The Fairy-Tale Matchmaker

by E. D. Baker

  Cory was packing up her drums when Marjorie came to see her. “I’ve looked everywhere, but I can’t find a single spider. I think they’re all gone! I don’t know if you could see out the window; a flock of crows got a lot of them. The rest ran to the forest down the street. Thank you so much! I thought I’d never get rid of them. How did you ever think of this?”

  “I remembered how they hadn’t liked the birds’ screeching when I tried to get rid of the spiders last time. Then at our last rehearsal, our playing was so loud it made my headache worse. I could imagine what it would do to the spiders.”

  “I’m glad you did!” said Marjorie. “I love my little house and I didn’t really want to sell it.”

  Daisy joined them then, saying, “I don’t know how you could stand living with those spiders! They were huge and scary and they watched you wherever you went.”

  “At least they didn’t bite me,” said Marjorie. “I would have left then and never come back if they had. Excuse me. I have to thank your friends.”

  “Well, that was an experience I never hope to repeat, but at least we were able to help Marjorie,” Daisy told Cory.

  “Finally!” Cory exclaimed. “I’ve tried and tried to get rid of those spiders. I’m glad something worked.”

  “You really do want to help people, don’t you?” said Daisy. “You’re not just saying it without meaning it, like some people do. I know you were trying to help me when you told me about Tom Tom, and I appreciate it. I thought about what you said, and broke up with Tom Tom the next day.”

  “How did he take it?” Cory asked.

  “He was mad, but he’ll get over it,” said Daisy. “They all do.”

  That afternoon, Cory sat at the kitchen table with an ink stick and a fresh leaf to think about the love matches for her friends and clients. She could see the images of Marjorie and Jack Nimble as clearly as if they were standing in front of her. She recognized Priscilla Hood’s match, but the matches for the others were strangers to her. Even so, she knew she would recognize them if she saw them. After making a list of who she wanted to invite, she made lists of what she wanted to cook, and what she needed to buy at the market. She sent a message to Olot and all the members of the band, inviting them to the dinner and asking them to play that night. Her uncle had already said that he’d help her cook, but she wanted him to enjoy the party, too, so she arranged to have Josef, the young man at Perfect Pastry, come help. The rest of the afternoon flew by as she wrote and sent out her invitations.

  Cory spent the next two days getting ready. By the night of the party, she was so excited that she couldn’t sit still. It was light out when Josef arrived. Then her neighbors showed up and Cory was glad to see that neither Wanita nor Salazar had brought their pets and that the twins were both in their human forms. Only minutes after she greeted the first arrivals, Marjorie was there along with Daisy and Priscilla. Mary Lambkin walked in the door just as Lionel Feathering stepped onto the porch. Cory introduced the other guests to her grandfather, omitting his title, then returned to the door to greet the next arrivals.

  Nearly everyone was there when Lionel took Cory aside. “How is everything going? You look a little nervous.”

  “Everything’s fine,” said Cory. “It’s just that, well, someone isn’t here yet, and I really had hoped that he’d come.”

  “If you’re talking about Johnny Blue, I’m sure he’ll be here soon.”

  “How did you know about Johnny?” she asked.

  “I have my sources,” he said with a mischievous grin.

  “Uncle Micah?” she said, glancing toward the kitchen, where her uncle was checking on the cooking food.

  “He may have told me a few things,” her grandfather replied. “When I realized that this Johnny Blue might be the one you were not telling me about at breakfast the other day, it occurred to me that it was important he attend your party. I spoke with Johnny Blue’s captain. The man agreed to send Johnny to your party to watch for suspicious characters.”

  “How did you get him to do that?” asked Cory.

  “I am on the FLEA board, remember? I haven’t been very active lately, but I’ve decided to change that. The board is looking into the guilds’ activities against their members now.”

  “Do you know Judge Randal Jehosephat Dumpty? Johnny told me that he’s been keeping the guilds from being prosecuted. I spoke with his wife and she is going to ask him to stop. I don’t know if that will do any good, but it might if you used your influence, too.”

  “I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Between your friends and my work on the board, the guilds are going to have to answer for what they do very soon.” He glanced at the doorway when someone else walked in. “Say, is that the young man?”

  Cory turned and saw Johnny. Her face lit up even as she felt her grandfather give her a small push and said, “Go see your young man while I ask if your uncle needs any help.”

  Cory nodded and swallowed hard. She was partway across the room when Mary Lambkin waylaid her to talk about another date. When Cory looked up, Johnny was deep in conversation with Cheeble, who was gesturing and talking in an excited voice. She was going over to join them when she saw the three pigs standing in a corner looking forlorn.

  “Come with me,” she told them, and led the pigs to her neighbor. “Wanita, I’d like you to meet some friends of mine, Alphonse, Bertie, and Roger. Gentlepigs, Wanita is one of my neighbors. She has a wild boar living at her house.”

  The pigs ears perked with interest. Wanita looked intrigued to meet pigs who stood on their hind legs and could actually talk to her. The witch told them about her boar, then asked if they liked living in town. When Cory left them, they were telling Wanita about the wolf and the boy named Tom Tom who had kidnapped Roger.

  Cory found Johnny Blue standing beside the mantel eyeing the bird in its nest. He looked pleased when she first walked up, then his eyes became wary as if remembering their last meeting.

  “I’m happy to see that you look well,” Johnny said. “I heard about the kidnapping from the guys on the squad the day after it happened. You didn’t tell me—”

  “I couldn’t tell you,” Cory said, her words tumbling over his. “It happened so fast and then my grandfather was there and I had so much to think about and I thought you—”

  “I came to see you as soon as I heard, but you weren’t here. Then I came by the next day and you were out again. And then when you didn’t send me a message, I thought that maybe …” Johnny’s voice trailed off and he looked away.

  “Maybe what?” asked Cory.

  “Maybe you didn’t want to see me because I’d let you down. I’d said that I would keep an eye on Tom Tom, but then he was one of the people who kidnapped you, wasn’t he? I don’t blame you for being angry with me. I failed you when all I wanted to do was protect you.”

  “You couldn’t have stopped him. He came with two other men on a flying carpet! I don’t blame you for anything. I was gone because I was working out some things and I didn’t send you a message because I thought you didn’t want to see me. After I said what I did, I thought I’d hurt your feelings so badly that you didn’t want to have anything more to do with me.”

  “That wasn’t it at all!” Johnny told her, taking Cory’s hand in his.

  Her stomach lurched and her head felt woozy, like when you stand up too suddenly, but she squeezed his hand and felt unreasonably pleased when he squeezed back.

  “Sure, I felt awful when you told me not to touch you. Then I thought about it and I knew that there had to be more to it,” said Johnny. “I care about you too much to just walk away. You aren’t going to get rid of me that easily!”

  “I don’t ever want to get rid of you!” Cory said.

  People began to form a line by the table set up at one end of the room; Josef and Micah had brought out the food and everyone seemed eager to serve themselves.

  “I should go see what else there is to do,” Cory said, giving Johnny’s hand one last
squeeze before she let go. “I want to talk to you again later.”

  “I’ll be here,” he said with a grin.

  Cory was busy for a while then, making sure that there were enough serving spoons and napkins, cleaning up juice that Skippy spilled and finding salt for Olot and water for Salazar. She was refilling platters when the band began to play old songs that didn’t need a drummer. When Micah took a platter from her and sent her out to join the band, she wiped her hands on a napkin and hurried to her drums. They played newer songs then, most of which the band had written. Everyone loved “Morning Mist” and swore that it made them feel as if they were really there.

  When her grandfather heard this, he smiled and nodded. The moment they stopped to take a break, he gestured to her, pointing to the door and the front porch. “Do you get that reaction to your music often?” he asked once they were alone.

  “To our new songs,” said Cory. “The ones we wrote together.”

  “Have you had a hand in writing these particular songs?” he asked.

  Cory nodded. “Every one. I wrote most of ‘Morning Mist’ and ‘Thunder’s Clap.’ Why do you ask?”

  “I thought I detected a hint of power!” said her grandfather. “Apparently, some of your demigod abilities were coming through even when you had your fairy traits. When you wrote your music, you poured your heart and your emotions into each piece. Your demigod side evoked those same emotions in the audience. That’s why everyone says they feel as if they’re there.”

  “Really!” said Cory. “I just thought our playing had gotten better.”

  “You do play very well,” her grandfather said with a grin. “I’m sure that’s part of it, too! Have you tried your bow yet? You said you were going to use it at your party.”

  “And I will,” said Cory. She peeked through the doorway into the house and spotted Marjorie talking to Daisy. “I suppose that now would be as good a time as any. If you’ll excuse me …”

  The other members of the band were still playing when Cory invited Marjorie to join her on the porch. On their way out, she stopped and spoke to Jack Nimble. Marjorie gave Cory a questioning glance with a raised eyebrow when Jack began to follow them.

  “You’ll understand in a minute,” said Cory.

  Once they’d stepped onto the porch, Cory closed the door behind them. “I know you two went out on a date together and it didn’t work out, but you really are meant for each other,” Cory told them.

  Jack looked surprised and shook his head; Marjorie looked exasperated. “I told you it wouldn’t work,” she said to Cory.

  “Oh, but it will!” said Cory. Bow, Cory thought, holding out her hands. Suddenly, time seemed to stand still. Her bow appeared in one hand, her quiver in the other. They weren’t the same as those she’d used for practice. Instead, this bow was silver with a golden string, the quiver was made of soft white leather, and the arrows were silver with gold fletching and fine writing on the shaft. Moving with the ease of practice, Cory drew out the arrow with “Marjorie Theresa Muffet” written on the shaft and placed it in her bow. Imagining a target over her friend’s heart, she took aim and … hesitated.

  This was a lot different from shooting at targets. She’d never actually shot a person before! What if these really weren’t magical arrows, but regular arrows that could hurt her friend. A shot like this could kill her, especially at such close range. Cory bit her lip and lowered the arrow. Then, as if he were standing beside her, she could hear her grandfather’s voice in her head. “Without a Cupid there will be less love in the world.” Although Marjorie had never actually said it, Cory knew that the one thing that her friend wanted most was love and this might be the only way she would ever find it.

  Taking a deep breath, Cory pulled back the bowstring, aimed the arrow at Marjorie, and let the arrow fly. A shimmer of gold puffed from Marjorie’s chest, but she didn’t move or even blink. Satisfied that the arrow was doing what it was supposed to do, Cory drew the second arrow from the quiver. “Jack Benjamin Nimble” was written on the arrow. Taking careful aim, she shot Jack in the heart without a moment’s hesitation. Once again there was a puff of gold, only this time Marjorie and Jack began to glow until a bright light suffused them both.

  From the time Cory had thought bow to the time the light faded from around Jack and Marjorie, nothing had moved except Cory—not Jack or Marjorie, the leaves on the trees, or the squirrel watching from the railing. The noise of the party inside the house had grown silent as had the normal sounds of the night outside. Now, however, as bow and quiver disappeared, the light around the couple faded away, and sound and movement returned.

  Both Marjorie and Jack stood stunned for a moment, then, as if a puppeteer had pulled their strings, they turned to face each other. “I think I was wrong about you,” Marjorie whispered, looking into Jack’s eyes.

  “We were meant to be together!” he said, reaching for her hand.

  Cory smiled to herself as she went back inside the house, leaving Jack and Marjorie alone on the porch. She slipped through the crowded room to the kitchen to bring out more food, stopping to talk to Josef on the way. When she returned to the main room a few minutes later, she saw that Marjorie and Jack were huddled in a corner, gazing into each other’s eyes, so she began looking for Priscilla Hood. She found Priscilla talking to Selene and Felice about their favorite kinds of fur.

  “Pardon me for interrupting,” she told the girls, “but I need to talk to Priscilla.”

  “That’s all right,” said Felice. “Selene and I are going to get more of that lovely smoked fish.”

  “What did you want to talk about?” Priscilla asked as Cory led her to the porch.

  “Your love life,” said Cory. “Oh, good. Here he is.”

  Josef had followed them out the door just as Cory had told him to. He was offering a tray of fruit juice to Priscilla when Cory thought bow. It took her less than a minute to shoot them both. This time the couple wandered off the porch and into the yard, leaving Cory behind.

  Too excited by what she had done, Cory couldn’t bring herself to go back in the house. She took a seat on one of the chairs, wishing there was someone else she could help fall in love that very night, and knowing that the two couples she had just helped were the only ones she’d “seen” together. True, she had “seen” her other friends with the loves they were meant to find, but the people they were with were strangers to her and she would have to locate them first before she could bring the couples together.

  Cory was sitting by herself, enjoying the night air and thinking about what she should do over the next few days, when the door opened and Johnny Blue came out.

  “There you are!” he said, crossing the porch. “I was talking to your uncle when it occurred to me that the only person I really wanted to be talking to was you, and I couldn’t find you anywhere. Then one of those girls with the cat eyes told me you were out here. You’re probably going to have to put out more of that fish, by the way. The girl and her sister ate it all.”

  Cory laughed and got to her feet. “I’m not surprised. I should have set out more. When I invited them they told me that the only things they eat are fish and vegetables. Listen, I know I said I wanted to talk to you later, but I think we’ve talked enough. My grandfather told me something that I think I should check out for myself.” Walking up to Johnny, she took his head between her hands and pulled him closer. Then, standing on tiptoe, she tilted her head and pressed her lips to his.

  The moment their lips met, Cory knew that everything was going to change. Instead of feeling ill, she felt warm and wonderful inside. Her heart began beating faster, matching the beat of his heart as he took her in his arms and pulled her close. He picked her up to hold her even closer as the kiss grew longer and deeper. As her world filled with thoughts of Johnny Blue and nothing else, Cory would have been happy if the kiss had never ended. This was her true love, the person she was meant to be with for the rest of her life.

  Then, suddenly, someone e
lse was on the porch and an angry voice was grating at her. “Well, isn’t this a pretty sight! Little Miss Busybody has a boyfriend! And it’s the Boogie Man! Why am I not surprised? I know she told my girlfriend to dump me, but were you in on it, too?”

  Johnny Blue set Cory down and stepped in front of her in a protective gesture that she thought was very sweet. Peeking from behind Johnny, she caught a glimpse of Tom Tom and the angry look on his face. She was very glad that Johnny was there.

  “I was looking for you,” Johnny Blue snarled at Tom Tom, who backed up half a step.

  A low-throated growl made Cory peek again. Tom Tom had brought a wolf with him and it looked like the same animal that had tried to blow down the house.

  “You can’t kidnap someone and get away with it,” Johnny said, taking a step toward Tom Tom.

  “I was doing what I was ordered to do!” Tom Tom shouted.

  The door opened and people from the party spilled onto the porch. Although Olot and Lionel were the first, Selene and Felice pushed their way to the front to eye Tom Tom and the wolf. Wanita followed them, a look of anticipation on her face.

  Although Cory couldn’t see him in the crowd, Roger must have been there as well because he suddenly squealed, “That’s them! That’s Tom Tom, who kidnapped me, and the wolf that blew down my house!” The sound of pig’s trotters scrabbling on the porch floor told Cory that Roger had run back inside.

  Wanita’s mouth spread into a creepy smile that Cory hoped was never aimed at her. “So you’re the ones who like to harass the small and defenseless?” Wanita said to Tom Tom and the wolf. “I know the cure for that!”

  With a wave of her arm and a few muttered words, Wanita turned the young man and the wolf into cute little pigs, smaller than Alphonse and his brothers.