of
them.

“
What’s our plan?” James
asked.

“
Go in there and kick
ass?” Sam grinned at how ridiculous that sounded.

“
Yes.” James smiled.
“While that sounds brilliant, it might behoove us to have an actual
plan.”

“
Like what?” Valerie
asked.

“
First, we gather intel,”
James said. He turned to Delphie. “Ma’am, what can you tell
us?”

“
My senses are a little
confused,” Delphie said. “Muddled.”

“
Have you felt that
before?” Valerie put her hand on Delphie’s arm. She looked at
James. “She had a stroke and . . .”

“
No,” Delphie said. “It’s
not the stroke. It’s something else that I’ve felt
before . . . I know I’ve felt it
before . . . I felt
it . . .”

Her eyes flicked to Valerie and then to
Sam.

“
We were somewhere,”
Delphie said to Sam. He smiled at her vague statement. “You, me,
and Celia, we were . . . young, not kids, but
young . . .”

“
In Leadville?” Sam
asked.

“
Maybe?” Delphie
asked.

“
How old were you?” Sam
asked.

“
I don’t know, because I
was . . .”

“
Close your eyes and look
at me,” Sam said. “Look at Celia. How old are we?”

“
Young. Maybe Nash’s age,”
Delphie said. “I was still living with Levi.”

“
You never liked going to
the Marlowe Mine,” Sam said.

“
Marlowe Mine?” Delphie
shook her head. “That’s just because I don’t like being
underground. It was somewhere else . . .
nearby . . .”

“
I know.” Sam nodded and
smiled. He glanced at Valerie, and James. “There’s a geothermal
spring in a cave on the Marlowe Mine property. Gorgeous place, with
crystal stalactites on the ceiling and deep in the
hole.”

“
There is?” Valerie’s
voice was indignant. “Does Jake know?”

“
Of course.” Sam gave a
slight nod.

“
Stinker,” Valerie
said.

James scowled at Valerie and turned to
Sam.

“
Why is this key?” James
asked.

“
Because the spring is
famous for its high concentration of arsenic,” Sam said. “Fabulous
for arthritis when it’s in the water, but deadly when it’s
vaporized.”

“
She’s saying that the
field in front of us is filled with arsenic vapors?” James
asked.

“
That’s what she’s
saying,” Sam said.

“
Good to know. We need gas
masks or oxygen tanks.” James looked around. “There’s never a fairy
when you need one.”

Valerie squeaked when the leaves in front of
them moved. James scowled and knelt down. He held out his hand, and
a tiny, leaf-like creature stepped onto it.

“
It’s talking, but I can’t
hear it,” James said.

He held it out to Sam, who shook his
head.

“
I can hear it,” Valerie
said. “I’m just not sure what it’s saying. Delphie?”

Valerie touched Delphie’s shoulder, and she
turned to look at James’s hand. She smiled at the talking leaf.

“
He’s not talking,”
Delphie said. “That’s why you can’t hear him.”

“
I hear something,” James
said.

“
Me too,” Valerie
said.

“
You never practice.”
Delphie scowled at Valerie. She flicked James’s
forehead.

“
Ow!” James said. “Was
that necessary?”

“
Yes. He’s a forest
fairy,” Delphie said. “All fairies have been instructed to help us.
He’s willing to get us what we need.”

Delphie looked at James. He put his hand
over his forehead.

“
What do we need?” Delphie
asked.

“
Gas masks with oxygen
tanks,” James said. They appeared on the ground nearby.

“
Sledgehammers,” Sam
said.

“
Why?” James
asked.

“
I think we should just
knock on his door,” Sam grinned.

“
I like that,” James said.
“We need two . . .”

“
Three,” Valerie
said.

“
Three sledgehammers,”
James said. Two long-handled, heavy sledgehammers and a smaller,
lighter one were neatly propped, head down, against a
rock.

“
Anything else?” James
asked.

“
I’d love a cup of green
tea,” Delphie said.

“
Breakfast when we’re
done?” James glanced at Delphie, who was holding a white teacup and
dunking a tea bag. She smiled at him and took a sip of her tea.
“Are we ready?”

“
Gloves?” Valerie asked. A
pair of lambskin gloves appeared on her hands. She picked up the
smaller sledgehammer and hoisted it to her shoulder.