I leaned on the living room doorway, watching Gerald circling the room. He kept his eyes fixed on a pile of brown fur. Several arms and legs twitched, but no heads were visible. The pile emitted a low wheezing sound every few seconds, or so Gerald claimed.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “They won’t wake up.”
Gerald poked at the pile, even going so far as to pick up a hand and let it drop.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
I watched a flame dance across my hand, separate into five little flames and flow out to the tips of my fingers. “That’s what Soren said. Trow are nocturnal.”
“Are they dangerous?”
“Soren didn’t seem to think so.”
“But you don’t know.”
I willed the flames to reform into one and looked at Gerald. “No, I’m not sure, but I feel fine about them. You do too, don’t you? We’d feel it if they were dangerous.”
“Maybe. I wonder why they sleep like this. It almost looks like one creature instead of a bunch.” Gerald brushed his hand across the brown fur. It sprung back into place as though nothing had disturbed it.
“You can ask them at dusk,” I said. “Soren says that’s when they wake up.”
Gerald stopped and listened. “More humans are here.”
“Maybe the party’s starting,” I said. “Let’s look.”
“Should we lock the trow in?”
“We’d just have to let them out. Why bother?”
Gerald opened his mouth to say something, but shut it without the expected protest. I went to the front door, peeked out, and watched as a new woman arranged flowers on a long table where the sofa used to be. The regular furniture framed the edge of the room that now had a multitude of humans in it. Judd and Tess dodged adults carrying platters and flowers. They stole several things off a tray on the kitchen table. They popped them in their mouths and chewed. Judd gagged and spit his out into his hand. Tess was daintier. She swallowed, but not without an expression of agony on her face. Judd tossed his bite into a vase and went back for seconds.
“Oh, no you don’t.” An elderly woman came around the corner by the stairs and shook her finger at Judd. Her voice sounded stern, but her face gleamed with pleasure at the boy.
I grabbed Gerald’s arm. “Look who it is.”
“Who?” asked Gerald as he pulled his arm away and rubbed it.
I looked at him incredulously until I remembered that I’d been alone in the antique mall when I’d run into the old ladies.
“Sarah. I saw her in the antique mall.”
Gerald shrugged, pushed past me, and tried to take off. I grabbed his arm and yanked him back.
“Hey!”
“She believes in fairies.”
Gerald regarded Sarah with more interest. He leaned on the door frame. “If she already believes, maybe she’ll see you.”
“Just what I was thinking.”
“So you could ask her for help?”
I watched Sarah hug Judd and then cuddle Tess. Sarah said something to Judd while gesturing to his smudged chin. Judd grimaced. The kids ran up the stairs and out of sight. Sarah surveyed the room. She wore an emerald green dress with a dozen strands of pearls looped around her neck. The green made her silver hair shine and I hoped I’d look as good when I was old. Sarah’s scent reached through the smells of flowers and food to make me smile. Lavender and cookies. Just like in the mall.
“It’s worth a try,” I said.
Gerald clapped his hands together and rubbed them vigorously. “Excellent. Let’s tell Iris. She was pretty worried about our parents.”
“You and Iris have a lot to say to each other.”
“When you forget she’s fat, she’s not so bad,” he said.
I punched him in the shoulder. “Shut up, Gerald.”
He flushed and he looked ready to spout anger at me, but when he saw I was smiling at him, he hung his head. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Apology accepted.”
We flew out and closed the door behind us. The red room buzzed with activity. The mom watched it all, leaning on the newel post with a tissue in hand. She now wore a strapless black and white dress with red high heels. Her hair flowed back from her face into a sleek chignon, emphasizing her wide mouth. Tess rushed down the stairs to join her mother. She danced on tiptoes and twirled. Her blue party dress spun out, revealing black netting under the skirt. Her hair was braided and coiled around her head, making her exceptionally pretty, much prettier than her mother.
“Rebecca,” said Sarah to the mom. “You look like a dream.”
Rebecca kissed Sarah’s pale cheek. “Thank you, Gram. This party is amazing.”
“You deserve it. I can’t wait to show you your present. Don’t look outside.”
“That’s too much,” said Rebecca. “You shouldn’t have gotten me a present, too.”
“Do I get a present? Do I get a present?” Tess hopped up and down, her skirt popping open like an umbrella.
“When you graduate,” said Sarah.
Tess pouted, but hugged her great-grandmother anyway. They turned to spy Judd thumping down the stairs, looking marginally better than before. His thick hair was brushed back from his face, which appeared freshly scrubbed. Sarah kissed him and he wiped his cheek with the back of his hand.
Gerald and I flew to our side of the mantel and landed on the shelf near Iris. She caught Easy after he slid down the candlestick. When Easy saw me, he tapped his mouth.
“He’s hungry, too. Can we eat yet?” Horc asked.
“In a minute,” said Iris. “What did you find? Was Easy right?”
“We found trow.” Gerald straightened up to his full insubstantial height and tried to look like an expert. “They’re harmless.”
“I wouldn’t say that exactly. I just know that Soren wasn’t afraid of them,” I said.
“What do we do?” asked Iris.
I shrugged. “There’s nothing to do until they wake up.”
“I’ll get some food,” said Gerald.
“All right,” I said. “Get a carrying bag first and make sure you get enough for everyone.”
Gerald blushed a furious pink to the tips of his ears. “You mean by myself?”
“Sure. If you can handle it?”
Gerald spread his wings slightly. “I’ll do it.”
“Call out if you need anything and be careful. There’s a lot of activity going on out there.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Gerald hovered above us for a second and then flitted over the edge of the mantel.
“Do you think that was a good idea?” asked Iris.
“Gerald needs to feel important. Just keep a sharp ear out for problems.”
We took the babies inside the mantel. I opened the windows, letting light and delicious smells from the party waft in. With that goodness around me, the disaster didn’t seem so bad. My precious things were shattered, but everything important could be mended. Seeing Sarah made me think that anything was possible. Sarah believed in fairies. It wouldn’t be very hard for her to believe in me. Sarah would take us to Whipplethorn and we would find our parents.
I found Mom’s broom and swept a clean spot in Iris’s room. It remained the least messy. “Iris, let’s put the babies in here.”
Iris found a clean blanket and laid Easy on it. He yawned and rolled over. I sat Horc down and he pinched his nose. “Stink.”
“Smell that, do you?” asked Iris. “That’s my mattress you ruined.”
Horc blinked at her as though he had no idea what she was talking about. I found the mattress on the other side of the room folded in half.
“We have to get rid of it,” I gasped.
Iris nodded and pointed to the window. We dragged the mattress over to the window and tried to stuff it through. The mattress wouldn’t begin to fit, so I got one of dad’s saws and cut it in half. That didn’t work either, but cutting it into quarters did. When we pushed the last bit out of the window, I
leaned out to see where the pieces had fallen just in time to see one of the dogs suck them up his left nostril.
“Gross,” I said.
“What happened?” Iris pushed past me and looked.
“You don’t want to know.”
“One of the dogs is sneezing. I wonder if dogs get colds,” said Iris as Gerald returned carrying two bags and glowing with pride.
“I got so much. You won’t believe it,” he said.
We ate cheese and fruit and a type of dark pungent bread none of us recognized. The babies went to sleep on a pallet in Iris’s room and I started cleaning in earnest. By the time I got the kitchen in order, the party outside was in full swing. Iris stopped working every few minutes to peek out and admire the dresses or the food. I hardly got any work out of her after I told her about Sarah. Iris gave me reports on Sarah’s movements every five minutes.
“It’s getting dark outside, Matilda. The sun must be going down,” said Iris.
“Okay. I think we should just take all the broken furniture down to Dad’s workshop to get it out of the way until he can fix it,” I said.
“Sarah is really old. She might go home. You better go out there and talk to her.”
“She’s never going to notice me in all that excitement. I’ll wait until people start going home.”
“But it might be too late then.”
Iris had a point, but I didn’t think it could be helped. It was really hard for a human to see a fairy. If there were distractions around, it would be impossible.
Iris leaned out the window. “Come and look, Matilda.” Iris’s dress hiked up and revealed her dimpled thighs. She looked just the way she had the morning the humans came to Whipplethorn.
“They just rolled in this huge desk with a bow,” Iris said.
The desk was the one Sarah purchased at the antique mall. Now it shone with fresh lemon oil and had a red bow on top. Rebecca hugged Sarah and wiped tears from her eyes.
Iris turned to me. “Rebecca said it’s just like Grandpa’s fairy desk, isn’t it? What does that mean?”
“Sarah’s husband used to tell stories about fairies living in his father’s desk,” I said.
“What happened to that desk?”
“The family sold it when they lost all their money.” I smoothed back my hair. “Help me find my yellow dress. It’s the brightest.”
“Are you going to talk to her now?”
“As soon as I get ready.”
Iris found my dress wadded up under my dresser. I shook the broken glass off and slipped it on. Iris combed my hair, and rubbed some of Mom’s favorite scent on my wrists for good measure. Gerald stopped his trash hauling to check out my new look. He nodded his approval and went back to work. Iris led me to the front door and then hugged me.
“I just know you’ll do it. Gerald is right. You can do anything.”
Iris’s face shone with her belief in me. I kissed her forehead to hide my own expression. One second I was sure I could do it and the next I felt I was inadequate to the task. What made me think I could do it, when six generations said I couldn’t?
I flew out the door and wove my way through the crowded room past adults and children. They were carrying plates of food with such delightful smells they almost distracted me from my mission. I glanced back at the mantel. It gleamed with two dozen candles lit on top and Iris waving at me from the front door. Her smiling face was all the inspiration I needed.