by Sonia Parin
Hearing her thoughts, Luna said, “Some would say it’s not the destination but the journey that matters. Or, you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs. Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Let me see if I can scrounge up another platitude… Oh, yes. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”
“Are you done dishing out your fortune cookie psychology?”
“Speaking of which…”
“We weren’t.”
Luna gave her ear a scratch. “Yes, we were. You mentioned psychology. I really think we need to schedule an appointment with the shrink. Either that, or we talk about Rebel and how we feel about her. I’ll go first. She’s been with us long enough for us to have formed opinions about her. Are we emotionally invested in her? Yes, we must be. Otherwise, we would not have undertaken this journey. Clearly, she has become indispensable even though it’s also clear she is the runt of the litter. After all, her own kind didn’t even want her and were only too happy to get rid of her. Are we really emotionally invested or have we succumbed to a bout of guilt and pity because she’s a dispossessed fairy? In which case, she’s really nothing to us but a burden. Are we prepared to risk life and limb for her? And how far are we willing to go for her? Would you like the option of multiple choice answers?” Luna shifted and scratched her ear again. “I’m going to take your silence as a yes.”
“No.”
“Does that mean you know exactly how you feel about Rebel?”
Lexie hadn’t given it any thought. “She’s a part of our…”
When Lexie floundered, Luna offered, “Team? Gang? Alliance? Squad? Troupe? I like the latter because it ties in nicely with my idea of forming a circus act. In hindsight, I think we would do well if Trouble joins us. She and Rebel could team up and do a trapeze act. You’d definitely need to look into moving us to a larger abode. I think a duplex apartment would suit us very well indeed.” Luna shifted. “Um… I don’t want to be an alarmist, but there’s something growing out of your backpack.”
Lexie looked over her shoulder. There were vines sprouting out of the backpack and sinking into the ground. She came to an abrupt stop. Not that she had any choice. The vines had become so deeply rooted she couldn’t take another step. She tried pulling the backpack free to no avail.
“I would strongly recommend ditching the backpack,” Luna urged.
Too late. Another vine sprung out and wrapped around Lexie’s waist. The shoots that had sunk into the ground now thickened and grew.
“Oh, I don’t like the look of this,” Luna purred.
The next breath Lexie took came out in a gush as the beanstalk shot up carrying her and Luna with it.
“Yikes,” Lexie yelped.
Luna scrambled up and sat on Lexie’s head. “Okay… How would you feel if I jumped ship now? I mean, I know I’m your loyal feline companion, but what good would it be for me to perish alongside you? There would be no one left to call for help.”
“We’re not going to die,” Lexie hollered as the beanstalk continued to shoot upward. “Wait a minute. I recognize this.” Looking down, she saw the ground disappearing fast. Glancing up, she saw a cloud.
“Are you going to give me a hint or would you like me to try to guess?” Luna asked.
“This is a beanstalk.”
“I hate to say it, but you’re stating the obvious. Do you think it sprouted from those beans you put in your backpack?”
“Yes, and…” A cloud engulfed them and she lost sight of the ground. “Oh…”
Luna peered down at her. “Are you speaking with gaps again?”
“We’re in the Crone’s realm and she said anything we can imagine exists here. This is Jack’s beanstalk.” Were they about to meet a giant? She hoped he had cabbages because they definitely needed some.
The beanstalk shot up through the clouds and, springing back and forward several times, finally came to a standstill outside a wrought iron gate.
“I think this is where we get off,” Luna purred. “Of course, we could always try to climb down but I’m all for going forward.”
“Ditto.” Lexie reached out to the gate and, as she pushed it open, the vine that had wrapped around her waist released its hold. Taking that as a positive sign they were on the right track, Lexie said, “Don’t wander off.”
“I’m staying put right here on your head. But you should know, if I see a gigantic foot about to squash you, I will jump ship. I’m sorry, but my loyalty will only stretch so far.”
They strode along a path winding up a hill. When they reached the crest, they stopped to gaze up at a massive castle.
“Keep your eyes peeled for cabbage,” Lexie said.
Luna peered down at her and lowered her voice, “Are we going to steal it?”
“Needs must. I get the feeling the owner won’t be the welcoming type.”
“If the size of that castle is anything to go by, the owner must be quite large.”
Yes, Lexie agreed. Definitely a giant.
“And,” Luna continued, “if he’s quite large, then his cabbages must be proportionally large.”
Oh… “I hadn’t thought of that.”
“I guess sitting on your head is heightening my mental acuity. I hope I don’t drain you. We need your street-smarts.”
Lexie went in search of a kitchen garden. If the giant had one, it would most likely be around the side or the back of the castle. It took them close to half an hour to trudge around the building. Finally, she saw a gate and they slipped through it, or rather, under it.
“I guess the giant likes his greens. Look at all these vegetables. It’s a veritable cornucopia.” A gigantic one, Lexie thought. After a thorough search, they came upon a cabbage patch.
Luna sighed. “Looks like we got here too late. It’s all been harvested.”
Lexie turned toward a door by the kitchen garden. “I guess we have to go in.”
“Without a plan of action?” Luna yelped. “What if the giant walks in on us?”
“We’ll probably be too small to be noticed. We’re in luck. The door is open.”
“Surely, that means the giant is around,” Luna muttered. “I think we should find another way in.” When Lexie slipped inside, Luna added, “I see, you’re going to go against my better judgment and plunge us both right into the thick of it.”
Standing inside the doorway, Lexie looked toward a large table and pointed, “There.”
“Yes, I see the cabbages. Pray tell, how do you plan on getting one of them?”
Lexie stepped forward only to scramble back until she felt the wall behind her. Footsteps. Gigantic footsteps. And they were headed into the kitchen.
She saw the feet first. Large leather boots with blades of grass sticking out of the soles.
The giant strode into the kitchen carrying a large basket. He had a barrel chest and a beard that reached his waist. A wide leather belt hung low around a robust belly. Setting the basket on the table, he filled it up with the cabbages and strode off.
“Right… well. That’s that. Let’s go home,” Luna said.
Ignoring Luna, Lexie went in search of the giant. She turned a corner in time to see him disappear into a room. Trying to catch up to him, she broke into a run.
Luna’s voice bobbed up and down as she said, “Next time, could you please warn me? I feel I’m being shaken and stirred.”
Lexie reached the end of the hall and plastered herself against a wall. The giant strode out of a room and headed back to the kitchen, his boot barely missing her by an inch.
“Right. Let’s make this quick,” Lexie said. “I’m sure we only have a brief window of opportunity.”
“That’s assuming you have figured out how you’re going to get a giant cabbage down the beanstalk, let alone out of the castle… Wait.” Luna stiffened and wailed. “You’re going to use the fairy dust. That is so not fair. You could use it to make me fly. Instead, you’re going to shrink a cabbage.”
Lexie ran inside the room and came to
a screeching halt. The cabbages were stacked in one corner, right opposite a stack of bags. The contents of one had spilled out onto the floor.
“Gold coins!” Luna yelped right before she jumped off Lexie and plunged inside the bag. “We’re rich. I am rich. Quick, sprinkle some fairy dust on the bags. You can use me as a pack mule to carry them. I won’t even mind if news about me turning into a beast of burden reaches my family because I’ll be too blissfully happy counting my gold coins and living the high life in an Upper East Side apartment to care.”
“We’re here for the cabbage, Luna.” Although, a few gold coins would come in handy, she thought. They still had several more items on their shopping list to acquire…
“Come on,” Luna urged. “What are you waiting for? That giant could return at any moment and we’ll miss our chance to be rich.”
“I’ll only take what I think we’ll need. A few coins.”
Luna echoed. “One bag should suffice. Good. Hurry. Hurry.”
Lexie clambered up onto a bag and onto the next one. When she felt she had gained enough height, she sprinkled some fairy dust over a bag. Luna sneezed and scattered the fairy dust over several bags.
Giving her a kitty grin, she said, “Oops. I guess we’ll have to take those too.”
“You did that on purpose,” Lexie chided.
Luna gaped. “Where’s the trust? We’re in the land of giants here. Dust motes are bigger and...” Luna sniffed, “I think I caught Rebel’s cold. You should be gentler with me.”
“We can’t take them all with us.”
Luna gave a stiff nod. “Repeat after me. Yes, we can. Besides, if you leave them, the giant will know. We need to get a head start.”
“Fine,” Lexie said through gritted teeth. With the bags of gold stowed away in her backpack, Lexie peered out the door. “The coast is clear. Try not to sneeze.” Lexie took a couple of steps only to stop.
“I can sense something stirring within you,” Luna said. “I’ll do my best to talk you through it.”
“This is wrong,” Lexie whispered. “I’m not a thief. Why am I stealing from the giant?”
Luna peered down at her. “Because Rebel’s wellbeing depends on it?”
“Yes, but…”
“There are no buts about it. Either you want Rebel to get well or you don’t,” Luna argued.
“Don’t you find this strange? We’ve been following a trail, from the stall by the side of the road to the beanstalk, to the giant’s castle. What if this is some sort of trap?” What if she’d been lured to the Crone’s realm and they couldn’t get out again? This could be the O’Rourke detectives’ way of dealing with her. The thought struck her like a lightning bolt.
“I think you’re reading too much into this. We have the stuff, now you just need to get a move on,” Luna urged. “Think about it. If this is some sort of trap contrived by the O’Rourke detectives, then Rebel would have to be in on it and Octavia and the gnomes… Even Cat. She’s far too nice to do something so underhanded.”
Luna had a point. “Fine, but this can’t be doing my karma any good. There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Somehow, I’ll end up paying for this.” She shook her head. “We have to find another way.”
“What’s happening?” Luna yelped. “Why are you moving backwards?”
“I’m putting it all back.”
“I’m going to bite you,” Luna deadpanned.
Lexie continued her retreat.
“Fee-fi-fo-fum. I smell a witch and a cat…”
Chapter Ten
Follow the script
“Did you hear that?” Lexie asked in a hushed whisper. “The giant is onto us. How am I going to explain stealing from him?”
“You wouldn’t have to if you’d kept going forward. Don’t you know everything that can go wrong will go wrong if you look back?” Luna scrambled for cover and found it in Lexie’s backpack. “I warn you. Reach inside this backpack at your own peril. My claws will be drawn.”
Something bright and sparkly swirled around Lexie. Following the light, she swung around and heard Luna’s grumbling coming from inside the backpack.
Luna hollered, “What’s going on out there? You’re doing it on purpose so I come out. Stop it.”
“It’s not me.” The light continued to swirl around Lexie. “Get out here, Luna. There’s something… Someone.”
The light stopped right in front of Lexie’s nose and a fairy emerged from thin air.
Lexie jumped back. “Who are you?”
Hovering in front of Lexie, the fairy drew her eyebrows down and crossed her arms. “I’m the Fairy Tale Fairy and you’re ruining the story.”
Ever since her cousins had barged into her life, strange things had been happening. Had she believed in fairies before? Lexie couldn’t remember. She had one living in her apartment now, and she’d encountered a whole host of them in Cat’s enchanted forest. The Crone had one. So, they had to be real. “Wait a minute. What do you mean I’m spoiling the story? Have you been spying on us?”
Ignoring her, the fairy said, “You should listen to your cat. You must go forward. Never backward. If you retreat, the story stalls.”
“A fairy after my own heart,” Luna purred and emerged from the backpack. “Oh, it really is a fairy. What’s with the scowl? You should know better than to make a fairy angry.”
“Where did you come from?” Lexie asked the fairy. When she’d woken up that morning to find Luna watching Rebel juggling blueberries, Lexie had been trying to start the day afresh as if she could ever control anything in her life.
She should have put her foot down that morning and insisted they start the day off on the right foot… like normal people.
Hearing her thoughts, Luna said, “Yes, and how did that work out for you? Remember, Octavia barged in and brought a horde of unwanted guests with her. Listen to the fairy. We must go forward.”
Looking toward the kitchen, Lexie said, “Give me ten good reasons why I should plunge us into a perilous situation.”
The fairy stared at her for a moment as if not quite believing what she’d heard. “It is written. Therefore, it must happen.”
“Where is it written?”
Luna leaped up onto Lexie’s shoulder. “She has a script. If she’s a Fairy Tale Fairy then she must know how this story ends.”
“That’s just it,” the fairy huffed. “You have to complete your task, face the danger, run for your life and emerge triumphant. Otherwise, I don’t have a tale to tell. The Giant has been sitting here for eons waiting for someone to come along. Children are forgetting about him. Once upon a time, his story was on everyone’s lips. Now, he’s turning into a mere shadow of himself because no one is reading his tales.”
“See,” Luna purred, “there’s nothing to be scared of. You just keep moving forward, make the Giant run around a bit and then skedaddle to the beanstalk and to safety… or to the next instalment in the adventure.”
“I’m not scared,” Lexie growled softly. “I’m… I’m being cautious, and it’s about time. We’ve been walking into who knows what type of situation without any idea of what to expect and things happen.” She’d confronted her mom’s evil twin sister, the one she hadn’t even known had existed. Her father had returned from the dead, although… He hadn’t really been dead. His body had been dead but his essence had been held captive by her mom’s evil twin sister… Who knew why… She’d been told to sit tight and wait for him to make the adjustment… What other events had she set into motion by coming here?
“Is this, by any chance, about your dad?” Luna asked. “Because, if it is, there’s a time and a place for everything, and this isn’t the time to talk about him. I told you, we need to make an appointment with the shrink. Right now, you have a task to complete.”
The fairy nodded. “Without you, the Giant will go into a decline and his story will end.”
Luna mused, “Did you notice the emphasis she puts on the word Giant? He’s a protagonist in his ow
n story but he’s at risk of being thrust into everyone’s distant memory. You have an opportunity here. You need to step up to the plate and hit a home run. Be a hero.”
“Does the Giant actually remember how the story ends?” Lexie crossed her arms and shook her head. “I am not killing a giant. He hasn’t done anything.”
The fairy mirrored her and crossed her arms. “Actually…”
Luna coughed and tried to disguise her warning, “Don’t go there.”
“Okay, I just remembered the Giant was accused of stealing the gold…” And much worse, Lexie thought. Tilting her head, she tried to remember if the Giant had ever been officially charged. No, of course not.
“You’ll have to give her a moment. She’s thinking it through,” Luna purred.
The fairy swirled around and stopped in front of Lexie to suggest, “This can be an alternative ending.”
“I don’t have to kill the Giant?”
The fairy glowed brightly. “No.”
Relenting, Lexie took a step forward only to stop again. “Hang on.” She looked at the fairy, not that she had much of a choice since she continued to hover near her nose. “Are you going to be telling this tale?”
Sparks flew out of the fairy as she pirouetted on the spot. “I’ll use this as an outline and then embellish it.”
“Wait. Embellish it?”
Luna groaned. “You don’t really expect her to retell the tale as it really happens. Can you imagine how that would sound?” Luna cleared her throat. “The witch entered the castle, ho hum, her highly intelligent feline companion by her side, making sure no one attacked them from behind as she offered sage advice on how best to proceed, her shiny coat a testament to the many hours spent grooming herself. While the same could not be said about the witch, whose mop of hair could do with some professional attention, her valor almost matched that of her feline companion’s.” Luna stopped and tilted her head. “Actually, that doesn’t sound so bad. Feel free to use it.”