Pearl pulled Ben aside. “There’s a lot of sugar in a movie theater,” she whispered.
He nodded. “I was thinking the same thing.”
Pearl was about to suggest that they get some jelly beans, jars, and butterfly nets from the Dollar Store when she suddenly saw red. Victoria Mulberry and her mother, wearing their red overalls and red baseball caps, barreled out the cinema’s door and pushed past the elderly patrons.
“My daughter’s been stung! She’s allergic to bees! Call an ambulance! Call the National Guard!” Mrs. Mulberry exclaimed. Victoria, looking a bit dazed, rubbed both earlobes.
“Uh-oh,” Pearl said. Just a few weeks ago, Victoria had caught Troll Tonsillitis, and her entire head had swelled up like a balloon. If she was allergic to fairy bites, then her eyeballs would start to itch, and who knew what else might happen? Pearl and Ben would have to run and get an antivenom shot from Mr. Tabby. What a nuisance that would be!
“Mom, I’m not having a reaction,” Victoria said. “I’m fine. I must not be allergic to killer bees.”
Mrs. Mulberry examined her daughter’s earlobes. “Well, I still think we should call for help. This could be a matter of national security. Does anyone have the telephone number for the president?”
While Victoria and her mother argued about what should be done and who should be called, Pearl nudged Ben with her elbow. “Let’s go see if we can find the fairies,” she said.
“Okay.”
“Sweetie, I don’t want you watching that movie!” Mrs. Petal called as Pearl and Ben dashed across the street. “It will give you nightmares!” But they didn’t stop running. They passed Grandpa Abe. They passed Maybell and Mr. Bumfrickle. They didn’t even glance at the Mulberrys as they bounded up the stairs and into the cinema.
“Pearl, Ben, stay back!” Officer Milly leaped in front of the kids, blocking them with her arms. “It’s too dangerous in here. Get outside!”
Pearl peered over and under her aunt’s arm, trying to get a full view of the lobby. Ms. Wartwell, who sold the movie tickets and refreshments, was cowering behind the popcorn machine. Shredded candy boxes lay on the floor and all over the counter, as if they’d been torn by a hundred tiny hands and teeth. Which, as Pearl and Ben knew, was exactly what had happened.
“Help,” Ms. Wartwell said in a small, timid voice. “The killer bees are going to eat me. Help me, please.” She pointed to a churning cloud that was attacking a box of caramel corn.
“Don’t worry, Marilyn. We’ll get you out of here,” Officer Milly told her. “Walk slowly toward me.” But Ms. Wartwell wouldn’t budge. “You can do it. Walk over here, to the door. Come on.” It was like trying to coax a cat into a bathtub. Ms. Wartwell wasn’t going anywhere.
Pearl wasn’t worried about Ms. Wartwell. The fairies wouldn’t eat her. But they sure had made a mess. And now that the police department was involved, catching the fairies in secret was going to be difficult. The swarm, having finished the caramel corn, swooped round and round, high-pitched whining bouncing off the lobby walls.
“Twanabeth,” Pearl called. “Twanabeth, stop doing this. You’re scaring everyone!”
“Who’s Twanabeth?” Officer Milly asked. Then she yelled, “Duck!”
With a swoosh, the swarm flew over their heads and out the lobby door. Pearl and Ben turned on their heels and ran outside.
In a matter of minutes, Buttonville had transformed from a sleepy little town into a hub of chaos. Such mayhem hadn’t been seen in the town since the great water main break of ’79, when the streets had flooded so quickly people had to swim to safety.
Onlookers screamed and pointed to the humming swarm. A car honked. Another crashed into a streetlamp. The fairies flew through the diner’s open window. More screaming arose as Lucy and Lionel rushed out.
“Help!” they both cried. The gathering crowd watched through the picture windows as the fairies turned bottles upside down and poured syrup all over the counter. The syrup was lapped up almost instantaneously, and the swarm was on the move again, heading into the Food 4 Less Market.
The Food 4 Less cashier ran out. “Help, help! There are bugs in the store!” Pearl and Ben ran to the window, and, sure enough, the fairies were tearing into bags of brown sugar.
“Unbelievable!” Ben said. “How much sugar can those things eat?”
“What are we going to do?” Pearl asked. “This is terrible!”
“Attention, everyone!” Officer Milly stood on the roof of her squad car, a megaphone in her hand. “Attention!” People stopped screaming and turned to listen. “It’s important that we don’t panic. Clearly we’ve been invaded by some sort of insect. We don’t know what kind, exactly, or why—”
“They followed their queen,” Ms. Bee said. She stepped out of the crowd. “Yesterday morning, the queen bee was inside the diner. Pearl Petal caught her. I advised Pearl to get rid of her. But if she didn’t, and if the queen has begun to nest, then that would explain why the swarm has arrived.”
“I knew Pearl had something to do with this,” Mrs. Mulberry said. “Why else would we have a swarm of killer bees on the loose in Buttonville? Pearl is always causing trouble!”
“Pearl?” Officer Milly looked around. “Where are you?”
Pearl gulped. The crowd parted down the middle, making room for her. She walked up to the squad car. From the squinty glares being cast her way, she knew she’d already been judged guilty as charged.
Her aunt peered over the top of her dark glasses. “Pearl, is this true?”
“It’s true,” Victoria said. In her usual tattle-telling way, Victoria was more than happy to provide information regarding Pearl’s activities. “She told me that she’d caught a queen killer bee. She even showed it to me.”
“Did you get rid of it?” Ms. Bee asked.
Pearl looked around for Ben. She could certainly use one of his stories right about now. But the crowd had squeezed closer, and she couldn’t see him. At that moment, she felt very alone. She’d faced lots of complicated situations during the last month, but Ben had always been there for her. “I didn’t get rid of it, exactly. I…I…”
The squad car began to rock back and forth as Mrs. Mulberry heaved herself onto the trunk, then climbed onto the roof. She grabbed the megaphone from Officer Milly’s hand. “Have no fear, fellow Buttonvillers. As the president of the Welcome Wagon Committee, I take the safety of our citizens as my top priority. While Pearl has brought trouble, yet again, to our peaceful town, the Mulberrys are here to save the day.” She pointed at Victoria, who held up a piece of paper. “My daughter found a flyer for an exterminator. We called them and they’re on the way!”
“Exterminator?” Pearl cried.
13
Pearl grabbed the flyer from Victoria’s hand.
Ben ran to her side, his cheeks red from pushing his way through the crowd. “What is it?”
“It’s just like the flyer we found at the hospital,” Pearl said, waving it frantically in his face. “They’re on the way!”
“Here?” Ben asked.
“Someone has to clean up the mess Pearl has made.” Mrs. Mulberry smiled proudly. “The exterminators will exterminate those vicious little beasts, and Buttonville will once again be a killer bee–free town.”
“But they’re not killer bees,” Pearl insisted. She wanted to grab that megaphone and talk some sense into everyone. “I know I told Victoria that I’d caught a killer bee, but that wasn’t the whole truth. They’re just…regular bees. And they’re not going to hurt anyone. Well, they might bite, but it’s only a problem if you’re allergic and…” She looked pleadingly at Ben, hoping he’d step in. Ben opened his mouth, ready to come up with some sort of brilliant story, but Mrs. Mulberry wasn’t going to let him put a damper on her moment of importance. She loved being the center of attention.
With the megaphone pressed to her mouth, Mrs. Mulberry said, “Never mind your excuses, Pearl. Those bugs are out of control, and we aren’t safe until they??
?re caught and destroyed.” The crowd murmured in agreement.
While Officer Milly began wrestling Mrs. Mulberry for possession of the megaphone, Victoria sneered at Pearl. “You’re lucky I’m not allergic to killer bees, or my mom would sue you, for sure.”
Pearl sneered back. Then, through clenched teeth, she said, “I wish you’d turn into a kiwi jelly bean. And then you’d be sorry.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Victoria asked. But there was no time for an explanation, or for Pearl to imagine Victoria as a big, fat piece of edible candy, because once again, screaming filled the air. The swarm had flown from the Food 4 Less Market and was now circling the Town Hall’s clock tower. Then it dove down the Town Hall chimney.
“Keep calm, keep calm,” Officer Milly said as she yanked the megaphone from Mrs. Mulberry’s grabby hands. “Until the exterminator arrives, I’m ordering everyone to seek shelter at home. Close your windows and doors, and stay put until you hear the Town Hall bell. That will be the signal that it’s safe to come out.” The crowd began to disperse.
“We can’t go home,” Ben told Pearl. “We have to catch the fairies before the exterminator gets them!”
“If we could just find Twanabeth—” But Pearl wasn’t able to finish her thought, because her father had wrapped an arm around her shoulder and was leading her up the street.
“Come along, sweetie,” he told her, tightening his grip. “We need to get inside, where it’s safe.”
Grandpa Abe was standing next to Mrs. Petal. He waved his cane. “Ben! Hurry!”
“But, Dad, Ben and I have to do something,” Pearl protested, trying to halt his progress by locking her knees.
“You and Ben can do something later,” Mr. Petal said, steering her into the Dollar Store. “This is a very serious situation, and we all need to get off the street before the killer bees attack again.” Then he turned to Grandpa Abe. “Come in. You’ll be safe with us.”
Pearl stomped her foot. “But we can’t be locked in the store. We have to—”
Mrs. Petal shook a finger at her daughter. “Don’t argue with your father. These aren’t honeybees. They are killers.”
Pearl groaned with frustration. If she hadn’t signed that contract of secrecy, she could tell them the truth. Then everyone would stop freaking out and allow her and Ben to do their jobs!
Mrs. Petal turned the Dollar Store sign to CLOSED and was about to shut the door when Mrs. Mulberry and Victoria barged in. “Well, why are you just standing there?” Mrs. Mulberry complained. “Lock that door before those beasts bite my daughter again!”
Mrs. Petal, who was always very polite, hesitated for a moment. She’d had enough run-ins with the Mulberrys to know that being locked in the store with them would most likely be an unpleasant experience. “Uh, wouldn’t you be more comfortable in your home?” she said, managing a sweet smile.
“It’s too dangerous to walk all the way home,” Mrs. Mulberry said. “Besides, it’s my duty to keep watch, in case anything needs to be reported to the authorities.” She grabbed a pair of plastic binoculars from a bin and stepped into the display window. She didn’t seem to care that it had taken the Petals half a day to create the lovely display. After pushing aside the picnic baskets, plastic dishes, and barbecue tongs, she plopped onto a picnic bench and proceeded to watch Main Street. “And it’s your duty to control your troublemaking daughter.”
“I’m so sick of being called a troublemaker,” Pearl whispered to Ben.
With a sigh, Mrs. Petal closed the front door. Pearl clenched her fists with frustration. It was bad enough that the fairies were in danger of extermination, but now she and Ben were locked in a store with Victoria. If only that Vacuumator would work on a person!
“I’ll make some tea,” Mrs. Petal said, and she went upstairs to set the kettle on the stove.
“I take mine with three lumps of sugar!” Mrs. Mulberry called. Then she shrieked. “There they are! They’ve left Town Hall and are flying down Main Street!”
While Victoria, Grandpa Abe, and Mr. Petal rushed to the window to watch the fairies, Pearl pulled Ben down aisle two. They huddled in front of a stack of canned cheese spread. “I don’t care if I get grounded for a million years,” she whispered. “We have to get out of here and find Twanabeth. We have to warn her.”
“How?” Ben asked. “Mrs. Mulberry is watching everything. And your dad is guarding the front door.”
“I saw that dragon again.” Victoria had followed them down the aisle. She took off her glasses, wiped the thick lenses on her shirt, then stuck them back onto her nose. “And don’t try to tell me that I didn’t, because I did. It flew right over my yard.”
“Go away, Victoria. Ben and I are having a private conversation.”
“About what?”
“That’s none of your beeswax.” Pearl felt a bit prickly. Maybe she was allergic to Victoria. That girl got under Pearl’s skin like stinging nettles! “And for the last time, dragons aren’t real.”
“I saw it. And I saw both of you on its back.” She smirked.
Ben pointed at Victoria’s glasses. “Have you had your prescription checked? Because you’re obviously seeing things. Or maybe you’re going mental.”
Victoria stuck out her lower lip. “I’m not mental. That’s a mean thing to say.”
“Why can’t you figure it out?” Pearl said, clenching her teeth again. “We don’t want to talk to you. We never want to talk to you. Go. Away.”
Victoria winced as if those words had stung. For a millisecond, Pearl felt bad. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. But then she reminded herself that there were hundreds of tiny lives at stake and, thus, no time to feel bad. Besides, Victoria constantly said mean things to Pearl. It was part of her daily routine.
“Victoria!” Mrs. Mulberry called from the display window. “I’ve had a brilliant idea. I’m going to write about our situation for the upcoming issue of Welcome Wagon Monthly. Get some paper and a pen.”
“Better do what your mom says,” Pearl told her. “Paper and pens are in aisle one.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Mulberry,” Ben whispered as Victoria went to get the supplies. And while he and Pearl continued to huddle next to the cheese spread, trying to hatch a plan, Mrs. Mulberry dictated to her daughter, who’d joined her in the front window.
“It was a dark and stormy day when we found ourselves trapped,” Mrs. Mulberry began, her voice filled with drama. “The Dollar Store, a wasteland of useless objects, had become our only shelter from an invading army of vicious insects that were determined to prey on our flesh. With no food or water to sustain us, Victoria and I grew weak. But I was determined to keep us alive!”
“Impressive,” Ben said. “Sounds like one of my stories.”
Pearl rolled her eyes. “We need to get out of here. What are we going to do?”
“Tea is ready!” Mrs. Petal called from the upstairs apartment.
“You got a little something to nosh?” Grandpa Abe asked. “All this excitement’s made me hungry.”
“Sure,” Mr. Petal told him. Then he led Grandpa Abe up the stairs.
“I can’t leave my post,” Mrs. Mulberry announced. “Victoria, dear, bring Mummy a cup of tea.” Victoria set the paper and pen aside and followed Grandpa Abe and Mr. Petal. Pearl took a deep, focused breath. With everyone upstairs and Mrs. Mulberry staring out the window, it was now or never.
“Come on,” she whispered. She hurried to the back of the store, opened the basement door, and, with Ben at her heels, quickly descended into Great-Aunt Gladys’s apartment.
14
It was warm in the basement, the air thick with the scent of mentholated arthritis rub and wiener dog. Gladys certainly didn’t appear to be worried about killer bees. She was fast asleep in her armchair, knitting needles on her lap. Sweetness and Light were asleep, too, curled beneath knitted blankets on the couch. There was so much snoring going on that it was possible none of them had heard the police siren or the scre
ams for help.
Because this was a basement apartment, the windows were set high in the walls. Pearl climbed onto a chair and pushed one of them open. Then she and Ben climbed out. The dogs didn’t stir, nor did Aunt Gladys. Pearl quietly closed the window. “Mrs. Mulberry said the swarm headed down Main Street. Let’s go.”
In order to stay out of Mrs. Mulberry’s line of vision, Pearl and Ben darted behind the Dollar Store. Then they crossed Cherry Street, cut through the park, and hurried down Fir Street. Nearly out of breath, they peered around the corner of the bookstore.
There was no sign of the swarm up or down Main Street. In fact, there was no sign of anything. The crowd was gone. The police car was gone. The door to the Buttonville Cinema stood wide open, as did the diner’s door. The only sign of life was a flock of pigeons enjoying Maybell’s spilled popcorn. “It looks like a ghost town,” Pearl said as an empty soda cup rolled down the street.
Ben wiped nervous sweat from his forehead. “Maybe the fairies got enough sugar and went back to the hospital.”
“Maybe…” Pearl narrowed her eyes. “What’s that?” A whining sound had arisen in the distance. She smiled. “Is it—?”
“Yeah, it’s the fairies,” Ben said, his eyes widening.
That high-pitched hum was definitely the swarm, but where was it coming from? Pearl and Ben turned in slow circles, scanning the nearby rooftops, the trees, the sky. But as they searched, another sound arose—a rhythmic chugging—and it came from the entrance to town, where Main Street joined the highway.
Keeping well out of view, Pearl and Ben ran toward the sound. They stopped at a sign.
The chugging grew louder. “What is it?” Pearl said, looking toward the highway.
Ben poked her shoulder. “It’s Victoria.”
“Don’t be silly. Victoria’s rude and annoying, but she doesn’t sound like an engine.”
“No, I mean, Victoria is right behind us.”