Fablehaven

by Brandon Mull

Page 28

  Want to see my second decisive move of the night?

  she asked. Mendigo quivered, hooks jingling, but remained powerless to take hold of Kendra. Unconsciously biting her lower lip, she grabbed both arms just below the shoulders, unhooked them, and dashed away from the limber jack. She heard the overgrown puppet chasing her as she raced to the edge of the pond and hurled the wooden arms into the water.

  Something clipped Kendra's shoulder and sent her spinning to the ground. A crushing force pressed against her back, pinning her down. She could hardly breathe.

  Craning her neck, she saw Mendigo looming over her, using his foot to hold her in place. How could a creature that looked so flimsy be so strong? The spot where he had kicked her stung deep-it would certainly bruise.

  Kendra reached for his other leg, hoping to unhook the shin, but the puppet danced out of reach. For a moment Mendigo appeared indecisive. Kendra prepared to roll away in case he charged and tried to kick her again. If she could just unhook a leg!

  Instead, Mendigo hurried onto the pier. Both of his arms were floating on the water. One had almost drifted within reach of the pier. Mendigo crouched, balancing carefully on one foot, and stretched out a leg toward the nearest arm.

  Just as his toes made contact, a white hand shot out of the water and seized Mendigo by the ankle, yanking him into the pond with a splash. Kendra waited, holding her breath as she watched. The limberjack did not resurface.

  She dashed back to the steps and picked up the bowl.

  Kendra dared not run while holding the tears. Instead she walked swiftly, careful not to waste any of her precious cargo. She walked across the lawn, through the arch, down the path, and onto the road.

  Stars continued to fade in the eastern sky. Kendra hurried along the road. She was pretty sure her sheltered status was at an end. But, if mischief had to be done, at least it had felt worthwhile. She had a feeling it would not be her final mischievous act of the night.

  Bahumat By the time Kendra reached the barn, a predawn gray dominated the eastern horizon. Her journey from the pond had been uneventful. Not a drop had spilled from the silver bowl. She went around to the little door Seth had kicked open and ducked inside.

  The titanic cow stood munching hay from the loft.

  Every time Kendra saw Viola, she marveled anew at her enormity. The cow's udder was bloated, nearly as badly as the first time they had milked her.

  Kendra had the tears. Now she needed milk and blood.

  Since the Fairy Queen had been communicating mentally, Kendra trusted her first impressions. The milk would have to be Viola's. And the blood? Her own? The cow's?

  Probably both to be safe. Maybe both were required. But first the milk.

  Kendra set the silver bowl in a protected corner and retrieved one of the ladders. She intended to steal only a few squirts. There was no time for a proper milking.

  Kendra had never tried to collect Viola's milk. She and Seth had simply been relieving pressure for the cow and letting it spill all over the floor. There were plenty of barrels, but trying to dump a barrel into a little silver bowl seemed tricky. And considering that she would be sliding down a teat to get milk out, it seemed like it would be hard to avoid falling in the barrel herself.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  She located a large pie tin, the kind Dale used to leave milk around the yard. Perfect. Small enough to dodge, but big enough to catch all the milk she would need. She positioned the tin under the teat, trying to estimate where the milk would squirt.

  Kendra climbed the ladder and jumped, embracing the fleshy teat. Milk gushed to the floor. Only a little splashed into the tin. She adjusted the tin, climbed the ladder, and tried again. This time was a direct hit, filling the tin almost to the brim, and she even managed to keep her feet on the landing.

  Kendra brought the tin over to the silver bowl. She poured milk until the bowl was three-quarters of the way full. Only blood remained.

  Viola mooed thunderously, apparently upset at having her milking abruptly halted right after it began. You're going to moo louder than that, Kendra muttered under her breath.

  How much blood would she need? The Fairy Queen had not specified quantities. Kendra went through the closets looking for tools. She ended up with a weed digger and another pie tin. Getting enough blood to pour from a pie tin into the bowl would be disgusting, but she was scared that if she tried to put blood from the source directly into the bowl she would end up spilling everything.

  Viola! Kendra called. I don't know if you can understand me. I need some of your blood in order to save my family.

  This might sting a little, so try to be brave.

  The cow gave no sign of comprehension. Kendra returned to the teat she had been milking. It was the one area not protected by fur, so she figured it would be the best place to harvest some blood.

  She climbed the ladder only a couple of steps. She wanted to stab the teat low, so it would drip. If she had found a knife, she would have tried to make a cut. The only thing sharp about the weed digger were the points at the end, so she would have to go with a puncture wound.

  Up close, as she contemplated stabbing it, the pink teat looked alien. She needed to stab hard. On an animal this big, the skin would be pretty thick. She told herself it would just feel like a thorn to the enormous cow. But would she want somebody jabbing a thorn into her? The cow would probably get upset.

  Kendra raised the weed digger, holding the pie tin in her other hand. Sorry, Viola! she yelled, plunging the weed digger into the spongy flesh. The tool sank almost to the handle, and Viola made a terrified bellow.

  The heavy teat swung into Kendra, slamming her off the ladder. She kept hold of the weed digger, wrenching it free of the wound as she fell. The ladder clattered to the floor beside her.

  Viola sidestepped and tossed her head, bellowing again.

  The barn shook, and Kendra heard timbers splitting. The roof shuddered. The walls swayed and cracked. Kendra covered her head. Gigantic hooves thumped against the floor, and Viola let out a long, plaintive moo. Then the cow settled down.

  Kendra looked up. Dust and hay floated down from above. Blood trickled down the teat, already dripping from the tip.

  Since Viola had calmed down, and the blood was flowing freely, Kendra cast aside the pie tin and retrieved the silver bowl. Standing under the teat, she started catching drops of blood. She had toured a cave with her family once, and the sight reminded her of water dripping from a stalactite.

  Soon the mixture in the bowl turned from white to pink. The flow of blood slowed. The lower side and tip of the teat were stained red. Kendra supposed it was enough.

  She went and sat by the little door. Now for her blood.

  Maybe she could just try the cow blood and see if that worked. No, haste was essential. How would she get blood out? No way was she using the weed digger unless she could sterilize it.

  Leaving the bowl, she hunted through the closets again. She noticed a safety pin on a pair of coveralls. She unpinned it and ran back to the bowl.

  Holding her hand over the bowl, she hesitated. Kendra had always hated needles, the idea of being fully aware that something was about to hurt but having to endure it calmly. But today was not a day to be squeamish. Gritting her teeth, she stuck her thumb with the pin and then squeezed two drops of blood into the mixture. That would have to do.

  Kendra looked at the pie tin. She should probably drink some milk herself, since a new day was beginning.

  She took a sip. Then she realized that her family would need milk as well when she found them.

  There had been bottled water in one of the closets.

  Kendra hurried to the closet, selected a bottle, unscrewed the cap, dumped the contents, and filled it with milk from the pie tin. The bottle barely fit in her pocket.

  Kendra retrieved the small silver bowl. Swirling the solution a bit, she exited the bar
n. Predawn colors streaked the horizon. Sunrise was approaching.

  Now what? There were no fairies in sight. When the Fairy Queen had given instructions, Kendra had felt no doubt that the handmaidens she referred to were the fairies.

  She was supposed to make a potion for them that would somehow get them to help her.

  What would it do? Kendra realized that she had no idea. What could it do? Win their affection? Then what?

  Lacking other options, she had to trust the reassurance she had felt when the Fairy Queen spoke to her mind.

  First she needed to find fairies. She wandered the garden.

  There was one, clad in orange and black with matching butterfly wings. Hey, fairy, I have something for you!

  she cried.

  The fairy darted over to her, looked at the bowl, started chirping in a squeaky voice, and zoomed away. Kendra roamed until she found another fairy, and ended up with an identical reaction. The fairy acted excited and then flew away.

  Soon multiple fairies were flying up to Kendra, peeking in the bowl, and then soaring off. They were apparently spreading the news.

  Kendra ended up beside the metal statue of Dale. She set the bowl on the ground and backed away, in case her proximity might discourage the fairies. The morning grew brighter. Before long, dozens of fairies hovered around the bowl. They were no longer showing up only to zip away. A crowd was forming. Occasionally one would fly right up to the bowl and peer inside. One even laid a tiny hand on the rim. But none took a drink. Most stayed several feet away.

  The crowd swelled to more than a hundred. Still they would not drink. Kendra tried to be patient. She did not want to frighten them away.

  Suddenly the sound of a mighty wind interrupted the quiet morning. Kendra felt no breeze, but she could hear a shrieking gale in the distance. As the sound of the wind tapered off, a ferocious roar echoed across the yard. The fairies scattered.

  It could mean only one thing. Wait, please, you have to drink this! Your queen had me make it for you! The fairies darted around in confusion. Hurry, time is running out!

  Whether it was her words or simply that they were no longer startled, the fairies gathered around the bowl again.

  Try it, Kendra said. Have a taste.

  None of the fairies took her up on her offer. Kendra dipped a finger into the bowl and sampled the elixir. She tried not to make a disgusted face-it tasted salty and nasty.

  Mmmm. . . delicious.

  A fairy with raven black hair and bumblebee wings approached the bowl. Mimicking Kendra, she dipped a finger and tasted it. In a whirling shower of sparks the fairy grew to nearly six feet tall. Kendra smelled the fertile aroma that had accompanied the Fairy Queen. The enlarged fairy blinked in astonishment, then glided high into the air.

  The other fairies mobbed the bowl. A blizzard of sparks flashed across the yard as the fairies transformed into much larger versions of themselves. Kendra backed away, shielding her eyes from the dazzling pyrotechnics. In moments, she was surrounded by a glorious host of human-sized fairies, some standing on the ground, most hovering.

  The fairies were uniformly tall and beautiful, with the lithe musculature of professional ballerinas. They wore vivid, exotic apparel. They still had magnificent wings.

  They still emitted light, although the gentle twinkle had become a brilliant blaze. The biggest change was in their eyes. Merry mischief had been replaced by something stern and smoldering.

  A fairy with lustrous silver wings and short blue hair alighted in front of Kendra. You have summoned us to war, she announced in a heavy accent. What is your bidding?

  Kendra swallowed. A hundred human-sized fairies took up much more space than a hundred tiny ones. They used to be so cute. Now they were quite imposing. She would not want to be the enemy of these proud seraphim.

  Can you restore Dale? Kendra asked.

  A pair of fairies crouched over Dale, placed their hands on him, and then helped him to his feet. He regarded Kendra with befuddled wonder, patting himself, as if surprised he was intact. What's going on? he asked. Where's Stan?

  The fairies healed you, Kendra said. Grandpa and the others are still in trouble. But I think these fairies will help us.

  Kendra returned her gaze to the stunning silver fairy.

  Muriel the witch is trying to release a demon named Bahumat.

  The demon is free, the fairy said. You have but to command.

  Kendra pressed her lips together. We have to lock him up again. The witch, too. And we have to rescue my Grandpa and Grandma Sorenson, and my brother, Seth, and Lena.

  The blue-haired fairy nodded and issued instructions in a musical language. Some of the fairies began rummaging in nearby plants. They pulled out weapons. A yellow fairy produced a crystal sword from the soil of a flowerbed. A violet fairy transformed a thorn from a rosebush into a spear. The silver fairy with blue hair changed a snail shell into a beautiful shield. The petal of a pansy became a blazing ax in her other hand.

  This is your will, the silver fairy confirmed.

  Yes, Kendra said firmly.

  All together, the fairies took flight. Kendra turned to watch them go. Then a hand grabbed her left arm and another seized her right and she was soaring between two fairies-a slender albino with black eyes and a blue, furry fairy. Kendra recognized the blue one as the downy fountain sprite she had seen in Grandpa's office.

  The sudden acceleration took her breath away. They cruised low to the ground, skimming over bushes, dodging tree trunks, and swishing past branches. Flying near the rear, Kendra marveled at the squadron of fairies ahead of her effortlessly weaving through obstacles at such reckless speed.

  The exhilaration was overwhelming. The wind of their velocity brought tears to her eyes. The pond with the gazebos streaked by beneath her. At this rate, they would reach the Forgotten Chapel in moments.

  But what about when they got there? Bahumat was supposed to be incredibly powerful. Even so, considering the legion of fierce fairies surrounding her, Kendra liked her odds.

  Glancing back, Kendra saw no fairies behind her. They had apparently left Dale in the yard.

  The mad dash through the forest continued until the fairies ahead swooped skyward. Kendra's escorts followed, rocketing up beyond the treetops. The sudden ascent left her mouth dry and her stomach tingling.