My Unfair Godmother (9 page)

“I’m flattered, I’m sure,” Friar Tuck said, then pointed to their rings. “We require those lovelies as well.” As the first woman tugged off her rings, I turned to Robin Hood, pleading, “You shouldn’t take their wedding rings. They have sentimental value.”

He laid his hand against his chest. “And I assure you they will have sentimental value to me as well.” I glared at him, but didn’t argue anymore.

Next to me, the hot guy took off his watch and a class ring. I barely noticed it was Rock Canyon High’s color—bright blue—before he dropped it in the sack.

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I pulled off the one piece of jewelry I wore, an opal ring my mother had given me when I turned sixteen. It also had sentimental value, but it was pointless to bring that up.

This was such my luck. I was being robbed by the guy I had wished here.

Robin Hood held out his hand for my ring. I dropped it in his palm, but instead of putting it into the bag, he took hold of my hand and slipped it back onto my finger. “Your ring is not what I will steal from you.” Still holding onto my hand, he slowly pulled me into an embrace. I looked up to ask what he was doing, and as our eyes met, he bent down and kissed me.

As soon as his lips touched mine, I put my hands on his chest to push him away. It was like pushing a wall. He was much stronger than me, and after a few moments, I quit struggling and let him kiss me. I figured once he made his point, he would stop.

He didn’t.

History had never mentioned that Robin Hood was an exceptional kisser, but it should have. It was clearly one of his more impressive talents. I might have enjoyed the kiss if he weren’t an outlaw and if I hadn’t been in the middle of a hold-up in Walgreens. Even as it was, when he lifted his head from mine, I felt breathless.

Will Scarlet walked up to us. “Robin,” he said with exasperation.

Robin Hood didn’t let me go. He stared into my eyes, his smirk back again. His fingers made a slow trail down my back. “I suppose yours was not such a bad wish after all.” He bent his head to kiss me again, but the break was enough to restore my sanity. This had to end.

“The police—the sheriff’s men—they’re on their way,” I said.

Robin Hood stiffened, then dropped his hands away from me.

“Are they?” He didn’t ask how I knew, just stepped away and whistled to his men. “We best be off. The law is on our trail.” 81/356

Most of the men flung their sacks over their shoulders and fled out of the door. With his sword still drawn, Will backed away from us.

When he was far enough away, he turned and ran to the door as well.

Robin Hood was the last one out. Before he left, he winked at me and said, “Until we meet again, fair Tansy.” Then he was gone.

The woman beside me put a hand over her chest and let out a stream of words that was too jumbled to understand. The other woman leaned against the counter, taking deep breaths. The teenage girl pulled her cell phone from her pocket with shuddering hands and dialed someone. The hot police guy turned to me, unshaken. He put his hands on his hips and narrowed his eyes. “You warned that thug the police were coming.”

I flushed. I couldn’t explain. “It was the best line I could think of to discourage him from a make-out session.”

“Well, judging from your last boyfriend, I can see why that line would pop into your mind first. But to tell you the truth, you didn’t look like you minded the make-out session all that much.”

“I didn’t have a choice about kissing him,” I said. “He had a sword.”

“He knew your name,” the guy said. “Why is that?” I refused to let him ruffle me. “It’s a small town. Apparently everybody knows my name. Even random police detectives.” I turned toward the door. He reached out and grabbed my arm.

His grip was firm, but not tight. “You need to stay to make a statement for the police. And we all need to file reports about what the robbers stole from us.”

“I don’t,” I said. “He only stole a kiss from me, and I don’t want it returned.”

The guy’s dark brown eyes turned piercing. “Tansy, you need to stay and talk to the police.”

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I pulled my arm away from him. “I think we’ve already estab-lished that I don’t like talking to the police.”

“It will look worse if you leave,” he said.

“No, it will look worse if my father has to come down to the police station two nights in a row to pick me up.” I walked out the door without looking back at him.

• • •

I don’t know why I thought Mr. Hot Police Officer would keep my name out of it. When I got home, a police car was parked in front of my house. I should have stayed at the Walgreens and saved myself the bike trip back. My thighs burned from all of the pedaling. I groaned and leaned my bike up against the side of the house. An officer sat in the car. He reported something into his car radio, then climbed out and followed me up the walkway.

When I got inside, my parents and another officer were standing in the living room talking. My father’s face was taut with anger, his hands clenched into fists. He spoke to me, shooting each word out sharp and whole. “You were grounded. You were supposed to stay in your room.”

I couldn’t very well tell him I had been out trying to stop Robin Hood from plundering the city. I also couldn’t tell him, with the police officers staring at me, that my fairy godmother had zapped them here on my command. “Sorry,” I said.

He waited for me to say more. I didn’t. It was pathetically lacking as an apology, but I didn’t know how to spruce it up without ending up in a padded cell.

The younger of the two police officers stepped forward. His red hair had been cropped short in what was nearly a crew cut. He held up 83/356

a clipboard to take notes and regarded me suspiciously. “You were at the Walgreens that was held up?”

I nodded.

“Do you have any idea where the criminals are now?”

“No.”

“Have you ever seen them before?”

I nearly told them no, then remembered Chrissy’s warning that I couldn’t lie or lights would go off around me announcing the fact. It would be hard to explain that sort of thing right now. “I saw them on the news earlier today,” I said. It was, after all, the truth.

“Why did the men know your name?”

“I ran into them in the parking lot before they went inside, and I told them my name.” Also the truth.

The police officer raised an unbelieving eyebrow at me. “You saw a bunch of men you knew were dangerous criminals, and you went up to them in a parking lot and told them your name?”

“I was trying to convince them not to rob the Walgreens,” I said.

“Uh-huh.” The police officer pursed his lips, and I could tell this wasn’t going well. “We’ll need you to come down to the station so we can get a formal statement.”

Chrissy was right. Telling the truth was way overrated.

I shook my head. “I’m not going with you.” Sandra said, “Tansy, I think—”

I wouldn’t let her finish. I’d had enough of the police. “I’m not saying anything else. It isn’t illegal to talk to people in a parking lot, so they can’t arrest me for that. I didn’t do anything wrong tonight.” The older officer crossed his arms. “Maybe you folks need to have a talk with your daughter about cooperation and then get back to us.” He sent me a slow, intimidating stare. “Armed robbery is a felony. This isn’t a game, young lady.”

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The officers turned and went to the door. Sandra followed them, apologizing for my behavior, telling them I normally wasn’t like this.

“Our family is going through a hard time right now,” she said.

My father didn’t move. He shook his head as though answering some question only he heard. “You didn’t do anything wrong tonight?”

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

“You were grounded and you went out consorting with criminals.” I didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure what consorting meant. Maybe it was time I started reading again. My vocabulary needed some refreshing.

“I don’t even know who you are,” my dad went on. He said the words quietly, but so forcefully it felt like he’d yelled them. “Just go to your room.”

I turned and walked down the hallway. He was right. He didn’t know who I was.

Chapter 6

On Sunday, a repairman came and put in a new window in my bedroom. Then another guy came over and set up an alarm system in the house. The weekend rate had probably cost my dad extra. He didn’t tell me the alarm code, and I didn’t ask. I knew he had ordered the alarm so I wouldn’t be able to leave the house at night without setting it off.

Dad hardly spoke to me all day, and Sandra sent me disappointed looks that didn’t change no matter how many times I said I was sorry.

And I said it a lot. Apparently repeating the word multiple times didn’t make me any better at apologies.

Nick, fortunately, was nice. When he saw me checking the Internet for news of more hold-ups, he told me he had a friend who had access to police scanners. Nick called his friend, then gave me the up-date: that afternoon the medieval bandits had robbed the Village Inn and made off with several boxes of sausages, all the pies in the dessert case, and an assortment of silverware. Robin Hood probably didn’t realize it wasn’t made from real silver.

I was glad no one was hurt, but it was just a matter of time. I had to get things straightened out with Chrissy.

• • •

Monday morning, instead of riding on the back of Bo’s motorcycle to school, I sat in the passenger seat of Nick’s beat-up old Camry. As we went through the school lobby, I was glad for his company. He was proof I had one friend. Even if Nick had been forced into the position when our parents married.

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Everyone stared at me. They probably knew about my weekend. I tried not to meet their eyes. I especially didn’t want to see Bo or any of his friends. I was mad that Bo wasn’t sorry for what he’d done and mad that he hadn’t given me a chance to explain, but mostly I was mad that after all my debating as to whether I should break up with him, he had dumped me first.

Eventually Nick and I split up to go to our lockers. As I walked down the hallway, I picked up bits and pieces of the conversations around me. Someone said the word “criminal.” Were they talking about Robin Hood, Bo, or me? Or perhaps the homework load our teachers gave us?

It was going to be such a long day and such a long week.

I rounded the corner and saw Bo leaning against my locker. He was scowling, which probably meant he wasn’t there to apologize. I let out a sigh. I wasn’t in the mood for this.

I walked up and slid my backpack off my shoulder. “Hi, Bo.” He stepped close to me, leaning down so his face was inches away from mine. His eyes flared with indignation. “Why did you turn us in to the police?”

I spun the first number on my locker combination. “Oh, I don’t know. It had something to do with the fact that you left me at a crime scene, and then the police handcuffed me, dragged me down to jail, and threatened to pin the whole thing on me.” I could have told him the police tricked me into telling his name, but suddenly I didn’t want to. His anger made me wish I had turned him in on purpose.

“You’re such a—” He finished the sentence, but the word was muted when he punched my locker. “We did it for you, and this is what we get? I have a two-thousand-dollar fine and a court date.” 87/356

I turned to face him. “You did it for me? Really? Because I remember asking you to stop. And what about the other buildings you vandalized? Those weren’t for me. You just like to destroy things.”

“Maybe I do.” He punched my locker again, this time so hard I jumped. Then he put one hand on either side of me, trapping me against the lockers.

My pulse hammered.
He’s not going to hurt me
, I told myself.
Bo
isn’t like that.
But as I stood there with the locker handle pressing into my back, I wasn’t so sure what he was like anymore.

Bo’s lips twisted into a snarl, and he opened his mouth to speak.

Before he did, someone grabbed hold of his shoulder and pulled him backward, hard.

My first thought was that it was Nick—who else would stand up for me? A wave of dread ran through me. Bo would turn around and flatten him. Then Bo’s friends would make Nick’s life miserable.

When my eyes connected with my rescuer though, it wasn’t Nick.

The hot undercover police guy had pulled Bo away from me. He stood by my locker along with several beefy members of the football team.

“Is there a problem here?” Hot Police Guy asked. His jaw was set.

His brown eyes flashed fiercely.

Bo stepped away. “Get off of me, freak!” His gaze went back and forth between the guy and me. “Is that what you did at the police station, Tansy? You got friendly with the police chief’s son? What sort of interrogation was it?”

The police chief’s son? I stared at the hot guy. I didn’t know whether to be happy he’d shown up here or horrified that I would be running into him at school.

One of the football players stepped toward Bo, clenching his fingers into a fist. “Shove off, Bo.”

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Bo flinched away from me, rolling his shoulders as though to shrug off the entire situation. “You aren’t worth my time,” he said, then turned and sauntered back down the hallway, disappearing into the river of students.

I leaned against my locker and took a couple of shaky breaths.

The football players talked with the hot guy for a few moments.

They did that boy thing where they bumped their knuckles together, and then the football players left.

The police chief’s son stayed, surveying me. His brown eyes were softer now that Bo was gone, his stance more relaxed. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“I figured Bo might be a pain today.” He looked down the hallway checking to make sure Bo didn’t come back. “Hopefully that’ll take care of it.”

Some of my gratitude for my rescue vanished. Police Chief Junior had known Bo was going to react this way, but he’d still tricked me. He didn’t care what it was going to do to my life or that I was going to be some sort of pariah at school now.

“So you’re the police chief’s son?”

His gaze returned to me. “My name is Hudson Gardner.”