Pennie poked his shoulder.
“Can you tell I’ve been working out?” Gavron winked.
“No, but I know you’re not a hologram now. What are you doing here?”
“I think you mean to say, ‘How was your trip, you handsome young thing?’”
Pennie crossed her arms. Gavron certainly wasn’t a young thing. He’d been around for a few centuries at least. “Come on, Gavron. Mrs. Tylwyth could be back any second now.”
“Here’s the deal.” He held up the purple dinosaur stopwatch. “This thing’s no good.”
“You came all the way here to complain about this?” Tenley could show up any second, too. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d left school early.
“I don’t think you heard me right, Fairly One.” Gavron stepped closer. “This thing doesn’t do anything. It just ticks down numbers. It’s probably not even real Fair Force equipment.”
“It’s a stopwatch, Gavron. You’re the one who wanted it.”
“Well now I want something else.”
“I’m a little lacking in the tool department.”
Gavron dropped his eyes to the tennis skirt. “I like these updated robes. Very risqué. I’m pretty sure the F Force will give you dress code for them, though.”
“Leave, Gavron.”
“Did I not make myself clear? I’m not leaving until I get a fair trade. The boys and I—”
Three drops of drool splashed onto Pennie’s pink shoe. Three filthy sipLips waved down from the roof.
“We risked our lives to bring you here, Fair One. Don’t break the code.”
“What code?”
“The code that says if you don’t get me something better than this.” He tossed the stopwatch at her. “I’ll conveniently forget not to drop a few bits of meteor shrapnel onto your client’s head one day.”
Mrs. Tylwyth’s car turned into the driveway.
“I told you,” Pennie panicked. “You have to go.”
Gavron activated his propellers but Pennie grabbed his arm. “Wait. Don’t. She’ll see you.”
“I’m out of here. They’re barbarians.”
“If she sees you, she’ll tell others about you, and they’ll tell others, and eventually someone’s Fair One will hear about it and they’ll tell the Fair Force, and then you will be arrested.”
Gavron’s eyes bugged. He looked up at the sipLips and deactivated his propellers.
“Just look human.” Pennie told him. “And don’t talk.”
The car stopped in front of the garage. “And who’s this?” Mrs. Tylwyth asked, stepping out.
Gavron froze.
“My salesman friend,” Pennie said, remembering the stopwatch and strapping it around her wrist.
Mrs. Tylwyth considered Gavron’s robes. “What are you selling?”
“Stroons,” Pennie answered.
“Stroons?”
Gavron shifted his eyes over to Mrs. Tylwyth, who happened to be quite fond of cutlery. She smiled at him warmly. He looked away quickly.
“A cross between a straw and a spoon,” Pennie answered.
“How clever. I’d love to see your stroons.”
“And he’d love to show them to you. Right, Gavron?” Gavron remained frozen. He didn’t just dislike humans; he was terrified of them.
“He’s shy, Mrs. Tylwyth,” Pennie apologized. “And missing a lot of teeth.”
That seemed to be enough of an explanation for Mrs. Tylwyth. “I don’t like dentists myself,” she said with a wave of her hand. “Perhaps another day. Do you have a card, then?”
Gavron didn’t respond.
“And he’s hard of hearing. Right, Gavron?”
“Poor thing.” Mrs. Tylwyth unlocked the door and stepped into the house. “I need to get you a key, dear. Is Tenley home early, too? When Principal Frimpy called about getting you registered he mentioned she had some sort of incident at school.”
“I think she had some trouble posting a selfie. I’m pretty sure she’s fine now, Mrs. Tylwyth.”
“Good. I’m going to print out the school forms. I’d love to see those stroons of yours.” Mrs. Tylwyth smiled at Gavron and closed the door behind her.
“Okay, go! Get out of here, Gavron,” Pennie waved.
“The thing is, Fairly One,” he whispered. “I can’t leave empty-handed. I don’t want my boys thinking I’m some kind of pushover.”
“Fine,” Pennie said. She walked to the driver’s side of the car and opened it. “How about this?” She held up the garage door opener.
“What does it do?”
“This.”
The garage door slid up.
“And this,” Pennie said, shutting it again. “If I give it to you, will you leave?”
“A wall opener,” Gavron mumbled, transfixed. “Lots of walls in Fair City we’d like to open, right, boys?”
The sipLips snorted.
“So. Deal?” Pennie asked.
“Deal.” Gavron snatched the door opener from her. “Let’s roll, boys.” He slipped the garage door opener in his pocket and narrowed his eyes at Pennie. “How’s it going down here, anyway, Fairly One? Your gravity-groper behaving?”
Pennie’s face betrayed her. “It’s harder than I thought, to be honest.”
“That is a sad, sad story. Tell you what. I’m offering you a free ride home. Right now. Whaddya say? Go on a quick space picnic with me before the F Force does whatever it is they’re going to do to you. You won’t regret it.”
At that very moment, it was tempting.
Mrs. Tylwyth cranked open the kitchen window. “Say, do you sell sporks too?”
“Just stroons,” Pennie answered.
Mrs. Tylwyth looked a little sorry about it and cranked the window closed.
Pennie’s heart sank. She couldn’t leave now. Mrs. Tylwyth didn’t deserve to lose a daughter. As Lady Fairship had explained, all memories of anyone who knew Tenley would be erased and it was awful to think of Mrs. Tylwyth alone.
“I can’t go yet,” Pennie told Gavron.
He shrugged. “Suit yourself. They’re all doomed anyway. Mama N’s getting ready to do some major renovations around here. With or without a Fairly One to protect them, all these gravity-gropers are going to get flat-out smoked.”
“Hey, Pennie!” Holden waved from the end of the driveway.
“Oh no,” Pennie said. “Gavron, you have to go!”
He activated his propellers.
“Behind the garage.” She pointed. “Go. Now.”
Gavron looked back as he hurried away. “We could have made beautiful filth together, Fairly One. See ya’.”
A moment later, inside a swirling vortex, the sipLips shot up into the sky.
“See ya,” Pennie whispered, wondering if she hadn’t just made the second biggest mistake of her life.
27
21:30:32
Hadley Beach
“Hey, Pennie. I hope it’s okay I came over. I brought my extra.” Holden held up a second skateboard with his good arm and skated up the driveway. “You said you wanted to learn to board so I figured now’s a good time.”
“Did I say that?” Pennie asked. “I’m not sure now’s a good time, Holden. How did you get out of school?”
“Normally I’d be at PE right now, but,” he pointed to his cast, “I have to go to the doctor later, so my mom let me get out.”
“It’s really nice of you to come over. The thing is, I was in the middle of doing something for school.”
“There’s no homework ’cause of the field trip tomorrow, right?”
Mrs. Tylwyth cranked the window open again. “Pennie, dear? Another salesman?”
“No, Mrs. Tylwyth. This is Holden, from school.”
“Hi,” Holden waved.
“Oh hello, young man. Are you a friend of Tenley’s too?”
Holden gave Pennie a look. “Kind of, I guess.”
“Lem
onade?”
“No, thank you,” Holden answered.
“Holden just came over to teach me how to skateboard.”
“Well, that’s nice,” Mrs. Tylwyth said. “I’ve always wanted to learn how to do that myself. Go on, have fun!”
She closed the window.
“Pretty normal mom,” Holden said. “What happened to Tenley?”
“What do you mean?”
“Sorry. I keep forgetting you’re friends with her. She’s just a little into herself.” Holden dropped the extra board. “Ready?”
“Trust me, I’m not good at gravity-related things. I’ll just watch.”
“You look pretty coordinated to me.” Holden held out his hand. “Step on.”
Pennie placed a pink high-top gingerly on the board. “I can’t do it,” she said, stepping off. This morning, she’d balled up some socks and shoved them inside each shoe to make them fit better. But they weren’t going to help her balance any better on her tiny feet.
“Come on. YOLO and stuff,” Holden insisted.
Pennie set one foot onto the skateboard again. Then the other.
“That’s it. Let’s go!” Holden led her down the driveway slowly. He picked up speed halfway down. Pennie yelped a few times but managed to stay on.
At the end, Pennie jumped off and flopped over. Learning to use her propellers had been less terrifying.
“See?” Holden winced, shaking out the hand Pennie had been clutching. “You did it. Okay, now again, and this time without me holding on.” He swept up the board with his good arm. “That’s a cool necklace, by the way.”
Pennie stood quickly. The crystal eight had fallen out of her shirt. “Thanks.” She tucked it back in again.
“Is it an eternity sign or an eight?”
“An eight, I think. Fine.” Pennie changed the subject quickly. “I’ll try it again.”
“Awesome.” Holden started up the driveway. “You’ll get it this time. I bet you’re great at everything you do.” He blushed.
Pennie struggled to keep up with him. “I’m not at all. But thanks, you’re a really sweet boy.”
“Boy?” Holden was offended.
“Boy-guy,” she corrected herself.
Holden still looked insulted.
“And strong too. Trying to save Tenley from the Frisbee like that.”
He stopped. “If you were there, how come I never saw you?”
A car honked behind them. The passenger door opened and Tenley stepped out.
“Principal Frimpy told me I could come home. My mom didn’t answer her phone. So I Ubered.” She shut the door and walked toward them. “What’s your excuse, skate boarder?”
Holden held up his cast. “Doctor’s appointment.”
Satisfied, she walked to Pennie.
“Look, Pennie. I’m sorry about saying all that stuff to Principal Frimpy. It’s just that everything was fine before you showed up and now look at me.” She pointed to a scratch across her forehead. “How am I going to go on camera with this?” She didn’t wait for the answer. She walked past them and hurried in the front door.
Pennie turned to Holden. “You better go.”
“Maybe we can stay after school tomorrow and practice?”
“Sure,” Pennie said. She couldn’t look him in the eye. She wouldn’t be here after school tomorrow.
“All right. Later.” Holden jumped on his board and waved as he flew down the driveway with the second skateboard tucked under his arm.
Pennie checked the stopwatch, happy to have it back. 21:10:05. She hurried to the front door and stepped inside.
“I hope ravioli is okay for dinner tonight. It might be too Italian for Tenley but it’s one of my specialties,” Mrs. Tylwyth said from the stove.
“Sounds perfect, Mrs. Tylwyth.”
“Pennie, why don’t you call me Sylma.”
Tenley walked into the kitchen. “Mom, did you get my text? About my sash?”
“We’ll get you a new one, honey. I just haven’t had a single second today. We had a shipment of the most glorious chairs. Red velvet, in perfect shape. Gold arms, not a single scratch.”
“Okay.” Tenley nodded, disappointed.
“How about we go after I finish Pennie’s paperwork.”
“Please don’t go to any trouble for me, Mrs. Tylwyth.”
“Sylma. Don’t be silly, Pennie. It’s the least we could do for Gerty. You’re family now.”
Pennie smiled weakly.
“Come on, Pennie,” Tenley said. “Let’s redo the tribal nail art video.” She walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs.
Mrs. Tylwyth handed Pennie a piece of paper. “This is your permission slip for tomorrow’s field trip. Why they’d have you all go so early, I can’t imagine. Anyway, just hand it to your teacher, he knows it’s late.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Tylwyth.”
“Sylma.”
“Sylma.”
Mrs. Tylwyth deflated suddenly. “Pennie, did Gerty ever mention Mr. Tylwyth’s letters?”
“Yes,” Pennie said softly.
Mrs. Tylwyth hesitated. “They’re not really from him.”
Pennie nodded.
“It’s probably time I told her,” Mrs. Tylwyth said.
“Probably,” Pennie agreed.
Something crashed upstairs. “Omigod,” Tenley yelled. “I just broke a nail! I’m going to be a monster at the nominations!”
“On the other hand,” Pennie said. “What’s the harm in waiting another day or two?”
Mrs. Tylwyth smiled sadly. “I think Tenley should know the truth before the nominations, just in case she’s hoping he might be watching. He’s never coming back for us, I’m afraid.” She walked over to the stairs. “Tenley, dear, let’s go get that sash now. We need a little mother-daughter time.”
Tenley appeared at the top. “What about Pennie?”
“She’s going to stay here. Maybe start researching Hadley Beach a little?” She turned back to Pennie. “Now that you’ll be living here?”
“Great idea,” Pennie said weakly.
28
15:15:20
Hadley Beach
“Is she dead?”
“Of course not. She’s snoring, honey.”
Tenley dropped down to the grass to inspect Pennie. “Why would she fall asleep out here? There are like, bugs.”
“Pennie?” Mrs. Tylwyth shook her gently. “Pennie. Wake up, dear.”
Pennie opened her eyes. Her left cheek was pressed into something cold and itchy. She pushed herself up on her elbows. “Hi. I was trying to see if I could watch the grass grow. I guess I fell asleep.” She checked to make sure Tink’s necklace was still tucked inside her shirt before getting to her knees.
“I’m sorry we were gone for so long.” Mrs. Tylwyth helped Pennie to her feet. “We had a little incident driving back from the sash store.”
“Lightning! Crashed right in front of us and took down a tree. It was legit insane,” Tenley said.
Mrs. Tylwyth looked exhausted. “It took two hours for the fire department to remove the tree. We tried to call you, Pennie. But we didn’t have your number.”
“Do you even have a phone?”
“Did you say, lightning?” Pennie rubbed her cheek.
“We called the house phone like a bazillion times too,” Tenley said. “But I guess you were out here watching the grass grow. Which is completely normal.” Tenley rolled her eyes.
Pennie checked the stopwatch. 15:09:19.
“It’s almost five o’clock already,” Mrs. Tylwyth said. “I haven’t even started dinner yet. Let’s get you hungry girls inside.” Mrs. Tylwyth led Pennie up to the front door. Just before they stepped inside, the sky lit up and crashed behind them. Another flash of lightning barely missed Tenley.
***
After dinner—and Mrs. Tylwyth was right, her ravioli was delicious—Tenley excused herself to go set up th
e nail tutorial.
“Hurry up, Pennie, we’re running out of time,” she yelled down from the stairs.
They were definitely running out of time.
Pennie finished helping Mrs. Tylwyth clear the table. “Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Tylwyth. I won’t ever forget it.”
“Well, I’ll make it again for you, Pennie. And listen,” she lowered her voice at the sink. “I told Tenley about her father’s letters. She claims she knew I was the one writing them all along. I’m not sure she wasn’t just saying that, but I didn’t want to press it. I thought you should know in case she brings it up.”
“That’s great, Mrs. Tylwyth.”
“Sylma. I feel so much better. It’s like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t realize how exhausting it was to carry around such a big secret.”
“I know what you mean,” Pennie said quietly.
“Now go on up and help Tenley,” Mrs. Tylwyth said.
Pennie thanked her again and climbed the stairs.
“You still have your nail tips on, right?” Tenley asked as soon as Pennie entered the room.
“I’m leaving tomorrow.”
Tenley spun around. “What? Why? Have you told my mom?”
“No.”
“Okay, well, can you wait to tell her until after the nominations?”
“Tenley—”
“Good. Thanks.” Tenley turned away to set her cell phone up against a stack of books. “There. It’s gotta record this time.” She yanked Pennie over and began inspecting her nail tips.
Out the window, Pennie spotted a falling star. On Earth, a falling star lasted a millisecond, but in Fair City it lit the place up for a day or two. Even the grumpiest of Administrators brightened when they saw one.
“Listen, Tenley. I’m not who you think I am.”
“A ginger?”
“One of you.”
“Popular?”
“From Earth.”
Tenley dropped Pennie’s hands and lined up her nail tools. “As in this Earth, the one I’m standing on?”
“Yes, this Earth. I’m not supposed to be telling you any of this.” Pennie sat on Tenley’s bed.