The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker

by E. D. Baker

  “I understand what you’re saying. But if I do make this my career, can I stay in my band and live my life the way I want to? I don’t want to walk away from my friends.”

  “No one is asking you to walk away from anything,” said Lionel. “As Cupid, you’ll get to set your own schedule. You’ll be able to do what you want when you want to do it.”

  “You’re very convincing,” said Cory. “I don’t think this is going to be a hard decision to make.”

  “Good!” her grandfather replied. “Now what would you like to eat? It would be a shame if they went to all this trouble and this delicious food went to waste.”

  Cory’s appetite had grown along with the strength of her wings and she ate more than she would have even a few days before. She nibbled the first bite of pastry, then devoured the rest and helped herself to fried eggs and smoked fish; slices of melon; and a casserole of spiced potatoes, cheese, and onions.

  She had just served herself another piece of fish when she thought of a question for her grandfather. “You said that you were trying to remain anonymous and let the putti represent you. Did you tell anyone that you were Cupid? Did your friends know, or your relatives?”

  “I let the fewest people possible know. Your grandmother knew, of course. And so did your father. He was the one who told your mother. A few of my more discreet friends knew, but most of my friends and relatives thought I was just a successful businessman. If you don’t believe people can keep a secret, don’t tell them. People think and act differently toward you if they know that you’re Cupid.”

  “Good idea,” said Cory. “My best friend, Daisy, couldn’t keep a secret for five minutes, but I bet Marjorie could keep one forever, which is a good thing, because I already told her. And Uncle Micah is very good at keeping secrets. He knew about you and didn’t tell me.”

  “I always liked Micah. I’m sure you could tell him anything and he would never betray the confidence.”

  Cory nodded and thought about the other people she knew. She wouldn’t tell her mother, but Delphinium might figure it out for herself if she already knew about Lionel. Cory wouldn’t tell her grandmother, although her mother’s father would be okay. The only other person she could think of who could be trusted with the news was Johnny Blue, except she wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to her anymore.

  Cory ate one more piece of melon, then sat back and glanced at her grandfather. He was watching her with a smile on his face. “I used to be able to eat like that,” he said, nodding toward her plate. “Now, if you’re finished, there’s something I’d like to show you. It’s how I convince people to accept what I’ve seen in my visions.”

  Lionel stood and reached for her hand. Together they walked down the steps onto the lawn that stretched from the terrace to the river at the bottom of the hill. They hadn’t gone far before he stopped and let go of her, only to hold his hands in front of him, palms up. A moment later the air shimmered and a bow appeared in one hand, a quiver of arrows in the other. After shouldering the quiver, he set an arrow in the bow. Cory watched as he pulled the bow string back and let the arrow loose, aiming at a target that hadn’t been there when they walked across the lawn.

  “Let me get this straight. You convince people by shooting at them if they don’t listen to you?” asked Cory.

  Lionel laughed. “You aren’t far off. I don’t use an ordinary bow or ordinary arrows when I’m working. I use these for practice, but when I am on the job as Cupid, I use magic arrows that will penetrate the heart, but not the flesh. The arrows don’t hurt them; they just change what their hearts tell them.” When he saw the confused look on Cory’s face, he added, “Let me explain. The arrows come in pairs. The person I shoot with the first arrow and the one I shoot with the second will fall in love with each other. It’s a process that would have happened eventually, under the right circumstances. I just make sure it happens.”

  “But I don’t know how to use a bow and arrow,” said Cory.

  “Then that’s what we’re going to work on today. Hold out your hands the way I did,” Lionel told her. “And think ‘bow.’ ”

  When she did, a bow and a quiver of arrows appeared in her hands so quickly that their weight surprised her and she almost dropped them.

  “Those are yours and will appear whenever you want them,” said her grandfather.

  He taught her how to stand to shoot, how to notch the arrow and pull it back so that her thumb nearly touched the corner of her mouth, and how to hold the bow steady and keep her aim true.

  Cory was hitting the target nearly every time when she turned to her grandfather and said, “Learning how to shoot an arrow is all well and good, but how do I do it in public? Someone is bound to try to stop me if I pull out weapons like this.”

  “When the time comes, no one will see your bow and arrow.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Cory.

  “It’s another ability of Cupid’s. You’ll understand soon enough. Look, Orville is bringing us something to drink. I suppose it is time for a break.”

  The putti brought out water, tea, and fruit juices so cold that the pitchers holding them were frosted. Cory’s arms were getting tired and she was happy to stop for a few minutes.

  “Tell me,” said Lionel. “Is there a young man in your life? Have you met someone special yet?”

  Cory shook her head and swallowed her juice. “No, there isn’t. Even when I was dating someone, I knew he wasn’t really the one for me. I haven’t looked yet to see my true love’s face.”

  “It wouldn’t do any good if you had,” said her grandfather. “Cupid can never see the face of his or her true love before they meet, and the arrows don’t work on members of our family. Believe me, if they did I would have used one on your father. In fact, true love doesn’t present itself the same way to us as it does to other people. When I met your grandmother, my stomach bothered me every time she was close. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, or I would have stayed away. It wasn’t until I’d kissed her for the first time that we both knew we were meant to be together. From what I’ve heard, the same thing happened to my father when he met my mother. I told your father this, but he didn’t believe me at first.”

  “So my mother wasn’t his true love,” Cory said as she handed her cup to Orville.

  “Yes, and I was foolish enough to tell him that when he was infatuated with her. They resented me for it, your mother more than your father. I think he eventually understood, but by then they were married and you were on the way.”

  “When I do meet someone … Will it matter if my true love isn’t a demigod?” Cory asked, examining her bow.

  “Not unless he has some sort of magic that can obscure your powers the way a fairy’s can. My mother was a human. I inherited my father’s abilities the same as if she had been a demigod like him.”

  “That’s good to know,” Cory said, smiling to herself.

  They practiced more then, until Cory was hitting the bull’s-eye nearly every time. When Orville and Margory brought sandwiches and more cold drinks, Cory and her grandfather took another break.

  “I was wondering,” Cory said when they had finished eating. “Will I shoot only at people who are standing still?”

  “You’ll find that time stands still when you call for your bow and quiver. You’ll be able to move, but your targets won’t,” Lionel told her.

  Cory picked up her bow and quiver. The heft of the bow had felt right in her hand from the first time she held it. It was the arrows that were unusual, although they looked fairly normal—white with bright blue fletching. When she’d first started shooting, not all the arrows had hit their mark. Those that missed had returned to the quiver on their own. Later, when her aim was better, other arrows appeared in the quiver to replace the ones still vibrating in the target. Curious, Cory pulled the arrows out to peer inside the quiver, but it looked quite ordinary.

  “Maybe I should practice shooting at moving targets just in case,” Cory said as she stud
ied one of the arrows more closely.

  Her grandfather scratched his chin. “I suppose we could have the putti run back and forth in front of you carrying the targets.”

  Orville made a choking noise as he refilled Lionel’s glass, but he managed to smile at Cory when she looked his way.

  Cory laughed and shook her head. “Never mind. It was just a thought.”

  “Tell me,” said Lionel, “are you going to talk to your mother again anytime soon? She may not be my favorite person, but I’d hate to think that you were going to remain estranged.”

  “I’ll see her, but it won’t be soon,” said Cory. “I have a lot to think through before I talk to her again.”

  “When do you plan to start using your skills?” her grandfather asked.

  “In a few days,” said Cory. “I’m thinking about having a party.”

  Chapter 23

  Cory was cleaning the kitchen the next morning when someone knocked on the front door. After all the things that had happened over the last few days, she was reluctant to answer it, especially when she peeked out the window and saw Doris Dumpty standing there looking furious. Certain that she was going to get another blistering rebuke, she was surprised when she opened the door and Mrs. Dumpty’s expression softened.

  “I’ve come to apologize,” said Doris. “I was just so angry, but then I learned the truth and I, well, I had something else to deal with before I came to see you. Humpty, tell Miss Cory what you told me.”

  The little boy had been hiding behind his mother. He peeked out now, his cheeks pink and his expression grave. “I told a fib,” he said, his lips quivering. “I let the mice go on purpose, and then I pretended that I didn’t see them, but I really did.”

  Mrs. Dumpty’s lips were pressed into thin lines when she nodded. “He told me only after I had sent a message to an exterminator. It seems he wanted to keep the mice and was afraid you wouldn’t let him if he asked. I certainly wouldn’t have, but I have to say, since he started taking care of them, he has been very good and has not tried to climb anything higher than his seat at the kitchen table. He’s very good with the mice and he’s begged his father and me to let them stay. I told him he had to apologize to you and ask for your permission. He understands that they are really your mice and that you might say no, especially considering the misunderstanding. Isn’t that right, Humpty?”

  The little boy wrapped his arms around his middle and looked so sad when he nodded that Cory didn’t have the heart to say no. “Yes, you may keep them, Humpty,” she said, “provided you promise not to lie anymore and you will take very good care of the mice.”

  Humpty’s face lit up like the sun breaking through on a cloudy day. “I promise! I named them already. Their names are Squeaks, Fuzzy, and Cheese. I named him Cheese ’cause he likes to eat it as much as I do.”

  “I think those are very good names,” said Cory.

  “I must apologize for something else,” Mrs. Dumpty said. “Before Humpty told me what he had done, a woman came by. She wasn’t very pleasant and was actually quite nosy, asking questions about you and your work habits. I’m sorry to say that I was still angry and told her some things that I later regretted. I have no problem with your work, and I … Let me see, yes, here it is. This is for you.” She took a small bag jingling with coins from her purse and handed it to Cory. “That’s your pay for the last day you babysat Humpty, plus a little extra for putting up with all of this nonsense.”

  “Uh, thank you,” Cory told her.

  “If there is ever anything I can do for you, just let me know,” Mrs. Humpty added.

  The woman was about to turn away when Cory spoke up. “Actually, there is something you could do for me, provided your husband is Randal Jehosephat Dumpty, the judge.”

  “He is,” Mrs. Dumpty said slowly. “What did you need?”

  “I’ve been having a problem with the Tooth Fairy Guild,” said Cory. “I quit recently and they’ve been hounding me ever since.”

  Doris Dumpty listened with increasing interest while Cory told her about all the trouble the guild had inflicted on her after she quit. “So, would you be able to talk to your husband? Apparently, he has let the guilds do whatever they want, but if you let him know what they were really up to, he might change his mind.”

  “I’ll talk to him, all right,” said Mrs. Dumpty. “That’s outrageous! No one should be able to get away with such nastiness.” Turning to her son, she reached for his hand. “Now come along, Humpty. We have a lot to do before we go home. Your father’s office will be our first stop.”

  Cory was glad that Mrs. Dumpty had come by, especially when she saw how much the woman had given her. It was more than twice as many coins as she owed Cory. Even the payment for babysitting was money Cory had never thought she’d see.

  Singing to herself, Cory went back to work cleaning. She was throwing a party in two days and had lots to do to get ready. After finishing in the kitchen, she started on the main room. Armed with a soapstone, water, and a scrub brush, she was cleaning the mantel around the bird nest when her mother burst into the house. Delphinium froze when she saw Cory and said, “What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be resting in bed after your ordeal?”

  “I guess I don’t have to ask if you know what happened to me, do I, Mother?” Cory said, setting down the scrub brush. “But then you did warn me. You knew the TFG was going to kidnap me and shut me in a box and rip my fairy abilities from me. They even took my wings!”

  “Really, Cory, don’t be so dramatic. I’m sure the guild didn’t—”

  “That’s exactly what they did! I can’t believe my own mother let them.”

  “I warned you that you couldn’t just walk away!”

  “You warned me, but you never tried to help me. Grandfather said that—”

  “Your grandfather!” Delphinium said, practically spitting the words. “Mary Mary told me that Lionel had come to see her. She was taken completely unaware and is furious that I didn’t tell her that he’s a demigod. How was I to know that you would drag him into this, after I tried so hard to shield you from him?”

  “You weren’t shielding me! You were protecting your pride. He told you something you didn’t want to hear and he was right. You were the one at fault, not Grandfather!”

  “How dare you!”

  “I dare a lot after what I’ve been through, and I don’t think you have any right to barge into my home and … Why did you come here, anyway?”

  “For the same reason I came by yesterday and the day before, knocking on your door until your neighbors came to see what was wrong. I thought you were in bed, hiding from the world. I was worried about you. Most fairies would be traumatized if they were stripped of their abilities, but you seem to be fine. I thought you needed me. I see that I was wrong.”

  “How can you let the TFG try to ruin my life, and think I want your help afterward?”

  “You’re my daughter! I came to take you home where you belong. This isn’t your house; it’s your uncle’s and you’ve imposed on him long enough.”

  “That’s just it. He doesn’t think I’m imposing. We’re family and we act like it. Please leave now, Mother. I don’t live with you anymore and I’m never coming back.”

  Delphinium stared at her, her mouth opening and closing like a fish’s. Finally, she turned on her heel, stomped from the house, and slammed the door behind her.

  “Well, that was unpleasant,” Cory told Noodles, who was sniffing at the door. “I can only imagine what she would have done if I’d told her I was the new Cupid. To be honest, I hope she never finds out. There are very few people who I want to tell, and she’s not one of them!”

  Cory left for Marjorie’s house a short time later. She had contacted her to say that she and some friends were stopping by, but hadn’t said what they planned to do. After two failed attempts to get rid of the spiders, she didn’t want to get Marjorie’s hopes up again.

  Only a few minutes after she arrived, Olot and Chancy s
howed up with the cart full of instruments. Cory had told Olot about the spiders and he wanted to see them. Chancy didn’t like spiders and wasn’t sure she wanted to go inside, but finally did when Marjorie assured her that they didn’t bite people.

  “I don’t see any webs,” Chancy said, hesitating at the door.

  “They aren’t web-building spiders,” said Marjorie. “This kind of spider goes looking for its prey.”

  Chancy shuddered. “I’m not sure, but I think that might be worse.”

  She carried Olot’s lute in while Cory and Olot managed the drums. Fortunately, they didn’t see any spiders then. It wasn’t until Cory was setting up her drums that the first spider emerged. It was a smaller one, only as long as Cory’s little finger. Chancy didn’t notice it as she went outside to get something Olot had left on the cart. The next time Cory looked up, a dozen spiders were crawling over her drums and most of them were bigger than her fist.

  “You might want to tell Chancy to stay outside,” Cory told Olot.

  “Good idea,” he said as a spider climbed onto his shoe. He had to shake his foot to get the spider off and he didn’t look as intrigued by the creatures when he left the room.

  Olot was still outside when Skippy arrived. Perky came next, then Daisy and Cheeble showed up. Cory opened all the doors before they began to practice and noticed that Chancy had stayed outside. Soon after they started their first song, Marjorie went out as well. The music had been loud in Olot’s cave and in the restaurants. In Marjorie’s little house, it was almost deafening.

  At first the noise made the spiders agitated. They skittered off Cory’s drums and out from under the chairs, fell from the fairy lights on the walls, and tumbled off the table. Some collapsed onto the floor, drawing their legs close to their bodies as if they were in pain. Others ran in circles making a high-pitched noise that sounded like “Ick! Ick! Ick!”

  “Play louder,” Cory shouted to her bandmates.

  They did, playing as loudly as they could. The spiders started to run out the doors, just a few at first, then more and more until a steady stream fled the house. Cory thought she heard Chancy scream once, but when Olot looked out the window and continued to play, Cory didn’t even pause. Before the first song was done, she was fairly sure all the spiders were gone, but they kept playing until they had rehearsed as long as usual.