When the Stars Threw Down Their Spears: The Goblin Wars, Book Three (23 page)

“Six months!”
Abby exclaimed. “That’s like half a year.”

Mr. Wylltson nodded. “Exactly like. I don’t believe in making important decisions in the midst of chaos. I considered making it a year—”

“Dad!”

“—but I am merciful and kindhearted. I just wanted Finn to know that I have considered it. But I do have something to discuss with Seamus. Sophia says—”

“I didn’t do it,” Aiden said, putting the whip behind his back. “Lennie did, but he didn’t mean to. And it’s not going to die.”

“Is this something I should know about?” Mr. Wylltson asked.

“Mrs. Santini’s potted fern,” Teagan explained. “Lennie knocked it over and broke the planter. I’ve already talked to Mrs. Santini about it.”

“He knocked it over with the whip?” Mr. Wylltson asked.

Aiden nodded. “But Finn’s going to show me how to use it right.”

“I’ve never touched one before, boyo,” Finn said. “But we can try.”

“I have,” Seamus said. “I’m very good with a whip.”

“Of course you are.” Finn folded his arms. “You could drive for a living, too, no doubt. Possibly run walking tours of the neighborhood?”

Seamus held out his hand. Aiden hesitated, but Finn nodded at him and he handed the whip over.

“Someone left me one of these when I was a kid.”
His dad
. Teagan could hear the edge behind his words even if he tried to hide it. “I was a big fan of Indiana Jones,” he went on.

“Lennie has the hat,” Aiden said. “He wouldn’t trade.”

“This has a nice feel to it.” Seamus hefted the handle, and ran the length of the whip through his hands. “Supple. It’s been broken in. I could take the wings off a fly with this.”

“You’re claiming you can hit a wee little fly with the thing?” Finn wasn’t even trying to hide his skepticism.

“No, you can’t,” Aiden said. “There are no more flies. Lucy ate them.”

Jing had been watching the exchange silently. “How about a penny?” He pulled one from his pocket.

“All right.” Seamus rolled his shoulders, loosening up, and walked to the center of the room. Everyone moved away from him. Teagan wasn’t sure whether they were worried about the whip in his hands or were fleeing the braggart. “Flip it toward the ceiling.”

Jing flipped the coin with his thumb, and it spun upward. For two heartbeats, Seamus didn’t move, watching the penny rise toward the top of its arc—and then he did, not pulling his arm back over his shoulder as Teagan had expected, but snapping an underhand flick. Suddenly, the whip wasn’t a dead snake anymore. She saw the beginning of the movement, then it blurred and the penny
ting
ed off the front window.
Not a braggart, then
.

“Ba-daaaamn, man.” Jing stepped forward and offered his hand. “That was bad. The name’s Khan. Jinghez Khan.”

“Seamus McGillahee.” Seamus shook his hand, then coiled the whip. “Like I said, big fan of Indiana Jones.”

“You should totally get the coat and hat,” Abby said. “You’d rock it.”

Aiden turned and looked at the door. “Zoë’s coming!” he shouted.

“You hear her song?” Seamus asked.

“Yep. ‘The Wonder of You,’ by the King.”

“Elvis?” Seamus looked disgusted.

Aiden’s eyes went wide.
“You don’t like the King?”

Teagan left Seamus and Aiden to glare at one another and pulled her dad aside.

“Dad, Seamus . . . talks too much.” If Seamus started going on about Druids and invisible cats, Zoë might think it was strange enough to mention to Ms. Skinner, and Ms. Skinner was just looking for a reason to declare that Aiden’s environment was bad. “At the station he was telling one of the detectives . . . everything.”

Mr. Wylltson frowned. “About you and your brother?”

“He didn’t know we were Highborn then,” Teagan said. “He knows a lot more now.” Mr. Wylltson nodded as Aiden pulled open the door. Teagan saw Abby wince and look away.

The dance therapist generally dressed like a flower child who’d gone missing in the sixties and washed up with her retro wardrobe intact on a modern shore. Today she wore a floral peasant blouse and lime green palazzo pants over scuffed jazz shoes.

She’d tied back her gypsy hair with a hot pink scarf, showing off the smiley-face earrings that dangled from her ears. She was carrying a steel water bottle in one hand and a boom box that looked like it had been dropped once or twice in the other.

Aiden threw himself at her, and Zoë managed to catch him in a hug using the water-bottle arm.

“Seamus McGillahee!” The smiley-face earrings bobbed over Aiden’s head. “How nice to see you!”

“You two know each other?” Teagan asked. Things were getting worse.

“We met just recently,” Zoë said. “The children of one of Mr. McGillahee’s clients were tangled in the social system, and—”

“I got them untangled,” Seamus finished.

Zoë set the boom box on top of the television.

“You brought Elvis?” Aiden asked.

“How did you know?” Zoë winked at him. “Are you and Seamus friends? He could join us.”

“We’re
not
friends,” Aiden said. “Seamus doesn’t like me.”

“Really?” Zoë’s eyebrows went up. “Why is that, Seamus?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Mr. Wylltson said before the lawyer could answer. “But I just decided to make tacos for dinner. I was wondering if you might give me a ride to the store, Seamus? You do have a car. And I would like a chance to discuss something with you, as I said a moment ago.”

“Tacos!” Aiden shouted. “Yepper-roodle-roooo!”

“Or, you could stay and stretch with us.” Zoë waved a CD in the air. “I brought the King.”

“I’d be happy to give you a ride, Mr. Wylltson,” Seamus said.

“Don’t worry about tacos for me and Jing, Mr. Wylltson,” Abby said. “I’m taking him to Zia’s right now.”

Mr. Wylltson handed the envelope to Teagan. “Behind the change jar. And you could start the meat. We won’t be long.”

“Thanks, Zoë,” Aiden said after they’d all gone out the door. “Mamieo was going to make baked beets. She said so on the way home.”

“I like beets,” Zoë said. “But you’re welcome.” She popped in the CD.

Teagan took the envelope to the kitchen and put it behind the change jar, then took a chub of hamburger and a block of cheese from the fridge.

Raynor’s head was bent over his work, but he was singing along with the Elvis recording under his breath. “The Wonder of You.”

“Tell me what to do, and I’ll help.” Finn came in from the living room and glanced at the envelope. “It’ll keep my mind off of things.”

“You could shred the cheese,” Teagan said.

“Right. How, exactly?”

She took out the grater and showed him how to use it. “Watch out for your knuckles. We don’t want blood in the food.”

Teagan started browning the hamburger and chopped onions while Finn grated. Aiden and Zoë had worked themselves up from “The Wonder of You” to “Jailhouse Rock” by the time Mr. Wylltson carried the grocery bags in.

Seamus backed into the kitchen behind him.

“They’re doing the complete choreography,” he said. “You’d think Elvis was in the building.”

“She speaks Aiden.” Mr. Wylltson handed the taco shells to Teagan. “And I’m glad of that.”

“Do you think she has Traveler blood?” Teagan asked.

“No,” Seamus said. “Not a drop.”

“Done with the cheese,” Finn announced. “What next?”

“We still need to shred the lettuce.” Teagan handed him a head from the bag.

So it
had
just been luck that Zoë had managed to avoid stepping on the
cat-sídhe
and sprite during her visits. Or maybe she just moved so carefully that they avoided her.

“Jailhouse Rock” ended, and as Aiden and Zoë came into the kitchen for a drink of water, Teagan noticed that Gil had his nose plastered to the window again. She turned to pull down the blinds. Zoë might not be able to see the phooka, but anyone could see Joe, who was still sleeping in the corner.

Zoë stepped up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly she knew why Aiden loved the woman.
It was like being touched by her mom
. Little things that Teagan had somehow already forgotten flooded over her, like the smell of linseed oil and paint thinner that always followed her.

Teagan ducked out from under Zoë’s hand before she burst into tears. “Excuse me . . . I . . . I’ve got to do something.” She managed to get across the kitchen and out the back door without sobbing.

“What
is
that?” Gil asked, pointing at the window as she stepped out.

“A dance therapist,” Teagan said, wiping her eyes.

“I like its ears.”

“Earrings. I’m sure the Highborn wear earrings in Mag Mell. I’m guessing not like those, though.”

“I don’t run with other Highborn,” Gil said. “Just you. Please put up the cloth. I want to
look
at it.” Gil frowned. “I saw it in Mag Mell. It did this . . .” He curled his finger in a beckoning motion.

“She was confused. My dad saw and heard things in Mag Mell, too. But his brain just interpreted them in ways he could understand. He thought the baying of the hellhounds was storm sirens.”

“So?” Gil asked.

“So Zoë probably thought you were a human. Maybe even someone she knew.”

“It thought I was a man?” Gil sounded incredibly happy.

“Just don’t hang on the window,” Teagan said. “I’ll bring you some dinner in a little bit.”

Raynor had cornered the dance therapist and was talking about his motorbike when Teagan stepped back in.

“Done with the lettuce.” Finn handed her a bowl of green sludge. “Is it supposed to look like that?”

“No,” Teagan said. “What did you do to it?”

“Shredded it. Like you showed me.”

“Shredding lettuce is different. You use a knife and cut it into thin strips.”

“Ah.” Finn tipped the bowl and the sludge slid to the side.

“You could be a chef, Mac Cumhaill.” Seamus eyed the slime. “Open your own restaurant, perhaps.”

“It will be fine,” Mr. Wylltson said. “We were just going to chew it anyway. Just put a serving spoon in it and put it on the table. We’re ready to eat.”

“Zoë’s staying,” Aiden told Teagan. “Dad said she could.”

Teagan collected everyone but Roisin, and they all sat down.

“Mamieo,” Mr. Wylltson said, “would you bless the food?” Everyone but Thomas bowed their heads as she prayed. Teagan saw him out of the corner of her eye, staring straight ahead.

“Mamieo,” Aiden asked, “how come the Almighty talks to you?”

“I’ve always been one of his favorites, I suppose,” Mamieo said, spooning green sludge into a taco shell. “But it’s more than that, pratie. When I was about your size, I had a problem with my parents. They weren’t the best, you see. I was sitting in the bushes, crying my heart out. ‘Almighty,’ I says, ‘why did you give me such a bastard for a da?’”

“What did he say?” Aiden asked.

“He said, ‘Watch your language, Ida.’”

“I’m glad the Almighty mentioned it,” Mr. Wylltson said dryly. “It saves me the trouble.”

“The word wasn’t completely accurate, I’ll admit,” Mamieo said. “But it did express my feelings at the time. ‘Dry your tears, girl,’ the Almighty says. ‘I’ll be your da.’ ‘All very fine,’ I told him. ‘But you must admit, you didn’t give me much of a
máthair
, either.’

“‘I’ll be your
máthair
as well,’ says he, cool as a cucumber in May. We’ve been on excellent terms ever since.”

“That’s impossible,” Aiden said. “‘He’ means guy. A ‘he’ can’t be a
máthair
. Dad, does it say ‘he’ in the Bible?”

“It does. Of course, it also says, ‘He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge,’ and I doubt that means that the Almighty is a giant chicken. What do you say, Raynor?”

“I think I’d be crazy to get into this,” Raynor said. “People have been burned at the stake for less.”

“People?” Seamus asked Raynor with a raised eyebrow. Teagan glared at him.

“God is a
guy
,” Aiden said with certainty.

“A guy? We’re talking about the Almighty, aren’t we?” Mamieo said. “The Creator of Creation. Not an old bearded gent with a god-sized winky.”

“Mamieo!” Finn flushed completely red. “We have company!”

Teagan put her head in her hands. This was completely out of control.

“Oh, I don’t mind.” Zoë smiled. “You should hear the conversations around
my
family table. Please be yourselves.”

“I couldn’t be anyone else, could I?” Mamieo asked.

“No,” Zoë agreed. “I’m sure no one would want you to.”

Mamieo nodded. “The Creator isn’t a woman, either, pratie, but something else entirely. The inspiration for both, I’m thinking.”

“I’m asking Father Gordon,” Aiden said.

“That should be interesting,” Mr. Wylltson said. “Make sure Mamieo Ida is there when you ask Father about it. I want to hear this.”

“Don’t go giving them the impression that I’m in the habit of arguing with priests, John Paul.” Mamieo said. “Because I’m not!”

Even Zoë looked at her in disbelief.

Mamieo sniffed. “Unless they’re wrong.”

“What did you do at school today, Aiden?” Teagan asked. Luckily, Zoë seemed just as interested in his playground stories as she had been in Mamieo’s theology, and they made it through the meal with no more embarrassment.

“I’ll take a plate up to Roisin.” Thomas stood up. “If you’ll excuse me?”

“I really need to be going as well,” Zoë said. “Thank you for the dinner and conversation.”

Teagan felt ready to collapse by the time Zoë left.

Mr. Wylltson and Seamus were finishing the last of the dishes when someone leaned on the doorbell. Aiden jumped up.

“It’s Lennie,” he said. “That’s our secret ring!”

Everyone followed Aiden to the front door.

“Code red! Code red!” Lennie shouted.

They followed him across the street and through the side gate into the Santinis’ backyard. Mrs. Santini, with a big flashlight, and Abby, who had a broom, were standing guard over a blob on the back step.

“Where’s Jing?” Teagan asked.

“He left a little while ago,” Abby said. “Zia and I have been discussing the situation.”